The Four Horsemen – Part 2
Revelation 6:1-8
September 4, 2016
As you know we are currently looking at the tribulation.
More accurately we have seen Jesus take the scroll (which is the title deed to the earth) and He has begun to break the seals.
As He unrolls the scroll we see His judgments appear on the earth.
We are literally watching His wrath hit the world.
Last week we began watching as Jesus broke the first seal.
#1 THE FIRST SEAL: DECEPTION
Revelation 6:1-2
“Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”
We began talking about how this horseman is in fact the Antichrist.
That should really be no surprise, in fact all 4 horsemen are all the same guy.
It’s just that for 3 ½ years he doesn’t show his true colors,
He is working from a vantage point of deception.
• He is riding a white horse which depicts a conquering hero.
• He has a bow, but no arrows indicating a symbolic weapon.
• He has a crown which was given to him.
It is also a STEPHANOS crown which is the victor’s crown,
Not a DIADEMA which is a monarch’s crown.
He didn’t earn a crown, he won an award.
To help understand this a little better.
Revelation 17:8-13 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. “The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”
Obviously we’ll study that passage later,
But it can help us understand the rise of the Antichrist a little here.
John sees the Antichrist in the form of a beast with 7 heads.
John describes those heads as 7 kings.
They are the 7 kingdoms which oppressed Israel.
• “five have fallen” – Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Media-Persia, & Greece
• “one is” which would have been Rome
• “other has not yet come” which will be the revamped Roman empire in the
days of the Antichrist.
When the Roman empire fell it literally broke up. It became what is now Europe. In the end John speaks of a 10 king confederation
Which will arise as sort of the revamped Roman empire.
The significance there is that these 10 kings will only serve 1 purpose and that is to “give their power and authority to the beast”
That is how the Antichrist comes to power.
He doesn’t earn a kingdom, it is given to him.
They just drop the world at his feet
Namely because of his promises of world peace.
He came in offering peace
And the world bought his scam hook, line, and sinker.
The Antichrist will be a super deceiver whom the world will love.
And we really can’t stress this enough
What a deceiver the devil and his puppets are.
2 Corinthians 11:12-15 “But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
Satan is a liar and a deceiver.
He offers things he has no intention of giving; like peace.
Jeremiah 6:10-15 “To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it. But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary with holding it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street And on the gathering of young men together; For both husband and wife shall be taken, The aged and the very old. “Their houses shall be turned over to others, Their fields and their wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD. “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely. “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 8:11-12 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, And they did not know how to blush; Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,” Says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 14:13-14 “But, “Ah, Lord GOD!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.'” Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.”
And this is who Satan is.
• He is a liar and the father of lies.
• He approaches man dressed in white and riding a white horse promising all sorts of comfort and prosperity and he never delivers on what he offers.
Ask Eve if she thinks Satan keeps his promises.
He is a deceiver.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
And the Antichrist has come perfectly in this role of a deceiver.
He ascends to the world’s throne under a promise of world peace.
The real issue of the day is a terrible one and it can be described in two horrifying words: FALSE ASSURANCE
Man will think all is well
And they don’t even understand the storm that is just around the corner.
Matthew 24:36-44 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
Jesus compared it to the days of Noah.
• They were eating and drinking and getting married and enjoying all of the things this world had to offer as though their world was going to just go on forever.
That is the mindset of those who reject God’s laws and choose sin.
They are making a dangerous assumption
That tomorrow will just go on like today.
And yet Jesus says that false assurance will one day be destroyed.
At a moment when a sinning world least expects it their false assurance will be exposed and judgment will be upon them.
Matthew 7:21-27 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”
That is what we call false assurance.
Men who assumed they were fine when they were not.
And the world will be dripping with it.
• The Antichrist comes in with his promises of world peace.
• God causes them to believe what is false as a form of judgment
• And the world will dwell in a state of false assurance for 3 ½ years not even realize that they are on their way to destruction.
THAT IS TERRIFYING
• And if you are living in sin and rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ and
His will for you life, you should be absolutely terrified.
• The sin you are enjoying has no future and it will come to a tragic
and destructive end at a moment when you least expect it.
HOWEVER…
There is NO REASON WHATSOEVER THAT A GENUINE BELIEVER WOULD BE EVER BE DECEIVED by such a false claim.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
There Paul reminds the Thessalonians that whereas God has promised deception for the unbelieving world that is NOT OUR FATE.
If you remember last week we read from 2 Thessalonians about how God gives deception to the world because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
They wanted a lie so God finally let them have it.
But that is not the fate of those who love the truth.
