Morning Sermon

November 18, 2007

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

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I had a couple second thoughts this week. Maybe I shouldn't jump into a study of the book of Revelation. We've been on pretty safe ground thus far, especially the last couple weeks, with the visions of worship before the throne of God, worship offered to the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. But now we come to the seven seals, the four horsemen of the apocalypse. We come to symbols and prophecies that have been interpreted very differently by different people, even differently among those who would believe together that this word is, indeed, the very word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and, therefore, true and without error. Christians disagree about these things, and even reformed Christians, those who embrace the reformed faith.

No doubt among us here today there would different understandings, and no doubt different ones among us have been taught differently. So who am I to settle all those differences? Yet, of course, I am nothing. And what I think or feel is unimportant and irrelevant. The question is, and most always be, what does the Scripture say? And since I've chosen to preach on this book, and I'm glad that I have, I'll seek to do just that, to proclaim and explain and expound as best I can these words that are before us. But I do admit a couple second thoughts as I began to prepare to preach this week.

Remember the context from the last two weeks, the context of worship offered to the lamb. The lamb that appeared "as though it had been slain." But remember, that lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is also "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David." And remember, he "has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." He has overcome. He has prevailed. He has won the victory. And, therefore, he is able to inaugurate the new covenant, for he is qualified and able to be the mediator of that covenant, to put it into effect. For he himself, in his own blood, has endured the curse of that covenant to be inflicted upon covenant breakers. That curse was death, and his death was a triumph, inaugurating the new covenant in which we no longer offer bulls and goats and other dead animals as sacrifices to God. His death did away with the need for an earthly temple and for the need for human priests to intercede for us before God. His death tore down the curtain of the temple, opening to all of God's people the way to the very throne room of God in the Holy of Holies.

Thus we join in the worship which is offered to the Lamb, Rev. 5:9 "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."

Rev. 5:12 "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"

So let's open those seals! Remember, the book of the covenant, the scrolled is being unrolled, its authenticity proven by those seven seals. And those seals all focus upon the judgment of God. And they give us the ability to examine the troubles of this world from God's perspective. Indeed, in the midst of all these troubles, the Lord Jesus rides on victoriously. And so our beginning point in this chapter is,

I. JESUS AND THE JUDGMENT OF GOD. v.1

And what do we see? v.2

Let's start at verse 1. Remember the importance of the "four living creatures," representing all of creation, all of God's created order. And that there are four would emphasize that totality of creation, reflecting the four points of the compass, north, south, east, and west. The four corners of the earth. And so we see God's,

A. Judgment upon the four corners of the earth. God's judgment upon the whole earth, a comprehensive judgment upon all the rebellious and disobedient nations of the earth. And the call is to those four horsemen, to come. I don't believe verse one is addressed to John as the author of the vision, "Come and see." But rather to the horsemen. Come. That means, Come in judgment. Even, "Come quickly!" We see this language in other places, such as,

1 Cor. 22 "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!"

And at the very end of the Bible, Rev. 22:20 "He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

"Come, Lord Jesus." Come with your hand of judgment upon the four corners of the earth. Come, O Lord, with your righteous judgments upon the wicked and unbelieving. Come in destruction. A voice like thunder proclaims that message of destruction, "Come."

Let me read the obvious cross reference in the Old Testament prophecy of,

Zech. 6:1 "Then I turned and raised my eyes and looked, and behold, four chariots were coming from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 With the first chariot were red horses, with the second chariot black horses, 3 with the third chariot white horses, and with the fourth chariot dappled horses--strong steeds. 4 Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" 5 And the angel answered and said to me, "These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. 6 "The one with the black horses is going to the north country, the white are going after them, and the dappled are going toward the south country." 7 Then the strong steeds went out, eager to go, that they might walk to and fro throughout the earth. And He said, "Go, walk to and fro throughout the earth." So they walked to and fro throughout the earth."

Those chariots there, those horsemen, show God's judgment upon the disobedient nation of Israel, and as I have emphasized in previous sermons, I do believe that is the focus in the book of Revelation, as well, which is, as the book begins, a revelation of "things which must shortly take place." And what did, in fact, shortly take place was the full and final destruction of Israel, literally and spiritually ending what had been known as the administration of the Old Covenant. Jesus is come, and the people of God are now the church, his body on earth.

But whether you see these prophecies as applying to that destruction of AD 70, or more immediately to the destruction of the end of the world, these four horsemen still represent the judgment of God. And as such, we see them introduced in the context of,

B. The victorious Jesus. The image here is not the damaging, murderous of Satan. Rather, the just and righteous punishment of a holy God upon a rebellious and unbelieving nation. A judgment pronounced by Jesus, who has "prevailed." Remember, that is what qualified him to open these seals. He has overcome. He has triumphed.

Rev. 5:5 "But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.""

