Alright, so let's start with a word of prayer dear heavenly father We thank you for this Lord's Day and the opportunity we have as a body of Christ to gather together and worship you together in corporate worship today, we also thank you for the opportunity to gather around your word and to learn and Through your Holy Spirit what you want to teach us from your word We pray Lord that you would open our hearts and minds this morning as we do that We thank you Lord for who you are and for what you have done We thank you that you are the sovereign Lord over all your creation that you are sovereign over all of history from beginning all the way to the end and And we thank you for your great plan of redemption in Christ Jesus. We thank you for sending your one and only son to live a sinless life, to die on the cross in substitutionary atonement for our sins. We thank you that you raised him from the dead so that we serve a living Savior. We thank you for the great love that you've shown to each and every one of us. And it's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen. So this is the second quarter of a three-quarter set of our study of Revelation. So some of you have been with us together through the whole first 13 parts and others may have been joining For this starting with this part, so this is really part 14 of a 39 part series and we studied the first five chapters of Revelation in the in the 13 Weeks that we had last quarter and I would like to thank Larry for stepping up to teach last week I heard that he did an excellent job of covering Chapter 5 and so today what we're going to be starting with is we're going to be starting into chapter 6 which is the beginning of the description of the tribulation so everything leading up to that has been prelude to the discussion of the tribulation so We're gonna call this the beginning of the end The first four seals, so we're gonna look at the seal judgment. So if you remember the way that the structure is laid out for the the Great Tribulation you have seven seals and then in the seventh seal is seven trumpets and And in the 7th trumpet is 7 bowls. So we'll have 7 seal judgments, 7 trumpet judgments, and 7 bowl judgments. But the 7th seal contains all the rest. 7 trumpets and 7 bowls. So today we're going to go through the first 4 seals. Okay, and so we're going to talk about the first four seals. The first seal is a false peace. The second seal is war. The third seal is famine. The fourth seal is death. And they're all on horses, and we'll talk about those horses. A white horse, a fiery red horse, a black horse, and a sickly pale ashen horse. that contain those four writers that are going to represent these four seal judgments of the Lord. But first we'll take a look back at chapter five that Larry covered last week, and I wasn't here for this, so good review for me too. So, the events in chapter 4 and 5, so we had chapter 1, 2, and 3 and we saw a vision of the risen Christ, we saw these letters to the seven churches, and then in chapter 4 and chapter 5 we have a vision, John has a vision of the throne room of God in heaven. and present with the God the Father on the throne and the Lamb are also cherubim, this kind of angels. There's 24 elders there representing the raptured and glorified church and the Holy Spirit in his sevenfold glory. And so this indescribable majesty of John's throne room is what John's trying to describe. So he's trying to describe something that's indescribable. There's peals of thunder, there's this cherubim and these elders, and they have a hymn of praise to God at the end there. There's hymns to celebrate God as creator and redeemer, and rejoice that he is about to take back what's rightfully his. Of course, it's always his. He's sovereign from beginning to end, but there have been these events on earth from the time of the expulsion from the garden up until the new heavens and the new earth, and God's about to bring the final pouring out of His wrath, judgment, and then the new heavens and the new earth. So there's these hymns to Him as creator and redeemer of the earth. So as the moment approaches, we have this phrase, I saw, or I looked, introducing various scenes that he sees, as John sees things, in verses 2 and 6 and 11. And it stresses that he's the eyewitness. So we talked about this at the very beginning, that John is an eyewitness. And that's a theme not only in the book of Revelation, but throughout the New Testament, this idea that The Apostle John and the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul are all eyewitnesses of the things that they're describing. So it's eyewitness testimony like at a trial. So he sees at the right hand of the one that's on the throne, he sees this book that's written inside and outside, sealed up with seven seals, and this scroll is the title deed to the earth, that God the Father is going to hand to the Son, the title deed to the earth. And the angels are looking for somebody that's worthy to open this book and break its seals. And of course nobody can, so there's this silence in heaven and none of the angels, nobody in heaven and earth can open this thing. And John is overwhelmed and he starts to weep, but he doesn't need to weep. And one of the elders tells him, hey, you don't need to weep. Look, the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, he can open this scroll and open the seals. No human, no angel in the whole universe can open this, but there is one who can. And that person, of course, is the glorified, exalted Lord Jesus Christ. described with two of his messianic titles there in chapter 5, he's the one that's worthy to take that scroll. The rightful king, descendant of David, the Lion of Judah, and that's because of who he is, but also because of what he's done. He's worthy. He has overcome on the cross, he's