God has given them deception, but He has given us discernment.
Paul’s encouragement is that we not walk in fear of destruction
But rather that we enjoy the hope of salvation.
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This current wrath is for those who
Refused to receive a love of the truth and be saved.
So we saw The white horse.
Let’s look at the second seal.
#2 THE SECOND SEAL: WORLD WAR
Revelation 6:3-4
“When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.”
Don’t assume this is a different guy,
We’re just starting to see his true colors.
His peace was never meant to last, it was all a set up.
• As we saw in Daniel last week, he merely ascended to the throne through intrigue but war was always in his heart.
Daniel actually spells out for us what will happen.
Daniel 11:40-43 “At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. “He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. “Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. “But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels.”
• The king of the South (which is Egypt) and the King of the North (many think Russia, could be Syria) “will collide with him”
What they will actually do is invade Israel, and since Israel is in total submission to Antichrist at this point, an invasion of Israel is an attack on Antichrist.
• As Daniel pointed out this man won’t be able to take that so he will immediately mobilize for Israel.
• He will pass through numerous countries and overthrow all opposition until he enters Jerusalem and totally conquers Egypt.
The point is that peace is over.
Now it is time for war…world war.
Peace is taken from the earth and men begin slaying one another.
The peace was only a mirage.
It was a false assurance; a false hope.
There is another description of the same event later in the book of Revelation only from a different vantage point.
Revelation 13:1-6 “And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.”
Contained in these 6 verses are the events of the first two seals.
You see his rise to power and his victory in war.
What Revelation 13 also reveals however is his near death experience.
“I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed.”
• There is going to be some sort of supernatural deliverance take place for this
man. It almost reads as though he will be raised from the dead.
Now, if you’re paying attention then you realize that
He is again mimicking the work of Christ in order to deceive.
Whatever the actual occurrence what is clear is that the world is going to be captivated by his deliverance and will cling to him.
AND THAT’S NOT ALL.
He’s also going to be quite enamored with himself
And he starts getting extremely arrogant
And even blasphemous toward God.
Paul actually told us just how blasphemous he would become.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
This is the time when his pride and arrogance come out full force.
He will take his seat in God’s temple and declare himself to be God.
You will see later in Revelation 13 that this act will be accompanied by the building of a statue in his honor which is also to be worshiped and the giving of his mark which must be received or you cannot buy food.
This action is what is known as THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
Matthew 24:15-22 “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
His blasphemous declaration in the temple will be the sign.
HE WILL INSTANTLY TURN ON ISRAEL.
Daniel 9:27 “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
He becomes so puffed up at his wars and victory in battle that he sets up the ultimate blasphemy and sets his gaze on destroying God’s people.
Revelation 13 even indicates that he’ll have SOME SUCCESS in doing so.
Revelation 13:7 “It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.”
IT WILL BE AN ABSOLUTE WORLD WAR.
What started out as peace and all the promises that Israel ever wanted
Has quickly fallen apart.
Jesus gave men over to what they asked for
And now they are being forced to sleep in the bed they have made.
Satan’s offer of peace was a phony offer.
There was to be no fulfillment or joy there.
It was a set up, it was a trap.
AND IT GETS WORSE.
White Horse = Deception, Red Horse = War
#3 THE THIRD SEAL: FAMINE
Revelation 6:5-6
“When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
Again, the true colors of the Antichrist are beginning to show.
• It all started with 3 ½ years of false peace, but his arrogance took over and now the world is literally engaged in world war.
• He had removed peace from the earth and men are literally slaying one another.
And this poses a massive problem for the world.
When a country is at war it is hard to bring in crops.
Farm land is destroyed and farmers are fighting.
It doesn’t take long before a global crisis hits the stage
And the global crisis is famine.
World war leads to worldwide famine.
• At first he held a bow with now arrows, it was a symbolic gesture of peace.
• Then he held a sword which was his weapon of war.
• Now he is holding “a pair of scales in his hand”
WHY?
Because he is measuring out food.
“A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
He is literally in charge of the distribution of food,
And it’s not a pretty sight.
• In Bible days “a denarius” represented a days wages.
• “A quart of wheat” was barely enough to feed a man for 1 day.
• “three quarts of barley” might allow you to take care of our family for a day.
Do the math.
You could work all day and still not have enough to feed your family.
People are literally living hand to mouth.
Starvation is a real issue.
Furthermore things that once were cheap are now precious commodities; “do not damage the oil and the wine.”
Provision is scarce and the Antichrist is in charge of all of it.
But you knew that already.
