Julius Caesar Red Symbols

6:2 AND I SAW, AND BEHOLD, A WHITE HORSE,––The living creature speaking with God’s authority calls forth the future, and onto the stage of future history comes a “white horse,” the symbol of victorious war.––AND ITS RIDER HAD A BOW;––Not the short sword or symbolic weapon of Rome, but rather it was the symbolic weapon of both its enemy the Parthians and of its next Emperor, Nerva, the first non-Italian Roman Emperor. Nerva was from Crete, where the “bow” is its symbolic or traditional weapon.––AND A CROWN WAS GIVEN TO HIM, AND HE WENT OUT CONQUERING AND TO CONQUER––The crown referred to here is the garland of victory (stephanos), not the royal crown (diadem). Thus this period was to be a period of great military conquest. From 96 a A.D. to

This is a symbol of carnage or bloody battle.––ITS RIDER WAS PERMITTED TO TAKE PEACE FROM THE EARTH,––The Roman world had known the Roman peace (Pax Romana) for centuries. They had lived without threat of violence or war during this period as long as they cooperated with Rome. That was all to change as “peace” was taken “from the earth.”––SO THAT MEN SHOULD SLAY ONE ANOTHER; AND HE WAS GIVEN A GREAT SWORD.––Peace was mainly taken by civil war rather than exterior enemies, since “men should slay one another.” The amount of death and upheaval was to be significant, as symbolized by the rider being “given a great sword.” This period (192–284 A.D.) following the golden century saw 92 years of civil war and confusion. Thirty-two emperors and twenty-seven claimants to the throne kept the Empire in constant warfare and disorder. The red, black, and pale horses perfectly symbolize this tragic period in which the Empire moves from its greatest height to near

“The altar” in heaven is introduced to indicate the people spoken of here. They are the ones who have sacrificed themselves for Christ in their faithfulness to Him. Another possible meaning to “the altar” is the altar of incense, symbolic of prayer, that was in the tabernacle. The presence of these martyrs in heaven was like a continual prayer in God’s mind petitioning for His judgment upon the evil that took their lives. Notice they are called “souls” here and not bodies. The resurrection has not yet occurred which reunites them with their bodies (I Cor. 15:42–49). Men have died for many things throughout the ages, but these are the most noble of all, for they have sacrificed their lives “for the word of God” and their “witness” for Jesus. The “word of God” is a phrase meaning the message preached and taught by the early church and includes the gospel.

6:10 THEY CRIED OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, Here we learn their prayer. “O SOVEREIGN LORD, HOLY AND TRUE, HOW LONG BEFORE THOU WILT JUDGE AND AVENGE OUR BLOOD ON THOSE WHO DWELL UPON THE EARTH?”––It was inconceivable that God in His justice should not bring judgment upon the evil men and institutions who had slain Christians. The only questions were when and why God was