An Alabama man was arrested after traveling across the country to California where authorities say he threatened a Los Angeles-area church while claiming to be on a divine mission. Officials identified the suspect as 38-year-old Joshua Michael Richardson, also known as Joshua Michael Jericho, who was taken into custody in late August after a series of troubling threats.
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As reported by WVLT 8, Richardson sent an email to St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado Canyon on Aug. 19 in which he claimed to be “Michael the Angel of Death” and the “rider of the pale horse” from the Book of Revelation. He wrote that he had been sent “to do the Lord’s reaping before His harvest” and warned that he would be traveling from Alabama to the abbey, one of the few churches in the nation that still practices the Michaelmas feast.
Authorities said Richardson later attended a service at the abbey, followed a priest into a private area, and told him that he had come “to separate the weak from the weeds.” Days later, Richardson was arrested in Santa Monica. Inside his vehicle investigators discovered body armor, high-capacity magazines, brass knuckles and knives.
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While the threats were taken seriously by law enforcement, what stands out most is how Richardson twisted Scripture to justify his intentions.
Michael is described in Scripture as an archangel who defends God’s people, not as an angel of death. The “pale horse” of Revelation represents the unleashing of judgment during the Tribulation, not a role for a man to claim in the present. The harvest imagery used in Matthew and Revelation describes angels gathering at the end of the age at God’s command, not individuals carrying out violence today. Even the parable of the wheat and the tares makes it clear that separation between the righteous and the wicked happens at the end of time, not at the hands of misguided people.
Instead of following Christ’s commands to preach the gospel and make disciples, Richardson claimed authority that belongs only to God and His appointed agents. His actions show how dangerous it is when someone confuses symbolic prophecy for a personal mandate and attempts to carry out divine judgment on their own.
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We live in a time when many are deceived and misuse the Bible to justify horrific acts. This is evidence of demonic oppression and manipulation and underscores the urgent need for believers to be filled with the discerning power of the Holy Spirit, rooted in biblical literacy and committed to understanding God’s Word rightly.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
