“When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.”
Revelation 8:1-2
A great terror is coming. The silence in the heaven denotes a silence in the church of Jesus Christ, a small moment of peace before the storm. The opening of the seventh seal and the sounding of the mighty trumpets by the angels, is going to cause catastrophe on the earth and heaven waits to see what it is. John also waits to see the next part of the vision.
This is a silent interlude. It is not in the heaven where God is seated, but in the heavens above the earth. Where God is seated are incessant praises and worship to Him. Silence is not always golden and this one is pregnant with the expectation of fear. The Earth awaits the outcome of the judgment of God. The Christians wait in peace as there is no judgment for them.
Silence from God is not always good, but the bowls of incense are about to be poured out. The people of God wait in prayer as the Priest gives the sacrifice of in the holy place. We also wait in expectation and hope for the coming deliverance and the holy consummation of the sons and daughters of the kingdom, to enter their inheritance.
We are silent before the Lord, as we worship Him in Spirit and in truth. This is appropriate for the Redeemed to contemplate their freedoms and redemption and know that God is in control.
Christ stood silent before His accusers, thereby implicating them in what was about to happen. The heavens are silent, for the day of His great wrath is coming. We wait in holy contemplation of the daughters and sons of God.
“Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!”
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”
Revelation 7:9
The people of God have been protected by a seal and are delivered by the Saviour of the World, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One and heaven’s eternal King. We see them now in the vision as a great multitude that cannot be numbered by human design. They are glorious like an army with banners.
“You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.”
Song of Songs 6:4
This is no helpless brigade, but the people of God triumphant and the over-comers of all sins and death, purchased for them on the cross at Calvary so that they would appear now before the throne of God as a perfect and redeemed people. They are from every nation, and of every tribe of every nation, every people on the earth and from every language. This is the church of Jesus Christ, that has finally been made complete. Not one is lost, but all are now accounted for in the heavenly kingdom, so the end has come and justice and righteousness now reign supreme. They are made Queens and Kings and Priests to God forever.
“Grace to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood; and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 1:4-8
The King of all Kings has come and rules over all with His beloved people. They reign with Him forever in heaven, the new kingdom and everyone will see and know who He is. He is “The Lamb slain before the foundation of there world” who is now the King of all, once humiliated and now lifted high above all. All things and all these redeemed people are now His possession and He makes them rulers and servant of the living god. They enter into glory with Him and share in the glorious inheritance that belongs to the people of God.
This innumerable throng, stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb, dressed in the purity of the white robes, purchased for them at great cost at the death of Christ, their Saviour and King. They worship the Lamb with palm branched in their hands, lauding Him to be who He always has been, the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
“They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Revelation 7:10-12
This is the culmination of all praises. The entire people of God, saved out of the great tribulation and brought safely into the eternal kingdom. The martyrs are avenged and all is peace and equity. They are safe forever from all oppression, pain, guilt and fear. They will serve the Lord in whatever they are doing in that eternal place and be forever free. The Lord will cover them with His tent of protection for no one will ever make them afraid again.
“for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7:17
This is the sure and certain hope and the eternal destiny of the Christians believer. We rest in the love of God and hold fast to these promises and encouragement that we will make it to the end, because of Him who we love.
“I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:”
Revelation 7:4
This is a symbolic number for the totality of the multitude of the people of God. it was spoken to John. He was not left to count or make a mistake, but was relayed the exact number of the people of God to write down in the record. Not one of God’s people will be left out, forgotten about or passed over. They are all precious to Him, and chosen by God for His glory and to express His mercy and grace. They are not one particular church group, for all are corrupt and full of errors. They are the redeemed people, bought with the precious blood of the Lamb, and have washed their robes of righteousness in the blood of Christ. These robes are given to them by the Lord, for they have no righteousness of their own. These 144,00 are the number for the complete body of Christ. When they are all gathered in, then the end will come and Jesus the Saviour will become Jesus the Judge. He will take His waiting people home to heaven and will judge the rest with justice, equity and righteousness.
This 144,00 are sealed by God. They have been kept safe from the outrages of the tribulation by being marked for God by the Holy Spirit. Their lives are very different from the lives of the rest of humanity and they are holy and set apart for the Lord. Love is their abiding mark.
