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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.”2 And I looked,
and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to
him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come
and see.”4 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.
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and
see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales
in his hand.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.”
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature
saying, “Come and see.”8 So 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 above commentary is about the closest thing I’ve found that comes to my own
opinion about the four horsemen. Barnes has some interesting commentary on the older
view of the first horse representing Christianity and/or Christ and then refutes the idea
quite nicely.
Obviously, chapter six of Revelation begins a new era or time period if you will. The
breaking of the seals required great ceremony and only the Lamb was found worthy. It
makes no sense to think of Christ breaking a seal that is Himself now does it? Why
would He put himself in with war, poverty and death? Why would He put Himself and/or
His bride in with seals that are the outpouring of His wrath? Nah – must be something
else.
The first four seals are all horses, each with a different color. In literature, they are called
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. To interpret one, you must use the same criteria
to interpret them all. From interpreting Daniel 9:24-27, we know that the peace treaty
with Israel starts the final countdown of seven years to the Lord’s return to earth. That
peace treaty would necessitate someone strong enough to guarantee Israel’s safety – a
strong world leader or organization. Thus the white horse is a period of false peace, the
lull before the storm if you will.
Neville Chamberlain, in 1939, taught us a great lesson when he actually believed that a
treaty with a madman – a land for peace deal – would actually work. The Sudentland of
Czechoslovakia was handed over to Hitler in hopes of peace. Hitler took it as a sign of
weakness of the Allies (like all good dictators would) and proceeded to take Poland for
himself as well.
Likewise, this peaceful lull, is interrupted by war – the second horse, which of course is
followed by famine for the poor and hoarding by the rich. All of this is easily predicted.
The extent of the devastation however, has never been seen before in human history. One
fourth of the earth is killed – no small number! Today’s earth population is around 8
billion people. Can you imagine a war which wiped out the population of India and
China both??
These first four seals might not be “The Great Tribulation” yet, but so far it isn’t looking
good for those Left Behind.