Of Horses and Seas

A week ago, I had a vision that I didn’t understand until today.  In the vision, I saw the ocean raging.  Huge waves were crashing over and over in the darkness.  Suddenly a beautiful horse ran across the water, stopped, reared up, and then stomped her foot in the middle of the waves.  Although she was in the middle of the wild stormy sea, she had no fear.  In fact, it looked like she was angry at the waves.  Our eyes met, and this magnificent horse looked at me kindly, as though she knew me. 

That was it, and it left me with more questions than answers.  Who was the horse?  What did the stormy sea represent?  Why was the horse angry at it?

Then I remembered Habakkuk.  In Chapter 1, he cried out to God for justice against a violent enemy, and in Chapter 3, he also had a vision of horses and seas.

In verse 15, he said, “You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.” (NIV)  You can read the whole vision in Chapter 3, but here’s just a small part:

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?  You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows.  You split the earth with rivers; the mountains saw you and writhed.  Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high… 

…In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.  You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.  You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.  You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. 

I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled.  Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.  Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  (Habakkuk 3: 8- 18 NIV)

Habakkuk’s vision was much more detailed and graphic than mine, and although he was terrified by it, he was also left with a confident assurance that God had heard his prayer and would one day destroy the wicked enemy.  Although he began his story pleading with God to help, he ended by declaring that he would wait patiently for God to act, and until that day came, he would always “rejoice in the Lord.” 

While the vision had a profound effect on Habakkuk, he, like me, was left with some questions.  If I can paraphrase, he asked God, “why did you trample the sea with your horses?  Were you angry with the sea?”

Today I did a little more digging, and I think I might have found the answer.

The sea, it seems, represents the devil’s domain.  We know that Tyre was symbolic of the devil, and in Ezekiel we read:

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre.  Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘You say, Tyre, “I am perfect in beauty.”  Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection.  (Ezekiel 27: 1 - 4 NIV)

If Leviathan can also be symbolic of evil, or of the devil, the Bible tells us this:

In that day, the Lord will punish with his sword— his fierce, great and powerful sword— Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea. (Isaiah 27:1 NIV)

It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.  It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.  (Psalm 74: 13,14 NIV)

In Revelation, we read that in the last days, the spirit of the antichrist will come from the sea:

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.  (Revelation 13:1 KJV)

The following verses remind us that although the devil may seem to have domain over the sea, Jesus destroyed ALL of his power at the cross.* Jesus is Sovereign, over all other gods, kings, lords and domains – including the sea:

You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.  (Psalm 65: 7 NIV)

You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. (Psalm 89: 9 NIV)

Tyre has built herself a stronghold; she has heaped up silver like dust, and gold like the dirt of the streets.  But the Lord will take away her possessions and destroy her power on the sea (Zechariah 9:4 NIV)

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!  Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey... He will proclaim peace to the nations.  His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.  As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.  Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.  (Zechariah 9:9-12 NIV) 

So, that answered my question about the sea.  But what about the horse?  What does the horse represent?

I found the answer in Joel.  In Joel’s vision, he saw the army of God, with God Himself at the head. (see Joel 2:11) Do you know what God’s army looks like? 

They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry.  With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle…

...They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line, not swerving from their course. 

…They plunge through defenses …

They rush upon the city; they run along the wall.

They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. (Joel 2:3-9 NIV)

This mighty, fierce, army of God, that has the appearance of horses, is, according to Peter in Acts chapter 2, the Church of God, filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.

We, church, are the horses, galloping behind Jesus, praising Him for His victory at the cross, speaking in tongues and trampling down the strongholds of the enemy.

 

*For more on how Jesus destroyed the devil's domain of the sea, and how our PRAISE manifests His victory, see "Mt. Zion"

 

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.  Used by permission of Zondervan.  All rights reserved worldwide.www.zondervan.com.  The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.