Jesus Christ is the sovereign Lord of the universe, as seen in Him slitting the 4 seals and releasing the 4 horsemen to do his bidding in the earth.
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The 4 Horsemen
Revelation 6:1-8
Today we return to the book of Revelation after taking a month off. And in doing so, we are going to be breaking new ground. Up until now, the interpretation of this book has been fairly easy. I say “fairly” easy, because Revelation is always a difficult book to interpret. However, today we are going to be embarking on the really difficult portions of the book. Because of that, I will be presenting the major interpretational options more often, at least of the options that I consider to be most credible.
Before we jump into Revelation 6, we need to do some quick review of Revelation 1-5.
Revelation 1:
- Here we are told that Jesus gave this revelation to His angel, who “showed” it to John. Thus the Revelation was communicated in symbols and pictures. For John, it was more like watching a movie than listening to a book read.
- We are told that the things in this book must “soon” take place, and the time is near. Thus it is not likely that the majority of this book will take place at the end of human history, having almost no relevance to the vast majority of the church.
- We are told that the Revelation is both a prophecy and a letter.
- Then we are shown a vision of the Risen Christ in all his glory, pictured by various symbols.
Revelation 2:
- Letter to the church in Ephesus: the church that left its first love
- Letter to the church in Smyrna: the church that faced imminent martyrdom
- Letter to the church in Pergamum: the church that tolerated face teachers
- Letter to the church in Thyatira: the church that tolerated a false prophetess
Revelation 3:
- Letter to the church in Sardis: the church that needed to be resuscitated
- Letter to the church in Philadelphia: the church of the open door
- Letter to the church in Laodicea: the church of the unconverted
Revelation 4 – 5
Revelation 4: A Vision of God as King on His Throne. God is worshiped as Creator
Revelation 5: A Vision of Christ as the Lion/Lamb. Christ is worshiped as Redeemer
Before we take a close look at the actual text of Revelation 6:1-8, let me remind you of the four major interpretations of this book.
The Historicist Interpretation. This school of thought believes that the book of Revelation is predicting major events that would take place throughout church history in a chronological order. They believe that the various symbols in the book refer to specific people or events down through history. The problem is that the Historicists can’t agree among themselves as to what the symbols represent. This school of thought has all but died out today. There are practically no recognized scholars writing for and advocating for the Historicist interpretation of the Book of Revelation today. I think we can safely set it to the side, as being an incorrect view of the book of Revelation.
The Futurist Interpretation. This school of thought takes everything from Revelation 4 to the end of the book as being about things still yet future. This has been a very popular view for at least the last 100 years. It was popularized by the Scofield and Ryrie study bibles and Dallas Theological Seminary. Hal Lindsay in his book The Late Great Planet Earth in 1970. Even more recently this view has received much attention by the Left Behind series of books. This view believes that the rapture takes place at Revelation 4:1, and that the church is taken out of the world before the tribulation begins in chapter 6. This view has only been around since about 1830, less than 200 years. The other three views have been around for many centuries.
Of the four views that I’m going to share with you, I would judge the Historist View as least likely to be correct, followed by the Futurist View. Why would I say that? It is for the simple reason that the Book of Revelation was written as a letter to seven churches that existed in John’s day that were suffering persecution and needed encouragement to persevere to the end. Whatever is the true understanding of Revelation, it must be applicable and relevant to the church in the first century. However, it is difficult to see what value the Dispensational Futurist view would have for the church in any century. It is not applicable to any church, because the great majority of its contents are not fulfilled until the last seven years of earth’s history, and when they are fulfilled, the church is already raptured. It is difficult to judge what purpose it serves for God’s people.
The Preterist Interpretation. This school of thought is the opposite of the Futurist view. Instead of seeing Revelation fulfilled at the very end of the church age, the Preterist sees it as being fulfilled at the beginning of the church age. The Preterist believes that Revelation is about the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Some Preterists believe it is also about the Fall of Rome in the 5th century.
This view has the strength of taking the statements about the prophecy coming to pass soon, and the time is near, seriously. Of the four views, the Preterist feels most at home with this language.
The Idealist Interpretation. This school of thought does not believe that Revelation chapters 6-18 are pointing to any particular people or events in history. Instead, they believe these chapters are teaching recurring principles and themes which recur again and again in all periods of the church. Some of those recurring themes are Christ’s triumph over Satan, the vindication of the martyrs, the judgment of God throughout history, and the sovereignty of God.
The strength of this view is that it avoids having to identify specific passages in Revelation with particular fulfillments. Instead, every passage is relevant and for the church in any era of history. The Preterist sees Revelation as particularly relevant to first century Christians. The Futurist sees Revelation as particularly relevant to Christians in the last generation of history. But the Idealist sees Revelation as relevant for all Christians from the first century to the last century.
