Posted on 01/28/2015 7:00:21 AM PST by Stingray
The identity of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse has mystified and intrigued people for centuries. Each symbolizes something, but what do they symbolize?
When you see the connection between Revelation, the gospels, and historical facts, then you, too, will begin to understand John's incredibly powerful letter.
Let's begin.
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. Revelation 6:1-2 (NIV2011)
Some people claim this rider with the crown and bow is Christ. Some claim it's an end-time anti-Christ. Truth is, it's neither. When Christ was among His disciples on Earth, He gave them a commission:
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15 (NIV2011)
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Mark 16:19-20 (NIV2011)
The rider on the white horse is Christ's apostles, sent out as a conquering force to change the world. Paul said as much in his second letter to the Corinthians:
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV2011)
Christ also told the chief priests He would be sending His messengers out, and what He told them would happen then, gives us clues as to the identities of the other three horsemen.
Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. Matthew 23:34 (NIV2011)
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. Revelation 6:3-4 (NIV2011)
While Christ was on earth, not one of His disciples was lost to persecution, and the only one whose life was lost, Judas Iscariot, took his own life out of guilt for betraying Christ.
But on the day of Pentecost, when Christ opened heaven and empowered His disciples to become His messengers, everything changed. Now they were as hated as He had been, just as Christ had foretold:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. John 15:18 (NIV2011)
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. John 15:20-21 (NIV2011)
“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, John 16:1-4 (NIV2011)
Jesus also made clear the coming fratricide in Matthew 24:
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, Matthew 24:9-10 (NIV2011)
The rider of the red horse with the large sword represents those who persecuted, to death, Christ's messengers - those He sent to preach the gospel throughout the known world. What follows is what Christ prophesied in Matthew 23 & 24 about the persecutors of His messengers.
Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. Matthew 23:34-36 (NIV2011)
And whom does Christ name as the persecutors of the rider of the white horse?
Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. Matthew 23:37-38 (NIV2011)
In just this brief passage from Matthew 23, two things are abundantly clear:
Jesus is prophesying desolation for Israel in response to the way its apostate priesthood treated Him and His apostles, and He prophesies that the guilt of their sins would be held against them: that very generation that crucified Him and persecuted His messengers.
Need I remind you at this point who is sitting on the throne in heaven opening the scrolls?
This leads us to the rider on the black horse:
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” Revelation 6:5-6 (NIV2011)
This passage - like so many others in Revelation - is a direct reference to a passage in the Old Testament. The passage in Ezekiel to which it refers is a passage about Jerusalem's impending judgment at the hands of the Babylonains:
“Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel. Ezekiel 4:1-3 (NIV2011)
And note this specifically from Ezekiel 4:
He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin. Ezekiel 4:16-17 (NIV2011)
The rider on the black horse is famine: the famine that was caused within Jerusalem after the Romans had sealed the people inside the city, as the Babylonians had, turning fortress Jerusalem into a prison.
Now of those that perished by famine in the city, the number was prodigious, and the miseries they underwent were unspeakable; for if so much as the shadow of any kind of food did any where appear, a war was commenced presently, and the dearest friends fell a fighting one with another about it, snatching from each other the most miserable supports of life.
The Works of Flavius Josephus.
Jerusalem, torn by civil war within its walls and the siege of Rome's legions without, saw thousands upon thousands of its citizens die by way of war and famine. And this is precisely what the pale horse's rider symbolizes.
And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, `Come and behold!' and I saw, and lo, a pale horse, and he who is sitting upon him--his name is Death, and Hades doth follow with him, and there was given to them authority to kill, (over the fourth part of the land,) with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the land. Revelation 6:7-8 (YLT)
I've chosen Young's Literal Translation for this verse because people need to understand that what's being represented here is not the earth as we know it, but the land of Judah and Jerusalem. This is made perfectly clear in Luke's gospel:
“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. Luke 21:20-22 (NIV2011)
In closing, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse represent events that occurred from the sending out of the apostles after that first post-resurrection Pentecost, to the judgment of Jerusalem and the "wicked generation" that killed Christ and His messengers. And how do I know this?
Because it had all happened once before.