defeated sin and death, so he's worthy to open that scroll. So, John's attention is then drawn to what's between the throne and the elders. And so that's not the lion, but the lamb that he sees amongst those four creatures and the elders. The lamb of course the sacrifice system in the Old Testament all points forward to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross But he's only referred to as a lamb one time in the Old Testament Isaiah 53 and the New Testament only four times outside of Revelation John chapter 1 x 2 times in Acts chapter 8 and first Peter chapter 1 he's referred to as the lamb, but other than that It's 31 times here in the book of Revelation over and over and over and over again He's referred to as the lamb Verse 7 of chapter 5, as you saw last week, is the final momentous act. It's all been built up in these two chapters, chapter 4 and chapter 5, to this one moment when there's the Lamb who's worthy to take this scroll. He comes and takes the scroll. This scene is described previously in prophetic sections of the Old Testament. Daniel chapter 7, the worthy one has arrived to take back what is rightfully his. And here so here's the appearance of the lamb he moves to take the scroll and then there's this spontaneous eruption of praise For the lamb who's worthy to take the scroll everywhere in the universe the spontaneous outburst of Worship the elders sing a new song Jesus has purchased with his blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, men from every descent and language and ethnic group and culture and society from the slave market of sin. So those four terms together appear over and over again in Revelation, meant for every tribe and tongue and people and nation. It also occurs in Revelation chapter 7 and chapter 11, chapter 13, chapter 14. So we'll see this coming over and over and over again. And so this must have been very thrilling to John to know that we've got this reunion, this marriage supper of the Lamb coming among every tribe. So it's not just Israel anymore. It's not just like it was in the Old Testament. There's this one people of God. There's these people of God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. This wonderful vision of heaven. So then we have the voice of the living creatures and the 24 elders and they're joined by just a host of angels singing praise the Lord He's worthy because of his power and omnipotence. He's worthy because of his spiritual and material riches. He owns everything and And he's worthy because of his wisdom and omniscience and he's worthy of all honor and glory and blessing. This wonderful doxology of praise reaches its crescendo when every living creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea all join in. So the entire universe singing praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen So that's what so that was last time so any questions left over yes, all right Let's dive into the first four seals so there's gonna be seven seals and as I said the seventh seal contains the trumpets and the seventh trumpet contains the bowls so really in the seven seals you've got the whole deal the whole tribulation So here's the first four So if you open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 6 We're going to go through the first eight verses of chapter six today All right revelation chapter six. This is the word of the Lord Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, come. I looked, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, come. And another 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. When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come. And I looked, and behold, a black horse. And he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 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. When the lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come. 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. So that's the beginning of the Tribulation, the first four seals and the wrath of the Lord on the earth. So this is a little section of MacArthur's commentary on this section of scripture. Each of the seven seals represents a specific divine judgment that will be poured out sequentially on the earth. The seals encompass the entire period of the Tribulation. culminating with the return of Christ. It seems best to understand the first four seals as taking place during the first half of the tribulation, the fifth stretching from the first into the second, called the Great Tribulation in 714, and lasting three and one-half years, and the sixth and seventh taking place during that Great Tribulation. So three and a half years, three and a half years. Apparently the seventh seal contains the seven trumpet judgments and the seven trumpet. contains the seven bold judgments. The seven seals thus contain all the judgments to the end when Jesus Christ returns. The unfolding of the seven seals parallels our Lord's chronology of tribulation events found in Jesus' own message describing the end times and his return recorded in Matthew 24, sometimes referred to as the Olivet Discourse. The first seal describes a brief false peace that will precede the final holocaust Matthew 24 4 & 5 Jesus also spoke of that peace warning of the deceiving false Christ who will promote it the second seal depicts worldwide war with Jesus also predicted Matthew 24 6 & 7 the third seal famine finds a parallel in Matthew 24 7 in that same verse Jesus predicted earthquakes representative natural disasters the fourth seal represents death by such natural disasters including earthquakes and plagues the fifth seal revealing the martyrs under the altar and finds a parallel in Jesus' warning that believers will be martyred during the tribulation in Matthew 24.9. During the unfolding of the sixth seal, the sky goes black, just as Jesus predicted