Sunday, September 6, 2015

4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse #5 - Part 73 of Riddles, Enigmas & Esoteric Imagery of Revelation

It is later than we think! For two years this blog has been dedicated to providing the historical viewpoint for the end-time doctrine, so that people will truly be ready to receive the reward Jesus Christ will give to the saints at His return. Throughout the Christian era the visions of Revelation have been and are being fulfilled, of which I have provided dates, places, and by whom they were fulfilled as recorded by historians. The visions pertaining to the earthly realm are nearly all fulfilled - Jesus is coming soon - ready or not!
 
Today is blog #5 in our series that explains the fulfillment of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse prophecy as it pertains to the judgment of Israel for rejecting Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Last blog we turned to the Old Testament for confirmation when we listened in on a conversation between God and His angel...O Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?...Zech. 1:12.
 
From their heavenly vantage point, God and the angel were observing the people of Israel at the conclusion of seventy years of exile in Babylon. Zechariah is being shown that seventy years of punishment against his people is at the end - then he was shown more about the horses.
 
Then the strong steeds went out, eager to go, that they might walk to and fro throughout the earth...and he said, "Go, walk to and fro through the earth"...so they walked to and fro throughout the earth...Zech. 6:7.
 
Zechariah was allowed to watch four colors of horses - red, black, white, dapple - walk the earth to observe how Israel faired, after luxuriating with idolaters for seventy years. Was the punishment of exile amidst the pagans sufficient to produce repentance?
 
While Zechariah was viewing the colored horses prance about the earth, he asked the angel, "Who are these, my Lord?" The angel answered...these are the four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth...Zech. 6:5.
 
Who are the four spirits of heaven?  They are four living creatures in the midst and around the throne of God, each having six wings and are full of eyes around and within, saying non-stop...holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!...Rev. 4:8. The Prophet Isaiah called them Seraphim...Is. 6:1-4.  When God sends them on assignment to the earth they manifest in many ways.  Zechariah and John see them manifest as 4 horses - red, black, white, dapple (pale grayish-streaked and water spotted)...Zech. 6:2-3.
 
In the Hebrew language the word spirits in this reference is ruwach meaning:  wind - to blow; breath. These metaphorical horses - four spirits of Heaven - symbolize the Voice of God carried by the wind. The very breath of God is declaring change is coming to Israel.
 
The first two horses seen by the Prophet Zechariah - red & black - represent past judgments on Israel. The red horse symbolizes the war that Israel lost to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon with much bloodshed, when he took them captive to his idolatrous nation for seventy years.
 
The black horse symbolizes the death and mourning that Israel experienced during this horrific war. It must have been devastating and humiliating to have an enemy ravish their country - kill, maim, rob - while dragging them kicking and screaming to a foreign land, far away from all they knew and loved to become slaves to a pagan king for 70 years.
 
The white horse that Zechariah saw symbolized purity holiness, and victory. Since this is the third horse in the lineup, it reveals that Israel repented after their punishment. Now it is time to release them from their captivity, and allow them go back to their homeland to rebuild Solomon's destroyed temple.  Judgment and punishment had produced repentance and their allegiance was once again surrendered to God. God's kids had been kidnapped by idolatry, but now have returned to Him.
 
The dapple horse was the last one that Zechariah saw in his vision. It is significant that this horse is positioned last in the lineup, because it symbolizes Israel's future - an omen of things to come - if they don't retain their allegiance to God, and Him alone. As with the pale horse of Revelation, this dappled horse also symbolizes famine. The dapple horse is prophesying that Israel will experience in her future the most consuming and emaciating famine ever experienced by this people.
 
What do the rest of the seals reveal about the war of 70 A.D?  Stay tuned...
 
God's sheep question the doctrines of men...sheeple follow without question...
 
 
 





No comments: