Revelation 6:1-8
The Four Horsemen
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Intro
√ So it begins!
We move from the beauty and light of the heavenly scene around the throne of God…
…to the darkness and destruction on earth as God begins to pour out His judgment on an unrepentant world.
Chapters 6-19 constitute the period of time know as the Great Tribulation.
“70th week” - Daniel 9:27
“Time of Jacob's Trouble” - Jer. 30:7
“The Last Days” - Matt. 24 & 25
It is a time of unimaginable terror, a time like none in history, nor ever to be repeated again.
√ Seven seals
We begin with 7 Seals, followed by 7 Trumpets, and 7 Bowls, which describe the outpouring of God's Wrath upon the World during the Great Tribulation.
Sequence of time isn't always clear - that is, which part of the Tribulation is covered by each event. We do know that the…
1st seal = beginning of Tribulation
7th bowl = end of Tribulation
Looks like most of what is described in the seals, trumpets and bowls, constitutes the last 3 and a half years of the Tribulation.
√ The Four Horsemen
This morning we meet the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse...
Horses = God's activity on the earth (Zec. 1:8-10)
Ap. The coming Judgment
As we read about what lays ahead for those who has refused the precious gift of God's Son it should stir in our hearts a desire to share Jesus with those who don't know him that we might pluck them from the coming fire!
Be a preacher of righteousness in these Last Days as Noah was in his.
1st Seal - the 1st Horseman (vs. 1-2)
Rev 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "Come and see."
Rev 6:2 And I
looked, and behold, a white horse.
And he who sat on it had a bow; and
a crown was given to him, and he
went out conquering and to conquer.
√ The 1st Seal
Note, the breaking of the 1st seal constitutes the beginning of the Great Tribulation!
The scroll = title deed to the earth
Opening of the scroll = Jesus begins the process of taking possession of the earth
Ex. Like evicting bad tenants - a formal process followed which gives the tenants time to get things together before they find themselves tossed out.
In Mark 12 Jesus described the religious leaders as tenants who rejected and killed the Son of the Land Owner.
From the beginning of Creation Man was placed on the earth as a steward, a tenant of God’s creation on Earth.
The breaking of the 1st seal then is the beginning of the process in which Jesus takes back His planet – the beginning of the time known as the Great Tribulation.
√ The 1st Horsemen
Notice the first thing that John sees as the Tribulation period begins is...
...a rider on a white
horse.
The question of course - who is the rider, or what does he and the white horse symbolize?
At first glance we might think that this is Jesus! After all, we find a similar description of Jesus in Rev. 19.
He's riding a white horse
He's conquering the earth
He's got a crown
However, upon closer inspection we find that this can't be Jesus...
Jesus is in heaven while the guy on the white horse is out conquering the earth.
The crown is a "victors crown" - not the crown of a king (diadem - worn by royalty Rev. 19:12).
He's missing something that Jesus has in Rev. 19 - a sword - the Word of God! This guy conquers with a bow while Jesus conquers with the Word of God.
Jesus comes to conquer at the end of the Tribulation - not the beginning.
Who is this guy then? He looks like Jesus, has power and authority to conquer the world, rides a white horse, wears a crown...
…He's the great imitator
- the Antichrist!
√ The characteristics of the Antichrist.
Note the characteristics of the Antichrist. He takes control of the world with a bow – but he has no arrows.
Some commentators have suggested that the bow is a “rainbow” – a symbol of peace.
Others suggest that the bow without arrows represents peace is that he has made his weapons harmless.
Either way, the Antichrist will conquer the hearts of Mankind through deceit !
He will bring peace to a war-weary world.
The question that is unanswered is “when” will this take place? What events will set the world stage for the Antichrist to usher in a false peace?
Some have suggest that it may be…
Subsequent to the invasion of
The Antichrist then makes a treaty with
The important point for students of prophecy is to recognize that the Antichrist will steal the hearts of people by means of a lie!
Ex. Warnings in scripture
Jesus warned against false Christs & prophets who will deceive many (Mt. 24).
Paul warns that the Antichrist will come with deception.
2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
2Th 2:12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
and....
Dan 8:23 "And
in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their
fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes. (a master of intrigue NLT)
Dan 8:24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.
Dan 8:25 "Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his hand; (He will be a master of deception NLT) and he shall magnify himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. he shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human hand.
To the uninformed, to the lost, the Antichrist will be the Messiah!
The Jews will receive him as their Messiah and won't understand who he really is until he the mid-tribulation.
Jesus predicted this during His earthly ministry…
John 5:43 “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.
Ex. The great deceiver
Understand that the Antichrist won't come with a “666” stamped on his forehead - he will come to power by pretending to be the Messiah.
That of course is Satan’s M.O.
2Co 11:14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel
of light.
So the breaking of the 1st seal - the beginning of the Tribulation - is marked by the revealing of the Antichrist - the 1st horseman…
…therefore, the Rapture must come before the 7 year Tribulation begins! (Ref. 2 Thess. 2:1-8)
2nd Seal - the 2nd Horseman (vs. 3-4)
Rev 6:3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and see."
Rev 6:4 And another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
√ The 2nd horseman
Note the description....
Red = war in the ancient cultures, symbolized wanton bloodshed (ex. Mars)
Take peace from the earth.
People kill one another.
Carries a great sword.
The 2nd Horsemen then is symbolic of War. War will characterize the 2nd half of the Tribulation period.
We know that by comparing scripture with scripture where we find that the Antichrist proclaims himself to be God at the middle of the Tribulation which ushers in a worldwide cycle of war.
Jesus tells us about this period of time in…
Mat 24:5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
Mat 24:6 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
And...
Mat 24:15 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),
And...
Dan 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week (7 years); but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. and on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate."
The 2nd horseman brings war to the whole earth - literally taking peace from men's hearts so that their hearts will be filled with hate and the desire to kill one another.
Ex. Same as the condition of the earth before Noah entered the ark.
Ap. Can you imagine a earth where there was no safe place?
3rd Seal - the 3rd Horseman (vs. 5-6)
Rev 6:5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
Rev 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine."
√ The 3rd Horsemen
The 3rd rider seated on a black horse represents famine.
Notice what he does...he weighs out food for money;
Quart of wheat = denarius (day's ages)
3 quarts of barley = denarius
Normally a day's wages would buy 8 - 12 qts. of wheat!
The barley = animal feed (demonstrating how bad the famine will be).
A man requires about 2 quarts of food a day.
The picture then tell us that a man will work a whole day and will only earn enough to feed himself - not his family.
√ The oil and the wine
The extent of the famine is worldwide, yet it only effects the working class - not the rich.
That's the reference to the oil and wine - indicates that the rich will continue to eat - creating greater social discord in an already ugly world.
Famine follows war - scorched earth policy of the Russians - been practiced by invading armies since war began - the result is a shortage of food.
Ex. Sudan, Europe after WWII (the Marshall Plan).
So, the 3rd Horsemen brings famine to the earth in an unprecedented scale resulting in more death, rioting, and a general discord between people.
4th Seal - the 4th Horseman (vs. 7-8)
Rev 6:7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see."
Rev 6:8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
√ The 4th Horsemen
This is the only one of the horseman identified by name...
"Death"
He's described as riding a "pale horse".
Pale = chloros the same word we get our English "chlorine" & "chlorophyll"…
…the color is a pale green.
The color of his horse is the color of death - like a rotting corpse! L
Notice what Death is doing - he's given power to kill people by...
Sword = war
Hunger = famine
Death = pestilence (disease)
Wild animals = people unprotected following war
How many? A quarter of the earth's population! That's one of every four people.
Ex. By today's world population that would be over a billion people! By comparison the bloodiest war to date was WWII in which over 54 million died!
A billion = a thousand million, or 4 times the total population of the United States!
√ Hades
Notice that Death is followed by Hades - like a bad tag team.
Death claims the body
Hades claims the soul
Ap. People wonder what the earth would be like without rules - laws to govern Man's behavior.
What we have here described in the breaking of the Four Seals, the Four Horseman is the end result of a world without God and His Laws to govern Mankind.
Mankind led by the Antichrist, motivated by fear, greed, and selfishness, turns the planet into a massive grave yard!
Which doesn’t surprise the student of the Bible for we know that Satan comes to…
…steal, kill and destroy.
Close
√ So it begins
Wow - this is only the beginning of what unrepentant Man can expect during the Tribulation.
The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse give us an overview of the 7 years known as the Great Tribulation.
As we work through the rest of the seals, trumpets, and bowl judgments we find that God reveals more and more detail about the events of this period of time.
For the Christian we can take comfort that even though the world looks like it is spinning out of control today - it is in fact in God's complete control.
He is on the throne!
Therefore, we have nothing to fear...
1Th 5:9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
1Th 5:11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
√ If you're not a Christian - wow - what are you waiting for!