Therefore we read in, v.2

Some commentators see these seals as the work of Satan, and therefore interpret this first seal, this white horseman, not as Jesus but as a near perfect but false imitation of Jesus. In other words, the anti-Christ. But I think that misses the point of the authorship of these seals as the judgment of God. This is not Satan mocking God in imitation. This is God executing his judgment.

Jesus is the rider of the white horse. He is armed for battle, for has a bow. And he is pictured as already victorious. He has a crown. And he is engaged and engaging in his conquest, "he went out conquering and to conquer."

The cross reference in Revelation is useful at this point in identifying this rider as Jesus,

Rev. 19:11 "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God."

There is a close parallel as well to the words of Psalm 45, also most obviously referring to Jesus himself,

Ps. 45:3 "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, With Your glory and Your majesty. 4 And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness; And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things. 5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies; The peoples fall under You."

So the rider on the white horse is Jesus, riding forth over the whole earth in glorious judgment.

Then, with the other three of the four horsemen to follow the first, we see a fuller and more broad

II. DISPLAY OF THE JUDGMENT OF GOD. First, war. The second seal. The red horse. v.3-4

The demonstration here is clearly one which magnifies,

A. The depravity of man. The horrible, ugly, brutal, total depravity of mankind. And that wickedness is never more evident than in the killing of one another. The focal point of that human killing, killing on a worldwide scale, and the red horseman thus "takes peace from the earth." Men become killers of one another.

"God does not have to incite men to fight against each other; He simply orders His angels to take away the conditions of peace." (Chilton) Listen to a brief description from the historian Josephus about the killing that took place during those days leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70: "Every city was divided into two armies encamped against one another, and the preservation of the one party was in the destruction of the other; so the day-time was spent in the shedding of blood, and the night in fear. . . . It was then common to see cities filled with dead bodies, still lying unburied, and those of old men, mixed with infants, all dead, and scattered about together; women also lay amongst them, without any covering for their nakedness; you might then see the whole province full of inexpressible calamities, while dread of still more barbarous practices which were threatened, was everywhere greater than what had been already perpetrated."

Such is the depravity of man, itself evidenced as a judgment of God. For remember God's judgment upon the rebellious unbelievers:

Rom. 1:24 "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions...[It continues.] 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."

The key point of that judgment, "God gave them over..." It was the judgment of God upon men, "taking peace from the earth."

Then the third horseman, the black horse. v.5

There is a clear reference to,

B. The curse of deprivation. Namely pestilence. The pair of scales, "a symbol of famine from the prophecy of Ezekiel, in which the starving inhabitants of Jerusalem were forced to weigh their food carefully. This Horseman brings economic hardship, a situation described as completely chaotic." v.6

They might just as well been saying, "A gallon of gasoline for $5." Or maybe more accurately for this image, "A gallon of gasoline for $5000." A symbol of deprivation. It cannot be purchased. We simply don't have the money. And yet the rich seem to have all that they need or want. "Oil and wine, representing all the comforts of life, are in plentiful supply...We see the rich enjoying their food in abundance and all the comforts of life besides. But the poor have hardly enough to keep body and soul together." (Hendriksen.)

And that is God's curse on men whenever they rebel. The land becomes unfruitful. Let me read just a few of those curses from the announcement of them in the Old Covenant,

Deut. 28:15 "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 "Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17 "Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl....30 "You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. 31 "Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. 32 "Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. 33 "A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. 34 "So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see."

The curse devours productivity in every area of life's blessings. That is the consequence of sin. God's judgment comes as the black horse. And then it comes as a pale horse, representing,

C. The desolation of death. v.7-8

Death, of course, followed by hades, or the grave. Death is the focal point of the curse, it is the expressed definition of the curse God pronounced upon sinners.

Gen. 2:17 "...but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

There it was at the beginning, declared as the wages of sin. Death. Here it is as Jesus pours out his judgment upon unbelievers. Death. The grave--corruption, decay, destruction. The summary of all the covenantal curses declared in the Old Covenant. All in one.

And remember, these desolations come from God. And so we hear the voice of the Psalmist,

Ps. 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling." [We will not fear. And why?] 4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. 5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. 6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted. 7 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah 8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has made desolations in the earth."

God "has made desolations in the earth." And so we listen to him in faith, as the psalm continues,

Ps. 46:9 "He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. 10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge."

And so we say with confidence, "COME!" "Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly." And so the whole book will end,

Rev. 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. 18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. 20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

And so we have before us in these seals, the fifth seal particularly,

III. A CALL FOR THE JUDGMENT OF GOD. A call for God to avenge his own name and the glory of his own majesty. A call for God to put an end to the wickedness of the wicked and to bring an end to the rebellion of the world against God. And what more appropriate symbol for that call for God's judgment to come from than from those who have borne the brunt of that rebelliousness in being persecuted unto death.

