Unfolding Drama of Redemption

Old Testament Reading – Amos 9:11-15 – New Testament Reading – 2 Peter 3:1-17

A Watchman’s Warning
“The Sound of Hoofbeats”
Ezekiel 33:1-6, Revelation 6:1-8

 The Hebrew word translated in our English Bibles as “watchman” means “one who looks out.”

In the Old Testament era, the watchmen walked along the city’s outer wall, or stood in the watchtower, and looked out to see if an enemy might be approaching, so they could sound the alarm and warn the people to prepare.

• If those who heard the alarm refused to take action, it would be their fault if they were killed, for had they heeded the warning, they could have saved their lives.
• However, if the watchman did not sound the alarm to warn the people of the approaching enemy, while the people would still be responsible to God for their sins, God would hold the watchman responsible for their captivity or their death.
• No one wants to be the bearer of bad news, but obedience is not an option for God’s Watchman.

“I have heard the distant sound of hoofbeats, and I have seen the evil riders on the horizons of our lives. There is serious trouble ahead for our world, and in the four horsemen of the apocalypse there is both warning and wisdom for those troubled days ahead.”
From “Approaching Hoofbeats, by Dr. Billy Graham, 1983

• The four horsemen to which Dr. Graham referred are identified in the 6^th chapter of Revelation as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the dramatic and symbolic warnings of the death and destruction to occur during the seven years of tribulation.

“When the Lamb opened one of the seals…I saw a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:2)

• The first rider on the white horse is the Antichrist, who will arise out of the revived Roman empire to unite all the nations into a New World Order.
• According to Daniel 9:27, the tribulation will begin when the Antichrist signs a peace treaty with the Arabs, allowing the Jews to build their temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and return to a sacrificial form of worship.
• Although he will present himself as The Christ, the savior of the world, he will prove himself to be the pseudo or false christ who will become possessed by Satan.

“When He opened the second seal…I saw another horse, fiery red…and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that the people should kill one another.” (Revelation 6:3-4)

• The second rider on the red horse represents a time of war and bloodshed like the world has never seen before. By the end of the first half of the tribulation, one-fourth of the people will be killed, and the entire natural ecosystem will be totally destroyed, causing global famine.

“When He opened the third seal…I saw a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice saying, a quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)

• The third horse represents famine. A denarius was the daily wage for a common laborer. Since these prices are 12 times higher than the normal price, the common people will have to work a full day just to buy enough bread for the next day.
• After the Antichrist enters the temple, desecrates it, declares himself to be God, and demands to be worshipped as God, he will also require everyone to take his mark on their forehead or their hands to be able to buy or sell food. Those who take the mark will prove themselves to be unbelievers and will spend eternity in hell.

“When He opened the fourth seal…I saw a pale horse, and the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with Him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:7-8)

• The fourth rider of “Death” and “Hades” means people will be killed and buried on a scale not seen since the flood.
• The breaking of the fourth seal is the beginning of Judgment Day, “For He [the Father] has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)
• God will perform great signs in the heavens and on Earth to get the people’s attention. (Matthew 24:29)
• Then, four horrific events will occur on Earth.
  • A firestorm will burn a third of the Earth.
  • Two huge asteroid impacts will strike the Earth.
  • Multiple volcanos around the world will erupt.
  • Darkness will cover the whole Earth.

  The fact that, as Christians, we are still on earth means the four horsemen haven’t left heaven’s barn. However, as Dr. Billy Graham said 40 years ago, the majority of reputable watchmen are warning today, unless God intervenes, it appears the horsemen are getting ready to ride.

• The United States of America is the last hindrance to the globalist agenda to establish the New World Order.

The revolution we are experiencing today is the deliberate destruction of the Judeo-Christian Constitution upon which America was founded.

“The progressive socialists who are driving the one world agenda are, for the most part, highly educated intellectuals who have rejected the God of the Bible in favor of an immoral, anti-Christian, demonically-driven worldview. They are determined to force their worldview on their subjects, even if it means the elimination of Christians and Jews who stand in their way.”
Gary Kah – Hope for the Word Newsletter – Summer, 2022

The four primary reasons why the four horsemen may be getting ready to ride.

1. The Restoration of the Nation of Israel – Jeremiah 23, Isaiah 66, Ezekiel 36-37.

• After being scattered over the world for more than 2000 years, on May 14, 1948, for the second time in world history, Israel became an independent nation.
• “Thus says the Lord God: “I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land, and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.” Ezekiel 37:21-22
• “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus, all Israel will be saved. The Deliverer will come from Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” Romans 11:25-26

2. The Rapid Rise of Lawlessness – 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed.”

• In Matthew 24, Jesus said the last days of this age would parallel the culture of Noah’s day and the final days of Sodom and Gomorrah, including senseless violence and flagrant, decadent sexual immorality.
• In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, the Apostle said, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
• In Matthew 24, Jesus said such immoral behavior, along with rumors of war, famine, inflation, and natural disasters, will be like the pains of a woman giving birth, they will keep coming harder and faster until the Lord returns.

3. The Global Financial Crisis – Revelation 6:5-8 – “And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.”

• The Federal Government is deliberately creating this crisis by forcing farmers to stop using fossil fuels and embrace the Green Energy goals.
• According to several reputable news sources, government officials are forcing some farmers to destroy their animals, and in January, 2022, 97 food production and distribution plants were set on fire, and so far, no explanation as to who or why!

“The war in Ukraine, the Coronavirus Pandemic, and the failure to address climate change has caused an unprecedented global hunger crisis that will affect hundreds of millions of people in 2022, and even more in 2023, and that no country will be immune to the social and economic repercussions of such a catastrophe.”
U.N. Secretary Antonio Guterres

4. The Prophetic Patterns Regarding the Length of Human History – Genesis 2:2-3 – “On the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested from the work which He had done. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it, He rested from all His work.”

• According to archaeological evidence, the earth existed 1656 lunar years prior to the flood, and 4336 years since the flood, which means we are living in the year 5992, and the millennium would be the 7000’th year.
• God commanded Israel to observe seven annual feasts to illustrate what the Messiah would do to achieve lost man’s redemption. The Feasts of:
  • Passover – fulfilled at Jesus’ birth.
  • Unleavened Bread – fulfilled at Jesus’ death and burial.
  • First Fruits – fulfilled at Jesus’ resurrection.
  • Pentecost – fulfilled when Jesus started the Church/
  • Trumpets – to be fulfilled at the Rapture of the Church.
  • Atonement – to be fulfilled when Jesus returns to earth.
  • Tabernacles – to be fulfilled during the Millennium.
• Gabriel told Daniel there would be seven world kingdoms, six of which have come and gone: Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman. The final kingdom will be the Kingdom of God upon the earth.
• Theologians have divided human history into seven eras or dispensations: Innocence (Gen.1-2), Conscience (Gen. 3-8). Human Government (Gen.8-11), Promise (Gen. 12-Exodus 19), Law (Exodus to the ministry of Jesus Christ), Grace (the Church Age that ends with the Rapture of the Church) Millennial Reign of Christ.
• Jesus used the characteristics of seven churches of Asia to illustrate the seven stages of the Church age: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, which is the church of, by, and for man.

Conclusions:

• The 7 years of tribulation under the rule of the Antichrist is the world’s immediate future – God has ordained it to be!
• But don’t despair! The Rapture of the Church and the Return of Jesus Christ are a part of our imminent future.