CHRISTIAN FINE ART GALLERY > EVENTS OF THE BIBLE SERIES > The Seven Seals (The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse)
Original Artwork: SOLD, Charcoal, Conte, Gesso, Acrylic on Paper
This multi-media artwork is an image from prophecies about the End Times foretold in the (Biblical) book of Revelation. It depicts God’s advancing judgment on the people who are alive at this time who have persisted in their sin and rejected God’s gracious free gift of forgiveness through faith in Jesus.
Artist’s Reflection:
“I watched as the Lamb [Jesus] opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!’
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:1-8)
This multi-media piece is an image from prophecies about the End Times foretold in the (Biblical) book of Revelation. It depicts God’s advancing judgment on the people who are alive at this time who have persisted in their sin and rejected God’s gracious free gift of forgiveness through faith in Jesus.
God is “…not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Likewise, “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live’” (Ezekiel 33:11).
In keeping with God’s character described in these verses, I did not want the emphasis of this ‘judgment’ piece to be on destruction but rather on God’s grace, mercy and desire for all people to be saved through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus. In keeping with God’s heart and purpose, I plastered it with many Scriptures about God’s love, grace and mercy and the way to be ‘saved’ in front of the advancing judgment. (See “Message“)
The breaking of the first four of the seven seals corresponds with the four horsemen (See “The Tribulation” (Signs of The Times Series)). This is why four of the seven seals spanning the bottom of the work are broken while the other three remain intact.
I made the seals by carving out a lion (symbolic of Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah from Revelation 5:5) in an eraser. (See also “The Lion of Judah Series”). Just like the sealing of documents in ancient times, I poured out the molten wax of a candle and pressed the seal into it. When it hardened I removed the eraser and a relief of the lion was left in the wax.