The Four Horsemen: Unpacking the Complexity of Revelation 6

The Passage

“Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, ‘Come.’ And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer.

“When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come.’ And out came another horse, bright red. And its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

“And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come.’ And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius. And do not harm the oil and wine.’

“And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come.’ And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”

Introduction

We come today to one of the most well-known images in the world that comes from the book of Revelation: the so-called Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It is quite fitting with the graphic we have been using throughout this series. It is also one of the most debated sections of the book of Revelation, as I hope to illustrate this morning. And it is difficult to explain because of all the different possible viewpoints.

Let me make a note here. When we come to Revelation, there are broad disagreements about what these things mean. I want you to make sure we keep that in the book of Revelation. You just can’t go to every passage of Scripture and say, “Well, there’s broad disagreement on this, so we don’t have to obey or do that.” There are times when people disagree about the Bible, and then other times we depart from the Bible. And the reason there is a disagreement is because we left the Bible behind. That is not what we are dealing with in Revelation.

Many very knowledgeable, gifted commentators and Christians come to this book and they come away with different things. And today what I want to try to do is show you some of the complexity so that you will simply know that it is there. And it is not as simple as many ministers and ministries seem to imply.

The Central Questions

For example, when we read this book in general, but specifically here: Is John making historic or futuristic predictions that this is going to happen in the future? Or is he trying to make theological points? Is he trying to teach us something about God? Are we supposed to take everything here in a literal twenty-first-century context? Or do we look for spiritual truths underneath and behind it?

Another thing is, for example, these horses—these four horsemen mean something. But what do they mean? And that is often where the disagreement comes in. And so we need to note: they symbolize, but what is that? And how would we find that out?

Five Viewpoints on the White Horse Rider

For example, is the rider on the white horse Christ, the Antichrist, or none of the above? Let me give you some examples of how the different viewpoints are on that question.

Kenneth Gentry, who is a post-millennial preterist, says this: “The rider on the white horse, bent on conquest, represents the victorious Roman march toward Jerusalem in the spring of A.D. 67.” Past tense, something that happened then in a historical context.

Grant Osborne, in his commentary on Revelation, says, “This is most likely that it represents the Antichrist, for the evil nature of the action is quite certain.”

Bruce Metzger goes back to a historical prediction based upon the fact that the Parthians, a group of people east of the Roman Empire, were well known as bowmen. And he says, “What is suggested by the white horse and the bow is a Parthian invasion from the east that meets with success.”

Finally, we come to William Hendriksen, who agrees with Joel Beeke, who says, “We agree with the view of many eminent interpreters who regard the rider upon the white horse as symbolizing Christ.”

So we have five different points of view, all from recognized and honored commentators and Bible teachers. And they all come away with a different perspective about who this person is. Now, it is very hard to figure out what to do with it when you have that kind of broad disagreement, isn’t it?

I’ll try to come back at the end to give you some more thoughts on that. But I want to say to you this morning, and it is very important you understand me at this point: I’m not telling you what to believe. I’m telling you what people believe, what people say about it, in an effort to unpack any significance that we can get.

The Case for Christ on the White Horse

I lean in the direction with agreement with Beeke and Hendriksen that this is Jesus on the white horse. And this is completely contrary to the dispensationalists, who have said it’s the Antichrist. I don’t know if you can see it very well, but in this picture, this white guy on the white horse, he’s got this mask on—it’s a skull. And then it doesn’t look very well, does it, if it looks like that? Well, but we’re not told. We’re just told it was a rider on a white horse.

But I agree that it probably represents Christ riding out with the gospel and the kingdom of God to conquer. And we would draw this from several things.

First, the only other reference in the book of Revelation to a white horse is at the end of the book, chapter 19, verse 11: “I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” This is Christ there—there’s no question about it. And he’s riding forth to conquer on a white horse. And so there’s that suggestion.

As to the concept of the bow, we can go back to the book of Psalms, chapter 45: “Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and in your majesty. Ride forth victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies.” Now, all of us know you need a bow to shoot arrows. I mean, you can throw them, but it doesn’t quite work the same way. We have, so, you have this picture of God. And look at the last part: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.”

