Revelation Archives - Page 14 of 19

Grace & Peace: Revelation #50

Douglas Wilson on February 14, 2017

“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 February 7, 2017

“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 January 31, 2017

“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 January 25, 2017

“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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Grace & Peace: Revelation #46

Douglas Wilson on January 17, 2017

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

“And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:7–10).

The Lamb who was the Lion then came and took the scroll out of the right hand of the one who sat upon the throne. And when He had done so, the heavenly authorities and the representatives of the entire historic church fell down before Him. All of them had harps, and bowls full of incense. The incense is defined here as symbolic of the prayers of the saints. This is additional confirmation on the identity of the twenty-four elders—the prayers of the saints are, in effect, offered by them. And secondly, this tells us how God receives the prayers of the saints. It tells us what He thinks about our prayers—they are a sweet-smelling odor to Him. It is possible that the particular prayers of the saints that are in view here are the prayers of the saints who are undergoing persecution (Rev. 6:10), and who are praying for deliverance.

The earlier song that was sung (4:11) was a song that emphasized creation. When this song is offered, it is described as a new song, and the theme of it is redemption. The reason the Lamb is worthy to take the scroll, and to open the seven seals of that scroll, is the fact that He was slain. Because He was slain, His blood was used to redeem His people. The elders here say “us,” meaning that they were included in that redemption. Not only were they redeemed, but they were redeemed out of every group of people on earth. All kindreds and tongues, all peoples and nations. Not only were they taken out of all these groups all over the earth, but they have now been established as kings and priests “on the earth.” This means that their reign is not invisible and spiritual in the heavens, and it is not an invisible reign over their own spirits. We are talking about the rise and ascendancy of the Christian faith.

There are three places in the book of Revelation where believers are described as kings and priests. We find that in Rev. 1:6, here in Rev. 5:10, and again in Rev. 20:6. It is a recurring theme. If we are kings and priests on the earth, beware of teaching that says we are no such thing.

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