A large sword was given to him (Rev. 6:3-4)

Previously: So that people should slay one another (Rev. 6:3-4)

The scripture

Rev. 6:3 – When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him (HCSB).

The words associated with the second seal end with, “And a large sword was given to him.” Actually, this is the small Roman sword called the machaira. Roman soldiers use it for the capital punishment of Roman citizens, as Paul notes in Rom. 13:4: “But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it [government] does not carry the sword [machaira] for no reason.” This small sword – more like a large knife that may be concealed – is in contrast to the romphaia, the sword a soldier carries marching into battle. W.A. Criswell believes the distinction is important: “A machaira was the kind of a knife with which to cut the throat of an animal or of a man. The red horseman represents not only nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom, but, more nearly, the terrible slaughter of class fighting class and party fighting party, as in civil war. The fighters ambush in the night; they assassinate in the day; they murder at twilight and at noontime, and everyone lives in the fear of his life. There is murder and bloodshed everywhere” (Expository Sermons on Revelation, p. 99).

But why is this small sword called “large” or “great” if it is little more than a dagger? Perhaps because the impact of this murderous evil is widespread. Just as “a little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough” (Gal. 5:9), and just as Jesus taught, in the Sermon on the Mount, that adultery and murder begin in the human heart, perhaps the widespread bloodshed begins because of multiplied pettiness in sinful hearts, unrestrained by the departed Holy Spirit. Whatever the reason for the depiction of this small sword as large, we should beware that hidden evil thoughts, if left unconfessed to God, may manifest in the greatest kinds of wickedness. We should always be alert because our adversary, the Devil, “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

One final thought: “The phrase ‘to make men slaughter one another’ is interesting because in the OT this is one of the means YHWH used to judge His enemies (cf. Judg. 7:22; I Sam. 14:20; II Chr. 20:22)” (R.J.D. Utley, Hope in Hard Times – The Final Curtain: Revelation, Study Guide Commentary Series, Vol. 12, p. 61). It is good for us to remember that God is sovereign over all human activity, even to the point that He sometimes uses our evil as an instrument of His judgment. The ways of the Lord are mysterious, deep and wonderful.

Next: The third seal (Rev. 6:5-6)

Reflections on 9/11 – Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

Are Yahweh (the God of the Bible) and Allah (the deity of Islam) the same? Are the differences between them inconsequential  — so small, in fact, that they negate any grounds for debate?

As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11, many, in the spirit of tolerance, will conclude that we all worship the same God. The only differences are in styles of worship, sacred scriptures, doctrines and traditions.

Former President George W. Bush said as much in a 2007 interview with Al Aribaya Television: “Well, first of all, I believe in an almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That’s what I believe.”

The Qur’an seems to support the former president’s view:

Do not argue with the people of the scripture (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) except in the nicest possible manner-unless they transgress-and say, “We believe in what was revealed to us and in what was revealed to you, and our god and your god is one and the same; to Him we are submitters.” (29:46).

The words of Rodney King echo in our ears: “Can’t we all just get along?”

It’s personal

But insisting that Christians and Muslims worship the same God dishonors both religions and disrespects the people who hold dearly to their teachings. In other words, both Christians and Muslims should respond with a resounding “no” to any suggestion that the God of the Bible and the God of the Qur’an are the same.

But let’s make the issue more personal. Every person can know the difference between Yahweh and Allah by asking three personal questions:

1. Does God know me?

Allah. The Qur’an teaches that Allah is the transcendent creator, all-powerful and all-knowing. He knows who you are; in fact, he has fatalistically determined your thoughts, words and deeds – good and evil – and even your eternal destiny, which is why Muslims so often say, “If Allah wills it.” So, Allah does indeed know you.

But Allah is not truly personal, knowable, or approachable. The Qur’an depicts him more judgmental than gracious. He exists as a singular unity who has no “partners.” In fact, to call Jesus the Son of God is to commit the unpardonable sin, or shirk. Of the 99 names for God in the Qur’an, Father is not one of them. In Islam, it is considered blasphemous to “presume” that one can know God or claim any sort of close, personal fellowship with Allah. He reveals his will, not himself.