That passage—that last section, “Your throne, O God”—is quoted in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 8, of Christ. So this passage is talking about Christ, and it shows him going forth in his majesty with arrows to do the work.

We see this again in Psalm 45: “Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down. Touch the mountains so that they smoke. Flash forth the lightning and scatter them. Send out your arrows and rout them.”

And we tend to always think, and rightly so, about the sword of the Spirit. The Bible talks about the sword of the Spirit, and yet these passages suggest that the sword is not the only metaphor to use for God in his work. And so this is why they come to this conclusion: this is Christ.

By the way, William Hendriksen goes on to point out that the word “conquer” is only used in Revelation of Christ and believers. Conquering. And so this is the kind of concept that comes in.

Now, you don’t have to grieve me again about the white rider, the rider on the white horse being Christ, okay? I’m just trying to help you see the complexities of this book. And, you know, it took a long time to talk me into doing this series, and I’ve been keeping breaks along the way because it is such a heavy, complex, and difficult book.

The Red Horse: Persecution

Despite my agreement on that, the questions go on in regard to the red horse. Let me read it again.

“When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come.’ And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.”

Now, does this rider take peace from the earth? Is it a reference to civil war in the Roman Empire? Or is it a reference to peace being taken from the earth? Or could it symbolize the persecution of Christians?

Now, you might say, “Pastor, why would anybody think this verse has anything to do with the persecution of Christians?” Well, William Hendriksen points out that Christ—he takes the view that Christ is the rider on the white horse—he goes out with the gospel. And what follows the gospel? Persecution. What comes right on the heels of the gospel? You preach the truth. Paul says all who seek to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Jesus said, “If they hate me, they’re going to hate you when you stand for the truth.” And so it seems to be a natural progression if the rider on the white horse is Christ going out with the gospel, that persecution will follow.

Listen to this consideration of how that could possibly be. Again, I’m not telling you what to believe. I’m trying to illustrate the complexities that make the book so difficult.

First, it says he takes peace from the earth. Now, what does that mean exactly on a planet that’s never had peace? There’s never been peace on this earth. We have had periods of peace in our country, but they are very short-lived. And there’s always a battle and fighting going on somewhere on planet earth and always has been. In what sense is he taking peace away from the earth when there’s never really been that kind of widespread peace on the earth?

Even in our own time, generally people my age think about the peace after World War II. It lasted five years, and then we were in Korea. And five years after that, we were in South Vietnam. And after that, after we got out of that mess, we were embroiled in the Middle East. And some of you may remember, though, I’m a little older now than I’d like to admit, but during the Reagan administration, how they were selling arms to Iran so they could sell weapons to the Sandinista guerrillas in Nicaragua. There’s never been this kind of a global peace. So what peace is this rider taking away exactly? I think it’s a fair question.

Now, if you think about it from the standpoint of persecution—if the rider on the white horse is Christ going forth with the gospel and persecution always follows—then note the symbolism. He’s given a sword. And hear what Jesus says in Matthew 10, verse 34: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

That’s probably one of the most neglected passages in all the sayings of Jesus, especially as we’re near Christmas. “Let’s pray for peace.” God wants peace between himself and humankind. He never promises peace between men and men who are not in relationship with him. And that’s not what that passage in Luke means.

So here, and by the way, that passage—”I’ve come not to bring peace, but to send a sword”—Lord, that passage, if you read it all in the context of verses 26 through 39, it’s talking about the suffering that comes from being a believer. It starts out and he says, “Don’t be afraid of those who can kill the body but can’t kill the soul.” He goes on to say, “He that endures to the end.” He says, “A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” How could you be enemies with your own household? Because some believe and some don’t. And so it seems to fit this idea.

Then, and you’ve got to be careful here, again, with word studies. I want you to be mindful of that. But Hendriksen points out that the word for “great sword”—that there are two kinds of sword. And one of them was the big sword you carry into battle. And the other was more of a little kind of a knife. And that knife is a reference to a sacrificial knife. And in the Septuagint, the Old Testament Greek translation of the Hebrew into Greek, when Abraham raises the knife, it’s the same word. It’s a knife related to sacrifice. And the sacrifice is the people of God.

Romans chapter 8: “We are counted as sheep for the slaughter all day long,” quoting from the book of Psalm chapter 44. It seems to fit. And this is why he believes this. Again, I’m not telling you you have to believe it. I’m explaining the complexity when you drill down a little bit further.

By the way, the word “slay”—”they should slay one another.” William Hendriksen, rather, points out that that word only appears ten times in the New Testament, eight times in Revelation, and seven of those have to do with the death of Christians or Christ. Nine of those times.

First John chapter 3: “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.” That’s the same Greek word. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. And this is the contrast we see with Christ, isn’t it? He comes loving and doing righteousness, and the world hates it and opposes him. And so it seems to fit.

Then you go to Revelation chapter 5, verse 6, and chapter 13. And in chapter 18: “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.” It’s the same word. Again and again used for the death of the righteous. And so the implication that he draws is that the red horse is persecution following the progress of the gospel.

That word, by the way, has a related word that is found in the Greek Old Testament in this passage from Isaiah 53: “He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is slain to the slaughterer. And like a sheep that is before its shearers is silent. So he opened not his mouth.” A related word to Revelation. In other words, he’s saying this word is always used for Christians or Christ being killed because of their faith. And this is what leads him to believe that the rider on the red horse is persecution.

The Black Horse: Economic Injustice

Then you come to the third seal. Again, I am not saying I’ve got this figured out. I’ve got it on my outline, so let me make sure I say it: I’m not saying you must adopt this viewpoint. I am saying that it is a complex book, and you should resist those who just say, “A, B, C, D, E, F—simple as pie,” because it really isn’t when you drill down and try to unpack the book.

The third seal deals with economic injustice and scarcity. But again, when is that new? The world—the whole story of humankind and the invasions of other lands—has often been to get the resources they have. There’s always been scarcity and economic injustice. So in what sense is this mentioned when he says he opened the seal unless it deals with a new group of people who are called Christians?

Who, in the first century—now this is hard, this is very hard for affluent twenty-first-century American Christians to get a grasp on, okay? But in the first century, most of the Christians were slaves. They were slaves. And this is why Paul says in Corinthians, “Not many rich, not many influential, not many noble have been called.” Because those in slavery were the ones who were most attracted to the words of liberation that the gospel proclaimed. And if you were a slave, and you were a Christian slave, then you encountered all kinds of economic problems.

And most of us today, by virtue of our government—which has got its problems, but we still enjoy a lot of freedoms and protections—and that’s why we can’t relate to that. But in that culture, it could have quite possibly referred to the persecution that Christians endured.

The Pale Horse: Judgment

Then you come to this last one, the fourth seal. And he says, “I opened the fourth seal. I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come.’ And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. And Hades followed. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, note this, to kill with sword, with famine, with pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”

Notice he refers to one and two again. The sword and famine connected to the previous two things. What about this phrase, “the wild beasts of the earth”? Does that mean the lions and tigers and bears are going to come out of the woods, and poisonous snakes are going to crawl up on our porches, and we go for a hike and a grizzly bear attacks us in Yellowstone? That happens. It could happen. I don’t know if that’s what the Bible is talking about here. I don’t think so.

But if it’s not talking about that kind of stuff, what is it talking about? Do we see these beasts as literal animals or are they symbolic of something else? Now, once again, you might ask: the symbolism is—let’s see, I got my question in the wrong sequence. Forgive me. Do we see these as symbolic beasts? And if we do, what are they symbolic of?

And Hendriksen again suggests persecution. That these beasts are not literal beasts. They represent a world in rebellion against God, opposing God’s people. Well, where do you get such an idea? Well, for several things, and let me give it to you.

First, this text is quoted from Ezekiel. The passage here—not on the screen, but this one about “I looked and there was a pale horse, and they were killed with sword, with famine, with pestilence, by the wild beasts of the earth”—that comes from Ezekiel chapter 14: “Thus says the Lord God, how much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment: sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence.” Now, John has switched wild beasts and pestilence, but those four things are there in that passage from the Old Testament. This is God’s judgment upon the earth. And is he sending wild beasts? Or does it symbolize something else?

