“The coming of the Lord draweth nigh”, James 5:8
(Extracts from the Editor’s book, ‘The Shadow of the Antichrist’ – Part 1)
This is a time when natural phenomena are manifested all around, with ‘disasters’ of every form hitting nations and causing death and destruction at levels that are most uncommon.
These events have aroused a world-wide campaign, led by the likes of David Attenborough, based upon the premise that mankind’s actions in more recent times have so damaged the earth’s environment as to bring about its utter demise!
There is no doubt that man is the author of his own destruction but it is not so much his selfish and greedy abuse of earth’s natural resources that is bringing disaster upon this world but rather his defiance of the moral standards that God has instituted for mankind and epitomised in the Ten Commandments. That is the reason behind what are the mere ‘firstfruits’ of a coming judgment!
Mr Attenborough, far from being the ‘saviour’ he would have people think of him as, is one of the leading proponents of what is bringing this world into collision with its Creator. He is an atheistic evolutionist, whose view dismisses the existence of a Creator and replaces Him with the absolutely ludicrous notions of invented by his fellow-evolutionists. Their notions are not only ludicrous but forever changing with disagreements aplenty within their ranks!
The rejection of the Bible’s revelation of God and the origin of all things, always a factor in human thinking since the fall of Adam, but which in these lasts days is becoming the dominant view of humanity, is the source of the lawlessness and moral mayhem we see daily reported on the various news outlets.
That in turn, will bring God’s final judgment upon mankind. The Bible’s warnings of this are despised and mocked but the reality of it is manifested before our eyes! The ‘perilous times’ prophesied in Holy Scripture (2 Tim 3:1) are breaking forth all around!
The Lord has clearly revealed events that will take place as a display of Heaven’s displeasure at the moral direction humanity is taking. There are many place where these signs are warned of, none more so than the last book of the Bible, the Book of the Revelation.
The opening words of that book are significant.
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass,” Revelation 1:1.
The meaning of the words may be expressed in this fashion: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must come to pass in a short time.”
The Bible clearly bears out this rendition of the words by repeatedly indicating that the end of the age will reach a swift climax in a brief period of three and a half years of unparalleled defiance of God and rebellion against Him and His people. That period is underscored by being referred to under three different definitions of the length of it.
- A thousand two hundred and threescore days, Revelation 11:3, 12:6.
- A time, and times, and half a time. Revelation 12:14.
- Forty and two months. Revelation 11:2, 13:5.
The Lord has underscored the duration of the ‘tribulation’ of the final days of this age by defining it in three different ways so that there can be no misunderstanding of what it is He is saying! Or perhaps I should say, that there can be no EXCUSE for anyone misunderstanding the duration of time stated!
That time of atheistic defiance of God and all that is of Him, the hatred of every mention of Him and any acknowledging of His existence, no matter how mixed with falsehood that acknowledgement may be, is drawing near. We can see its approach daily reported in the news with legislation in this country obliquely designed to hinder any acknowledgement of Him. A recent headline in our local press stated: DUP MP says the UK ‘losing its freedom of religion and expression’ after man ordered to pay over £9,000 for praying near an abortion clinic.
There is none who can really disagree with that assessment, even though the incident referred to was not in keeping with Scriptural behaviour. Protesting against abortion by the unscriptural practice of praying for the dead, is near enough a witness to the existence of God for the government to ban it!
In the light of this approach of the end of this age and the signs which the Lord will send upon this earth to indicate that approach, I wish to publish in a series of articles, part of my expositional commentary on the ‘Book of the Revelation’ which I entitled: ‘The Shadow of the Antichrist’.
Here is the first extract from the chapter entitled, ‘The Opening of the Seals’. I have mounted the book in PDF form on ‘The Burning Bush’ website. — ‘The Shadow of the Antichrist’.
THE OPENING OF THE SEALS.
Chapter 6.
The explanation of the significance of the sealed book was seen in our consideration of Jeremiah, chapter 32. The Church of Christ is a purchased Church. Its members are a redeemed people awaiting the day of their entering into the full experience of their redemption.
That day will dawn with the return of Christ to this earth in glory.
For that day we watch. The phrase Come and see is repeated by one of the four living creatures or angelic beings, as the seals are opened, verses 1, 3, 5, 7. It is God’s will that we know something of the events that will take place before the coming of the Son of Man.
The believer should observe the times and seasons in order to mark the approach of that day. When the signs, that the Saviour has told us will herald His return, begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh, Luke 21:28.
The Holy Ghost’s work is to seal us in Christ and our partaking of His grace is the earnest, or the down-payment, of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, Ephesians 1:14.
I. THE FOUR HORSEMEN, verses 1-8.
In these verses, John sees a series of horsemen riding forth as the first four seals are opened. They and their horses and the events which are linked with them are described.
When Elisha would have his servant reassured regarding the protective power of God that was about them both, in the face of the threat posed by the soldiers of the Syrian king, who had been sent to capture the prophet, he prayed, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. God answered that prayer, for the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha, 2 Kings 6:17. The symbol of God’s sovereign power over the nations is, most appropriately, the most devastating weapon of war then known to man — horses and chariots. The unique superiority of God’s power is seen in that they were horses and chariots of fire. What is depicted by these four horsemen is the sovereign power of God at work amongst the nations at the close of this age.
1. The white horse. Christ is here depicted. It is, as it were, a preview of that scene given in greater detail in chapter 19:11-21. The Saviour’s coming being depicted first is out of sequence since the events linked with the other three horses take place before the Saviour’s return. The going forth of Christ, conquering, and to conquer, is mentioned first in order to comfort and strengthen the saints and to remind them that those things which shall come to pass upon the earth are under the direct control of the Lord and that they will culminate in His glorious return.
