Revelation 6:7-9 - Its rider was named death

6:7,8

The fourth seal is opened in the same way, by the Lamb and with a proclamation by one of the living creatures. This time it is a pale horse representing Death and Hades. The horse and its rider were given power over a quarter of the earth to kill them. They would be killed by the sword, plague and famine, and by the wild beasts of the earth. There is a question of whether we see these various seals as prophecies of what is to come, or a description of how things are. Or maybe it is both. We certainly see all of these things present in the world now, and have been throughout history at various times and places, sometimes more intense than others. However, it is still possible that there will come a time when these things are super-intense, with the world in utter collapse. And there is a lot of evidence, both Biblical and observational, for this view.

6:9

We now come to the fifth seal. This time there is no mention of the Lamb opening the seal, nor any declaration from one of the living creatures. Moreover, this time the vision is not of the earth, but of heaven. Heavenly realities are real and are relevant to our lives on earth, not as a means of escapism, but on equipping us to live godly lives here and now. John sees the souls of those who “had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained”. There are two immediate lessons. The first is that holding to the word of God can be very costly. The second is that those who pay the ultimate price will be in heaven.