Revelation – The Seven Seals

Part 1 The Four Horsemen

(Revelation 6-8:5)

Zechariah 1:8-11 “I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.[9] Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be. [10] And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. [11] And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.”

Zechariah 6:1-7 “And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.[2] In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;[3] And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.[4] Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?[5] And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.[6] The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country.[7] And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth.”

The Riders of Revelation have been around longer than most may have realized and had been kept at bay until the time of their release was given. They have been inspecting the earth and all that is going on in it waiting for the command to be sent to them, so that they would begin their ride. These are not evil or malevolent beings desiring to end all life on this planet, but are faithful and obedient spirits that have begun to bring about judgement and the fulfilling of prophecy. Each was released at specific times throughout history to begin the fulfilling of scripture. Their ride does not stop at the opening of each seal, but will continue till the return of Christ. By the time the fourth seal is opened the first three are already riding forth and as for us we continue to see the ride of all four Horsemen to this very day. Their ride in some ways has a cumulative effect, since the start of each ride is not marked by some earth shaking event. It is normally something small that is built upon.

Revelation 6:1-2 “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. [2] And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”

The First Horseman was released around the time of 50 AD when the council of Jerusalem took place. It was at this time that the early church decided to make a separation between peoples. While the church chose to make a distinction between “Jews” and “Gentiles”, they errored because they looked through the eyes of men and not that of The Almighty. When those that knew not The Almighty or chose not to serve Him, but later come around to serving Him are accepted into His People. That of course means that those people have changed their lives over to match the way of life that is required from The Almighty’s People. It is not the other way around as is taught by so many of the false “Christian” religions that began sprouting up later on due to the decision made at Jerusalem. The Rider on the White-Horse has done his job quite well. Just look around and you can see the countless “Christian” religions and how they have strayed away from the path that is straight and narrow. Just as Jesus said “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” It is not an easy way to find and one must truly search for it to even be able to find it. It isn’t like there is a road sign that say “Strait and Narrow” to direct people to it. No, it is something that must mean something to each individual person that goes and searches for this “Way” of life. Your life will change when you are willing to take the path once you find it. If not than you will remain on the “Broad Way” leading to your eternal deaths. Remember Jesus’s words that few are the ones that find the right “Way” and look around at all those that profess to follow Christ. Not many of them will actually make it because they have chosen to follow their own way and not the way layed out by Christ. Whose “Way” did Christ follow? Simple, he followed and did all according to his Father’s “Way” of life, not his own.

Revelation 6:3-4 “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. [4] And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”

As the Second Seal was opened the Red-Horse started its ride. Though there have been wars and battles throughout history they would become more and more prevalent once the Second Horseman began its ride. This of course takes place after the First Seal (White-Horse) around the 3^rd century with the constant struggle and wars brought about by Rome and surrounding lands. Wars would become more frequent and in some cases even bloodier than before. The Red-Horse was sent to take away the peace of the World, not just to start wars. Now we look around and there seems to be not one day goes by with peace in the World. If it isn’t wars than it is some kind of skirmish and if that is not happening than you have unrest in multiple places. It is getting to the point where it is hard for people to even have peace of mind. Remember with each Rider you add another element to the affairs of the World, from False Religion and now the taking away of peace.

Revelation 6:5-6 “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. [6] And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

The opening of the Third Seal would of course usher in the Ride of the Black-Horse, the bearer of the scales. The prices of not just food would be affected by this Rider, even though food is a pretty big and important item when it comes to our survival. Food is more important than gold and silver, since you can’t eat those. It is around the 4^th century that the seal is opened and the Rider sent on his ride. With the upheavals of the economy in the Roman Empire, this begins the continual money troubles of the World and the turmoil of food supplies throughout history. Even with our ability to grow more it seems that we still struggle with feeding people. The effect on food is not just because of draught or some other form of famine, but also from authorities controlling the supply of food. The issue of food will become even more staggering as time goes on and the influence of all three Riders increases and with the introduction of the final Rider.

Revelation 6:7-8 “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.[8] And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

The final Rider is Death the rider of the Pale-Horse. The Fourth Seal was opened around the 6^th and 7^th century, which was also about the time the plague started to make its big day view appearance in the south from Asia. This is also the area where Zechariah saw the Grisled and Bay horses going and from there the Pale-Horse began its ride. Plagues and disease have popped up their ugly heads in our past, but now they are becoming more resistant to treatments and are more easily spread over greater distances. You have to also look at diseases other than the more well-known diseases such as the flu, dysentery and malaria. Look at all the health problems that are growing in numbers and that you see commercials all day long about them. In a time where mankind says that we will live longer than before we are also suffering from more problems than before. Besides those health issues the threat of real outbreaks of plagues is just a moment away from happening again. There is one interesting fact about the Pale-Horse that we learn of that we don’t get to know about the others; it is the name of its rider. Death is the name of the rider of the Pale-Horse and you may not think much about that, but there is more to it than you know. This individual person, or I should say spiritual being, since they are not human, has been mentioned a couple of times throughout the scriptures. The rider is the same “Angel of Death”, the Destroyer, from the last plague that befell Egypt and who is also known as Abaddon in Revelation. The culmination of all Four Horsemen and the end of their riding will be coming to an end in our near future with the return of Jesus, but until than we continue to see the effect of their going to and fro on the earth.