THE SECOND SEAL......... GLOBAL WARFARE Revelation 6v3-4
"And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say "come and see." 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."
Notice the repetition from here on of the phrase "I saw and behold." The force of this is to tell us that this was a vision very graphically before the eyes of John. It is similar to the expression "he that hath an ear to hear let him hear." We can all hear but may not all heed, we can all see but not all behold; John is making sure we understand this is something that he saw of great significance. The Lamb opens the second seal; the second spirit before the throne enacts the command by summoning an individual on earth. This time the vision was of a red horse, and the whole scene changed from a time of relative peace to events on earth that can only describe full scale war. The fiery red horse indicates considerable blood shed. The language is very graphic "power was given him to take peace from the earth ." This can only mean world wide conflict. We cannot be sure, but this could represent world war three. The scale of it is immense; in chapter 9v18 it speaks of "the third part of men killed." This is on a scale never known before. The casualties of world war 1 and world war 2 were bad enough being estimated in the millions. The current population of the earth is approximately 7.5 billion. One third of men killed represents 2.5 billion human beings being killed in this period.
There is a remarkable correlation between Jesus prophecy in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6, which we should note now to capture the overall picture into which we fit the individual portions.
- Antichrist deception Matthew 24v4-5 Revelation 6v1-2
- Global warfare Matthew 24v6-8 Revelation 6v3-4
- Widespread famine Matthew 24v7 Revelation 6v5-6
- Unparalleled death rate Matthew 24v7-10 Revelation 6v7-8
- Worldwide martyrdom Matthew 24v14 Revelation 6v9-11
- Cosmic upheaval Matthew 24v29 Revelation 6v12-23
Just as Jesus predicted the nature of the full period of the last days, so John tells us that he saw them in his vision. There is no doubt all this will take place. We must understand that this warfare was initiated by heaven and enacted on earth. A reading of Zechariah 1v11-15 will prove this. The same four horses appear in Zechariah chapters 1 - 6. They are stated to be the four spirits that stand before the Lord of all the earth; their mission is to visit earth and to "walk to and fro through the earth (Zechariah 1v10 & chapter 6v6-7)." They reported to "the angel of the Lord (a pre-incarnate theophany of Christ), that "all the earth sitteth still and is at rest." This agrees with Daniel who predicted that the man of sin would take the kingdom by peaceful means. For a while then, the earth has been at relative peace. God is unhappy at this state of affairs, as per Zechariah 1v14-15; "I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease." The nations at ease are so in rebellion against God. The red horse follows the white horse; a time of peace will be followed by a time of war. Jesus spoke of "wars and rumours of wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom."
The issue of divine retribution using war machines is unacceptable to many, but it is a biblical truth. When God's earth is being sullied by men, God stirs Himself and acts. Ezekiel 14v13 says "when the land sinneth against Me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand upon it." Does the God of heaven initiate calamities on earth? Yes he does!, but He also controls the calamity. Isaiah 45v6-7 "I am the Lord and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil (calamity). I the Lord do all these things". The prophet Amos asks the question "Shall there be evil (calamity) in a city and the Lord hath not done it? (Amos 3v6) Paul says in Romans 1v18 "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." In order to achieve His purposes, He will use any agency, but He is not the originator of the evil. He oversees it, He controls it, but mankind will not be allowed to continue in rebellion against Him.
Notice the purpose, to "take peace from the earth"; notice the effects "they will kill one another"; notice the instrument "to him was given a great sword". Heaven supplies the mission and heaven supplies the means. It is quite possible that this situation of dispeace will continue until Christ comes, who is the Prince of peace and the overall purpose is to establish a world without the rebellion of man, A world "wherein dwelleth righteousness" .
No comments:
Post a Comment