Revelation 6 - God the Father, the Avenger and Defender

We first aim to understand Scripture.  Through the Holy Spirit, we seek to apply Scripture to our lives to guide us and instruct us.  In that regard, Revelation is no different than Genesis or John.

Christians know it is essential to remain in the Vine.  God prunes dead branches.  We are to abide in Christ.  The Apostle John tells us that the person who loves his brother abides in the Light.  Do not hate your brothers and sisters today.  Instead, love deeply and genuinely. (1 John 2:10-11).  The proof is in the pudding: they will know we are Christians by what we do, by how we love people (John 13:35).

The Bible teaches us to be like our King Jesus.  We are not to emulate the world or the ruler of the world, Satan.  We shall never turn a blind eye to abuse or those oppressing others.  We are peacemakers - that means taking action against injustice.  The Devil sits at the table and demands to be served.  When weak men let the devil’s minions act with impunity it emboldens him; he’s a dictator and a glutton.  Christ our King (holy and powerful beyond measure) came among us as the One who serves (Luke 22:26-27).  Christ is our example.  We are not too important that we are exempt from service.

        Take a look at your family, men.  Are you leading as a servant leader like Jesus, or as a rich young ruler demanding and commanding your servants.  Be a dad of grace today.  Forgive as you've been forgiven.  We can ask the same things of our churches and our church organizations.  Do they have a culture of fear and service of the special privileged ones?  Or do they have a culture of the Gospel - one where all seek to make disciples by showing others how we serve like Jesus?  My prayer for us today is that we all be prepared to follow Jesus’ example and serve others with the power of the Holy Spirit (Mark 9:35).

God, like a fair and just dad, gets angry for a reason.  He is not capricious - that’s the mark of a weak man.  God is consistent, patient, merciful, and kind.  God sent prophet after prophet telling people to open their hearts to Him.  God told the people to judge fairly and to show mercy and kindness to one another (Zechariah 7:9).  But what did the people repeatedly do?  The Israelites put their fingers in their ears and stubbornly refused to listen to God.  That is why God was angry with them and allowed the First Temple to be destroyed and the people to be scattered (Zech. 7:12).

But God’s love for Isreal was passionate and strong and He planted seeds of peace and prosperity and, through Zechariah, told the people to, “Be strong and get on with rebuilding the Temple” (Zech. 8:13).  God sought to bless His people and He providentially ensured the Second Temple was rebuilt.

In Zechariah not only is the rebuilding of the Second Temple prophesied and encouraged, but also the coming of the Messiah (humble, righteous, victorious, and riding on a donkey’s colt) is also prophesied (Zech. 9:9).  Zechariah prophesied that in the future God’s anger would burn against Israel’s leaders - the so-called shepherds (Zech. 10:3).  He predicted that from Jerusalem will come the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the Cornerstone, the Tent Peg, the Bow for Battle (Zech. 10:3-5).

Sadly, like Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:16), we quickly get puffed up and sin against God.  When we are blessed with abundance our hearts become proud and we forget that all good things are from the Father - not through our greatness (what a joke to even consider that).  God does not need us.  We need Him (Deuteronomy 8:12-14).  The good news is that we can ask God for mercy this morning and for the opportunity today to be a blessing to others (Acts 20:35 - It is more blessed to give than to receive).

Jesus ties together the colored horses of Zacharias’s vision to the colored horses of John’s vision in Revelation 6.  Notice the focus early in Revelation is more on the horse as the servant and instrument of God, but later the focus goes to the angelic rider - both are God’s creation, and both are obedient to the King.  Like the unnamed rider on the white horse (6:2) our job is to be a faithful servant (Luke 17:10).  Be prepared.  Today is a day for fighting.  We are to fight the Lord’s battles today.  We fight these spiritual battles to win - and God forbid that we ask for an accolade (don’t even think about it).

