Jehoshua is on the throne of David in New Jerusalem and He is the King of a New Israel
The truth of the four horsemen is important because it dispells the futurist eschatology and it's fear mongering false prophets. Identifying who the rider on the white horse is sets the tone for the rest of the chapter in terms of a Historcist or Futurist understanding of bible prophecy. Why is this important? Because your understanding of eschatology largely determines how you live out your life in the present, especially your walk in Messiah. It also largely determines how you view the identity of the church, Israel, Mystery Babylon, the anti-Messiah and also salvation.
Historcist eschatology promotes a healthy balanced view of what we is called "the end times", whereas Futurist eschatology promotes a panicking fear mongering escapist mentality. Historcist eschatology views that events of the book of Revelation unfolding from the time of the ascension of the Son of God all the way until his second advent. Futurist eschatology views most of the events of the book of Revelation as unfolding in the last 7 years of earth's history which is a very brief time period. Futurists always believe that the rapture of the church is right around the corner and because of that, things in this life should be viewed as largely unimportant. This view also posits all the calamities of the book of Revelation happening in a very brief time span. This often causes many Christians to have an extremely unhealthy fear of the near future and leads to ridiculous end times scenarios rivaling that of comic books and Sci-fi movies. One of the many errors of futurist eschatology is the identification of the rider of the white horse as the anti-Messiah. Let's now go to chapter 6 of Revelation and put these seals in their proper context and time. Revelation 6:1-2 1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come. 2 And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown: and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. One thing to note is that chapter 6 comes right after the Messiah's appearance before the Ancient of Days (Jehovah God). Chapter 5 of Revelation is obviously a picture into the heavenly tabernacle and time wise, it is obviously right after the Messiah's ascension. Revelation 5:7-10 7 And he came, and he taketh it out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood [men] of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, 10 and madest them [to be] unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth. Jehoshua taking the book with seven seals from Jehovah God is obviously connected time-wise with his death, atonement,. resurrection and ascension as we read in verses 9-10. In fact, this whole scene in chapter 5 is in conjunction with Jehoshua, as the Branch of David, overcoming the world which qualifies him to open the seals (Revelation 5:1-6). The strong angel (Holy Spirit?) asks (likely rhetorically) who was worthy to open the book showing that this scene is right at the time Messiah ascended to heaven otherwise the question would make no sense as in a future context there would have been no need to ask the question. Verses 11-14 of Revelation 5 show that this is the coronation of Jehoshua as King which is connected time-wise with his resurrection and ascension (Acts2:29-31; 13:32-35; Hebrews 1:8-9). So clearly the opening of the seven seals is connected with Jehoshua's death, burial, resurrection and enthronement as King. Now we can look at Revelation 6 in it's proper context: Verses 1-2, Jehoshua opens the first seal and John sees, in vision from heaven, a white horse. White represents purity so it is highly unlikely that this would be the horse that the anti-Messiah rides on. The rider on the white horse has a bow and was given a crown denoting him as the Davidic warrior King. While the anti-Messiah is posited as a king type figure, he is never said in scripture to actually being a king or being given a crown. Since this is right after the throne room scene of Revelation 5 post ascension, then it makes sense that the crown given is for the Messiah and not some future anti-Messiah figure. The end of chapter 5 shows that the Messiah is given the riches of the Kingdom. Also, the word of God is said to be a sword so the Messiah having a bow (weapon of warfare) fits perfectly with the gospel going forth to the nations after his ascension. "he went forth conquering, and to conquer" Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come" Psalm 45:1-5 1.My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter; I speak the things which I have made touching the king: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer..2 Thou art fairer than the children of men; Grace is poured into thy lips: Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. 3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one, Thy glory and thy majesty. 4 And in thy majesty ride on prosperously, Because of truth and meekness [and] righteousness: And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. 5 Thine arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under thee; They are in the heart of the king`s enemies. This is in the context of the coronation of Jehoshua as the Davidic King (Psalm 45;6-7). This fits perfectly with the narrative of the end of Revelation 5 and the opening of the first seal of Revelation 6. Psalm 45 pictures the Davidic King conquering his enemies with the arrows of a bow and also people's will fall under his authority. The Davidic King rides in Majesty and prospers in advancing his Kingdom. He is able to do this because he is clothed with truth, meekness and righteousness all vital characteristics of the gospel of the Kingdom. Revelation 19:11 "And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteous he doth judge and make war" At his advent, Jehoshua will ride a white horse down to the earth as he makes war on Babylon the great. This reiterates that the rider on the white horse of the first seal is the Son of God and not the anti-Messiah. That Jehoshua is seen on a white horse in Revelation 19 shows that he is the rider of the whote horse in Revelation 6. Revelation 6:3-4 3 And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come. 4 And another [horse] came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. The Dragon (Satan) is described as being red denoting his character not his literal color. The Dragon (Satan) works through State governments to foment war and bloodshed. This seal was opened after the ascension of Messiah and we have seen war ever since. Jehoshua warned about this in Matthew 24: 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. Wars, rumors of wars and nations rising up against nations is not a sign that the last day is upon us, but rather signifies the events that will transpire between Messiah's two advents. The false futurist churches use the fact that we have had world wars as a sign that the so called rapture is about to happen yet Jehoshua said the exact opposite. The Son of God said that these will happen but that doesn't mean the end is at hand. He said not to be troubled by these things as they are events that are going to take place during the new covenant church age. This shows that Jehoshua was expecting a long delay