Like other prophecy, Revelation has a layered quality. Some say it is about the Roman Empire beginning with 70 AD. Some say it is about all time since Christ. Others say it is about the last days.
I say, yes it is.
One interpretation does not necessarily negate another. Rather, like much prophecy, there are multiple ways to see it, and all of them are right.
• So, I believe the troubles discussed in this book had great relevance to the Jews and the Christians during the persecutions of Rome in the first and second centuries
• I believe we can see some of the things unfolding in history and in the news papers as indicators that Jesus plan is unfolding
• I believe these things will happen in the future, associated with the Day of the LORD
I don't believe Revelation can be interpreted as a time-table chart to track the exact times and durations of events in the last seven years leading up to the final coming of Jesus. I believe in some way, the schedule suggested by the events applies, but I don't believe any prophecy is so clear as to leave us able to track the future with an accuracy that rivals our ability to track the past. That kind of thinking denies the mystery that is implicit in all prophecy and denies the Spirit of God who also lives in people who disagree with such an approach.
1st Seal: The conqueror
Who is this first rider? It is a very difficult question. On the one hand, white (the horse's color) is invariably associated with righteousness in Revelation, including a white horse that Jesus Himself is later pictured as riding. On the other hand, the other four riders are clearly forces of destruction. Some associate this rider with Jesus, others with an ultimately evil figure. Both can be argued well with references to clearly parallel scriptures. An actual dilemma.
Here are two things Jesus Himself says:
• Many will come in the last days claiming to be Messiah and trying to deceive you
• Before the painful "birth pangs" begin, the gospel must be preached in all nations
In the spirit of the "both / and" method of interpreting Revelation, I will say this rider could represent both. Jesus is clear that in the last days (and in other times as well) deceivers will come, so they will appear to be righteous and allowed in their time to disrupt the church. On the other hand, the earliest interpreters of Revelation saw here a reference to Matthew's gospel:
the white horse is the word of preaching with the Holy Spirit sent into the world. For the Lord says, "This Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world for a testimony to all nations, and then shall come the end." (Victorinus)
Since the fire fell at Pentecost and the disciples spilled from the upper room speaking the gospel in the languages of the travelers all around them, this word of the Gospel has been conquering. The Good News of Jesus is the seed of the largest religion in the world and the call of every believer to continue. It has not yet reached every corner of the globe, but it has been broadly dispersed. If John wept to see the scroll opened and the seals revealed, then it is our own burden to accompany the rider of the first horse and to bring the gospel to the world.
Also, the end will be accompanied by a great falling away. Jesus warned that many would claim to be Messiah and it is true. Though, for the most part, they remain more obscure, there are people who can be found at almost any time who claim to be the Messiah. Some claim to be Jesus Himself. Beyond these blatant impostors, there are many religions that claim to be compatible with the Christian Gospel in one way or another.
It sounds proud and it's not popular to say it, but I will:
When it comes to the Bible, if doesn't sound like something you could learn here, be careful of trusting it.
There are lots of radio and TV preachers: some very good, most mediocre, some downright spiritually harmful. Some people will come to your door, and their message will sound very similar to some of the things you will hear here. After a little conversation they will say things that should raise red flags:
• We also read this other book
• This particular leader is the only one we trust
• Jesus is not the only way
Be especially leery of religions who want to focus too much on good clean values. If all they can talk about is values, then their theology is different in a significant way, even though their "values" look the same as yours.
• Some will look good and ride out to conquer the world with falsehood
• The Gospel will go forth to conquer with the truth of Jesus
And then more seals will open.
The 2nd Seal: War
The rider of the red horse, with a big sword brings conflict and death. War, of course, has always been with us and will be with us till the Prince of Peace brings it all to a close. As of 2010, there are more than 20 major civil and international conflicts involving, among others, the nations of:
India
Afghanistan
Somalia
Iraq
Pakistan
Mexico
Myanmar
Iran
Israel
Nigeria
Colombia
Peru
Indonesia
the Philippines
Turkey
Iraqi Kurdistan
Ethiopia
Algeria
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Tunisia
Thailand
Chad
Eritrea
Russia
U.S.A.
Yemen
7 of these wars involve at least 1000 deaths per year. The others have had a combined death toll of 10s of thousands over the course of the conflict.
Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars signaling the coming of the end. There is not a time in history that somebody, somewhere in the world must have been imagining the world was coming to an end. In this way, these prophecies can be said to be continuously unfolding. But it can and will get worse.
The 3rd seal: Famine
The rider on the black horse brings economic disaster, most readily seen in food shortages. Interestingly, this does not effect the "wine and the oil" or the more expensive, luxury items. As always, the famine of the apocalypse will affect primarily the poor.
When Dawn and I were in Northern Kenya, I saw first hand the effects of famine on both large and small scales. In our circles,
• To go between meals without a snack is unusual
• To miss a meal out of necessity is rare
• To go a day without food is usually a spiritual choice and not a matter of hardship
• For one of us to go longer would be cause for alarm
In Africa, there were many people who showed the physical signs of malnutrition. Even those school children who ate every day because of the distributions of World Vision, only got a couple meals their families could not afford.
Those who could afford food could not always get what they needed. While we were there, we saw several flour shortages and occasional shortages of other kinds. During these times, the only way to get the food you were looking for was to travel for days to another place that had it.
And Kenya is not on the extreme famine watch lists.
