Revelation 6:7 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Revelation 6:7

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The fourth seal reveals a pale horse, which is a sickly green colour. This is interpreted for us. ‘And his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.’ The rider on the fourth horse personifies what he brings into the world. Now they are given direct access to men and women. ‘Power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword and with hunger and with death.’ Some people interpret this as some coming event, when a quarter of the world will die: a pandemic that will be so severe perhaps, or a persecution that will take a quarter of the population. But that is not a sensible way of looking at the book, because everything that happens in these visions happens all the time in some shape or form between the two comings of Christ. It isn’t an event somewhere on the calendar; it’s happening all the time. Believers like everyone else will die; death will carry them away. Through the gospel age, believers won’t be advantaged in that they won’t escape death. They will have illnesses and problems and trials, quite alongside any persecution, and they will die from natural causes, so to speak, or whatever is their lot, just as the worldling will. They won’t have any longer lifespans, or any special health apportioned to them. They will know all difficulties and setbacks. The church will not stand constantly with the same people, and the whole population of the world follows suit. But death will rule in the world too. There will always be, as it were – the figures are only symbols – a quarter of the world dying, including believers. So far you’re getting pictures, so that we understand why life is as it is in the gospel age. We are being saved. We are subject to hostilities, and oppression, and persecution, sometimes severe disadvantage; and we have to die and suffer sickness like everybody else.Death is the sentence, because of sin, whether it’s by war – the sword; by hunger – famine; by death, which some say is natural causes; or with the beasts of the earth – which would include engineered death as when Christians were fed to the lions, or accidental death, still a reality in some parts of the world, or people being wiped out by locusts or viruses. But for some, Hell [Hades] follows closely behind Death and swallows up those reaped by Death. If only men and women would think more soberly about the end of life and what comes next, perhaps they would prepare more carefully for the end of life.

Application

This is about the fact that there will always be a considerable portion of the world’s population dying, including believers. None of these forms of suffering will be conquered by man throughout history. Those in John’s Day at the start of the gospel age were perhaps asking, when will the Lord come? Would it be soon? No, they are to expect all these woes to come upon the earth.

In different parts of the world, at different times, there is very great suffering for Christians in one or more of the forms described here. It looks as though things are coming about that are very serious in the UK, but still to a large degree, we are all well fed, and provided for, and warm and comfortable, and we have a measure of liberty. When we think of what so many Christians have suffered, and do suffer, and will suffer, under oppression, what are we doing putting our creature comforts first, and our luxuries and our ease first, and saying sometimes, ‘I’m too tired to do this for the Lord, and I would have to leave out things that I enjoy, if I was to do that for the Lord.’ Do we not think that one day we’ve got to stand with the great host on high, the suffering servants of God, and they will look at us and think, ‘Well you had such liberty; you must have been enabled to do wonderful things.’ How fortunate that we won’t be capable in glory of feeling ashamed, because we deserve to feel so ashamed. It helps us to gird ourselves together, and be dedicated to the Lord while we have so much opportunity.

Some Christians don’t understand these basic things. In the Charismatic world there are some who say, a Christian should never be sick. Not all say that, but many do. We should be the exception; we should have special provision from the Lord. But you come to the symbolism of Revelation and you see the lot of the people of God, and we understand. We are not here to reform the world. We are to do good wherever we can. We look back and we marvel at the many Christian reformers there have been in the past. Shaftsbury and others come immediately to mind. Christians are to do good where they can. But some go too far and say, ‘No, our objective is to shape the world, and reform the world, relieve worldwide hunger on a massive scale, and transform international thinking.’ That is not what you read in the Book of Revelation.

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Revelation 6:7 Commentary and Bible Study