Yahweh, the God of the Bible, also is depicted as the transcendent Creator. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present. He knows us; but more than that, He is knowable and approachable to us. He created us in His image – with personality, thought, and will – for the purpose of enjoying an everlasting, unbreakable, intimate relationship with Him. He exists as a Trinity in eternal relationship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In fact, God is so knowable, He came in the flesh as Jesus of Nazareth. Consider just a few of the abundant evidences in scripture:

  • John 1:1-3, 14 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created….The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
  • John 15:14-15 – You are My friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you slaves anymore, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father.
  • John 17:3 — This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent-Jesus Christ.

Does God know me? Allah and Yahweh are depicted as supreme beings who know everything and everyone. But … only the God of the Bible is truly personal and knowable.

2. Does God love me?

Allah.The Qur’an teaches that Allah loves those he chooses to love and hates those he chooses to hate. “Allah loves not those that do wrong,” says the Qur’an (Surah 3:140), neither does he love “him who is treacherous, sinful” (Surah 4:107). “Those who reject faith and do wrong – Allah will not forgive them nor guide them to any way – Except the way of Hell, to dwell therein for ever. And this to Allah is easy (4:168-169).

Other types of people Allah hates:

  • Transgressors (2:190).
  • Ungrateful and wicked creatures (2:276).
  • Those who reject faith (3:32; 30:45).
  • Those who do wrong (3:57, 140; 42:40).
  • The arrogant, the vainglorious (4:36; 16:23; 31:18; 57:23).
  • Those given to excess (5:87).
  • Wasters (6:141; 7:31).
  • Treacherous (8:58).
  • Ungrateful (22:38).

Yahweh, the God of the Bible, on the other hand, loves all people (John 3:16). He proved His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). John writes, “Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Even though God hates sin, He loves the sinner and takes no pleasure in punishing him (Eze. 18:23).

Does God love me? Only the God of the Bible loves all people.

3. Did God die for me?

The Qur’an teaches that Allah did not, would not, and will not die for you, nor would he send anyone to die for you. In fact, the Qur’an insists that Jesus did not die on the cross, but was taken up into heaven, and Judas, or someone who looked like Jesus, was crucified in His place.

Further, the Qur’an teaches that there is no need for God to provide a sacrifice for sin because ignorance of Islam, not sin, is man’s problem. (The possible exceptions are apostasy from Islam and refusal to convert to Islam.) Staying away from major sins (whatever those are) will automatically result in one’s “small” sins being overlooked by Allah (4:31).

Yahweh, the God of the Bible, on the other hand, loves us so much He sent His Son to die for us. This was determined in eternity past, before you and I were ever born and before any of mankind had fallen into sin; Jesus is declared to be the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21).

But even more than dying for us, God the Son rose from the dead, conquering sin and death, and He offers us forgiveness of sins and eternal life by His grace through faith in Him.

Did God die for me? Only the God of the Bible sent His Son to die for sinners, securing eternal life for those who trust in Him.

So, are Allah and Yahweh just two different names for the same God?

No. Allah is distant and unknowable; Yahweh is close and personal. Allah does not love every person; Yahweh does. Allah did not, would not, and will not die for you, nor would he ever send anyone to do so; but the God of the Bible loves you so much He sent His one and only Son to die for you. And He stands ready to grant you everlasting life if you will receive Him by faith.

So that people would slaughter one another (Rev. 6:3-4)

Previously: Empowered to take peace from the earth (Rev. 6:3-4)

The scripture

Rev. 6:3 – When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him (HCSB).

It’s interesting to note John’s use of the phrase “so that.” This rider is given authority to take peace from the earth “so that people would slaughter one another.” Whatever restraint has been on mankind’s natural tendency to hate and murder is now taken away. This could be the Roman peace that crumbles beneath its own weight and gives way to warfare. Or it could be the uneasy peace that has existed between the Jews and their Roman occupiers, giving way to Jewish rebellion and Rome’s crushing response in 70 A.D. as Jerusalem is sacked, the temple is destroyed, more than 1 million Jews are killed and the rest are scattered in the Diaspora. Or it could be a more timeless statement about the sinful tendencies of the human race throughout the church age, despite the spread of Christianity and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. It could even refer to the martyrdom of so many Christians at the hands of the Jews and Romans in the early centuries of the church.

No doubt the early Christians often bristled at the opposition to their faith and freedoms. The Apostle Paul addresses this in Romans 13, urging Christians to live according to high ethical standards, even when human government is far from perfect: “Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do good and you will have its approval. For government is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong” (vv. 1-4).

