Nothing Will Happen That Jesus Hasn't Permitted

Revelation 6 opens with a brutal picture: the Lamb breaks the seals, and conquest, division, economic collapse, sickness, death, martyrdom, and cosmic shaking follow. The waterfall and leech day gives a small picture of suffering that parents would stop if they could, but could not. King Jesus stands in a completely different place. Nothing can harm his people beyond what he has permitted, because nothing ever catches him powerless or off guard.

The four horsemen show that the world’s upheaval is not random. The white horse brings conquest, the red horse removes peace and turns people against one another, the black horse brings scarcity and a widening gap between the haves and have nots, and the pale green horse brings death through war, famine, plague, and wild beasts. Jesus had already said these things would come: wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, persecution, and death. John’s images also echo Deuteronomy, Genesis, and Zechariah, showing that this is not some disconnected nightmare. The whole biblical story has been moving toward this moment.

The church age sits inside the last days, the time between Christ’s ascension and return. The seals are not a code for spotting one isolated headline and declaring that the end has arrived tomorrow. Wars and famines are not the end yet. They are the beginning of labor pains, the Braxton Hicks contractions before the final arrival. Every generation has seen these riders at work, from Rome to the Black Death to world wars to modern pandemics. Revelation 6 gives the church a category for recurring upheaval until Christ returns.

The horsemen also tell another story. Christ’s Spirit sends the church into the world to conquer through the gospel, divide households through the sword of the Word, and bring life and judgment through the risen Lord who holds the keys of Death and Hades. The Lamb is not merely reacting to history. The Lamb is ruling history, even when his rule looks terrifying.

The martyrs beneath the altar ask the honest question: “How long?” Their problem is not that God is too harsh, but that he seems too patient with evil. The Lamb tells them to rest a little while longer, because a number has been set and not one person will suffer beyond it. The Lamb’s delay carries wisdom that suffering people cannot yet see, but his delay is not forgetfulness.

The kings and powers of the earth hide in caves from the wrath of the Lamb, and those caves still have names: rebellion, substance abuse, self-loathing, numbing entertainment, and religious performance. The Lamb shed his own blood so that sinners would not have to hide from him. The church stands before the Lamb only because it first falls before him in worship. The Lamb will not watch evil forever. He will bring the suffering he has permitted to an end.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Nothing escapes the Lamb’s permission The Lamb never discovers a diagnosis, a loss, or a betrayal after it has already happened. His permission does not make suffering easy, but it means suffering is never outside his authority or detached from his wise purpose. The alternative, a God unable to stop evil, would leave no solid ground for prayer or hope. [11:09]
• 2. Labor pains are not the end Wars, earthquakes, famine, and plague should not turn the church into exhausted headline-watchers. Jesus calls these events “the beginning of labor pains,” not the final arrival. The church is called to endure recurring upheaval with clear eyes, knowing history is moving toward Christ’s return. [21:59]
• 3. God’s patience is not indifference The martyrs cry out for justice because evil really matters and bloodshed really demands an answer. The Lamb’s answer includes delay, but that delay has a boundary and a number attached to it. His patience makes room for more salvation, while his justice guarantees that evil will not receive endless permission. [33:22]
• 4. Caves cannot hide anyone from Christ Rebellion, addiction, self-loathing, entertainment, and even religious performance can become caves where sinners try to avoid the Lamb. The irony is that the Lamb is not a predator to evade but the slain Savior whose blood makes acceptance possible. Those who fall before him in worship are the ones he causes to stand.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:33] - A Waterfall Hike Turns Brutal
• [03:08] - Jesus Is Never Powerless
• [04:23] - Revelation and the Sealed Scroll
• [07:17] - The Lamb Opens the Seals
• [11:09] - Nothing Happens Without Jesus’ Permission
• [12:46] - What Will Come Our Way?
• [13:19] - The Four Horsemen
• [16:18] - Jesus Foretold These Events
• [20:05] - Are These the End Times?
• [24:34] - Another Way to See the Horsemen
• [28:13] - What Kind of God Permits This?
• [32:31] - The Martyrs Cry, How Long?
• [34:55] - Hiding in Caves From the Lamb
• [37:34] - Bringing How Long Before God

Bible Reading

Revelation 6:1–17
Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!” When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” [07:17]

Matthew 24:6–8
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. [21:59]

Deuteronomy 32:23–25
And I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend my arrows on them; they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence; I will send the teeth of beasts against them, with the venom of things that crawl in the dust. Outdoors the sword shall bereave, and indoors terror, for young man and woman alike, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs. [16:18]

Revelation 1:18
And the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. [27:27]

Observation questions

1. What words in Revelation 6 show that the horsemen do not act independently, but are summoned, permitted, or given authority?
2. What kinds of suffering are connected with each of the first four horses, and what limits are placed on the third and fourth riders? [13:19]
3. What do the martyrs ask God to do, and what two things does God give or tell them in response?
4. In Revelation 6:15–17, which kinds of people hide from the Lamb, and what do they want the mountains and rocks to do for them? [34:55]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus calls wars, famine, and earthquakes “the beginning of the birth pains” rather than “the end.” How does that description help believers read troubling events without either ignoring them or treating every headline as a timetable for Christ’s return? [21:59]
2. The martyrs call God “Sovereign Lord, holy and true” while asking, “How long?” What does their prayer show about bringing grief, confusion, and a desire for justice honestly before God? [37:43]
3. God tells the martyrs to rest until a specific number is complete. How can this be understood as both a limit on suffering and evidence that God’s delay is not forgetfulness? [33:22]
4. Revelation 1:18 says that the risen Jesus holds the keys of Death and Hades. How does that truth change the way Christians understand the pale horse and the reality of death? [27:27]

Application questions

1. Where is life currently making someone in the group ask, “How long, O Lord?” It may involve illness, a strained relationship, injustice, anxiety, work, or someone far from Christ. What would it look like to bring that request to God plainly rather than pretending everything is fine? [39:42]
2. Nothing that comes to Christ’s people catches Jesus off guard or falls outside his authority. When have circumstances felt especially out of control lately, and how could this truth shape the way someone prays or seeks support this week? [11:09]
3. News of war, disaster, disease, or economic uncertainty can easily produce fear or constant headline-watching. What habits tend to make someone anxious, and what might help that person stay informed while remembering that “the end is not yet”? [22:06]
4. People may try to hide from the Lamb in caves of rebellion, substance abuse, self-loathing, numbing entertainment, or religious performance. Which of these hiding places feels most familiar or tempting, and what would turning toward Jesus in worship and honesty look like instead? [35:12]
5. The Lamb’s patience with evil does not mean that evil does not matter. What injustice, hurt, or evil is especially difficult for someone in the group to see go unanswered? How can the group make room for both a real cry for justice and trust in God’s final judgment? [32:31]
6. The church stands before the Lamb because it first falls before him in worship. What is one concrete way someone can respond to Christ this week with worship, repentance, or renewed trust rather than fear or escape? [37:16]