 |  |
Matt. 24:
Prophecies and Seals.
Rev. 6:
Verses 4, 5.
False Christs.
Verses 1, 2.
6, 7.
Wars.
3, 4.
7.
Famines.
5, 6.
7.
Pestilences.
7, 8.
"All these are the beginning of sorrows".
9-28.
Martyrs.
9-11.
29, 30.
Signs in heaven.
12-17.
The Lord's coming.
We have now cleared the way for investigating the meaning of these signs; we have
both the testimony of Matt. 24: and of Zechariah to prevent us from giving a second
thought to the multitude of "fulfillments" that have been culled from the history of Rome
onwards, and find in the reference to Dan. 9: in Matt. 24: a point of time around
which these events are grouped. We must take up the more detailed exposition of this
important chapter in our next article.
As members of the One Body we have a hope entirely unconnected with "signs", yet
the argument is irresistible, that if the signs of the consummation of the age are appearing
upon the horizon (be they as yet no larger than a man's hand), then our hope is so much
nearer it realization. May we all live. . . . looking for that blessed hope.
#27. The Four Horsemen.
(Rev. 6: 1-8).
pp. 65 - 68
Following the latest Greek texts, the first verse reads:--
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four
living ones saying, as with a voice of thunder, Go!"
The words "and see" are omitted and the verb erchomai being translatable by either
"come" or "go" the context alone can decide. If the living ones said "Come", the
response would be, "he came forth"; as it is, the wording is "he went forth", showing that
the verb in this case is the command "Go!".
In our last article we considered the teaching of the Old Testament prophecies,
particularly Zechariah, in connection with these horsemen; we will now deal with the
actual visions themselves.
In Matt. 24: we read not of one false Christ, but many, not one war or one famine
or one pestilence, but many. We shall, therefore, have to be careful when viewing these
seals that we do not read anything of our own into them. There will be one false Christ,
and one false prophet when the end is in sight, but the "beginning" of sorrows is ushered
in by the many false Christs--which are here symbolized under the figure of the white
horse.