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Tag: the Lamb

Four horsemen of the apocalypse

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation, What’s new?.

Who are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, or simply the Four Horsemen, are described in Revelation chapter 6, verses 1–8. The Four Horsemen are symbolic depictions of different events that will take place in the end times. As an example of the Bible’s influence on culture at large, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been referenced many times in literature, paintings, movies, and other media, often as portents of an imminent cataclysm or the means by which a disaster comes to pass.

The Four Horsemen correspond with the first four seals opened by the Lamb as He opens the scroll of judgment in heaven (see Revelation 5). When the Lamb opens the first seal, one of the living creatures before the heavenly throne says to John, in a voice like thunder, “Come!” (Revelation 6:1). John then records what he sees: “I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest” (Revelation 6:2).

The first Horseman likely refers to the Antichrist. He is the false imitator of the true Christ, who is also associated with a white horse (Revelation 19:11–16). At the beginning of the tribulation, the Antichrist will be given authority (“a crown”), and he will wage war (“a bow”), conquering all who oppose him. This description agrees with Daniel’s vision of the “little horn” that rises to power and is bent on conquest: “This horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them” (Daniel 7:21; cf. Revelation 13:7).

When the Lamb opens the second seal, the second living creature says, “Come!” (Revelation 6:3). John looks and dutifully records what he sees: “Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword” (Revelation 6:4). The second Horseman refers to terrible warfare that will break out in the end times. Those wars will include the Antichrist’s rise to power, which requires the downfall of three other kings (Daniel 7:8), and possibly the Battle of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38—39).

The Lamb then opens the third seal, and the third living creature invites John to “Come!” (Revelation 6:5). The third Horseman then appears: “There before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!’” (Revelation 6:5–6). The third Horseman of the Apocalypse portrays a great famine that will take place. Food is scarce, and prices are inflated beyond reason. The command to spare the oil and the wine seems to signify that the luxuries (oil and wine) will still be available during the famine, but the staples will not.

When the Lamb breaks open the fourth seal, the fourth living creature says, “Come!” (Revelation 6:7). John says, “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:8). The fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse is symbolic of death and devastation. The horse’s pale color (in the original language, it’s literally “pale green” or “yellowish green”) denotes sickliness and biliousness. The fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse will bring further warfare and terrible famines along with awful plagues, diseases, and attacks by wild animals. A fourth of the world’s population will die.

What is most amazing, or perhaps terrifying, is that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are just precursors of even worse judgments that come later in the tribulation (Revelation chapters 8—9 and 16). For all the horror brought by the Four Horsemen, there is much more to come.

Overcome by the blood of the Lamb

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Revelation, What’s new?.

What does it mean that the believers will overcome by the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:11)?

Revelation 12:10 calls Satan the “accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night.” The context of the verse describes a cosmic battle between a great red dragon (identified as Satan in Revelation 12:7) and the angelic hosts of heaven. The dragon is hurled to the earth (Revelation 12:9), the authority of the Messiah is locked in place (verse 10), and the believers are victorious:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:11, NKJV).

During the tribulation of the end times, Satan’s wrath against God’s’ people, especially Israel (the “woman” of Revelation 12) will intensify. But the believers are promised to overcome. Dr. Charles Ryrie comments on Revelation 12:11: “The believer’s defense against Satan is (1) to bank on the merits of the death of Christ, (2) to be active in witnessing, and (3) to be willing to make any sacrifice, including death” (The Ryrie Study Bible, Moody Press, 1978, p. 1,801).

Down through the centuries, the “great dragon” Satan has despised the mercy, love, grace, and forgiveness that God pours out on believers in Jesus Christ. With relentless, evil determination, the devil hounds us, fixated on destroying our walk with God and chasing us back into a spiritual prison. But, day by day, night by night, believers always overcome him “by the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11).

Satan’s tireless goal in the life of every Christian is to prevent, disrupt, and cut off his or her relationship with God. He “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But the devil’s only real power over believers is to throw our sins and transgressions in our faces. He is the accuser. Thankfully, the sacrifice of Christ has effectively dealt with the problem. It is the blood of Jesus Christ—the blood of the Lamb—that redeems people, setting them free from slavery to sin and Satan’s control.

Scripture gives us vivid pictures of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Peter explains that “God paid a ransom” to save us from our old empty way of life. “And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Peter 1:18–19, NLT). The tribulation saints will have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). When Jesus Christ died, His precious blood “purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). Jesus’ blood was poured out “for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28), and it “purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Satan tries to condemn us, but we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1–2). Jesus freed us from the spiritual chains of sin (John 8:35–36; Romans 6:17–22).

