Revelation 6:3-11, a rider on a red horse.

 In my post on Revelation 6:1,2, I focused on Finis Jennings Dake and his well-founded theory that the rider on the white horse, unleashed with the first seal, is the antichrist. You should also know that there are many who understand this to be so.

If you looked at verse two with an understanding that the church is caught up into heaven - the rapture, before God's wrath is poured out; then you can understand that all the seals, about to be opened, have to do with one thing, God's plan and the associated wrath his plan brings.

If we can consider that any number of events will have taken place in the moments preceding the catching away of the church or thereafter, then we can agree that those left here on earth, and there will be many, should be overwhelmed. I am talking about this moment in this manner because any sensible bible teacher should tell you that none of us can say to you, with precision, what will happen next.

Aside from what will seem like the instantaneous unleashing of the antichrist upon the world, you may see the Ezekiel 38 war with this cryptic leader Gog leading the battle against Israel, a war in which God comes to aid of Israel and no one else does. Here again, this war may happen just moments before the church leaves the earth.

When is the best time to offer a peace treaty?

There are two times: before a war; this allows you time to gain allies; the other is when a conflict breaks out. At this point, you would be trying to restore order and peace.

The scriptures, contrary to popular opinion, do not mention Israel in this agreement (although many will try to tell that the treaty is with Israel. You would have to been living under a rock to not be aware that Former President Donald Trump, proffer a treaty, in which many have signed on as allies of Israel. What would be a common reason to do this? Oil. This is one of the reasons you see “Kittim and Dedan, asking those who have attacked Israel, why are you doing this? The clue here is that Kittim and Dedan are Saudi Arabia.)

Reasons why I feel comfortable saying that "we," as prophecy teachers, cannot specifically say when these events will take place: Because halfway through the seven-year reign of the antichrist, he will end the sacrifices in the temple and set himself up as god; this cannot happen unless the temple is rebuilt. It is because of these things we will see things happen rapidly.

I would hope, at this point, that you picked up on the fact that the antichrist is an aspect of god's wrath.

If so, then let's move on to Revelation 6:3,4, where we see the second seal broken.

Revelation 6:3-4 NIRV "the lamb broke open the second seal. then I heard the second living creature say, "come!" (4) another horse came out. it was flaming red. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. He was given a large sword."

In verse three, "he," which is the terminology that many translations use, refers to Jesus Christ, the lion of Judah, the lamb that was slain. John says, "I heard the second living creature saying, come." at this command, john has been invited to look into the future. What an honor and horror at the same time.

What do we see next?

"and another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him." Revelation 6:4 NASB

End of page one.

Revelation 6:4 is the second seal, and we now have another horse - a red one, and its rider was given permission to take peace from the earth. Isn't that odd that the first rider seems to bring peace?

A side note.

I was listening to my Pastor Jack Hibbs as he spoke with Jan Markell of https://olivetreeviews.org/. They were talking about prophetic end-time events, which included some questions from the audience, one of which asked which seal we were under right now. The short answer, from Jan Markell, was, the church will never experience the wrath involved with the seals. The conversation continued as Pastor Jack tried to make a point about Revelation 6:2, the rider on the white horse. Jack said, he will bring about a flourishing economy and peace for all, for three and one-half years.

Here is my take on Pastor Jack's assertion.

Revelation 6:2 speaks of this rider with a crown. What it does not tell you, unless you dig a bit, is that this crown is of the type that someone would receive for winning an athletic competition. So none are quite sure where this comes from, and who is giving it to him. Secondly, there is a huge assumption being made, and that is that the white horse rider is the good guy. Again, there is nothing to substantiate that assertion, unless you pull your information about him from Daniel's prophetic writings. There we learn that this rider institutes a seven-year peace treaty; ah, but with whom? That is not spelled out, nor are we told why?

Look at the description of the man from Revelation 6:2, and you will see that he has a bow but NO arrows. We can understand this to be a feigned peace, but there is an underlying violence. And, the other keywords are, he goes out conquering and to conquer. If there was financial peace and security in this package, it would only be for the global elite, and only temporarily.

If you are a student of scripture, then you know that the Revelation tells us, that the harlot that rides the beast (the Babylon system of global control,) gets destroyed in an hour. So, NO, I would have never told you that the antichrist will bring about 1260 days of wealth. The entirety of the seven years is God's wrath coming down upon the earth.

Here we are, in some cases, struggling to breathe with these "mandatory" masks, hoping that some form of normalcy will return. We think being able to act and move as we were is normal and peaceful. Peace only comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. This rider on the red horse will cause any illusions of peace to be removed from the earth.

Something is obviously not right.

Most religious folk who have read my comments about how the antichrist could be a Muslim have almost violently opposed such statements. Responses like we see in Revelation 6, where peace is removed from the earth, should prompt us to at least look at what the tenets of Islam convey as the Muslims will come out of the woodwork, and will flood across the planet as the atmosphere on the street changes. You understand what I am saying because almost every one of you has witnessed the rioting, the rise of BLM, Antifa's influence, and how Islamic followers have gained positions of power in every nation they exist.

