The breaking of the seals is the disclosing of the prophecies of the Old Testament and the foretelling of those things that will happen at the end of time. Although our prophetic writing expresses the events to come by way of the individual seals, it is not until all of the seals have been opened that the announcement is able to run its course. . . . He said, one of the living creatures, because all four are one. Come and see.^[1] Come is spoken to one who is invited to faith. See is spoken to one who has not seen.

The closing and sealing of the scroll signifies the fearful alienation of those inscribed in it and the closing of their mouths from making any plea for justice before God. Therefore, the gradual opening of the seals reveals the gradual recovery of our free and open relationship with God, which the Only Begotten acquired for us when by his own righteousness he set aright our offenses. It is then to be noted that the loosing of each seal reveals a work done by the Lord for our salvation and effected by him against our spiritual enemies. For the intention of the Lord on our behalf is the destruction of their domination of us. . . . Therefore, the first good work of Christ our Savior toward our race, which loosed the first seal of the scroll, is the physical birth of the Lord. For his birth initiated our restoration from that exile that was occasioned by Adam’s sin, and it began the recovery of that closeness of God with us which we had lost and the change of our fearful alienation into a confident freedom. For [his birth] sanctified our birth, so that we might no longer be conceived in transgressions or be born in the sins of our mothers, but that we might have a sanctified birth, Christ having blessed human birth through his own birth. The holy apostle witnesses to this goodness toward humankind when he writes, Since your children are unclean, but now they are holy.^[1]

He said, I heard one of the four animals say, ‘Come and see.’ This one animal is the whole church preaching with a great voice and inviting the church to greater faith, Come and see! If anyone thirsts, let him come and drink.^[1] Approach him and you will be illuminated.^[2] Arise, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will illuminate you.^[3]

Indeed, here is indicated the good order of those in heaven, which descends from the first ranks to the second. And therefore from one figure of the four-formed living creatures, namely, from the lion, he heard the first voice that gave the command, Come! to the angel who mystically symbolizes the vision. The first living creature, the lion, seems to me to signify the royal intention of the apostles against the demons. Concerning them it is said, Behold, the kings of the earth have gathered together.^[1] And again: You will establish them as rulers over all the earth.^[2]

When the first seal was opened, he says that he saw a white horse and a rider who was crowned and who had a bow—for this is what happened at first. For, after our Lord ascended into heaven, he opened all things and sent forth the Holy Spirit. Through preachers, the words of the Holy Spirit penetrate into the human heart as though they were arrows and they conquer unbelief. The crown on the head is promised to the preachers by the Holy Spirit. . . . And therefore, the white horse is the word of preaching when the Holy Spirit was sent into the world. For the Lord has said, This gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to the nations, and then the end will come.^[1]

The white horse is a symbol of the gospel, since through it good deeds will be done to humanity. The crown is an image of strength and victory. And [the white horse] went out to bring the crown to Christ, who had begun to conquer the devil who had placed our race under bondage. He went out, he says, conquering and to conquer. Christ was he who was conquering that he might conquer utterly and totally, and he brought the crown as a symbol of victory to him.

This white horse can be understood as the church of truth, represented in the persons of the apostles and preachers, which was made whiter than snow by grace. The rider upon the horse is Christ. Therefore, it was said to him through the prophet, For you mounted your horses and your army is salvation.^[1] For the same reason he is said to hold an arrow. An arrow is aptly compared with the preaching of the Word of God, for when the hearts of people are pierced, they are able to bear the fruit of faith. And so we read, Your sharp arrows are very powerful; people fall before you.^[2] The crown indicates the reward rightly given to preachers.

The white horse is the church, and its rider is Christ. This horse of the Lord with the bow made ready for war was promised beforehand by Zechariah. The Lord God will visit his flock, the house of Israel, and he will arrange him as a formidable horse in war, and from him he looked, and from him he arranged [the battle order], and from him came the bow in anger, and from him will come out every oppressor.^[1] And so we interpret the white horse to be the prophets and the apostles. In the rider who is crowned and has a bow we recognize not only Christ but also the Holy Spirit. For after Christ ascended into heaven, he opened all mysteries and sent the Holy Spirit. Through preachers the word of the Spirit, as though they were arrows, went out to the hearts of people and conquered their unbelief. The crown upon the head are the promises made through the Holy Spirit.

We understand the loosing of the first seal to signify the generation of the apostles. For, as though it were a bow, they stretch forth the gospel message against the demons and led to Christ those wounded by the arrows of salvation. And because they conquered the leader of deceit through the truth, they received a crown, and in hope they await a second victory, namely, the confession of the name of the Master unto a violent death. Therefore, it is written, he went out conquering and to conquer. For, the first victory is the conversion of the nations; the second is the willing departure from the body in persecution for the sake of that conversion.

