“Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!’”

Usually, when you’re punished, when justice is leveled against you, you lose something. Breaking the law causes you to lose money in fines, to lose freedom through incarceration, or both. There were times throughout history, and even still in parts of the world today, where stealing will lose you your hand. On a gentler scale, children are often punished either corporally, losing comfort and dignity, or having privileges stripped away, if not some combination of the two. But sometimes, there’s a punishment where you lose through means of gain. While it sometimes backfires, I know people who, when caught smoking by their parents, were forced to smoke the entire pack of cigarettes on the spot. It’s something we can see in the image of the drunkard who is drowned in wine, or the thief who is crushed under a mound of gold. It’s something that occurs multiple times in Scripture, one example being with the Israelites in Numbers 11. To give some context, the people are complaining against God… Again. If you’re familiar with the events of Exodus and the Jews’ time in the wilderness, you know this is a recurring theme, which results in disastrous consequences. This time their complaint is against the manna that God provides for them to eat. They long for the food they enjoyed in Egypt, the meat and the spices, and reminisce about how good things were there – you know, when they were slaves. Numbers 11:31–34 goes on to say,

“Then a wind from the LORD sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground. And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck down the people with a very great plague. Therefore the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had the craving.”

First, understand that this was an insane amount of quail, we’re talking about millions, if not billions of birds – 10 homers is estimated to have been roughly 1,900 quail. This wasn’t a matter of just wanting some meat, it wasn’t a matter of just collecting enough to have a meal or two, rather it was extreme gluttony and rampant greed. God gave the people an opportunity to pursue Him, or to pursue what they craved, and they went after their craving. This is not dissimilar from the fall in the garden – Adam and Eve, told that to eat of the fruit is to bring death upon themselves, they’re given an option to obey their temptations or to obey God. In their sin, they lost essentially everything, but they also gained something from the fruit in the curse of their open eyes, and their new ability to see that they were bare and insufficient. It’s also similar to the people of Israel demanding that they be given a king like other nations in 1 Samuel 8. 1 Samuel 8:6–9 says,

“But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

Under God’s instruction, Samuel warns the people that a king will take from them – their children for his army and to be his servants, as well as their goods, and land, and livestock to build up his own household. 1 Samuel 8:18–20 shows us the close of Samuel’s address as well as the people’s reply,

“‘And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.’ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, ‘No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.’”

And so the people were given Saul, who was a terrible king, David, who despite his faults was in many ways a good king, and pursued the Lord with all his heart, and then Solomon. Solomon, who under God’s blessing would rule with great wisdom, building the temple and presiding over Israel as it grew to a nation of great prosperity. Solomon, who married many foreign wives, who turned from God in his old age, and who built the high places, the sites of idol worship that would be a stumbling block for the people of Israel for generations to come. It’s relevant that we understand the idea of justice executed, not just through stripping away, but from adding to as we move into Revelation 6, the opening of the first three seals, and the arrival of the first three of the famed four horsemen of the apocalypse. These punishments are cataclysmic, the justice that is leveled is intense beyond anything the world has seen before, and yet if we look at our current, fallen condition, we’ll see that what unfolds isn’t a removal of our current state in place of something worse. Instead it’s an increase of what we already have, an increase of what the world already clings to, with blind eyes and white knuckled intensity. The world has chosen many, many things over sovereign God, and what we see as the first three seals are opened and the riders descend upon the earth is that the justice of God is poetic, as well as righteous and good, and that the world will drown in these things it has prized above the Living God.

The First Three Seals – Divine Judgement Unleashed on a Fallen World

1. The Counterfeit King

“Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.”

Before we begin to wade through the glorious but weighty judgement that is to unfold upon the earth through most of what remains of Revelation, I want to make sure our hearts and minds are in the right place concerning what’s happening, God, and His nature. Firstly, as we talked about last week, there is a difference between what is bad, and what is morally evil. Just because God allows, or causes “bad” things to happen (like His divine wrath poured out on the world in global destruction), does not make them evil. James 1:17 tells us,

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

This is God’s character, “no variation or shadow due to change.” He is, in all things, and at all times, as the living creatures declare, holy, holy, holy. As Paul writes in Romans 9:14–18,

“What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”

