If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 33

The Rider on a Black Horse

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The Rider on a Black Horse

Let's address a short prayer to God:

Our Father,

We heartily thank You for Your inspired Word which gives us prophecies and explains the meaning of their symbolic content.

We ask You once again to guide us, so that our understanding of prophecy may not rest on human interpretations, but on the Bible only.

In Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen.

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Revelation 4:1	Comments
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ŤCome up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.ť	The opening of the seven seals, which Jesus made possible, reveals to us Ťthings which must take place after thisť. Let's study the third seal.
Revelation 5:5
Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

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Revelation 6:5	Comments
When [the Lamb] opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ŤCome and see.ť	The lion-like living creature of the first seal announced the victorious Church of the years 31 to 100. The calf-like living creature of the second seal announced the martyred Church of the years 100 to 313. What does the man-like living creature of the third seal announce?
Revelation 4:7
The third living creature had a face like a man.

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Daniel 7:2,3,17	Comments
I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. (...) Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth.	In our lesson ŤThe Four Mythical Beastsť, we studied the vision of Daniel about four beasts representing the following four kingdoms: - Babylon; - the Medo-Persian empire; - Greece; - and Rome. In contrast to these political and military powers symbolized by beasts, another kingdom then succeeded them, having a face like a man...

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Daniel 7:8,24,25	Comments
And there was another horn, a little one (...). And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. (...) He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.	This power, symbolized by a little horn with a face like a man, is different from the other kingdoms symbolized by beasts. Indeed, besides its physical fight against God's Church by persecuting the saints, this power also carries on a spiritual fight by attacking God's law.

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Daniel 8:9-12

Comments

And out of one of them came a little horn which (...) grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them.

He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.

Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.

A future lesson will identify this little horn.

For now, let's remember that the third living creature's face like a man indicates that the Church, under the third seal, is no longer threatened only on the physical level by the persecution of the saints, but also on the spiritual level by direct attacks against biblical doctrine.

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Revelation 2:12,14	Comments
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, Ť(...) I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.ť	This attack against God's doctrine, under the third seal, corresponds exactly with the situation described in the letter to the third church, Pergamos, when false doctrines began to infiltrate the Church as a result of the many compromises with surrounding paganism.

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Revelation 6:5

Comments

When [the Lamb] opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ŤCome and see.ť

And I looked, and behold, a black horse.

Just like the first two seals, the color of the horse illustrates the conditions prevailing during the period described by the prophecy.

In contrast to the white horse of the first seal, symbolizing the purity of the apostolic Church and its doctrine, the black horse indicates a period of doctrinal compromise darkening the divine truth, confirming the message of the letter to the third church, Pergamos.

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Acts 26:17,18	Comments
I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.	As a sign of darkness and obscurity, the color black indicates a spiritual state that is far away from light, from the truth manifested in Jesus.
John 12:35
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

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Revelation 6:5	Comments
When [the Lamb] opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ŤCome and see.ť And I looked, and behold, a black horse.	Since the horses are sent by God to carry out His will on earth, and since the black horse indicates a period of spiritual darkness, does it mean that God was the One who caused this darkening?
Zechariah 1:9,10
Then I said, ŤMy lord, what are these [horses]?ť So the angel who talked with me said to me: ŤI will show you what they are.ť And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said: ŤThese are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.ť

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2 Thessalonians 2:10-12	Comments
They did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.	One thing is sure: Ť[God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.ť (1 Timothy 2:4) However, God respects our freedom of choice. If we definitely decide to reject the salvation He offers to each one of us, He will allow us to sink into spiritual darkness.

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Psalm 81:11-14	Comments
But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries.	God would have preferred to send again the white horse at the opening of the third seal. But, because of its craving for power and dominion, the Church chose to make compromises with paganism, and contaminated God's doctrine, thus forcing the dispatch of the black horse.

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Revelation 6:5	Comments
And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.	The rider on the black horse holds a pair of scales, warning the Church that its work will be weighed. Having sacrificed the truth in favor of power over the nations, the Church might well find its work too light.
Psalm 62:9
Surely men of low degree are a vapor, men of high degree are a lie; if they are weighed in the balances, they are altogether lighter than vapor.

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The scales indicate that the works of men will be judged by God:

ŤLet me be weighed in a just balance, that God may know my integrity.ť (JOB 31:6)

ŤYou have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.ť (DANIEL 5:27)

ŤNo, in heart you work wickedness; you weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.ť (PSALM 58:2)

ŤAnd you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber's razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take balances to weigh and divide the hair. (...) Thus says the Lord God: "This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. She has rebelled against My judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are all around her; for they have refused My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes."ť (EZEKIEL 5:1,5,6)

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Revelation 6:5,6	Comments
He who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying (...).	In the latter part of the third seal, a word is uttered by someone placed in the midst of the four living creatures. We can see that this is the Lamb who was slain: Jesus Christ Himself.
Revelation 5:6
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain.

