The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Consequences of our own Making

The first four seals that Christ opens in Heaven are referred to as the four horseman of the apocalypse. They are called this because after the breaking of each seal a rider on the horse is released to unleash some looming catastrophe on the earth. These riders are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth when the earth is resting quietly. They are four Spirits from Heaven who go out from before their station before the Lord. They come from between two mountains of bronze. Christ tells his followers not to be troubled when they see what these riders inflict because they are simply the beginning of sorrows. Christ equated these seals as birth pangs for the world much as a contraction is experienced by a woman in Labor. Contractions increase in severity and frequency as a preganant woman approaches delivery. When the interval between these contractions approaches a specific interval, a woman knows that it is time. When these four horseman come upon the scene, they should signal to believers that the beginning of sorrows has come; it’s the beginning of the end. Just as contractions apply pressure to a new life, believers will begin to experience tribulation in this world. These occur to prepare Believers for entering a whole new world they have yet to experience. These cycles occur because human decision making does not change. History repeats itself with ever growing frequency and severity as the consequences to these decisions build upon themselves and climax toward the end of the age.

The First White Horse brings the Antichrist

Many antichrists have emerged on the world scene to date, so it can be argued that this event is certainly cyclical. History has always shown that nations always change forms of government once corruption sets in and undermines the previous one. Men resist change normally. However, power corrupts sinful people eventually. Monarchies become dictatorships. Aristocracies become oligarchies. The work of lawlessness is already present in the world. As the status quo becomes intolerable under these repressive regimes, people call for change through revolution. Past revolutions have brought us to the democratic governments we have in place today. These changes always attempt to address one central issue that always plague a society; that issue is sin. For any form of government to be successful and avoid these problems, it must keep righteousness and rule of law at the forefront of all it does. Unfortunately, when a people collectively lose their sense of morality, even a democracy eventually declines into anarchy and mob rule. As corruption sets in, the demand for political change will only come full circle. As major crises develop, a democratic people will look more and more to their leaders for solving their problems. Not wanting to shoulder the responsibilities that come with freedom, an exasperated people will gladly hand power over to a new ruler; a ruler who will promise them security and prosperity in exchange for that power. This always presents an antichrist figure their opportunity and many have already come on the scene. This is why the Bible says people must become completely wicked for the Beast to come upon the world scene. Democratic people in favor of big government unknowingly move society in this direction. An Antichrist is anyone who simply attempts to take the place of Christ. They come to take the place of the previous political establishment. They have come in the name of Christ to deceive many. People are deceived because they do not love and seek the truth. They are deceived because the Antichrist will tell them what they want to hear. See that you are not deceived by them.

While many have already come, the beast, the main Antichrist is still to come. He is restrained from coming until the time of the end. He is the man sitting on the white horse when the first seal is broken. He has a bow without arrows in his hand. He conquers and yet does not shoot anything at first. He will use peace as his means to gain entry. He goes first to the north country and then throughout all the earth. He will confirm a covenant with many for seven years. This covenant initiates the beginning of the seven year period of the great tribulation. He will come peaceably and seize the Kingdom through intrigue. He will come peaceably to the richest places of the province. The rider on the white Horse is not given a diadem but a victor’s crown. He will be a vile person, to whom is not bestowed the honor of royalty. It’s important to realize that He is not a part of the present establishiment; He starts as an outsider. After the treaty is made with him, He will act decietfully and become strong with a small group of people behind him. He will conspire against the strongholds and the establishment and accomplish what none of his forefathers before him could do. He will redistribute wealth; He will disperse among his followers plunder, riches, and lands. More will be said about the beast and the abomination of desolation in later posts. These false Messiahs will not decieve the elect.

The Second Red Horse brings War

Wars and rumors of wars are without a doubt a birth pang in the world. Statisticians like Kondratieff have discovered that wars reoccur at regular intervals in the world. He discovered many major wars precipitate after economic cycles that peak every 54 years (although smaller cycles of wars also persist). Mounting political pressures always precede and build up to these events. The Cycle of war at the time of the end will be at an interval on the order of about 3.5 years or less. I often wonder if God intended to avert these periodic disasters by implementing the year of the Jubilee where debts would be forgiven the people of Israel and inheritances restored. Of course, people never really follow any of these special laws that God implemented and so these birth pangs persist. History repeats itself because the progression of human decision making rarely changes. People resort to violence when they do not know how to resolve their grievances. The same is true of groups of people or nations. Nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Wars precipitate because people are unable to resolve their conflicts in a more civilized manner. So war has become the means through which we force our adversary to capitulate to our demands. We have developed a dreadful arsenal of weapons with which to harm each other, but we have failed to develop the skills to peacably resolve our problems. As these trends continues, the horror of war will only increase in severity. The rider on the red Horse that is released at the second seal will be given a great sword. The technology that is now in place to let people kill each other swiftly and with ease is staggering. Moreover, all this technology has only leveled the playing field by which people can destroy each other. The Bible does not say the Rider on the red Horse himself kills but rather He triggers a chain of events to make people kill each other. As these waves of violence escalate and intensify among factions, they will eventually result in the mutual annihilation of the warring parties. Jesus warned all who take the sword shall perish by the sword. With all this brinkmanship in place, it takes only some little event to usher in another great world war like a domino effect. This red rider will be granted the power to take peace from the earth. His intent will be to only bring about mutual annihilaiton of the warring factions. Harm someone and you give Him cause to harm you. If you bite and devour one another beware lest you be consumed by one another. No King is saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for safety, neither shall it deliver any by it’s great strength. Trusted strongholds can always be scaled and brought down. A person is always vulnerable; you have to sleep sometime. The horse may be made ready for battle, but deliverance is from the Lord. The best means of averting war is by not giving your neighbor a motive to quarrel with you in the first place. If we looked not only to our own interests but also to the interests of others, we could avoid all this. Jesus told his followers to see that they are not troubled when they see these events occur, for the end is yet to come.

The Third Black Horse brings Famine

We are also told there will be famines in various places. There are two ways this can be done. Make true goods and services so scarce that they soar in price by limiting supply. Another way to make this happen is to make the existing supply expensive by inflation (over-stimulation of money). Both of which can occur. Certainly the war caused by the previous horseman can cause this. The rider on the black horse has a set of scales on his hand. He is granted power to set the price of goods on those scales. A quart of wheat is worth a denarius. A denarius was the average man’s daily wage. It will take the average man’s entire daily wage just to buy a little wheat. A quart of wheat would only provide enough sustenance for one man to eat. Basic necessities become luxuries for people. Wine and oil become priceless to people who survive on just a quart of wheat. This rider will set these inflationary prices. He goes first to the north country and then throughout all the earth. Famines can often be traced back to governments utilizing unequal scales and standards through fiat money. Fiat money is simply paper money that holds value because the authorities say so; it’s not tied to gold or some other objective standard. Expanding the money supply through printing only makes the currency worth less and is the primary culprit for inflation. Of course, markets always take some time to adjust and reflect these new supply levels in their valuations. The exclusive right to print money enables the authorities to extend their purchasing power while diminishing yours at the same time. Fractional reserve banking ensures their will be cycles of famine. All new money that enters the market starts as someone’s debt. A debt that is expected to be repaid with interest. As these debtors begin to pay down their debts with interest, the money supply begins to contract again. Since all the money in circulation originated as someone’s debt, insufficient funds exist to cover everyone’s interest. This scenarios creates a sort of musical chairs as societies debtors compete for the remaining dollars that exist to meet their debt obligations. In the end, someone will always be left out in the cold. Those who find themselves unable to pay their debt obligations will be forced to liquidate their real wealth and transfer it to the banks. Of course, many of these short term pains are averted by governments only all to willing to expand their debt. They resolve current debts simply by incurring more debt. By doing this, they only kick the can down the road to create a larger long term problem. As Governments intervene to rescue economies from these recessions, they only ensure future recession will become more severe. Of course, a Government can only continue to borrow until someone is not willing to lend them anymore. All this does is ensure a day of reckoning is still to come where the prices of goods will escalate. Government price controls only cause scarcity. It does this by preserving excess demand through lower prices and providing no increased incentive for suppliers to produce more. City dwellers who are not self sufficient and depend upon the system for the supply of their needs will be the greatest impacted.

The Fourth Pale Horse Brings Death

The Fourth pale horse is likely a green horse. The word in the Greek for pale is chloros; we get the term chlorine from this Greek word. Zechariah further describes the horse as dappled which means it is a spotted horse. The name of the rider is death. So the concept of a death angel is Biblical. Hades is also a person who follows the death Angel. Death and Hades also refers to the abode of the dead where unbelievers await their eternal judgment. We are told in Scripture that it is a place with gates. We are also told that Jesus holds the key to these gates. The last enemy to be destroyed by God will be death. At the great white throne judgement, Death and Hades will give up the dead that are in them and they will be cast into the lake of fire. Zechariah also tells us that this horse moves toward the south when He is first released. The Fact that Death occurs periodically should really go without saying. Death occurs for every generation. We die because we as people continue to sin. We are told in Scripture that when sin becomes fully grown it brings death. As sin reaches it’s full measure it inflicts people with ever greater severity.



In the beginning of the seven year period, these Horsemen will be given power over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. These four methods of killing are often grouped together in Scripture as a curse from the Lord. Only if people preserve righteousness, learn to work cooperatively with each other, create fair checks and balances, and stop sinning can we avert these consequences for our own generation. My concern is that collectively as a people we are not likely to change this course any time soon.  Christians should not be surprised when these things occur and prepare themselves accordingly.