"my sword shall be bathed in heaven"
"the sword of the LORD is filled with blood"
"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion." (Isa. 34: 1-8)
This prophecy yet awaits fulfillment. The Apocalypse is a description or adumbration of the time here foretold by the prophet. Slaughter begins the day of judgment when the red horse rider comes forth and takes peace from the earth and brings widespread murder and mayhem throughout the world.
Many believe that the fulfillment of the prophecy is to be found in Revelation 19, at the end of the tribulation. I too believe this. However, I also believe that the prophecy begins to be fulfilled at the start of the tribulation and day of wrath (Rev. 6), particularly with the coming of the rider on the red horse. Bloody slaughter not only marks the end scene of the day of judgment but also marks it commencement. The sword is filled with blood under the red horse rider, but he keeps right on riding all through the whole Apocalypse. There is death and bloodshed in nearly every scene of the Apocalypse.
God Is The One Riding The Horses
"Were you angry with the rivers, LORD? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?" (Hab. 3: 8)
As we noted in our series on the white horse rider, we should view these horses with the coming day of judgment being images of the Lord's coming in varied judgments. Each rider is not to be viewed as necessarily a person, though the first rider is definitely a picture of Christ. I do not discount that particular angels may be the riders. They will after all play a great role in the judgment executions of the last days, just as they have in previous judgments since the fall of man.
We already observed (in our series on the white horse) how each of the first four seals of judgment may be viewed as particular arrows shot from the mighty conqueror's bow. In another sense too the four faces of the living creatures (Rev. 4) may correspond to the four horses and riders. Each one seems to give the announcement "go" (or "come" forth) to each horse.
Angelic Horses & Chariots
In both passages, from Isaiah and Habakkuk, the horses upon which Jehovah rides are celestial and his horses and chariots are connected with angels.
"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place." (Psa. 68: 17)
"He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind." (Psa. 104: 3)
"For behold, the Lord will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire." (Isa. 66: 15)
"As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces." (2 Kings 2:11-12)
"Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." (II Kings 6: 17)
"That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies!" (II Kings 19: 35)
In Ezekiel the "wheels" are angels, or cherubim, who are employed by the Lord when he "moves" in judgment.
Thus, it is very likely that the red, black, and livid horses are angels and angelic powers that are executing judgments upon the wicked world. These are angels of destruction.
In both passages (Isaiah and Habakkuk) the angels are clearly judgment angels who are employed in the execution of God's anger, wrath, and vengeance.
Destroying Angels
"For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you." (Exo. 12: 23)
"And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite." (1 Chronicles 21:15)
"He sent upon them His burning anger, Fury and indignation and trouble, A band of destroying angels." (Psa. 78: 49 NASB)
We may very well view the red, black, and livid horse riders as a kind of "(calvary) band of destroying angels (or agents)." Each angel (horse) executes a particular judgment.
Angels are employed throughout the Apocalypse. This is what we should expect since
1) the Apocalypse deals with the second coming, and
2) Jesus spoke of the angels being associated with his second coming.
The red horse rider is a messenger of death. He executes God's anger and wrath upon the guilty and unrepentant world.
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