        In Revelation 6:17 we hear that the wrath of the One who sits on the thrown and the Lamb has come.  Jesus was showing John that the time had come for God to bring a great tribulation against Jerusalem.  I know there is great debate on this point, but my view (and it has changed the more I’ve asked God for understanding) is that we, like John, can take God at His word that the great tribulation and Jesus' wrath indeed had come and what Jesus commanded happened between AD 66 and AD 70 exactly as Jesus showed John it would and exactly as Jesus had predicted to His apostles.

God knows us better than we know ourselves.  His hands make us and provide for us (Psalm 119:73 and Jeremiah 1:5).  God sees all we do.  He wants us to be more like Him - good and godly - so He tests and disciplines even our thoughts (Jeremiah 12:3).  We are God’s children - part of His living body, grafted in the only way that any person may be His child.  That is through His grace through faith in His Son (Ephesians 1:4-6).

All of these apocalyptic mysterious things: scrolls, chariots, thrones, blessings, and curses, visible and invisible - all of them were created by Jesus (Colossians 1:15-17).  As we humbly learn and grow God will test us, teach us, and tell us more of His majesty.  All things belong to the LORD our God (Deuteronomy 10:14).

        We see in Chapter Six that God uses delegated authority.  In the heavenly realm, God is at the center.  Elders and living beings all have a role and responsibility.  God uses the four living beings to call in His horsemen.  The living beings said, “Come!”  And the horse and the rider - well equipped - were at the ready and sent by God to execute God’s judgment.  The spiritual beings that John was privileged to see in this vision were given delegated authority from Jesus.  We too are men and women under Christ’s authority.  We have direct access to the Throne through our Savior - but don’t confuse grace and the love of the Father with a lack of responsibility.  Servants must serve.

        We see too that in this apocalyptic vision, John was able to see Christian souls under the alter (6:9) that were present with God in heaven.  When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, these souls were able to communicate (interestingly, they spoke boldly) with the Sovereign Lord.  And notice what the loving Father on the throne did.  God did not ignore them or rebuke them for asking Him how long it would be until He avenged their blood.  God gave them an answer, but first He gave them white robes and then told them to rest a little longer (6:11).

        God was about to shake the heavens and the earth - the great day of God’s wrath on the authorities of the earth was about to be unleashed.  The kingdoms of the world were about to see the judgment of the Kingdom of Christ.  We’ll discuss the first set of judgments as we go through chapters 7-11, the second set of judgments in 12-14, and the third set of God’s promised judgment in 15-18.  So stay tuned.

        Respect, authority, power, godliness, and service.  These are all Christian characteristics and virtues we see playing out as John sees God’s planned events in the first-century spiritual reality that was about to play out in the physical realm.  John then encouraged the early church to persevere after he saw the vision of the great judgment and the great suffering of the early church (7:14).  Just think of all the authorities that have lived and ruled in the ancient world and for all ages.  This includes Julias Caesar (who died in 44 BC), Augustus, Herod, Ananias, Caiaphus, those in the Sanhedrin who judged Jesus, Pontius Pilate, Claudius, and Nero.  There were many kings and religious leaders in that time of Rome leading up to the arrival of the Messiah and following the ascension of the Messiah into heaven.  Jesus promised that within a generation of His death, burial, and resurrection the Second Temple would be totally destroyed.  None of the rulers and authorities of that first century - or any century - would have any authority if not allowed by Jesus Christ (John 19:11 - you would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.)  

        In chapter six the Lamb calls forth and then sends out the instruments of His wrath.  In the next section we’ll read about the trumpet calls that sound at the hour of judgment.

        Lord Jesus, help us to understand your word and to discern how best to serve you today.  We know that God the Father is the Defender of those who are oppressed, marginalized, and martyred.  We as His followers must stand up for those being mistreated.  We know our roles and our responsibilities.  Each of us will be judged according to what we do.  Dear Jesus, we ask for more understanding and for courage to be bold and holy.  We want to be faithful and obedient servants of the King of kings.  Amen.

Kari and Beckett