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3 And when He opened the second seal I heard the second living being saying, “Come!” 4 And another horse went out, fiery red, and it was granted to him who sat on it to take the peace from the earth, so that they would slaughter each other; also, a huge sword was given to him.¹

Introduction

When you go through the text a paragraph at a time, it is easy to get so focused on the details that you lose sight of where you are in the forest. And it has been a while since I have given a review, so let me give an eagle's eye overview of the book, and then we will back up to where we have come so far.

You will remember that this book is constructed in the Hebrew pattern of a chiasm. A chiasm doesn't start with the theme idea like we do in western thought. We tend to think in a linear fashion, and we begin a paragraph with a theme sentence and then work it out, and we begin a chapter with a theme paragraph, and then work it out. But the Hebrews had several ways of structuring their writings, and a very common structure was the chiasm.

If you look at the backside of your outline you will see a graphic that has a green arrow with words to the right of it. That is the broad outline of the book. You will see that each section of the book has been labeled as A, B, C, D, E, and then goes backwards D, C, B, A. And you will notice that the A sections (in other words, the beginning and the end of the book) are parallel to each other, and the B sections (or the second and second to last parts of the book) are parallel to each other. Then the third section is parallel to the third to last section. And the center of the book is the most important section, showing the theme and the heart of the book that has been driving everything else, and from which everything else flows.

So the first eleven verses of Revelation are the A section. They gave us 30 plus principles of interpretation that help us to understand the book. It's like the apostle gave us a key that is needed before we can open the book. And praise God for that key! So both the prologue and the epilogue deal with the same subject - instructions on how to read, understand, and submit to the book of Revelation. Does that make sense?

Then the B section is the first large section of of the book. Beginning at chapter 1:12 all the way through to the end of chapter 3, that section deals with the church militant. And it parallels the discussion of the church militant and triumphant in chapters 19:11 through 22:17. But where the B sections deal with the church, the C and the D sections deal with what Christ is doing with the world. He judges Israel and Rome in the court of heaven, gives legal judgments, has His angels execute those judgments on the earth. And I won't walk you through each of those C and D sections. But that whole graphic kind of gives you a bird's eye view of the whole book, and where the book is going.

In any case, backing up to what we have covered so far - chapters 2-3 gave detailed instructions on how the church militant can be successful in pleasing her Lord, overcoming the devil, fulfilling the Great Commission, and moving planet earth from wilderness to paradise. But just like every section of this book, it has an introduction. Revelation 1:9-20 was the introduction to that section on the church militant. And it shows the victorious Christ as walking in the midst of His church. When the enemy attacks the bride, they are attacking Christ Himself. And His powerful presence in the church guarantees the church's victory - if the church will walk by faith in the Spirit's power. This was designed to give comfort, and faith, and hope to His people.

Then a few weeks ago we started the second major part of the book (the first C section, or chapters 4-7). And this whole section is divided up into seven seals that are broken and give legal judgments based upon the Old Testament law. The Old Testament law is the only basis for God's judgments in history. You will remember that the scroll was the Old Testament canon, and if each seal is affixed to that scroll, then it means that every judgment is based on the Old Testament. That is a very significant fact. There are a lot of people who think that the Old Testament law is not relevant to the Gentile nations today. But these seals demonstrate conclusively that it was not just Israel that was accountable to God for how they treated the Old Testament law - Rome was too. America is too. So the C sections show that the heavenly court room is initiating legal orders against both Rome and Israel.

And like each of the seven sections of the book, this one had an introduction. The introduction was the fabulous throne room scene in chapters 4-5 where John is summoned into the heavenly court room and he takes part in bringing covenant lawsuits against Israel and Rome. Of course, he can't do it in Himself. Only Jesus, the Lamb/Lion is qualified to do so, and it is only as we are united with Jesus that we have authority to join Him in both the covenant lawsuits and in the victorious advance of the Gospel on planet earth. When you look at history from the perspective of the throne room, you can approach history in faith.

And last week we saw that as the first seal was opened up, a horse and rider emerged. Verses 1-2 represent Christ's first judgment after ascending to His throne in 30 AD. Now, He had been ruling history from the foundation of the world as God the Son, but this was His first judgment in the Mediatorial kingdom. That demonic horse and rider had been restrained from coming into history. It had been held back and it was champing at the bit. It wanted to do its destructive work. But praise God, demons are not given free reign. They can only do what Christ permits them to do.