The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the LORD’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 2 Chronicles 36:15-19 (NIV2011)
Just as God had sent Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians to judge Judah and Jerusalem in 586 B.C., so Christ sent the legions of Rome, first under Vespasian then under Titus, to judge them starting in 66 AD, when the Jewish war with Rome began. It ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 AD, just as Christ had also foretold:
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Matthew 24:1-2 (NIV2011)
Never said it was. Thanks.
“This hasn’t happened yet.”
It most certainly did, in the destruction of Jerusalem. Did you not read Luke 23:26-30? It the parallel passage to Revelation 6:15-17! And look at whom Jesus is addressing on His way to the cross!
Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. Luke 23:28 (NIV2011)
“This denial of the significance of modern events, especially the founding of Israel in 1948, opens doors wide for atheists and anti-Semites to harass us and is leading to open persecution of Christians.”
Nonsense! The church is a laughingstock precisely because it keeps trotting out the same old futurist date-setters and frauds! The truth is there is no basis for anti-Semitism in preterism, because the wrath of God fell solely upon that generation that crucified its king and persecuted His messengers!
Israel is a nation but is not a temple-bound religion or theocracy: that was all done away with in 70 AD!
“Yeah, yeah, and we are all living in the new earth and the new heaven. Satan is bound in hell and all unbelievers with him. NOT. Oh, there is NO historical evidence that Nero ever banished anyone to Patmos. Preterists don’t know history or scripture.”
First of all, you have no clue as to what that phrase “heaven and earth” represents, so of course you have no idea that His kingdom has already come! Christ said the kingdom of heaven was “at hand” when He walked the earth. It was ushered in in 70 AD. Your refusal to understand this does not constitute failure on my part to explain it.
Secondly, there is, in fact, a Syrian version of Revelation that does state unequivocally that John was exiled to Patmos by Nero:
THE SYRIAC VERSION OF THE APOCALYPSE
(Philoxenian Version)
Murdock Syriac (5th Century)
“The Revelation, which was made by God to John the Evangelist, in the island of Patmos, to which he was banished by Nero the Emperor.”
Etheridge Syriac (5th Century)
THE REVELATION WHICH WAS MADE UNTO JUHANON THE EVANGELIST, FROM ALOHA, IN PATHAMON THE ISLAND, WHITHER HE HAD BEEN CAST BY NERO CAESAR.
http://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/1897_gwynn_syriac-apocalypse.html
The 5th Century Syriac version of the apocalypse tells us precisely who put John on Patmos!
Your ignorance about a “lack of evidence” is not proof that such evidence does not exist: only that you’ve never bothered to look for it.
“You’re apparently trying to spread confusion...”
What you call “confusion”, I call “clarity.” But I can see how easily confused some would be by the truth when they’ve been led to believe lies all their lives.
“We read the word here.”
Based on what I’ve seen, I highly doubt that. It seems as though many get their eschatology from popular culture, not from Christ and the apostles.
It’s really rather apparent.
“Take the your destruction of the word somewhere that it is welcome.”
I understand how terribly frightening all of this must be to you, but there’s no reason to silence those with whom you disagree.
Or are you espousing your own “Christian Sharia” now?
.... Notice how it just goes to no audio when the so called horse shows up, it means that it was added in later. ...and or its a reflection from the camera is the object moves at the same speed the camera does..... Focus your attention to the far right of the screen where the black boarder is while looking at the horseman peripherally, the horseman & camera man move in unison even going up in unison.
Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.
“This hasn’t happened yet.”
It most certainly did, in the destruction of Jerusalem. Did you not read Luke 23:26-30? It the parallel passage to Revelation 6:15-17! And look at whom Jesus is addressing on His way to the cross!
The quote from John in Revelation uses the same phrases that Jesus did. That’s not a parallel; that’s an apostle remembering what his Lord said.
Jesus did speak a lot on the destruction of Herod’s temple. I don’t know how that precludes anything else after that happening to the Jews or the Gentile “graft on the tree” - Christians - and why the Bible would suddenly go silent about that.
The few sects that tried to impose a date on God the Father (Matthew 24:36) were laughingstocks.
