Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Monday, September 14, 2015
Today’s Scripture:
“And I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying like the sound of thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and in order that he might conquer.” (Revelation 6:1–2, LEB).
Today’s Observation:
To this point in our readings of the mysteries of the Revelation we have discovered that our Lord Jesus was worthy to open the seals, because of His unselfish adoption of human form in order to save repentant humanity from eternal death. We have also discovered that whatever was to be revealed by Christ in the perfectly sealed book, must concern humanity. It is reasonable to believe that since the overall Revelation began with Jesus giving us understanding and counsel for His people through the seven churches, which also represented seven successive periods of time, that the seals may have some relation to successive eras in the history of God’s people. Mind you, we must be willing for God to further open our understanding through His Spirit as we continue to study His Word.
Jesus opened the first seal. As with many of His special messages throughout the Bible, this one is characterized by an incredible rolling of thunder. One of the mysterious four beasts who closely accompanied the 24 elders in chapters four and five of the Revelation, announced to the rider, “Come!” John saw that a man rode out on a white horse with a bow in his hand and a crown was given him. The rider went forth as a conqueror.
If we were to adopt the thought that the details of this unsealed mystery represented an era context of the seven churches, we could comfortably apply it to the first century of the Christian church. Why? Well, the Bible says that the rider was upon a white horse. White is a symbol of purity. Not only this, but the rider came forth as a conqueror with a bow and a crown. The faith and teachings of the first century (or apostolic) church were pure, and thousands were added to their ranks daily to be saved into the kingdom. Some commentators suggest that this time period was A.D. 31-100.
Life Application
If indeed the Lord were to reveal a time in the history of His church that was worthy of emulation through a symbol of a conquering figure on a pure white horse, our interest should be piqued. Further, it should be our focus of study to know what made them so pure. What did they teach? How did they treat people inside and outside of their religious fellowship? When they began to deviate a bit and lose some of that conquering love momentum, there were lessons about how we should be insulated against losing momentum as we await the Second Coming of Christ. What are some of those lessons?
This could be an interesting assignment: Research the first century church, their zeal, their growth, and their love for Christ. Share your thoughts with us. What lessons can we learn about our dedication to truth for our times?
*For further study I have included a link to a classic lesson from former Amazing Facts president Joe Crews here: http://goo.gl/RPy0EG
A Prayer for Your Hearts:
Lord, please give us a conquering love for you and your truth in our day. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.
