On Sunday I had an opportunity to preach a message entitled, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It was based on the Lamb of God opening the seals in Revelation 6. It was a fun study, and I believe applicable to our day.
You would have to get the message (available for download HERE) in order to get all the details of why I believe what I believe about the time in which we now live. I am fast becoming convinced that we are living in the time of the the third horseman’s ride throughout the world. Down through history many nations have suffered the catastrophes outlined in Revelation as they have come to the end of their grace. However, we now live in a time that these catastrophes are happening on the predicted global scale. They are also increasing in intensity, as we would expect the birth pains that foreshadow the eventual return of Christ would (see Matthew 24:8).
The first horseman—the white horse— is clearly Christ. He has taken his war bow from the heavenly throne room, and is riding out to begin the judgment on Satan and his kingdom. The Lord hung the bow up when he spoke to Noah after the flood (see Genesis 9:13-17). He put it on display in his throne room, as both Ezekiel and John testify (see Ezekiel 1:26-28 and Revelation 4:3). He now takes it down to begin the closing work of seeing all of his enemies made a footstool for his feet.
The second horseman—the fiery red horse—is given the ability to take peace from the earth. I believe that this rider rode forth in the twentieth century. Only God’s gracious restraint prevents unregenerate humanity from annihilating itself. When this rider begins to remove this restraint, war and violence are the result. I believe we can see this rider’s handiwork in the fact that the twentieth century is rightly called the bloodiest century. It was during this century that war went global and superpowers became capable of destroying all mankind. The wars alone claimed 150 million lives. Democide, a term coined to describe a nation’s government killing its own people, claimed another 180 million. Abortions numbered almost 1 billion worldwide. These are staggering and unprecedented numbers, especially when you consider that in 1950 the world’s population was only 2.5 billion. Fully half of the world’s 1950 population died by violence in the twentieth century. I think these numbers make a strong case that the second horseman has ridden out on a global scale.
The third horseman—the black horse—is given the ability to wreak havoc on the world economy. The scales that he holds are economic scales. He has the ability remove grace from the financial dealings of men so that the staples of life become horrendously expensive. I think you will agree with me when I state that this horse is probably on the world scene even now. Reports on the financial instability being experienced worldwide come to us every day. The United States economy almost collapsed at the end of 2008. Today, financial reporters are making open mention of the house of financial cards that is waiting to come tumbling down in Europe, causing untold problems as government systems throughout the earth struggle to cope with Europe’s financial issues. We don’t know whether the current problems will continue to escalate, or whether we will have a reprieve until another birth pain occurs, but this horseman will certainly continue his ride.
The fourth horseman—the pale/green horse—is given the ability to release death on an even greater level than the red horse through war, famine, plague, and wild beasts. We may just be seeing the beginning effects of this rider. We have seen devastating famines in Africa in the last decade that still continue. There are mildews and fungi that are causing major concern among horticulturists around the globe. Those same botanical workers are watching potentially devastating blights that could greatly reduce wheat production around the world (see THIS article in the Economist about it). Plagues, once thought all but eradicated, have risen again to haunt the dreams of men. Medical science has been sounding the alarm on an ever-increasing variety of ways that pandemic and plague could winnow the earth. And what about death by the wild beasts of the earth? I believe as the birth pains continue, we will see animals begin to lose their fear of man, and begin to see humans as a food source. We occasionally hear of such events (for example, see the recent grizzly attack at Yellowstone Park). When this happens on a wider scale, we won’t have quite so many animal rights groups questioning whether violent animals should be put down. They will need to be put down.
At the same time that the red, black, and pale/green horsemen are riding forth, the white rider is still building his overcoming Kingdom among his people. I believe that is why he rode out first. It is a clear message to his people that he will be releasing grace in his Church so that the rest of the horsemen (and the rest of the judgments) are effectively counter-acted in the Church. This becomes more apparent when we remember that it is the Lamb who was slain who releases these horsemen and the rest of the judgments found in the book of Revelation (see Revelation 6). We must also remember that John, the Apostle of Love, wept inconsolably at the thought that no one would be able to release these judgments (see Revelation 5:4-5). When, in the midst of the judgments, we see Christians in heaven calling out impatiently for the judgments to happen even more quickly (see Revelation 6:9-10), we recognize that these events must be welcomed by God’s people. The horsemen and the subsequent judgments recorded in the book of Revelation are not fearful things for the people of God. They, literally, are the time that we can lift up our heads victoriously at the prospect that our redemption draws near (see Luke 21:28).
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If you want to understand more about the outline and purpose of the book of Revelation, you can download the first message in my series on the book HERE. This message gives some guidelines that will help establish the time and purpose of the book, and will help greatly in an understanding of its interpretation.
