With that in mind, I wanted to share some further reflections on Revelation 6. Last week, I'm afraid I might have misled us a bit. We talked that the horses may be descriptors of the violent Roman empire. The horses are often misunderstood as being the work of the Lamb, and I pointed us to 6:9-11 to see that Christians are those who are perishing. Aaron Peplinski pointed out his disagreement that while the 5th seal is talking about martyrs, it cannot be universally applied to the rest of the destruction that the horses bring. I appreciate his comments, and I want to agree with him and help bring understanding to the horses.
Beth pointed out Romans 1 where God "gave them up to their sinful desires." I think this helps us understand the horses! Rather than try to explain this myself, here is an excerpt from Eugene Boring's commentary on Revelation:
"The destruction unleashed by the four horsemen is not directly done by Christ, but neither are the horsemen independent agents of destruction. They are permitted, with God / Christ being the actors hidden in the repeated 'divine passive' verb edothe (vs. 2 'it was given," vs. 4a "was permitted," vs. 4b "was given," vs. 8 "were given")."
"The actual actors in the eschatalogical (future) drama, the direct perpetrators of the eschatalogical woes, are the forces of evil in the world, demonic anti-God forces permitted and used by God as agents of divine judgment (serving as a warning, and call to repent). These forces which seem to be powerful are actually mere parodies of the ultimate power of God represented by the Lamb. The rider on the white horse does look deceptively like Christ (white horse and crowned; rf. Rev. 19:11ff), but his 'conquering' is the this-worldly power of death that kills others, not the true power of the Lamb who dies for others."
I hope this helps to clear chapter 6 a bit. While it can be understood as general description of the Roman empire it's imagery is meant more to expose the evil in the world in general. Please continue the discussion by leaving comments. You don't have to have a Google account to comment, but those who do have a Google account, log in and comment.
Does this make more sense? Any further questions? Use this resource to help us continue our engagement during the week.
1 comment:
During the time of the original audience the Roman Empire was the "world". The same comparisons made to the Horsemen and any empire/structure of government are equally valid. We see these truths played out in human history, and in our own modern world.
On Rev 6:10 "They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" "
I wanted to point out another verse commonly linked to the "end times". 2nd Peter 3 1-13 are all relevant but I would like to focus on verses 9 and 10 "9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed."
I look forward to Tuesday.
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