The top of that ark is doubtless properly ordered to be encircled with a golden crown, because when he appeared in the flesh and came to redeem the human race, the Son of God was anticipating a certain time and hour when he would overcome the death he had borne for us (along with the author of death himself) and ascend victorious to the Father in heaven. Of this crown the apostle says, But we see Jesus, who was indeed made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.^[1] Of this crown John in the Apocalypse says, And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And the one who was sitting upon it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering that he might conquer. Surely the white horse is the church. The rider who was commanding it is the Lord. He had a bow because he was coming to make war against the powers of the air; and a crown of victory was given to him because by dying he overthrew the reign of death.

The second good work of Christ toward us is the temptation of the Lord and his victory over the tempter. This loosed the second seal of the scroll and granted to us the loosing of our shame and the restoration of the vision of God. And this occurred not only that [Christ] might know victory but that the interloper, beaten down, might no longer bite the heel of the horsemen or trip us up in our spiritual walk, but rather that he might fall down and be sent away like a slave, and hear from man whom he had defeated, Begone, Satan!^[1] (although God was in this man!). And so, he who boasted that he would put his throne upon the clouds and make himself like unto the Most High, as Isaiah dramatically depicted it,^[2] departs with shame and now for the first time learns of his own weakness.

The same words of exhortation to come and see are repeated, but for a different reason. The white horse is portrayed as good, but the red horse is portrayed as evil. Just as in regard to the good, joy is promised for the church’s victory, so here there is a warning against evil from a foreknowledge of the future.

I suppose that the second living creature is the bull to depict the sacred sacrifices of the holy martyrs, since the first [creature] signified the apostolic authority.

And there was a red horse, and he who sat upon it had a sword. [This passage] signifies those wars which will occur in the future, as we read in the Gospel: For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be earthquakes on the earth.^[1] This is the red horse.

This red horse, gory not with its own blood but with the blood of others, is said to fight against the victorious church when it is sent in to take that peace from the earth that passes all understanding. For [the church] is taught both from deed and from the sword.

A red horse came forth, urged on by one of the living creatures, and authority was given to the rider to take peace from the earth, that they might kill one another, and a great sword was given to him. The red horse is a figure of blood, and so a sword is given to the rider upon the horse so that he might attack and cut to pieces that consensus of evil that exists among those who dwell upon the earth—for among them there is an agreement to idolatry. That they might kill one another, that is, that they might slay each other’s eagerness toward increased evil. For the Lord did not come to bring peace to the earth but a sword and to set a son against his father and a bride against her mother-in-law and the young and pious against the old and accused.^[1]

The red horse comes out against the victorious and conquering church. That is, there comes an evil and wicked people, made bloody from its rider, the devil. This is just as we read in Zechariah concerning the red horse of the Lord, except that there it is red from his own blood, while here it is red from the blood of others.^[1] And to him a great sword was given, to take peace from the earth. This refers to the peace of the earth, for the church possesses an eternal peace that Christ left behind for himself. As we noted above, the white horse is the church and its rider is Christ or the Holy Spirit in whose hand is a bow that sends forth his commandments, as though they were powerful, sharp arrows, throughout the whole world both to kill sins and to enliven the hearts of the faithful. The crown upon his head is the promise of eternal life. Here, . . . the red horse is an evil people whose rider is the devil. It is said to be red because it has been made red with the blood of multitudes. And a sharp sword was given to it to take peace from the earth. This means that with the devil’s connivance and influence evil people join together and do not cease to incite among themselves strife and dissension, even unto death.

We suggest that this second seal is to be interpreted as the succession of the apostles that is fulfilled through martyrs and teachers. During this succession, as the proclamation is extended abroad, the peace of the world is taken away, creation being divided against itself, as was spoken by the Lord: I have not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword.^[1] And by this [sword] the sacrifices of the martyrs are offered on the heavenly altar. The red horse is symbolic either of the shedding of blood or of the red-hot disposition of those who suffer for Christ. The words it was permitted to its rider to take peace show the all-wise permission of God that tests his faithful servants through temptations.

The black horse signifies famine. For the Lord said, And there will be famine in many places.^[1] However, this passage is also properly extended to the time of the antichrist, that is, to that time when there will be a great famine and people will be injured.

The third mercy of Christ toward us opened the third seal and restored us, who had been condemned, to God the Father. This is his salvific teaching and the benefits of his miracles, for these contributed to the dissolution of the devil. For, through these we know who is truly God by nature, so that we may no longer be children, tossed about by every wind of doctrine^[1] nor honor that which our hands have made but that we might exchange the corrupting demons for the glory of God. As yeast draws flour, the divine teaching of the Lord drew to itself those being taught according to the discourses of the Lord and those who were benefiting from the miracles that were healing souls rather than bodies. And when this occurred, a black horse came out, and the rider had a balance in his hand. The black horse is indicative of shame and sorrow, for the destruction of the devil had received increased intensity by the divine teaching, and therefore he laments his dissolution which lasted for such a long time. The balance . . . is a figure of equality and righteousness, for he who judges in righteousness sat upon his throne and rebuked the nations of demons,^[2] and the impious One who led them was destroyed.^[3] The balance is, therefore, a symbol of the righteous judgment of the Lord on our behalf, so that we may speak boldly to him, You have executed my right and my cause,^[4] and so that we nations might know that we are men, and that we may not be pulled about like beasts with bit and bridle or allowed to be led astray by destructive tyrants.

