The Horses Are Running: Are We Ready?

A past experience on a horse taught me an important lesson about readiness. What can we learn as we prepare for the ride of the four horsemen of Revelation?

Years ago, my wife and I visited a friend and his wife who own horses. As an equestrian, my friend is very concerned with horse safety—and for good reason! Horses are powerful animals, and a mistake made while riding a horse can injure or kill someone.

Prior to letting someone ride his horses, my friend takes time to teach about safety, preparing the person for how to react if the horse is spooked or takes off. Specifically, he shows how to pull back on the reins to stop the horse if it starts running.

On this day, I was riding a horse named Pearl. We had been out for a nice morning ride and were nearing the barn. Suddenly Pearl saw home and bolted! The sudden sprint startled me, and I yanked the reins hard. Thankfully, we stopped without incident.

I was ready for this situation and knew what to do only because Ron had taught me the proper response. I was not thrown, injured—or worse, killed. There is a lesson in this for you and for me.

Several years ago, I heard a minister close a Feast sermon with these words: “The horses are running. Am I ready?”

What horses?

Longtime students of the Bible recognize this as a reference to the four horseman of Revelation 6. These four horsemen represent the rise of false religion, the horror of war, the scourge of rampant famine and widespread death.

To varying degrees, these four horses have been running since the apostle John was inspired to describe them late in the first century. These horses are still running now. Consider:

• The white horse. Papal popularity has risen because of Pope Francis’ soft stance on hot-button moral issues and his overall warm personality. Will this affect Europe? Time will tell.

• The red horse. The ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict continues to simmer with another intifada possible after the recent actions of some Israelis on the Temple Mount. The civil war in Syria is still raging, spawning the horrific violence of the ISIS movement. And the Ukrainian/Russian war has raged throughout 2014. Will the tenuous cease-fire hold? And how will this affect global geopolitics? Time will tell.

• The black horse. According to the World Food Programme, an organization that fights hunger worldwide, 805 million people in the world have insufficient food to lead healthy lives.

• The pale horse. The Ebola epidemic has taken on overtones perhaps not seen since the worldwide influenza pandemic after World War I. President Barak Obama recently called it a threat to global security. Even though Ebola will likely be brought under control, scientists warn that more deadly superviruses may be on the horizon.  

When we understand the prophetic truths behind the four horsemen (especially in the light of Matthew 24), we get a glimpse of what the Great Tribulation will look like.

Ready for the horses?

When these horses take their final ride, will we be ready? Jeremiah 12:5 poses this challenge: “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?” In other words, if we are not handling life now, how will we handle life in the future when these prophecies see their ultimate fulfillment? If we are not getting ready now, how will we get ready then? God’s people must be prepared!

How do we prepare for this time? There is an important formula revealed in Ezra 7:10: “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

Prepare, seek and do

The Hebrew word for prepared has the sense of being set up, firmly established. We have to be ready in many ways—including being ready to “give an answer” (1 Peter 3:15, King James Version) and being spiritually strong enough to “stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).

The main thing we are to seek is “the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).

To do means to act upon what we understand. We must use the knowledge we gain from God’s Word to change our lives! “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

Just as I needed to be prepared in case Pearl bolted for the barn, you and I must be prepared for that day when the four horses will make their final run!

To learn more, read “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: What Are They?”