The Seven Seals
In Revelation 5 a scroll sealed with seven seals lies in the hand of God, and no one in heaven or on earth is worthy to open it, until the Lamb takes it. As each seal breaks, something is loosed on the earth. Here is each seal in turn, how the Almanac reads them, and why the scene begins in worship.
No dates set: "of that day and hour knoweth no man" (Matthew 24:36).
On this page 6 parts · 5 min
Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.
Revelation 5:9, KJV
The scroll and the Lamb
John saw "in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals" (Revelation 5:1). An angel asked, "Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" and no one was found, "neither in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth". John wept (Revelation 5:2-4).
Then an elder told him, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book" (Revelation 5:5). John looked, and saw not a lion but "a Lamb as it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6). Before a single seal is broken, all heaven sings that the Lamb is worthy because he was slain. The judgments that follow are in the hands of the One who died for the world.
Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereofRevelation 5:5
The first four seals: the horsemen
The first seal: a white horse
"He that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer" (Revelation 6:2). Many read a conqueror or a false peace; some read the gospel going out.
The second seal: a red horse
"Power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword" (Revelation 6:4).
The third seal: a black horse
"A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine" (Revelation 6:6). A penny, a denarius, was a day's wage (Matthew 20:2): a day's work for a day's bread.
The fourth seal: a pale horse
"His name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8).
The timeline on this site reads these four as riding now: wars spreading since 2022, world food prices at their highest on record in March 2022, and death by sword, hunger and plague. That is why it marks the great tribulation as begun.
Go deeper: the prophetic timeline.
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- The fifth seal: the souls under the altar
- The sixth seal: the great shaking
- The sealed servants and the great multitude
- The seventh seal: silence in heaven
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The fifth and sixth seals: the martyrs and the shaking
"I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9-10). They are given white robes and told to rest "a little season", until the number of their brethren is complete (Revelation 6:11). The persecution of believers is part of the seals.
At the sixth seal "there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth" (Revelation 6:12-13). Kings, the great and the rich hide in the rocks, crying, "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:15-17). These are the signs Jesus said come "immediately after the tribulation of those days" (Matthew 24:29).
The sealed servants, and the seventh seal
Before the seventh seal the winds are held back "till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads" (Revelation 7:3), and John sees "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations" before the throne: "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9, 14). God marks his own before the storm.
"And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour" (Revelation 8:1). Then seven angels receive seven trumpets, and the prayers of the saints rise with the incense before God (Revelation 8:2-4). The seventh seal opens into the trumpets, and the story moves on toward its end.
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hourRevelation 8:1
Go deeper: the seven trumpets, Armageddon.
Common questions
What are the seven seals in Revelation?
They are the seals on the scroll in God's hand, which only the Lamb, Christ, is worthy to open (Revelation 5). The first four release the four horsemen, the fifth shows the martyrs under the altar, the sixth a great earthquake and a darkened sun, and the seventh brings silence in heaven and the seven trumpets (Revelation 6 to 8).
Have the seven seals been opened?
Christians read this differently. Some place the seals wholly in the future; others see them unfolding through history. The Almanac's timeline reads the first seals as open now, with wars, famine and persecution spreading together, and the great tribulation begun.
Who are the four horsemen of the apocalypse?
The riders of the first four seals (Revelation 6:1-8): a white horse with a crowned rider and a bow, a red horse that takes peace from the earth, a black horse with balances and famine prices, and a pale horse whose rider is Death.
What happens when the seventh seal is opened?
"There was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour" (Revelation 8:1). Then seven angels are given seven trumpets, and the next series of judgments begins.
Why can only the Lamb open the scroll?
Because he alone is worthy: "for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood" (Revelation 5:9). The end of history is in the hands of the Redeemer.
Sources and editorial method
Research and editorial references used for this page include:
- BibleGateway: Revelation 5 (KJV) - Quoted on this page in the King James Version.
- BibleGateway: Revelation 6 (KJV) - Quoted on this page in the King James Version.
- BibleGateway: Revelation 7 (KJV) - Quoted on this page in the King James Version.
- BibleGateway: Revelation 8:1-6 (KJV) - Quoted on this page in the King James Version.
- BibleGateway: Matthew 24:29 (KJV) - Quoted on this page in the King James Version.
- BibleGateway: Matthew 20:2 (KJV) - Quoted on this page in the King James Version.
- FAO: Food Price Index, March 2022 - World food prices at their highest level since the index began in 1990.
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Present-day facts were checked against current reporting in October 2026; where events are still unfolding, the page says what was known then. We describe how believers read the signs and never set a date. The paintings are illustrations made for The Great Almanac with AI image tools, in the house's engraved style.
