The Birth Pains

      In the Olivet discourse found in Mathew 24 and 25, Jesus puts forth a timeline of events leading up to His second coming. He refers to false Christs, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines in various places, as "birth pains." He tells us not to be frightened, as the end is not yet (Matthew 24:4-8). 

     The opening of the seven seals in Revelation 6 follow this timeline remarkably. The rider on a white horse is representative of the emergence of a leader who will ultimately be revealed as the Antichrist (Rev 6:2). This leader will be a deceiver, and will usher in an age of deception that the world has not yet seen (Matt 24:4-5, 24). 

     Wars and rumors of wars (Matt 24:6-7), are those conflicts solidifying the beast kingdom of the Antichrist. The opening of the second seal (Rev 6:3-4), unleashes war and conflict upon the earth. Although it is true that we have had countless wars throughout the ages, the conflicts mentioned here will be those conflicts taking place within the final seven year period known as the great tribulation, and to be more specific, those conflicts taking place within the first 3 1/2 years. 

     Jesus mentions famines in various places (Matt 24:7). This corresponds to Revelation 6:5-6, where a rider on a black horse is released at the breaking of the third seal. This rider is carrying a pair of scales in his hand. A voice is heard saying, " A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine." A denarious was the equivelant of a days wages. Take your paycheck, and figure out what you make in one day. Imagine paying that amount for a quart of wheat?  The breaking of this seal releases economic collapse, and famine, at least to a certain extent into the world.

     Could it be that the conflicts taking place at this time in the middle east effect the oil trade?  Something of this nature could have a devastating impact on the economies of many nations. And could something like this set up the emergence of the Antichrist system, where the only means of trade will be by taking a mark (Rev 13:16-17)? At any rate, we see the devastation that war creates in our world today. Displaced people, starvation, poverty, are all inevitable results of war. 

     Jesus states that these things are merely the birth pains, and as a pregnancy is nearing its end, the labor pains intensify, which leads us to the next seal, the rider on an ashen horse (Rev 6:7-8).