between his two advents. It's amazing that Jehoshua said not to be troubled by wars and rumors of wars yet the evangelical churches do exactly that and act like the sky is falling every time there is some conflict in the middle east or elsewhere. They go into rapture mode evey single time. The fact that this earth has been plagued by wars and nations rising up against each other during the whole of the new covenant church age shows that this seal has long been opened. Positing this seal in the future ignores history and causes needless speculation every time a rumor of a new war or conflict springs up. Jehoshua said the opposite in that wars are not a sign that the end is at hand and he said not to be troubled when they do happen. Revelation 6:5-6 5 And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come. And I saw, and behold, a black horse; and he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand. 6 And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures of barley for a shilling; and the oil and the wine hurt thou not. This seal speaks of the rise in price of food and wine i.e. inflation. These things have been taking place all throughout the new covenant church age showing that this seal was also opened right after the ascension of Jehoshua and will continue until his second advent. Revelation 6:7-7 7 And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come. 8 And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth. The fourth seal is opened by Jehoshua and the results of the third seal are seen in the fourth seal which is famine. Inflation in food and wine prices lead to starvation and famine. We have obviously seen this all throughout the new covenant church age. The second seal is seen here in the third which is the sword i.e. violence and war. "With death" refers to disease and pestilence as the pale color of this horse of the fourth seal indicates sickness since that is the complexion of those who are seriously ill. Death by wild beasts of the earth could indicate literal beasts but likely refers to certain groups of people. We have seen the influx of migrants into the once Christian nations ravage the native populations through beatings, murder and rape. These are all things that have been happening throughout the new covenant church era. Revelation 6:9-11 9 And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 and they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And there was given them to each one a white robe; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little time, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, should have fulfilled their course. This is the seal of the martyrs, they are not literally under the altar but this is metaphorical language to denote that their prayers have been heard by Jehovah God. The altar in the heavenly tabernacle represents prayer and their souls being under there represents their prayers to the Father. These martyrs were killed for their testimony. This isn't speaking of their personal testimony but rather the testimony of Jehoshua Messiah which is the spirit of prophecy. All throughout the church age men and women have been killed because they have preached the gospel of the Kingdom and that Jehoshua is the King and Son of God who shed his blood on the cross and was resurrected to glory. It has been this gospel that has caused many followers of Messiah to be killed. Notice that their prayer is not for the salvation of those that killed them but rather that Jehovah avenge their blood. The martyrs ask for Jehovah to avenge their blood on those who dwell on the earth (See Revelation 19). This indicates that Jehovah God will pout out His wrath in a very literal physical way on those who live on the earth. This is imprecatory prayer (prayer against enemies) which is still a righteous concept in the new covenant. They are given white robes showing that this refers to resurrection and not them being immortal souls for a bodiless soul cannot wear a robe. It's the same robes given to the resurrected 144,000 (great multitude) in Revelation 7 which is a last day resurrection text. The martyrs resting a little while refere to their sleep in the grave as death is spoken of as sleep in scripture (see 1st Thessalonians 4). Their is a number of saints who need to be martyred before the end comes and Jehovah sends His Son to tread the winepress of His wrath. All throughout church history there have been martyrs yet the churches still preach their unbiblical futurism. Revelation 6:12-14 12 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood; 13 and the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. 14 And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. This is the only seal that is yet to remain opened. This is the seal that ushers in the Kingdom of Messiah on earth and ends the current age. There will be a great earthquake throughout the earth and the sun will become black and the moon blood red. Some historcists try to say these things have happened, however this seal indicates that the events of this seal happen roughly at the same time leading up immediately to the advent of the Son of God. They will cite the Lisbon earthquake and the so called blood moons in recent times for proof as well as the falling stars seen in America in the 1800's. The stars of heaven will fall to the earth and the heaven will be rolled up as a scroll. This indicates cosmic disturbances in the sky and a permanent change to the earth's atmosphere. This makes sense since Messiah and the Father are going to usher in a new heavens and new earth thereby necessitating the rolling up of the old heavens and earth. The great earthquake causes the mountains and islands to shift. This seal is clearly future and it is clearly connected to the second advent of the Son of God and the dissolving of the elements in order to bring in the new heavens and new earth: 2 Peter 3:10-13 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in [all] holy living and godliness, 12 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Peter connects the day of the Lord (second advent) with the cosmic disturbances outlined in the sixth seal and these disturbances cause the heavens and it's elements to dissolve and the earth to be burned up. Those who posit the events of the sixth seal to historical events ignore that the results of these events lead the coming of Jehoshua, vanishing away of the current heaven and earth and the bringing in of the new. This is why connecting these events to history is error because the subsequent results still haven't happened when the sixth seal inter-connects them as one event. Revelation 6:15-17 15 And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand? This is what happens after the cosmic and earthly disturbances of the sixth seal which is the appearance of the Son of man Jehoshua Messiah. In the time of the sixth seal many will seek death and it will be men and women of all social classes. "the great day of their wrath", the sixth seal brings about the wrath of both the Father and the Son. The question of who is able to stand is answered in chapter 7, its the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel i.e. the great multitude. ReplyForward
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