In the black horse we recognize an evil people which works in concert with the devil. He had a balance in his hand, which indicates that while evil persons feign to have the scales of justice, they deceive many.

I believe that the third living creature here is the man and that [this passage] shows the fall of men and for this reason his punishment because of his inclination toward sin by the power of free will. . . . We think that the black horse depicts the sorrow that comes upon those who have fallen away from faith in Christ on account of the abundance of torments. The balance is he who tests those who either by inconstancy of mind or by vainglory have fallen from the faith through weakness of the body.

This black horse is the troop of false brothers, who have the balance of right confession but harm their fellows through works of darkness. For, when it is said in the midst of the living creatures, Do not harm, it is clear that there is someone who is doing harm. And, concerning this running horse, the apostle says, Outside there are wars, inside there are fears.^[1]

He is speaking of the church in the figures of the wheat and barley. He speaks either of those who are great and who are least in the church or of those who are leaders and the people. However, one two-pound weight is no less than three two-pound weights, for the same perfection subsists both in the unity and in the trinity. Thus, the Lord said that the leaven was hidden in the three measures of meal,^[1] showing the teaching of wisdom that from something small the whole people are consecrated by the mystical number of the undivided Trinity. But this teaches also that there is one price for both the wheat and the barley, that is, that although one person may exceed another in merit, both have nevertheless been redeemed by one price.

The word of teaching is figuratively called seed in the holy Scriptures. In Matthew it is written, A sower went out to sow, and his most devoted servants say to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in the field? Then why are there weeds?^[1] From the seed comes the wheat, that is, the preaching of the gospel, which as a food fit for mature persons trains the minds to distinguish between good and evil. And what is the barley? It is the teaching according to the law of Moses, for barley is less expensive than wheat and when ripe it is food fit for cattle, and so represents that which nourished the child of Israel. Therefore, God speaks from the midst of the four living creatures: A quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius, symbolizing through this that there would be a famine and a scarcity of evangelical teaching among the people at that time, a famine of both the teaching that comes from the Lord and from the law, as is written: I will give to them not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.^[2] And if for the most part it is necessary that those who despise all teaching and conversion must suffer so and so, he says, Do not harm the oil and the wine. Leave them alone and do not bring any destruction upon them. There is still mercy from me for them, God says, since there is hope for them to be gladdened spiritually by the divine preaching of my only begotten. This is the wine which spiritually gladdens the hearts of humanity.

I think that the different numbers of one and three are mentioned on account of the diversity of personal habitations. In the one denarius is indicated eternal life that is common to all even though [they live] among many mansions.^[1] And if one is there regarded as more sublime than another according to merits or is given a greater reward, yet no one is thought to be preeminent in comparison with another. For where there is a single immortality to each, there a common eternity exists for all. So also in the wine and oil he prohibits the dishonoring of the power of the sacraments, since that is the chrismation and the precious blood. Therefore we read, What does he have which is good and beautiful, unless it be the fruit of the elect and producing virgins as wine.^[2] And in the psalm: Wine gladdens the heart of man, and his face is made cheerful in oil.^[3]

The wine is to be interpreted as the blood of Christ, and the oil as the unction of chrismation.

The phrase a quart of wheat for a denarius figuratively indicates those who have struggled lawfully and have carefully preserved the divine image given to them. The phrase three quarts of barley for a denarius speaks of those who like cattle have through cowardice bowed the neck to persecutors but have later repented and have washed their defiled image with tears. The command do not harm wine and oil indicates that the healing of Christ through repentance, which healed him who fell among the thieves, ought not be rejected, nor that those be allowed to be seized prematurely by death who through patience would be retrieved from defeat. Therefore, that we also might possess God as our beneficent physician for the suffering of our souls, let us be zealous to be such to our brothers who have fallen, bringing to them the wine of consolation mixed with the oil of compassion, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed, as the apostle says.^[1] And so becoming fellow workers with God, we may eternally enjoy his blessings by the grace and good will of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Beware, he says, lest by an evil example you offend your brother for whom Christ died, for he bears the signs of the sacred blood and the chrism. For whether one has perfect merit or very little, all who have been instructed in the church in the faith of the holy Trinity have been redeemed by the same perfect price of the blood of the Lord. Nor without reason is the perfection of faith or works expressed by the measure of two quarts and not just one, since both at bottom consist of a twofold charity.