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SUBJECT: Revelation 6 --- The Four Horseman of
The Apocalypse
QUESTION: Please explain the meaning behind
these 4 horsemen
ANSWER:
We now come to the critically important chapter 6—and the
beginning of Christ’s one-by-one removal of each of the
seven seals.
First, again understand that, beginning with chapter 6,
unsealing the seven seals spans the next 15 chapters of the
book. But since chapter 6 explains six of the seven seals,
obviously they do not individually receive a large amount of
space. The seventh seal is so important—and so
multi-faceted—that God devotes much space to its complete
explanation. Most of the remainder of the book is devoted
to just the seventh
seal!
This is another key
to understanding the whole book.
The world sees the Apocalypse as a mystic, cryptic
message of doom!
The first four seals are represented by four riders, on four
different-colored horses. Much has been said and written
about them. But “the four horsemen of the Apocalypse,” as
they are commonly referred to, are still viewed as
mysterious, unexplained horrors to be unleashed upon
the world.
To clearly understand the first seal of Revelation
6:2, we must accept a basic fact. Recall, the Greek term
apocalypse simply means “revelation.”
We will read the description of each seal before discussing
it. Remember, God wants His servants—“the wise”—to
understand!
The First
Seal—FALSE CHRISTS
Let’s now examine the first seal: “And I saw when the
Lamb opened one of
the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of
thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I
saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him
had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth
conquering, and to conquer” (vs. 1-2).
What John records is written in
symbols. He
does not speak in plain language. It is impossible to
understand these symbols by merely re-reading Revelation 6
over and over until their correct meaning sort of
“pops into your head.”
It is also absolutely critical to recognize that an endless
list of human interpretations is available for what
this horse and the others represent. But, once again, the
Bible interprets the Bible. We must permit Christ to
explain what He is unsealing! No one else has any
authority to speak for what God gave to Christ—and
authorized Him to reveal!
Christ
Interprets
Christ reveals the meaning of the white horse. Recall
that His disciples asked Him in Matthew 24, “…when shall
these things [the
destruction of the temple] be? and what shall be
the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?” (vs.
3).
Understand that Christ is speaking in both Matthew 24
and Revelation 6. He is addressing the very same questions
in both chapters. He answers His disciples by listing, in
time sequence and order, the events and trends that
precede the end of the age—and thus His Coming.
Now notice that there is an exact parallel between
Revelation 6:1-2 and Matthew 24:4-5: “And Jesus answered and
said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many
shall come in My Name, saying, I am Christ [that
Christ is Christ]; and shall deceive
many.”
That’s right! Christ warned that the many will be
deceived by those who claim to represent Him—not the few.
The white horse that John described represents false
“christs.” The one sitting on this horse is actually a
counterfeit of the true Christ and a counterfeit
of His Second Coming, described in Revelation 19:11-16.
There, the real Christ wields a sharp two-edged
sword,
while the false christ is represented as carrying a
bow.
Do not overlook this critical difference!
Here is a partial description of the true Christ
returning in great power and glory. While it does show Him
riding a white horse, the rest of the description is very
different: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white
horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and
True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war...And
out of His mouth goes
a sharp sword,
that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall
rule them
with a rod of iron: and He treads the winepress of the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (vs. 11, 15).
Consider for a moment. Most who study Revelation believe
that the white horse of the first seal pictures the true
Christ coming before war, famine, and disease, etc.,
strike the earth. How ridiculous! Such ignorance and
misunderstanding has clouded the timing of the glorious
Return of Jesus Christ described in Revelation 19:11-16.
This is but one more way that false religion—the other
white horse—has deceived professing Christianity.
Parallel
Chapters
Before proceeding, let’s read more of Christ’s answer to His
disciples in Matthew 24. It will prepare us to further see
the precise parallel between it and Revelation 6.
Carefully notice: “And you shall hear of
wars and rumors of
wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these
things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and
there shall be
famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in various
places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (vs.
6-8).
Christ gives a direct answer to a direct question.
The events He describes require no interpretation. As
a matter of fact, they are
Christ’s
interpretation of Revelation 6. By having them in
mind as we read the opening of the remaining seals, we have
Christ telling us in advance what we are viewing—and what
the symbols mean. All mystery is stripped away.
The same Christ would not give two different
versions of what happens immediately prior to His Return. He
would not tell one thing to His disciples of the first
century, and give an entirely different explanation to
His servants of the twenty-first century! This should
be obvious.
But, it is important to understand that only NOW, after
almost 2,000 years, can the book of Revelation be opened up
to plain understanding for all those who will heed. The
words have always been there, but their meaning has been
“sealed till the time of the end.”
Grasp what you have just read!
In effect, Christ has given an advance newscast—newspaper
headlines—of events now lying just ahead. Matthew 24,
coupled with Mark 13 and Luke 21, comprise what is commonly
called “the olivet
prophecy,” because Christ delivered it while sitting
with His disciples on the Mount of Olives. The entirety of
these three chapters contains much more information
than just Matthew 24:3-8. But we are not yet ready to
discuss it.
