The Coming Stampede of Death

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As a boy, I spent a lot of time on ranches. One particular night my brothers and I wandered the field to view the big bright stars. We laid on the back and were interrupted by the sound of what we thought to be thunder. But the sky was clear. It wasn’t thunder.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was a stampede. A few dozen horses came blazing across the field and roared like thunder through the night's air. We panicked and ran to the nearest tree to avoid being trampled. We barely escaped death that night but lived to tell the tale the night we nearly were killed by a stampede of horses.    

As we look at pages of scripture in Revelation 6, we see an apocalyptic vision of four horsemen that are bringing death and devastation to all who remain during the time of the tribulation. The question will be… “Who will survive the stampede of God’s coming judgment?”    

Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost, one of my favorite seminary professors and perhaps one of the greatest Biblical scholars on prophecy pointed out in his book Things to Come the similarities of this passage in Revelation 6 to the warning of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel in saying...

The order of events in Revelation and the order of events in Matthew are strikingly similar: (a) war (Matt. 24:6–7; Rev. 6:3–4), (b) famine (Matt. 24:7; Rev. 6:5–6), (c) death (Matt. 24:7–9; Rev. 6:7–8), (d) martyrdom (Matt. 24:9–10, 16–22; Rev. 6:9–11), (e) the sun and the moon darkened with stars falling (Matt. 24:29; Rev. 6:12–14), (f) divine judgment (Matt. 24:32–25:26; Rev. 6:15–17).

In addition, Reverend Billy Graham in his book, Approaching Hoofbeats, four Horsemen and the Coming Apocalypse.  Said…

Some theologians and Bible scholars have thought these scenes described by the Apostle John to be a description of past events. However, most evangelical scholars interpret them to do with the future, as I do. In my view, the shadows of all four horsemen can already be seen galloping throughout the world at this moment. Therefore, I not only want to apply these four symbols of events yet to come, but also to put our ears to the ground and hear their hoof beats growing louder by the day.

If the hoof beats could be heard some thirty years ago when the book was written how much louder are they today? Can you hear the thundering of these horses coming our way in the 2020s?

APPLY

God has promised that you will save you from the coming stampede. Yet the sound of the horses are already here and the shadows of them can already be seen. God wants you to rely upon him. Do so in prayer now.