BSF Adult Lesson 12

The First Six Seals

Lesson 12 Questions

First Day: Read Lesson 11 Notes.

The notes and lecture fortify the truth of the passage for understanding and application to daily life.

1. How did the lecture encourage, challenge, or enlighten you about the promise of the Lord's return?

The instruction to listen to God’s commandments given through the apostles and prophets really highlights my need to be in the Word.

2.What new thoughts did you receive through the notes regarding the day of the Lord?
Notes page 139. “A Star marked Jesus’s first coming. His second coming will also be announced by the sun, moon, and galaxies.” That connection is potent. Connecting what I thought were disparate events—the humble birth of a baby in a stable vs. a Righteous Jesus come to judge and wage war against evil—He isn’t just the prophesied child who would be born, He Is the One whose appearance will be accompanied by the heavens and earth being destroyed.

Second Day: Read Revelation 6:1-8.

John saw the worthy Lamb beginning to open the seals of God's scroll.

3.a. What did each of the four living creatures say when the Lamb opened the first four seals?

The four living creatures—mostly likely angels—said come.

b. What appeared as each seal was opened, and how were they visibly distinct?

Horses. The first was white, the second red, the third black, and the fourth pale, possibly a sickly green.

4.What are we told about the rider of the white horse and his intent? Whom might he depict? (There are differing opinions.)

He is a conqueror and rides forth to conquer. This may represent rulership or the antichrist.

5. a. What power was given to the rider of the red horse? In what ways do you see this type of power wielded in the world today?

To take peace from the earth. In war. In division between people, families, communities and systems. The black and white, us vs. them. It’s like Ruba said at the start of the year—we must avoid being red or blue, and be purple instead.

b. What is the source of strife and the solution for it? (See James 4:1-8 or other Scriptures).

The source of strife is exchanging God’s authority with our human desires. The solution is to turn to God and reject the things this life has to offer.

Third Day: Reread Revelation 6:1-8.
Each horseman appeared with a specific purpose.

6.a. What was the rider of the black horse holding? What did one of the living creatures say?

A set of scales. “Two pounds of wheat for a denarius, and six pounds of barley for a denarius, and do not da age the oil and the wine.”

b. What might this mean? Famine. Two ponds of wheat is enough to bake one loaf of bread. Each person required a loaf of bread per day. Also, there wouldn’t be money left for other expenses. The poor and ordinary people will be paying a day’s wages for the most common foods, while the wealthy and protected have all the luxury they want, including foodstuffs. A day’s wage for two pounds of wheat is enough for one loaf of bread, the meal of one person. There will be severe scarcity. Famine is also a judgment from God.

6. “I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food.

7. a. Describe the final horse, its rider, and the power given to them.

The final horse was a pale, perhaps sickly green color. The rider’s name was Death, and Hades was following right behind. The were given power to destroy a quarter of the earth’s population by any means. Today, that would be two billion people.

b. What is Hades, which follows the pale horse and its rider, Death? (See also Revelation 20:13-15.)

Death ended lives and Hades collected the spirits of the dead.

8. a. Read Zechariah 6:1-8 with Revelation 6:1-8. What are the similarities and differences in these accounts?

Both accounts state there were four horses and their colors were the same. They all left to go out into the world. Both men were in angelic company. The horses in Zechariah pulled chariots, but had no riders. The horses in Revelation had the opposite. Revelation showed the horses but. Zechariah saw them come from between two bronze mountains. Each horse John saw had a rider with a specific purpose, and three of them carried items that indicated their purpose. The order of colors was different, and in Zechariah’s vision the horses were being sent in specific directions. In Zechariah, the angel sent the horses out.

b. What prophecies of Jesus in Matthew 24:1-8 do you see experienced in Revelation 6:1-8?

In Mt 24:2, Jesus states not one stone of the temple will remain on another. This speaks of great destruction.
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Fourth Day: Read Revelation 6:9-11.
John saw a vision of faithful martyrs.

9.a. When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, who was under the altar, and what did they desire?

The souls of martyrs. They wanted the Lord to judge everyone in earth and avenge them. They wanted justice.

b. In what ways do you long for God to bring justice?

I want God to remove people and things I don’t approve of or want. I want Him to judge those people early, as in now, because I’m sick of them living on my planet. They are contaminated. They’re like a disease i don’t want to catch.

10. a. Why were those under the altar told to wait? What do you learn from this? (See also 2 Peter 3:9.)

The martyrs were told it wasn’t time, because others who would die for their faith in Jesus were needed to complete the number. God Is much more patient then we are. He wants everyone to come to Him, so extends the time to provide every opportunity for them to come to Him.

b. What might the white robes represent? (See also Isaiah 61:10).

The white robes are garments of salvation. We are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb of God.

11. a. What does the Bible say about suffering and persecution in a Christian's life? (See also Romans 5:3-5; 1 Peter 3:13-17; 4:12-16; 5:10; or any other relevant Scriptures.)

Following Jesus means suffering persecution. In John 15:18-19, Jesus says: “ 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” We should be glad; no matter how we suffer, We are following His will, and He will restore us.

b.How do the descriptions of God in 1 Peter 5:10 and Revelation 6:10 help you trust Him?

The martyrs never doubted Jesus, but knew He would act. No matter how much we suffer, we will be restored. He called us to His eternal glory in Christ. The Lord has a plan, and our suffering and struggles are part of that. God’s plan never fails.


Fifth Day: Read Revelation 6:12-17.
John saw incredible phenomena of nature as signs.

12.Describe the similarities between the following passages and the opening of the sixth seal.

Revelation 6:12-17 12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”


Exodus 19:18 The mountain trembled violently—an earthquake.

Isaiah 34:4 The heavens rolled up like a scroll and the stars fell from the sky like figs from a fig tree.

Jeremiah 4:23-26 The mountains were quaking, the people were gone, and the wrath of the Lord was upon them.

Joel 2:30-31 The sun turned black and the moon red.

Zechariah 14:3-5 The Mount of Olives will split in two.

13. a. Where did those in Revelation 6:15-16 take refuge? What refuge did they refuse to take?

They hid in the caves and rocks, not in Jesus.

b. Read Psalm 46 and Romans 5:1-11. What do these say about God that helps in difficult times?

God Is our refuge, and helps us in times we are troubled. He Is our fortress. We have been justified by Jesus’s blood, and we don’t need to fear, because God is always with us, and nothing can defeat Him.

Sixth Day:Review Revelation 6.

Only Jesus provides refuge from God's coming wrath.

14. How has this week's lesson about God's righteous wrath and refuge in Christ encouraged you?

Even when everything is failing—the sun is black, the stars are falling from the sky, and the earth is quaking around me—Jesus still has me. Nothing and no one can snatch me out of His hand.