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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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!” 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.
Revelation 6:1-2
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In chapter 5 of Revelation, we find Jesus coming forward as the only One who was worthy to break the seals and open the scroll that God held in His right hand while sitting on His throne. The entrance of Jesus, who took the scroll in advance of breaking the seals and revealing the scroll’s content, triggered an incredible sequence of praise and worship that filled the throne room along with a multitude of angels.
As we turn the page to chapter six, we find Jesus beginning to break the seals, beginning with the first and as we will see, each of the seal breakings triggers an event meant to bring judgment from Heaven to earth. Let’s look at the first two verses of this chapter here:
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!” 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.
Note here how Jesus and “one of the four living creatures” are working in tandem and this will be a common partnership across the first four seals. As we see, Jesus breaks the seal and the living creature commands the instrument of judgment to come forth.
Another common denominator we’ll see across these first four seals is that each of them unleashes a rider on a horse. In fact, these four figures have often been depicted in paintings or movies as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
We’ll start with the first horseman today and the qualities that have left people in conflict over its exact meaning.
First of all, the horse’s color is important. White is a color associated with purity but in this case, it is symbolizing peace.
Could this horseman be Jesus, crowned and riding off as a conqueror with a bow so to have conquest on the earth?
Some people have believed and asserted as much but the more likely identity of this first horseman is as the antichrist, one who is riding off to bring a false sense of peace and security to the world while concealing the true motivation for coming, the defeat and conquest of the earth’s people. Not only does this match up with the matter of judgment coming to earth but it’s also in line with the prior warnings of Jesus in this book and elsewhere regarding the coming of an antichrist who would possess a power to draw people to doctrine and belief in principles that were the polar opposite of Jesus’. And it makes sense if you think about it for the antichrist will be against Jesus and work to bring others there as well.
The judgment of the world is coming through a great tribulation which will be initiated by Jesus breaking the seven seals on the scroll. Tomorrow, we’ll look at the second seal and the next horseman that will be released.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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