Who Is Able to Stand?

Chapter 6 shows the Lamb opening the first six seals. The first four release four horsemen, each summoned when a living creature says, Come! The white horse’s rider has a bow and goes out conquering. The red horse’s rider is given a great sword and takes peace from the earth. The black horse’s rider holds scales, and food becomes very costly. The pale horse’s rider is named Death, and Hades follows. These scenes picture war, famine, and death, troubles that have marked human history. Yet notice who opens each seal: the Lamb. Even the hardest times are not outside his authority.

The fifth seal moves from earth to heaven. Under the altar are the souls of those who had been killed for the word of God and for their testimony. They cry, How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge? They are not scolded for asking. Each receives a white robe, and they are told to rest a little longer until the full number of their fellow servants is complete. Their cry is like the lament Psalms, which ask God to act.

The sixth seal is described with the language of the whole creation shaking. There is a great earthquake. The sun becomes black as sackcloth, the moon like blood, and the stars fall like unripe figs in a strong wind. The sky is removed like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island moves. From kings to slaves, people hide in caves and say to the mountains, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. They ask, Who is able to stand? The chapter ends on that question, and chapter 7 gives the answer.