The 4 Horsemen: The Rise and Fall of Empires
(Part II) God uses disease, war, famine, and death to humble proud people and nations.
Read Part I of the 4 Horsemen here.
Feel free to share this post, Part II, with others who may like to read the series.
All empires upon God depend;
Begun by His command, at His command they end.
Look up to Him in all your ways,
Begin with pray'r and end with praise.
Händel’s “Belshazzar” - Scene II, Chorus
COVID-19 became a global pandemic in 2020. Health officials say a new global pandemic called Disease X may be coming soon.
The world is at war in 2023. Israel vs. many Arab countries is only the most recent war added to the current list of countries at war.
Poverty is on the rise. Even though the super-wealthy don’t seem to feel it, the middle-income and the poor feel the economy is imploding. Nine million children in the United States live in “food insecure homes.”
Sudden deaths, called “all-cause mortality” in the insurance industry, are skyrocketing, particularly among seemingly healthy young people and children.
The Bible calls disease, war, famine, and death the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The 4 Horsemen
Part I of this series shows the book of Revelation is not about “the end of the world.”
Revelation describes how GOD humbles proud nations and people throughout history.
The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation are symbols of pandemics (disease), wars (conquest), famine (economic collapse), and death (sudden deaths),. GOD sends the 4 Horsemen to break proud people and nations of their arrogance.
GOD’s revealed judgment (apocalypse) on proud people and nations is cyclical, not terminal.
If you live in one of the nations or countries that GOD humbles, it might feel like the end of the world, but it’s the end of arrogance and pride in your culture and country.
Deuteronomy 28 describes what happens when people and nations forsake GOD:
“Because of the evil you have done in forsaking GOD…” (v. 20)
“GOD will plague you with wasting diseases…” (v. 21) - The WHITE HORSE
“GOD will cause you to be conquered by your enemies” (v. 25) - The RED HORSE
“GOD will ensure you sow much but harvest little” (v. 38) - The BLACK HORSE
“GOD will put a yoke on you until you die (as a nation)” (v. 45) - The PALE HORSE
After the proud and the arrogant are humbled, GOD restores the humble who trust Him to new heights of peace and prosperity.
GOD sending the 4 Horsemen to bring down the proud and arrogant who refuse to trust the GOD of Nature and obey Nature’s Laws is a common theme in the Bible.
“If you despise Me… I will break down your stubborn pride” - Leviticus 26:19
The Book of Revelation, using symbolic language, summarizes the universal principle that GOD reveals Divine judgment (apocalypse) to proud nations. The Jews who followed JESUS as LORD when the book of REVELATION was written were about to see the 4 Horsemen come to their country. They would see the apocalypse of GOD’s judgment on the proud “soon take place” (Revelation 1:1)
Apocalypses of GOD’s judgment on proud nations, people, and countries have happened often in the past, are happening now, and will happen again in the future.
GOD IS GOOD
The word GOD is a contraction of the English word GOOD.
GOD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust Him - Nahum 1:7.
As the modern saying goes:
GOD is good all the time, and all the time, GOD is good.
If you’re like most, you see disease, war, famine, and death as horrible events that can serve no good in this world.
In addition, someone teaching that God sends the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse to proud nations for the ultimate good of this world might offend you.
Many can’t see the good in God sending the 4 Horsemen because they can’t fathom the magnitude of wickedness that springs from man’s pride and arrogance.
Pride is at the top of GOD’s list of the seven most deadly sins (see Proverbs 6:16)
Pride makes man defy GOD.
Pride makes an empire defy GOD. Pride makes a nation defy GOD. Pride makes a city defy GOD. Pride makes a people defy GOD. Pride makes a person defy GOD.
PRIDE darkens, deafens, and diminishes GOD’s glory, greatness, and goodness.
When a man pulls back a bow and fires an arrow through the heart of a deer, people praise that man. But when that same man pulls back a bow and fires an arrow through another human’s heart, people will justly condemn the man.
What’s the difference? It’s the same action, the same bow, and the same arrow?
The difference is the target.
Being proud and arrogant is supremely evil and wicked when the target is GOD.
GOD sending the 4 Horsemen of disease, war, famine, and death to break people's pride and arrogance is ultimately good. The arrogant are humbled and begin to see the Creator's immanence, transcendence, and glorious attributes.
GOD brings down the proud.
“Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
Declares the Lord GOD of armies.
“For your day has come,
The time when I will punish you.”
The Rise and Fall of Nations
The video above shows the rise and fall of European nations since 400 B.C.
The history of the world shows that proud empires fall by disease, conquest (war), famine (economic collapse), and sudden death - the 4 Horsemen.
I’ll give you a few examples of the death of proud empires.
EGYPT (1447 BC) - GOD sent plagues of conquest, war, famine, and death to overthrow the proud and abusive Egyptian government.
ASSYRIA (609 BC) - 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died by a “plague” (Isaiah 10:16), and the mighty Assyrian army was weakened until it was conquered in 609 BC by Babylon.
