The Revelation Given to John by Jesus Through the Angel
Postscript To Lesson Twelve
As an immediate response to the removable, by the Lamb, of the first seal the living creature that represents Mashiach as the Lion of the tribe of Judah roars a summons; and a powerful white horse appears. The horses were bred for the battle. The white horse’s strong muscles would have quivered as he stomped in time, anxious for the command to carry the conqueror forward. Only the conqueror rode a white steed.
When Constantine rode into battle, under the banner of the cross, he rode into a world that already belonged to the Roman Empire, but was torn apart by internal strife. Constantine used Christianity to bring unity and stability to the then known world of the Roman Empire. Because this “conquering for the church” didn’t change hearts, it had a destructive influence on the real church. But the Roman Church gained influence, power, and riches. The Catholic Church spread like wildfire and, with it, another form of persecution for the true church, hidden amongst the tares of the official church.
When the second seal was removed the “Suffering Servant” representative called out the next horse. The red horse was another powerfully build steed, bred for war. Instead of bringing stability and unity to the world, this horse and rider were set to bring war on the world.
The Muslim armies set out to conquer the world for Islam in the name of Allah. They declared Allah was the one and only god[i]. Their goal: the Qur’an and the Prophet commanded the followers of Muhammad “To fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshiped but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”[ii]Christians and Jews, the world over, were the most hated enemies of Islam because they refused to reject their god, Yahweh, and bow to the false god, Allah. And so they were, and are, signaled out for death, above all others.
When the Lamb removed the third seal the living creature representing the Son of Man called the black horse out. The black horse brought the results of the white and red horses.
As a result of the perversion of the Church from the spiritual to the materialistic, the dark ages were ushered in. Only the priests were allowed to read the Bible. The Scriptures were kept from the populace and men and women who desired the sincere milk of the word for growth were given the perverted word in the form of church dogma. The church was rich in cathedrals, icons, crosses, and other representatives of the faith that wasn’t in the hearts of the people. The substance of the scriptures was not available but the oil and wine of ceremony were plentiful.
The fourth seal came off and the animal representing the Son of God called for the fourth horse. This horse was a pale shadow of its former self. No longer a powerful war horse, it brought death and hell in the wake of all that violence.
War, famine, disease, and wild beasts: In World War I total causalities from war itself were estimated at ten million dead, twenty-one million wounded, and 7.7 million missing or POWs. However, more soldiers died from influenza than from war wounds.
In World War II estimates of military and civilian casualties varied from thirty-five million to sixty million killed, including the six million Jews. Both wars had an underlying purpose of ridding the world of Jews and Christians – the God lovers. That is, on the part of the Central Powers
(Germany, Austria-Hungry, and Turkey) in world War I and the Axis Powers
(Germany, Italy, and Japan) in World War II.
The chief cause of famine is war. Several severe famines occurred in the twentieth century: among other famines there were 5-10 million who died in China between 1928, and 1929, and up to twenty million between 1958 and 1962; in Russia one and a forth to five million died between 1921 and 1922 and between 1932 and 1934 six to eight million; one and a half million in India between 1943 and 1944; In Cambodia one million died between 1975 and 1979; and in sub-Saharan Africa the count still isn’t in. that’s at least fifty million just in the twentieth century who died from famine.
Twenty-five million died from the flue in 1819, twenty-five million died from the Black Death between 1347 and 1400. That’s fifty million just from those twe diseases.
The opening of the fifth seal revealed the souls of the redeemed who had been killed for refusing to deny Christ. The teenagers, in that school, who refused to reject Christ and were killed by a classmate, were there along with Peter, Paul, and many others. They are asking just how long it will be before their murders are avenged. They know that vengeance belongs to Yahweh and that he will repay. Now when the world asks what kind of a god would let all those terrible things happen to people, we can tell them that the time is coming when justice will be required for those who refuse to repent. Yahweh doesn’t forget all the injustice done in the world and he will require retribution and put a stop to violence.
The sixth seal reveals the “last days” – “that great and terrible day of the Lord.” Peter talked about it in his second letter when he said, “don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the end because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.
“But when the Day of God’s judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and its entire works exposed to the scrutiny of judgment.”
Daniel talked about it when he quoted the messenger of Yahweh who said, “That’s when Michael, the great angel-prince, champion of your people, will step in. It will be a time of trouble, the worst trouble the world has ever seen. But your people will be saved from the trouble, every last one found written in the Book. Many who have long been dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life, others to eternal shame.”
Yeshua talked about it when he said, “It will seem like all hell has broken loose – sun, moon, stars, earth, sea in an uproar and everyone all over the world in a panic, the wind knocked out of them by the threat of doom, the powers-that-be quaking.”
The day of reckoning has come.
[i] Revelation 13:1-8
[ii] Bukhara Vol 1. Book 2 no. 25
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