War by its very definition means a period of open and declared armed fighting between states or nations. Who am I to say that I just don’t understand why wars exist as a means of declaring power over another state or nation for whatever reason? I do know that the longer the Ukrainian war goes on with Russia, I want to find refuge in the Bible. I need peace; the world needs peace.
There are three books of the Bible that speak to the four things that occur with war…destruction, famine, wild beasts, and the plague. In the Old Testament, Zechariah and Ezekiel speak about these four things being punishments from God. In the New Testament, Revelation in particular, speaks about there being a scroll of God’s that contains seven seals. When Judah opens the first four seals, four horsemen are summoned, riding on white, red, black, and pale horses. These horsemen are summoned by the Lord to patrol the earth and help to keep it peacefully at rest.
The book of Ezekiel speaks about four horsemen that represent the sword, famine, wild beasts, and the plague. The first horseman carries a bow, is given a crown, and rides a white horse. Theologians feel this is symbolic of pestilence, Christ, or the Antichrist. The second horseman carries a sword, rides a red horse, and is the creator of civil war. The third horseman is a food merchant, rides the black horse, and carries scales. The fourth horseman rides the pale horse and brings death accompanied by Hades. The horsemen were given authority over a quarter of the earth. They were also instructed to kill by the sword, famine, plague, and by means of beasts of the earth or natural disasters.
In the book of Zechariah, the four horsemen were pulling chariots and symbolically represented the spirits of heaven, going from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. They were to patrol the earth and keep it peaceful. When tribulations happened and peace was taken away, they were to terrify the people of the places they patrolled. Compared to the book of Ezekiel, the four horsemen were to follow wherever the spirit led them, without shying away from problems. In Ezekiel, the four horsemen were symbolic of the four disastrous judgments placed on the idolatrous elders of Israel.
What influenced me to write about the four horsemen was my watching the movie, “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” One statement made in the movie really brought me to this point. “No man really loves life unless he is willing to die for it.” In the movie, the four horsemen represented conquest, war, pestilence, and death. In my opinion, all four of these horsemen are at work in the Ukrainian war with Russia. To protect their freedoms and their land, the Ukrainians are facing all four of these concerns. They love their country, culture, and history, and they are willingly dying for it. No matter what it takes or however long war remains, the people of the Ukraine are putting up a great fight against the Satan called Putin and his government.
As protests continue in Russia, I believe that the everyday Russian doesn’t want war, doesn’t want 10,000 young men to come home draped in flags, and loves their culture and their land just as much as the Ukrainians do. So why are they fighting? If it’s not for culture, land, language, or resources, it must be because of a man conquered by Satan, Putin. As a misdirected comment made by President Biden sent the wrong message to Russia, I believe his premise was correct. This Satan must be taken out of the equation. As I think of what it must feel like to be a country that has been over-run by so many other countries and the hatred that has caused, the people of Russia are not all creatures of the Evil one. When I visited Stalingrad back in 2004, I saw a people who couldn’t see hope and light because it has been trampled on for centuries. Although many elders have kept their beliefs in God, overall, most Russians don’t believe in Him because the government forcefully closed the churches in the early 1900’s. Christ has no home in Russia because it was illegal to believe in Him, punishable by torture and death.
The four horsemen ride again in this war, a war that cries out for respect, hope, and love. It is a curse because the world hasn’t learned from the times of Cain and Abel. Even further back in time, we haven’t learned from when the serpent tempted Adam and Eve. When will we learn to be respectful and loving of our neighbors? I believe the time is now when every nation on the earth rises up to say, “NO MORE WAR, NO MORE PAIN, NO MORE LUST FOR ANOTHER’S POSSESSIONS.” If enough of us are willing to love what we have and what we have become through the power of the Holy Trinity, we won’t need to die for some self-centered dictator. Life will be what Christ died for us on the cross, and our sins will be forgiven. Christ’s Resurrection will give us a new life, and we will be resurrected to a new world. That truth, light, and way are what God gave us with the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The four horsemen will never ride again, and love will reign in our hearts.
Anna Hartt
