The first five seals cannot be reduced to the ordinary troubles of this age. The fourth seal alone kills one quarter of the earth's population, roughly 2 billion people today, twenty times the death toll of World War II. The second seal removes peace from the earth on a scale that would dwarf history's bloodiest wars. Add to this the Antichrist's rise, worldwide famine, and a global persecution worse than anything the world has ever seen, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
The difference is not merely quantitative but qualitative. The seals involve the removal of divine restraint that characterizes the present age. Nor can the fifth seal be dismissed because it involves persecution. Throughout Scripture, God has often used war and oppression as instruments of judgment. Persecution and judgment are distinct, but they are not mutually exclusive.
The seals are greater in extent, greater in severity, and different in character from the normal course of history. They are not business as usual. They are eschatological judgments.