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THE WORD FOR CHAPTER 5 WAS “WORTHY” The lamb was worthy, those with the lamb are worthy. They are the over-comers. They overcame overwhelming challenges, they walked worthy, and they lived worthy according to the calling they have received; from the worthy lamb.

Chapter 6 adds a second “w” word to the lamb; that word is “wrath.” But the two words can’t be

separated. God’s wrath cannot be refuted, ridiculed, or avoided because it is perfectly worthy. The Lamb alone, can open the scroll, and now, He begins to break the seals. If we step back and look at all the prophesied events, we find that they follow a 4:2:1 formula. Four deal with the earthly vantage; two are a view from the heavens; and the last is an awesome wait on God.

I would propose this as the most realistic take: There are seven seals, then seven trumpets, then seven

bowls of wrath, all following the 4:2:1 formula. It seems most likely that we don’t have three consecutive sets of

tragedies, but three different angles of the same set of events; one great event.

Consider for a moment how we see epic events. For example, imagine reading a set of short stories of 911. One story is told by an executive in the building that somehow survived after being dug from the rubble. The second story is by a family who have has a loved one working in the towers, and how they lived by the snippets of news as it came out. The third is by a fireman who saw the buildings hit, and fought his way through the aftermath to save whom he could. It is very possible that it would sound like three separate events, when in fact; the one event was so huge, that it led to three very different human experiences. Revelation isn’t simply the epic story of a building, but of the entire universe. Three angles of the event are just enough to get the idea. But it is a realistic way to make the point!

Another thing about these events; they are nothing new. There is nothing new about earthquakes or

wars. Even the heavens falling is nothing new. Archeology has determined a number of extinction events where some

“falling star” (meteor) had ended life on earth, as it had been. The events are not new, but the scope and intensity that is unprecidented.

So what can we take from that insight? –The events of the apocalypse have been proven in history. We are living the dynamics of Revelation, right now. Cosmologists have no problem surmising that the universe had its beginning in a huge amount of power, that it is

expending energy, and at some point the universe will have an end. Is it surprising that the end would involve the very forces that have always existed?! Science has no problem with that! What is distinctive to Christianity is; there is a REASON for the end; and there is a PURPOSE for it. It’s not meaningless or random. Just as “worthy” went beyond spotlighting God to implying the challenge to us, so does “wrath.” Our objective this morning is to see this in the first four seals, also known as “the four horsemen of the apocalypse.”

Revelation 6:1-8 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four

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living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

To start out of the gate with the right premise, let’s get this straight: The horse and riders are specific events or people; the horses are forces. They are dynamics of human history and nature that have always been in

play. They are personified into riders and horses. They are symbols, but symbols of very real forces.

THE FIRST SEAL: A WHITE HORSE AND A RIDER WITH A BOW The vision is not really new. Some 8 centuries earlier, the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 6:1-3) spoke of similar horses, but the vision to John has some new twists. They are not a team pulling a chariot, but carry individual riders, each a certain force or dynamic of the human world. The first horse is white. White can symbolize a few things in ancient symbolism, but one of the most common is victory. –And if we look at the vision in context, this one fits the best.

The rider is wearing a crown. I was amazed at how many paintings get this wrong, and it totally throws off the meaning. We know that the ancient Greek had two words for “crown.” “Diadema” is a royal crown. “stephanos” is a laurel of victory. The crown on this rider is not royal, but victory.

The rider carries a bow. The bow is a symbol of military victory, but there is something interesting here. John lives at the height of the Roman Empire. The victorious weapon of Rome was its short sword. If anything, the bow is a symbol of defeat for them. For all its spectacular victories, they had only managed to defeat the Parthians (Middle Persia) once

out of many battles because they were defeated by their bows. This rider is all about military conquest, but the picture is much bigger than the Roman Empire. Even if you are not a military buff, consider how much history has been driven by the thirst for conquest. Alexander the Great; Caesar, the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, the World Wars; the milestones of human history are dominated by wars of conquests, to this day. The first rider is simply unleashing what we have always done; to ourselves!

THE SECOND SEAL: A FIERY RED HORSE AND A RIDER WITH A SWORD. If white stands for victory, what does fiery red stand for? What does it mean we see “fire” in someone’s eyes? -Or we describe someone with a fiery personality? -It means someone impassioned; someone who reacts intensely and emotionally, even compulsively. Anger and hate are fiery. They are an “in your face” dynamic.

It might sound like the second rider is just another version of the first, after all, he’s carrying a sword. But the Greek language has more than one word for sword. There is the “rhomphaia” which is a big sword. It is a weapon for

full-scale war. Then there is the “machaira.” It can be as small as a stabbing dagger, and is usually used for slaughtering animals. If you were going to use it as a weapon, it would be in close quarters. It would be nasty; it would be personal; it might be the “back-stabber.”

The first rider deals with the war between nations; the fiery rider deals with unrest within a nation or culture. It is social, civil, and domestic breakdown. Cultures themselves, are crumbling into chaos.

