by Summer Lee
“Do you know where in your Bible you found that?”
“In Revelation 19:11-16.”
“Praise God! You are learning.”
“The sign on the cross was KING OF THE JEWS. That has to be important as well.”
“The man on the cross and the one coming in glory are obviously one and the same.”
“You know,” I said, “the Book of Revelation is different from other books in the Bible in that it makes that clear.”
“How so?”
“It mostly reveals end-time events; we know it is the same Jesus.”
“Yet, if you read it in its entirety, you’ll see there are many similarities between it and books by the prophets in the Old Testament, like Daniel and Zechariah.”
“I do like Zechariah.”
The angel started walking away. Just before disappearing into thin air, he said, “Remember, the horses of Revelation are arriving as prophesied.”
That was when I heard the pounding in the sky.
“Listen, the horses are coming...
Galloping, galloping, galloping.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
When I awakened the next morning, Amanda was sitting at the dining room table working on her laptop.
“You’re certainly up early,” I said.
“Unusual, is it not?”
“What happened? Did you get a sudden inspiration to write?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Actually, I did. My deadline to publish my piece on repentance is sooner than you think.”
“How is it going?”
“It is well. How is your research proceeding?”
“I’ve run into a slight snag,” I said. “Do you mind if I run something by you?”
“I would love to assist you.” She looked up with those pleasant eyes. “That is why I am here. As your helper.”
“Okay,” I said. “In his vision of heaven, the apostle John saw Jesus break open four seals on a scroll, one at a time. Across heaven is heard a vibrating voice of an angel. It was a living creature shouting, ‘Come!’”
“I remember that,” said Amanda.
“There are four of those creatures. Each one of the four living beings introduces a horse representing one of the first four seals.”
“The ones that are opened by the Lamb.” She nodded. “Yes. I know.”
“The seals are opened.”
“Apparently, one after the other.”
“Right.”
“And then. . .”
“The spiritual beings thunder their commands, emphasizing the order of, ‘Come!’ Or ‘Come forth.’ This calls the horses onto the world stage. The opening of the seals by the Lamb is not passive but powerful. This brings events onto the stage of human history that have never been here before.”
“And your question is. . .” she asked.
I tightened my lips. “When the seals popped open, everything on earth changed.”
“So, when the apostle heard the four living creatures reverberate their call, it affected the earth.”
“It is a prophecy not yet fulfilled when all hell breaks loose on earth.”
“We have been over this before,” she said a tiny bit wearily. “What is your question?”
“I want to see the vision as John saw it. I want to look at the scroll. I want to watch each seal being broken open. I want to see the results.”
“Well, you can’t. So, what is really bothering you?”
“Preachers on TV say the first horse rider is the Antichrist. I wonder about that.”
Amanda rested her head on her hand, and said, “That is problem.”
“What exactly do you think?” I asked.
“This is not just one man, like the Antichrist. It is several nations in the entire West banding together to bring about world peace. But it is impossible.”
“Why is it impossible?”
“The other three horses represent evil and destruction.”
My throat tightened and I choked up. “Amanda, three-fourths of the world will be bent on destruction and control. It is all so Satanic.”
“The time for the devil will be short though.”
“I just want Jesus to come.”
I read this over and then wrote: “God will send his chosen one.”
I stopped writing for the day.
***
In bed, I contemplated what it would all mean in the end.
We must pray to the one who made the universe, not to the universe. One thing I concluded was that without Jesus, this planet would be a doomed mess. The problem was that we could not have world peace without the Prince of Peace. We must encourage ourselves that Jesus was coming back soon. If he came once, he would come twice. That was no problem for him. His resurrection was already the proof that he did not lie. With those thoughts, I drifted off to sleep.
***
The angel awakened me before dawn. “You must keep searching,” he said. “Time is short.”
I was suddenly afraid of the urgency in his command. “Walker, what must I search for today?”
“Learn what it means to not touch the oil and wine.”
“What?” I sat up on my bed, confused.
“You need to be up. Time is short.”
“Give me a few minutes, please.”
***
Once I showered and had my coffee, I was ready to look up that passage. I opened my Bible and read, “Hurt not the oil and the wine…”
I looked at the angel who was sitting across the table from me, sipping coffee. “That is a strange phrase to be tucked into a place of extreme hunger. It could be an allusion to what is happening at the time of widespread poverty. It could refer to the rich not suffering hunger pains.” I studied his face. “Tell me what it means.”