In any case, Jesus finally gave permission to that demonic rider to ride. And we saw last week that it turned Tiberius into a monster. I didn't have time last week to tell you the whole story that John's audience would have been thoroughly familiar with, and I won't even tell you the whole story today because it is so gross, but let me fill you in on a few more details that surround verses 1-2.

Prior to 30 AD (in other words, prior to this demon possessing him), Tiberius would have been considered a fairly decent emperor. In fact, historians say that if he were to have died before 23 AD he would have been considered an exemplary emperor. He was so fiscally conservative that he left the imperial treasury with a huge surplus of 3 billion sesterces. To calculate approximate value, officers like Trevor would have been paid 900 sesterces per year. If you divide 900 into 3 billion, you get the equivalent of 3.3 million times An officer's annual salary in surplus. So Tiberius was a fiscal conservative.

But around the time of Christ's baptism and entrance into office, Tiberius got tired of politics and retired to the island of Capri, putting the administration of the empire into the hands of two Praetorian Prefects - Sejanus and Macro. Both were very successful in carrying out Tiberius' will. That left Tiberius free to pamper himself on his resort island.

And it was really in AD 30 that things suddenly changed for the worse. Is it coincidental that AD 30 was also the year that the demonic rider in verses 1-2 rides forth? I don't think so. All hell began to break loose with both the actions of Sejanus and the actions of Tiberius. The Praetorian Prefect, Sejanus, wanted the throne for himself, so he began to systematically get rid of other heirs. And since Tiberius didn't get any information that was channeled through Sejanus, Tiberius didn't know about his actions right away. Sejanus banished the popular widow of Germanicus and her two sons Drusus Caesar and Nero Ceasar (a different Nero than this book deals with). Both died under really suspicious circumstances. Most think they were killed by Sejanus. The only survivors of his purge were Caligula and his two sisters - all three of whom were quite young. And it is still a mystery as to why he allowed Caligula to live. But then, God had predestined Caligula to be one of Christ's judgments, so he had to live.

But in 31 AD, Tiberius found out about Sejanus' treasonous plot to overthrow him, and arranged to have him arrested during a meeting with the Senate, and had him immediately executed. Sejanus was replaced with Macro and all of Sejanus' co-conspirators were put to death. There was a blood bath. But Tiberius became so paranoid that even those who had not been part of the conspiracy were systematically killed off by Tiberius if they were even remotely a threat.

But you can also see a major shift in the character of Tiberius around AD 30. Suetonius records lurid tales of sexual perversity, whole bevies of young boys, cruelty, masochism, sadism, bondage, and other demonic activities that are too gross to tell. From AD 30 and on Tiberius was a major judgment on Rome, and Rome groaned under his bondage.

Just to show you what Rome thought of him, the Roman historian, Tacitus, tells us that when the crowds heard that Tiberius had died, they went into wild jubilation, only to become suddenly silent when they heard contradictory news that he had recovered, and they went back to rejoicing again when they heard definitively that Caligula had killed the 78 year old emperor. The Senate refused to give Tiberius divine honors and the crowds mobbed the streets yelling, "To the Tiber with Tiberius!" - referring to a tradition of disposing of criminals by throwing them into the Tiber river. By this time almost everybody despised Tiberius.

Jesus is sovereign over Caligula's ascendancy (v. 3a)

But verse 3 marks the transition to the next emperor (Caligula) in 37 AD. After the terrible last seven years of Tiberius, the crowds were ecstatic over getting Caligula, and on his day of accession, March 28 of AD 37 (which was just ten days after Tiberius died), the crowds hailed him as the perfect emperor. Suetonius said that the crowds called him "our baby" and "our star," and other words of endearment. He said that over 160,000 animals were sacrificed during the three months of public rejoicing to usher in his new reign. Philo claims that the first six months of his reign were completely blissful. He was their savior. But the crowds were naive as to his true character, which was already evident behind the scenes.

From the moment of his accession to power in AD 37 he showed evidence of the evil demonic rider that had been unleashed upon him. He declared Tiberius' will null and void, claiming that he was insane when he made it. But this was clearly ignoring Roman law. It was just the first of many ways in which he ran roughshod over the law and thought of himself as being completely above the law.

