While we argue about politics, celebrities, and whatever nonsense is trending today, another Christian community in Nigeria is burying its dead.
Gunmen attacked the Bin Mper community in Nigeria’s Plateau State this week, killing at least 25 people. International Christian Concern reports that 24 of the victims were Christians.
This isn’t new. Christian communities in central Nigeria have endured years of attacks, killings, burned villages, and displacement. The reasons behind the violence are complicated—land, ethnicity, politics, religion—but one fact shouldn’t get lost in all that: Christians are being killed, and most of us barely hear about it.
The Four Horsemen Weren’t a First-Century Marvel Movie
When John’s original readers heard “Four Horsemen,” they probably didn’t imagine four supernatural cowboys waiting to invade the twenty-first century. They recognized an ancient warning: empire, war, famine, and death travel together.
The Four Horsemen appear in Revelation 6, after John is taken up in a vision, sees God upon His throne, and watches the Lamb—Jesus Christ—receive the sealed scroll containing God’s purposes for judgment and redemption. As the Lamb opens the first four seals, the horsemen ride out in sequence: conquest leads to war, war produces famine, and famine ends in death. Their appearance shows what happens when human rebellion, violent empire, and the lust for power are allowed to run their course. But the horsemen are not running the show. Each rider is summoned only after the Lamb opens a seal.
This scene moves John’s vision from heavenly worship to earthly suffering and sets up Revelation’s central conflict: corrupt kingdoms may bring devastation for a time, but the slain and risen Lamb will judge evil, vindicate His people, and ultimately establish God’s kingdom.
John drew the imagery from Zechariah 1:8–11 and 6:1–8, where colored horses and chariots are sent throughout the earth. Revelation reshapes that Old Testament imagery into a terrifying procession of conquest, war, famine, and death.
The white horse carries a bow and receives a victor’s crown. Many scholars interpret him as military conquest—possibly evoking the Parthians, Rome’s feared bow-carrying enemies.
The red horse removes peace and carries a machaira—a short sword commonly associated with violence and bloodshed. This isn’t merely two nations politely declaring war. It includes rebellion, civil conflict, and people slaughtering one another.
Then comes the black horse, carrying scales:
“A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny.” — Revelation 6:6, KJV
The Greek choinix—translated “measure”—was roughly one person’s daily grain ration. A denarius—the KJV’s “penny”—was an entire day’s wage. Translation: work all day, buy enough wheat to feed yourself, and watch your family go hungry. Barley was cheaper, lower-quality survival food.
Then comes the puzzling command: “Hurt not the oil and the wine.” Oil and wine were not simply rich-people luxuries; ordinary people used them too. The line may picture selective or limited scarcity: grain is devastated while longer-lasting olive trees and grapevines survive. Either way, the economy is badly broken—and suffering isn’t evenly distributed. Sound familiar?
Finally, the pale horse is actually chloros—a sickly green-gray, like a corpse. Its rider is explicitly named Death, with Hades—the realm of the dead—following behind.
The broad interpretive consensus is that the riders symbolize the repeating chain of conquest, violence, scarcity, and death—realities John’s readers knew under Roman power. Realities that nearly every generation in human history have known, or will know.
That is interpretation: what the vision communicated to them.
Application asks what it says to us. The horsemen still ride whenever fallen human nature produces war, economic misery, and graves. Revelation isn’t giving us four celebrity villains to identify in some distant future. It is exposing the brutal machinery of a rebellious world—and reminding us that the Lamb, not the horsemen, opens the seals and will ultimately rule.
Greetings, and thank you for taking a look at the Bible Rebel blog and newsletter. We hope you continue to find our content informative and that it inspires your curious, fearless faith.
Demand Some Answers From Your Pastor/Preacher/Priest
How comfortable is your brand of Christianity? Do you just sit in a pew on Sunday, or do you stand on the Truth every day?
Do you ask hard questions of the pooh-bahs of Churchianity, or do you just accept the doctrinal traditions they are spoon-feeding their congregations?
Questions like these:
Does God send kids who don’t “accept Jesus” to eternal torture in a flaming hell?
If Grandma is alive and strumming a harp in heaven right now, why should we mourn her death?
Why does God allow so much pain, death, and suffering in the world?
If God has already decided everything that’s going to happen, why should I pray for my friend to recover from a disease?
Where does the Bible clearly and explicitly teach that God is three-in-one and one-in-three?
Why did Jesus have to die in order for me to be saved, and what am I being “saved” from?
Those questions, and many others, should be asked over and over again until the pooh-bahs of Churchianity can answer them with something other than “It’s a mystery we can’t comprehend, brothers and sisters…”
Remember, Jesus reserved some of His strongest words not for pagans or politicians, but for religious leaders.
What is Bible Rebel? Fresh content posted daily (except Sundays) for seekers hungry for truth and relevance outside the stodgy, lifeless confines of Churchianity and the dark, empty hopelessness of atheism and nihilism.
