What’s next? Uncertainty? Isolation? Masking identities? Social distancing? What will authorities do next to save us? Asking for a friend.
The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are recorded in chapter 6 in the Book of the Revelation, not that these harbingers may come in 2020, but just in case anyone was curious. The first horseman is riding a white horse and carrying a bow but no arrows. The second horseman is riding a red horse and carrying a great sword. The third horseman is riding a black horse and carrying a pair of measuring scales. The fourth horseman is named Death and he is riding an ashen horse followed by Hades.
The first horseman represents conquest by consolidating powers, i.e. ruling over the powers-that-be. What are the powers-that-be in today’s world? Are any of these powers jockeying for positions at the head of the race? Could a coalition of powers form a global entity to rule over the whole world?
The second horseman represents war. History teaches us that the reaction to global domination has always been rebellion and revolution. In America’s corner of the globe we can’t seem to unify our own citizenry which is a mere 4-percent of the world’s population. If we can’t even agree to live together, how can the rest of the world unite? What if all peoples and nations broke out into war simultaneously?
The third horseman represents famine. Is that possible today? In April the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley told the UN security council, “While dealing with a Covid-19 pandemic, we are also on the brink of a hunger pandemic.” He continued, “There is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of Covid-19 than from the virus itself.” WFP projected this year 270-million people could face crisis levels of hunger or worse.
The fourth horseman represents the personification of Death followed by Hades. Well, that can’t be good! They have power over a fourth of the earth “to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” One-fourth of 8-billion people would be 2-billion people. Things surely can get dicey when everything hits at once! And, we’ve only made it through seven months of 2020 so far!
But wait! There’s more! Never let a crisis go to waste, right? Somebody’s going to have to pay for this. In this particular story Christians are to blame. Why? Seriously, does there really have to be a reason? The world will slaughter and martyr Christians to appease the gods of political correctness. Those crusades will be followed by great earthquakes and atmospheric phenomena of biblical proportions. Pretty scary, huh?
Those things that used to sound so unbelievable like worldwide cataclysms don’t appear to be that far-fetched any more. I mean, we’re living in 2020, a year that could easily vie for the worst year ever.
The COVID-19 pandemic would have been bad enough without help from authorities trying to control the rest of us. How have we done fighting this pandemic? How much farther do we have to go? We’re approaching uncertain times and challenge from the pandemic, social stressors, political wars, and economic losses. What will authorities do next?____________________________
Daniel L. Gardner is a syndicated columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.
