7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.”
8 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. (Revelation 6:7–8)
Every generation seems to have some malady that claims the lives of multitudes. Whether a plague or mosquito-bearing disease or a virus that somehow escapes a lab in a faraway land, some version of the specter of death always hangs over men, until it subsides, leaving a host of bodies in its wake. The fourth rider on an ashen or pale greenish-gray horse (the Greek word is chlōros) is assigned the task of killing a fourth of the earth. Based on present worldwide population numbers, that’s 2 billion people, hardly an amount that can be hidden “below the fold.”
Perhaps you’re one of the lucky ones who is not visited, but we’re now on the fourth horse, and the bad news keeps coming. When Almighty God begins his final judgments, they’ll be no letting up. Those alive at the time will want to escape, find a cave to huddle in, but they will be found. They will not escape. Remember, the world’s leader (the Antichrist) will care less. There will have been war and famine, and now this. And to add insult to injury, the wild beasts bring up the rear, devouring the weak and vulnerable.
“Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence. (Ezekiel 33:27)
If you want comfort in your daily devotions, perhaps this final book is not the place to go. The logical response is to seek out a safe haven that can withstand these onslaughts. But no such place will be found, with one exception.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” 3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. (Psalm 91:1–3)
Leave a Reply