© Brian Labosier June 10, 2022

The news over the last few days included the following:

• The news headline: “More than a dozen mass shootings over the weekend leave at least 17 dead across the country.”  Here we can easily wonder whether one unnecessary death wouldn’t be tragic enough?  But multiple shootings and needless deaths should leave us almost speechless.
• The war in Ukraine recently passed the 100-day mark.  And through news and social media, we have become more aware than ever of the grief associated with the utter destruction of people’s hopes and dreams, the lives of their family members and loved ones, their homes and property.  All this is compounded by millions of refugees fleeing in every direction.
• Terrorists killed at least 50 Christians in a church in southern Nigeria observing Pentecost Sunday, including five children.  This was still another overt attack on Christians by those from other persuasions.

And these events took place almost at the same time.  It is easy to feel not only overwhelmed, but hardened, and even calloused by all the suffering around us.  Yet in our more thoughtful moments we can and should wonder, where is God is all of this?  Or how could things get so bad as these news stories describe?  Perhaps we can conclude that part of the answer is that with today’s technology, mass communications, and social media, we are instantly aware of a tragedy anywhere in any part of the world.  But there seems to be more to it than this.  This world seems to be becoming a more dangerous place

In previous generations, people would have sought comfort in God and cried out to Him for His help in processing the sufferings we see and experience in the world around us.  Especially for those of us who are older, the world feels like a different place from when we grew up.  How do we make sense of what is happening all around us?

Yet, thankfully, God offers us answers.  The Bible reminds us that God is still God, and He is just as actively at work in this world as ever.  There are countless passages in Scripture highlighting God’s presence and sovereign power over the events of this world.  But our focus today will be on the Book of Revelation.

The Apostle John offers us an almost surreal glimpse of the heavenly throne room in Revelation 4 and 5.  God the Father is on the throne, but words seem to fail John, so there is virtually no description of God or even an attempt to describe His appearance.  The focus in chapter 4 is actually on some relatively minor characters in the storyline, namely the “four living creatures” and the “twenty-four elders” who surround the throne as they are worshiping God.  Their words are highlighted by John, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (4:11).

The scene shifts in chapter 5 to the existence of “a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals” (verse 1).  Apparently, this scroll contains God’s future plans for the unfolding of human history.  But immediately there is a problem: it appears that there was no one “worthy to open the scroll and break its seals” (verse 2).  Yet in God’s perfect provision One suddenly appears there in the heavenly throne room: “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, [who] has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (verse 5).  At this announcement there is great and renewed worship of the Lamb as the rightful Lord of history. 

The timing of Christ’s appearance in control room of the entire universe in Revelation 5 is important in understanding the meaning of these heavenly events.  These events clearly take place after Christ’s death on the cross since He “has conquered” (verse 5) and was “slain, and by [His] blood [He] ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (verse 9).  Yet the events of Revelation 5 also take place after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, since He was clearly alive in the events recorded in this chapter.  It was also after Christ’s ascension back into heaven, as this is recorded for us in Acts 1.  It is even after His heavenly coronation as King and Lord: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (verse 12).  Jesus’ ascension into glory took place some 40 days after His death on the cross (Acts 1:3) and 10 days prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost in Acts 2 (which took place 50 days after the Jewish Passover and consequently Jesus’s death on the cross). 

The actual breaking of these seals on this scroll begins in chapter 6 and describes Jesus Christ’s complete and total lordship over human history.  Since the seals need to be opened before the scroll describing the future of human history could be unrolled and the contents be read (describing most of the prophetic content of Revelation), it is most likely that these events related to these initial seals describe the general unfolding of human history during the entire church age beginning with Jesus’ ascension and coronation.

The first seal described in Revelation 6 is related to “a white horse” and someone who “came out conquering, and to conquer” (verse 2).  There are a number of different interpretations of the identity of the rider on this first horse ranging from Christ Himself to Satan as the Antichrist who came in imitation of Christ.  The language of conquering is used elsewhere in Revelation to describe both Christ (17:14) and Satan (11:7 and 13:7).  The best way of interpreting this first seal is to study it in parallel with the next 3 seals.  These first four seals with their related “horses” are obviously parallel to each other.

The second seal is related to a “bright red horse” and we are told, “Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword (verse 4).”  The third seal is related to “a black horse” whose “rider had a pair of scales in his hand” (verse 5), symbolizing famine.  The fourth seal is described as “a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth” (verse 8).  These events remind us of Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:6-8, where we also find a general description of end times leading up to His final return at the end of history: “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”

The general nature of these prophecies in Matthew 24 combined with Jesus’ specific warning that “the end is not yet” (verse 7) and that “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains” (verse 8) suggest that these are general characteristics of the entire church age, undoubtedly showing ebbs and flows throughout history, and probably escalating in the period of time immediately leading up to Christ’s return.