Every day over 25,000 people die of hunger. That's over 1,000 people an hour. In other words, as many people die of hunger every hour as are killed in the world's deadliest wars in a year. One person every 3 seconds ... most often, children.
If the effects of death by famine in the world today were concentrated in this room, the whole congregation of 30 - 50 people would be wiped out in under 3 minutes. We wouldn't even get through one song.
Jesus said that famine would come. And it will get worse before it gets better.
The 4th seal: Death and Hades
This is no surprise. Once we have calculated the effects of the wars and the hunger going on in the world, death is a natural follow up. Hades, in this case, is another word for "The Grave." In other words, when Death comes riding down, the afterlife is quick to follow. The reason I say "The Grave" and not "Hell" which is another translation of "Hades", is because of the fifth seal and because of the words of Jesus in the Gospel. It is clear that much of what is happening with the first seals effects primarily believers.
I have long since abandoned the teachings I grew up with that insisted the events in Revelation are meant to effect only unbelievers. This simply is not consistent with the teaching of the Bible. The trouble described here and in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 is a warning to Christians about how trouble is coming to those who follow Christ before the ultimate expression of the Kingdom takes full form.
He also says that the trouble that will come at the end will exceed anything history has ever known. In this passage, we are told that the wars and famines to come will effect 1/4 of the world's population ... perhaps not over night, but eventually.
And that brings us to:
The 5th Seal: The cry of the martyrs
Under the altar of God live the spirits of those who have suffered violent death for their faith. The word Martyr simply means "witness". However, early in Christian history, people who witnessed to the gospel of Jesus were so readily singled out for murder that the two words merged. Martyrdom is now the word we use to describe people executed for their faith.
All the Apostles except John were killed in this way. By the time John wrote Revelation it was becoming commonplace.
But make no mistake, this is not an ancient problem. Since the turn of the century at least 100 Christians in 40 countries have been killed for their faith. Just this past Christmas, as Coptic Christians in Egypt were leaving their midnight worship service, 9 of them were gunned down in automatic weapons fire. Apparently the target was the Bishop who was spared. This is not strictly a Muslim problem. Communist and Drug Cartel countries like Colombia are among the guiltiest of this problem.
I am especially moved by a story from last October, of Pervaiz Masih, a Christian janitor at a women's complex in the International Islamic University in Pakistan who purposely blocked the way of a suicide bomber who was trying to reach hundreds of women in the cafeteria. While the bomber was delayed, his device detonated. Three girls, the bomber and the Christian janitor were killed. Like Jesus, because of Jesus, he laid down His life for many who did not even believe.
At the time of the 5th seal, they cry out for justice, but they are given robes to symbolize their righteousness and are told to wait a little longer ... till after the 6th seal.
The 6th seal: The Great Cataclysm
Jesus warned in the gospel that this too would affect believers. The exact nature of this calamity is hard to pin down. It involves the disruption of the earth and sky, the mountains and the moon, the sun and the stars. Whatever the nature of the disaster is, it is well documented in the Bible: Joel, the Gospels, Acts, and here in Revelation. Suffice it to say that it will be a time of darkness and destruction: enough to make the bravest cower in fear. The judgement of God will cause the sinful to prefer death to facing Him.
But this is not the end
This is part of an ongoing story that continues for half the book of Revelation. We will not complete the story in this series. The seals continue into trumpets that represent God's judgement, until the last trumpet which represents the ultimate coming of the Kingdom. Revelation, like all prophecy is full of warning punctuated with hope. Just as the martyrs of the 5th seal were told to wait and their hope would come, we should be reminded that hope is held out to all God's people.
These terrible things are not to be feared but prepared for. Repeatedly in the Bible we are told that endurance is part of exercising our faith. Like all other exercise, challenges like those we see here cannot be faced unless we prepare for them. Just as you cannot start by running a marathon, but must begin by walking a mile, so facing trouble is something we must take into account with our faith.
What trouble are you facing?
It could be many types of things, and you, likely have been praying all the while. But where is your faith?
Faith is an expression of trust.
Is God with you in your trouble?
He said He would be.
Do you believe it?
You said you were putting your faith in Jesus.
Are you?
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.
If you have said your faith is in Jesus, and He said, He would never leave you
Then you must believe He is by your side and that His love for you is as real as the day you trusted Him.
Sometimes, this involves a tenacious holding on, like the waiting of the martyrs, reassured that God will give them justice, and given only a white robe to bide their time.
Jesus is there
Talk to Him
Read His words
Allow others to remind you of His love
Sometimes we make it through a hard time only to look back and see that Jesus was there all the time. The true exercise of faith is holding on to that belief even when it isn't obvious, and coming to the end, looking back and knowing that you held on. It is like running the whole mile. It is only after running the whole mile you can feel confident to prepare to run two.
For this I recommend Psalm 23
Too many people see it as a psalm of comfort, when David wrote it as a psalm of trust. He was reflecting on How God was with him in times of trouble and how He experienced God's presence during those times, comfort in the shadow, peace when facing enemies.
Psalm 23 is not a comfort to be read at my funeral
It is a reminder to be reviewed while I'm living
I also like to recommend people to use St. Patrick's Breastplate in their prayers during troubling times. It is printed for you. It is something to be recited like a prayer and a reminder to yourself of the attitudes that should characterize your day.
We must take steps now to increase our faith if it will hold in times of trouble. Like a muscle, it must be worked in order to be made stronger. The way we act in faith now, will determine if we are able to act in faith when our circumstances are slightly more difficult.