And so the call for God's judgment is,

A. The call of the martyrs. The sixth seal revealed by Jesus. The sixth pronounced of God's judgment upon the world in general and upon the unbelieving nation of Israel in particular. v.9-10

"How long." That is prophetic language for, "Lord come quickly!" Those who had been killed for their faith, now worshiping before the throne of God in heaven, are invoking divine justice against their oppressors. These souls are crying for vengeance upon those who have slaughtered them. The cry is blunt and personal. It is direct and unapologetic. It gives many Christians of our day much difficulty, for the idea of seeking God's judgment and justice upon the wicked is not a familiar theme in the teaching of the modern church. But it is the substance of the worship of the martyred saints before the throne of heaven.

Note well, it is not for the vindication of their names or their honor. It is a devout yearning for the sovereignty and righteousness of God in Christ to be publicly revealed, for God to vindicate his own name and his honor.

And as a great encouragement within that call of the martyrs, we have, v.11

The white robe, clearly a symbol of the purity of those who are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so, robed in white, until the end of the killing. Until God's judgment is enacted. They will rest. In peace. With the assurance that their cries will be answered.

Remember, Jesus has triumphed and he is putting these curses into effect. He is inaugurating the new covenant, and in so doing bringing an end to Israel. Bringing an end to all the priests who would be shedding the blood of the martyrs "under the altar."

I should note here that even if the main thrust is to the judgment of God at the end of the age, not AD 70, the meaning of these seals doesn't change very much at all. In fact, I recognize the destruction of Jerusalem as a picture, even a type, depicting for us that very judgment at the last day. So all of this does very much apply to the final day of Jesus' return. And we, too, ought to call for the judgment of God even as we proclaim the gospel to all the nations of the world.

And with that judgment comes a very explicit and symbolically detailed description of,

B. The curse of the covenant. The sixth seal. The day of God's wrath. The destruction, or de-creation of the world which he created. "These seven judgments are detailed in terms of the familiar prophetic imagery of the Old Testament." (Chilton) These are the words used in the Old Testament for the description of God's judgments. The seven things are the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the heavens, the land, and finally, man himself.

And so we have the curse of the covenant inflicted upon covenant breakers, as God's covenant of grace now extends not merely to one nation of Israel but to all the nations of the world. v.12-17

This sixth seal introduces the great judgment day, and without going into detail with each of those seven things, suffice it to say that all of them are taken from the language of the Old Testament as judgments against nations. And in summary of them all, I'll quote David Chilton: "In God's righteous destruction of Israel, He will shake even heaven and earth in order to deliver His Kingdom over to His new nation, the Church."

One more thing about that curse of the covenant. Notice,

v.15 "And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains."

What is the meaning of hiding in caves? They are someplace to hide from the terrible destruction, someplace, any place, in which they can find shelter and refuge. Therefore, "Flight underground and into caves is a sign of being under a curse." (Chilton) And this particular curse which we see is the very curse which Jesus pronounces upon idolatrous Israel as he is on his way to the crucifixion. He quotes Hosea 10.

Luke 23:27 "And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. 28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 "For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' 30 "Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"'

That day is coming. Coming shortly. The wicked unbelieving people of Israel will seek the refuge of caves, under the judgment of God's covenantal curse.

That's what Jesus declares when he opens the sixth seal.

v.17 "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

Who is able to stand? Who was able to stand when these judgment were executed against Israel? Who will stand at the last day, when these same covenant curses shall be executed against unbelievers throughout the whole world?

Who can stand in the day of judgment? Regardless of your understanding of the book of Revelation, regardless of whether or not you have understood a thing I said today, this is the question upon which we end. We can stand before the Lord in the day of his judgment?

Can you? Who can stand when the Lord executes his judgment, once and for all at the end of this age? Who can stand?

Well, one more seal still has to be opened. One final judgment of God as the curse of the covenant. But first, an interlude. Reassurance for the believer. Who can stand on the day of judgment? Why, you can, you who are sealed by Jesus Christ. You who are marked by Jesus, labeled and identified by Jesus.

The fullness of that number is given with that gloriously symbolic number of chapter 7 144,000. They are the ones who will stand.

Rev. 7:9 "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

Who can stand before God? Those who are sealed by the blood of the lamb! Those who escape the condemnation of the curse and wrath of God are those who by faith in Jesus Christ, are clothed with white robes. They are those who call upon the name of the Lord. For this declaration of the judgment of God is the context for the declaration of the gospel, and this is the declaration of the gospel,

Rom. 10:9 "...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

If you will not believe in Jesus Christ, that God raised him from the dead as the atoning sacrifice for your sins, if you will not believe that and will not proclaim it with your own mouth, then these judgments await you, even as they awaited the Jews of Jerusalem who rejected Jesus.

Yet to you who do believe, to you who trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation as he is offered to you in the gospel, this declaration of judgment is not something to dread but rather to hasten. And so we proclaim, "Come, Lord Jesus." And by faith in Jesus, we do so with the confidence with which Paul wrote to the Thessalonians,

1 Thes. 5:9 "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

So let me end with this invitation, and warning...

Heb. 12:25 "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire."

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