What divine judgments and cosmic signs follow the opening of the first six seals by the Lamb?

John observes the Lamb unsealing the first of the seven seals, whereupon the first living creature issues a thunderous summons to come and behold. A white horse appears whose rider carries a bow; granted a victory crown, he advances as conquering that he might conquer. Challoner explains that the rider upon the white horse represents Christ Himself, riding out to subdue the world through the gospel, while the succeeding steeds embody divine judgments upon the enemies of the church. When the second seal is opened, the second living creature repeats the call, and a fiery red horse emerges whose rider receives authority to strip peace from the earth so that mortals slaughter one another, armed with a mighty sword of warfare. Opening the third seal prompts the third living creature to call out, revealing a black horse whose rider grasps a pair of balances; a voice from among the living creatures proclaims severe food rationing—two pounds of wheat for a penny and six pounds of barley for a penny—while forbidding harm to the oil and wine, signifying widespread famine. At the unsealing of the fourth seal, the fourth living creature speaks, bringing forth a pale horse whose rider is named Death, followed by hell, with power over the four parts of the earth to destroy through warfare, hunger, pestilence, and ravenous beasts.

When the Lamb unseals the fifth seal, the prophet sees beneath the celestial altar the souls of those who were slain for proclaiming God's word and maintaining their steadfast testimony. Challoner comments that Christ in His sacred humanity constitutes this altar beneath which the souls of the martyrs dwell in heaven, just as their earthly remains are reverently deposited beneath church altars below. These holy souls cry out with a resonant voice, asking how long the holy and true Master will delay judging and vindicating their shed blood upon earthly persecutors. As Challoner explains, this petition arises not from vindictive hatred toward enemies, but from ardent zeal for God's honor and the accelerated consummation of the final judgment and eternal reward of the elect. Each martyr is vested in a radiant white robe and instructed to rest for a short span, until the appointed number of their fellow servants and brethren destined to suffer martyrdom is completed.

The unsealing of the sixth seal unleashes overwhelming cosmic devastation. A massive earthquake convulses the earth, the sun turns black like sackcloth of hair, the entire moon assumes the hue of blood, and the stars of heaven plummet to the ground like green figs shaken loose by a ferocious gale. The sky recedes like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island is dislodged from its place. Terrified by this display, earthly monarchs, governors, military commanders, the wealthy, the powerful, and every bondman and freeman hide within caves and rocky crevices. In desperation, they cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, begging for concealment from the face of the enthroned Sovereign and from the wrath of the Lamb, proclaiming that the great day of their judgment has arrived and asking who can withstand it.