More On The Four

A study of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse reveals the wide variety of interpretations of The Four Horsemen of the Revelation  (Greek = apocalypse) and applications. A prime example is Albrecht Dürer's portrayal. 

Albrecht Dürer's Four Horsemen
1498

The British Museum points out that Albrecht Dürer's 1498 publication of the text of the Book of Revelation secured for him an income for the rest of his life. 

Skilled block cutters cut around his drawn lines to portray pestilence, war, famine and death driving citizens and king alike into the jaws of hell. 

The illustrated Martin Luther Bible has similar images of the Four Horsemen. Cunningham and Grell studied their meaning for Luther (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Religion, War, Famine and Death in Reformation Europe). For Luther and for many supporting the reformation, they write, the white horse and its rider point to the Second Coming of Christ and the Day of Judgment when the godly will be saved and the ungodly punished. The arrows represent God's wrath and punishment and the bow is a symbol of God's covenant with His elected people. This interpretation was also facilitated by Dürer's woodcut. Dürer was an early follower of Luther. And he was not unique among the early evangelicals who saw Luther as an apocalyptic prophet who preached the Gospel and announced the commencement of the final period of world history. 

Christopher Cameron Smith, an aspiring scholar of Islamic studies,  in a blog about Martin Luther on the Turks (and Islam), based upon a paper written for a course on Luther and the Reformation, points out that many Protestants fled to Ottoman lands when their "Christian" rulers oppressed them. This, he says, is precisely why you cannot understand the Reformation without seeing what role 16th century Ottoman expansion played in European thought.  

Regardless of where you come down in your interpretation of the Four Horsemen, it is clear that we are in the final period of world history. 

How Lutherans Interpret Prophecy

Dreams and visions continue to be controversial and widely discussed even in these materialistic days when many reject the idea that there are spirits and a spiritual realm inaccessible to human science. Many believe people can foretell the future, that they have the ability to see beyond the present in their dreams and visions. Christians are also very interested in prophecy, visions and dreams, especially since they are a prominent part of Holy Scripture. Do these visions foretell what is about to happen in our day?

Many teach that the ancient prophecies of Ezekiel, Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John (Revelation) do just that. Books by the score interpret these books in order to reveal to us what is to happen in this century. For instance, I ran across "The Approaching Apocalypse: A New Interpretation of Daniel and Revelation" by Michael Fortner. Fortner describes himself as "a researcher, inventor, book collector, IT repair and overall fix it guy." He has a complex website: Bible Prophecy Revealed. He writes in the introduction to his New Interpretation book,

"One of those seven heads, the one that had the fatal wound, will rise again, but it will not be the Roman Empire, but one of the two Islamic empires. The Ottoman Empire ruled for more than six hundred years; it was wounded in the 1800s but given the fatal wound during World War I. The nation of Turkey was formed from what was left of the Ottoman Empire. The national flag of Turkey is the same as the Ottoman Empire’s, and is red in color. It will rise again as the scarlet beast from the Abyss described in Revelation 17."

He quotes Anthony Dennis, "The Rise of the Islamic Empire and the Threat to the West," (Wyndham Hall Press, 2001),

"In short, the coming Islamic Empire will be a world power in every sense of the word, whose people will share a vibrant religion and a common Islamic culture. Like its Muslim predecessors, the Islamic Empire of the early 21st Century will also have an appetite for territorial expansion and military conquest. A modern, worldwide jihad against non-Muslim populations and societies complete with nuclear weapons promises to bring the highest casualty rates in the history of mankind. World War III, if it does come, will probably occur between the Islamic Bloc and the Western nations. It will be the deadliest war ever fought by humanity." 

Fortner goes on to claim that the NT book of Revelation "reveals the history and details of the beast (Islam) and how and when it will rise to power. Although a few Christians are beginning to wake up to the threat of Islam, most Christians in America are still asleep. They are unconcerned because they think they are going in a pre-tribulation Rapture! It is time to open your eyes to the threat; open your eyes to the truth!"

In the next days I shall explore with you how we Lutherans and the historical Christian church approach these portions of Scripture and suggest what they mean to us. Do we believe that the rise of Islam is predicted in the Bible? What do we believe and teach about the anti-Christ, the rapture, the beast arising from the pit, the return of Christ, etc.? Stay tuned.