BABYLON (539 BC) - as an empire, Babylon lasted 70 years (609 - 539 BC), just as GOD said it would in Jeremiah 25:11-12. The historic Babylonian empire symbolizes all proud nations from Genesis (the Tower of Babel) to Revelation (mystery Babylon).
GOD is King over all kings and LORD over all empires.
GOD raises and protects humble people and nations.
GOD brings down proud people and proud nations.
GOD calls on every nation and all peoples to obey the Laws of Nature.
GOD brings down every proud nation and empire that forsakes Him.
PERSIA (331 BC) - began with humble origins. Cyrus, King of Persia, conquered Babylon (see Daniel 5), and GOD called Cyrus “My Messiah” (see Isaiah 45:1). But the latter kings of Persia became proud and arrogant. GOD sent Alexandar the Great of Macedon (Greece) to humble the people of Persia (modern Iran).
GREECE (146 BC) - The proud Grecian king Alexander died of syphilis at age 32 while living in the ancient palace of Babylon, having just conquered the Persians who had conquered the Babylonians. Daniel 11 tells us that God “raised Alexandar” to defeat the proud Persians. After Alexander’s death, his empire was divided among his four generals, and Greece “ruled the world” until Rome conquered the Greeks in the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC, and the Greek nation became subject to Rome. The last Greek “monarch” was Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, who died by suicide in Egypt in 30 BC.
ROME (AD 476 ) - The proud Roman empire came to a tragic end when the Barbarians broke down the gates of Rome and conquered the Western Roman Empire. Before Rome’s fall in AD 476, the Roman Empire had been struck by multiple pandemics, an economic collapse, and wars on several fronts.
As the barbarians were coming close to the gates of Rome, St. Augustine wrote his classic work The City of God, encouraging people to trust GOD, for only the humble can usher in peace. Governments are only needed, said Augustine, because people are proud, evil, and wicked.
THE MIDDLE AGES (AD 500 - 1500) - Nations, empires, and countries would rise and fall, and countries' boundaries often changed based on conquest, disease, famine, and death. The Black Plague changed the entire map of the world in the 1300s.
THE MODERN ERA (1500 - PRESENT) - From the Holy Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire, from the rise of Japanese Imperialism to the Third Reich, from the fall of kings to the rise of communism, to the present-day empires of the United States, China, Russia, and Muslim Republics, the same universal principle applies.
“GOD sets the boundaries of people and nations, determining their appointed times in history. GOD has done this so that every person would long for HIM, feel their way to Him, and find Him—for GOD is easy to discover” (Acts 16:26-27)
GOD is easy to discover except by those PRIDE BLINDS.
GOD sends 4 Horsemen to humble proud nations and people so they may find HIM.
What makes you think you’re living in “the time of the end of the world?” Where do you get that idea? Have you read the sacred Scriptures? Do you know your history?
All empires upon God depend;
Begun by His command, at His command they end.
Look up to Him in all your ways,
Begin with pray'r and end with praise.
Händel’s “Belshazzar” - Scene II, Chorus
A MAN AS AN EMPIRE UNTO HIMSELF
In the final two Substacks of this 4 Horsemen series, I will show how the GOSPEL of Jesus the Messiah is a beautiful portrayal of God’s goodness toward sinners.
Yeshua, GOD in the flesh (Immanuel), “humbled himself and became obedient to the cross,” bearing the just punishment of death and destruction for our rebellion to GOD.
The evidence that the LIFE OF GOD has taken up residence IN THE SOUL OF MAN is the humility it takes to “die to yourself and your desires” and “take up your cross and follow Jesus.”
Just as GOD brings down proud empires and raises humble empires, GOD also brings down the proud person and exalts the humble person.
So, I talk to myself every day.
Wade, don’t be a tall tree.
Stay humble before GOD.
See others better than yourself.
There’s no need to defend your reputation.
Don’t trust in government; don’t trust in the economy; don’t trust in your health or your power or any institutional power to keep the family safe.
Wade, trust GOD.
CLOSING THOUGHT:
Even the humble suffer the consequences of disease, war and conquest, famine, and even the sudden death of a country or a loved one.
What’s the difference between humble and proud regarding the 4 Horsemen?
The good GOD who sends the 4 Horsemen is like a good surgeon about to cut your body.
You don’t stop the surgeon from cutting because you know the good is coming.
The GOOD TO COME in PARTS III and IV
This post, Part II of the four-part series on the 4 Horsemen, is free and can be shared with others.
Parts III and IV of this series will explain how the 4 Horsemen drive proud sinners to repentance and bring them to eternal prosperity.
Rachelle and I could not do ministry through Istoria Ministries without you.
The best we can do is to make sure we are individually sustaining as this nation - what is left of it - is on oxygen support and at the 23rd hour or if in baseball terms, bottom of the ninth, 2nd out. We are beyond any repair.