God doesn’t put a hand over his eyes, point at random, and through this method, pick and choose who will receive mercy, and who will not. Whether we have a Calvinist take of unconditional election, or an Arminian view that God chose those He foreknew would act in a certain way, God’s choice is not arbitrary, and because it’s not arbitrary, it’s just. We can see this through Paul’s example of Pharaoh, as we see in Exodus both that God hardened his heart, and that he hardened his own heart – God did not place evil and rebellion within the heart of Pharaoh, rather He committed the man to his own desires. As James writes in James 1:13–15,

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

And so as we read, remember these things. Remember the sinful condition of the world, remember the goodness and glory of God, and remember that in all things, at all times. He is holy, and righteous, and good. And now, on to the seals. As we read through chapter five, we could see the joy at what was coming, the celebration that Christ, the Lamb of God, was worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals. Now we see, there is no delay. Scroll in hand, the first seal is broken, and one of the living creatures, one of the constantly worshiping servants of God speaks, but it does so “with a voice like thunder.”  John 12:27–29 says,

“‘Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’”

This voice like thunder is one that emulates the voice of God, the words of His messenger that carries the authority given by Him. At the command of this voice, a white horse and its rider come forth, and we see his unique characteristics – he has a bow, he’s given a crown, and he comes conquering and to conquer. There are different theories around the identity of this horseman – some are inclined to think that he’s Jesus, but that seems to fall apart very quickly. Firstly, the horseman has equals, there are three other horsemen who come after Him, whereas Christ is entirely singular – yes, we see the three persons of the Godhead in Father, Son, and Spirit, but there is also unity among the three, and that can’t be said of the white horseman and his fellows. Also, when we see Jesus arrive on His white horse later in Revelation, there is far greater gravity to the event, and His description doesn’t match that of the white horseman, Revelation 19:11–16 saying,

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

The white horseman comes conquering and to conquer, where Jesus is shown coming to judge and to make war. You may think of these things as all the same, but there are distinct differences between them. One who comes with the singular role of the conqueror may, or may not be virtuous. Jesus encourages the seven churches to the rewards who await “the one who conquers,” calling them to bear up under the weight and darkness of the world, and to persevere and claim victory by His holy name. But you can also conquer simply for the sake of domination and greed, which is historically what worldly conquerors have done. This isn’t the kind of dominion Jesus comes to exercise in Revelation 19. Despite the fact that He comes in complete authority, He comes not just to conquer on a blanket scale, but to judge and to make war. There is justice built into the verbiage of the second coming of Christ that is not inherently visible in the role and nature of the first horseman. We also see that the white horseman comes bearing a bow, while Christ wields the sword of His mouth, and is given a crown, while Jesus is not given His authority, but comes already bearing many crowns. Lastly we can see the contrast of their identities – the first horseman comes somewhat mysteriously. We don’t know exactly where he came from, or who he is, only his attributes and his role in God’s judgement against the world. Jesus on the other hand is completely unobscured – He descends from heaven, and everything from the fire of His eyes, to the blood on His robe, to the sword in His mouth, to the name on His thigh attest to who He is. So, if we can say with all reasonable certainty that the first horseman is not Jesus, who might he be? Again, we’re not explicitly told his, or any of the other horsemen’s names or origins, however the theory that I find most compelling is that the white rider, the first horseman, is the antichrist. There was a time when I didn’t think this was the case, because I assumed that the four horsemen were servants of God, likely angels who were sent to deliver judgement against the world, as we see some angels explicitly do later in Revelation. Part of what changed my mind on this, to skip ahead just a little, is the fourth horseman, who we’ll look at in more detail next week. Revelation 6:8 says,

“And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him…”

This is so relevant because Revelation 20:14–15 later says,

“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

The Greek words for Death and Hades (Thanatos and Hadēs) are the same in both passages. It stands to reason that if the rider and what follows in his wake are consigned eternally to the lake of fire, then he himself (and presumably the other riders) aren’t righteous, despite them being unleashed to fulfill the righteous will of God. Which brings us back to today’s passage, the first seal, the white horseman, and whether or not he’s the figure of the antichrist. There are a few things that make me think it’s likely him, the first being the fact that he on his white horse is sometimes confused with Jesus. We have to remember that the antichrist, working in the spirit of Satan doesn’t come with a message that necessarily tries to deny Christ, rather he seeks to replace Christ. We talked about this figure and the spirit of his work back when we worked our way through 1 John, with 1 John 2:18–19 saying,

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

Satan is the father of lies, and showed in the beginning, at the time of the fall that he works deceptively to steer from the truth through subtle temptation. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, and teaching that is just a little wrong is still corrupt in its entirety. While the first horseman and the antichrist don’t seem to bear the same description (although the symbolic meanings of the appearance of the antichrist is another conversation entirely), there is a part of the antichrist’s function that seems to carry some similarities to the brief account we’re given of the white horseman. Revelation 13:7–8 says of the first beast, commonly taken as the antichrist,

“Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.”