Of those four basic models of interpretation, I am most confident of the Idealist position. However, from time to time, I also see the validity of the Preterist position, and will bring that out as we move through the text. Okay, it’s time now to take a look at our text.
In Revelation 6:1-8, we find four horsemen, riding four different colored horses, with a different but similar result following from each horseman. In each case, one of the 4 living creatures in succession will call one of these horsemen to come forth. I will call these four horsemen Conquest – War – Famine – Death.
1. Conquest (6:1-2)
The Lamb broke one of the seven seals. Remember that in 5:1-5 John wept because no one in heaven or earth was worthy to open the book, until one of the elders pointed out that the Lion from the tribe of Judah was the only one worthy. When Jesus came and took the book (scroll) out of the hand of God, all of heaven erupted into worship. Now, in chapter 6, Jesus is going to begin slitting the seals on the scroll so that God’s purposes of salvation and judgment will begin to come to pass.
One of the 4 living creatures said with a voice of thunder, “Come.” If you have ever been outside on a stormy night and heard the roll of thunder, you know it can be deafening, and terrifying. That is what the voice of these 4 living creatures were like when the gave the divine command to the four horsemen to come and do God’s bidding.
A White Horse – A Bow and a Crown – Conquering and to Conquer. Horses in the Old Testament are emblems of war. These four horses are warhorses.
Now, this description has led a great many people to identify the rider on the white horse with Jesus Christ conquering the lost with His gospel throughout the world. They reason that we see Jesus on a white horse in Revelation 19:11, and there he also has many diadems. In Psalm 45 Jesus is portrayed as shooting his arrows into the heart of the King’s enemies. So, the symbolism seems to fit. The color of white also fits nicely with Jesus Christ, because white is the color of purity.
But, does this rider on the white horse symbolize Christ? I don’t think so. Why not?
1) In Revelation 19 Jesus has a sword and many crowns. Here the rider has a bow and one crown.
2) Here we find an angelic being (living creature) commanding the rider on the white horse to come. That is completely at odds with the description we were just given in chapters 4 and 5 of Jesus Christ being worshiped as God upon the throne by all of the angels and humans in heaven and earth. Surely, Jesus can never be commanded by any of His creatures!
Others, believe this rider is the Antichrist, who initially appears ushering in a false sense of peace. They believe that is what the picture of the bow without any arrows signifies. Those who believe this, also believe that Revelation 6-19 all take place during the last seven years of earth’s history. The problem with this view is that Revelation 6 takes place right on the heals of Revelation 4-5, without any indication that thousands of years have transpired. Revelation 4-5 show Jesus seated on the throne of glory. That took place upon His ascension to heaven after His death and resurrection. There is nothing in the text to indicate that there is a great gap of time between chapter 5 and chapter 6. Thus I do not think we should assume such a gap. If there is no gap, then this rider can’t be the Antichrist who appears at least 2,000 years after Christ’s enthronement.
In fact, I don’t think we should try to identify this rider with any particular person at all. Why? Because no one tries to identify the riders on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th horses. It is only this first rider on the white horse. If we don’t need to identify who rides on the horses of war, famine, and death, why do we need to identify the rider on the horse of Conquest? We don’t, and shouldn’t.
2. War (6:3-4)
Red Horse. Perhaps this horse is red to signify bloodshed.
Granted to take peace from the earth – men would slay one another. Apparently this rider ushers in war. Peace flees. There is slaughter, violence, and ruthless killing.
A Great Sword was Given to Him. This sword is great, not in size, but in what it accomplishes. A great many people are slaughtered in the breaking of this seal.
3. Famine (6:5-6)
Black Horse.
Pair of Scales. Food is very scarce so it must be rationed precisely.
A quart of wheat for a denarius. A denarius was a day’s wage. Usually you could buy 8 quarts of wheat for a denarius. This is 800% inflation. Now you can only buy enough wheat to feed one person for a day. But what do you do if you have a family to feed?
Three quarts of barley for a denarius. Barley was the cheaper and less nutritious grain. If you had a family to feed, you would be forced to eat barley. You could feed three people per day on barley for your day’s wage. However, that is just food. That doesn’t take into account any of the other living expenses.
This is exactly what we find taking place in Ezekiel 4:16-17, when the Babylonians laid siege to Jerusalem. “Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror, because bread and water will be scarce; and they will be appalled with one another and waste away in their iniquity.”
There is still bread to be had, but it is very expensive because it is in such short supply. Most people are poor and so must suffer great hardship.
Do not damage the oil and the wine. This tells us that the food supply was not comprehensive. There were some foods that could still be obtained – oil and wine.
- Death (6:7-8)
Ashen Horse. Ashen is the color of ashes. It is the color of a corpse. It loses all its color and becomes pale and gray.