“I can’t do that,” he said. “But I can encourage your curiosity.”
“Okay.”
“In the spiritual realm it refers to those who have the Holy Spirit. To experience his presence is like having oil poured over us or the taste of new wine. The inner cleansing that comes when humans ask God to fill them with his Holy Spirit is not matched by human experience.”
I said, “I know that Jesus brings joy unspeakable and unmeasured glory.”
“Exactly,” said the angel. “He empowers his children to do the work of God.”
“The work of God is to care for the weak and poor,” I said. “If people ask why little homeless children go without food and sleep on the streets, the answer is that Christians don’t trust God to use them to care for the poor.”
“If they don’t care now, will they care when times get worse?” asked the angel. “If they fear for their own lives now, how can they care about others then?”
“I really don’t know. When the tribulation comes, food will be rationed to the point that people can’t afford anything else. The world at large will not stay peaceful. It has never stayed peaceful very long, even in good times.”
“That is because humans are prone to wander away from the Lord.”
The angel nodded. “God will purify the earth with fire before Jesus comes to set up his kingdom for one thousand years. Sin will be purged from the earth.” He sighed. “So many scholars have studied this subject. They have many ideas. Learn about them. It will help lead you to the truth.”
It would seem like fiction if it was not in the Bible. But I believed the Bible. There was not a better place to turn. My assignment was to know about the horses coming on the scene bringing the judgments of God.
Can you hear them with your heart? I can. They are in the distance:
Galloping, galloping, galloping.
Chapter Twenty-nine
I wanted to show what different Bible scholars had said throughout the ages. I didn’t know anything about them. I just found them on the Internet, and thought it only fair to show what they believed.
I wrote, “The Parthia believers in the first and second century were among the early interpreters of prophecy. Maybe a belief
from the past is more accurate than what we believe today. So we will check them out.
“Even if that was true of Vologases, this scripture is not about him. These events are about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and events surrounding is coming. On a human level, Vologases can give a picture of something in the spiritual realm. The Parthia mounted warriors do give a good picture of Heavenly mounted warriors.
“There was a view that growth of grapes being exchanged with grain cultivation fulfilled this prophecy. There was a backlash against this effort, and it was abandoned. Again, even if such a thing was true, it has nothing to do with what is said here. All that happened was that they stopped growing grapes and started growing wheat. It does not take away from the prophecy being fulfilled in end times.
“Some Bible pedagogues say that the red horse and its rider, who takes peace from the earth, might represent the prevalence of civil strife at the time the Book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John. It probably happened. Bible prophecy has an immediate fulfillment at the time given, and then it is expanded on at the end of the age. We won’t pick on those scholars, because they lived so long ago. They had no idea this much time would go by before Jesus would return. It may have been a precursor, though.
“Another religious view says the interpretation spans over a thousand-year period in Asia. They say that the opening of the first seal could be associated with a moral victory 4000–3000 years B.C., and not a literal war of conquest. They place the second horseman in 3000-2000 B.C.; the third horseman the era of 2000-1000 B.C.; and the fourth horseman in 1000 B.C. to the birth of Christ. They just had no idea how things would be at the end of time.
“Others argue that Christ cannot be commanded by heavenly creatures, therefore, the horseman must be the conquest of the word of God as prophesied by Christ in Mark 13:10 where the gospel is taken to the entire earth.”
The phone rang. It was Amanda. “Hey, girl,” she said. “How ya’ doin’?”
“Actually, I’ve been working pretty hard, trying to meet my final deadline,” I said. “What is up with you?”
“I’m about ready to put my paper to bed,” she said laughing. “As a good newswoman would say.”
I smiled. She was trying so hard to fit in this age. I said, “Words in Revelation are similar to the signs of the end of the age, as described by Jesus in Matthew 24:6-14. Regarding the future, there will be wars, famines, earthquakes, persecution, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”
I sensed someone was in the room. I actually felt a breath on the back of my neck. Someone was reading over my shoulder. That was when I heard a familiar voice behind me say, “The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.” It was the angel, Walker.
“Where is that in the Bible?” I asked.
Walker stared through the window and upward toward the clouds. “In Matthew 24:30.”
“I wish you would have memorized that chapter.”
“You still have time.”
“What does it mean that people will mourn?”
He now turned and was focused on me. “To learn that the long-awaited Messiah was Jesus all along will cause some to weep when they see his scars in his hands, feet and side. It will be a sad day for them.”
