Echoes From the Campfire

I have sometimes noticed that the people who preach peace so fervently are doing it from a comfortable place—often after a good meal.  It’s quite another thing when you face armed men in the night in a lonely place, men who have no standards beyond their own selfish interests.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Callaghen)

    “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death.”
              –Proverbs 11:4 (NASB)
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Pandemic!  Ha, and that’s not to demean what is taking place.  In one sense of the word, it is a pandemic for the virus spread rapidly across the word and many died.  It does not come close to the 1918 influenza pandemic in which 40-80 million died.  I might also mention, one reason for the wide spread of 40 million is that no one really knows how many died in China; sounds strangely familiar.
    But folks, the world hasn’t seen nothing yet!  The Lamb, Jesus, is opening the Fourth Seal–the Pale Horse.  The COVID-19 epidemic will be like going to a Sunday School picnic compared to what is coming to the world.

         “When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, ‘Come’ I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
                    –Revelation 6:7-8 (NASB)

An “ashen horse” often translated as a “pale horse” and notice the name of its rider–Death.  The first time I saw the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and the dark riders appeared bring evil and darkness upon the earth I thought of Death riding the Pale Horse.  In my mind I see the Pale Horse as almost albino, a greenish color, the color of pus and infection.  Notice the wording, there may be an indication of a fifth horse ridden by Hades, or some translations, Hell.
    This will not be a happy time on earth.  There will be great travail and death will be rampant.  There are people today clamoring that the world must depopulate; well, they will get their wish for a fourth of the inhabitants of the earth will die in one way or another.  They will die from war, from famine, and from pestilence, and there is one added factor–wild beasts.
    No matter what apocalypse film you may have seen, it will not come close to depicting how horrible it will be for those who miss the Rapture.  Let me reiterate here that the Church has been removed; the “salt” that once flavored and seasoned the earth is no longer there.  Evil is now rampant.  God will not pour out His wrath on the “Bride.”  Look at what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

         “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come….  For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
                     –1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9 (NASB)

Imagine people being torn apart and eaten by wild beasts on the streets of Chicago.  Imagine food shortages and a pandemic much worse than the coronavirus on the streets of Atlanta, or the nation’s capitol.  To get food a person will have to carry the “mark” of the Antichrist–the dreaded, and often mocked, “Mark of the Beast.”  It will be a terrible time, but yet, the worse is still to come.  That’s why now–today–is the day of salvation.  Wake up, for our redemption draws nigh.