Had the name Death and Hades. Hades is the realm of the dead. What follows in the train of Conquest – War and Famine? Death and Hades.
A fourth of the earth. This is a large portion, but still restrained. If we think of this fourth seal being not of a single event, but of the cumulative numbers of people killed needlessly by various evils, it makes more sense.
To kill with the Sword, Famine, Pestilence, and Wild Bests. These are four categories of deaths. Natural death is not being referred to here, but untimely and needless deaths caused by war, famine, disease, and beasts.
THE MEANING OF THESE 4 SEALS
Well then, what does the breaking of these seals teach us? Let’s survey what the three major interpretations are of this passage.
Futurist. This view maintains that the breaking of these four seals is yet future, and will take place during the Great Tribulation, which they believe takes place during the last seven years of earth’s history. They believe that the rider on the white horse is the Antichrist, riding forth to conquer the whole world. In the train of his rise to power, wars break out across the globe, leading to the ultimate battle of Armageddon when Christ returns. These wars result in famine and pestilence across the world.
Preterist. This view maintains that the breaking of the four seals takes place during the Jewish war of 67-70 AD. They see the Roman empire as the one conquering, and the war to subdue Israel as taking peace from the “earth” which they say should better be translated as “land.” During the siege of Jerusalem, there was a great famine with parents eating their infant children. In the wake of this war Death and Hades claimed a great number of Jews.
The Futurists place the breaking of the seals in the future. The Preterists place it in the first century. What do the Idealists do?
Idealists. The Idealists maintain that the breaking of the four seals took place upon Christ’s ascension to the throne, and that the effects of the breaking of these four seals has been taking place throughout church history. In other words, God has ordained to permit evil men and nations to lust for conquest, which ushers in wars, famine, pestilence and death. They see this as a pattern that has gone on for the last 2,000 years. And they are right. It is very rare to discover any year in the last 2,000 in which there was not some war taking place somewhere on the globe. The Idealist sees conquest, war, famine, and pestilence as a means by which God judges this sinful world. As Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” There is such a thing as pre-wrath wrath, or pre-judgment justice.
I think of these three possible interpretations, the two most likely are the Preterist and the Idealist, and of these two, I lean toward the Idealist interpretation. If that interpretation is correct, what does it mean for us and the world?
It means that during the church age, God has decided to allow evil men to pursue their greedy desires for more land and power and wealth through conquest. God allowed Hitler to pursue His own greedy desires. And along with these desires for conquest come war, famine, pestilence and death through wild beasts.
Notice in Revelation 6:2, “a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”
Revelation 6:4 “it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another, and a great sword was given to him.”
Revelation 6:8 “Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
When Jesus breaks the seals, it is given to the rider on the horse to bring about these evils in the world. What does that tell us? It tells us that Jesus Christ is sovereign over all things, including all the evil and suffering in the world. He is using it all to accomplish His purposes.
Isaiah 45:7 “I am the Lord and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.”
Amos 3:6 “If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?”
Brothers and sisters, if your view of God does not contain the knowledge of a God who is sovereign over everything that happens, your vision of God is too small. Yes, it is a much nicer and more comfortable view of God to believe that He does all the good things, and the devil is ultimately responsible for all the bad things. However, that’s just not Biblical! When the devil wanted to attack Job, God had to give permission for him to do so.
The Bible is clear. Christ is not just sovereign over all the good things. He is sovereign over everything! Nothing can take place unless He permits or ordains it. But why in the world would Jesus Christ permit or ordain calamity, war, famine, pestilence, suffering?
Why does God allow these calamities and sufferings to come upon the world. We live in an evil world that has snubbed its nose at God, walked in its own ways, rejected the call of Christ, and God is allowing it to experience a dose of its own medicine. The world wants nothing to do with Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace? OK, then God will allow an evil ruler to rise up and take peace from the earth to get their attention.
The world wants nothing to do with God? Then God will remove His restraint to show sinners what eternity will be like when He has completely removed His gracious presence from them. We get a preview of that in the Holocaust, or the Civil War. I’ve heard many people say, “War is Hell!” I understand what they mean, but they are wrong. War is not Hell. Hell is far, far, worse than war. But war can help sinners get a little glimpse of the horrors of Hell.
Why does God allow the AIDS virus? 42 million people worldwide have died of AIDS. Could he be doing what Romans 1:27 says, “in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”
- S. Lewis wrote in his book The Problem of Pain, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
The church need not fear these calamities. If God ordain that we go through them, Christ will go through them with us. He will never leave or forsake us. Listen to Isaiah 43:1-2, “But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you… Do not fear, for I am with you.”
Church, bow down to Christ! He is seated on the throne of the universe! He governs all things. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He breaks the seals of God’s destiny and sovereign purposes. All things are unfolding according to His purpose and plan. Place yourself in His mighty hand and trust Him. He does all things well.
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