it would in Matthew 24.29. The seventh seal reveals the final cataclysmic judgments, including all the devastation from the trumpet and bowl judgments leading up to his second coming, described in Matthew 24.37 and following. So that's just the MacArthur introduction to this section of scripture. So we've got seals, and we're going to see the first four of them today. White horse and a conqueror with false peace, the red horse with war, the black horse with famine, and the pale or ashen horse with death. So we're going to go through this verse by verse. Let's take a look at verse 1. So we've had this set up in heaven with the throne room in heaven. The lamb is the only one worthy to take the seals and then he starts opening. Then I saw when the lamb broke one of the seven seals and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice of thunder, come. So chapters 4 and 5 describe the praise offered to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as creator and redeemer. And having received the title deed of earth from God the Father, the Lamb starts breaking these seven seals, the Lord Jesus Christ. Each seal is broken in the vision. What is written on the scroll is not read, but acted out. So it's not just reading out words, but things happen when these seals are broken. And so John here is one of the four living creatures who are four angels, four cherubim, saying in a powerful voice to come. And what comes then is, I looked, and behold, a white horse. So the first living creature says, come. And then a white horse with someone on it. And the one who sits on it has a bow and a crown. And he goes out conquering. So in response to the angelic summons, a white horse comes forth with a rider on it. And so this is the first of the first four seals that involve horses and riders. And so you may have heard the term the four horsemen of the apocalypse. That's where that comes from here. Yes. And so there's the summons from these each one of the four living creatures and when each one of the four living creatures says come we get a horse and a rider and this Has been popular culture. You may hear this term the four horsemen of the apocalypse. That's what's That's that's the reference. This is that reference is to hear Okay, so horses in scripture and other places are associated with triumph and majesty and power and conquest. We see that in Job chapter 39, Proverbs chapter 21, Isaiah 43, Jeremiah 6, Zechariah 9 and 10. We get this imagery of horses with things like triumph and majesty and power and conquest. Some see a parallel here with Revelation 19.11, identifying the one who sat on the white horse as Christ. But that doesn't really fit here. Christ is the one opening the seals, not the person on the horse. So he can't be that rider. And the rider wears a crown, but the crown is the Greek word stephanos, a crown worn as a prize. In 1912, Christ is, in English, is said to be wearing a crown, but it's a different Greek word, diodemos, which is a ruler's crown, different from a crown won as a prize. So it's a different Greek word. It can be confusing in English because it's crown and crown. But it's not the same word in Greek here in chapter 6 as it is for what Christ is wearing in chapter 19. So be aware of that. Sometimes that happens in English where we have the same word love, for example. There's many Greek words for that, but it's important to look at what the actual Greek word is because a lot of times it's different from a word that's translated the same way in English. And unlike the writer who carries a bow, Christ carries a sword in chapter 19, and he returns at the end of the tribulation, not at the beginning. So it doesn't fit. You may hear that from some commentators, that maybe this is Christ, no, not Christ on the white horse here. Others identified their rider as Antichrist, but since the other three riders definitely represent not individuals but impersonal forces, war, famine, and death, most likely in the same parallel structure here for these four horses that this first one is an impersonal force as well. That force is best defined as a worldwide peace, kind of a false peace, shattered during the second seal by the second rider. However, the Antichrist is closely associated with all these events. We'll see that. He plays a leading role in promoting this worldwide seeking of this false peace under him, of course. So before the terrors of the Tribulation break loose and lead to the Battle of Armageddon, there will come a period of this worldwide kind of false peace. It's a deceptive peace. The world's lulled into this false sense of security, which will be followed by war and famine and death. So the world's desperate desire for international peace will serve as the bait for the satanic trap. In the Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24, Jesus describes the Antichrist desecrating the temple in Jerusalem, betraying the Jewish people, and launching deadly attacks on them in Matthew 24, 4-10. So, the Bible repeatedly warns of the deadly lure of a false peace. Jeremiah described those days, those in his day, who pronounced peace, peace, but there is no peace, Jeremiah chapter 6 and chapter 8. There can be there can and will be no peace until the Prince of Peace sets up his earthly kingdom in Revelation 20 There's not going to be real peace People long for real peace, but they Continually seek for it in the wrong places true peace is found in Christ and And we see that on the earth in Revelation chapter 20. But people are kind of seeking for this true peace, but in the wrong place, and it turns out to be a false peace under the Antichrist. This writer has a bow, but no description of arrows in the bow. He's honored with a crown that was freely given to him, and this seems to be pointing to conquering in bloodless victory. So