And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and there was given unto him a great sword. Revelation 6:4
As a boy, I used to sit with my father and listen to the news broadcasts on the radio. He always paid attention to the news, and kept himself well informed. One day, as we listened to an account of a battle somewhere (I can’t remember where, that was sixty years ago or more), I asked my father, ‘What are they fighting for? Isn’t the war over?’ My father replied, ‘Yes, the war is over, but there is always somebody fighting, somewhere in the world.’ In the years since that conversation, my father’s words have rung true. Armed conflicts of various kinds have come and gone in many different parts of the world, with very few and very brief periods of peace between the different scenes of hatred and bloodshed. What will it be like during the time foretold by our text, when there is no peace anywhere in the world?
The first World War failed miserably in its promise of being the war to end all wars. The second World War fared somewhat better, at least in as far as most of the western world is concerned. Although many parts of the world have known military unrest at the cost of many thousands of lives, we have known many years of peaceful calm. Although Canadian peacekeepers have gone to many other lands to try to help resolve conflicts among enemies elsewhere, no such military struggles have occurred on our own soil, unless you count the ill-conceived FLQ crisis of the Trudeau era. And yet, even our favoured and pacific land will know no peace when the red horse rider launches his campaign. We are not given specifics as to what conflicts and struggles will emerge at that time. But the lack of peace, and the resultant bloodbath, will surely come. The good news is that this terrible time will occur after we have been taken to a land where peace forever reigns. It should also be good news that as Christians we can enjoy that peace now, despite the animosity and violence around us today.
Since bloodshed marked the relationship between the first two men who were born into this world, bloodshed has marked the history of mankind. Violence was a hallmark of the antedeluvian world, and has not abated since then. This is result of sin. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked (Isaiah 57:21). The lack of peace in the human heart manifests itself as a lack of peace among humanity. But we who have been saved know an entirely different experience. Although we were at one time at enmity with God, we have entered into the peace that He provided to us through the victory of Christ on the cross. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Because we have peace with God, we may also experience peace with each other. There ought always to be peace among believers; that is an absolute. But we should, and can, be at peace with everyone in the world. By our peaceful approach. we can be a powerful testimony to a world that knows so little peace.
The red horse rider cannot take away our peace. Let us appreciate and demonstrate that peace today. -Jim MacIntosh