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Revelation 6:6	Comments
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ŤA quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius.ť	A denarius was a one-day salary. As for a quart of wheat, it represented the daily food intake for one man. The high price of a daily ration thus means that Jesus foretells a severe famine under the third seal.
Matthew 20:1,2
A landowner (...) went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

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Ezekiel 4:9	Comments
Also take for yourself wheat, barley, (...) and make bread of them.	Wheat and barley, which are used to make bread, also symbolize the Word of God. So, what does the third seal's famine mean?
Matthew 4:4
But [Jesus] answered and said, ŤIt is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."ť
John 6:48
I am the bread of life.

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Amos 8:11,12	Comments
ŤBehold, the days are coming,ť says the Lord God, Ťthat I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it.ť	The shortage of wheat and barley symbolizes the scarcity of the Word of God. The third seal describes the years from 313 to 538, when the Church laid aside the Bible to better adapt itself to surrounding paganism.

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Deuteronomy 8:3	Comments
So [the Lord your God] humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.	The symbol of the famine reminds us that we are entirely dependent upon God. In the spiritual desert, without the heavenly manna which is the bread of life, we would be condemned to certain death. This is why we must daily feed ourselves on the Word of God.

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Revelation 2:12,14,17	Comments
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, Ť(...) I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam (...). To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.ť	Let's take note of another interesting link between the letter to the third church, Pergamos, and the third seal, both describing the period from 313 to 538. The doctrine of Balaam, that is, paganism, has replaced the Word of God, and a spiritual famine sets in. But the hidden manna is promised to him who overcomes, as when Israel was crossing the long and arid desert.

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Revelation 6:6	Comments
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ŤA quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.ť	In spite of the great spiritual famine which seizes the nations, Jesus commands that the oil and wine be spared. What does this symbolize?

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Hebrews 1:8,9	Comments
But to the Son [God] says: ŤYour throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.ť	The oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit who is working within us. Like a divine anointing, the Spirit gives us the ability to work in God's harvest.
Acts 10:38
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.

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Zechariah 4:2-6 : The oil in the lamp symbolizes the Spirit working within us.

And [the angel] said to me, ŤWhat do you see?ť

So I said, ŤI am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.ť

So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, ŤWhat are these, my lord?ť

Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ŤDo you not know what these are?ť

And I said, ŤNo, my lord.ť

So he answered and said to me: ŤThis is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the Lord of hosts.ť

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Deuteronomy 32:14	Comments
You drank wine, the blood of the grapes.	As for the wine, it symbolizes the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
Matthew 26:27,28
Then [Jesus] took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ŤDrink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.ť

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Song of Solomon 2:4; 4:10 (Darby)	Comments
He hath brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me is love. (...) How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine ointments than all spices!	Associated with love, the wine, symbolizing the blood of Jesus, is also a mark of His supreme love in having given His life for each one of us.
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

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Luke 10:33,34	Comments
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.	By protecting the oil and the wine during the third seal, between 313 and 538, Jesus indicates that, despite the grave errors of the Church, the Holy Spirit and salvation in Christ are still offered to the believer. As in the parable of the Samaritan, the oil and the wine are a balm on the wounds of famished believers, deprived of the Word of God.

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Revelation 6:6	Comments
Do not harm the oil and the wine.	As we have seen in the lesson ŤLetter to the Church of Pergamosť, between 313 and 538 the Church held many concils reaffirming some of the great biblical truths about Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, thus contributing to protecting Ťthe oil and the wineť.
Revelation 2:12,13
And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, Ť(...) You hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith.ť

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Deuteronomy 7:12,13	Comments
Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil.	God offers to each one of us: - the wheat, that is His Word; - the wine, the blood of Jesus shed for our salvation; - and the oil, the Holy Spirit. By accepting them and following God, we will be able to avoid spiritual famine.

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We invite you to pray with us:

Lord,

Your Son said: ŤI am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.ť (John 6:35)

Please help us to follow You in everything, to cling to You, so that we don't experience spiritual famine.

We wait for the day when You fulfill this promise You made to Your people: ŤBehold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.ť (Joel 2:19)

In the name of Jesus Christ our precious Savior we thank You for everything.

Amen.

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