this is kind of political machinations that bring this kind of false peace under the Antichrist. His crown, as I mentioned, is the Greek word stephanos, which is a winner's crown that's presented to a winner. He's not a real king and has no real monarch's crown, which is a different Greek word, tiadema. He's won a crown from the world for his triumphant achievements leading to world peace. So everybody see the picture there? Nobel Peace Prize. He's getting all those Nobel Peace Prizes. That's what he's getting as the world crumbles. So moving then on to verse three. So when he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, come. And another red horse, in some translations a fiery 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. So here's the second horse and rider. So the world's euphoric mood of peace and harmony is rudely shattered as the second horse and rider appear on the scene. So devastating wars will spread throughout the world following the collapse of Antichrist's false peace. The story turns ugly and remains ugly until the true king returns to establish his kingdom. Yeah, so I think that the first three seals are the at least take place in the first three and a half years and and maybe the fourth one is starting in the in the first three and a half years stretching over into But yeah, this is a relatively short period of history. If you think about human history, all of this is going to be packed into seven years. Everything that we see in chapter 6 through 19, all these horrendous, horrific tribulation events is packed into a short seven-year period, coming kind of one right after another. Nope, wouldn't want to be there. So that's the that's a that's the Yeah, that's a good idea not to be around for these events So yeah, one of one of the purposes for these events in Revelation is when you read these events That's one of the first things that comes to mind. I wouldn't want to be around for that and so how do we how do we ensure that we're not around for that and So if you're in Christ, then you're raptured out before these events happen, and you're not around for them. Yes, that's exactly the right thought. So as so as the lamb breaks the second seal he hears the second living creature saying come and a red horse went out read the color of fire and blood depicts war God's judgment descends and the short-lived false peace led by the Antichrist dissolves into this bloody holocaust So he notes, concerning the writer, that to him it was granted to take peace from the earth. And so we see that all that happens will be under God's sovereign control. He allows the false peace, and he ends the false peace by bringing war on the earth. All of it is under his sovereign control. So it's granted him to have a certain authority. But who has the ultimate authority? Who does the granting? It's the Lord. He has the sovereignty and he has the authority to grant, to kind of to give subordinate authority to those under him, and everything is under his control. He grants only a portion of his authority for a defined amount of time. to this particular individual horse and rider. So all that happens is under his control. Contrary to the teaching of some, the judgments of tribulation do not reflect the wrath of man or the wrath of Satan. They can only express God's wrath poured out on the world. This is his sovereign wrath. And so the wrath of God is a topic that people tend to shy away from, even in the church sometimes. We don't want to think of God as possessing wrath, but that's one of his attributes, one of his perfect holy attributes that goes along with his love and his mercy and his grace is his wrath. And so it's his wrath that we see here poured out during this Great Tribulation. Something that's not pleasant for us to contemplate, but it is one of his characteristics. He's a god of wrath against injustice. He's a god of wrath against sin and in evil behavior. And so if you think about it, just think about it rationally and logically. Do you really want to worship a god who's indifferent to injustice? and sin. No, that would be a God that's not worth following, a God that's indifferent to injustice. He's not indifferent. Right, that's right. Alright, it is He who holds the seven-sealed scroll and the Lamb who unrolls it, so He's in charge from beginning to end. It's His scroll. It's His title deed. God the Father has given it to God the Son. They're the ones that are completely in control. It's God the Father's scroll. It's God the Son who unrolls it and breaks the seals. And so here we have the first half of the tribulation During the beginning of birth pains is how Jesus described it in math 20 Matthew 24 and Mark 13 and Luke 21 we have that phrase in all three of those Synoptic Gospels Matthew Mark and Luke the beginning of birth pains World peace turns to worldwide conflict as peace vanishes from the earth is how it's described Describing this time, Jesus said, you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. That's Matthew 24, 6 and 7. And so that's what we see here. So Jesus is describing these events ahead of time to his disciples in Matthew 24. And here we have a description of it being given to John and a vision in Revelation. But it's consistent. The Bible is always consistent. what we see here. So, men will slay one another on an unprecedented scale. Violent slaughter will become commonplace. The scripture does not give the details. The advances in modern weaponry suggest a terrible, unimaginable holocaust. And so the way it's described here is this particular individual on the white horse is depicted with a great sword given to the rider. And so machaira, sword, refers to the short stabbing sword a Roman soldier carried into battle. It was also a weapon used by assassins, this particular Greek word for sword. Yeah, so excellent