The Four Horsemen-Lent 4, 2022

On TV, one political figure was outlining all the terrible consequences that were about to befall the world.  My son sent me the video and quipped, “All that’s missing are the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.”  Indeed, they are legendary.

And scary as all get out.  They’re scary because together, they form the catalyst for all the destruction to follow.  The scroll’s seals are broken and with each one of the first four, the picture is made complete: judgment is beginning, and the horsemen are among those commissioned by God to do it.

Revelation 6:1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 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. 3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. 5 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. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” 7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 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.

The four together engage in conquest as people kill each other,
famine and disease kill people
and even the animal world turns on mankind in a singular act of judgment. 
Even so, there’s only a 25% mortality rate.

But there are 3 seals left to go. 

Revelation 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

This appeal to God, “How long until You judge?” acts as a transition from faithful witness/ martyrdom of the first 6 chapters to the final two seals which release conflict—a battle against evil—and judgment to avenge the martyrs, just as God promised.

Thoughts for today:

Revelation 6:12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

There are times when God’s work is hidden, and times when it’s unmistakable and people finally get it.  In what ways do signs in the heavens and nature become a universal wakeup call?

Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

The named people groups in verse 15 speak of elites.  How might these people have deluded themselves that their money or power made them safe from harm’s way?  

Everyone else, slave and free are in the same boat as the rich and without excuse for having rejected the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.