Ryrie:
See page 60 for the Three Series of Judgments List.

Ryrie’s Introduction pg. 61-62

Our Commentary:
As Ryrie comments, there are other ways to look at the sequences as well. One of the most likely, like the chronological, is the view that each of the battles are different visions of the same basic battle. The most important viewpoint, with any version, is the understanding that John has been given these visions to offer the promise from God the Father, through Jesus His Only begotten (human) son that He, the Son, will return as King Jesus, to establish His Kingdom - in order to deal with all evil forever and vindicate those who have been faithful to Him. We will stick with the Chronological view with occasional comments about other views. To this date many of the viewpoints that require spiritualization of the prophet’s words have failed historically, so we will rely upon understanding our text for what it says and place our expectations upon understanding the symbols put forth in the text.

And again:
Every human kingdom, like Babylon, eventually becomes corrupt and oppressive. We should resist evil kingdoms by loving people and trusting that Jesus will not let evil go unchecked. He will return to remove all evil from Heaven and the world and make all things new. “The picture before us, in a word, is God’s revelation of the dramatic and terrible judgment which will climax the present age. This constitutes a warning to those who are living carelessly in unbelief to beware lest this age engulfs them. The prophecy of the end of the age is a spur to Christians to snatch souls as brands from the burning fire and thus prepare them for the coming of the Lord.”[1]

Ryrie pg. 63

RECAPPING OUR OUTLINE:

I.    “The things which you have seen” 1:1-20
II.   “The things which are” 2:1-3:22
III.  “The things which shall take place after these things”
       4:1-22-21
       A.    Prologue 4:1-5:14
       B.    The Tribulation 6:1-19:21
              1.    Seal Judgments 6:1-17
                     (Nonchronological information, 7:1-17)
              2.    Trumpet Judgments 8:1-9:21
                     (Nonchronological information, 10:1-15:8)
              3.    Bowl Judgments 16:1-21
                     (Nonchronological information 17:1-19:2)
       C.    The Millennium 20:1-15
       D.    The Eternal State 21:1-2:5
              Epilogue 22:6-21

Picking up with our outline:

III   “The things which shall take place after these things”
       B.    The Tribulation
              1.    The Tribulation Seal Judgments, 6:1-17 

THE VISUALIZED TEXT
                     a.    First Seal – Rider on White Horse 6:1-2
1 Then
       I saw when the Lamb
              broke one of the seven seals, and
       I heard
              one of the four living creatures saying
              as with a voice of thunder,
                     “Come [and see][2].”

2     I looked,
              and behold [I saw],
                     a white horse, and
                     he who sat on it had
                           a bow; and 
                     a crown was given to him, and
                     he went out 
                           conquering and to conquer [that he might
                           be conquering].

Ryrie pg. 63 middle
First Seal, 6:1—2

[1 Thessalonians 5:2-3
“For you yourselves know full well that
       the day of the Lord will come
              just like a thief in the night.
              While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!”

 then destruction will come upon them

      suddenly
       like labor pains upon a woman with child, and
       they will not escape.”]

Our Comment
One of the four Living Creatures speaks with a voice of thunder – the typical reminder of a coming storm. The seals seem to indicate a chronological sequence – out of the seventh seal comes seven Trumpet judgments, and out of the seventh Trumpet comes the seven Vials or Bowl judgments. We should see the significance of the repeating number of sevens. God’s number of perfection. Seven perfect Seal Judgments that are further perfected in seven Trumpet Judgments, and thus finally perfected in seven Vial/Bowl Judgments. God’s Judgements, through His Son’s actions, will end perfectly perfect.

We have a White Horse – Clean, Bright, Glorious. I expect we all have seen a movie where a white horse is introduced into the plot. There we see the Horse and its rider coming to bring victory. We should also note that often the rider of that horse is not the final hero of the story – keep that in mind, as this is most likely a glorious and powerful one. The horse is getting him here, and getting him ready for action. He is armed with a Bow, and he is regarded as at least Princely. As Ryrie has mentioned… this glorious (looking) and powerful Prince is right out of the book of Daniel.[3] That would make him, appearing so early in the Tribulation narrative… the Anti-Christ who first conducts a sweeping, victorious (for him at that time) period of sweeping warfare – perhaps only apparently wining over evil and wrong doing. I’m sure we’ve all seen TV or movies that an evil character goes about destroying other evil characters… only to prove that he is the most evil of all!

                     b.    Second seal 6:3—4 – War

The Text
³ When
       He (Jesus) broke the second seal,
       I heard the second living creature saying,
              “Come.” [and see] ⁴ And another,
                     a red horse, went out; and
                            to him who sat on it, it was granted
                            to take peace from the earth, and
                            that men would slay one another; and
                            a great sword was given to him.

Ryrie pg. 64 top
Second Seal, 6:3-4

Our Comment
Even today, as in some generations before us, we can see clear evidence of individuals around the world, mostly in high government positions, who have been given power to take peace from their parts of the world. In the last century we can name several who may have looked in their own parts of the world like this final evil one. Our second seal rider was given a great sword – please note that it is not stated to be the two-edged sword that The Lord Jesus is portrayed as having back in Chapter 1:16.

It's also noticeable that with the withdrawal of peace from the whole earth… men would slay one another. The self-centered evil nature of mankind without Christ is one who has no god but themselves, and they believe they can do whatever they please to keep and grow their power and position.

