Study of Revelation

Culmination of the 4 Seals

All in all the seals appear to have a "trickle down" affect. In the second seal the rider of the red horse takes peace from the earth which may be the effects of the conqueror of the first seal. The third seal then negatively impacts economy and possibly causes a famine. Again, if wars are occurring worldwide now, with peace being taken away, food supply could drop and the economy would feel the affects. Lastly, the fourth seal wraps it all together and has power over a part of the earth to kill with the sword (2nd seal), and with hunger and death (possible causes of 1st and 3rd seal). Although separate, the seals are working together.

Note that in Leviticus 26 there's a passage where God warns his people that if they follow his commandments they'll be blessed, but if they turn away from him they will face dire consequences,

"And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied."

Although I can't say for sure if this passage is directly referencing the seals in Revelation (as this could've been punishments God has used several times due to the disobedience of the Israelites), the language here is still similar. God says he'll "send wild beasts" and will "bring a sword upon them" (parallel that to the second seal in Revelation 6:4 and fourth seal in Revelation 6:8). God also specifically mentions that once he affects their food supply they won't be satisfied with what they eat. The use of the bread being weighted linking to the next statement that they won't be satisfied shows that there will be less food (parallel this with the third seal in Revelation 5-6).

 Something I also found interesting about the first 4 seals is that they are fairly similar to some of the things Jesus warns the disciples about. For example in Matthew 24:6, Jesus starts off with wars and rumors of wars but in the next verse includes nations waring against each other, "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places" (Matthew 24:7). This appears to correlate with the first, second, third, and fourth seals to some degree. However here is where it gets tricky because these things have been occurring since the dawn of time so it doesn't necessarily mean it's caused by the opening of the seals. Due to this very fact though that these events aren't new might mean that the seals will cause a greater magnitude and severity of these events to take place which I believe is supported by verse 8 when Jesus says "All these are the beginning of sorrows".