FEW books of the Bible have intrigued its students as much as the last one, Revelation or the Apocalypse. The book is a revelation not “of Saint John,” as is often stated, but “a revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him,” who, in turn, by means of an angel, presented it by means of signs “to his slave John.” (Rev. 1:1) What John? The testimony of the early Christian overseers, such as Justin Martyr, is that it was the apostle John. This is consistent with what we know about John, about his other writings and the contents of Revelation itself. For example, in the Christian Greek Scriptures, only in the writings of the apostle John is “Word” used as a proper noun and made to apply to Jesus Christ the Son of God.—John 1:1, 14;http://biblize.com/search?q=John+1:1,+14&q_scope=
The book of Revelation itself tells us that it is prophecy; it therefore was meant to be understood at some time. The clue to its fulfillment appears to be the words of John himself, explaining how he came to write this book: “By inspiration I came to be in the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a strong voice like that of a trumpet, saying: ‘What you see write in a scroll.’” In other words, by inspiration John saw things that were to occur in the Lord’s day. Since, as has been shown time and again in the pages of this journal, the “Lord’s day” began in 1914, it is reasonable to conclude that the things that John saw referred to events taking place since that time.—Rev. 1:10, 11.http://biblize.com/search?q=Rev.+1:10,+11.&q_scope=
Among the things that are of interest to us who are living in the “Lord’s day” is the particular prophecy found at Revelation 6:1-8http://biblize.com/search?q=Revelation+6:1-8&q_scope=
, regarding the horsemen:“I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice as of thunder: ‘Come!’ And I saw, and, look! a white horse; and the one seated upon it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went forth conquering and to complete his conquest.
“And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say: ‘Come!’ And another came forth, a fiery-colored horse; and to the one seated upon it there was granted to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another; and a great sword was given him.
“And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: ‘Come!’ And I saw, and, look! a black horse; and the one seated upon it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice as if in the midst of the four living creatures say: ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.’
“And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say: ‘Come!’ And I saw, and, look! a pale horse; and the one seated upon it had the name Death. And Ha′des was closely following him. And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
The "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" is a term used to describe a concept from the New Testament of the Christian Bible, in chapter six of the Book of Revelation. Although scholars disagree as to what exactly each horseman represents, the four horsemen are often referred to as Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. They are part of an apocalyptic vision in which God summons and empowers them to wreak divine havoc on the world. Each is revealed, individually, when the first four of seven seals are broken (opened) in Revelation.
No comments:
Post a Comment