"Death and Hades" in Revelation
Is the Death and Hades of Rev. 6:7-8 the same as that stated in Rev. 20:14? Why or why not?
Answer: No, they are not.
Revelation 6:7: "When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, 'Come.' I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Here, "Death and Hades" (personified) are provided four distinct instruments of destruction. We cannot take the number of those killed literally (1/4 of the earth) , because to do so would mean that two billion people would perish. As well, the tools used to kill are symbolic. This prophecy is demonstrating that [nearly] everyone in Judah would die in the judgment. The four instruments of death have been described elsewhere. In Ezekiel, God declares judgment against Jerusalem. Note the similarities:
Ezekiel 14:21: “For thus says the Lord GOD, 'How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it!'” (emphasis added).
Jeremiah prophesies the same thing as well concerning Jerusalem:
Jeremiah 15:2-4: “And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity."' I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the LORD: 'the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy" (emphasis added).
God warned of these things as far back as the Book of Leviticus (cf. Lev. 26:18-33). In Lev. 26:22, God mentions "wild beasts," in 26:20, 26 He declares "pestilence," and in 26:25,33 He refers to "sword." The imagery of Revelation 6:8, "Death and Hades" describes the death that has been released on Jerusalem where its inhabitants will then reside in the flames of Hades (Lk. 16:19ff).
Here, we might also observe the parallels between the Gospel of Matthew (24:6-9) and the Book of Revelation (6:1-8). It seems very interesting that Jesus related that these exact events would all occur during the destruction of Jerusalem:
Matthew 24:6a-9: “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars… For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…there will be famines and earthquakes… Then they will [kill you]…"
Such parallels have been noted by certain scholars:
“The seals closely parallel the signs of the approaching end times spoken of in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:1-35; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-33)” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary).
“The similarities are so close that some venture to call that discourse the main source of the seal judgments (Charles; Beasley-Murray)” (Thomas, Wycliffe Exegetical Commentary, 416).
Now, let us contrast Revelation 6 with Revelation 20
First, let us understand what Revelation 20:6 is telling us (I've used bracketed notation to clarify):
Revelation 20:6: “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection [baptism]; over these [Christians] the second [spiritual] death has no power, but [Christians are] priests of God and of Christ [1 Pet. 2:9] and will reign with Him for a thousand years [an unspecified amount of time until the end].”
We should recognize that (spiritual) “death” of the saints appears nowhere in that passage, contrary to verse 10:
Revelation 20:10: "The dead [lost] were judged by what was written in the books [their consciences], according to what they had done [contrary to the Bible, John 12:48].”
[Note This does not say, “The living were judged according to what they had done.”]
The sea giving up its dead and Death and Hades giving up its dead emphasize that this is the final judgment. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is an eternal fate, not a temporal one, and demonstrates that, once accomplished, there is no more death and no more Hades.
Let us list the elements of Revelation 20:13-15:
Revelation 20:13-15: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
So, we might understand that Abraham’s Bosom is where saints who have exited this world are traversing the threshold of timelessness into Heaven. Abraham’s Bosom is not Hades. Rather,
- Hades is the immediate destination of lost human spirits, those destined for Hell.
- However, there is no longer any need for Hades because there is no more death -- and no more earth (20:11, cf. 2 Pet. 3:10).
God does not expect saints to suffer one nanosecond beyond this life. The saints can never be referred to as "dead”; we are priests now reigning with God and Christ (1 Pet. 2:9).
The distinction between Revelation 6:7-8 and 20:14 is that the former is Death and Hades descending on first-century Jerusalem, while the latter is referring to the end of Time.