He immediately killed the young Gemellus, who had been declared his co-heir. But he hid the perverted practices he engaged in for a time while he consolidated his power. In fact, during the first six months he actually deported perverts (though he engaged in perversion himself). It was all calculated to show that he was going to have a different reign from Tiberius. He destroyed Tiberius' treason papers, declaring that treason trials were a thing of the past, and recalled those who had been sent into exile. He lavishly distributed money. For example, he gave generous bonuses to the military, the Praetorian Guard, the city troops, and the army outside Italy. He gave money to those who had been harmed by the tax system, and put on lavish gladiatorial games, boxing, and other kinds of entertainment for the crowds. The crowds thought he was a pretty cool president, and he had a lot of fans in the Senate as well. But in the meantime he was consolidating his power. By the way, he pretended to have humility by saying that he didn't want to have any divine honors - he was here to serve the people.

Some claim that he must have been poisoned in October. How else could you account for his sudden change of temperament? Those who don't believe in demons might be mystified by his actions in October and following of AD 37. But this passage shows why he turned into the worst emperor to that date - far worse than Tiberius. Let's go through the passage and get God's perspective on these incredibly scary times.

The second of the four main cherubim releases the eager demonic being to possess Caligula (v. 3b)

Verse 3 says,

And when He opened the second seal I heard the second living being saying, “Come!”

Notice that this is a renewed judgment. It is a second seal. And each seal increases in severity when there is no repentance.

Also notice that this covenant lawsuit negatively impacts both Rome and Israel. Anyone who knows the history of Caligula knows that Israel was in jeopardy of being destroyed by Caligula. I'll save that story for a bit. But I just want to emphasize that these covenant lawsuits are not just against Israel. Certainly Israel is facing trouble in this book, but all nations are subject to God's law, and all nations that refuse to bow to King Jesus will suffer the negative consequences of rejecting His lordship. You cannot read Psalm 2 without realizing this fact. Jesus wields His rod of iron, and the God who cannot lie has promised to judge kings who refuse to kiss the Son of God.

America is no exception. If anything, we are more guilty than nations that did not have the privilege of a Christian history. So if you think we can escape tough times simply because times have always been good in the past, you have another "think" coming. God has indeed judged our nation all through the years. We have faced the judgment of tyrannical administrations from the county level to the national. We have faced numerous different kinds epidemics and plagues, like flu (which killed millions), measles, smallpox, etc. Studies in 2003, 2005, and 2008 estimate that smallpox alone killed somewhere between 300-500 million people worldwide in the 20th century, and killed many in America in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s. People don't tend to see America as having been under judgment, but it has been under numerous judgments for its fall away from the Lord. Just count up all the deaths of Americans in its wars. If Rome was not exempt, then neither is America. And these seven seals represent seven increasing judgments against Rome and Israel.

But also notice that it isn't the first good cherub angel that allows this demon to run. It's a second cherub, who no doubt heads up his own armies. Cherubim are warrior angels. So verse 3 speaks of two generals in the angelic wars that are pitted off against each other - one good and one evil. But this also implies that the armies of demons that the first demon led are now being supplemented by another General and his troops. Nations can have wave upon wave of demons inflicted upon them. So this is an increase not just of physical judgments, but also an increase of demons.

This demon appears to be permitted to ride forth as soon as the first demonic being has finished his work (v. 4a), perhaps in early 37 AD.

Verse 4 says, "And another horse went out..." We are not told where he went out from in terms of space. The demons in chapter 9 are allowed to come out of the bottomless pit. That may be the same here, but we are not told.

But in terms of imagery, he went out of the seal. Since each seal represents a covenant lawsuit judgment in the legal arena, the court of heaven must have acknowledge legal ground for these demons to be at work. Demons want to always be at work, but the court of heaven allows increasing demonization as there is increasing sin. Sin gives legal ground for demons to be at work.

And what is true on a national level is true on an individual level. If you have given legal ground to Satan through unconfessed sin, you can resist Satan all you want to and you will not be successful. All the demon has to do is look to God and say, "I have legal right to still be here, don't I?" And God will say, "Yes." There is a legal dimension to spiritual warfare that is often missed in discussions. And the fact that seals on God's law are opened shows the legal basis for these judgments.

