Revelation 6:1-6
As we move forward in the book of Revelation there will be many points in which we may say that we can see some of these things happening right now but we need to be cautious not to have any thoughts of confirmation that we are in the midst of the end times.
Matthew 24:36 ~ “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Every generation including the generation of Jesus' time saw and thought they were in the end times and all were wrong.
So why do I mention this you may be asking. I have seen far too many churches being hyper focused on the end times. The though is that we are in it now and thus are avoiding Jesus' many teachings about what we should be focusing on today.
We should be always aware of signs that we may be seeing but unless every single thing mentioned in Revelation is happening we are not in the end times. And even if we think we are it can be easy to twist things to seem like we are. It's not our concern really, what our concern is and should always be is to share the gospel message with others. This is our primary concern and calling as Christians.
1 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!” 2 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.
The opening of the first seal by Jesus begins the just wrath of God that is about to take place on the world. Have no doubt God is justified in doing this and His patience has come to an end.
As one of the four creatures calls out the first of the four horsemen with a thunderous voice I find it interesting and fitting that the first horse is white. White sets the tone as being pure and holy thus indicates that these events are holy and righteous in nature.
Even more interesting to John being his description is a little more detailed is the rider on this white horse which is carrying a bow and was given a crown. White horses in the days of Jesus were ridden by the elite, kings, great warriors and other royalty. The crown on the horseman's head indicates the same. This is a great and powerful rider, a conqueror for God himself. The bow he is carrying though not mentioned is I am sure no ordinary bow. This bow is one that allows victory.
So why is the horseman not carrying the most sophisticated weapon of this future time? He doesn't need to, his skill in being a conqueror given to him by God is all he needs to be victorious. God often uses throughout scripture things that seem to be inferior to conquer others, it's they way God works. Jets, tanks and missiles have no power to defeat this rider.
We have to be careful here not to think this is Jesus leading the way on this white horse, He is not. Remember Jesus is the one opening the seals. Some have gotten this confused with Revelation 19 where it is Jesus on the white horse but again Jesus is the one opening each of the seals here so it cannot be Him.
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 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.
A second living creation calls out the next rider as Jesus opens up the second seal and this horse is bright red. Red being the color of blood which fits this horsemen well being he is described as being permitted to to take peace from the earth.
The opposite of peace is war, this rider upon taking peace away created a situation in which people and most likely all people were at war with one another. This war would be greater than any war ever seen on earth before and probably greater than all others combined.
The sword the rider was carrying is a perfect symbol for war and it came with great power as well.
5 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. 6 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!”
The third living creature calls out the third rider and this rider was on a black horse. This rider is holding a pair of scales, scales are used to measure things such as food.
Here it is a certain amount of food for a certain amount of money. One court of wheat for one denarius and this would feed one person for a day. A denarius in scripture at times is given for a days wages. The other option given here is a denarius for three quarts of barley. Wheat would be considered the healthier of these two options.
Imagine having to work all day for enough food for one person. What happens if you have a family? A wife and two children would need four days of work to feed all four. In this situation even if the wife was working a full day there would only be enough food for a half day for the four unless the two children were working as well but they would normally get paid less.
Hunger and famine would then be an issue in many cases for many people and though God is just in doing this accepting that God's wrath on mankind is just, is hard for many to understand.
All have sinned and fallen short (Romans 3:23) is the position of all of mankind. We deserve God's instant wrath and death yet even here with little food and hunger it is more mercy and grace than deserved.
Understanding how sinful we are and the damage it has done in our relationship between us and God is extremely important. The deeper we understand our great sin the deeper we understand God's great mercy, grace and love for us.
Understanding daily our great sin even as a believer then also helps us to understand our great need for a great Savior every single day.
