June 11: THE CASUAL CHRISTIAN
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. Revelation 6:7-8
The fourth of the four horses and their riders is descriptive of the most serious situation. The color of the pale horse (chloros in Greek) is the sickly, ashen yellowish-green color associated with the pallor of emotional shock, acute stress, severe illness, even the hue of a rotting corpse.
When people voluntarily enter into compromise, as illustrated by the third horse and its rider, and also pointed out by Jesus in His third letter (2:12-17), and do not heed the warnings of our loving Savior, the most serious and deadly spiritual condition follows.
The fourth letter from Jesus, written to Thyatira (2:18-29), explicitly points to the apostate condition of the church as a whole. Beloved, do not miss the redemptive purposes of the Lord’s chastisements and judgments. Never forget that Jesus is in control, even of death and the grave (Greek hades). “I have the keys of Hades and of Death” says the Lord (1:18).
The fourth living creature was like a flying eagle (4:7). This symbolism reflects God’s loving care as indicated in Exodus 19:4, Deuteronomy 32:10-11, Psalm 103:1-5, Isaiah 40:31, and other places in Scripture. But do not forget that our sworn enemy co-opts every good symbol for his own dark purposes. The flying eagle was adopted by pagan Rome and placed on the banner that accompanied her abominations, including putting Jesus to death in the most torturous possible way. Jesus opened the fourth seal to reveal a continuation of the horrors of Rome inside the church. Pagan Rome which imploded in AD476 was followed by papal Rome. As prophesied in Daniel 2:42 and 7:7, it divided into the ten kingdoms of Medieval Europe and suffered the same plagues described in Ezekiel 14:21 against Jerusalem for her unfaithfulness to His word. The papacy withheld the Bible from the common people, judging them incapable of understanding it. In its place, twisted interpretations and traditions were substituted with a heavy hand upon the masses. Millions upon millions died for their faith during the Dark Ages. A fourth of the earth’s population was impacted, most of which was concentrated in Europe. The striking similarity to the fourth kingdom described in Daniel 2:40 and 7:7,23-5 is no coincidence. Later in Revelation, we are shown that the dominant qualities of ancient Babylon are incorporated and present in this system (Revelation 17:1-5). The first four seals are precursors, and are intended to awaken God’s people and inspire repentance. The pale horse is still riding. Yet Christ is in control and has proven His power over death. God’s word has forewarned us so that we will not be blind to the evils that roam the earth under co-opted symbols intended to deceive the casual Christian.
Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy…therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies…a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. Deuteronomy 28:47-50 (see also Jeremiah 5:15-17)