March 10, 2022
“But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My words to the end, to him I will give power over the nations—” Revelation 2:25-26
It is significant that the fourth letter from Jesus (to the church at Thyatira) is the first letter that mentions His return: “hold fast … till I come.” This means that this church will continue to operate until He comes again. The fourth horse and rider, the pale horse ridden by Death and followed by Hades, corresponds to this church which has established itself in nearly every country. Much political power is exercised on behalf of this particular church and this will only increase until the end. Those who want to escape the corruption found here – especially in the last days – will find special encouragement to stay ever true to Jesus who promised: “to him I will give power over the nations.”
The Old Testament contains the keys for understanding imagery and symbolism in the New Testament, and especially in Revelation. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse may at first seem mysterious, but can be well-understood by someone familiar with the story of the Israelites, beginning with their rescue by God out of Egypt, the land of bondage. In examining the seven seals scenes, the first four of which are the four horses with riders, there are parallels between the experience of the escaping Israelites and Christians of these last two thousand years. To accept the message of salvation—that only the LORD has the power to save—brings the understanding that it is vital to cooperate with Him. The Israelites cooperated during the original event known as “Passover” by trusting in the blood of the slain lamb as their means of rescue, and demonstrating their faith by obediently placing the blood over the doorposts of their homes. A short time later, the people of God expressed their agreement with Him:
So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgements. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has said we will do. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.” Exodus 24:3,7
There is a beautiful list of covenant blessings in Leviticus 26:3-9 and Deuteronomy 28:1-14. These blessings correspond to the obedience of God’s people. There were also the covenant curses, to which the people agreed, as the consequence of disobedience. The purpose of covenant curses was not to destroy, but to guide the people to repentance bringing them back into a right relationship with God so that He could forgive and bless them.
By the time the fourth horse and its rider come forth, we behold—as the result of disobedience—four forms of destruction let loose upon the earth: sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts. For the Bible student, these four terms are familiar as instruments of divine judgement allowed by God against His professed people who are unfaithful to Him. It is understood that the purpose is to bring about repentance. You will find these four terms in Leviticus 26:21-26 and Deuteronomy 32:23-25. To the breaking of God’s heart, Israel’s disobedience continued—a direct parallel to the experience of the church as a whole in the New Testament. These instruments of divine discipline are referred to by the prophet Jeremiah as “four kinds of destroyers” (Jeremiah 15:3) and by the prophet Ezekiel as God’s “four severe judgements”(Ezekiel 14:21). C.S. Lewis said “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” To summarize the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, we see a pure, hope-filled message of salvation arriving to powerfully turn the lives around of those held in captivity by sin. Next, we see that faithfulness to Jesus can be costly and carries with it the possibility of persecution. Then when an altered, weakened, compromised message slides into the place of the true, a famine of the word of God is ushered in. The fourth horseman portrays the end result of ingesting any counterfeit doctrine: starvation and death! Thus, with graphically effective imagery, God’s people are aptly forewarned to avoid spiritual death. The New Testament church is generously taught to take the gospel as the central focus in their lives.
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11