The second seal -- the Red Horse of the apocalypse -- War
James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
It can be hard to understand why Russia is fighting in Ukraine. But we know quite easily what triggers us. Someone insults you, even if it is a perceived slight, that is the pale green horse. Or it may be that you have a famine, the church is dead, there is no work of faith, no one is being cared for, so they wind up fending for themselves, like the children who were shipwrecked and described in the book "the Lord of the Flies". We have counterfeit Christs like Hitler, or Stalin, or Mao, they want to be God, they are a counterfeit, and so it leads to war.
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
We have needs that must be met, God knows that. If we bring those needs to God He will take care of us. But people don't pray for a way to get to work, they pray for a new car. They don't pray for a place to live, they pray for a new house. Then if you have a house and a car they pray for a pool, and a second car, and a summer house, etc. They spend money on their lusts, playing golf, going to professional sports events, and soon you can't distinguish believers from those in the world.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Your experience is a very good lens to look through to understand the world. If your spouse is an adulterer it would push you to war. This is what friendship with the world is. There is no holiness or sanctification or righteousness in the world. They may pretend to have those things, they may act like they have those things, but there is only one that is good and that is God. It is the same in the world. The US has helped and supported Saudi Arabia for fifty years, but they are like an adulterous relationship. They have corrupted the US and they will betray the US without the slightest hesitation. Imagine you have a genuine believer, and yet this person never spends time with God. They go to one worldly event after another, hang out with worldly friends and so the Spirit dwelling within them is forced to sit in the corner silent while all this goes on. If you had a friend like this you would find new friends. The Spirit wants to spend time with you, speak to you, and be in a relationship with you. Treat them like that and they will leave.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
We will be threatened by the devil, we may be fearful, sweating drops of blood, but stand strong, resist the devil and he will flee from you. The devil is terrified of Jesus, instead of being a little coward stand strong with Jesus by your side and the devil will flee. If you feel you are surrounded by wolves, caught in a dangerous situation, draw night to God and He will draw night to you, just like the Calvary coming to the rescue. If war does come to you, if divorce, or if you get fired, then cleanse your hands. Focus on your sins, repenting to the Lord, washing in His blood, purifying your heart, and be honest, you are double minded. No one wants to be married to someone who is double minded. Embrace the affliction, mourn, weep, because you are weeping for your sins, your shortcomings, your failures. Humble yourself before God and He will lift you back up. You have to first repent for the error of your ways, and then listen to the Lord as He leads you out of the pit. The reason you ended up in the pit is you ignored the Lord, the solution to get out of the pit is to listen to and obey the Lord.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
If you speak evil of others that is why many problems come your way. I was a high school teacher and I learned the hard way that teenagers will cut off their nose to spite their face. They have very sensitive egos, you think you said something that was funny and not hurtful, but they will remember it for an entire year and use it as the reason to fail your class. Once offended they will never be won back. You have to be exceedingly sensitive, this is even worse in a coed setting.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Think about that. Some NBA star is asked who the "GOAT" is in the NBA, whatever they say will offend others. Lebron says he is the GOAT and MJ is offended, Bill Russell is offended, Kareem is offended, etc. It is the same with all boasting. The US thinks they are the lone superpower after the fall of the Berlin wall and Russia and China are offended.
This is where wars come from.