The number 12 is important, a there were twelve tribes of Israel. There were 12 precious stones in the breastplate of the High Priest, to signify the 12 tribes. The tribes are divide equally as 12,000 for each tribe in the people of God. God has no favourites and He is no respecter of persons. All without the Lord stand condemned. All in the kingdom are made worthy through the blood of the everlasting covenant, and not through any goodness in them. They are the little flock, kept by the lord for His possession. They are the holy remnant that will be kept to sanctification and brought spotless before the throne of God with great joy.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
1 Peter 1:3-5
We will bless the Father and the Son and the gracious Spirit who has brought us safely through all our troubles to the eternal glory.
This 144,000, 12 times 12,000 from each tribe of spiritual Israel, which is the redeemed people of God, are secure in the Lord and keep to the doctrines of the faith without wavering. They follow the teaching of the 12 Apostles and hold to the message of salvation passed down by them and recorded in the Scripture. The actual number is unknown and cannot be counted, since it is an innumerable throng that will inhabit eternity with God forever.
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”
Revelation 7:9
We must hold to the truths of the faith most carefully and keep our eyes fixed on the Redeemer of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. Only He can rescue from this present evil, age and bring us faultless into the heavenly kingdom forever.
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal. The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.“
“The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height. And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits, by the human measure the angel was using.”
Revelation 21:10-17
This is the vision of the city of God which also reflects the measurement of 12. It s radiant like the precious stones on the breastplate of the High Priest that remind him of the people of God. the city has 12 gates divided into 4 sets of 3, North, South, East and West. These have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, as the Scriptures were given and recorded in the Old Testament by them for the blessing of God’s people down through the centuries of time.
The foundations are on the teaching of the twelve Apostles, with the names of the Apostles on each layer. The church of Jesus Christ is built on the teachings of the Apostles, revealed to them by God and recorded by them in the New Testament.
It is 4 square- 12,000 stadia in all dimensions and the wall measures 144 cubits according to the angels measurement. Nothing is an accident. This whole city is planned and chosen by God for His everlasting glory. We shall be gathered home one day and enjoy the peace and joy of heaven. This revelation is for the comfort of the people of God, that they are safe and secure in Christ, whatever circumstances seem to prevail in this fallen world. We take comfort for these great truths and stand for the LORD.
“After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.”
Revelation 7:1
All air movement on planet earth stops as the angels of God hold back the wind from blowing and bringing relief from the heat. The air is stifling and hot and breathing becomes difficult.
The oppression is growing and the angles are instructed to not harm the inhabitants of earth until the people of God are protected with a seal. An angel ascends from the sunrise, having the seal of God with Him. This messenger is none other than the Son of God, the one who protects His people, who’ve been promised to Him from before the inception of time. He will bring all His waiting people home to heaven. This is the One who fights for his people.
“For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
Christ comes from the East, as the Saviour of holy Israel, the people of God, and the Everlasting father of this waiting multitude.
“Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.”
Psalm 14:7
Christians will not always be the underdogs, but we wait in patience and hope for the deliverance of our Saviour and King. It is not a false hope but a “sure and certain hope” of eternal life and deliverance from the judgment to come. Christ will bring light and joy to all His people and they will be delivered for the ravages of the great time of trouble that will envelop this world. His people will recognise who He is, as the living and true god and not the falsehoods that will be replicated at this time- false teachers and leaders who lead people astray. The mighty Son will rise from the East with the commission of God in hand and the delight of His people in His mind.
This is the same angel that offers the prayers of His people before the throne of God. He is a singular and uplifted angel, the angel of Deliverance, our God and Lord, Jesus Christ the righteous one.
“Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given to him, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.”
Revelation 8:3
We have nothing to fear as the people of God. He will not allow us to be lumped in with the tribulations of humanity that are coming. There will be a seal on the forehead of the elect people of God that will protect them for the evil that will stalk the Earth and kill so many, body and soul forever in punishment for sin. Since Christ has a died and paid for the sin of His people there is nothing left to fear. We walk worthy and righteously before the Lord and He will sustain us.
The Angel from the East has the authority over the other angels and cries out to them for His people’s sake. He will protect His own and none shall be lost to Him. They are all set apart as Bondservant to the Living God and no one can touch them.
“They told 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, for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
Revelation 6:16-17
This will be a day of all days. If people were afraid of the phenomena that happened at the death of Jesus Christ, how will they stand on that dreadful day. They will not stand. They will be terrified. Their hearts will fail and they will wish to hide from Christ, but they have no hiding place. There is no covering for those who have not chosen the Lord, nor confessed their sin, nor exercised faith in the Son of God, Jesus, our Saviour.
They hide from His face because it is the face of the mighty King of all Kings and they hide because He is their rightful judge. He was once a Saviour, but now is faced by them as the righteous judge of all the earth.