In John 1, Christ is referred to as “the Word.” Compare
verse 1 and verse 14. “The Word” is translated from the
Greek word logos, meaning “Spokesman.” Actually,
Jesus Christ not only inspired Matthew 24 and Revelation 6,
but also the entire Bible!
For those with “eyes to see and ears to hear,” in Matthew
24, Christ is revealing in plain language the true
meaning of the
symbols recorded in Revelation 6.
Understanding the last sentence is the single biggest
key to
understanding the entire book of Revelation!
Parables are much like symbols. Both are
different from the actual things or figures being described.
As explained, while most believe that Christ spoke in
parables to illustrate His meaning, He said otherwise
in Mark 4:10-12, when discussing the parable of the Sower
and the Seed. The real reason Christ spoke in parables was
to HIDE His meaning. The same is true of symbols! It is the
use of these symbols in Revelation 6 that kept the prophecy
locked—sealed!
If you read the account in Mark, you will find that Christ
explains the Parable of the Sower privately to His
disciples. This is exactly what He did in Matthew 24. He
explained privately to His disciples then, and for
His disciples of the end time, the meaning of the Revelation
6 symbols.
When the disciples wanted to understand the events that
would precede Christ’s Return, they asked HIM, not some
uninformed churchman or theologian who could have no idea
what he is talking about.
You can do the same. Christ is “the same yesterday, today
and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). What He revealed to the
disciples long ago is just as true for us today! And the
events are prophesied to occur in our time. So, if
the first-century disciples desired to know the answer to
their question of Matthew 24:3, how much MORE should today’s
disciples want to plainly understand what will directly
affect their lives?
Understand one final point about Christ’s explanation of the
opening of the seals. Each represents a prophetic trend that
begins and remains continuous from the moment it is
opened, all the way to His Second Coming.
In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Paul recorded how false
ministers (or false christs)
do their work—deluding, deceiving and causing vast numbers
of people to accept counterfeit christs (vs. 4). While this
has been happening for 2,000 years, all but the few—to whom
Christ is revealing His precious truth—are completely
oblivious! This includes deceitful misrepresentation of the
entire book of Revelation.
False ministers and deceivers were prophesied to delude the
“many”—not the “few.”
Almost immediately after Christ’s death and resurrection,
false ministers and deceivers entered His true flock. This
is the very reason why He warned each of the seven churches of
chapters two and three with separate messages.
The
Second Seal—WAR
When the second seal opens, a red horse
appears: “And when He had opened the
second seal,
I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went
out another horse that was red: and power was given
to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth,
and that they should kill one another: and there was
given unto him a great sword” (vs. 3-4). As with
Christ in Revelation 19, the sword here is depicted as an
instrument of war and killing.
This horse and rider “take peace from the earth.” The
opposite of peace is war. When peace is removed, war is what
remains. This pictures the “wars and rumors of wars” that
Christ referenced in Matthew 24:6.
Wars have continued and grown steadily worse since the time
of Christ’s prophecy. But this part of John’s astounding
vision has the gravest implications for all alive on earth
today.
This horseman represents the dreadful devastation of war. In
the Matthew 24 parallel prophecy, war immediately
follows false religion. By the end of the age, the
potential for devastation in war has become so great that it
holds the power to take peace not just from two or more
nations, but now “from the earth.”
Only in the modern age have such terrible weapons of mass
destruction been available. The twentieth century saw the
two most devastating wars in history, with World War II far
more destructive than World War I.
We are now in the last recess—intermission—preceding the
time of the truly greatest war, prophesied to exceed
anything in the last century. A sinning, rebellious humanity
will soon reach the end of its rope. We have reached a time
when war’s potential cannot grow worse, but can now
erase all life from earth in one final blast of
complete destruction—if Christ did not intervene and cut
events “short” (vs. 22).
But the pattern of history is that famine always
follows war. This is why famine (the
third seal) follows on the heels of war (the
second seal).
The Third
Seal—FAMINE
The third seal opens and a black horse, a
symbol of famine, appears: “And when He had opened
the third seal,
I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and
lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair
of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of
the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and
three measures of barley for a penny; and see you hurt not
the oil and the wine” (vs. 5-6).
This pictures extreme worldwide famine, beyond anything the
world has ever seen. This devouring condition is seizing the
entire world in an extraordinary way. Famine is now
far worse than most imagine.
The
Fourth Seal—DISEASE
The opening of the fourth seal reveals
a pale horse, which represents pestilence or disease:
“And when He had opened the
fourth seal,
I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And
I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power
was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,
to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and
with the beasts of the earth” (vs. 7-8).
This horse is depicted as pale because it is
sickly. It obviously represents disease—pestilence!
Invariably, war leads to famine—and resulting malnutrition
leads to disease. New diseases, or old ones grown worse,
seem to be appearing almost daily. The death toll from
disease around the world is staggering—now over a quarter
million die every day! As with the fulfillment of the
other seals, there is far more information available about
disease than could begin to fit in this booklet.
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