The Saviour used this method of revealing the end before the events that lead up to the end, in order to reassure His disciples, when showing them some distressing truths in Mark 8: 27-31. Before He began to teach them about His rejection by Israel, the suffering that He must endure and the death He must die, the Lord Jesus sought to draw powerfully the disciples’ attention to Who He was, by asking the question: Whom do men say that I am? Peter’s answer on behalf of the disciples was most striking. Thou art the Christ.
Only when this truth had been reconfirmed among them, did the Saviour go on to deal with the distressing truth of His rejection.
Nor did He tell them all at this juncture. Progressively, He revealed the awful truth about His crucifixion.
That it may be seen that our observation has substance, I direct the reader to other occasions when the Lord revealed distressing truths to His servants, but before doing so sought to establish in their minds the glorious victory that ultimately would be theirs. In Genesis 15, the Lord came to Abraham in a vision and showed him the end for which he had been chosen. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it, Genesis 15:5-7. After showing him the certainty of His purpose in Abraham’s life, the Lord then showed him the horror of the years of bondage and affliction that would come upon his descendants before the fulfilment of that promise. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years, Genesis 15:12-13.
The sequence of events in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus is but another example of this method of teaching employed by the Lord. Saul is shown the Saviour in His glory before he is shown the great things he must suffer for the Saviour’s name’s sake (Acts 9:16).
Thus the Lord, here in Revelation chapter 6, shows His triumphant return before He shows the dreadful events that will precede that return. He Who knows the end from the beginning would have us confidently know that things will end in His triumphant glory, before He shows us the terrible events that will come before that happy and victorious conclusion. Consequently, the dreadful events will cause those taught of the Lord to look up in expectation of their redemption drawing nigh.
He that sat on him had a bow. The bow is a weapon that is employed at a distance. In Revelation 19, the Lord Jesus is seen coming again carrying a sword, the weapon of close combat. The going forth of the horsemen in Revelation 6 symbolises the Saviour’s first strike against His enemies, hence He uses a bow.
His attack will conclude with Him drawing His sword and coming to close quarters with His enemies at His return.
2. The red horse. Here is the symbol of lawlessness. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword, verse 4. The word peace is translated quietness in Acts 24:2. And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence. Here it refers to national tranquillity. The end of this age is to be marked by growing restlessness and lawlessness. That is the clear statement of Holy Scripture. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away, 2 Timothy 3:1-5. The features which Paul says will characterise the last days are the antithesis of decency and order. The earth will grow progressively worse. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived, 2 Timothy 3:13.
It is God Who keeps this world under restraint, otherwise it would be a veritable hell. The old world in Noah’s day and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are examples of what man will degenerate into, unless divinely restrained. What peace and order is enjoyed in this world is given of God. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land, Leviticus 26:6. Where there is a despising of His word and a rebelling against His order then lawlessness and death will follow.
He Who can give peace can take it away. Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. . . . . I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth, Jeremiah 19:3-7.
And that they should kill one another. Man was not long a sinner until he was a killer. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him, Genesis 4:8. Murder is one of the trademarks of a departure from God and an abandoning of His law.
This trademark is everywhere evident today. Who is safe upon the streets of the land? The most brutal crimes are carried out randomly upon men, women and children. Political parties make it an issue of top priority, for they know that the nation will vote for the party that deals effectively with public disorder. Yet, despite repeated attempts to come to grips with the problem, crime continues to rise and takes on ever more ominous and frightening dimensions.
3. The black horse. Here is shortage and want. The pair of balances held by its rider must surely symbolise the merchant.
Accompanying this horse is the cry, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. Such a price was a highly inflated price to pay for such measures of foodstuff at the close of the first century. It would have been an astounding price to the readers of John’s book. Want of food will plague this world before the return of Christ.
4. The pale horse. This yellowish pale horse is the harbinger of great ill. Death is the title of its rider and Hell attends him. He has power and authority to kill. One quarter of the earth will feel his power for he will kill by war (sword), famine (hunger), with death (disease) and by the wild beasts.
The Greek word for earth, ge, may mean the whole world or a limited area of the earth such as the region around the Mediterranean Sea which features so much in this book. An example of the two usages of the word are found in Matthew. In Matthew 2:21 we read, And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel (ge) and in Matthew 5:5, Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth (ge). I am of the opinion that it refers here to the prophetic earth, the region around the Mediterranean Sea, being swept by death so as to destroy one quarter of its population.
We hear of terrible famines and disasters that result in the death of countless thousands. Often the disasters are made worse by the slow response of richer nations to help. Helping is not without its difficulties, for simply to pour aid into a stricken country may so destabilise the economy of the country as to exacerbate the problem and make it virtually impossible for a recovery to take place.
Despite the difficulties, it is more often greed and self-concern that hinder assistance being given. As man’s wickedness increases then it stands to reason that humanitarian response to the distress of others will correspondingly decline. Man by nature reasons, Am I my brother’s keeper? It is the grace of God alone that teaches men that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, Galatians 5:14.
The sequence of the red, the black and the pale horses is to be noted carefully. Lawlessness gives rise to disorder which in turn gives rise to famine and want which in turn gives rise to widescale death and destruction. In this world, God has decreed that happiness follow holiness. Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come, 1 Timothy 4:8. The principle set forth in the parable of the prodigal son is everywhere at work. When we leave the order and discipline of the Father’s house then we will descend into chaos and want.
That is the course that this world is set upon. We ought not to be surprised at these prophecies of disaster and doom. Rather, we ought to take heed. . . unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee, 1 Timothy 4:16.
To be continued…