My Grandmother Files had four siblings: Lucille, Lena, Ethel Audrey, and Azariah. Azariah is a biblical name: Among them, from the Judahites, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Daniel 1:6 He is better known later on in Daniel as Abednego.
If I had been a boy, my grandmother insisted my parents name me Azariah. This became a family joke. Memaw Files didn’t name her own son Azariah. Azariah didn’t even name his own son Azariah II. Mother was simply relieved I was a girl because she avoided conflict with my grandmother. (Those Taylor women were definitely formidable.)
I never knew Uncle Az. He died a few years before I was born. But his wife, Aunt Helen, and his family were staples at every Thanksgiving of my youth. When Aunt Helen died, her children found an old tattered shoe box among her things. The box simply read, Az.
The box contained memorabilia from his military service during WWII. His purple heart. The telegram telling of his capture by the German Army during the Battle of the Bulge. And his diary of his days of captivity in a German concentration camp. He had received a package from his mother the day before his capture, and contained in the supplies was a Mead spiral notepad and pencils. My cousin meticulously deciphered and typed the contents of the diary and gave copies to each family member. I had the privilege of using excerpts of the diary each year when I taught the Holocaust novel, Night, by Elie Wiesel. Somehow, the diary brought more weight to the events of Elie Wiesel's concentration camp account because the students could more easily relate to an experience from one of my family members, plus I could tell the students that if I were a man, Azariah would be teaching them instead of Nancy.
As we venture further into Revelation, the war rhetoric amps up to terrifying proportions. Getting caught up in predicting the end times and finding the signs present in our world today can really detract from the message of the book. I bring up my Uncle Az because I imagine that for him, the experience of WWII felt like the end of the world. And the people of John’s day that heard Revelation for the first time also must have felt that the torment would last forever. So let's acknowledge that in each generation since Jesus physically left this earthly realm, people have felt like the end was near. Let’s not get so caught up in predicting when all of this will come to pass and miss what wisdom we may gain for today.
I assume that most people have at least heard of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. When the lamb opens the first four seals, horses with fierce riders run rampant into the world. Here’s a quick bullet summary of each rider. If you want more details, they appear in Revelation 6: 1-7.
First rider enters on a white horse.
He carries a bow and a crown is placed on his head.
He came as a conqueror.
Second rider enters on a red horse.
He is given a great sword.
He is given authority to take peace from the earth.
Third rider enters on a black horse.
He holds a set of scales.
He creates famine and deprivation across the earth.
Fourth rider enters on a pale green horse.
He is the only named rider and his name is Death.
Hades follows after him.
They are given the authority to kill ¼ of the earth by sword, famine, plague, or wild animals.
Pretty grim picture isn’t it?
Remember that for the original reader of John’s Revelation, the four horsemen were not fictitious beings destined to roam the earth wreaking havoc at some point in the future. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ran amongst them on a daily basis. Most believers were conquered peoples under Roman rule (White Horse). Rome’s motto stated: Piety, War, Victory, Peace. Fear the Roman pantheon of gods which included Caesar. If you don’t, we will go to war with you. We will be victorious over you and then we will have peace because we will win. (Red Horse) There existed a great grain shortage during John’s writing of this book due to natural disasters and Roman mismanagement of agricultural land. Some believers may have had to literally pay a day’s wages just to have enough grain to feed themselves. That was their reality. (Black Horse) Death surrounded them - in the gladiatorial ring, famine, disease. (Pale Green Horse) And Hades functioned as the underworld itself as well as the Roman god of the underworld. Life must have been pretty grim indeed!
So why did John point out the obvious that life was hard, and Romans killed Christians?
When you are suffering, don’t you want to be seen? Don’t you want at least someone to acknowledge that life is difficult right now? Don’t you wish the problems would be over and relief would come?
Maybe those are the wrong questions.
How is God using this affliction to increase my endurance and give me hope? Romans 5:3-5
Why am I surprised by this trial? If the world persecuted my Lord and Savior, why do I expect the world to be kind to me? 1 Peter 4: 12-16
What am I doing to protect my mind and heart from the beasts prowling around me daily? Don’t believers all around the world suffer the same as I? In my suffering, how is God providing strength and support? 1 Peter 5: 8-10
Rather than worrying about when the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will begin their rides, recognize that maybe they are already here and have been since sin entered the world. Maybe the horsemen of Revelation serve as reminders of where real strength can be found.
Included in my Uncle Az’s diary were several prayers - his declarations of praise to the Lord and reminders to himself where his strength resided:
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea… The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He utters His voice and the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our fortress…He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; …’Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted in the earth!’
Psalm 46
What a comfort remembering that Psalm must have been for him during his time of such physical agony.
The Four Horsemen serve as warnings to exalt God before all things of this earth, but people still refuse to listen. More on that as we crack open some more seals next time @TheClassroom Counts.
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