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Grace & Peace: Revelation #51

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)

“And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth” (Rev. 6:7–8).

The fourth seal is now opened, and as before, the next living beast cries out to come and see. John looked, and he saw a sickly green horse ride out. The word translated pale here is chloros, which means we shouldn’t lose the greenish tint to this pestilence. Death rides the horse, and Hades follows after. It is important for us to distinguish Hades from Hell. The former is the place of the dead, a place of shades. In the Old Testament it is called Sheol. Hell is the final judgment, the lake of fire, into which Death and Hades will eventually be cast. Hades and Hell are different because Hades is finally thrown into Hell (Rev. 20:14).

So Death rides the horse, slaying a fourth part of those before him, and Hades follows after, like a wagon meant to gather up the bodies. Death kills by four means—by the sword, by famine, by pestilence, and by wild animals. This passage contains an echo of Ezekiel 14:21, which is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.

“For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?” (Eze. 14:21).

The Romans were to bring upon Jerusalem exactly the same kind of judgment that Babylon had brought. They marched on it with the sword, besieged it with their army, shut them up to famine and pestilence within, and there were more than enough dead bodies for the ravaging dogs.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #50

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine” (Rev. 6:5–6).

Now we come to the third seal, and the third horseman of the Apocalypse. Just as had happened with the first two, one of the living beasts invites John to “come and see.” John does so, and what he sees is the destructiveness of famine. We can tell that this is the horseman representing famine by what he carries (balances), and by what the voice from the midst of the four beasts says. The pronouncement is about the cost of food, about which more in a minute. In addition, we have some background information from the Old Testament.

“And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.” (Lev. 26:26).

In other words, eating your bread by weight or by measure is an indication of not enough, and this horseman rides out with a pair of balances in hand. And we also have the association of the color black with famine: “Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.” (Lam. 5:10).

During the siege of Jerusalem (which is what this prophecy is about), there was a terrible famine. There had been a lot of food stored in Jerusalem, but the rival factions among the rebels mentioned earlier would periodically destroy the supplies of the other factions. The end result was, naturally, terrible famine. That black horse did ride through Jerusalem.

 

Note the echoes of this language in what Josephus wrote about the siege.

“Many there were indeed who sold what they had for one quart; it was of wheat, if they were of the richer sort, but of barley if they were poorer” (Wars 5.10.2).

A denarius was the average pay for the average worker of that time, rendered here by the AV as “penny.” And a measure of wheat is what it would take to feed that man for a day. If he wanted to feed a family, he would have to resort to barley. The cereal crops were affected, but not the oil and wine.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #49

Douglas Wilson on

“And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (Rev. 6:3–4).

The second seal is opened, and a rider on a red horse goes out. The first seal released a rider representing victory or conquest, which I take to be the Lord Jesus. The second seal releases a horse that is the color of bloodshed, the color of a god of war. Once again John is invited to “come and see,” which he does.

The thing to keep in mind is that the book of Revelation is about the replacement of the old Jerusalem below with the new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven like a bride. In order to make way for the new Jerusalem, the old Jerusalem must be destroyed, just as Jesus had promised that it would be. Indicating the Temple, He said that not one stone was going to be left on top of another one (Mark 13:2). So in the first instance, what this means is that we should look for the fulfillment of all these troubles in the cataclysm that came upon the land of Israel.

This passage says that peace was going to be taken from the ge. A better translation than earth for this word would be land. The tribulation was coming down upon the land. Jesus promised that it would be like no other tribulation ever, and as the history books show, that is exactly what happened to the land of Israel between the years 66 and 70 A.D.

The fighting in that war began in Galilee, and the fighting was not only between Romans and Jews. There were also rival factions among the Jews fighting each other, and the bloodshed was terrible. By the time they were forced back to the defense of Jerusalem, there were three or four rival camps among the Jews.

The Lord Jesus said that they did not know what would make for their peace (Luke 19:42). They certainly did not. And in the next breath, the Lord spoke of the Romans leveling the city (Luke 19:43-44). The rider on the red horse rode into Israel, and he took their peace entirely away. It was not for nothing he was given a sword.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #48

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:1–2).

We now come to one of the most famous set pieces out of the book of Revelation, which is the introduction of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. And we also come to the point where Christian interpreters shake hands with each other in order to part company, not to be reunited again until the resurrection of the dead in chapter 20.

For example, this first horseman, the one going forth conquering and to conquer, is variously interpreted. Some take him as Christ. Others taken him as Antichrist. Some take him as a series of Roman emperors. Others take him as one Roman emperor, which is to say, Vespasian. When it comes to these varied interpretations, it is not really possible to split the difference. The only true way is to interpret it with a clean conscience before God, and a spirit of charity toward those who differ.

This first aspect of this vision is declared by one of the four living beasts, who says come and see in a voice like thunder. If you take the rider of the white horse to be Christ, as I do, you still have a subsequent decision to make. Some take it as Christ in the form of the preached gospel, Christ in His capacity as savior. Others, among whom I would number myself, see the loosing of the seals as the run-up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Lord was the one who leveled that city, and so it is not out of line for us to see the Lord Christ here in His capacity as judge. He brings war upon the city that rejected Him, and following after Him are the other horsemen that invariably accompany conquest and war.

If the content of the scroll is the reign and rule of Jesus Christ, as we saw earlier, it is fitting that we see Him having a bow and being given a crown with the loosing of the first seal. It is fitting that He goes forth conquering and to conquer. But remember that the scroll is not opened until all the seals are loosed. What is happening is that we are being introduced to the players with the loosing of each seal. The action does not start until the scroll is finally opened.

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Grace & Peace: Revelation #47

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever” (Rev. 5:11–14).

We are building to a great crescendo of praise and adoration. If the Lamb were not God Himself, if Christ were not divine, then the honors rendered to Him here would indeed be blasphemous idolatry.

In this portion of Revelation, we have had different songs of praise. The 24 elders sang first to God, to the one who sits on the throne (Rev. 4:11). In the next song, this one rendered to the Lamb (Rev. 5:9-10), they were joined by the cherubim. Now in this iteration of their song, they are joined by innumerable angels (Rev. 5:12), a choir that has to number in the millions. The words used are myriad and chiliad, meaning ten thousand and thousand respectively. We thus have ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands, and they were all singing, John says, with a loud voice. I dare say it was loud. After they had praised the worth of the Lamb, the whole created order—in heaven, on earth, and under the earth—all joined in with their praise of the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb (Rev. 5:13).

The angels say that the Lamb is worthy of what He has received, having been slain, and that is power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. The entire created order say something similar—to God and to the Lamb be blessing, honor, glory, and might, forever and ever.

In response to this great chorus, the cherubim, the living creatures, say amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped.

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