Monday, 23 November 2020
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” Revelation 6:7
John’s attention is now directed from the black horse and its rider to the scroll saying, “When He opened the fourth seal.” Another form of judgment is set to come forth upon an unrepentant world. The terrors have been incrementally horrifying, and this will be no exception. With the opening of the seal, John says, “I heard the voice of the fourth living creature.” This would be the one resembling a flying eagle (verse 4:7). He speaks forth, “Come and see.”
Like the previous seals, manuscripts vary here. Rather than “Come and see,” as if a command to John, other manuscripts simply say, “Come.” This would be a calling forth of this horse and rider held by the seal. As this is the more likely translation, it is a call for the entity to come forth, and thus to go out, like with the previous three seals.
Life application: Thus far, there have been three calls resulting in three horses – a white horse with a rider going out to conquer; a red one with a rider going out to take peace from the earth; and a black one going out to bring famine upon the earth. The number four is used consistently throughout the Bible as the number dealing with the earth. As Bullinger says, “it is the world number, and especially the ‘city’ number.”
Therefore, without even reading the next two verses, we can make the connection that this too will be a horse with a rider, and it will affect the earth in a way that logically follows a pattern we can see in past history.
As we review these verses, we will see what this pattern is and how the people of the earth will be affected – on a global scale. Until then, we can consider that these tragedies are being released from the four living creatures around the throne and that these creatures symbolize the four-fold facets of Jesus – the King, the Servant, the Son of man, and the Son of God. In other words, what is occurring is happening because these revelations of Jesus have been rejected by the people of the world.
Their rejection naturally leads to a breakdown in morality, because God is the Author of morality – it being His very nature. It leads to a breakdown in justice, in righteousness, in truth, in mercy, in grace, in holiness, and in love.
All of these have been set aside by a world at enmity with God. They will reap the rewards of wanting to do it their own way. Some will say that God then is the Author of evil, but this isn’t the case. A rejection of God is what will bring on these evils. Micah tells us how they could have been avoided –
“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
When we don’t walk with God as He has revealed Himself, meaning through the Person and work of Jesus Christ, He leaves us to our own devices and the evil that results is our own fault. Be sure to come to the Fountain of all truth and blessing, be reconciled to God today through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus, give us the ability and the desire to walk in agreement with You, in a humble, just, and merciful way towards others and in a way that will glorify You. Thank You for the Gift of Your Spirit to guide us in our walk with You. And please give us the wisdom to rely on His counsel and not on our own earthly desires and understandings. Amen.