point. So the events that are described here are after the rapture of the church. And so You're all still here? So what we have seen in our headlines is not yet this. And so we have to be careful about doing biblical hermeneutics by headline. Be careful about that, being biblical hermeneutics by headline. It can get you into trouble. Think through. Nobody knows the day or hour, Jesus said. And these things that are happening here, this false peace followed by this outbreak of tremendous war, is something that happens after the rapture. It's part of the Great Tribulation, and so it's definitely not yet. Yes, so that's a good point. So there's this tension between nobody knows the hour, but you're supposed to be, if someone has wisdom, can identify the number of the beast, 666, and be aware of the times. And so I think that there is a possibility to recognize that things are trending in this direction. And as Ross pointed out, these things that are happening with the breaking of the seals are part of the tribulation. So that's definitely not yet. However, we can be aware of the signs of the times, that things seem to be heading in that direction. We can see that and be aware of it. And so what should our reaction be? If we know that things seem to be heading this direction what as a follower of Christ should you should we be doing? Be ready okay be ready in your own soul what else Witnessing. Do we want our unbelieving neighbors and relatives and friends and co-workers to go through this? No. And so this is a motivation to spread the gospel. This is a motivation to witness to those around us. We can read this and see this and see the signs of the times that it seems to be going towards this. And so that's a motivation, a spur, for us to be witnessing to those that we don't want to see them go through this. They can't see this coming, but we can see it coming. And so if you have a friend and there's a cliff right here and they're walking like this towards the end of the cliff, what do you want to do? You put a hand on his shoulder. Stop him from walking off that cliff. We can see the cliff coming and it's a motivation, should be a motivation for us to witness to others. Yes, yep. Any others comments or questions? Okay, let's roll along. So men will slay each other. The great sword is described. The vision depicts a great sword to describe the extent of the war. Very extensive. It's a great sword, not a little sword. It's a great one. Enter Christ's false peace then will dissolve in a maelstrom of battle, rebellion, revolt, and massacre. So the Antichrist is not particularly mentioned here. We'll get the Antichrist later. But he's prominent in the False Peace, and he also plays a major role in the wars that follow it. He's a chief architect of the False Peace, and when the war breaks out, he will have no choice but to resort to war himself in order to preserve his authority and power. So he got authority and power in the False Peace, and he tries to maintain authority and power in the war that follows. He's skillful at war as he was in promoting the false peace. Daniel 8.24 describes his career as a warrior. He will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will. He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. description of the Antichrist in Daniel 8. Among his victims will be many of God's people. We see that in Revelation 6 here and in Matthew 24. And we see Antichrist setting up the abomination of desolation in Daniel 11 and 12 and Matthew 24, touching off a massive conflict described in detail in Daniel chapter 11. So Daniel chapter 11 describes this battle, this war. And so if you turn to Daniel chapter 11, let's take a look at that. description of this war way back in the book of Daniel hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before The book of Revelation yeah, okay turn over to Jen Daniel chapter 11 because there's a kind of a detailed description of this more details than we get in Revelation Daniel chapter 11 starting in verse 36 then the king will do as he pleases and he will exalt and magnify himself above every God and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods And he will prosper until the indignation is finished for that which is decreed will be done." So God's will will be done. But he's going to have some success, the Santa Cruz. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women nor will he show regard for any other God for he will magnify himself above them all. But instead, he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know. He will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones, and treasures. He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many and will parcel out land for a price. At the end time, the king of the south will collide with him. And the king of the north will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships. And he will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through them." So this is a big war, lots of countries. So it's extensive. He will also enter the beautiful land. So what's the beautiful land? Israel. And many countries will fall, but these will be rescued out of his hand, Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt. And Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. But rumors from the east and from the north will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful holy mountain, yet he will come to his end and no one will help him." So this is describing a very extensive war. Many, many countries keep coming up, north and south and east. Big war and this man who's responsible for it will have success But what happens at the end? Yet he will come to his end and no one will help him And so this description in Daniel chapter 11 is a description of the Antichrist coming hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years