| |  Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,
by Viktor Vasnetsov (1887).
(larger image)Revelation 6 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. 3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!" 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. 12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave[e] and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" | | Horses and their riders | | Name | Horse | Rider | Power | Original Greek Description | | Conquest | White | Carries a bow (old Latin translation is standard, not the weapon) and wears a crown | Conquering | ίππος λευκός (híppos leukós), [The] White Horse | | War | Red | Carries a sword | To take peace from the earth, and let men kill one another | ίππος πυρρός (híppos purrós), [The] Fiery Red Horse | | Famine | Black | Carries a balance (weighing scale) | Famine, Drought, Disease. | ίππος μέλας (híppos mélas), [The] Black Horse | | Death | Pale Green | Death, followed by Hades (Pluto). | Over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. | ίππος χλωρός, θάνατος (híppos khlōrós, thánatos), [The] Pale Green Horse, [named] Death |  Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, by Albrecht Dürer.
(larger image) Besides Christ, the horseman could represent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was understood to have come upon the Apostles at Pentecost after Jesus' departure from earth. The appearance of the Lamb in Revelation 5 shows the triumphant arrival of Jesus in heaven, and the white horseman could represent the sending of the Holy Spirit by Jesus and the advance of the gospel of Jesus Christ Red Horse The rider of the second horse is generally held to represent War. The red color of his horse represents blood spilled on the battlefield. He carries a greatsword, which represents battle and fighting. Revelation 6:4
"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." Black Horse The third horseman, riding the black horse, is called Famine. The black color of the third horse could be a symbol of the dead. Revelation 6:5 - 6:6
“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. 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.’” Pale Green Horse The fourth horseman, on the pale horse, is explicitly named Death. The Greek word interpreted here as "pale" is elsewhere in the New Testament translated as "paisley." The horse is sometimes translated as "pale," "pale green," or "green." The pale greenish color of the fourth horse could mean fear, sickness, and/or decay. He may represent death as in the reaper of souls or more commonly known as the grim reaper. Alternative interpretations One interpretation is that the Four Horsemen are the Four Beasts mentioned in the visions of The Book of Daniel, representing four kings (or kingdoms), the last of which devours the world. The more conventional integration of this portion of Daniel with Revelation, however, is that the eleventh king (arising in the fourth kingdom) is the Antichrist. Some Christian scholars do not interpret Revelation as prophecy of future events so much as a revealing of God's presence in the current events of the first century. In this sense the white horseman is a symbol for a conquering force from without. This is symbolized using the image of the feared Parthian mounted archer on his white horse and given the crown of a conqueror. The red rider who takes peace from the earth is the civil strife that ended the pax romana. The black rider is the famine that follows anytime there is foreign invasion or civil war. The final rider is the death that accompanies conflict and famine and the pestilence that springs up in the aftermath of these other tragedies. While these images, and especially the Parthians, are specific to the Roman Empire of the early Christian era, there is a universality about them. Each new century, Christian interpreters see ways in which the horsemen, and Revelation in general, speaks to contemporary events. Some who believe Revelation applies to modern times can interpret the horses based on various ways their colours are used. Red, for example, often represents Communism, Black has been used as a symbol of Capitalism, while Green represents the rise of Islam. Pastor Irvin Baxter Jr. of Endtime Ministries espouses such a belief. Not all interpretations agree that the horsemen are associated with contemporary events. One interpretation suggests that the horsemen are each associated with one of the first, four opened seals. The white horse represents the first seal in which the city of Enoch is established in righteous conquest. The red horse represents the second seal in which bloodshed and wickedness reigns. The black horse represents the third seal in which famine, plague, and pestilence take hold of the world. The pale horse represents a time of escalated death and destruction. Further interpretation by scholars suggests that each horse represents a given time: the time of Enoch, the time of Noah, the time of Abraham, and the time of Christ. Another challenged interpretation is that the white horse represents foreign warfare or conquest ("went forth conquering, and to conquer"), the red represents civil war or domestic strife ("that they should kill one another"), the black represents famine ("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"), and the pale represents pestilence (Greek: θάνατος thanatos, the same word used for Death) or disease in its various forms (" to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth"). And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. (Rev 6:8 ESV) Pestilence, Famine, War and Death This interpretation rearranges the order in which the horsemen arrive to end the world, and a slight change to their personas. Pestilence is portrayed as a distinct entity, separate from Famine, and takes Conquest's normal place in the lineup. The first horseman to appear is Pestilence, who rides upon a sickly, decaying horse. Pestilence causes the decay and imminent destruction of the worlds crops and wildlife. In the wake of Pestilence comes Famine, a large and portly rider riding upon a thin and sickly horse, symbolizing gluttony and the lack of food. In the wake of Famine, due to immense fighting over the remaining food supplies, is War. War rides upon a red horse and wields a tremendous sword which he uses to slay the millions in his path. And in the wake of War, comes the black rider, Death. His horse is jet black. He is followed by Hades and carries the remaining souls to their final destinations. It is this interpretation which is most commonly used as the basis for pop culture's uses of the Four Horsemen concept. Other Biblical references Zechariah also sees the Horsemen (Zech 6:1-5). During this, first come the Red, then White, then Black, and finally the "Grisled and Bay" (the Pale Horses by implication). They are referred to as "the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth." See also References - McNeely, Darris. "Visions of Judgment: The Horsemen of Revelation", The Good News, January/February 2004 vol. 9, num. 1.
- http://www.apocalipsis.org/fourhorsemen.htm
- Vos, Brian D. "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse", The Outlook, June 2006 vol. 56 no. 4, pp 16-20.
- Baxter, Irvin. "Arafat and Jerusalem: The Palestinian Perspective". Endtime Ministries. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
- Draper, Richard D. (1991). Opening the Seven Seals: The Visions of John the Revelator. Deseret Book. pp. 62–68. ISBN 0-87579-547-1.
- Moses 7:19
- Blue Letter Bible. ",a href="http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm? Strongs=G2288&t=ESV">Dictionary and Word Search for thanatos (Strong's 2288)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 26 Jul 2009.
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