The first horseman comes conquering and to conquer. Take into consideration that Satan already has sway over the earth – we can see his level of power and control through mention of him in passages like John 14:30–31, where Jesus says,

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father…”

2 Corinthians 4:4,

“In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

and Ephesians 2:1–2 where Paul writes,

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—”

Satan is called the ruler, the prince, the god of this world, one who has clearly conquered – but only as much as God has permitted. It begs the question why God, who created the world and sustains it by His mighty power, would permit the enemy to exercise any authority over His creation, but I think we have our answer in a passage we’ve already talked about. When the Israelites asked that Samuel set a king over them and God tells him in 1 Samuel 8:7,

“Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”

The world has Satan as its ruler because we asked for him, we have him as our conqueror because that’s what we chose. Just as the Israelites forsook God as their King in favor of a human ruler, we chose sin over God in the garden, we rejected Him as our Lord and Master and in this rebellion, we chose the deceiver as the ruler of this world, and God in His justice, gave this to us. In this, we can see how the first seal is a leveled judgement, a punishment of more of what mankind has asked for. Paul, quoting the Psalms, writes in Romans 3:10–18,

“as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”

Mankind does not seek after the ways or governance of God. We look to fashion our own perfect rulers, our own ethics and philosophy, we look to the strength of our bodies, the power of our minds and we come to worship and cherish ourselves. And so we can see how the opening of the first seal unleashes upon the world the very thing it’s been chasing – an uncompromising, implacable conqueror, permitted to wear a crown and dominate the earth and carrying – a bow, which is the last thing I want to draw attention to about the first horseman. The bow ties in with the image of the white horseman as a conqueror, it is a tool and weapon that changed the face of warfare, and has claimed literally millions of lives throughout history. It is the weapon that is largely credited with the domination of the horsemen of both the Mongol and Hunnic empires, both of which dwarfed the Roman empire in their size, if not their length of reign. The bow in the hand of the first horseman carries great symbolism, underscoring his conquering role, and yet, what we don’t see are arrows. The bow, formidable weapon that it is, is absolutely useless without arrows. If there are no projectiles to be launched, the thing that launches the projectiles serves no purpose. In fact, an empty bow is worse than useless – it’s self-destructive. A (very) important first lesson in archery is that you never, ever dry-fire a bow. Without an arrow, all the energy is displaced into the limbs, and it can literally destroy itself, making it unusable and quite possibly injuring the archer. This again is a quality that is shown in Satan, and by association, the antichrist. We’re given a picture of Satan through the nation of Babylon, and the destruction he has brought upon himself in Isaiah 14:12–17,

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’”

If I’ve read this correctly and we can understand the first horseman as the antichrist, then we’re shown where his tyranny, where the snapping of his empty bowstring lands him in Revelation 19:19–20,

“And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.”

In the white rider we see the first seal broken, the first of God’s judgements against the world, and the first example of the world being granted that which it cries out for in its sin.

2. The Burned Illusion

“When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.”

I can say, likely to your great relief, that I have no theories or ideas as to the identities of the second and third horseman, and so there’s no need to delve into comparing and contrasting evidence supporting who they are exactly. Righteous or evil, they ultimately serve the will of God in delivering justice against a sinful world, and what we can study and understand from them is how they deliver that, and how it applies to our comprehension of the breaking of the second and third seals. After Jesus has opened the second seal John witnesses the second living creature command, and the second horseman comes forward. The horse is described as being bright red, but the Greek used, pyrros, isn’t the normal word for red, but, being the root word for “pyro” suggests a flaming, fiery red. We only see this spelling and use of pyrros one other time in all of the New Testament, and that’s in Revelation 12:3 where it describes the dragon, who is Satan,

“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.”