But that also gives hope because it means that if there is genuine repentance, the legal judgment can be removed. This was why Jonah didn't want to preach to Nineveh - he was concerned that if Nineveh repented God wouldn't judge them. He knew that repentance of sin and faith in Christ always reverses legal judgments, or at least minimizes their severity. In Jeremiah 18 God says,

The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, 8 if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.

Why? Because with repentance there is now a legal basis for removing the judgment. In any case, Jesus allows this demon to ride. Based on the seal and the law of God it has the legal authority to ride.

Symbolic of bloodshed

And look at the description of this symbol. The text speaks of the fiery red color of this horse. Commentators usually say that it symbolizes bloodshed. And that is true. That is the central meaning. His reign was a reign of bloodshed.

Fiery red color of this horse - see artwork and coin

But I did find it interesting that Caligula identified his reign with a red flying horse - a red version of the Greek god, Pegasus. He minted several bronze coins that pictured him on one side and Pegasus on the other side. And both the bronze and the copper coins would have made Pegasus look red. And interestingly, the paintings, frescoes, vases, and other artwork of Pegasus from this general period had many examples of a red Pegasus. Another interesting fact is that Caligula made this horse the symbol of the brand new Legion that Caligula established in Germanica. And we have recovered a number of emblems from Caligula's new Legion that has this red horse. So this red rider may well be a reflection of the Caligula coins and his official emblem for his new Legion army.

And of course, Caligula was the first emperor to demand worship as a god while he was living. This was just one of many evidences that he saw himself as divine.

Christ grants authority to this demon to remove peace from the earth (v. 4b)

But notice that Jesus grants this demon the authority to remove the peace from the earth. It says,

... and it was granted to him who sat on it to take the peace from the earth, so that they would slaughter each other; also, a huge sword was given to him.

It isn't just removing "peace," but removing "the peace." This is probably a reference to "the peace" that was bragged about by the Romans worldwide - the Pax Romana, or the peace imposed by Rome's legions.

Since the Pax Romana was a fake peace, it is appropriate that Jesus exposes its tenuous character

Of course, we know from the Bible that the kind of peace imposed by Rome was a fake peace, not the kind of civil peace that Christ's reign will eventually produce. We looked at that counterfeit peace last week. And Jesus destroyed this messianic Pax Romana during Caligula's reign. He wanted to show that any statist peace that is achieved will eventually crumble.

I'll just give you a couple of examples. Caligula invited the Mauritanian king, Ptolemy, to Rome. When Ptolemy entered the amphitheater with Caligula, the crowd exclaimed at the beauty of Ptolemy's toga, which set off Caligula's envy and rage, and he instantly demanded Ptolemy's execution. That arbitrary execution led to an anti-Roman uprising in Mauritania. And other capricious and bloody acts of Caligula led to the pax Romana peace being removed from the empire.

As it related to Israel, Flaccus erected statues of Caligula in the Jewish synagogues. Well, you can imagine that didn't go over too well. Extensive rioting occurred as a result in places like Alexandria and Jamnia. Philo records that a clay altar was erected in Jamnia, and the Jews destroyed it. Caligula ordered the government to erect a statue of himself in the temple at Jerusalem, and though local officials delayed implementing the order in hopes it would be reversed, this and other actions almost led to an outbreak of war. In fact, H. H. Ben-Sasson claims that Caligula's actions almost led to war throughout the entire Eastern Roman Empire.² Very literally Caligula had removed "the peace" - the Pax Romana.

Since people adulate the Pax Romana, it is appropriate that Jesus allows the true fruit of humanistic peace to manifest - death

And the very people who put Caligula into power with such eagerness are the ones who suffer the most. And that has been the way it has been down through history. When trouble is caused by a Tiberius, the Senate wants to give more power to a Caligula to fix it. When a Caligula makes life miserable, the Senate and the people want to give more power to Claudius. When Claudius' economic plans are an absolute disaster, the Senate and the people give more power to Nero. You see, when the state is god, there is no where else to turn to for solutions than to the state. They keep doing the same crazy things hoping for better results. Isn't that a definition of insanity? Well, I would describe what is going on in Washington, DC as insanity. It makes no sense, but no one seems to be able to stop it. They are frustrated, but the can't seem to stop it.

