The Revelation of Chaos Pt. 2
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Introduction
Introduction
This morning, we looked at the first two verses here concerning the Antichrist.
This first horseman of the Apocalypse is not Jesus Christ, but he is the Antichrist. I explained the reasons I believe that this morning...
The main action of Revelation begins with chapter six. The judgment period takes place in 6:1 through 19:4.
The judgments are executed in three series.
* The Seals (6:1–8:5)
* The Trumpets (8:6–19:21) (the 7th trumpet are the 7 vials)
* The Vials (16:1–19:21)
The judgments are like the sections of a telescope. The outer section contains the inner two.
The seals bring forth the trumpets which bring forth the vials. Seals one through six will be broken one at a time.
The seventh seal will produce seven trumpet judgments. The first six trumpet judgments have their own individual judgment.
The seventh trumpet judgment will produce seven vial or bowl judgments.
These judgments do not occur simultaneously.
The seven trumpet judgments do not start until the seventh seal is opened.
The seven vial judgments do not commence until the seventh trumpet is blown.
As I told you this morning, I want to remind you again that these judgments take place in the future.
They have not been fulfilled yet.
The Second Seal - Destruction
The Second Seal - Destruction
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.
Antichrist’s conquest begins in peace, but soon he exchanges the empty bow for a sword.
The color red is often associated with terror and death: the red dragon (Rev. 12:3), the red beast (Rev. 17:3).
It is a picture of wanton bloodshed.
War has been a part of man’s experience since Cain killed Abel, so this image would speak to believers in every age, reminding them that God is ultimately in control, even though He is not responsible for the lawless deeds of men and nations.
The Peace Is Broken—The peace instituted by the Antichrist seems to be short lived. War breaks out all over the world. Jesus warns men about putting too much stock in the cries of peace that are bantered about by the politicians and rulers of this world,
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Can you imagine a world that knows no peace at all? In every corner of the globe, violence and war will rage. That is the world that every lost sinner will face during the Tribulation.
The Planet Is Brutalized—This rider is given a “great sword”. The word “great” refers to the extent of the warfare. It will be worldwide in its scope. The word “sword” refers to the short swords carried by Roman soldiers. These swords were used in hand to hand combat and were quite effective in putting the enemy to death.
When Antichrist first steps onto the world stage, he will be hailed as a man of peace. But, after he is given the reigns of power, he displays his true colors.
After men allow him a place of prominence and power, he will demand absolute power.
When this happens, many of the powerful countries of this world will rebel and the world will experience war on a scale that it has never before witnessed.
The Third Seal - Destitution
The Third Seal - Destitution
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.
The color black is often connected with famine in the Bible.
Famine and war go together. War brings famine…A shortage of food will always drive up prices and force the government to ration what’s available.
We see they are selling food by weight here: Scales in Biblical days were of the utmost importance for they were used in the buying and selling of dry goods. The weight of the food determines the cost of it. So here this black horse rider is going to be dealing with the food supply.
According to historian Herodutus, this measure of wheat, and three measures of barley was approximately one quart of food. The value of the Biblical penny is not like the value of our penny today. The Biblical penny was the equivalent of a whole day’s wage. (Matthew 20:2) So here we learn, during this time, that this price of one quart of food will be worth a whole day’s wage.
At this price, the average laborer will not be able to feed his family in that day! There will be a great famine in the World!
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
This will surely cause mass hysteria, and will allow the antichrist full control over the buying and selling, which will bring about the receiving of the mark of the beast.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
NOTE: Because of the timing of the mark of the beast (Revelation 13), it would be impossible for anyone today to receive that mark. Remember, we are talking about the future. This all will come to pass, but people are getting all confused today with the inflation, with COVID, with the COVID vaccines, - oh my, some things I hear like the vaccine being the mark make me just cringe - come on people, read your Bibles.
I will say that a lot of what we see today, I believe are setting things up, they are putting things into motion, but it’s not here and I’m not worried about it because I’m still here.
All these things take place after the rapture of God’s people.
During the Tribulation, a man will have to work all day just to secure food for himself! There will be nothing for his family!
At the same time, the rich will be enjoying plenty of oil and wine.
No wonder Antichrist will eventually be able to control the economy as he promises to feed the hungry masses.
The Fourth Seal - Death
The Fourth Seal - Death
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 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.
Following closely behind the black horse of famine comes the pale horse of pestilence and disease, with its resultant death.
We are told that the rider of this pale horse is “death”. We are also told that “hell” follows behind him. The word “death” speaks of the death of the body. The word “hell” reminds us that there is a horrible place waiting to receive the souls of lost men when they are taken by death.
A fourth of the population will die because of the results of this awful war, famine and pestilence.
If the population of the earth is as great as it is now, this will mean that as a result of war, famine and disease, approximately 1.97 billion people will die.
As if that number isn’t staggering enough, let me add that estimations about the total number of people to have died in the history of war have ranged form 150 million to 1 billion…We are talking about more than twice the high number of estimations of lives lost to war in the history of man...
The methods death will use to claim this great number of people are listed in this verse. The four methods mentioned are:
• Sword—This refers to warfare. During this period of time, it is almost certain that wars will be both convention as well as nuclear in nature. Some one will use a nuclear weapon in warfare some day. There can be little doubt that some countries will use biological and chemical weapons as well. The numbers that will die in these wars will be astronomical!
• Famine—We have already talked about the problem of starvation that will become worldwide in its scope during the Tribulation. Many millions will meet their deaths in that fashion.
• Death—This refers to deaths apart from warfare and famine. In Matthew 24:7, Jesus said this, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
The word “pestilences” is what I think this word “death” is referring to. Pestilence brings to mind diseases that will run rampant through the human race during this time period.
• Beasts—Animal attacks will account for many deaths. Some commentators believe this refers to small rodents like rats because of all the disease, and sickness, and filth that they carry.
Power was given to them over a fourth part of the earth, to kill: Power was given to the horseman, and given by God.
Though all hell breaks loose on the earth, God is very much in control. He still holds the scroll and opens the seals.
From these facts you will begin to understand why this period is called "the Tribulation" and why we Christians rejoice in the fact that we shall be taken out before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I praise the Lord this morning that I’m saved by His grace! I don’t have to worry about these things. Nobody knows howl bad things are going to get before the Lord comes again, but I’m thankful that I’ll be leaving before the bottom falls out.
But at the same time, this makes me grieve for those who don’t know the Lord. These people are going to be left here, and will have to deal with these things.
If you’re not saved today, please come to Jesus and look to Him for salvation.
We use the term saved, are you saved? Saved from what? What does that mean? It means, saved from the wrath of our Lord. If you’re not saved today, please come to this altar.
Christian, why don’t you come and pray for the ones around you that are unsaved? Lost family, lost coworkers, lost friends...