Tagged: fiery red horse

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)

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)

A fiery red horse (Rev. 6:3-4)

Previously: The second seal (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).

This horse is red – some say the color of blood symbolizing the brutality of warfare. Some commentators, like Matthew Henry, who believe the rider on the white horse is Jesus and whose bow is the gospel, now say the rider on the red horse is an unknown soldier who carries out God’s wrath. As Henry puts it, “Those who will not submit to the bow of the gospel must expect to be cut in sunder by the sword of divine justice” (Re 6:3-8). Others associate this horse and rider with the fiery red dragon of Rev. 12:3 or the scarlet beast of Rev. 17:3. Still others say the rider is the Antichrist, who has exchanged his empty bow for a sword and a pseudo earthly peace for worldwide warfare.

In Revelation, the color red is associated with terror, death and judgment, but throughout scripture it has a variety of contexts. It is the color of the earth from which Adam is made (in Gen. 2:7 the letters for “Adam” in Hebrew may also mean “ruby” or “dust” and can also mean reddish in color). It is the color of Job’s face as he weeps in sorrow (Job 16:16). It is the name of the sea through which the Hebrews pass from Egyptian slavery into freedom – a symbol of the blood of Christ through which sinners are redeemed from the slave market of sin and made free. It is the color of linen hangings in the tabernacle, of wine as it gleams in the cup, and of the sky at night or early morning to signal the weather.

As we will see in our journey through the Book of Revelation, the color red most certainly indicates human warfare, as in this verse. But it also tells us of the warfare the Lamb of God wages against the world’s wicked. Most likely, this red horse is not Christ’s and the rider is not the Lamb. But we can be sure that whoever they are and whatever harm they intend is fully orchestrated by the One who holds the scroll in His hand.

Next: Empowered to take peace from the earth

The second seal (Rev. 6:3-4)

Previously: A bow and a crown (Rev. 6:1-2)

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 opening of the second seal, like the first, is accompanied by one of the living creatures saying, “Come!” and a horse and rider bursting onto the scene. This is a horse of a different color, however – fiery red – and the horseman has been given the authority to plunge the world into warfare. While the first rider, on a white horse, is given a bow, the second rider is presented with a large sword. Let’s look more closely at these verses and see, first of all, if we may determine what this means to a first-century audience. Then we will explore the possibilities for today’s audience.

Jesus now breaks the second seal on the scroll. Remember that these seals likely are pieces of wax or clay that have been stamped with a ring or other metal object bearing the insignia of the owner. They identify the one who has authorized what’s been written, and the seal may be broken only by the designated authority, in this case the Lamb. Likely, as each seal is broken, it allows another portion of the scroll to be unraveled, until all seven seals are removed and the full message is revealed.

As the seal is opened, John hears the second living creature say, “Come!” As we learned in the last lesson, this call probably is not to John but to the horse and rider, who appear obediently.

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