Revelation 6:3-4 (NKJV) When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that [people] should kill one another, and there was given to him a great sword.
In Revelation 6:1, when the first seal was opened, one of the living creatures said, “Come and see.” Now, as the second seal is opened, the second living creature says, “Come and see.”
With the first four seals, each is announced by one of the four living creatures. The fifth, sixth, and seventh seal are not announced. What has been translated as “living creatures” means “living ones.” These “living ones” are mighty servants of God who dwell in His presence and perform His bidding. In this part of Scripture, they are serving as messengers of God.
The “Beast,” or Antichrist of the first seal, is a false savior and a representative of humankind. He is the epitome of humanity’s determination to rule itself. In humanity’s attempt to govern itself, it has subjugated itself to the rule of the Evil One, and as a result, the antichrist, the rider on the white horse, is a messenger and a servant of Satan. So also are the riders of all four horses. The “Come and see” command of the four living creatures represents a “passivity” on the part of heaven. God is always involved and sustains all things. Without His sustaining hand, all things would cease to exist. So, Heaven’s “passivity” means that God is allowing the natural consequences of man’s self-rule.
While the rider of the first horse is a great victor, winning a bloodless conquest of the earth, his peace is short-lived. Without much delay, the second messenger of Satan is loosed on the earth.
Red is the color of blood, and the red horse brings the carnage of war. The rider on the red horse is given a great sword. The rider on the white horse had a bow, which is a “stand-off” weapon, meaning that battle is engaged at a distance. Since there are no arrows, the conquest of the first rider is “bloodless.” The second rider has a great sword. A sword is up close and personal, and it is very bloody. As we look at the rider on the red horse, the first thing stated about him is that “it was granted to him to take peace from the earth.” And then the Scriptures say, “And that people should kill one another.”
Humanity talks about peace. The League of Nations and the United Nations were created to bring peace on Earth. A bronze sculpture of a man beating a sword into a plowshare stands at the United Nations. A gift from the Soviet Union in 1959, the statue depicts Isaiah 2:4, which says:
They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah is speaking of the kingdom that the Messiah will usher in, but humanity in its pride, has tried to usher in the Messiah’s age of peace without the Messiah. As a result, humanity ends up with a false messiah and uncontrolled, all-out war.
Despite all the talk about peace, humanity has been in wars throughout history.
God’s law says we should love our neighbor as ourselves, but who demonstrates this kind of love? We instinctively know we should not kill another person or take what is not ours. But we do these things anyway. One may comfort himself with the thought that he has never murdered anyone or stolen anything, but he only deceives himself. Jesus taught that if we hate another person in our hearts, we commit murder, if only in our hearts. And the same is true of theft. God clearly says we should not covet what our neighbor has.
The roots of war reside in the hearts of everyone. No one is exempt. God says as much when He says:
Romans 3:23 (NKJV) …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
God gave His law through Moses, and humanity rejected His rule. No one other than Jesus Christ has ever kept God’s law. God sent His Son to fulfill His law and make a way for us to have peace, starting with peace with God. But humanity has rejected God’s Son, the Prince of Peace.
As the White Horse represents God’s judgment on the world’s rejection of His Son, the Messiah, the Red Horse represents God’s judgment on the world’s rejection of His Son, the Prince of Peace.
In Matthew 24, Jesus speaks about the signs of the age, and in verse 6, He says we will hear “wars and rumors of war,” but wars do not signal the end. Wars are not the sign of the end because there have always been wars which will continue until the end.
However, as humanity follows the rider on the White Horse (the Antichrist), there will be a time of unprecedented peace. But this peace will not last because very quickly, the rider on the Red Horse will enter the scene.
God’s lovingkindness and mercy are great, and He has continually held back the full horrors of war. The world has seen some devasting wars, but the devastation has not been what it could be.
God’s judgment often comes in the form of giving us what we want.
When Israel wanted a king, God punished them by giving them a king. Romans 1 tells us that when we replace God with idols and things we desire, God disciplines us by giving us our desires. The world has set out to accomplish what only the Messiah can, and when God permits the natural consequences, the world will see war like it has never seen.
When God pulls back His restraining influence, war will have its full reign. The Bible speaks of a war that will kill one-quarter of the earth’s population. Today, that would be two billion people. It has not yet been “granted” to kill people on this scale, but it will be “granted” to the rider on the red horse.
God is not going to do this to be cruel. He gave His only begotten Son so that we can be saved. All who believe in Jesus will be saved from this outpouring of wrath. And the whole purpose of giving humankind its own way is to bring those who are willing to repentance and life. And it will work. Many will believe in Jesus and be saved during those horrible days. But why wait? Why go through it when God has provided a way of escape? At the time of Noah, God provided a boat, but only eight people got on the boat. In our day, God is offering a way out just by calling on the name of Jesus. Will you take His hand and be saved, or will you wait and see what humanity can do for itself?
Please call on the Lord Jesus to be saved!
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