Seal #2:  World War III.

International Infighting.

Verse 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 

Verse 4  And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. 

It is imperative to reiterate, and to stress, again, that (contrary to the thinking of so-called prophecy “experts” and teachers like pastor John MacArthur) the wars here mentioned are not and they have nothing to do with the Battle of Armageddon (in fact, if one may be so bold, such thinking as theirs and that of the general evangelical community, is not just ‘wrong’, it is in truth an outright lie!).  This is not the end of the apocalyptic tribulation period, as rather it is the very “beginning”!  Thus, this infighting of the nations amongst themselves all around the world is not to be equated with God’s gathering of the nations around Israel as detailed in the prophecies of Joel (chapter 3) and Zechariah (chapters 12 and 14), which gathering will indeed take place at the Battle of Armageddon, just prior to the coming of the Lord.  Obviously, Israel is by no means the focus of their sore displeasure, as rather it is ‘they’ themselves.  There is absolutely nothing anywhere in this context to suggest even remotely that their guns are or will be in anywise trained on the Lord Jesus Christ at His advent, per Revelation 17:12-13 (rather, at the Lamb’s manifestation of Himself looking down upon war-weary, battered and beleaguered men at the end of this chapter 6, they flee in terror at the sight of Him!  No one dares lift a finger to fight.).  On the contrary, each is out to kill his neighbor, and/or bring him into subjugation, whereupon, per the will and mind of Almighty God, they will further make shipwreck of mankind’s already extremely fragile system of global economics; much to His Supreme satisfaction (the lynch-pin in that system having already been demolished, at their hands, to their detriment; per His will (see Judgment Day, Volume 1; Prelude to Armageddon (Part 1): The United States of America in Bible Prophecy)!). Furthermore, it should also be stated that the sudden, apparently spontaneous appearance of Jesus Christ at the end of chapter 6 here is not to be construed with His coming in “clouds with great glory” (Matthew 24:27-30), which event is synonymous with Revelation 19:11-21 (thus, there will be no dispatch of angelic beings or “gathering of the elect”, given that at this commencement of the Apocalypse period, those saints have not yet been born-again, thus they have not yet been murdered, as they most assuredly will be, for their faith, per Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-17; 12:11; 14:12-13; 15:2-4.).   

Upon the breaking of the Scroll’s second seal, John heard the voice of the second living creature around God’s Throne, the one having the calf’s face, booming out this same thunderous command, “come”.  Afterwards, there appeared a red horse (upon which sat a rider) whose job it was, in tandem with the rider upon the white horse, to rid the world of peace, ushering in global unrest and war with his great sword.  One should stress that this is not the Battle of Armageddon, contrary to popular evangelical/fundamentalist thought, nor does this international fighting take place in the middle of the last seven years of human history. 

A number of things, false doctrine (I guess you might say), should be cleared up right here, right from the beginning, namely (contrary to the thinking of even well-known teachers like John MacArthur of the Grace to You Bible teaching broadcast):

·        The Seal, Trumpet and Bowl Judgments are not repetitions of the same events; that is, they are not references to one set of 7 events, stated in 3 different ways; in fact, the Trumpet Judgments simply cannot transpire until after the 7th Seal is opened, and the Bowls cannot and will not occur until after the 7th Trumpet; the nature of the events in each set of judgments do not in any way correspond, as each comes with its own signature, in terms of collateral damages, etc.

·        The rider on the white horse in Revelation 6 is not the beast, aka, the anti-Christ (or, one-world ruler) mentioned in chapters 11, 13 and 17

·        The events in chapter 6 are not the Battle of Armageddon

·        The rider on the white horse is not peddling peace; rather, by going out “conquering and to conquer”, his mission and his intention is to upend and to destroy whatever peace there is, which he is able to facilitate without personal involvement himself; thus, he “has no arrows”; he is or will be the instigator of all the wars amongst the nations

·        The conflicts and the fighting in chapter 6 is not a gathering of the nations at Armageddon to surround Israel (per the will of God), as rather this is a global melee in which the nations attack and fight each other, in their respective lands, not Israel

·        The appearance of Christ at the end of chapter 6 has nothing to do with His coming at Armageddon

At this juncture, the mystery of the Scroll begins to unfold.  Originally in the Hands of the One seated upon the Throne (God the Father), it is now in the competent Hands of God the Son, the Lamb, the only Being in the entire universe worthy to break its seals, so as to expose and set in motion the edicts of its contents.  It contains the highlights of 21 major events, all judgments in three broad categories or groups of seven each.  These major events are further delineated by 3 “woes”.  The term ‘woe’ generally means “grief” or “affliction”.  Its usage in this context of the Revelation is meant to preclude the overlapping or superimposition of any one group of judgments over another—that is, the Trumpets are not a restating of the Seals, and the Bowls do not happen at the same time as either the Seals or the Trumpets. 

All 21 major events and the “woes” characterize or spell out the requisite defining moments of this entire period of seven-years-plus we know as the Apocalypse, or the Great Tribulation Period (in evangelical/fundamentalist circles).  Thus, this is a time of great judgment upon all mankind, designed to do several things (although in fact it is not merely a time of judgment, per se, in light of the attention given to evangelism as well, and the evident high anticipation/expectation as relates to two mass harvests of precious souls):  1) to gather up the remainder of the saints , 2) to force mankind to face the reality and the wrath of the Lamb and, 3) to prepare the remainder of rebel mankind for the humbling, submissive role he will play throughout the Millennial Reign.