Most people are familiar with this reality.
Revelation 13:16-17 “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”
You are seeing how everything is taking a turn for the worst.
It wasn’t that long ago that the world was eager
To coronate this man who promised peace
And now they are begging to him like a dog.
Can I remind you again of the goals and work of Satan in your life?
He’s not looking for sons, he’s looking for slaves.
His objective is only to steal and kill and destroy.
And that leads us then to the fourth seal and the fourth horseman.
#4 THE FOURTH SEAL: DAMNATION
Revelation 6:7-8
“When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
This time John sees “an ashen horse”
The word “ashen” translates CHLOROS
• It’s were we get our word for chlorophyll
• It is actually a word used to describe plant life later in the book.
Revelation 9:4 “They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”
It isn’t gray like ashes, it is green like a corpse, or a sickly pale picture.
This horse is gangrene
AND NOW THE ANTICHRIST IS FINALLY SHOWING HIS TRUEST COLOR.
The white was a mirage, THIS IS WHAT HE IS ABOUT.
His plan and his goal are death and destruction.
And he will use “sword”, “famine”, “pestilence”, and “wild beasts”
To simply do the thing he desires which is to kill.
But make sure you understand that his plan is bigger than just death.
It matters to him what happens to you after you die.
“and Hades was following with him.”
That is to say he’s not killing people so they can go to heaven.
He’s killing people so they can go to hell.
Physical death seals a man’s eternity, and the Antichrist is out to make sure a lost world is sealed for an eternity of destruction in hell.
He baited people in and now is destroying them.
It was a trap.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”
And now the world is being killed left and right.
Do you want the numbers?
Verse 8 says “a fourth of the earth”.
I don’t know what the world population numbers will be by this time, but if it were to happen today it would look like this.
• Today estimations are that there are 7.4 billion people on the planet.
• That would mean 1.85 billion are dead.
To give it a better picture.
• That would be North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Antarctica
At this point in the game all that would be left in a numbers sense
Would be Asia and Africa.
And certainly you are aware what with nuclear capabilities,
Such things are possible.
And all of this has happened in the scope of just a couple of years.
For 3 ½ years we had false peace but when he walked in that temple and declared himself God, things went south in a hurry.
Now you understand why Jesus said flee to the mountains, but understand it’s going to be rough.
I can give it to you from ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE.
Revelation 12:7-12 “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. “For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”
Scripture says that preceding all of this
Will be the removal of Satan from the heavens.
Right now he has some sort of weird access in the heavens; we saw that in the book of Job as Satan was presenting himself before God.
But it appears that at the time the church is being raptured up
Satan is being booted out.
The effect was that he was angry and his wrath was kindled.
That explains the awful atrocities taking place both in regard to blasphemies toward God and in regard to the killing of humanity.
Now, WAIT A MINUTE PREACHER, you said this period was the wrath of God, not the wrath of Satan.
SO TRUE.
(8) “Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth.”
Where did that “Authority” come from?
Romans 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”
• Oh yes Satan might be mad
• And he might desperately want to put his man on the throne
• And then go on a killing rampage,
• But that doesn’t change the fact that there is only One who could give him the authority to do it.
It was Jesus who turned him loose on the world
When He began breaking those seals.
This story has some striking similarities to the story regarding Job, where God granted Satan the right to torment Job.
Of course the difference there is that for Job
God set limits on how far Satan could go.
We STILL live in a day where those limits are in place.
1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
There are limits today on just how far he can go.
But on this day God turned the enemy loose
And removed all limitations as to what he could do.
THINK ABOUT THAT
God just turned the tiger loose in the world’s living room.
And we are seeing the true nature of the enemy
And we are feeling the full horror of the wrath of God.
Now, in view of this let me read you a couple of verses
That YOU MIGHT READ A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY from here on out.
James 4:6-10 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
Does that verse seem a little more real now?
You must understand that the only path to salvation is by submitting yourself to the will of God.
I promise that if you choose to walk in arrogance and spurn God’s laws
And instead begin to listen to the smooth speech of the enemy,
YOU WILL NOT LIKE WHAT YOU GET.
• Satan is not out to bring fulfillment to your life.
• Satan is out to deceive you.
• Satan is out to kill you.
• Satan is out to starve you.
• Satan is out to destroy you in hell.
Now, bounce that off of God’s plan for you.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
I should think that it is obvious that the wise decision in our lives is
To submit to God and resist the temptations of the devil.
Do what God says even if it isn’t what your flesh wants to do.
Otherwise read these 4 seals again and see where you are headed.
