On March 11, 2004, terrorists exploded 10 bombs in Madrid, Spain, killing almost 200, wounding another 1,800. Two months later there was a scare in Philadelphia. It was May 5th, and a conductor for Pennsylvania's transit authority discovered something frightening on the tracks near Philly's massive 30th street station. It was an electronic transmitter, planted alongside the tracks in the commuter rail yard. Agents from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI soon swarmed the scene. Investigators discovered that the mysterious gadget was in fact a motion detector designed to send a signal to a nearby receiver. Tension mounted.
Finally, a train mechanic stepped forward and admitted installing the transmitter. Was he a terrorist, or a disgruntled employee looking for revenge? No, the mechanic worked the graveyard shift and had installed the motion detector to sound an alarm in his work area whenever his supervisor was approaching. That way he could safely take a nap; if the alarm went off, he could get up and look busy when the boss showed up. (Jere Downs, “Device Found by Tracks,” Philadelphia Inquirer; www. PreachingToday.com)
Let me tell you: the “Boss” is about to show up. “Alarms” are going off all over the world, pointing to the very soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When that happens, the dead in Christ will rise from their graves, and we who know the Lord, we who are believers in Christ will be “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
That’s wonderful, but those who are left behind on this earth will go through seven years of tribulation. They will go through seven years of hardship, such as the world has never known before we return with Christ to set up His Kingdom.
Now, I believe that that time of tribulation is very near. Like I said, alarms pointing to Christ's arrival are going off all over the world. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to the book of Revelation, chapter 6, Revelation 6, where we’ll see the first six of those alarms.
Revelation 6:1-2 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. (ESV)
The beginning of the tribulation starts with the arrival of a champion.
THERE WILL BE WORLD-WIDE CONQUEST
A conqueror will appear on the scene. A victorious leader will come riding on a white horse.
When Rome’s generals would return from war victorious, they would parade down main street on a white horse. This is a war hero we have here. The bow speaks of military might, and the crown is a champion’s crown. He has been victorious in battle, and now he returns home to celebrate his victory. He’s got the Medal of Honor (so to speak), and he is parading up and down the streets to receive the praise of the people.
Let me tell you, the people of the world are looking for such a hero today. They are looking for someone in our war on terror, who can bring peace to a desperate situation.
Can you imagine the praise someone would get who solves the threat of terrorism around the world fomented by ISIS, the Boko Haram, and Al Qaeda? Can you imagine the admiration someone would get who seems to eliminate the threat of nuclear war coming from Iran and North Korea? Can you imagine the honor someone would get who could broker a treaty that seems to bring peace to the Middle East? The people of the world would fall in line to follow such a man, and that’s exactly the picture we have here in Revelation 6.
Daniel 9 tells us that the Tribulation starts when this “ruler who will come” brokers a 7-year peace treaty in the Middle East. Now, if anyone can pull that off and make it stick for just a couple of years, that one would be considered a hero and would quickly rise to prominence on the world stage. The stage is set, my friends.
Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 tell us that this “hero” will be the leader of a revived Roman empire. Now, the ancient Roman Empire stretched from Great Britain in the north down through Europe. It ringed the Mediterranean basin and extended into some parts of the Middle East.
I find it amazing that many of these same nations are coming together in the European Union. They include nations from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and even Turkey, which is now in the process of joining. That was not possible before the breakup of the Soviet Union.
The European Union, as we see it today, is not the revived Roman Empire talked about in Bible prophecy, but it surely provides the infrastructure for such an Empire. And the stage is indeed set for a world ruler to arise from this area.
Just a couple of years ago (August 2013), a select group of European Union foreign ministers met to begin working on a plan to create a super president for the European Union. Such a position would merge the roles of the presidents of the European Union Council and the European Commission.
This super president of the European Union would then play the major role in economic policy for the 27 member states of the European Union. He would have also responsibility for the direction of the European Union foreign policy. Add to that the fact that the European Union has plans for a military force in the near future, and you can see that this super president would have control of any European military operations, as well. (Jimmy DeYoung’s News Update, August 20, 2013; http://news.prophecytoday.com/2013_08_20_archive.html)
Let me tell you: the White Horse of the Apocalypse is on the horizon. Only instead of world-wide peace and harmony, the white horse will give rise to a red horse.
THERE WILL BE WORLD-WIDE CONFLICT.
Instead of a new world order, the world’s champion will create a new world disorder.
Revelation 13 calls this champion a “beast.” 2 Thessalonians 2 calls him “the man of lawlessness.” 1 John 2 calls him “the antichrist;” and as such, he will plunge the world into war!
Revelation 6:3-4 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. (ESV)
The “red horse” speaks of bloodshed, and the “great sword” speaks of enormous bloodshed. Men will “slay” each other – literally, they’ll slaughter each other; they’ll butcher each other all over the world. &
That’s exactly what we’re beginning to see happening right now. There has been a marked increase in the number of wartime fatalities since 2008.
