Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth
Revelation 6: 1-2
The First Seal
Opened
Part III of III
I rarely open these
sessions with announcements; however every now and again I sense the need. I want to acknowledge those who are
first-time visitors to our Bible study.
Perhaps you’ve
heard of us through a family member or friend.
Maybe you just
happened upon us via the web using a keyword search.
No matter the path
you took to find us please know you are welcome here.
We’re a no-frills
but sincere group of individuals committed to understanding God’s Word.
We gather twice a month in and about the area of Lutz, Florida.
We meet in each
other’s home for Bible study, fellowship, food, and prayer,
We wish you could
be here with us; but I understand that we would require a much bigger house to
fit all you people in. Our Bible study has grown over the years to
include members across these United States, Germany, Russia, China, Singapore,
and many other countries. That’s not just the power of the Internet; I give
God the Spirit all the credit. None of this would be possible without
Him.
For those of you
who may not be aware the Bible verses that appear in these lessons are taken
from the New American Standard Bible. If I use different Bible
translations,
I’ll notate them in
the lesson for you.
We are currently
studying the End Times.
It has been a
two-year journey for our small group in order to reach this point.
I thank each of
them for their commitment and for their patience.
We began with
Genesis 1:1. Eventually, we found ourselves at Genesis chapter 12.
Once we had a
pretty good understanding of the Abrahamic Covenant, we elected to skip forward
to the books of Daniel and Revelation.
Our members
expressed an interest in understanding the “End Time” picture some time back.
There were many questions and some misunderstanding at the onset.
As we go along, the
picture becomes more and more clear.
Curiosity RE this
topic has grown exponentially over the years. And now I find that even
secular society is showing an interest and I thank God for that.
Whatever tool God
wants to use to draw the souls of men to His Son…
Incidentally, if
you’re interested, I have parked all previous Bible lessons in the HBS Library
located at HBSGroup.Blogspot.com.
I welcome your
comments and your questions.
Please contact me
at:
*****
Let’s begin.
Please open your
Bible to Revelation chapter 6.
Revelation 6
1: Then I (The Apostle John – writer of Revelation) saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.”
2: I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
I have shown you in
previous lessons why I believe this first horseman is not the Lord Jesus
Christ sitting upon this white horse; but is instead the false Christ.
Nothing I’ve read
has altered my opinion of this.
Many others believe
and teach this same point of view.
Among these is a
man well-respected in the Christian Community.
You may have heard
of him.
His name is Billy
Graham.
*****
“…and he (the Anti-Christ) went
out conquering and to conquer.”
I read one commentary on this subject and the author was absolutely
adamant about this first horseman being the Lord Jesus Christ and he said anyone
who thought otherwise is committing blasphemy. I’ll tell you why he thought he had it
figured out.
It was these two final words in the Bible verse. Conquering and conquer.
In his opinion, only the Lord Jesus Christ could possibly achieve the
final victory.
But with all due respect I believe he’s wrong about this verse and this
horseman.
The words conquering and conquer, as they are used in this Bible verse, in no way invoke an image of, to use his words,
Satan enjoying the final victory.
In the Greek
language, the word “conquering” and “conquer” is nikao
(pronounced nik-ah’-o)
and has more than one meaning.
This first horseman’s
name is conquest.
He will be given limited
authority and will conquer all those who oppose him.
On the surface this
seems logical and what’s more it fits the verse.
However, if you
take the time to “dig a little deeper” in your Bible research you may come
across this verse. Stay in Revelation;
but turn to chapter 13 please.
Revelation 13
7: It was also
given to him to make war with the saints and to (what) overcome (nikao) them, and (limited) authority over every tribe, and people and
tongue and nation was given to him. (I believe this verse speaks of the
Tribulation saints who shall be martyred because of their faith.)
ALL authority has
been given to the Lord Jesus Christ – not Satan.
Satan may enjoy
only the freedom’s God permits him.
Matthew 28
18: And Jesus came
up and spoke to them, saying,”All authority has been given to
Me in heaven and on earth…” (Read Daniel
7:13-14)
As you can see, in
the Revelation 13 verse, instead of the word “conquer” the Bible translator inserted the word “overcome.”
The context in
which the word is used is the same as in Revelation 6.
They both speak of
waging war albeit a different type of warfare.
Let’s look at one
more.
Romans 12
21: Do not be (nikao) overcome by evil, but (nikao) overcome evil with good.
In this verse,
there is no mention of warring as such with peoples/nations, but there is
warfare in a word with an adversary of another type this being spiritual
warfare.
I pray I haven’t
lost you. Please take the time to review
if necessary.
I am demonstrating
how NIKAO may be used to convey a different meaning.
*****
The first horseman
(the Anti-Christ) will be given limited authority to wage war.
I mean to say
actual warfare against nations and acts against new Believers.
If we turn to the
Scriptures, for we can do little else, and focus on what the good Lord has
revealed to us what do we know about these early Tribulation years?
After the Rapture
of the Body of Christ, “and He who restrains him is taken out of the way…,” and
chronologically speaking, there will be a great battle between the nation of
Israel, and the Russian led consortium of nations in and about the mountains of
Israel. Read Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39
– Gog and Magog Invasion.
In this battle, God
will demonstrate His power to Israel and the world.
God intercedes in
this conflict defeating the aggressors.
*****
There is continuity
between these Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
How So? I never thought you’d ask.
1. White Horse = Conquest: Note carefully – he comes
supposedly to save the world, however, he does the exact opposite. He brings doom and despair.
2. Red Horse = War
3. Black Horse = Famine
4. Pale Horse = Death
Before the
mid-point of the Tribulation is reached, ¼ of the earth’s population will be
dead. But what does Scripture say?
Jeremiah 9
22: Speak, “Thus
says the LORD, ‘The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field, And
like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.’”
And:
Ezekiel 39
4: “You will fall
on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are
with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of
the field,
5: “You will fall
on the open field; for it is I who have spoken, declares the LORD GOD.
Don’t know about
you; but if God said it I believe it!
I don’t know if
this battle between Gog and Magog, and others, with Israel and the Almighty God
is the instrument of all this death and destruction; but it fits.
There is something
missing though.
We’ve spoken of it
before.
Where is the U.S.A.
in all this mayhem?
The Bible is
silent.
We can only
speculate.
But as America is
becoming more uncharacteristically un-godly day by day,
Perhaps the Lord
God is going to remove His blessing from us.
Why should God
continue to bless America?
Maybe we will be
placed in a position of neutrality because of the political climate at that
time…forced to the side-lines so to speak while Russia, the Middle Eastern
nations and others take the lead role.
I’m not teaching
the above as fact; but I am trying to get you to think.
This is what Bible
students do…think.
Until we meet
again. Keep busy in the Word.
Copyright © 211 GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All Rights Reserved
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