before this passage we're talking about in with John's vision in Revelation and of course now thousands of years before the actual events which still haven't taken place Where were we back to Revelation chapter 6 so let's go back to chapter 6 and verse 5 and we'll see the third seal and So back to Revelation chapter 6 and verse 5, 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. So the lamb breaks the third seal. So he's got his title deed to the earth. He's got seven seals. He's broken one, two, and now three, and the mighty voice of a third living creature. heralds the becoming of the third horse and rider. He uses the word behold here. That's a stark, it's startling, it reveals surprise in the Greek. He's startled and shocked by what he sees with this third horse. The color black associated in Lamentation 510, in the King James at least, with famine. Famine is a logical consequence of worldwide war. Food supplies are destroyed, and those involved in food production killed. And so often at the end of a large war, you have famine. And so that's the case here. A big giant war with the second seal. Now we have, following the war, we have famine. So, Jesus also predicted famine in Matthew 24 verse 7. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. In various places there will be famines. So, Jesus was showing these same things in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. Now we see John getting a vision of these things in Revelation chapter 6. God uses famine in His judgment as a means of His judgment throughout scripture. We see it in Leviticus 26, in Matthew 32, 2 Kings chapter 8, Psalm 105, Isaiah 3, Jeremiah 16, Ezekiel 4, on and on and on and on and on. God using famine as a means of judgment. And this will be the worst one ever. So all of those famines will pale in comparison to this famine. This will be the worst of all famines. So the scale, so I looked and behold, a black horse, and he was sat on it, had a pair of scales, 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. So what do we have going on here? We have a pair of scales. This picture's rationing that will result from famine, measuring out food by scales, because there's so little of it, we've got to ration it. And we've seen this happen in world history before, the U.S. during the Depression, Europe in the aftermath of World War II. Today, in many war-torn third world countries, we have the rationing of food because there's people starving and there's not enough to go around. So you've got to measure it out very carefully to each person. So we have this black horse, we have this voice from the center of the four living creatures in this one, which is a little bit different. The four living creatures are around the throne, so what's in the midst of the four living creatures is the one on the throne. And so God is speaking in connection with this seal and also in the fifth seal we see that. He speaks here as a reminder that the famine is a direct judgment from Him. This is His judgment on the earth. All of this is His judgment on the earth, and this is a reminder that that's where it comes from. The fact that we have this voice from the center of the four creatures, where in the center of the four creatures is the throne, and that's where God is seated. And so his pronouncement, the voice's pronouncement, reveals the conditions, how devastating the conditions will be. We have a quart of wheat, which is barely enough to sustain one person for one day, and a denarius is a day's wages. So a day's wages, and all you get is just barely enough food for one person. to survive that day. Not enough for shelter, not enough for clothing. You have to spend every penny that you make just on food for one person. So what does that tell you about a family? Nothing for the kids, nothing for the family. And so that's addressed in the next little portion. Those with families will be able to purchase three quarts of barley for Denarius. So if you have a husband and a wife and a child, you can get three quarts of barley for a denarius. But barley was of low nutritional value and commonly fed to livestock. So you could get horse feed enough for your family of three with a day's wages. So a person's wages would barely feed three people with low quality food. And nothing left over for clothing or shelter or anything else. So this is the starvation. And that's if you have work. What about the people that don't have work? So this is a famine. This is starving. People are starving. Even people that are doing okay are just barely doing okay. In light of these conditions, God cautions people not to damage or waste the oil and the wine, so basic food staples become luxuries. Oil and wine are not mentioned in the day's wages, so this is extra. Oil and wine used in the preparation and cooking of food will need to be carefully protected. And so we see here in this scenario, we have a deceptive peace followed by worldwide wars and a resulting devastating global famine combined to escalate this universal chaos. So tribulation is a good word. This is tribulation visited upon the entire earth. War and famine we've seen now. So now we come to the Lamb Breaks the Fourth Seal. I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come. I looked and behold an ashen horse, and he who sat on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. So we have this fourth seal follows the pattern of the first three. The Lamb Breaks the Seal, the living creature summons a horse and a rider. He describes the final horse as an ashen horse, chloros, ashen, from which the English word chlorophyll and chlorine derive. And it actually refers to a pale, sickly, yellow-green color. Really nasty color. Yeah. It portrays kind of the pale green pallor of death characteristic of a decomposing corpse. Really nasty, this