The fifth seal is related to the realty of persecution and is described in Revelation 6:9-11.  Certainly, there has always been persecution and the martyrdom of believers in every period of church history, but we are told by number crunchers there are more Christian martyrs in the past century than all the rest of church history combined.  So, things are certainly not getting better, and undoubtedly worse.  But the lesson is the same: Christ is the Lord of history, as Revelation 6 reminds us, and He calls us to trust Him.

The sixth seal is recorded in verses 12-17 and describes God’s judgment on the wicked through such things as “a great earthquake” (verse 12) and signs in the heavens above involving the sun, moon, and stars (verse 13).  Perhaps we can take these cosmic events symbolically and see them as already in the process of current fulfillment in our present world, but this sixth seal may more naturally be dated to a still future time of God’s judgment on His created world. 

The themes associated with these first four seals of a time of conquering associated with organized warfare, a supernatural lack of peace on this earth, the presence of apparently unprecedented famine, and unusual numbers of people dying in tragic ways, are again, probably intended as both a general description of end times leading up to Jesus’ final return at the end of history, and again these events probably escalate in the period of time immediately leading up to Christ’s return.

The lesson here is clear: Jesus is the Lord of history and all these events are under His full and complete control—including the wars and rumors of wars, the lack of peace in our country and world, the increasing likelihood of significant widespread famine, and the reality of death suddenly and tragically striking down even the most unlikely. 

One lesson we need to learn from all this is that we shouldn’t be surprised at the trials and difficulties of life, including the abnormalities of war, famine, death, and persecution of believers.  Yet many Americans continue to pursue the American dream associated with material pleasures and our own general well-being.  We fail to understand that this is not the kind of a world in which we live—and actually life has never been about ourselves.  Our world is a creation of God, made by Him for His own purposes and glory.  There is nothing wrong with pursuing such simple solutions as using what our own human wisdom God has given us, including such things as reasonable gun control and political answers to the problems of our day; yet at the same time, we should not be overly optimistic about their effectiveness.  The needs and solutions of this world are far deeper than any human resources can provide.

How should we then live in a world that is increasingly falling apart?  The Book of Revelation also provides the answers we need.  God is doing a new and special work in our day.  He is preparing a kingdom for His people, and part of this preparation work involves a dismantling of the present kingdoms of this world.  We see this theme anticipated when Jesus as the Lamb first accepted the scroll in chapter 5.  At that time, we can read how “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

This kingdom theme is picked up again later on in Revelation 11:15, where we read how “the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “’The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.’”  This forever kingdom takes its final form in the new heaven and new earth pictured for us so vividly in Revelation 21-22.

But we are not there yet.  At the moment, we are still living in this present fallen world.  Among other things, God calls us to pray for this coming kingdom.  We can find words for this prayer request in what we popularly call the Lord’s Prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).  We need to be looking for and waiting on God to usher in His Kingdom.

Praying this prayer naturally leads us to the questions, when, where, and how should we expect to see this prayer answered in a broken world characterized by war, famine, death, and persecution.  Let me suggest three ways:

(1) in the lives of individual Christians.  God always begins His work of transforming this world, one life at a time, when people are born again and made new creatures in Christ.  Promises like 2 Corinthians 5:17 partly describe what takes place right now in the lives of individual believers even as it also looks ahead in faith to God’s final work of transforming grace: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

(2) in local churches.  God’s plan has always been in creating a people of God who would know and love Him, as well as know and love each other.  He is concerned with far more than the salvation of isolated individuals.  This theme of the church as the people of God is found in almost countless passages of Scripture.  One of these is 1 Corinthians 12:13-14, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body does not consist of one member but of many.”

(3) in its final and glorious form of a new heaven and new earth pictured for us in many passages, especially Revelation 21-22.  The time will come when God will make all things right.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (21:3-4).

We have a lot to look forward to.  But we are not there yet.  In the meantime, God calls us to live by faith, to watch and wait, and to pray and seek first His kingdom.  This is why Jesus challenges us in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  God knows our needs, and the greatest of these is His kingdom.  But He also promises us that His Kingdom will come in His own perfect time.  Revelation 22:20 concludes with these words of Jesus, “Surely I am coming soon.”  This is followed immediately by John’s final response for us all, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”