A huge sword was given to this rider, indicating death and destruction (v. 4c)

Anyway, the death that resulted under Caligula is not just symbolized by the color red, but also by the huge sword that was given to the rider. Obviously it was given to the demonic rider first and foremost. And the reason for that is that the demon could not lead men to create death and destruction if God did not sovereignly allow it. But because of the demonic push toward statism, it was the Roman leaders themselves who also gave Caligula unbridled power of the sword.

And he used it. Within weeks of being granted this unrestrained power of the sword, Caligula started killing all rivals. He killed his cousin, his adopted son, his grandmother, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and anyone else that he thought might be a threat. He exiled his sisters, whom he had committed incest with for years. Claudius was only spared because Caligula preferred to keep him around as a laughing stock. Of course, God made sure that happened because Jesus was planning to use Claudius as the next judgment. But here is the weird thing - the common rabble loved him because he restored the rights of democratic elections and because of his lavish spending and because he constantly talked about how terrible Tiberius was, and how the people needed liberty.

By AD 39 he had exhausted the 3 billion sesterces of surplus. So to keep his spending spree going, he made false accusations against wealthy people and either fined them (gaining money that way) or executed them and confiscated their estates (gaining even more money). And the common people thought this was great - he was an ancient Robin Hood - stealing from the rich to give to the poor. They thought that he was using his sword very wisely - at least at the beginning. But things kept getting worse until even the crowds despised him. He borrowed heavily, levied taxes on everything. He even levied taxes on lawsuits, weddings, and prostitution. And that didn't bring in enough money, so he began auctioning the lives of gladiators at the gladiatorial games. He confiscated plunder from the army. He auctioned off slaves and imperial possessions. And he became more and more petty, bloodthirsty, vengeful, and irrational. The hero of the people turned into a tyrant that they couldn't get rid of. He was so bad, that Rome once again groaned under the tyranny.

Now this verse mentions him being given a huge sword. And the specific sword that is mentioned was a μάχαιρα sword, which was never big. It's the short Roman sword. So commentaries point out that it almost seems like an oxymoron to call any μάχαιρα sword a large sword let alone a huge one. So that is a clue that we are not intended to interpret this literally. And in terms of word usage,my oh don't need to. The μάχαιρα sword was also used figuratively in ancient literature to speak of the state's judicial power and punishment. And by calling it a huge μάχαιρα, it is almost certain that this is a reference to Caligula being granted unprecedented powers.

But if you want to be a literalist, I did find it interesting that Caligula made constant references to his literal sword as a veiled threat. When he slept with women he was often known to say during an embrace that he could take off their heads with his sword. He constantly threatened nobles and others with his sword that was on his side,molten patting the sword. When the zoo had a meat shortage, he ordered all bald headed prisoners to be given as meat. Suetonius and other Roman historians record that he forced knights and noblemen to fight each other in the Colosseum. When he was killed by one of his own guards, they found two notebooks containing the names of all the people he planned to kill. One of the books was called "The Sword" and the other was called "The Dagger." And those were fitting titles of the power given to him by those who now hated him. They gave him a huge sword and he used it against his own people. If you read Suetonius' book, The Lives of the Caesars, you will see that this is a very apt description of Caligula, whether you take this literally or figuratively.

Conclusion

But while the meaning is clearly applicable to Caligula, there are applications we can make for the present. I've already made some applications during the sermon, but let me end with three more.

The first application is that there has always been a tendency in history to give a "big sword" to the central government to deal with big problems. Hitler was given a big sword (so to speak) to deal with the horrible problems that Germany faced after World War I. Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, and numerous other saviors were acclaimed as liberators, and the naive have given them a big sword of power. And it always comes back to be used against the citizens. Republicans argued for the Patriot Act to deal with terrorism. That is a huge sword. And who is it being wielded against now? It is being wielded against citizens. Always be wary of the "big sword" and never give a "huge sword" to the state. States must be limited.

A second application is to realize that demons always take advantage of centralization. This was a demon that was champing at the bit to get involved, and the moment Christ says, "OK, we won't hold you back any longer," things went from bad to worse. But they went from bad to worse because most of the checks and balances of the Roman republic had already been obliterated. The efficiency of government started by Caesar Augustus made it easier and easier for demons to control the nation. And the same has been true since our first Caesar, Abraham Lincoln. Administration after administration has systematically eroded most of the checks and balances that this country started with, and though DC started with a very "small sword" it now has a "huge sword." So demons will no doubt take advantage of this fact. It helps them to be more efficient in their work. It is facts like these that should inform our civics and make us want limited civil government.