Now, Greg Beale points out in his commentary on Revelation that the next 34 references to “beast,” to beast or beasts in Revelation, are all about the persecution of Christians. They’re all about the persecution of Christians, of God’s people. Now, that should cause us, whether Hendriksen’s viewpoint is right or not, it should cause us concern that this phrase is always in reference to Christians being persecuted for their faith in Revelation.

Revelation 11, verse 7: “When they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer and kill them.” That’s the two witnesses.

Revelation 13, verse 15: “It was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.”

Again and again, you see this term, and it’s connected to the idea of persecution. So we have this viewpoint. It’s one viewpoint. I just emphasized that. It’s one viewpoint that has a lot of appeal when you tie in all the Scriptures.

A Word on Persecution

Now, one of the reasons why—well, probably, I don’t know that I can say that with any certainty. Here’s what I suspect: none of us want to be persecuted. None of us want to be hated. None of us want to be disliked.

I have on my canopy, my covering for my book signings, I have on the bottom, across the line: “No graphic language, sexuality, or gratuitous violence.” And you sat there through the crowd as they walked by, and every now and again, you’ll see somebody point and whisper and snicker and laugh. That’s a form of persecution. They don’t think there’s any problem with that.

In fact, I encountered one guy earlier this year and said, “You’re taking all the good stuff out.” Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. That’s a dumbing down of America, in my opinion, that the only way you can entertain is to talk dirty and shoot people and that kind of stuff. That’s a form of persecution. So we have to be careful. The beast is connected to persecution. And I don’t think we like that. I don’t think we like to hear about it because I’m comfortable and I want to keep going the way I am, and I don’t want anybody to be upset.

And I agree with you. Stay with your outline, Pastor. I think they should ban political yard signs. They’re virtue signals. “I’m better than you because I’m voting for that person.” It used to be, “It’s none of your business who I’m voting for.” And we had, we got along a lot better with our neighbors. We have folks in our neighborhood and they’re trying to see who can put up the most yard signs in the most area with their political position. Left and right. And depending on which way you’re going. And I think it’s unfortunate.

But we don’t want to be thought badly of. We don’t want people to dislike us. We don’t like people to turn against us. And thus, when we talk about the possibility of being persecuted, we don’t want to hear that. “That’s part and parcel of being a Christian.”

Now, I’m not saying again that you have to embrace Hendriksen’s viewpoint or Beeke’s viewpoint. I am illustrating how complex the book is. And sometimes you want to be criticized because that’s it. They believe that, and you don’t believe that, well, you really don’t believe the truth. And you really have to know the complexities of the book. And this has been going on since the book was written. You must remember that the book of Revelation was one of the last books accepted into the Bible because it has so much complexity and symbolism.

What Can We Gain?

Well, then you might say, and rightly so, “Well then, Pastor, what can we possibly gain by talking about this? If it’s that complex and it’s that difficult.”

Well, I’ll repeat something I said in my prayer earlier and I mentioned last week. Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.” If that’s true of Revelation, we have to try to find something profitable in it. We have to look. We can’t just say, “Well, we never can figure it out.” It’s profitable because it’s inspired by God.

So what, if anything, can we draw from it? Well, I’ll give you three, four things quickly this morning.

First: Old Testament Continuity

First thing you and I need to do with the book of Revelation is to recognize that any interpretation of this passage and others must strive for Old Testament continuity. If the teacher is saying something about this passage and he’s just grabbing ideas out of space, then he’s misleading you, because it’s based on the Old Testament.

We’ve already looked at Isaiah—or rather, Ezekiel here—in that one text a moment ago, and we’ll come back to that, by the way, at the end of the message. But another passage that coincides with the Old Testament is from the book of Zechariah. And Zechariah is one of the most prophetic or messianic of the Old Testament prophets.

So here’s three examples. Zechariah 12, verse 10: “When they look on him whom they pierce.” That’s in Revelation chapter 1: “What are these wounds that he will say? They are the wounds I received in the house of my friends.” King James says “hands.” The Christian Standard Bible says “chest.” The point is, it’s a reference to the wounds he received during his crucifixion and trial.

Zechariah 13, verse 7: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” Jesus quoted that verse on the night of the Last Supper to his disciples and said, “You’re all going to betray me and desert me.” And he quoted that passage of Scripture. So Zechariah has all these messianic overtones to it.