According to The Guardian, 63 armed conflicts led to 56,000 fatalities in 2008, whereas 180,000 people – more than three times as many – died in 42 conflicts last year (2014). That number is now up to 48 armed conflicts going on this month – July 2015. (Knoema; http://knoema.com/ jngplk/ongoing-armed-conflicts-2015)
The numbers reflect the extremely violent fighting in Syria and Iraq and deaths in Afghanistan increasing following the withdrawal of western combat troops.
The data is contained in the first armed conflict survey published by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in April of this year (2015).
The study found the number of displaced people exceeded 50 million in 2013. It warned that civilian populations continue to pay the price of conflicts in short-term dislocation and the longer-term impact of the collapse of government services, particularly education, healthcare and economic development. The World Bank estimates that 1.5 billion people, roughly one fifth of the world’s population, are affected by some form of violence or insecurity today.
These conflicts cause widespread destruction, increasing numbers of displaced people and refugees, and the risk of “ungovernable megacities.” (Richard Norton-Taylor, “Global armed conflicts becoming more deadly, major study finds”, The Guardian, May 20, 2015; www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ may/20/armed-conflict-deaths-increase-syria-iraq-afghanistan-yemen)
Let me tell you: the Red Horse of the Apocalypse is on the horizon.
Now, this passage in Revelation gives us a general description of war during the tribulation, but other passages of Scripture spell out some of the specifics.
For example, Ezekiel 38 talks about a Russian-Arab alliance against Israel. There, it mentions the land of Magog, which Josephus, an ancient historian, identifies as the land North and Northeast of the Black Sea and East of the Arial Sea. That’s the land now occupied by Russia. That nation will unite with Persia, according to Ezekiel 38, which is modern-day Iran.
Then they, in an alliance with other Arab and African nations, will attack Israel, but they will be defeated in what can only be described as a nuclear holocaust. In Ezekiel 38:22 God says, “I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.”
I find it interesting that Russia is allied with Iran today. In fact, Russia has signed an accord with Iran that will commit them to fight on the side of Islam in the next Arab-Israeli war! (Hal Lindsey, Planet Earth—AD 2000, p.201)
My friends, the stage is set for the events of the Tribulation described in the Bible. The White Horse and the Red Horse are just on the horizon, like never before in earth’s history.
But that’s not all. The white horse and the red horse give rise to a black horse. Non only will there be world-wide conquest and world-wide conflict…
THERE WILL BE WORLD-WIDE HUNGER.
World-wide conflict will bring world-wide famine. People will be starving all over the earth.
Revelation 6:5-6 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!” (ESV)
Food will be so scarce that you will have to spend a whole day’s wages (a denarius) just to buy one meal. That’s about $100 in today’s economy. Or if you’re very careful, you might get three meals for $100. But the luxuries won’t be touched – There will be plenty of oil and wine.
Writer Jack Kelley, nominated for a Pulitzer prize, talks about the time he visited Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in East Africa, during a famine. They walked into one village and everybody was dead, except one little boy. Kelly says, “There is a stench of death that gets into your hair, gets onto your skin, gets onto your clothes, and you can't wash it off.”
Well, they saw this little boy, which they could tell had worms and was malnourished. His stomach was protruding. His hair had turned a reddish color, and his skin was crinkled as though he were 100 years old.
Their photographer had a grapefruit, which he gave to the boy. The boy was so weak he didn't have the strength to hold the grapefruit, so they cut it in half and gave it to him. He picked it up, looked at Kelly and his party, and began to walk back towards his village.
Jack Kelly and his party followed the little boy in a way that he couldn’t see them. When he entered the village, there on the ground was another little boy they thought was dead. His eyes were completely glazed over. It turned out that this was his younger brother.
The older brother kneeled down next to his younger brother, bit off a piece of the grapefruit, and chewed it. Then he opened up his younger brother's mouth, put the grapefruit in, and worked his brother's jaw up and down. They learned later that the older brother had been doing that for the younger brother for two weeks.
A couple days later the older brother died of malnutrition, but the younger brother lived. Jack Kelly says, “I remember driving home that night thinking, I wonder if this is what Jesus meant when he said, ‘There is no greater love than to lay down our life for somebody else.’” (Jack Kelley, from his message “The Stories Behind the Headlines,” given at Evangelical Press Association convention, May 2000; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s a sad story, but there are going to be a lot of situations like that, all over the world, during the Tribulation. It’s hard to imagine when we have so much food in our own pantries; but Dr. George Borgstrom, a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition at Michigan State University, now deceased, had some dire words of warning in his book Hungry Planet first published in 1965. He said that no part of the world is more than one year away from critical starvation in the event of a serious crop failure – except the United States. We are only two years away! (George Borgstrom, The Hungry Planet: The Modern World at the Edge of Famine, 1972)
Today, according to the World Food Programme, there are about 800 million undernourished people in the world today. That means one in nine people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. In fact, hunger and malnutrition are the number one risk to health worldwide — greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. (World Food Programme, 2015)
The stage is set for the events of the Tribulation described right here in Revelation 6. The White Horse, the Red Horse and the Black Horse are just on the horizon.
Then following them will be the Pale Horse. Following world-wide conquest, world-wide conflict, and world-wide hunger…
THERE WILL BE WORLD-WIDE DEATH.
