12.2 Revelation – Peace

Peace

What is peace?  Is it the absence of war?  The absence of conflict?  The absence of worry and anxiety?

We tend to define peace in terms of what it is not.  But the bible explains that peace is a real thing in and of itself.  It is a gift from God.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

The appearance in Revelation, first of the conqueror on the white horse and then of the red horse which removes peace from the world, is indication that God is withdrawing His protection from His creation.  God is still peace and those who seek refuge in Him are covered by His peace.  But the blanket of peace and protection that He has provided over the cosmos is being withdrawn.

God’s gift to the creation was perfect harmony.  Our corruption of the creation is sin, desire, coveting, self-pleasure, friendship, adultery with the world and false gods.

When peace is removed as a covering of the world, man’s sin produces death and destruction.  If you read the story of Gideon from the book of Judges we get an indication of this.  The 300 men who accompany Gideon encircle an encamped army so numerous that the number of their camels is compared to counting the grains of sand on the shore.  In one hand Gideon’s fellows hold a lamp in a jar.  In the other hand they hold a trumpet (notice: no sword in their hand, no shield).  At the appointed time, they burst the jar and blow the trumpets and the armies in the camp take up arms and immediately begin killing each other.  Their fear is so great that they run away to hide.  I think this is a foreshadowing of the events that will ensue when the first 2 horses come.

My Answers:

3.
a.
Come

b.
A horse with rider, different colors, different powers, different things they carried

4.
The rider held a bow, was given a crown and rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.  He is an offensive being, crowned as a victor (not with the sovereign’s crown), a military leader.

5.
a.
Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other, given a large sword. – Peace is threatened and men seek to kill other men and terrorize

b.
sin – desire, coveting, wrong motives, self-pleasure, friendship with the world (adultry).