Introduction: When I was going to High School, which I started a mere 75 years ago. we were in our Christian weekly meeting encouraged to have a daily QT (Quiet time). ‘Make a habit of reading your Bible daily, thinking about what you read and pray’ we were told. I asked Wikipedia what a devotional is supposed to be and do. The answer was ‘a devotional is to foster spiritual growth and deepen an individual’s relationship with God through structured, daily interaction with Scripture, prayer, and meditation.’ When I think about ‘meditation’ my hope is that the reading and comments which I give, help a bit in background information but beyond that are provocative! Not a pill to be swallowed whole as if magic but rather a menu to give you, the reader, a meal to digest to your profit! Now we move into the future, prophetic part of the book, I’m not going to hit on dates, a-millennial , pre-millennial, mid-tribulation, post-tribulation etc, but try to open our minds to the future, and the great purpose of God and the Glory of our Triune God! Paul advises us not to get into discussions which take us away from faithful walking in the Jesus’ Way! The world presses us to think of ourselves. Christ is meant to be the centre of our living! (Even when I was a busy surgeon in the midst of handling a massive truck accident!) Remember that John living almost 2000 years ago has been taken, in the Spirit, into heaven. Jesus has not returned in Victory until later in the book of Revelation. We are not told when, for instance, the four horses will be released, except as commanded in the God-written scroll and as the seals are opened by the Lion-like Lamb of God! We have seen results as if the four coloured horses have been released since sin entered the world! But very possibly the things which the horses represent are to come in greater intensity in the future – or maybe we are in the midst of it now!
1 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!” 2 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. – There are, in history, many conquerors who have ridden on prancing white horses as they were led to be praised. Is this rider Christ? Is the bow the gospel by which He wins His victory or war which is yet to come? Is the crown made of thorns or of gold set in diamonds?
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 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. – Bright red suggests blood! Christ is the Prince of Peace but can you think of any ‘world peace’ that has occurred since Jesus came? Is there worse to come? At the end of WWII there were still the Chinese Civil War, the Indonesian National Revolution, and the Greek Civil War, among others going on!
5 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. 6 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!” – poverty and starvation aren’t unknown! But it could be worse. These horses seem to be sent as punishment. Those events which occur so regularly, are they in judgement, meant to draw us to honest repentance and returning to God? That doesn’t mean that there is not to be a future worse ‘black horse’. 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. – It is estimated the 63 million people died, worldwide, in 2025! This includes those who died of ‘old age’ and everything. This pale (deathly pale) horse suggests that that number will appear almost minuscule!
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. – The fifth seal opened reveals what is a huge number of people who have been martyred or faithful to the end under the ‘altar’, the covering provided by Christ’s perfect sacrifice, asking, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Is the answer to seen beginning at John’s time? In this case the Fulfilment may be very soon! Or from the time that the revelation is being read? In which case it may not be soon!
Daniel 12: 1-3 – “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Prayer – Thank You that You tell us that You are Sovereign and can be trusted.