The last application is summed up beautifully in Psalm 146:3, which says, "Do not put your trust in princes." The Caligulas of the world always start off looking pretty good and having lots of promise. You look at the statue of Caligula and he didn't look very dangerous. He had an innocent look about him. Everyone thought that Caligula would fix the problems. Everyone thought he had a servant's heart. After all, didn't he promise to serve the people? Yes he did. He made all kinds of promises of serving the interests of the people, protecting the people, providing for the people. He was the one that was going to get rid of bad government - yeah, right!. As you enter into the political season of the next few months, keep Psalm 146:3 in mind: "Do not put your trust in princes." God makes sure that idols will always let you down. The doctrine of Total Depravity informed our founding fathers and made them scared to death of both unbridled citizenry and unbridled government. They certainly did not put their trust in princes.

And it is almost always a crisis that justifies such trust. Hundreds of illustrations could be given in America, but I'll just tell you a couple of stories. When Abraham Lincoln responded to the Fort Sumter incident in South Carolina, he did not wait for Congress to begin its next session to make that response. Instead, wielding powers that the Constitution did not grant him, and without formal declaration of war, he drastically enlarged the Union's army and navy, blockaded Southern ports, spent money not appropriated by Congress, arrested Northern citizens suspected of being Confederate sympathizers, and engaged in several other illegal acts. As soon as Congress convened, he admitted that he had exceeded his authority. A lot of people don't realize this, but he admitted that he had exceeded his Constitutional limits. But he felt that the suddenness of the crisis required it and asked them to retroactively authorize his actions. Here is what he said in his speech: "These measures, whether strictly legal or not, were ventured upon under what appeared to be a popular demand and a public necessity, trusting then, as now, that Congress would readily ratify them." And Congress did so.³ He had already grabbed the huge sword, but they said, "Yes, it is OK for you to use it." And they continued to trust Lincoln with more and more powers to deal with the crisis.

But it didn't stop with Lincoln. After Lincoln's assassination, 13,000 soldiers and civilians were tried before 5,000 military commissions. Why didn't he try civilians in a regular court? Because they feared that the citizens would not give a guilty verdict. Historian James Hall later said of these commissions: "That's the beauty of the thing... from the government's perspective. Things move quickly, and from a legal standpoint it's all self-contained."⁴ The Caligulas of this world ask people to trust them with an efficient government to be able to efficiently deal with crisis.

One more story. At the turn of the 1900's, President Teddy Roosevelt (though not as bad as FDR) began the first of many grabs for power, calling upon the Congress and the people to trust him to deal with national issues. History Commons writes,

President Theodore Roosevelt, wielding what will become known as the theory of inherent power, declares that the presidency has a “residuum of powers” to do anything not specifically forbidden by the Constitution. Without asking Congress for its approval, Roosevelt launches the project to build the Panama Canal, sends the US Navy around the world, and sends US troops to the Dominican Republic.

Of course, that was just the beginning of a series of expansions of presidential powers. Though many conservatives think he is a hero, he illustrates why we should not put our trust in princes, and why we should never grant them the huge sword. Of course, FDR is the classic example from the past of a president with a huge sword.

Any number of books have documented this trusting of the presidency in America with unconstitutional powers. History Commons has an interesting list of events that have led to our current situation.⁵ But it all boils down to inappropriate trust of rulers. Our trust must be in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of history and only He should have unrestrained power because only He is perfectly in submission to the Father.

So what do you do when Caligula's reign the world? You do what the early church did. You pray. You witness. You unashamedly show the world the crown rights of king Jesus over every area of life. You live out the bible. And over time, you win country after country back to Christianity just as the early church did. Christendom can be restored. And the book of Revelation tells us that it won't be just restored - it will eventually be so vastly superior to anything we have already seen in history that the old Christendom will pale by comparison.

But we must know our enemy. And the enemy is not just flesh and blood. It is also the demons behind that flesh and blood. And must also understand the legal dimensions of the courtroom of heaven. May God wake up the church and spare us from Caligula. Amen.