This burning, fiery horseman, an image of destruction, is permitted to take peace from the earth, and in this we can see how the destructive force of fire fits with his nature and description. We could also think of him taking peace from the earth, again as the earth being given what it has always vied for – peace on our terms. As we looked at during our time in Advent, the world doesn’t actually know peace. The Spirit of God through the people of God stands as an example of peace. Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace, who shines as the Light within those who have been redeemed and made new by Him, shows the world peace. But as John wrote in John 1:9–11,

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

And, recording the words of Jesus in John 3:19–20,

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

The world denies Christ, and it has no stomach for peace. There is no tolerance for it in the flesh because the flesh rejects God and true peace is only of Him. Yet the world claims to want peace – there are those who pride themselves on their agreeable nature, entire false religions and self-serving philosophies set up around the idea of transcendent peace. To many, peace is the absence of conflict, it’s a state of relaxation, it’s everyone sitting around a campfire singing Kumbaya. It boils down to you living how you want to live, and me living how I want to live, and in letting everyone do what they want, we’ll all get along… As though that could somehow actually give everyone what they’re after, and not permit some to trample others as they sate their own desires and claim their own “peace.” It’s not peace in any form or fashion, because the human mind can’t comprehend peace – things like the beatitudes Jesus gives in Matthew 5:3–12,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Guidance to love your neighbor, to pray for your enemies, to forgive your brother seventy-seven times – these things do not resonate in the minds of man, they don’t take root in hearts of flesh. The “peace” as it were that mankind brings forth is summed up in the message of Lamech in Genesis 4:23–24,

“Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.’”

The mouths of man lie and ask for peace, but their hearts cry something worse than an eye for an eye, rather an eye for an insult. The second horseman, this red rider on his flaming horse removes any illusion of peace from the people of the earth, and he delivers that which man claims to want – peace on human terms. That is, no peace. There is no human peace, and the second horseman burns up the illusion that such a thing ever could have existed.  In the absence of the flimsy, delusional concept, we see conflict so that man turns against man. We see unrest on the earth, violence as the illusion of human morals is shattered and the judgement of the second seal is delivered.

3. The Starving Abundance

“When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!’”

Jesus asks the rhetorical questions in Matthew 16:26,

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

This clearly pertains to spiritual matters, but it has clear relevance to what we see unfold under the unleashed judgement of the third seal and the black horseman. What good is gold to the man who sits starving and abandoned in the wilderness? What use are gems to the man thirsting to death in the middle of a desert? What amount of material gain is worth the breath from your lungs or the beat from your heart? What we see repeating is that the world, having no proper knowledge of God, looks to the strength of self – the height of our walls, the strength of our arms, the wealth of our hoarded treasure. The world sees and prizes the might of the towering giant, armored and armed, filled with strength and fury – but this is nothing before the will of God, who tears down what the world sees as strong with one young shepherd boy whose heart is fully turned to the Lord, and a smooth river stone. What we witness at the arrival of the third horseman, under the weight of an unrelenting conqueror, and the absence of peace on the earth, is a wildly unbalanced economic collapse. We hear the voice calling from the midst of the living creatures,

“A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius…”

To put the severity of the times into perspective, remember that a denarius is roughly a day’s wage, and then bear in mind that a quart of wheat (measured as whole kernels, so this still needs to be ground into flour) is approximately enough to feed one person – roughly an eight, to even twelve fold increase from the normal cost. Barley, the cheaper, less nutritious grain, sometimes used for livestock is cheaper, but even this has risen drastically in cost. These are conditions of great scarcity and famine, where people lack the means to feed their families, and yet there’s a caveat made by the voice that speaks from the midst of the living creatures,

“… and do not harm the oil and wine.”

Oil and wine were used for a variety of purposes, and would have been considered staples – but not compared to bread. There may be need for oil and wine, but you can survive on neither of them alone. They are highly valued under normal circumstances, yet in economic conditions such as the ones described, they’re essentially useless. The world prides itself on excess and abundance, it places its faith in these things, but they’re worth less than nothing in a time of crisis. Luke 12:15–21 says,

“And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.’”

These are the conditions brought about by the third horseman – a ruined and unstable economy, in the midst of a land with no peace, while war is waged and a tyrant conquers. As we look at the first three horsemen loosed by the first three seals, we can see a picture of a world that has rejected God, that has built itself up in seeking its own image is delivered the beginning of justice. It’s heavy and intense, and yet it is good because it is the will of God, and it levels righteous judgement against a world that has chosen the enemy, that has hated holy God, a world that has invited divine wrath upon it. Nothing is arbitrary, nothing is in excess or overdone, but each action taken and judgement leveled are perfectly weighed and measured, as we witness what is only the beginning of the awesome and glorious reckoning of the One who is seated on the throne in heaven.

Pastor Chris’ sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0M5lECY0Vk