Now the time has come. God’s book—the Book of Destiny, the book that spells out what is to happen in the end time—is now to be opened. We need to note that the Lamb doesn’t open the book at this point. He merely breaks open the seals.
The events that we will see with the seals are not the end of history itself. They are events that precede the end. The seals have to be broken before the book can be opened. This is exactly what Christ had said.
In Matthew, the apostles had asked Christ two questions. (24:3) When would the temple be destroyed, and what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the world?
Christ answered by giving nine signs, and He called this period of history “the beginning of “birth pains” or “leg of sorrows.” After He had given the nine signs in Matthew 24: 5-14, He said “then shall the end come.” (v. 14)
Let’s look for a moment at what Christ predicted and what is now beginning to happen in the book of Revelation.
In Matt. 24: 5-14 Christ spoke of the beginning of birth pains or of sorrows. We see that corresponds to the seven seals in Rev. 6: 1-17.
The similarity that we can see hear is that the end of the world will not come all at once.
The future will be filled with wars, natural disasters, persecutions, and the claims of false messiahs. Actually we are seeing a glimpse of all of these right now. At the end these events will intensify. But this is not all. There will be the appearance of the rider on the white horse. READ verses 1 & 2.
Who is this rider? This is widely disputed but most commentators agree on one of two possibilities.
1. One view says that the rider symbolizes the victorious Christ Himself or the victorious proclamation of the gospel. The rider is said to have been crowned. He is on a white horse. Those agreeing with this view say that the color white is always associated with Christ throughout Revelation. So they say this must be Christ.
Others argue that Christ cannot be commanded by heavenly creatures and so it can’t be Christ.
2. So the second view is that the rider represents conquest in general, the antichrist in particular. He is the deceiver and that is why he appears in white. The crown is different from the crown worn by Christ in Rev. 19. It’s the crown of the conqueror not the crown of a king.
The bow represents conquest. In the OT it is always the symbol of military power.
One writer says to note this: when the rider appears on the scene he already has a bow, but the crown is given to him. After he receives the crown, then he goes forth to conquer. This points strongly to a counterfeit Christ. Breaking this down further:
The rider has a bow. Christ doesn’t possess a bow. A weapon of war is not part of His being.
The rider is given a crown. Christ is not given a crown. We say that Christ has been crowned throughout all of eternity.
Third, the rider sets out to conquer. There is not specific time, when you think about it, that Christ set forth to conquer the hearts of men. He has always been about the mission of salvation. So there is no point at which He has to MOVE to conquer.
So the strongest argument seems to point to the white rider being the antichrist. The Scripture tells us that he will conquer the world by deception. Because people choose to go the way of sin and evil, God will judge the world.
The beginning of that judgment will be God allowing the antichrist to come upon the world scene. And he will deceive men in such a way that they will give their kingdoms to him. You ask, how can that happen?
What would cause men to turn over the government of the world over to one man.? We have been warned. A world that is full of false messiahs will claim they have the answers to life. That prepares the way for the antichrist. When the heart is empty and hopeless, it will turn to any person who promises utopia or heaven on earth.
A world that is full of violence, wars, and rumors of war will prepare the way for the antichrist. Millions of lives, homes, families, and all else will be destroyed. A devastated people will turn to any leader who can bring peace and restoration.
Natural disasters will prepare the way for the antichrist. Disaster after disaster will cause people to quake in fear. Fear will drive people to a world leader who can promise and provide economic and medical help and aid.
Of course, religious persecution, false religion and preachers, and a world that chooses to follow such things will prepare the way for the antichrist.
People will turn to a leader who promises peace between religions. False religion will leave the heart hungry for something real; they will be ripe for the promises of the antichrist. Toward the end, people will be begging for help dealing with lawlessness, drunkenness, drugs, occults, crime, and on and on. They will look toward anyone who can bring true care, affection, and love back into society. The antichrist will deceive people into thinking he is the one. READ verses 3-4.
The second seal is the thundering appearance of a red horse and its rider. Who is the rider this time? He is the rider who has power to take peace from the earth so that men will kill each other. He is the rider who is given a large sword. That makes him the rider of strife, violence, assault, abuse, anger, hate, murder, war and bloodshed.
He is the ride who divides race against race, class against class, neighbor against neighbor, employee against employer, husband against wife, religion against religion, and nation against nation. Who is this rider? John doesn’t say. But we must note the facts.
The last days will bring terrible days of evil. Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 3: 1-3.
The last days will bring terrible days of wars and rumors of wars. Matt. 24: 6-7.
The devil himself is called “an enormous red dragon. Rev. 12: 3
The devil is a murderer and a great liar and deceiver and has been from the beginning. Jn. 8: 44.
The antichrist who will be the supreme representation of the devil upon earth will become a mass murderer and use the sword against both God’s people and those who oppose hi. This is one way he brings the world into subjection under his government. Rev. 17: 15-18.
So who is this rider? We can say that he is either the lack of peace that the antichrist and his government bring to the world or he is the antichrist himself. And really, to say one is to say the other. READ verses 5-6.
Now the appearance of the black horse and its rider. This again appears to be the antichrist. He will have the power to control the economy and distribution of food. Food will be rationed in the end time. With all the wars that will be happening, there will be great famine.
Notice that it took a day’s wages to buy a quart of wheat—a day’s wages to buy three quarts of barley. Imagine working all day and earning only enough to buy food for one person for a day. What about feeding the family? What about housing, heat, clothing, and transportation?
This will be the situation just before the great distress or the great tribulation is to take place. The reference to the oil and wine is that both of these come from trees. Trees will continue to produce without being cared for. Men will be so involved in war they won’t have time to plant crops.
Oil and wine were luxury items in the ancient world. This statement refers to there being plenty of oil and wine because of stockpiles. In other words, as is true in most famines, the wealthy will have food, the poor will not. READ verses 7-8.
Now the appearance of the pale horse and its rider. This rider appears to represent the terrible devastation caused by the antichrist and his government or the antichrist himself.
This rider has a name—Death. And sitting right behind him is Hades or hell.
The rider is given power to cause pain and suffering. He is personally responsible for killing one fourth of the people on earth. How can one rider possibly kill one fourth of the people (over one billion today)?
1. Through war and genocide, deliberately setting a policy to destroy certain races or groups of people. All it would take is someone like Hitler to launch a larger war, perhaps an atomic war on earth.
2. Hunger and starvation can help to kill that many people. The rider can starve people and cause famine due to war and the rationing of food. Reports tell us that while we slept last night there were about 40,000 children alone who starved to death. 40,000 children in one night—not including adults.
3. Germ warfare and disease that result from unsanitary conditions can cause a wiping out of one fourth of the earth’s population. Look at all the new stains of flu and venereal disease that have come about in the past 20 years.
4. Wild beasts will help to kill that many people as well. Billions of people will be taking to the forests because of being homeless. This rider is responsible for exposing people to the beasts of the forests and jungles who will be just as hungry from the lack of food.
So the picture we are given of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse is not a pretty one. But we don’t have to think very hard about how possible all this can be.
The truth is that the Scripture says all this is going to happen. It will happen right before the events of the end time. But as terrible as the four horsemen events are, they are not the worst judgments that are to take place upon earth. The worst will still lie ahead when the end time itself is launched.
These judgments are just the seal judgments. The end time judgments are called the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments.
So, I am not a bearer of good news tonight with this study. But the good news is that we can all survive the great tribulation if we would only turn to Jesus Christ for salvation before the end comes. That is why we are here.
We are to tell others of what is to come and to prepare. That preparation has to do with accepting Christ.