The next time Satan tries to hurl past failures in your face, remember that “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned” (John 3:17–18).

All believers—past, present and future—overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb. Jesus Christ’s death is the definitive basis for our victory over the enemy of our souls. The apostle Paul asks, “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us” (Romans 8:33–34, NLT). Despite everything in the devil’s arsenal that he can throw at us, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

Paul tells the Colossians, “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. So don’t let anyone condemn you” (Colossians 2:12–16, NLT).

We must not allow the devil to deceive us with lies and accusations. Every charge he can bring against us is canceled, nailed to the cross, and overcome by the blood of the Lamb. It may seem strange that, in Revelation 12, a raging dragon is overcome by a slain lamb. Lambs are not usually seen as dragon-slayers. But such is the power and efficacy of the death of Christ. Because of Christ’s shed blood on the cross, sin has lost its grip on us. Whenever Satan accuses us, we can sing, “My chains are gone; I’ve been set free.”

Prayers of the saints

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Revelation, What’s new?.

What are the prayers of the saints in Revelation 5:8?

The scene in Revelation 5 is John’s vision of heaven’s throne room. When the Lamb had taken the scroll of God’s judgment into His own hand, “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (verse 8). Revelation is the most symbolic book in the Bible, and in this passage the “prayers of the saints” are symbolized as golden bowls of incense, held by twenty-four elders. Of course, the more symbolic something is, the more its interpretations can vary, but it’s important to understand what these prayers of the saints are—and what they are not.

God established incense as a part of the sacerdotal system (and therefore as symbolism) in Exodus 30:1–10 when Moses was told to build the altar of incense. The prayers of the saints in Revelation 5:8, especially as represented by incense in the context of temple imagery, should be understood to take the role of incense in the temple, which was to offer up a sweet aroma to God and to symbolize prayer. The prayers of the righteous are pleasing to Him. Psalm 141:2 describes this aspect of prayer perfectly: “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2).

Prayer is linked to the incense in the temple in other passages, as well. When Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the temple and tells him that his prayers have been answered, Gabriel is “standing at the right side of the altar of incense” (Luke 1:11). This happened when “the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense” (verse 10).

There are certainly different types of prayers. Prayers of supplication are the type most people are familiar with, because that’s the type where we ask God for help! But there are other types, too, like the prayers of imprecation (Psalm 55:1:15) and prayers of intercession (Luke 23:34). The fact that the “prayers of the saints” in Revelation 5:8 are not identified by type or in detail—and that they are together in an incense bowl—indicates that we should consider them collectively. God considers prayer-at-large as incense—a sweet aroma to Him.

The fact that these are prayers “of the saints” in Revelation 5:8 indicates that God hears the prayers of His people. Psalm 65:2 addresses God as “You who answer prayer.” Our Lord “hears the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15:29), which is another way of saying that He listens to the prayers of the saints. The “saints” in Revelation 5:8 are not an elite class of people who are more holy than the rest; they are not mediators of our prayers (see 1 Timothy 2:5), and they do not ask us to pray to them. The term saint in Scripture implies parity, not hierarchy. We are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28). The saints are all believers in Jesus, living or dead, saved by grace through faith. The church is “loved by God and called to be saints” (Romans 1:7, ESV), and, when we pray, it’s as if a golden bowl of incense is being carried to the very throne of God in heaven.

Whom are these prayers of the saints for in Revelation 5:8? Since these prayers are the aggregate of all believers’ prayers through all time, they are about everybody and about everything that is consistent with God’s will. If you pray for somebody’s salvation, that prayer is in the bowl. If you pray for the safety and relief of people after a natural disaster, that prayer is in the bowl. If you pray that God would conform you into the image of Jesus Christ, that prayer is in the bowl. Such prayers are well-pleasing to Him.

Does Revelation 5:8 lend credence to the tradition of praying for the dead? Not at all. The dead have already sealed their fate, for good or for evil (see Luke 16:19–31). There is no post-mortem plan of salvation. Now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). After death, a person faces judgment, not further opportunity (Hebrews 9:27). So, if you pray that God would save or relieve someone who has already died, that prayer would not be in the bowl. Such prayers are futile.

In Revelation 5, God’s plan is near to being accomplished. The judgment of the wicked world is about to commence, and the ultimate redemption of God’s people is about to be realized. The living creatures and elders sing a hymn of praise to the Lamb: “With your blood you purchased for God / persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. / You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, / and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9–10). The golden vessels full of incense are proffered to God, whose word will stand, whose will is accomplished, and who will pronounce the final “Amen!” to the prayers of the saints.