pale horse. There's not a good English word really to describe what this Greek word means. Most translations say either a pale horse or an ashen horse. but it's really a grotesquely pale green that that Greek word describes. Not the color, the real color of a horse, that you would have of a horse. And the rider on it is given the name Death. This is the nastiest of these first four horse and riders. So death on a massive scale is an inevitable consequence of this giant war and a giant famine. A macabre and terrifying scene, John sees Hades following with death. So Hades here represents the grave and it becomes, as it were, the grave digger burying the remains of death's victims. Death and Hades are mentioned in parallel also in Revelation chapter 1 at the beginning and in Revelation chapter 20 at the end. Death and Hades. Death and Hades are tossed into the lake of fire in Revelation chapter 20. So they're paired in a couple of different places here. So he looks and he sees this ashen horse, and he who sat on it is named 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. So this is a description of the extent of death and destruction wrought by this war and the famine. So we get a quantification here. So once again, it's authority, it's God's authority, delegated to this horse and rider, death in Hades, to destroy a fourth of the population of the earth. So I looked this up. According to the UN, we crossed the 8 billion people mark in November of 2022. So according to the UN, there are 8 billion people as of last November on the earth. So a quarter of that is 2 billion deaths. 2 billion. That's a number that's just hard to imagine, 2 billion dead from war and famine. But in an age of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, it's terrifyingly plausible to be able to kill that many people. But that's what it says. A fourth of the earth to kill with sword and famine and pestilence and wild beasts. Death has these four tools here in this description for this grim task. The first three, sword and famine and pestilence, are linked together in scripture in many places. 1 Chronicles chapter 21, 2 Chronicles chapter 20, Jeremiah 14 and 24 and 44, Ezekiel chapter 6, all have these three together, sword and famine and pestilence. All four elements also appear in Ezekiel 14 sword and pestilence sword and famine and pestilence and wild beasts and so these things are put together as Kind of Tribulation or or terrible things that can happen in conjunction with one another in other places in scripture as well Yeah, it's the whole description is is a just a terrible Depiction of things that are so things have we've seen terrible things happen on the the earth before and But this is something that's of a greater scale than anything we've ever seen before. All the horrors that we've read about from history all coming to pass at once in this little seven-year period. Yeah, the description is horrendous. Of course, at first glance, the inclusion of wild beasts seems a little bit strange. Anne mentioned one possibility, that animals, now they don't have any of their habitats being destroyed, so they come in. Most creatures that are most dangerous to man are either extinct, like the dinosaurs, or isolated in unpopulated regions now, like bears and lions and things like that, don't typically interact much with human beings. When the farms come, the zoos get wide open. Could be. But there's another possibility as well. One possible explanation is one of the most deadly creatures in history is the rat, and it thrives in populated areas. Rats have been responsible for millions of deaths over history, both from eating food supplies and especially from spreading diseases. The most infamous and devastating occurrence of rat-borne disease was the Black Death in 14th century Europe, the bubonic plague. And it wiped out at least a fourth of the population of Europe, that bubonic plague, the Black Death. And that was a rat-borne disease. So the rats spread that thing, especially on ships. I mean, that's how it spread from one country to another really rapidly, was rats on ships had this disease. They spread it to another country, another country, another country, another country. And before you know it, more than 25% of the entire population of Europe died from that rat-borne disease, from a pestilence borne by beasts of the earth. Somebody had a hand up. That's a good question. Two billion bodies, that's a big issue. Yeah. We'll see bodies described later in the book of Revelation, big stacks of unburied bodies. Yes. So you can absolutely, in a huge war, and that was the case in World War II. There were huge piles of unburied bodies in many places as a result of World War II. And, of course, you get disease and pestilence for that, too, from piles of unburied. So, yeah, it's horrible. This vision of everything here is just terrible. And so what should be our reaction? Once again, let's go back to that. What should be our reaction as followers of Christ to reading about these horrendous events that we're promised we won't be there for? What should our reaction be? Yeah Do do I want my I have a brother-in-law who's not saved do I want him going through this? Absolutely not And every single one of us has family members friends co-workers neighbors who are unsaved and so this is motivation reading these horrible things is Motivation get out there and spread the gospel Yeah. Okay. Any other questions? Yes. Yeah, so at the end of World War I, 1918, the Spanish Influenza, it actually killed more people than World War I killed. More people died from the Spanish Influenza than died from battle in World War I. And as a percentage of the world population at the time, it was many, many times worse than COVID-19. Like a hundred times worse than COVID-19. Yeah, it was a very severe pandemic at