The great day of His wrath has come and we are not saved. What a state to be found in- found wanting and found spiritually naked with no robe of righteousness to stand before a holy God and all-seeing judge. Nothing is hidden any more.
Yet they seek covering. God made covering for Adam and Eve in the garden, but not here and not anymore for these convicted ones. They stand condemned and they know it. There is no defence, no counsel and no reprieve. They call on the stones and mountains to fall in them to cover them from this face of the Lord and hide them from His great wrath.
There is now no more hiding place. That time has gone by and we face the judgment. All who remain unforgiven and destined for an eternity of wrath and facing the just penalty for their own sins.
What kind of people ought we to be?
If you do not know Christ, now is the time to seek Him. You cannot be found without His protection and covering on your life. If you die unrepentant, or if the Lord should return, you will have missed your opportunity to come to the Lord and be in that celestial gathering forever. You will face the penalty for your sin alone forever.
If you are a Christian, then the reality of this situation that is surely coming, must grip you and you must tell the ones you love about their predicament. You cannot be so cold hearted to withhold the warnings and not tell those you say you love.
These facts that this world will end and we face eternal; judgment and justice, must impact on our lives.
“Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.”
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.”
Revelation 6:9
There have been countless people killed for there fact that they love Christ and refuse to recant the doctrines of the faith that they hold dearest to them than their own lives. They are purposefully put the death for believing in the Lord and standing by the truth of the Word of God. This picture we have here, in the vision shows us the waiting souls who have suffered in this way and who’s lives have been stolen from them by evil.
These souls are crying out for justice, for they have experienced no justice on earth, but have been unfairly treated and lost their very lives for their faith. They cry out to God for justice. This is a godly mindset. Justice is so important and we must tend that tender plant with great care. The flame of justice must burn in the human heart and we do all we can to keep it alive and burning. God will work out justice for all in the end, even these who have died for His sake so unjustly and with such a loss.
The comfort of the martyrs is the purity of Christ which they now enjoy. All their sins are covered over and fully dealt with and they are free from the taint of their sins. They wear the white robes of righteousness and enjoy the close and constant fellowship of the Lord. They are instructed to rest, for God is working out His purposes for them and for the glory of Himself and His kingdom here on earth. All the elect people of God must be gathered in and the martyrs wait for that glorious time when the daughters and sons of the kingdom are fully revealed. Then God will carry out vengeance against those who have opposed Him and have caused His precious people to suffer and be so denied their right to living. H will bring about all justice with all mercy and according to His eternal purposes.
“Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste.”
Deuteronomy 32:35
God will work out the justice for every living soul. Everyone will have the due recompense for their souls and mindset. This is fearful for those who are not the beloved and who refuse Christ, but the offer of mercy still stands, even for those who murder His servants. The door of mercy is so wide, and is easily accessible. We are sorry for what we have done and repent of it and turn away. God is willing to forgive all those who come to Him in humility and faith.
But justice will be served on all who refuse God and the provision of grace. All who have opposed His gospel and carried out acts of violence against Him will suffer the result of their deeds and lack of faith.
The truth of this is clear and the Apostle Paul instructs us in our attitude to vengeance. Vengeance does not belong to us but to the Lord and we wait patiently for the outworking of that vengeance, carried out in mercy and love towards those who love Him.
“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”
Romans 12:17-19
We are not to wish evil for anyone, but wait for the grace of God to be revealed. We do not understand God’s ways and they certainly are not our ways, but we trust in Him to work all things out for the good of those who love Him.
“To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honour, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!” The four living creatures said, “Amen!” The elders fell down and worshiped.”
Revelation 5:13-14
Jesus is called the Lamb of God, in John chapter 1
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
John 1:29
John was the messenger sent to prepare the way for the Lamb of God. Jesus came into the world to make a sacrifice of Himself for the sin of the world. He came to pay the price of sin so that sinful people could be forgiven and know God on a personal basis. This was His crowning glory. All heaven gazed at the sight of the King of the Universe giving His life for the sake of people who did not care for Him or love Him.
Those who hear the message of forgiveness for their sin and respond in repentance and faith are given new lives and become part of the kingdom of heaven. Their names become significant and they recorded in heaven forever. They are the eternal people of God.
“But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
Revelation 21:27
These people of God are over-comers of sin and death because of their Saviour Jesus and what He did for them. They love Him and put Him as the centre of their lives and become obedient to His word. They are triumphant over the insidious power and hold of sin in their lives and are not longer subservient to it.
“And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God. They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.”
