The four horsemen of the apocalypse show up in pop culture as a reference for disaster and destruction, and rightly so. As the seals of the scroll are broken by the one standing on the throne the horsemen emerge, are given authority to carry out their destructive ways, and a natural disaster destroys the cosmos leaving the rich, powerful, slave, and free running in terror and crying out, “the great day of wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” If the book of Revelation is a letter from Jesus given to the church for encouragement and warning, how is the church struggling with internal strife, facing external persecution, or comfortable with life as they know it, to hear what John sees? What message is this grotesque and surreal symbolism giving us? As we wade further into the depths of Jesus’ message to his church we see God’s grace and love poured out so that in the face of death and destruction, we too will be able to stand.
