When reading the Biblical prophecies, many modernists may find themselves unable to understand why in 21st Century Jesus Christ would come back on a horse. Why not a floating throne, a flying saucer, a chariot powered by something similar to drones, and so forth? The Scriptures testify that Jesus shall return on a horse, "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God." (Revelation 19:11-13). Why a horse? Wouldn't it be more spectacular if Christ came on something akin to Ezekiel Chapter One, or perhaps a ship of some kind? The reason Jesus shall return on a horse is to fulfill the promised role of Messiah ruler (see my last post). Christ first came on donkey, a beast of burden, to bear sin, but this time He comes a second time as the conquering King that Jews are expecting the Messiah to be; they missed the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53).
Aside from importance of the horse as symbolism, the Alpha and Omega is restoring all things. Mankind in its quest to play creator has destroyed life. Once man rode upon steads, fine horses that are living creatures, created by God (John 1:3), and that had relationship with man. Now machines have replaced creatures that are living, machines even replace man in many jobs. The Lord Jesus Christ is going to remove Man's creation of death. Yes, since the Garden of Eden, man has not only invented murder (see Genesis 3), but also means through technology to bring death to God's pastures, plains, creatures, and even Himself. Jesus comes on a horse to say He is king, but also it is to remind us that God wants His creation to be as it should be. A car is a codependent inanimate object, a car cannot know you, love you, or learn from you like a horse or dog. The Creator and Savior is a God of Life, "I Am the Way, The Truth, and The Life." (John 14:6). Jesus intends to scrap these mechanical abominations that have divided us from the rest of creation, and even from each other. Even the saints shall join Him, "The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean." (Revelation 19:14).
The Prophet Jeremiah aptly describes the state of creation today, ""My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn aside on the mountains; They have gone along from mountain to hill And have forgotten their resting place." (Jeremiah 23:1). People have left the pasture, and sought the pleasure of cities. Where once sequoias stood are now skyscrapers; where mountains were seen now massive TV screens are displayed hundreds of stories high. God's creation is slowly being eroded, the cries of the living things can be heard, "For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed." (Romans 8:19). I believe that Christ is coming with Life, riding on living breathing stead rather than something powered by gears and steam, electricity, or crystals. For our God is one who is Life, He is the Resurrection Life (John 11:25) and all life was made thru Him, "He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men," (John 1:2-5) and "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see--such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him." (Colossians 1:15-16). Christ made everything, from creeping things to cute ones, from cosmos to the creek beds to cockroaches (Genesis 1:1-31).
The Triune God is a God of Life, and our world has become death. I believe Jesus will not use a Globus Cruciger type space ship, chariot, and flying UFO because it would scare people, not fit Scripture, and make the strange deceived alien obsessed people get the wrong notions about Him and His purposes. I wrote once in post, that I believe Jesus who is God does everything in a way that makes mankind feel safe, and natural; He came into the world (Luke 2:1-20) as every person does, naturally as child through a womb, rather than sprouting as an adult or descending in a orb from space like Superman. In the same way, I believe the Lord God will use what is familiar to us, His own creation, riding a horse to make war on the nations (Revelation 19:11-16), something natural to us and not strange.
The Lord God is a God of Life who wants His whole creation, His spectacular divine painting of life to be together. The idea of man being on a horse, and that horse growing to love the rider, knowing what rider wants before he does it while riding along, and knowing the rider cares for it with carrots, shelter, a troth, brushing, and more; a relationship. Jesus is a God of relationship, of love (1 John 4:8), and connection. His creation connects, and this is why He will restore us to interacting with His superior models of transport, and more. The grain of the earth, oats sprout from the source of Life (John 14:6) and feed the horse which is alive, and the horse defecates (poops) onto the ground creating manure that makes the soil yield better returns, and we get benefit of riding on the horse instead of walking. This connection is like recycling on steroids, but it has relationship at the core.
Before us everyday is God's Creation to wow, wonder, and work. Oxen know how to plow, horses to transport, birds to gather, dogs to clean up messes, and so forth. The Lord made all, and God made us lord of the creatures (Genesis 2). In are desire for self satisfaction, conveyance, pleasure, and so called advancement, we abandon the creation for make shift machines that steal our lives, and separate us from God's creation on a daily basis. Certainly they have uses, but they cannot relate to us. Good for this post even, but not in connection. Christ is coming back and the words of Prophet Isaiah shall be fulfilled, "In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9). We experience the redemption from the curse in Eden through Emmanuel, thru Jesus Christ's blood, death, and resurrection (Ephesians 1:7, Romans 3:24, Galatians 3:13). But the rest of creation is waiting for their redemption, when antelope need fear no more alligators, the little rabbit no longer fear lions, and sons of men no longer fear sharks. For the animals came under curse just as we did, and they are promised redemption, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us." (Romans 8:19-23). This is what Christ will do, and Him riding in on a horse is a sign of it, that now the beasts and creatures shall share in glory of their Creator and play their part under the Children of God! This is why we weep when baby penguins perish in the frozen tundra, or poor defenseless animal is harmed for no reason; because they too seek a day without death, and the Conqueror of Death and Resurrection Life will restore them when He returns (Revelation 1:7).
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