Six Seals & the Absurdity of a Literal Interpretation - Revelation 6

Sermon by Matt Trewhella on 9/20/2009

The futurists, those who believe the things spoken of in Revelation are yet to come, say – “See, these things have not happened , have not literally happened in the earth, therefore the things spoken of in Revelation are still yet to come.” Here in chapter 6, we need to ask ourselves:

Is Jesus a literal lamb in v.1?

Are there literally four horses with riders that will literally ride across the earth spreading their destruction?

Will the black horse rider literally balance a pair of scales in his hand as he does so?

Is the quart of wheat for a denarius spoken of in v.6 a literal denarius when the denarius doesn't even exist anymore?

Are the souls of the martyrs literally kept under an altar?

Will the literal stars of heaven literally fall to the earth (when even if one star hit the earth, the earth would cease to exist)?

Will the sky literally be rolled up like a scroll and every mountain and island literally be moved out of its place?

John is employing apocalyptic judgment language here in Revelation – language which is commonly used in Scripture to speak of God's impending judgment - it is meant to be interpreted symbolically, not literally. Much more!

Revelation 6