Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 6:3-4

"And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come. And another [horse] came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." — Revelation 6:3-4 (ASV)

And when he had opened... —Better, And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living being saying, Come. And there came forth another horse, red; and to him that sat on him was given to take peace from the earth, and that they (i.e., the inhabitants of the earth) shall kill one another, and there was given to him a great sword.

This seal is the distinct and unmistakable declaration to the Church that it must expect wars, even after the Prince of Peace has come. The advent of the highest good does not bring about peace, but only because the hindrance is in humanity. Humanity’s resistance to good turns the gospel of peace into an occasion for the sword. So our Lord declares, “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” The reign of peace, the beating of swords into ploughshares, is not yet.

The vision may help to establish the Christian position on war. It is to be expected; it is an evil, but often an inevitable evil. Those who take part in war are not condemned: those who cause offenses are. It is as much a mistake to condemn soldiering as a profession as it is to deny that Christianity aims at the suppression of war. The Church acknowledges that a soldier can be a soldier of Christ, even while she keeps before her the ideal age when nations shall learn war no more. We expect wars, even while we believe that the day will come when war will be reckoned as absurd as dueling is now.

The vision says, “It must needs be that wars will come;” and war, even when roused by human passions, is a judgment of God, for God’s judgments are mostly formed from human vices. The seal puts in pictorial form the warning of Christ that wars and rumours of wars would be heard of. How true the warning subsequent history shows—wars in the empire, wars among nations, controversies, and often fratricidal wars in the Church of Christ.