Millions of people all over the world will die.
Revelation 6:7-8 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades (or the grave) followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. (ESV)
One-fourth of the world’s population will die! The current population of the world is nearly 7.3 billion people. That means more than 1.8 billion people would die in this first wave of trouble during the tribulation. They’ll die as a result of war and famine, but they’ll also die as a result of disease and wild animals. As you well know, the threat of biological warfare is on the rise.
According to The Science Times, in January of this year (2015), the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that they were evaluating jihadist militants associated with ISIS, who may have contracted the virus responsible for Ebola. This prompted concerns that ISIS may in fact be able to obtain a biological weapon unlike anything the world has seen before.
Christy Feig, the World Health Organization director, said they had “no official notification from the Iraqi government that it is Ebola,” but the possibility creates some serious problems. That’s because ISIS does not believe in modern medicine and an outbreak in an ISIS-controlled area like Mosul could be a breeding ground for the ever-mutating virus.
But worst of all, The Science Times says, “Should ISIS isolate the virus for themselves, the entire western world may find soon enough that the Ebola virus could be the worst weapon known to man. (Ryan Wallace, “Biological Warfare on the Horizon? ISIS Soldiers May Be Infected With Ebola”, The Science Times, January 5, 2015; www.sciencetimes.com/articles/2395/20150105/ biological-warfare-on-the-horizon-isis-soldiers-may-be-infected-with-ebola.htm)
Just a year ago (2014), we were very concerned about Ebola spreading around the world. Several countries banned flights from West Africa, where thousands of cases were reported. Some people in our own country were treated for Ebola, but thankfully this terrible and deadly disease was contained. According to Time magazine’s website this last week, “In May Liberia was declared Ebola-free.” However, by July 1, officials announced the country has new cases of the disease. So far, Ebola has infected over 27,690 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, killing over 11,260. (Alexandra Sifferlin, “Ebola Doctor Recounts His Battle with the Virus in New Book,” Time, July 21, 2015; http://time.com/3965989/ebola-survivor-brantly-book/)
So Ebola remains a very real threat, especially if terrorists groups like ISIS get a hold of the virus. Add to that the fact that AIDS has devastated whole countries in Africa and has become the leading cause of death in some of our major cities. In addition, tuberculosis, malaria and cholera are on the rise again, as well.
There’s no question, the stage is set for world-wide plagues to devastate the planet just as it’s predicted here in Revelation 6. The White Horse, the Red Horse, the Black Horse and the Pale Horse are ALL just on the horizon.
That can only mean one thing! Jesus is coming very soon, because everything is in place for the events of the Tribulation to follow. Everything is in place for world-wide conquest, world-wide conflict, world-wide hunger, and world-wide death.
I don’t have the time to go into the rest of the chapter, which describes the murder of millions of God’s people, people who will come to faith in Christ during the Tribulation (vs. 9-11).
Already, the number Christian martyrs is on the rise. Open Doors USA reported at the beginning of the year (January 7, 2015), that “Christian persecution reached historic levels in 2014, with approximately 100 million Christians around the world facing possible dire consequences for merely practicing their religion…” If current trends persist, many believe 2015 could be even worse. (Jonathan Merritt, “Persecution of Christians reached historic levels in 2014. Will 2015 be worse?” Religious News Service, January 7, 2015; www.religionnews.com/2015/01/07/persecution-christians-reached-historic-levels-2014-will-2015-worse/)
Revelation 6 also describes an earthquake of such a magnitude that every mountain and island will be moved out of its place (vs.12-14). Millions and millions of people will die, and the rest will wish they were dead.
Revelation 6:15-17 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (ESV)
The Tribulation will be a terrible time for those who are left on this earth, but the good news is: You don’t need to be left behind. When Jesus comes, He will take every believer out of this world. He will remove everyone who has put their trust in Him to spend eternity with Him.
Are you ready for His coming? Are you ready to be taken out of this world? Or are you going to be left behind to be trampled underfoot by the four horsemen?
In A.D. 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted and wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The explosion of the volcano was so sudden, the residents were killed while in their daily routine: men and women were at the market, the rich in their luxurious baths, and slaves at work. They died amid volcanic ash and superheated gasses. Even family pets suffered the same quick and final fate. It takes little imagination to picture their panic on that terrible day.
The saddest part is that these people did not have to die. Scientists confirm what ancient Roman writers record – weeks of rumblings and shakings preceded the actual explosion. Even an ominous plume of smoke was clearly visible from the mountain days before the eruption. If only they had been able to read and respond to Vesuvius’ warning! (Michael Bogart, Lemoore, California, Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 4; www.PreachingToday.com)
There are similar “rumblings” in our world: the search for a man of peace, war, famine and disease are all on the rise. The signs are clear. We don’t need to be caught unaware.
If you’ve never put your trust in Christ, I urge you to call upon Him today. Ask Him to save you from your sins, and escape the wrath to come.
If you’ve already done that, then look up and rejoice, for your redemption draws nigh. Jesus is coming very soon!
