Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. – Revelation 6:1-4 ESV

Warrior;

The Bible, the Word of God, is a polemic. A polemic is a strong intentional argument against a competing belief, what some might say is a ‘worldview’. A polemic is purposeful contrast; Truth therapy, identifying the LIE and replacing it with the truth.  Every civilization has a flood story.  70% of the Quran comes from the Bible. The Torah, the ‘Old Testament Bible’ was written some 500 years prior, it is one of Islam’s ‘Previous books’ and we Christians are followers of the previous books. The ‘Biblical Polemic’ says: “This is true, that is false. This is God, that is not. This is the proper frame, that is a frame that is leading down a wrong path- it is MISSING THE MARK!” It is also important when studying the Word that we understand what IT MEANS to the people it was written to.  God is omnitelic, He has perfect purposes for all things; innumerable in quantity and immeasurable in glory. The book of Revelation is a unique book of prophecy; it stands alone as a polemic to the lies of empires and of man. In proper exegetical fashion, we need to understand what Revelation meant to those who it was written to.  It was written to the Churches, to the followers on ‘The Way’, what we would call early Christians. In A.D. 90-95 the imagery and visions in John’s letter written from Patmos would not seem as mystical as it does today. The meanings, the pictures, the pageantry of the early chapters of Revelation, are understandable to people of that time frame, and have additional benefit to those of us reading millennia later. The omnitelic nature of God allows for innumerable reasons and uses for every word in the WORD OF GOD. It was written TO THE CHURCHES, AND it was written FOR US! In the Bible, there are far more BOTH\AND’s, than there are EITHER\OR’s!

Leader, it is written; Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:1-5) The Polemic that is the Bible is a deliberate, structured argument against a competing worldview, a system that had man on the throne instead of Elohim, Yahweh, Jehovah, Adonai, El Shadai. El Elyon. One of the purposes of this book is as a theological confrontation with the Roman Imperial cult; Emperor Worship! The claim that Caesar is “Lord and God”, is political idolatry. Christians were considered “atheists’ because they would not believe in Caesar as God, and it demanded an allegiance to Rome’s system.  Revelation reframes reality, the WORD OF GOD is TRUTH, and the Bible was written as TRUTH THERAPY to a lying, dying world!  In John 18:38 we come to the famous scripture where Pilate asked Jesus a question that he never sought the answer to: “What is truth?” Pilate asked. And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him. (John 18:38) Jesus came as an answer to Pilate’s rhetorical question before it was ever asked; ‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6) John’s letter is a hidden “War Letter’ of encouragement to confront the world’s propaganda! Jesus is Lord- not Caesar, The Lamb reigns- not Rome, God judges empire- not the other way around, True power is sacrificial- not violent, True allegiance belongs to Christ- not the emperor! For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the LORD, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” (Romans 14:11)

Conduit, Revelation chapters 1-6 is not mystical to those that were contemporaries of John when He wrote this letter. To John’s original audience, Revelation was not mystical, it was FAMILIAR, even confrontational. In AD 90–95, under Domitian, the Roman Games displayed four staged spectacles: victory, war, famine, and death. The crowds watched four horsemen ride out in dramatic sequence. So, when John writes of the White, Red, Black, and Pale horses in Revelation 6, the early believers immediately recognized the imagery. John was turning Rome’s propaganda into God’s truth; a polemic against the imperial cult. The same can be said of the scroll in Revelation 5. Statues, and images on coins of Caesar throughout the empire depicted him holding a scroll in one hand and the globe in the other; a visual claim that Caesar ruled history and destiny. John subverts that image: only the Lamb is worthy to open the scroll. Only Christ governs history. Only He holds the destiny of nations. Revelation is not chaos; it is HOPE, GOOD NEWS! Revelation exposes the lies of THE WORLD by declaring GOD’S TRUTH. Rome celebrated conquest, military strength, economic power, and the emperor’s “peace.” John unveils what conquest actually produces: war, famine, and death. The book of Revelation should be seen by followers of Yahweh as an exciting book.  It brings light to an ever-darkening world.  It is GOOD NEWS to those who desire Maranatha. It is a deliberate polemic to the WORLD declaring: ‘Jesus is Lord, not any man. The Lamb reigns, not any country or empire. Truth exposes propaganda, and God alone writes the story of the world, it belongs to Him, it is HIS STORY!’ Hear the Word of the Lord: “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3) If you want to get a fresh perspective on the book of Revelation as an inspiring book, listen to Karen Heimbuch and the London Symphony Orchestra do the spoken word called, ‘The Revelation’.  It is read to orchestra music similar to ‘Fantasia’…NEW PERSPECTIVE!  Come Lord Jesus, come!