94 Iwan M. Whiteley four coloured horsemen. The scene shifts to souls “under the altar” who cry out “How long?” Yet again the scene changes to a great earthquake that envelops “the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals…” There then appears to be a radical departure from the seven-seal structure and four angels hold back the four winds until 144 000 people are sealed. The imagery appears to conflict numerically with the next scene where there is an innumerable multitude praising God. Finally, the text reverts back to the seal structure and the seventh seal is notably unclear; there is silence in heaven for about half an hour. Two aspects stand out that make this section of text particularly difficult to understand; first the continuous radical shift in scenery through the discourse. Boring refers to this by saying, “John’s mind- jarring rebirth of imagery continues in paradoxical juxtapositions and deformation of language”1. Second, the apparent parenthesis in between the sixth and seventh seal challenges the current level of dependence placed on the text’s use of the number seven. There shall follow a survey of commentators’ treatment of the various shifts in scenes from 6-8:1. Beale summarizes the opening of the first four seals as, “Christ uses evil heavenly forces to inflict trials on people throughout the church age for either purification or punishment”2. This view reflects the common inclination to see the first four horses as negative influences although Hendriksen sees the first rider on the white horse as referring to Jesus.3 The opening of the fifth and sixth seals appears to follow a logical order: trials leads to the question “How long?” which leads to the inevitable punishment of the wrong-doers. 7:1 introduces what appears to be a significant divergence from what preceded. Boring notes that the reader expects the seventh seal to be opened next.4 Morris,5 Mounce,6 Chilton7 and Wall8 refer to this section as an interlude. An interlude is a relatively small unit of text within a larger discourse. The implication is that the shorter text interrupts the larger. Walvoord and Ladd claim that the section does not advance the narrative,9 although it is difficult to understand the significance of this 1 M. Boring, Revelation (Louisville 1989) 131. 2 G. Beale, The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids 1999) 370. 3 W. Hendriksen, More than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation 1st British ed. (London 1962) 93-96. 4 Boring, Revelation, 127. 5 L. Morris, The Book of Revelation (Leicester 1987) 111. 6 R. Mounce, The Book of Revelation (NICNT; Michigan 1998) 154. 7 D. Chilton, The Days of Vengeance (Texas 1987) 201. 8 R. Wall, Revelation (Massachusetts 1991) 115. 9 J. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago 1966) 139; G. Ladd, A Commen- tary on the Revelation of John (Michigan 1972) 110.