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How might that happen? How about; everyone gives up on the idea of a common good; like God. What if

“self” becomes the driving interest? What happens when a society becomes nothing but special interest groups and self-centered individuals? We don’t have to conjecture. Twice in Judges (17:6 & 21:25) it says, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” -And it was the dark days of Israel, even as they were supposed to be the people of God. No rabbi would dispute this point. But that’s a default position of our fallen nature, isn’t it? For example, just think of how many special interest groups there are in our culture. Feminist groups, transgender groups, big business, even environmental groups, and racial groups; some have even started for noble reasons, but every one of them has resorted to “back stabbing” and underhanded tactics within the interest. We default to “us versus them”, and “them” always become the target of our “machaira.” The second rider is simply unleashing what we have always done; to ourselves!

THE THIRD SEAL: A BLACK HORSE AND A RIDER WITH MEASURING SCALES He is ecological catastrophe. This shouldn’t surprise us! It is the inexorable outcome of the first two forces. Wars are wanton destruction; of lives; AND, the environment. Look at any war and you will find a shortage of food. You know, a main reason the Germans lost the First World War was because their people were literally starving to death. The Second war wasn’t any better! The same has happened in the any prolonged civil war like the human tragedies of Ethiopia, and currently, Syria. Food production is destroyed and people starve. That is understandable, but one of the heavenly creatures cries out a curious thing, it says, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

What does that mean? Well the first part is straight-forward; wheat is a more expensive grain, so if you were poor, or trying to extend your food rations, you’d be forced to buy the cheaper grain.

But the oil and the wine can have one of a few meanings; and probably, it’s a culmination of them all. First, oil and wine grow deeper roots than grain. So the ecological disaster is critical, but not to the full extreme. Some things are still growing. This has happened in history. For example, it happened in Rome under the Emperor Domitian.

Second, grain is considered a staple, while olive oil and wine are luxury items, more common to the rich. What happens in times of critical shortage? -There is a polarizing of the society. The rich stay relatively untouched while others starve.

Thirdly, in Jewish thought, corn, oil, and wine represented man’s basic needs. When one becomes rare, you compensate with another. They all paint the same picture; there will be famine, because of ecological disaster, caused by the wars and violence. The third rider is simply unleashing what we have always done; to ourselves!

THE FOURTH SEAL: A PALE HORSE AND A RIDER CARRYING NOTHING The Greek word for “pale” was “chloros”, basically, the color of chlorine. It’s a pale green like a decaying corpse. Death is universally known it doesn’t have to carry a symbol.

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One again, this is simply a progression that is bound to happen. When people are deprived of nourishment, they become sickly. They fall to all kinds of diseases, and the diseases spread like wildfire through a weakened population.

And this is a bad one; 25% of the world. For comparison, the Black Death in Europe killed somewhat less than this many people (30-60%). That translates to some 100 million deaths in Europe during the 14th century. If we the “pale horse” were to visit us right now, with our current population; that would translate to some 200 million lives lost, just from disease and pestilence. That doesn’t include the war and violence. Just to get a bead on that; during the Second World War, some 60 million died. The volume of death is beyond imagination; and yet so believable. In our day, we have biological weapons. As we’ve advanced in antibiotics, we have produced “super-bugs” and the medical community says it’s not a question of “if”, but “when” one goes epidemic. The bottom line is: The fourth rider is simply unleashing what we have always done; to ourselves!

WHERE’S THE HOPE Wow! It’s little wonder people avoid Revelation; what a bummer!! It’s overwhelming; where’s the hope in this?

Well, let start by admitting what we’re looking at: This is simply the path of a fallen human nature; in groups or individuals. The fallen nature is the sin nature.

Avarice, envy, unfettered rage, laziness, gluttony, lust, and pride; even right now, much of humanity is actively destroying itself with these very things. –Even in churches! Romans 6:23 tells us, the wages of sin is… death. In His parable of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24-30), Jesus told us

we would be living side-by-side with the forces and fruit of sin; to the very end. Because of man’s sin nature, this is what is happening and will happen, and, MUST happen, it is the inevitable course.

The good news is this: Even though we live amid the storms of sin, we do not have to be its victims. Because of the Christ who is; worthy, we can live; worthy, and by living worthy, we do not have to fall; we can overcome.

In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us how those with a superficial belief will fall. Some will be deceived. Others will be embittered by the darkness and their hearts will grow cold. But that doesn’t HAVE to happen. I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (Ephesians 4:1)

We have received what we need; we just need to live up to it! What’s at the heart of this calling? -Philippians chapter 2; Let the mind in you which was also in Christ.

What is that mind? -Selfless obedience.

You know, there is a lot of debate whether Revelation speaks of Christians being taken out of the world before, during or after the great tribulation. It’s almost a moot point because, we are living in the forces of the tribulation right now! And whether we are living in the foreshadow, or the full force; we overcome in the same way:

…For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

There is an incredible comfort in all this darkness for those who trust the worthy Lamb. He knows it all; He is in

control. Not even death can’t do more than He allows. Even in the apparent injustice and chaos; He is still perfectly in control, working to a perfect end.

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Just by living in this world, we’ll all face the forces of the horsemen; we are to some extent, right now! But the

difference between being its victim or victor comes down to living worthy of the calling you have received. If your

trust is in the “worthy lamb”, you have received a calling. Are you walking WORTHY? It is only worthy that escapes the

Wrath.