Look around – and see what is going on even here in our own place and time. Out on our roads and highways… Those who run red lights, don’t stop at stop signs and stop lights. Those who consistently do 10-30 mph over the speed limits, and those who consistently do the same in residential areas. They do what they want and have no regard for the lives and safety of those around them – let alone the Law. As stated before: They believe they can do whatever they please. Don’t be one of them!

                     c.    Third seal 6:5-6 – Famine

The Text
⁵ When He broke the third seal, |
       I heard the third living creature saying,
              “Come [and see].”

       I looked, and behold,
              a black horse; and

 he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And
      I heard something like a voice
              in the center of the four living creatures saying,                               
                     “A quart [Gr. choenix] of wheat
                     for a denarius [a day’s wage], and
                     three quarts of barley
                     for a denarius; and 
                     do not damage the oil and the wine.”

Ryrie pg. 64 middle
Third Seal, 6:5—6

Our Comment
“If a person “bought wheat, a more precious grain, he would be able to buy enough for only one meal. There would be no money left to buy other things, such as oil or wine, which were considered essential in biblical times. The symbolism therefore indicates a time of famine – for famine is always the aftermath of war. The somber picture is emphasized by the color of the horse, black – being the symbol of suffering (Lamentations 5:10).”[4]

We also should consider that living cost each individual today and it is nearly impossible for a single individual to be able to afford to rent a place to live and feed themselves – and that’s not just here, but across our land.

                     d.    Fourth seal 6:7-8 – Death

The Text
⁷ When the Lamb
       broke the fourth seal,
              I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying,
                    “Come [and see].” ⁸
                         I looked, and behold,
                     an ashen [sickly pale] horse; and
                     he who sat on it
                           had the name Death;
                           and Hades was following with him.
                           Authority was given to them
                                  over a fourth of the earth, to kill
                                         with sword and
                                         with famine and
                                         with pestilence and
                                         by the wild beasts of the earth.

Ryrie pg.64 bottom
Fourth Seal, 6:7—8

 Our Comment
By any standard of comparison this is an awesome judgment. If one-fourth of the world population is destroyed in the fourth seal, it would represent the greatest destruction of human life ever recorded in history. “The current human population of the earth is currently slightly more than 8.2 billion persons. One quarter of today’s population would mean the death of the entire population of Europe and South America.

                     e.    Fifth seal 6:9-11 – Martyrs
⁹ When
       the Lamb broke the fifth seal,
              I saw underneath the altar
                     the souls of those who had been slain 
                           because of the word of God, and
                           because of the testimony
                                  which they had maintained; ¹⁰ and
                     they cried out with a loud voice, saying,
                           “How long, O Lord, holy and true, 
                           will You refrain from judging and
                           avenging [Lit. do you not judge and avenge]
                              our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

  ¹¹ And there was given to each of them
      a white robe; and
       they were told that
       they should rest for a little while longer, 
              until the number of 
                     their fellow servants and
                     their brethren who were to be killed
                           even as they had been,
                           would be completed also.

Ryrie pg. 65 middle
Fifth Seal, 6:9-11

Our Comments
Ryrie’s last words are some of the most important words a Christian can hear. So many refuse to trust the Lord God when tragedy strikes. Even the Martyrs of the early tribulation find it difficult, but we as humans tend to think like we are gods and when tragedy strikes we tend to blame God – and do so wrongly. God’s viewpoint is eternity – eternity before us and eternity after us. His plans involve that aspect of eternity. Our lives here on this planet are limited and short. As we get older (much older) we can still see (remember) our past lives and how fast time has moved for us – and how short our future can be, and then… In Christ Jesus… we move on to never ending eternity. His Will is Best!

                     f.     Sixth seal 6:12-17 - Terror

¹² I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and
       there was a great earthquake; and
       the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and
       the whole moon became like blood; ¹³ and 
       the stars of the sky fell to the earth, 
              as a fig tree casts its unripe figs
              when shaken by a great wind. ¹⁴
             The sky was split apart like
              a scroll when it is rolled up, and 
       every mountain and island
              were moved out of their places. ¹⁵
 
 Then 
       the kings of the earth and
       the great men and
       the commanders [I.e., Gk. Chiliarchs,
              in command of one thousand troops] and
       the rich and
       the strong and
       every slave and free man
              hid themselves
                     in the caves and
                     among the rocks of the mountains; ¹⁶ and
              they *said to the mountains and to the rocks,
                     “Fall on us and hide us
                           from the presence [Lit. face] of Him 
                                  who sits on the throne, and
                           from the wrath of the Lamb;

             ¹⁷ for the great day of their wrath has come, and |
             who is able to stand?”

Ryrie pg. 66 middle
Sixth Seal, 6:12-17
Our Comment

Let’s look at verse 13 about the stars falling to earth and their symbolism partly told as a fig tree shaken by a great wind. Please notice that the fruit that is cast to the ground. The fruit (figs – usually a symbol of the Nation of Israel) is unripe! The winds had come at a time when even the young fruit, firmly attached and not ready for harvest – is torn from the tree and thrown down. This is another indication that the time of tribulation will come upon the world when tribulation is not thought of or worried about. The imagery tells us that the world will be in a time of “spring” when everything is growing and getting ready for a later harvest – and then here in the sixth seal, Terror strikes! These words would seem to indicate that perhaps all of the revelations of the seals all tell of the time of a tribulation period that contains all 7 prophecies falling at the same time… but then again… it is  just a couple of sentences from the sixth seal. 

Ryrie pg. 67 The Summary Revelation 6:12-17

Our Comment
We’ll see as we continue through the book, that those who refuse to align themselves with Jesus will harden their hearts over and over again. They will be led by the economic corporations and military factions and “religious Babylon.” But that’s Ch. 17-18.