You need to know something about Islam.

In terms of Islam, we have been dealing with an atmosphere that is trying to make you think the adherents of the Qu'ran are peaceful. The Qu'ran tells its devotees to spill the blood of infidels in Jihad. An infidel is anyone outside of Islam. If you have been watching the news since 9/11, you have seen Islam at some of its lowest moments, in acts such as the beheading of infidels, raping the women in captured cities, and generally killing off any who oppose them.

End of page two.

Who gave this rider of Revelation 6:3 permission to remove peace?

Consider what Isaiah says; "there is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." Isaiah 57:21 NASB

Perhaps some will say, Isaiah 57:21 doesn't tell us who gives this rider the free pass to remove peace. I'm afraid I have to disagree, but I can play along. In Zechariah chapter one, we see a comparable red horse (although the purpose of the red horse is not given). The thing I want you to see is "these are those whom the lord has sent to patrol the earth."

Zechariah 1:8-10 NASB "I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and white horses behind him. (9) then I said, "my lord, what are these?" And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, "I will show you what these are." (10) and the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, "these are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth."

It is becoming evident that everything we see in the Revelation is judgment and wrath sent by God. We can find another piece of evidence for this judgment in Ezekiel.

The Lord said: Ezekiel, son of man, the people of Israel are complaining that the punishment for their sins is more than they can stand. They have lost all hope for survival, and they blame me. Tell them that as surely as I am the living lord god, I don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live. So if the Israelites want to live, they must stop sinning and turn back to me. (Ezekiel 33:10-11 cev)

What do I learn from Ezekiel's prophecy?

I learn that a portion of this judgment is explicitly directed at Israel.

• "so if the Israelites want to live, they must stop sinning and turn back to me."

Isaiah 14 informs us that God's wrath/judgment will be applied to Assyria, the whole earth, and all the nations; to remove the yoke of the Assyrian from Israel's shoulders.

"The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, "surely, just as I have intended, so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, to break Assyria in my land, and I will trample him on my mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder. "This is the plan devised against the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. "For the lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?" (Isaiah 14:24-27 NASB)

With all this judgment – the removal of peace, God is still looking for ways to show his mercy.

"Suppose I warn wicked people that they will die because of their sins, and they stop sinning and start doing right. for example, they need to return anything they have taken as security for a loan and anything they have stolen. Then if they stop doing evil and start obeying my law, they will live. their past sins will be forgiven, and they will live because they have done right." (Ezekiel 33:14-16 CEV)

Let's refocus.

The rider on the red horse removes peace from the earth. If you have been living anywhere near these riotous areas of the united states, you might think peace has been removed already.

End of page three.

"And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him." Revelation 6:4 NASB

Notice how the verse says, "and that men would slay one another."

It is not merely the rider removing peace, but those willing to follow this course of action. There is one more "deadly" clue, as a great sword was given to him." This rider is given a great sword.

I need to remind you of something.

It only took one angel to kill all the firstborn of those who were not covered by the blood of the lamb that night in Egypt; so don't think for a second that one angel cannot remove peace from the earth.

When he broke the third seal

Revelation 6:5-6 NASB "when he broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. (6), and I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "a quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."

The general idea is that there will be a highly significant shortage of food; that or the United States will get hit with hyper-inflation much like Venezuela, and you will not afford food. But, there is another side of this: the World Economic Forum members are using this human-made pandemic to pull off this "great reset," which includes an intentional hyper-inflation.

In Deuteronomy 28, we can find the blessings and the cursings promised to Israel. Blessings if you follow after the lord, and cursings if you don't.

Deuteronomy 28:15 NASB "but it shall come about, if you do not obey the lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:"

Well, they did not obey, and neither have we as a nation.

Deuteronomy 28:48 NASB "therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and he will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you."

The fourth seal is broken.

Revelation 6:7-8 NASB "when the lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "come." (8) I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name death; and hades was following with him. authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth."

The next two riders come under one seal: an ashen horse and its rider named death, and another undescribed horse with a rider named hades.

Note that authority was given to them.

Even if it's to carry out God's wrath, there is no authority without the Lord.

"... over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth."

End page four.

Hardly anyone kills by the sword anymore, as guns are quicker and less personal. And yet, death by sword may be precisely the point, as blades tend to be associated with our worst fears.

Pestilence? I looked the word up in the dictionary, and this may ring a bell. "A fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague."

Here in this blog, I have mentioned the Covid, and yet it in itself should not be deemed a fatal epidemic disease, especially not with a 99% recovery rate. I say this because all we have heard is propaganda. What seems to be the killer is this counterfeit vaccine, and maybe this is part of the problem when it comes to pestilence. Sure, every nasty disease, that we thought was under control, has raised its ugly head again and may also be adding to the death rate, so don't be surprised by what you hear.