But here’s another passage from the book of Zechariah that goes directly to Revelation chapter 6: “I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out between two mountains. The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the third white horses, and the fourth dappled horses, all of them strong. And when the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, ‘Go, patrol the earth.'”

Now obviously, there’s chariots instead of just individual horses with riders. But the four colors, four different colored horses coming out to go into the world and do God’s work, and it’s exactly what we’re seeing in the book of Revelation here in chapter 6. So we need to make sure that any interpretation that we try to set down has lots of scriptural connections. And I think Hendriksen demonstrates that.

Second: Continuity with the Words of Jesus

Secondly, we should look for continuity with the words of Jesus himself. If the book of Revelation, as we said at the beginning of our journey, is either from or about him or both, then we should again not be picking stuff out of space to say “this means that and that means this,” which has been the tendency of the extreme dispensational movements.

When you go to the synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke, called synoptic, “one eye,” because they have great overlapping similarities—and you go to the twenty-fourth chapter in Matthew, the twenty-first in Luke, and the thirteenth in Mark, they’re telling this about what’s going to happen. Jesus is asked, “What’s going to happen after this?” And he begins to tell them. And when he tells them those things, he speaks of war, international strife, persecution, and famine. He speaks of the very four things that are being discussed here.

Therefore, we really should, if we’re going to try to unpack Revelation, we really should go back to what Jesus says and compare it with that before we just pick things out of the air to believe. Later, we won’t get to it right away, probably after the first of the year, but we will get to the Antichrist, and we will see that Jesus really doesn’t say much about this person who’s got everybody’s attention and speculation.

Third: God’s Plan to Judge and Punish Sin

Thirdly, we must recognize that all of this is consistent with God’s plan to judge and punish sin. If you think anything else, I can’t get anything out of Revelation. Here’s one thing you can get out of it: God is going to punish and judge sin. It’s going to happen.

And all the commentaries agree. They don’t all agree on what these individual horses mean, but they all agree that this book is about God rectifying the issues of sin and judging the earth for their rebellion against God. It is a principle. We can’t escape it. And I know, and again I said, that’s why we’re not going through it. I think all of us could agree that we would scream if we had to talk about judgment for a year and a half without any sort of a break. So we break it up. However, you can’t read this book, you can’t deal with this book, without dealing with that subject of judgment. We must recognize this.

Now, we also need to recognize these things aren’t just happening. We’re not just being shown what is happening. We’re being told God is in control of what is happening. This is very important. We saw it in that Ezekiel passage, and we’ll come back to it. But there’s another way you can illustrate it here.

Notice how it says, “I heard the voice,” verse 1: “I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, ‘Come.'” Now the King James says “come and see.” And it’s a very important consideration, because when you say “come and see”—and by the way, there are a few ancient manuscripts that are rendered the same way—they make it sound like John is being invited to come and look at this horse coming out. Okay? And what’s really happening is the horse is being commanded to come forth and do the work that God has commissioned for this rider on the horse, whoever it is.

The Greek word can be and is often translated “go” in some context. Bruce Metzger points out that rather than an invitation to John to look, it is a command for the horse to go forth. God is sending this horse out to do its God-given mission, whether it be Christ or persecution. It’s going forth by God’s authority and approval.

And the second point of that third point: they were given the means. He says the first rider was given a crown, the second rider was given a sword, the fourth rider was given authority to enact judgment. It’s given to these riders. Who gave it to them? God. For the purpose of bringing justice on the earth.

Fourth: Defend God’s Mercy and Justice

Then, fourthly, you and I must be prepared to defend God’s mercy and his justice and his judgment. And I could be wrong here. It might be my particular perspective. And as a pastor, I should have a different perspective than the rest of you. I am supposed to live in a different world, so to speak, and see things that you can’t see. And everything a pastor sees that’s wrong, he can’t speak to. But I should be able to be sensitive to things that you perhaps are not sensitive to, and so this could be one of them.

But I think the church in America has got a great big overemphasis on God’s goodness and his mercy and his love, and not a word about his judgment. And we’re doing this culture a disservice. They’re not going to listen to us, but we must be faithful to proclaim that these things are coming. We’re not going to put speculation and predictions upon it, but the judgment of God is coming.

