Thundering hooves announcing judgment

Most of you have not shared my experience of opening a gate and hearing the rolling noise of horses galloping out to pasture. It’s exhilarating!  Dad always kept horses, breeding, training selling them; when I was growing up. What a rush it was to see those beautiful animals thundering by, manes and tails flying in the wind, heads high, nostrils flared. There's something about a horse!  It makes my heart fills with excitement when I read the opening lines of the 6th chapter of the Revelation.  John uses the picture language that makes his book of hope one of the strangest, yet most wonderful, parts of the Holy Scripture. The chapter describes four horsemen thundering out of the Presence of Almighty God to ride over the Earth. In this vision, we are captivated, warned, and reminded of God's supreme power over history and humanity. A voice rolls across Heaven saying, "Come!"

A white horse bearing a conqueror with a bow at the ready gallops by. The scene repeats and out rides a red horse whose rider carries a sword of bloodshed, followed by a black horse who rider carries a scale, the universal symbol of commerce. This horse announces famine. Interestingly, the one bringing famine is limited by the decree of Heaven. "Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" (Revelation 6:6, NIV) The grain fields may be burnt but they will grow back in one season of planting and harvest. If the vineyards and olive groves are destroyed years, perhaps decades, will pass before they become fruitful again. In this we learn that God is not seeking total destruction of those He judges, but rather is willing to visit temporary suffering on them that they might turn again.
The black horse of famine, in John's vision, is then followed by the pale horse, ridden by "Death, and his companion was the Grave." (Revelation 6:8, NLT)

The message is stark: When men turn away from God and His glory to pursue evil, one result is inevitable: terrible suffering! In those few short verses, John reveals the cycle of violence that has repeated itself throughout history and in every culture.
A leader is given power and when he drinks the cup of authority, he goes mad with the need to control more – people, land, and money.
Conquest requires war, which spills blood by the bucket.
Peace, which allows for prosperity, is gone and soon deprivation arrives with the failure of commerce.
When the crops cannot be planted and people are turned into refugees, disease and death come.

After all of this, John’s vision shifts abruptly from judgment and suffering to praise and beauty. "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7:9-14, NIV) 

I, by God’s grace, will stand in that worshiping multitude at the Throne of God. Yes, I may have to endure suffering for a time (and so may you) but I am assured because of Christ, of that eternal life. We must remind ourselves, even as the horsemen of the Apocalypse go thundering by, that “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Though God allows humans to sin and chase their own way, He does not relinquish control.  He, in His own time, declares judgment and renewal.  His judgment brings rebellious people the fruit of their own choices to walk in disobedience. There is a severe mercy in His judgment. He does not wish to annihilate us. His desire is to make us aware of our plunge into self-destruction, so that we will turn once again to Him! Those who turn to Him, find forgiveness and life. And, in John’s Apocalypse, we learn that a time is coming when the King of Kings will declare that time has come to an end, that all things must now be made right, that justice must rule. When that moment of finality arrives, I want to be found in His mercy, don't you?

Here's a word from the Word. Find the promise and hold tightly to it. Though the suffering of those who are rebellious may touch our lives, though we may hear the thundering hooves of the Four Horsemen who announce His Judgment, our hope is secure in Him. And that, disciple, is reason for great hope. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?
You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."
(2 Peter 3:9-12, NIV)
________

Holy God, awesome and terrible,
Loving and gracious, kind and severe;
Call me to obedience with these fearsome visions.
The seductions of the systems
among which I live is powerful,
appealing to my sinful nature.

Your Spirit is alive in me and
I pray that You, Holy Spirit,
will guard my heart and sharpen my mind,
that I will both know and live in the Truth.
Make me bold to serve,
full of confidence born of my hope in
the Eternal life that, even now,
is mine through Christ Jesus, the Lord.
Amen.