Man O’ War

When they say that Kentucky is the Horse Capital of the World. They must be specifically speaking of the City of Lexington. Where we now live.

In Lexington everything revolves around horses. The license plates have horses, the streets are full of horse themed statutes & symbols. The stores have lots of horse t-shirts, paintings, artwork., etc... I never been into horses. They are beautiful and all, but not my thing.

One of the things to do here in October is to go by Keenland, a historic horse track, second only to Churchill Downs (where the Kentucky Derby is run). In the month of October they run big $ races. During the race weekends on Saturday mornings (7:00am -9:00am) they have a time for parents to bring their kids and see the race horses up close, as they train and warm up in the track. (By the way I felt like a tall and big person next to some of the Jockeys we saw).

Last weekend we took the kids. Seeing those race horses running the track was majestic. You see their defined muscles, you hear their snorting, and you feel the ground tremble every time they pass by. No wonder people fall in love with horses. Wild, muscular, brave, bold, fast, wild, yet in control (barely).

Seeing the Race Horses made me get all excited, ok a little teary eyed, because they reminded me of the Glory and Majesty of our Lord. Only a Glorious & Majestic being could have created such a honorable creature. A creature worthy to be ridden by a King into battle. I should say, a creature worthy to be ridden by THE KING into battle. see Revelation 19:11.

It reminded me of how God himself used the horse (specifically a war
horse) to demonstrate his Glory to man.

Job 39:19-25 "Have you given the horse strength? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror. He paws in the valley, and rejoices in [his] strength; He gallops into the clash of arms. He mocks at fear, and is not frightened; Nor does he turn back from the sword. The quiver rattles against him, The glittering spear and javelin. He devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet [has] sounded. At [the blast of] the trumpet he says, 'Aha!' He smells the battle from afar, The thunder of captains and shouting.”

In Lexington, there is a major road named “Man O’ War” and a bunch of stores & businesses bearing the same name; Man O’ War Ford, Man O’ War Church, Man O’ War bakery, etc….

Being such a cool name I asked why are so many things in Lexington called or named Man O’ War. You guessed it, “Man O’ War” is a famous race horse. Won tons of races. I have never seen it run, I have only seen pictures and statutes of him, as he is dead now, but I just imagine the Horse God described to Job. The horse Jesus, our King, will ride into battle. See again Rev. 19:11. Majestic, strong, brave, mocking fear, running headlong into battle, fierce, saying ‘aha’ as he hears the trumpet and smells the battle. The coolest part is that we (believers) will get to ride into battle with our Lord, in our own War Horse. See Rev. 19:14. I think I’ll name my horse “War Machine”. What will you name yours?