The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse Series

Written in this scroll is a description of the judgment by which the Lord will take back the earth. At the opening of each seal, we will see the drama of the coming judgment as the wrath of God unfolds and He takes back His universe. The first four seals are the unleashing of what is known as the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse The first thing you will notice in the opening of the first 4 seals in Revelation 6:1-8 is a pattern:

1. Christ breaks the seal,

2. One of the four living creatures cries out “Come!”,

3. A colored horse and rider leap onto the world scene,

The fourth and fifth seal are related are martyrdom and cosmic disturbances. The seventh seal is the unleashing of the 7 trumpets. Tonight we’re going to look at the first four seals and the four horsemen associated with those seals. The Old Testament has a similar scene with these horsemen. Zechariah 1 features horsemen who patrolled the earth for God. The prophet later wrote of four chariots, whose horses mirror the colors of those in Revelation 6, that went out into the four corners of the earth to impose God’s will on his enemies (Zech. 6:1–8).

I. Seal #1 - The White Horse (Conquest/False Peace)

Revelation 6:1–2 ESV

1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

First, notice that it is Jesus who breaks the seal and opens the scroll. Secondly, see that there is an invitation to John from the living creature to observe the events that will take place, and then John describes the horse and the horseman. Based on John’s description, we can quickly decide the identity of the ride with three main candidates?:

1. He is Christ going forth to deliver the gospel

2. He is the antichrist

3. He represents various conquerors who arise in history.

Let’s dive deeper into this identity and why.

You can tell much about how a person understands this book and God’s prophetic plan by seeing how they understand this first rider. Those who think Revelation is mostly a book of history believe that this rider is Jesus. Those who believe that this is a prophetic passage, yet to be fulfilled, often account for this rider to be the antichrist.

First, those who believe the rider is Christ point to the appearance of Jesus in Revelation 19 as a white rider who leads the armies of heaven. White is the color of righteousness, and in both John’s Gospel and Revelation Jesus is frequently said to conquer (John 16:33; Rev. 5:5). There are, however, reasons to doubt this view. The primary objection is that these four horsemen are all on the same team. Their purpose is tribulation, not salvation. Moreover, this rider wears the laurel crown of a conqueror rather than the “many diadems” that Jesus wears in Revelation 19:12. While the color white often speaks of righteousness, it can also represent the victorious warrior, such as the Roman conquerors who rode white horses.