the end of World War I, and of course it was carried by soldiers going home. So, all these soldiers mixed up in battle in Europe, then went back to their homes and carried this disease. That's how it got to the United States. It was all the soldiers coming back, interacting with their families. Boom, it spread all across the United States. But we've seen an outbreak of plagues before in Earth history. But what we get here is a description of a world ravaged by war and famine and disease, and that could lead to a rat population running wild. So authorities give it over them to kill with the sword and famine and pestilence The first four seals clearly described this awe-inspiring frightening judgments without parallel in history That's key. This is nothing like this has happened before this is there have been Each of these kind of elements have happened before. Wars have happened before, but this is going to be worse. Famines have happened before, but this is going to be worse. Pestilence has happened before, but this is going to be worse. And they're all going to be put together in this short tribulation period. Very sharp, severe war and famine and pestilence. So nothing like this has happened since John has had this vision. World War II was really bad. World War I was really bad. The Spanish Influenza was really bad. But not like this. This is worse. Nothing has fulfilled this vision since then. So 2,000 years have passed and nothing like this has happened. They can't be applied to the destruction of Jerusalem. There are some that interpret most of these events in Revelation as happening at A.D. 70, the all-millennial view. But we just read these descriptions. That didn't happen in 70 A.D. You didn't have a gigantic war that engulfed every country in the entire planet in 70 AD. You didn't have a fourth of the population of the earth destroyed in 70 AD. It just doesn't fit, in my view. I mean, there are good and godly people that are amillennial. I know some. But it doesn't fit, I don't think. We just read this description. Those things didn't happen in 70 A.D. I don't think it fit. And I think that these were written after 70 A.D., but even if you believe that these things were written before 70 A.D., the description still doesn't fit what actually happened. What we have recorded in the history books from 80-70 doesn't look like this. Yes, I think that's right. So God's mercy and grace are always there at the same time as his wrath. So, for example, in Genesis 6 through 8, God destroys, wipes out way more than a fourth of the, he wipes out like 99.999% of the population in the flood. He only saves eight people out of however many millions or hundreds of millions were there at the time of the flood. He only saves eight. But that also represents his mercy because he had cause to kill everyone. And he didn't. He had cause to kill Adam and Eve outright. But he didn't. So in what respect? Oh, so yes, we see a description of, for example, the 144,000, we'll see that, that represent each of the 12,000 from each of the tribes of Israel. So that's certainly believing Jews. So yes, we'll have believing Jews during the Tribulation and Jews being saved during the Tribulation. Yes, we definitely see that described in the Book of Revelation. Okay, so we have these doomsday prophecies that are yet in the future. So nothing this devastating has happened. And we see here in these first four judgments just the beginning of the horrific worldwide woes that the sinful, rebellious world will experience. We've gotten about halfway through the Tribulation at this point. Far worse is to come in the remainder of the seals, the trumpets and the bowls, At that time the world of sinners will realize that it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God Hebrews chapter 10 There will be no escape for unbelievers from the terrors of the tribulation or from the infinitely worse terrors of hell that follow So motivation for us to reach out to unbelieving friends Any questions? Comments? First four seals. So we've got a fifth seal and a sixth seal that we're going to go over next time. And then the seventh seal, which contains seven trumpets and seven bowls, which we'll do after that. That's right. That's right. That's a good excellent point that Kerry makes that that God's mercy is here in these events in spite of the fact that he's bringing severe judgment There are many that will be saved during this tribulation period and think about the alternative He could have just cut it off and thrown all the unbelievers into the lake of fire at that point but He's allowing more people to come into heaven to be saved during this tribulation period. And so that represents his mercy and grace, even in the midst of great tribulation and judgment. All right, with that, let's close with prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this stark description of these tribulation events and what a wake-up call it is, Lord, for us that can see this coming. to reach out to those who can't see it coming and who are walking blindly right into these events and right off the cliff that is coming. We pray, Lord, that it would give us motivation, that each of us would be motivated to reach out and not wait, to reach out to our unbelieving family members and neighbors and co-workers, those that are all around us, that we would be able to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we thank you for your mercy and grace that has held off this judgment for all this time to bring in all all those that you have elected from the foundation of the earth to be saved. We thank you for the opportunity that we're about to have to worship you as a corporate body of Christ, and we pray that that worship will be acceptable in your sight. And we pray these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen.