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. Revelation 6:3-4
Whatever conquest meant with the white horse it didn’t mean killing people because the Red Horse says outright “people kill each other.”
Whenever I read the book of Revelation I always feel as if I am reading a dream someone had and then recorded it. I imagine this person woke up one morning so affected by it they couldn’t get it out of their head. The images chased them all day long until finally they wrote it down. Maybe it wasn’t one dream but a series of dreams night after night?
I had a dream series after my divorce that plagued me. It was of a broken down house on the beach. The tide came in and out, and took with it another piece of the house. I felt helpless against the rhythmic eroding of my existence by a force beyond my control.
By analyzing the dream it helped understand myself from a completely different angle. As time went on I would dream of different rooms and do the work of repairing them. By looking at my dream and figuring out the meaning behind the symbolism my healing took on a deeper and more genuine restoration. I saw aspects I would normally just dismiss. Not only did I heal the parts broken by the split but also the weaknesses that allowed it to occur in the first place.
So it is with the book of Revelation. I feel by going into this book as if I am doing a dream interpretation I will understand the point to my belief system on a deeper or more well rounded level.
The rest of the Bible is a collection of lives that were lived and how they bumbled through their existence. We can see their humanness and make peace with our own. There is a list of poems we can cry with or cheer with. The book of Proverbs guides us with timeless concepts to shoot for. The book of Revelation is the only book solely dedicated to an apocalyptic vision. The other visions are weaved in and out of a storyline but in this book the vision is the story.
Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth
During the era of the white horse there was peace on the earth and now that belief system has changed. The people feel free to act out their impulses and rage. Instead of placing value on keeping the peace their values have changed to giving full vent to any brash thought that waves over them and the net result is bloodshed.
Those who argue that the white horse can’t be Jesus spreading the gospel but a false gospel, do so because of this: Why would widespread murder follow the teachings of Christ?
The answer comes to me by looking at the rise and fall of civilizations. There is a pattern and it loosely resembles the 4 horses of the apocalypse.
A nation or a civilization is built by pioneers who hold a dream and work tirelessly to achieve the dream. A community comes together and creates a team and that team grows and slowly good becomes a new normal. Eventually though the age of pursuit gives way to the age of comfort. This is where it goes awry, because too much comfort can bring complacency.
The spoiled children of the pioneers do not understand the cries of hardship and they roll their eyes. Compassion breeds compassion. Tuning someone out widens the wound. It makes them angry. The guard drops. It drops first in the heart and then the actions become hollow and eventually fade away.
Then there are the antagonists. The ones who push the envelope just because. Those who are supposed to hold the line let down their guard. “Ahh what harm is there in this? ” Over time the edge is pushed out further and further until we can no longer see the shore. We are lost at sea and the tide of evil has gained too much momentum. We can do nothing to get ahead of it.
Every nation, era, family or neighborhood have characters who see the world through the lens of a fiery red horse. They are mad. They are jealous. They feel weak. What promotes peace or takes peace away is how we deal with these situations. Do we allow them to set the agenda? The tone? The way things are handled? Or do we stifle their contentious ways or violent ambitions?
Do we use our compassion and offer them the tools to raise the bar? Teach them the tactics of peace? Throwing your own fire on an already to hot to handle situation does not put the fire out. It feeds the fire. Water puts out a fire. Living water calms a fired up heart. Skills give us hope. Training gives us something to grab on to in a desperate moment.
Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap
If the Fiery Red horse comes it is our own fault. We allowed the people who seek to take peace to have an upper hand. Here God is saying he will allow the natural consequences to play out. Eventually the hateful passion burns until it becomes an out of control wildfire.
Galatians 6:9
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
I think when we live in an age of peace it is difficult to not just take it for granted. On the one hand we think, “I am not a violent person…. I prefer peace! So all is good, I do the right thing. Wouldn’t others want peace as well? Why wouldn’t you want peace?”
It was a harsh reality for me to realize that there are people who thrive on conflict. All the kindness in the world doesn’t calm them. They are chaotic and want to brawl.
On the one hand I must manage my own anger, learn how to forgive or just let it go.
Listen….
Give others the benefit of the doubt, put myself in their shoes. These are the “tactics” of peace and work when reciprocated. I have always been diligent in trying to keep these front and center. I am not perfect. I have bad days but it is my desire to pick up the pieces and try again.
The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked. Proverbs 24:16
On the one hand I must manage myself. On the other hand I must hold others to account. There are certain things I will not allow myself to do so why would I be ok with others doing it around me? There is a limit. There is an end point to what I will tolerate.
If not? The fiery red horse gains the upper hand and you can’t get your ground back.
True love cannot grow without boundaries. The white horse is that sweet spot between tenderness and a backbone. The fiery red horse is following passions that end up destroying everything it touches. It is just too hot to handle… it burns you.
….and to make people kill each other……
When I look at what the scholars write they call the red horse WAR. It is true that in war men slay each other but what happens before we get to that point; all out war? The focus of Jesus’ teaching was more about putting a finger on the heart of the individual versus argue about the tide of group-think.
In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! Luke 15:7
It starts with one person and then it spreads….. whatever it is good or bad. So each individual who makes a choice is important. Each single choice increases or decrease which agenda rules the culture you live in. It is no wonder that the Fiery Red horse is characterized by men slay each other versus something like “a war broke out”. The only way to stop the negative tide of group-think is to think.
To him was given a large sword.
The word for sword is more like a dagger not a long sword that is used in war. The word for large is actually great which could mean large or effective. In other words it kills a large amount of people. This sword is used in animal sacrifice or executions. The French revolution comes to mind.
In the American revolution people ran away from the motherland to blaze a new trail. They wanted to practice their religion in peace. It was a very difficult task and they were not perfect but they tried to tow the line. The fiery red horse came after them at times, but they won out.
In the French revolution it wasn’t about freedom of religion but suffering and revenge. The Red horse got ahold of them and the bloodshed was brutal, ruthless and horrific.
We must think about which horse we want to ride in our lives. What outcome we are lobbying for?
The Red horse thinks if I show as much strength as I can and win, people will cower at my amazing force.
In reality people are burned and vow revenge. Instead of respect they are filled with contempt. It creates a vortex of hate that spreads one soul at a time.
Christ is the antithesis of this. He warns us and calls us to resist the temptation of the fiery red horse. He calls us to love. He calls us to forgive but he also calls us to keep our eyes open.
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Mathew 10:16
Theophilia 