Revelation 12:10-11
This is the victory of the Christian. We conquer death and sin through the shed blood of the redeemer, Christ the Saviour. Because He has shed His blood and paid the price for our sin and is the Redeemer, we are set free for the power of sin and do not have to follow its slavish ways. The power of the blood of Christ has set us free from the death and hell that stalks the lives of every human being. We are set free from it, because of what Jesus did. He his the perfect Lamb of God, and is therefore able to take away sin.
“They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”
Revelation 17:14
The enemies of Christ and His kingdom will rise up against the people of God and seek to overcome them with violence and death. They will make war against the Lamb, but the triumphant Lamb of God will overcome them, because of who He is and what He has already done. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and those who are with Him are over-comers too, not just at the end of time, but also in their lives as they are called to live them in the here and now.
On that great day at the end of time, the Lamb will finally put an end to sin and death for His people forever. The curse of sin and death will be finally and forever broken for them, and they will enter into their eternal inheritance with Christ. We shall be free from the pull of sin for good and be able to worship the Lamb, The Lord Jesus Christ, perfectly, and with great joy.
“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him.”
Revelation 22:3
Others will face the lamb of God as their final judge and they will be afraid of the power He possesses over them. They will receive the final judgement of their souls and be lost without the forgiveness they need to enter heaven.
“And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”
Revelation 6:16
Let us seek the Lord while there is still time and we still have the inclination. We dare not face the Lamb of God with our sins and the attendant death that follows us, and hearts that remain away from His love. He is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world and He ever lives to save all those who come to Him and put their faith and trust in Him.
“behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him.”
Revelation 6:8
The fourth and final horse is the most devastating and frightening of them all. It is almost no colour. It is pale and insipid and wan, but has the power to usher human souls and bodies into eternity. When he visits the soul, the life on earth of over and we enter our eternal rest or eternal punishment. What we have trusted in will designate us to the place where we should go. The judgment is already set forth in the Holy Scriptures that those who die in Christ are forever safe in His eternal care and those who die without the Lord Jesus as their Saviour face death and hell alone.
The pale horse has a rider like the other horses. He his called “Death.” His name is Death and he brings hell close behind. this phenomenon is personified to give effect to its power and authority to affect every human soul. This is not the death of the Christian, because there is no hell following for the Christian believer. This is the second death, the death that leads to eternity without the Lord. Its the death of the soul, the death that never ends, for it is the eternal punishment for all who have rejected God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the great final ending to a sinful life, where there has been no repentance of faith and therefore the penalty of sin must be faced alone and forever.
This rider is here for a warning to us. God is no easy touch and will not forgive sins without the necessary recompense. There is no forgiveness outside of Christ and we dare not face this rider without Him.
The judgment is coming and we cannot think of facing it alone. Death is coming for all, and we must be ready. Those who face this devastating rider on the Pale horse will not survive the judgment, for it is too dreadful for words. The destiny of the soul will be destruction and separation for the loving god forever.
In Chapter one John sees a vision of the risen and glorified Christ.
“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.”
Revelation 1:18
From these words we gain the ultimate comfort for our souls. We gain the only refuge that is to be found – in CHRIST. He is the only Saviour and the only one who can save us for this devastating foe, that we cannot beat. No one can conquer death outside of Jesus Christ, as He is the one who has conquered death through His own death and resurrection. This is how we know He is who He says He is and thatHe is able to save all those who come to Him. This is the eternal provision of our loving God, that we can escape the consequences fo our own foolish sin and be free from the fear of this enemy of our bodies and souls.
this rider also signifies the insipid sate of the church of Jesus Christ at the end times. The power and authority are becoming pale like the rider, and the testimony of the church is fading in the midst of a wicked world. Surely we can see this in our day, where the church of Jesus Christ is full of issues and problems, divisions and schism, which make is weaker and weaker. Other religions seem to be thriving above the Truth and the scene is set for the end time. The Lord will return soon, to rescue His church and put an end to the wickedness that corrupts everything. H will come when he last elect person for salvation is brought into the kingdom and all the people of God are complete. We must make sure we are not left out.
“Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near.Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”
“Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates. But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
“And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand.”
Revelation 6:5
The Lamb has opened the seal of the book, as He is the only worthy one to do so. Now, coming riding out from the pages, is a Black horse, full of power and destruction. He has the power to destroy commerce and business and can bring the nations into destitution and destitution. He will destroy the world through the havoc he wages on the markets of the commercial area of life, and bring people into poverty and famine. The wheat and barley are the staple of life and are made so expensive that no-one can buy them or afford them to support their own life. Life is becoming very thin. People are dying for lack of basic foods. The oil and the wine are unaffected.
