Ukraine

“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.”
Revelation‬ ‭19:11‬ ‭NLT

The curtains preventing a glimpse into Heaven were parted. And standing there for all to see was a white horse and rider. And the rider had a special name. He was called “Faithful and True”. He had a responsibility to judge fairly, but that wasn’t a problem, as we can see from his name. But what is a “righteous war”?

This is a difficult concept for many because they believe all wars are wrong. And it is true to say that a sinless world would not experience war. But that isn’t reality. We live in a world under the jurisdiction of the devil (2 Corinthians 4:4a, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe ….. ). Wars between peoples and nations happen in a world blighted by sin. In schools, ethics lessons consider “Just Wars”, and here is a definition found on the BBC schools web site:

“A just war is a war which is declared for right and noble reasons and fought in a certain way. A just war is not a war that is ‘good’ as such – it is a war that Christians feel to be necessary or ‘just’ in the circumstances, when all other solutions have been tried and have failed. It is a necessary evil and a last resort.”

But we don’t need to turn to secular material to define the type of war our Revelation 19 rider was waging. Deuteronomy 20 is a chapter full of instructions about waging war. Verse 1 reads, “When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you!” (‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭20:1‬ ‭NLT). The Israelites of old regularly fought battles with God on their side. In fact, in one battle God held the sun in place for a whole day to facilitate an Israelite victory (Joshua 10:12-13, “On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies …).

In the New Testament, there are no specific references to support pacifism. And it is true to say that the wars that have taken place in recent times have been necessary to prevent a greater evil. Jesus wasn’t a pacifist and His second coming, which we are about to explore in the next few verses in Revelation 19, was going to be accompanied by an extremely violent and death-filled war. Those who opposed Jesus were not going to have a peaceful death in their beds!

What do we pilgrims do in a time of war? We face into that dilemma right now as war in Europe continues unabated in Eastern Ukraine. We do what the Bible encourages us to do – we pray for our leaders, we pray for our soldiers, we pray for safety for civilians, and we pray that God will bring about a quick and righteous end to the turmoil of sin and strife.

Dear Father God, we don’t like wars. It brings so much pain, misery and death to so many people. We pray for our politicians and the leaders in the armed forces, that You will help them and lead them, in the conflicts that they encounter. And, topically, we pray about the situation in Ukraine, that You will quickly bring this conflict to an end. We pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Eastern Europe, and especially those caught up in this tragedy, that You will strengthen them, protect them and help them in these difficult times. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Come!” Then another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere.”
Revelation 6:3-4 NLT

We don’t know the time difference between opening the first and second seals. But whenever it took place, there is another thunderous “Come!”, this time from the second of the living beings. A red horse appeared, and its rider gallops off into the sunset, waving a mighty sword. And in his vision, John was told that the rider on the red horse was able to take away world peace, unleashing wars and loss of life everywhere.

With the opening of the second seal, introducing the next step in this time of tribulation, things are looking grim. Those of us fortunate enough to be living in a peaceful place will have no idea what such mayhem looks and feels like, apart from the news reports. Here in the UK it has been many years since we experienced a war on our soil. But in other parts of the world, conflict is constant and never very far away. As I write, the war in Ukraine continues, with tragic stories emerging from the ruins, of “slaughter everywhere”.

Again we wonder if we are in the period of time called the Tribulation. Jesus foretold what would happen, and His words are recorded in Matthew 24. Verses 5-8 read, “for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” Personally, I believe we are in the period referred to by Jesus as “birth pains”, but we’ve been in this period for hundreds of years. Wars, famines and earthquakes have been with us since time as we know it began. However, we don’t know whether this coincides with the breaking of the first seals in John’s vision. We also don’t know the time period over which these early times of tribulation took place. The horses and riders released following the breaking of the first four seals have been referred to as “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. Are we in Apocalyptic times? Hmmm…

As pilgrims, we must not be distracted in our mission in life. Jesus gave us a job to do, and we must faithfully carry it out. We mustn’t adopt a fatalistic attitude, fearing what is coming and sitting in our pews in the meantime, waiting for the end of our lives and hoping we don’t get too much hassle in the process. So we continue to read the Word, we pray, we worship and praise our wonderful Heavenly Father, and we share our messages of hope with those around us. We must not use the account of John’s vision to alarm us. Instead we must allow it to energise us, acting as a springboard projecting us into the sad and lost world around us.

Dear Father God. You know when all these things we read about in Revelation will take place. And we rest in You, secure in the knowledge that You are our loving Heavenly Father, who cares for us. We worship You today. Amen.

Righteous War

The Second Seal