We’ll also be continuing our regular features, guest articles, and series:
Your Life And What Comes After: Plugging Into God’s Forever Plan Now
Armchair Apocalypse
They Said It: Poignant quotes on a variety of topics
Guest articles
And more…
Watchdogs
As always, we’ll be keeping a watchdogs eye on all of the latest political, religious, biblical archaeology, and cultural news and events from around the world and bringing to you in bite-size chunks to keep you informed.
Finally, are you interested in contributing content to Bible Rebel?
Bible Rebel is always looking for interesting, compatible content for our biblerebel.com website/blog. We are accepting writing and video submissions for review and possible publication on our platform.
If you have a teaching series, opinion piece, research piece or other content that fits with the Bible Rebel mission we’d like to see it!
If your content fits our mission and creed, included below, then email it to us at in**@********el.com. Written pieces should be no more than 500 words and video content no longer than 7 minutes – either can be submitted as part of a longer series for consideration.
Do you just sit in a pew on Sunday, or do you stand on the Truth every day?
Do you ask hard questions of the pooh-bahs of Churchianity, or do you just accept the doctrinal traditions they are spoon-feeding their congregations?
Questions like these:
Does God send kids who don’t “accept Jesus” to eternal torture in a flaming hell?
If Grandma is alive and strumming a harp in heaven right now, why should we mourn her death?
Why does God allow so much pain, death, and suffering in the world?
If God has already decided everything that’s going to happen, why should I pray for my friend to recover from a disease?
Where does the Bible clearly and explicitly teach that God is three-in-one and one-in-three?
Why did Jesus have to die in order for me to be saved, and what am I being “saved” from?
Those questions, and many others, should be asked over and over again until the pooh-bahs of Churchianity can answer them with something other than “It’s a mystery we can’t comprehend, brothers and sisters…”
Remember, Jesus reserved some of His strongest words not for pagans or politicians, but for religious leaders.
What is Bible Rebel? Fresh content posted daily (except Sundays) for seekers hungry for truth and relevance outside the stodgy, lifeless confines of Churchianity and the dark, empty hopelessness of atheism and nihilism.
Today, TIME is asking whether a religious revival is happening among Gen Z. Young people are filling Christian conferences and talking openly about faith again. Gallup found that 42% of American men ages 18–29 now consider religion “very important,” up from 28% just a few years earlier.
But pump the brakes on the revival parade. Researchers say there’s no clear evidence—yet—of a nationwide spiritual awakening. Interest is rising in some circles, but curiosity about God isn’t the same as real revival.
Still, something is stirring.
Maybe “create your own truth” hasn’t delivered the meaningful life advertised. Nihilism sounds edgy until you actually have to wake up every morning believing nothing ultimately matters.
Our risen and returning Lord offers something sturdier:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” — John 14:6 (KJV)
Christianity doesn’t offer a customized truth. It offers a living Christ—and asks you to follow Him.
Here are four thoughtful quotes from respected Christian leaders and theologians on the Book of Nahum:
John Calvin (1509–1564) — on the purpose of Nahum’s prophecy: “The design of the Prophet was to comfort the Jews, by showing that God would undertake their cause.”
Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) — on Nahum 1:7: “Right in the middle of the surging flood stands out, like a green island, this most cheering, comforting, and delightful text.”
J. Vernon McGee (1904–1988) — on the central message of Nahum: “Nahum reveals the other side of the attributes of God. God is love, but God is also holy and righteous and good.”
Warren Wiersbe (1929–2019) — on Nineveh’s coming judgment: “God had patiently dealt with Nineveh, but now His judgment was going to fall.”
While everybody was busy arguing about whatever went viral yesterday, two stories involving Christians went mostly unnoticed.
In Sudan, a Christian pastor was reportedly executed along with six others after being detained by an armed faction in the Nuba Mountains. The Rev. Adil Idris Jangoul of the Sudanese Episcopal Church was taken from his church residence in July; his body was later found with six members of the Otoro ethnic group. Sudan’s civil war involves a messy mixture of political, tribal, ethnic and resource conflicts—but recent reports indicate that church leaders and Christian communities are particularly vulnerable. — International Christian Concern, Aug. 11; Open Doors, Aug. 12 (Persecution.org)
Meanwhile, a Nigerian court has handed a Christian convert an important religious-freedom victory. The ruling prohibits Kano State and its Hisbah religious police from pursuing a young woman for converting from Islam to Christianity. The ruling itself came earlier, but the case was publicized internationally this week by ADF International. — ADF International, Aug. 11 (Alliance Defending Freedom International)
Here in America, we sometimes call it persecution when somebody mocks us for quoting the Bible and professing our faith. Elsewhere, living for our risen and returning Lord can mean losing your freedom—or your life.
Maybe those stories deserve a little more of our prayerful attention.
