The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Lets read; 2Pe 1:20. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” Interpretating Revelations is as with other Books of the Bible, comes from inspiration. We all have views that must be expressed with the utmost respect to others.
The White Horse.
Rev 6:2 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. (Zec_6:3); Compare Christ in (Rev_19:11) whom the Beast imitates. The Beast of the white horse is the Anti-Christ, we see this because of , 1. The color of the horse imitates the Horse that “The Christ” Rides to Battle at Armageddon. The anti-christ must convince many that he is the Christ, in doing so, he will immatate many of the aspects of Christ but with none of the ultimate authority. His authority is given to Him by God in limited amounts. [Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.] and 2. We see the rider carrying a “BOW”, Christ has never been described as having a bow but always a sword. and 3. We see that a crown was given to him.[by who? God] The horse in scripture represents power. Crowns represent, power and authority. There are separations of each horse by its color. Remember in the original, Hebrew and Greek, the color may vary in representation. The main thing to remember is what the horse represents.
The Red Horse.
Rev 6:4 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. We see that a great sword was given to him meaning that death and bloodshed will be great.[Rev_13:10; Exo_9:16, Exo_9:17; Isa_37:26, Isa_37:27; Eze_29:18-20; Dan_2:37, Dan_2:38, Dan_5:19; Joh_19:11] here we see the color, Red, Blood and death, carnage, & discord. We see the similarity between the rider of the red horse here and the woman of Revelations 17. Death in the interpretation of the Horsemen is of great significance. We are given a look into the future of man. Mans lack of desire to serve God and to repent of His sins. Same as with the woman in Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. In Rev 9:6 , And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. We can see that the events that are taking place with the Horsemen are separate from the dealings with man in Rev 9:6. Now there are differences of opinion on who the people, of the Horsemen, are, who are dieing. Some may say the poor that have rejected Christ and others may say the religious infrastructure, the leadership of the one world religion. I believe that it will be a combination of both, rich and poor, influential and the unknown. This is how the Anti-Christ, of the White Horse gains power over all nations of the earth. remember that John was told to write; {Schofield ref.} 1. Things past, “the things thou hast seen,” (Revelation 1:1-20). 2. Things present, “the things which are,” i.e. things then existing–obviously the churches. The temple had been destroyed, the Jews dispersed: the testimony of God had been committed to the Churches (1Ti_3:15). Accordingly we have seven messages to seven representative churches, (Revelation 2:1 – 3:22). It is noteworthy that the church is not mentioned in chapters 5-18. 3. Things future, “things which shall be hereafter,” lit. “after these,” i.e. after the church period ends, Revelation 4:1 – 22:21.
The Black Horse.
Rev 6:5 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. Rev 6:6 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 the wine. The color of the horse: “black ” This would denote distress, famine and calamity. Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. As an example I have inserted Eze 4:16, Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: Balances are and have been used to measure many different types of material, here it is food. Signifying that there is coming a time of great dispare for the people on the food supply. We see this today around the world as food becomes a commodity of great value. Wheat has been used as a bartering tool for oil and money. Eze 4:17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity. If you noticed with the White and Red Horse, the series of events take place one right after another. War and confusion, confrontation, death and conquest. Now with what we all know about warfare, we see that with every war there comes refugees with the lack of food and water. The White Horse and His rider went forth conquering, and to conquer, war. Food in scripture is used many times to win battles. The Red Horse and his rider were given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: revolt and revolution, assignations and murder, genocide. So as you can see, the listing of the horses and colors, which are symbols, coincides and lines up perfectly with each other. The Last Color is Pale.
The Pale Horse.
Rev 6:8 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. [Death: Rev_20:13, Rev_20:14; Isa_25:8; Hos_13:14; Hab_2:5; 1Co_15:55] Death is often compared to a pale color or ashen color. There is no crown represented here for death is without any specific symbol. Many causes are associated with it so no symbol is needed. Again we see that Death was given power, by who? God. We see this in perspective when we read; Rev 9:6-11; And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. For any death to accure there must be permission from God, as we have seen. The Pale horse riders, Death and Hell, are the symbols of the people affected by this horse. First there will be death, the taking of life then Hell the destination of the ungodly and unrighteous. The cause for death being given power; Rev 9:20-21; And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. ars
