REVELATION 6: 1 - 8
THE FOUR HORSEMEN
photo courtesy of beginningandend.com
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4) 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.
5) 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.
6) 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 thou hurt not the oil and wine.
7) And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8) 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.
COMMENTARY
Jesus talked with His disciples in Matthew 24 about the end of the age. You can re-read it.
1,2) Thunder speaks of a coming storm and a bow, of distant warfare, i.e., guns, bombs, etc. When the seals are broken, what is written on the scroll is not read aloud, but is acted out. The first four seals involve horse and rider. Horses in Scripture are associated with triumph, majesty, power, and conquest. These "riders" are best described as "forces" rather than people.
The white horse, then, is a symbol of worldwide peace. Notice the rider had a bow but no arrows. The crown was given to him in bloodless victories. He will "conquer" by cunning and deceit, not military force. This is Satan's imitation of peace. It is man's best effort at bringing in a reign of order and peace without Christ, which will be shattered upon the breaking of the second seal.
This is where the Antichrist offers Israel a 7 year pact of peace. The Temple of Jerusalem is rebuilt and the ritual of animal offerings is re-established. Such blasphemy!
3,4) The red horse...red is the symbol of fire and blood, depicting war. As it was with Hitler, who promised peace, war will break out throughout the world. Cue Matthew 24: 6 - 9. Daniel 8:24 describes the Antichrist's skill at warfare. Then, the Antichrist will set up the abomination of desolation that will touch off massive conflicts. See Daniel 11: 36 - 45.
5,6) The black horse....famine. Famine usually follows war, as food supplies are eaten or destroyed and those involved in production of food are killed, machinery destroyed. "Like a voice in the center of the four living creatures" is God. This famine is one of His judgements on the nations of the world for rejecting Him. The famine is so bad, that a full day's wage will only purchase a day's "wheat". If you have a family, a day's wage will purchase three quarts of barley, which is low in nutrition, and usually fed to livestock. In other words, people will be slowly starving. Look at the nation of Haiti to see how bad it is there today; it will be even worse than that during this time.
Just let that sink in for a minute. Food will be rationed, due to lack of supply. Here in America, the richest nation in the world, our wages are huge! However, in the time of worldwide peace, wages may all be the same; nobody earns more than his neighbor, whether he is highly skilled and educated or works in the field. The weak and infirm are not able to purchase food, as they can't work. There will be no welfare. The church is gone; there is no charity. People will be looking out only for themselves, much as those without Christ do today. This is a time that brother may turn in Christian brother to the government for a fee.
(7,8) The pale horse: We have already seen where war and hunger will kill many. Disease will kill more. A fourth of the population will loose their lives. There is roughly 7 billion people on the earth pre-rapture; a fourth of that is 1.75 billion! That's a lot of people to bury! With the struggle of trying to find food and money to buy it, who will have life insurance? We must be looking at mass graves and/or burning bodies.
"Beasts here may include a relatively common pests/beasts: the rat. The rat is alive and well in many populated as well as underpopulated areas. Some people believe that in New York City, there are as many rats as there are people living in the city. They can destroy food supplies and carry disease.
Dear friend, now is a good time to accept the priceless gift of salvation! Please check out our "Pathway to Salvation" page here: http://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.
If this ministry is a blessing to you, we encourage you to leave your thoughts in a comment. We would love to hear from you.
1,2) Thunder speaks of a coming storm and a bow, of distant warfare, i.e., guns, bombs, etc. When the seals are broken, what is written on the scroll is not read aloud, but is acted out. The first four seals involve horse and rider. Horses in Scripture are associated with triumph, majesty, power, and conquest. These "riders" are best described as "forces" rather than people.
The white horse, then, is a symbol of worldwide peace. Notice the rider had a bow but no arrows. The crown was given to him in bloodless victories. He will "conquer" by cunning and deceit, not military force. This is Satan's imitation of peace. It is man's best effort at bringing in a reign of order and peace without Christ, which will be shattered upon the breaking of the second seal.
This is where the Antichrist offers Israel a 7 year pact of peace. The Temple of Jerusalem is rebuilt and the ritual of animal offerings is re-established. Such blasphemy!
3,4) The red horse...red is the symbol of fire and blood, depicting war. As it was with Hitler, who promised peace, war will break out throughout the world. Cue Matthew 24: 6 - 9. Daniel 8:24 describes the Antichrist's skill at warfare. Then, the Antichrist will set up the abomination of desolation that will touch off massive conflicts. See Daniel 11: 36 - 45.
5,6) The black horse....famine. Famine usually follows war, as food supplies are eaten or destroyed and those involved in production of food are killed, machinery destroyed. "Like a voice in the center of the four living creatures" is God. This famine is one of His judgements on the nations of the world for rejecting Him. The famine is so bad, that a full day's wage will only purchase a day's "wheat". If you have a family, a day's wage will purchase three quarts of barley, which is low in nutrition, and usually fed to livestock. In other words, people will be slowly starving. Look at the nation of Haiti to see how bad it is there today; it will be even worse than that during this time.
Just let that sink in for a minute. Food will be rationed, due to lack of supply. Here in America, the richest nation in the world, our wages are huge! However, in the time of worldwide peace, wages may all be the same; nobody earns more than his neighbor, whether he is highly skilled and educated or works in the field. The weak and infirm are not able to purchase food, as they can't work. There will be no welfare. The church is gone; there is no charity. People will be looking out only for themselves, much as those without Christ do today. This is a time that brother may turn in Christian brother to the government for a fee.
(7,8) The pale horse: We have already seen where war and hunger will kill many. Disease will kill more. A fourth of the population will loose their lives. There is roughly 7 billion people on the earth pre-rapture; a fourth of that is 1.75 billion! That's a lot of people to bury! With the struggle of trying to find food and money to buy it, who will have life insurance? We must be looking at mass graves and/or burning bodies.
"Beasts here may include a relatively common pests/beasts: the rat. The rat is alive and well in many populated as well as underpopulated areas. Some people believe that in New York City, there are as many rats as there are people living in the city. They can destroy food supplies and carry disease.
Dear friend, now is a good time to accept the priceless gift of salvation! Please check out our "Pathway to Salvation" page here: http://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html.
If this ministry is a blessing to you, we encourage you to leave your thoughts in a comment. We would love to hear from you.
We are also asking that you pray for us that God uses this ministry for His glory. Please take a moment to click the share button so your friends may also be blessed from reading this post. Thank you for all you do.
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