And remember the words of Jesus:
“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” — John 15:18 (KJV)
Nicanor is the main character in our short historical fiction episodes showing how the Book of Revelation may have first traveled from Patmos in the Aegean Sea in the first century to the churches in Asia Minor—and eventually to the whole world and people in every age since.
During this “Armchair Apocalypse” series, we’ll follow Nicanor on his travels to better understand the Book of Revelation by exploring the people and the times in which it was first revealed.
The last words of John’s Revelation still hung in the cramped upstairs room in Ephesus. Oil lamps flickered against plaster walls as perhaps twenty believers sat shoulder to shoulder—Jews, Greeks, slaves, merchants, men and women. Jacob ben Ezra, the church elder, had read John’s letter aloud in Greek, and nobody had checked the time. They had heard about beasts, Babylon, persecution, judgment—and a slain Lamb who ultimately conquers.
They knew Rome’s power firsthand. When John wrote of an arrogant empire demanding allegiance and persecuting God’s people, they didn’t need a prophecy chart. They knew what oppressive power looked like. And when they heard Christ say, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life,” they understood that following Jeshua the Messiah might actually cost them theirs.
By sunrise, Nicanor was preparing to leave. He pulled a rough wool cloak over his knee-length tunic, tightened his leather sandals, and secured John’s precious scroll inside a leather wrapping beneath his cloak. Outside, Ephesus was waking up. Merchants shouted in Greek along its broad marble-paved streets. Carts rattled over stone. Sailors called from the harbor. Somewhere beyond the rooftops towered the magnificent Temple of Artemis—a constant reminder that Christianity was definitely not the hometown religion.
Jacob walked with Nicanor toward the road leading north. Before they separated, the elder lowered his voice. “John warned us that many antichrists have already come.” Nicanor knew the words from John’s teaching. An antichrist wasn’t merely some mysterious supervillain waiting thousands of years in the future. John had warned believers about deceivers already operating in their own world—people denying Christ and opposing the truth. “Even now are there many antichrists,” John had written (1 John 2:18 KJV). Jacob gripped Nicanor’s shoulder. “Watch whom you trust.”
Nicanor understood the danger. The scroll hidden beneath his cloak contained language about beasts, kings, Babylon, judgment, and a kingdom that would outlast every earthly empire. To believers, it was hope written in symbols they could recognize from the Hebrew Scriptures and their own world. To Roman authorities who understood its implications, it could sound dangerously subversive.
The Emperor demanded loyalty. John proclaimed Jesus Christ “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” If the letter were discovered and interpreted as defiance of imperial authority, Nicanor could find himself standing before a magistrate—and giving the authorities another excuse to investigate the churches receiving it.
Nicanor tightened his cloak and started north along the Roman road. Behind him, the noise of Ephesus slowly faded. Ahead lay miles of dusty road, roadside shrines, inns, merchants, soldiers, strangers—and plenty of opportunities for the wrong person to ask the wrong question. Beneath his cloak rested a message Rome could never completely suppress: Empires fall. In the end, every knee will bow, not to the Emperor, but to the resurrected and returning Jesus Christ. Evil loses. God wins. Somewhere farther up the road another small gathering of believers waited to hear the Revelation.
For years, skeptics have dismissed parts of the Bible as legends written by ancient people who didn’t know any better. But that narrative keeps getting debunked because archaeologists keep digging stuff up.
Dinesh D’Souza told Fox News that a three-year investigation into biblical archaeology convinced him that discoveries coming out of Israel and the surrounding region provide remarkable support for the Bible’s historical reliability. His findings are the subject of his upcoming book, The Stones Cry Out: Biblical Archaeology, Prophecy, and the Last Days. (Fox News)
Consider Pontius Pilate. For centuries, skeptics questioned the historical evidence for the Roman official described in the Gospels. Then archaeologists discovered the famous Pilate Stone at Caesarea Maritima bearing his name and identifying him as prefect of Judea—the same title associated with his period of rule.
Then there’s Balaam, the mysterious diviner from Numbers who was hired to curse Israel. An ancient plaster inscription discovered in Jordan refers to “Balaam son of Beor”—a striking parallel to the biblical figure.
And how about Caiaphas, the high priest connected to the trial of Jesus?
Archaeologists discovered an ornate first-century ossuary—a stone box used to hold human remains—inscribed with a name commonly translated “Joseph son of Caiaphas.” Once again, somebody we meet in the pages of Scripture appears in the archaeological record.
Does archaeology prove every theological claim in the Bible? No. But it keeps reminding us that the Bible is rooted in real geography, real cultures, real rulers, and real people.
Jesus wasn’t introduced with “Once upon a time.” Christianity makes historical claims—and historical claims can be investigated.
Jesus once said:
“I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” — Luke 19:40 (KJV)
Two thousand years later, that’s a pretty interesting choice of words.
So What?
Don’t believe the Bible simply because somebody tells you to. But don’t dismiss it because somebody on TikTok tells you to either. Investigate it. Read it. Ask hard questions.