Wild beasts? The troubling aspect of this is that so many wild animals have been "domesticated," and then intentionally or otherwise released into the bushes. There are some things I would not trust, such as lions, tigers, bears, vipers, spiders, crocodiles, alligators, hyenas, and packs of wild dogs, to name a few. I want so badly to put humanity under this category.

Our current population is 7,874,965,825. which is almost 8 billion people. To kill a fourth, even by various means, is to kill approximately 2 billion people, and the verse does not give us a time frame in which this will happen.

The souls of those martyred

Revelation 6:9-11 NASB "when the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of god, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; (10) and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "how long, o Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (11) And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also."

Approximately 2 billion people will have been killed. Can we assume that many have also died because of drought, famine, economic disaster, and hyperinflation which may have prevented many from being able to buy food. Then, there are the fatal epidemic diseases, most of which seem exclusive to third-world nations (By the way, did you notice how virtually every country is being turned into a third-world nation?) How many of these 2 billion are now counted among the martyred saints?

My thoughts suddenly went toward the idea that the word sword may be an all-inclusive word; it is not, as it does not speak to nuclear arms and the intentional release of some deadly disease. It is the Greek word rhomphaia, meaning a large, broad sword.

Once again, my mind goes back to Islam, as the sword is the preferred method of death.

Here in Revelation 6:9-11, the martyred are crying out, how long will you refrain from judging those who dwell on the earth. The response, "rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been, would be completed."

Revelation 6:9 is the first occurrence in which john sees the martyred in heaven; the second occurs in Revelation 7:9-12; the difference is that the second time it is made clear that the number of the slain was uncountable. The number of those under the altar is not previously mentioned.

Over the years, I have pondered the religious zeal of these martyred saints; but, I must admit that I have put a Gentile, religious spin on what I read.

Let me explain; and yes, I am going to make a point.

End page five.

When you think about the crucifixion, do you see three crosses?

If you said yes, and they were all occupied, that would be the correct answer.

Now, when you picture the other two persons hanging there that day, were they both thieves?

Once again, yes would be the appropriate answer. But how did you know that?

The regular source for our answer typically comes from the King James version. But when you look up the word that the KJV translated as a thief, you get the word brigand. A brigand is a lawless fellow who lives by plunder, and that covers a variety of crimes. Some translated this word as revolutionaries, while others used the term criminals. The truth is, we are not sure.

One last question. Were the thieves both Jews?

We assume that the two hanging with Jesus that day were Jews; after all, they were in Jerusalem. You seem to forget that Israel was under a modified form of martial law, enforced by conscript troops from the adjoining conquered lands, under the Roman flag. So no, you don't have a direct scriptural answer to the question.

Let me confuse you a bit more. This hanging took place in Jerusalem, and yet only a short time later, Peter, on the day of Pentecost, preached under the Holy Spirit's influence to thousands from a wide variety of nationalities.

We can ascertain that the thieves were Jews based upon the responses of one of them, directed at the other. Matthew's account tells us is that initially, they both chimed in against Jesus, but something changed, which we see in Luke 23:36-39.

(36)"The soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him, offering him sour wine, (37) and saying, "if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!" (38) now there was also an inscription above him, "this is the king of the Jews."

As you can see, the roman soldiers were yelling out to Jesus to save himself, but then, one of the criminals joined them. And it would be foolish to think that one or the other was willing to take the time, or had the ability to read the plaque that the Romans made.

(39)" one of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him, saying, "are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Luke 23:36-39 NASB

At this, the second criminal responds to the first,

"But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?" Luke 23:40 NASB

In saying, do you not even fear God, there is an acknowledgment that this man has been taught and that one hurling the insults should know and understand the law and the prophets. Perhaps without realizing it, the second thief has just acknowledged that Jesus is God. So, by this strained conversation, we can tell that both men have an understanding of God – and are therefore Jewish.

The second thief, painfully aware of the bad situation that he is in, says something remarkable,

"and we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." Luke 23:41 NASB

How did he know Jesus had done nothing wrong?

That response could only come through the Holy Spirit, or a cloaked, personal pursuit, because we have no indication that these two thieves knew of Jesus.

End of page 6.

That second thief then asks Jesus to do something extraordinary.

And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
(Luke 23:42 MKJV)

This thief was no different from Jesus's disciples. For they too did not understand how this kingdom thing was going to work, but that did not impede Jesus' ability to understand what this thief was asking him; he was asking for life in that kingdom. And Jesus gave it to him.

This thief did not go through the significant religious hoops and jumps that we, brought up in the religious world, expect.

So what does an admission of God's lordship look like to someone from the Middle East, without a Gentile religious background, and you are being told to worship Allah or die?

Is it possible that it sounds like this Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.