The Rider of the Pale Horse

 

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8 ESV).

 

The fourth horseman is too familiar to us. More than 350,000 Americans died of COVID-19 in 2020. According to preliminary weekly data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All causes, as of April 26, 2021, 3,427,321 people died in America. In comparison, 2,854,838 people died in 2019, meaning at least 572,000 more people died in 2020 than 2019 according to preliminary estimates. Using the estimate of the 2020 population from the Census Bureau, the death rate in 2020 was 10.4 deaths per 1,000, the highest death rate since 1943. This picture represents death and grief disrupting our lives. Perhaps you are feeling death’s dreadful presence today. My prayer for you is that our gracious God would give you comfort and peace.

 

Death is always a terrible intruder, regardless of its coming to claim people in large numbers or in the sudden death of a person we love. The Holy Spirit has given us powerful pictures to embrace for a time such as this. We have the good news of Christ’s coming and of his rising on Easter Sunday morning, announcing death’s defeat. We also have comforting pictures of Jesus grieving with those who mourn. Jesus wept with Mary and Martha over their brother Lazarus’s death (cf. John 11:33-35). Jesus weeps with us too when this rider on the pale horse comes.

 

Jesus also knows this horseman as his “last enemy to be destroyed” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:26). And God’s great story closes with John announcing, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’” in which God will “wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:1-4). This is the hope we have in Christ. While John sees these great calamities come, he also understands they are like the pain of childbirth. They will lead to great blessing. Take comfort in the truth that we are closer than ever to that time of restoration and eternal life.