The apostle Peter also touches on this subject in 1 Peter 2:13-17: “Submit to every human institution because of the Lord, whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority, or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For it is God’s will that you, by doing good, silence the ignorance of foolish people. As God’s slaves, [live] as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor.”

One other thought, from a futurist perspective, is that the false peace of the Antichrist during the first half of the tribulation now gives way to widespread warfare. No doubt the days of bloodshed begin not only because the Antichrist wills it to be so, but because the Supreme restrainer of evil – the Holy Spirit – has removed Himself from the earth. Paul writes to the Thessalonians, addressing the false teaching that the Day of the Lord has already come. He comments: “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For [that day] will not come unless the apostasy (or rebellion) comes first and the man of lawlessness (or man of sin / Antichrist) is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God” (2 Thess. 2:3-4).

Paul adds in verses 5-7, “Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this? And you know what currently restrains [him], so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way …” Futurists contend that this restraining power is the Holy Spirit, Who withdraws to heaven with the saints at the Rapture, enabling the Antichrist to establish a false peace on the earth, only to take it away.

Next: A large sword was given to him (Rev. 6:3-4)

Empowered to take peace from the earth (Rev. 6:3-4)

Previously: A fiery red horse (Rev. 6:3-4)

The scripture

Rev. 6:3 – When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him (HCSB).

The rider on this fiery red horse is empowered, or granted, or literally “given” the authority to take peace from the earth. This, of course, implies that there is some level of peace to be taken. If you take a preterist view and confine the events of Revelation to the Mediterranean world of the first centuries of the Christian era, this peace would be the Pax Romana, or Roman peace that ran roughly from the third decade B.C. until 180 A.D. and resulted in the Romanization of the Western world. Some preterists, who confine the events of Revelation to a pre-70 A.D. time frame, say the peace that is lost is among the Jews, who rebel against the Romans and engage in petty infighting.

Historicists generally refer to this loss of peace as referring to the period from the accession of Commodus (A.D. 180) to Diocletian (A.D. 284), a time of civil wars and bloodshed in the Roman Empire. Futurists, however, see this peace as the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation, during which the Antichrist (the rider on the white horse) lulls the world into a false sense of security. And spiritualists argue that the fiery red horse represents war in general. In all cases, there is agreement that peace – whether regional or global, and whether stable or shaky – exists and is about to be removed.

Determining whether the peace is regional or global depends largely on one’s interpretation of the word translated “earth” in verse 4. The Hebrew use of the word in the Old Testament “is ambiguous in so far as it sometimes expresses this wider meaning of ‘earth’ (i.e. so far as the Hebrews knew it) and sometimes only ‘land’, a more restricted area. In the accounts of the Flood (Gn. 6–9) and of the division of speech (Gn. 11:1) each meaning has its advocates” (D.R.W. Wood and I.H. Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed., p. 285). The use of the Greek word in Revelation is taken by some to mean the entire inhabited earth, and by others to be restricted to the Roman world or even Israel and its surroundings. In some cases, one’s view may be driven more by a particular view of Revelation – preterist, futurist, etc. – than by anything else.

Next: So that people should slay one another (Rev. 6:3-4)

No smoke, no mirrors, no equal

I first met Todd one chilly morning last spring when I arrived a little late to the Sunday school class he was teaching at Mapledale Baptist Church in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He smiled warmly and welcomed me, then returned to teaching the Book of Jeremiah to about a dozen adults. His folksy plain speaking belied a deep knowledge of the scriptures.

And had me feeling guilty. As guest preacher that day, I felt I could perform a courtesy by sitting in on the church’s one adult Sunday school class before leading the morning service. Instead, I was schooled by a very gifted teacher who related exceptionally well to his fellow classmates.

Since that day, I have been back to Mapledale several times to preach and have always made it a point to get to Sunday school on time. But my interest in Todd — and respect for him — grew immensely when I learned he has graced the pages of Ripley’s Believe it or Not several times as escape artist Anthony Martin. No illusionist, he has certifiably escaped from secure jail cells, submerged metal boxes, and while free falling — shackled — from an airplane.

Check out a recent television appearance.

And while Todd won’t tell us how he manages the escapes, there’s one thing he can’t keep secret: his faith in Jesus Christ. Whether teaching Sunday school, preaching at the farmer’s market, or performing his stunning escapes, he is unapologetic about the way Christ has freed him from the shackes of sin and death. As his Web site declares,  “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).