Most of today’s churches are laughingstocks not because of futurism, but because they don’t believe the Bible is relevant to today; that they can interpret/twist/torture the meaning of passages to make their congregations comfortable with their current Godless lifestyles.
The idea that there is prophecy yet unfulfilled and the full wrath of God has not yet been unfurled is far from comforting.
And now we see the anti-Semitism I mentioned.
The ongoing survival of Israel is a God-given miracle. And FYI, they are making progress to bring back the Temple and the Sanhedrin. Like the horrors of the Holocaust were used by God to form modern Israel, He will use the unthinkable devastation of a nuclear exchange to bring back the Jewish theocracy. Man’s evil is inevitable in our world; God always uses it to bring good into the world.
You’re good!
You claim it was Nero who banished John to Patmos? Nero had both Peter and Paul executed yet Preterists would have us believe that he only exiled John to Patmos. Preposterous.
In A.D. 60, Laodicea had been almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake. Yet Preterists would have us believe that, as stated in Revelation 3:17, they had in a short 8 years considered themselves "rich and in need of nothing".
One could go on and on with the discrepancies Preterists have with both scripture and history. Preterism is a false teaching and considered "another gospel" and should be considered accursed as Paul said.
.
Nothing frightening about any of it.
Preterism Satan’s confusion from top to bottom, and we are guaranteed total victory over it, at the last trump.
There is no “eschatology” for preterists; they will rise at the Great White Throne to be cast into the “second death” of outer darkness.
.
“In A.D. 60, Laodicea had been almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake. Yet Preterists would have us believe that, as stated in Revelation 3:17, they had in a short 8 years considered themselves “rich and in need of nothing”.”
I think you had better research your facts a little more closely. Laodicea rebuilt itself - without any help from Rome - precisely becuae it was “rich and had need of nothing”, owing to its trade in fine, black wool.
“One of the famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was that same year overthrown by an earthquake, and, without any relief from us, recovered itself by its own resources.”
http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.10.xiv.html
This is why John could write:
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Revelation 3:17 (NIV2011)
“And now we see the anti-Semitism I mentioned.”
Just like a liberal: always quick to place the race card when you can’t argue with facts.
Seriously, between you’re “he’s an anti-Semite” screeds and editor’s “preterists need to be silenced and are going to hell” rants, I don’t know whether I’m talking to Christians or the Taliban!
“Discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal.”
I’m not the one telling others they’re going to hell here. I’m not the one telling others they need to be silenced! I’m not the one calling others “anti-Semite.”
I’m discussing the issues: others are the ones making it “personal.” Maybe you could read the entire thread before jumping in to take a side, please?
“If they were written to the Thessalonians and have already happened, there should be some historical record of them happening. Please cite a historical record of that prophecy happening in the past:
a) Jesus descending from heaven with a shout
b) with the voice of the archangel
c) with the trump of God
d) the dead in Christ rising first (into the clouds)
e) living Christians caught up together with them in the clouds
f) all of these people meeting Jesus Christ in the air
g) all of them remaining with the Lord Jesus Christ for ever after that.”
And if these had actually been physical events, and not spiritual, there would be a historical record of them.
However, had you read the link I posted from David Curtis, you would’ve seen how all this played out, ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE! I’d strongly suggest going back to read that link I posted to you so that you can understand this!
“...they are making progress to bring back the Temple and the Sanhedrin.”
Then they are doing so against the expressed will of God through the last sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Not my words. Read the book of Hebrews, for one.
I did. I’m sorry, I don’t have time to respond to it, there are just too many points that he has wrong.
I always quickly check out the Matthew Henry Bible Commentary for each verse and see what it says. If I need more interpretation I continue searching elsewhere.
So I would have to do this for each of those quotes he has, and write up something that addresses each point he makes.
His excursis exhibits very weak/poor exegesis in a number of cases.
If I get time I will try to get back to that for you; if you’d like to start to analyze the differences between his excursis and the MHBC for the same verses, you can do that on biblegateway.com; just click on the STUDY THIS blue box next to Scripture text. There are a number of other resources there as well.
“...there are just too many points that he has wrong.”
From your point-of-view. Your way is not the way the apostles saw or taught, though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.