The Last Word – Revelation 6
Four Horsemen and Souls Under the Altar
September 13, 2020
We have just celebrated the magnificent scenes from Revelation 4 and 5, so the next chapter should be about victory, right?
Not so fast! The world is indeed a mess and we get introduced to four horsemen!
Revelation 1 – Jesus
Revelation 2-3 – Church
Revelation 4-5 – Worship
Only when we know Jesus, love the church and enter into worship, can we then confront the evils in our world.
Revelation 6:1-8 NIV
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.
We see the heartaches of all human history in these four horsemen.
These are the deep wounds in our world, and deep evils that must still be confronted. We’re in a battle!
White horse – Human desire to conquer and dominate other humans.
Think Hitler or Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan
We get what we want from competition not cooperation. Its greed gone crazy.
Fiery red horse – Murder and violence
Black horse – economic oppression and famine
Famine is nature out of balance. Necessities are scarce but luxuries are mockingly abundant.
Pale Horse – sickness and disease
If God’s new creation is to be brought to birth, the deepest ills of the old one must be exposed and dealt with.
Revelation 6:9-11 NIV
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.
These are faithful people who were martyred because of their witness.
They ask a very good question: “How long until you put an end to this ugliness?”
Psalm 74:10-11 NIV
How long will the enemy mock you, God? Will the foe revile your name forever 11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!”
This is what we want from God – “destroy them!”
The church has always called evil by its right name. We should always point out injustice and call for justice.
We should always point out evil, but first we should point out the evil in our own lives.
Only when we know Jesus, love the church and enter into worship, can we then confront the evils in our world.