Sooner or later—we dealt with it last week—those souls under the altar are crying for God to judge sin. And if he’s faithful, he’s going to judge it. And where are we going to be when that happens? We need to be prepared to defend God’s mercy and justice.

Notice how it’s always kept together. Exodus 34, verse 7, says this: “Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Hallelujah. Wonderful. Fantastic.” But do you care to read the rest of the verse? “Who will by no means clear the guilty.”

Those that are not under the blood, those who are not in Christ, are going to face judgment. And we can’t diminish that or pretend it’s not true, because that might be the vehicle through which God draws people to himself. Flee the wrath that is to come. Flee to Christ. His love is fantastic. He invites you to come because of his love. But he warns all those who do not come. There’s only one option. We must pay for our sins or our sins must be paid for. Christ paid for the sins of those who are his people. And if you’re not covered and kept, there remains nothing but judgment.

And how we say that, that can fall on us each individually, but we cannot pretend that that issue isn’t out there and needs to be addressed. You know, it’s unfortunate that we sometimes are gung-ho to believe something until it applies to our family. “Oh yeah, God’s going to punish sinners, but not my children. Not my family, certainly.” It’s wrong until. And we must not take that position. It is wrong. Whoever it is, whatever the connection I have to that individual, it is—if it is sin—it’s wrong, and there’s no way around it. And you can’t compromise your beliefs just because a family member is now astray from God. And you’ll have to be just the one to decide how you’ll speak to that. But you can’t pretend that it’s not going to happen just because they’re your family.

Judgment and Grace

Then I want you to notice something, though. He says, in verse number 8, “They were given authority over a fourth of the earth.” Does that mean one-fourth of humankind is going to be killed by these creatures? Is that what it really means? This is a traditional perspective. Here it’s one-fourth. Later on, it’s one-third. God is going to cook people if they don’t turn to him. And I have to tell you, that’s true, yet we must guard against presenting God in a vindictive fashion. He’s not vindictive. He’s working justice in the earth.

And so sometimes we look at that, “Boy, it sounds bad, it sounds horrible, one-fourth of the world.” But listen to this passage again from Ezekiel and see how it mingles judgment and grace. Hear it.

Ezekiel 14, verses 21 through 23: “For thus says the Lord God, how much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment—sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence—to cut off from it man and beast.”

God sent this. It is God sending it. Not just something that’s happening as a consequence of our sin—which is true—but it goes beyond that. Sin is its own punishment. Amen. But God also enacts things to make sin its own punishment.

For those who forgot—I shouldn’t say it that way, but I’m trying to illustrate. God does not come down to Adam and Eve after they sin and say, “Now please, leave the garden.” The Scripture says he drove them out, and then put a cherub with a flaming sword to keep them from coming back. And that was an act of his mercy because he did not want man to live forever in a sinful condition. And so he lets man—he lets things take their consequence. Men die because of their sin, but God prevented them from being able to live in their sin. God sends them.

Listen, listen now. That sounds—man, that sounds rough—and when you tie it to Revelation and the fourth of the earth, then you have to hear the rest of this, don’t we? Let me reread verse 21, and we’re almost done.

“Thus says the Lord God, how much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment—sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence—to cut off from it man and beast.”

Are you ready for the word of grace?

“But behold, some survivors will be left in it. Sons and daughters who will be brought out. Behold, when they come out to you and see their way, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem for all that I have brought upon it. They will console you when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done.”

I have judged sin because sin needed to be judged, but I’ve also made a way of escape, named Christ our Lord.

Amen?

Conclusion

And this is the—this is some of the stuff that in spite of the complexity and heaviness of this book, here’s something we can learn. God is going to judge sin, but it’s not too late. It’s not too late to run to Jesus.

In the Old Testament, the Scripture says God closed the door of the ark. He closed it. Until the door’s closed, there’s a chance. Amen?

We say to our loved ones, we say to our neighbors, we say to our friends, we say to our coworkers: judgment is coming. You cannot have a country bent on evil as we are and think that God’s going to continuously just say, “Oh, it’s no big deal.” But he’s got it in grace. Run to Jesus. Get the word out. We must run to Jesus.

Amen?

Lord God, thank you.