This is how nations are brought down. This is how the spite of the enemy attacks the souls of mortal women and men destroys them. The wine is spared for it is also a destroyer. We lack real food and eat junk and fill our minds with the dullness of alcohol to stem the tide of boredom and pain. Societies are ruined by this and whole communities are lost to the demon of drinking too much. We fill our souls with the media and the junk food that is spewed out to us through television and other media sources. We are languishing and we don’t know it or recognise it. The dark rider is polluting our lives and our minds and we must waken up and face His strategies.
We are facing spiritual famine like never before since the dark ages. We are facing persecution on a grand and subtle scale, as is written about the church at Smyrna. They faced poverty and oppression in the physical and spiritual sense, and we face it in a spiritual and mindset sense too. We are assaulted every day by advertising, media, news on radio and televisions, not to mention the crass and low programmes on that medium. Our spiritual life is being sawn asunder by the powers of hell and our lives are being ruined by the onslaught of this rider on the Black horse. He is destroying everything and we are letting him do so in the name of progress.
All is vanity and pride. the hidden things of darkness are now made manifest and accepted by so called “Christian” organisations and groups. The church is in a bad state and no one speaks. We are persecuted and don’t even know it. The breath of our spiritual life is slowly being strangled out of us, and we accept it as the normal progress of things. It is the normal progress of the world, which is down. We are living in unprecedented days. We have so much and so little at the same time. The rider on the Black horse is destroying the fabric of commerce and we are overtaken with disease and famine, of body and soul. Christians have lost their eyes to see it, for like the church in Ephesus, we have left our first love and have sunk down into gradual depravity of soul. Our Lord Jesus is not so precious to us and we are not looking to the skies where He will surely come soon.
The church now accepts all sorts of false doctrine, and error is everywhere. The people, are not taught, so there is no discernment. To search for truth is very difficult because the media has become so contaminated. The place to seek the Lord has ceased to become church and people are facing the spiritual famine with no reprieve and no hope of life. Where are we to go?
The Scripture is our only hope. We must fly to the Words of the only Saviour and seek Him in the pages of the Word of God. We must search for ourselves and glean what we can from the fields. Christians need to get strong in the Lord and go out and spread the Word from street to street and for person to person. The war is now hand to hand combat and the days of big works is over. We must build again from the ground up if we are to rescue our precious societies.
Only the Word of God can stop the Black horse with its rider.
“Another came forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword.”
Revelation 6:2
Out of the opened seal of the book of time and history and the story of the gospel of Jesus Christ, comes the red horse, rampant and blood red, and the rider has a great sword. The rider is none other than the bringer of sin and death into the world, Satan. He is given the power and authority, signified by the sword, to take peace, harmony and happiness away from the earth. It is not the whole planet earth, as signified by the troubles in chapter eight, where only proportions of the earth are ruined by the judgments that fall from heaven with the seven trumpets.
The rider on the red horse brings serious blood shed to human communities. This red horse denotes the time after the glorious victory of the gospel, a mighty gospel that spread like fire across the world with the Apostles and the early church.
The glory and blessing of that time is now plunged into bloody wars and deep persecution due to the hardness of human hearts and the godlessness that haunts our psyche, even when religion takes a hold. The purity of Christianity starts to be contaminated by error and the ideas of conquest with the power of force. So begins wars that claim the lives of thousands upon thousands, and oppress the church of Jesus Christ. The history of that time is full as massacres, and dreadful bloodletting in the name of Christianity and the name of progress.
The judgment of God falls on the enemies of the cross and the blood-letting pours out on Christian people, many who die terribly by the edge of the sword. The rider is the lover of war and stirring up hatred and strife between peoples. He is the hater of humankind and is shot through with jealousy at the provision of spiritual salvation for the human race. He lives for spite and loves violence and bloodshed. Emperors and rulers do his work and much violence stalks the history of humankind from this point. The white horse and the red horse seem to ride simultaneously through human history, since peace always eludes the human community and bloodshed is rife in our world.
“I had a vision in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.”
Zechariah 1:8
Zechariah has a vision of the rider on the red horse. The world is at peace at this point, for the restraining power of the Spirit keeps the peace, but not for ever. The rider is given the authority to disturb the peace and wreck havoc on the minds and hearts of humankind. The red horse has always waited in the wings for the day when he can rent his wrath and spill out the war which is his nature. This is the meaning of the vision of the rider on the red horse.
Daughters of the Kingdom 