“It will be a glorious day for those looking for him. He will be so glorious. All those who are born-again will be there with him; we will be following Jesus on white horses.”
I smiled peacefully. He kissed the back of my hand and faded from sight.
I knew Walker had referred to all believers in the Church age coming from heaven with Jesus on their own horses. How fun that would be. We could all come in power, like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Galloping, galloping, galloping.”
Chapter Thirty
I was on my knees praying when I saw a resplendent vision. Actually, I became part of the vision. It began with Jesus appearing to John on the island of Patmos. Jesus was gloriously arrayed in white linen and gold. His feet of brass were strong and sturdy.
I saw the churches through the ages. The battle of whether to trust one’s own ability or to trust God was in every church. Satan was pulling one way, God revealing the true way.
The struggle was great.
I saw the Father and Jesus in heaven. The Father lived in a bright light, and he held the title deed to the Earth. Who would be worthy? Jesus was the Lamb of God. He was the only worthy one. No one was found in the universe to be his match. When he took the scroll from the Heavenly Father, I wept for joy.
The shouting of the saints began. It was glorious. After taking the scroll from God the Father, Jesus was worshiped by all creation. The Lamb was chosen to be the one that would open the seven seals of the scroll to reveal its contents.
I saw the opening of the four seals revealing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Each one of the four living creatures functioned in behalf of a horseman who showed major destruction and given power over a fourth of the earth to kill and destroy.
As the vision continued, I realized that I needed to write what I was seeing. Although much had been written about the men on the horses, there was more to learn. Fascination would always follow those popular Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Of this, I was certain. I realized that the power of those horsemen will be limited to a quarter period of time. Once they had served their purpose, they would be moved out of the picture. Another sealing wax would then be broken open.
Bible verses about Jacob’s trouble and the Wrath of the Lamb were connected. I understood why the Lamb would be angry. Considering how he had suffered in our place, so that we would not have to suffer during the seven-year cleansing, he had a right to be angry.
Walker told me that the fifth seal reveals those who had been slain because of the Word of God and their testimony. They will be persecuted for Christ, but the Holy Spirit will help them endure. The sixth seal reveals the day of the Lord, which brings the Lamb’s wrath to those on the earth. The opening of the seventh seal reveals silence.
I could not grasp it all. “I don’t understand.”
“You are not supposed to,” said the angel. “Remember this. The crown of the horseman on the white horse is a victor’s crown. The victor’s crown is used for someone going forth to conquer. This is so similar to what NATO plans to do for one man as they fulfill their desire to conquer the world.”
I understood that. “Okay.”
He continued, “This crown is not the same type of crown that the beast wears in Revelation 13:1-18, either. In Revelation 12, the apostle tells about an evil dragon. The Apostle John says that he is the ancient serpent called the devil or Satan. In chapter 13, the dragon is standing on the seashore. John saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads, with blasphemous names, coming out of the sea.”
I tried to absorb it. “And that means what?”
“Hatred toward God is revealed. The beast resembled a leopard, with feet of a bear and a mouth like a lion. The dragon, who is Satan, gave the beast his power and his throne and authority.”
“How will people know?”
“One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. People worshiped the dragon, Satan, because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast.”
“If the citizens of earth worshiped the evil one, then they must be evil as well.”
His followers proclaimed, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?’”
“I guess no one has ever lived who is as evil as the beast, or as some would say, the Antichrist.”
“The beast is called the Antichrist. In the vision, he was given a mouth to speak proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.”
“The beast blasphemed God, and slandered his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.” I shook my head. “Horrible.”
“It seems that God knew ahead of time those who were to go into captivity, and who was to be killed with the sword. Is that true?”
“Yes,” he said. “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”
“We need to walk in the spirit, like John.”
He said, “John then saw a second beast coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon…Satan. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.”
“Fatal wound?”
“Yes. The second beast performed great signs, including fire coming down from heaven to earth for all to see. It was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, and deceive people. It had an image set up to honor the first beast that could breathe and speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.”
“To be killed?”
“Yes. It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.”
“The number was to be calculated as 666, and required wisdom,” I said. “I do remember that.”
“The ‘Son of Man’ in 14:14 wears the victor’s crown. The Bible says, ‘I looked and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.’” Walker spoke with authority. “Christ wears a royal crown when he comes back at the Second Coming at the end of the tribulation.”