The Four Horses Of The Apocalypse
This is a topic I never really delved into until all the recent talk of death, and the reporting of covid deaths in the media every day. I find it surprising simply because this constant reporting of death, is a relatively new thing. We used to hear about murders and car accidents in the news, but not every single long term care death, or deaths from respiratory illnesses.
Most of us understand death is inevitable. Now it seems only the covid deaths are horrific, tragic, preventable, and exponentially stacking up. For some reason, it takes centre stage over and above all other causes of death. Most people will attribute this to the fact it is contagious. But it is not the first time we have been exposed to contagious outbreaks, so what makes this one so mind numbingly catastrophic?
I worked in hospitals. If you ever sat down with even just a handful of nurses, you could hear about the saddest cases, none of which ever hit the news. So the death horse is upon us, whether it is related to Biblical prophecy or not.
The covid death announcements makes one wonder if we have entered this phase of Biblical prophecy. It is not uncommon for people to look to their faith, or to the Bible, during times of uncertainty – especially uncertainty surrounding our own mortality.
But we do have to keep in mind that apocalyptic visions have been advanced by every doomsday cult throughout history, as well as by people like Greta Thunberg on the secular and political side. In fact, every time there is upheaval and change, there are many who will associate it with end times.
I have listened to multiple different speakers on Bible prophecy, and have read about a variety of different interpretations of the four horsemen. Some of them seem rather far-fetched.
There are many examples of how events throughout history, were interpreted to be present day signs of the end times. During the major wars and famines throughout history, people understandably wondered if those events signalled the end of the age. Therefore, one could easily be mistaken by attributing this covid crisis as being symbolic of the pale horse of death.
It is not really the covid deaths causing all the ruckus, but the reaction to those deaths, that really makes me wonder what is going on. The media is on the covid bandwagon non-stop. Is it a real emergency? Or is it manufactured? If not for the media and the masks, would we know it was happening? It seems viruses are just as polarized as we are. They are simultaneously innocuous and malignant. They have been around since the beginning of time – yet suddenly we are overwhelmed on a global scale by a single virus? How so? This has never happened before.
Now perhaps more than ever, it is interesting to examine some of the end times beliefs. In one case, the author and speaker believes the colours of the horses represent emotions, balance, and the human intellect. In another case, the interpretation claims the white horse represents the antichrist.
Various other interpretations claim the white horse represents Christ. But there is not much logical support for that theory, when you consider what the white horse is leading. The white horse is more likely to represent a faux rescuer, like the concept of the knight in shining armour. Except it is an illusion of rescue, one without substance.
The apocalypse is a topic that plunges us into the mystery of the book of Revelation, and the many unknowns about the end times. There are Biblical scholars who have devoted much time and study to Revelations, yet few of them come up with the same theory about the meaning of this incredible imagery and its significance in today’s world.
In thinking about the pale horse, or the horse representing death, I have learned this is the last horse of the four. The first horse is a white horse. The figure on it is wearing a crown and carrying a bow, but apparently the bow does not have any arrows.
There is an interesting correlation on the etymology of the Latin word corona – which means crown, wreath or garland. In the light of what is happening today, it does seem to be an odd coincidence. I wonder if the horseman riding the white horse has a corona garland on his head?
The curious connection relating to the crown worn by the rider of the white horse is the type of crown it is. He wears a stephanos crown, which represents the garland of conquest, as opposed to a diademata crown, which is the crown of a king.
Another puzzling concept is why the bow carried by the horseman on the white horse has no arrows (Revelations 6: 1-2). Therefore, in my own interpretation, the first horse is going out as a conquerer, but has no real or ultimate authority. He leads the other horses, which in turn, creates the awful global circumstances that are carried by the horses following him.
The second horse is fiery red and carries a big sword. It is generally agreed it represents bloodshed and war. This one takes away the peace on earth or perhaps the illusion of peace brought by the white horse. It might also represent an increased amount of anger. Since red is also symbolic of communism, it could be another facet of this imagery. The second rider’s large sword, is in sharp contrast to the first rider, who has just a bow and some trailing ribbons. It appears the red horse has the power, or the symbology, to cause hatred and harm.
The third horse is a black one, with a rider who is carrying a weigh scale. The verses in Revelation tell us the black horse weighs out a small measure of wheat or barley for a days wages. It is only enough to make a couple loaves of bread, so many people believe the black horse represents poverty and famine.
It is interesting to note the weigh scales are to dole out portions of wheat and barley, but the oil and wine must be reserved. Reserved for who, I wonder? Although it is open to interpretation, I wonder if this refers to saving and reserving the best for the elite. Another significant meaning attributed to the scale could be fair wages, justice, and income disparity. It might also point out how unfair it is for the ultra rich to ignore the needs of the poor, or worse yet, to oppress, judge and persecute the poor.
The fourth horse is described as the pale horse, and is widely thought to represent death. In fact, it is described as having Hades following right behind, or possibly even sitting on the back of the pale horse directly behind the rider. In the translation of colour, some will say this horse is actually a pale green. But I think for the most part, claiming it is green is a matter of translation.
8And 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.
Therefore, we can conclude this allegorical description of the horses is ultimately about overcoming death. It appears the four horsemen of the apocalypse are a prelude of what is to come, as the grand finale signalling the end of this age.
One thing it took me many years to realize, is how vastly different Christian beliefs are. Night and day differences. Polarized differences. And there are differences in the way we interpret things, which is probably influenced by how we want to interpret them, or whether we choose to pay attention at all. But if we do not seek truth, we are in big trouble. To me, that much is for certain.
Our spiritual beliefs are an offshoot of who we are. As a child, I hardly ever went to church. If we did, it was to the local United Church. My strongest recollections are that the Sunday school teacher seemed like she was at least a hundred years old. She looked like Granny Daisy May Moses.
Other than that, I was quite fascinated by the wooden offering plate, and having to put a quarter in when it came around. The offering was always treated as a very sombre activity, with deacons to carry it from row to row. I would wonder if a person could look straight ahead, and keep a really serious, blank expression like the deacons did – then just discreetly pass it to the next guy? I don’t know. I never really understood church rituals as a kid.
Understanding religion got much more difficult when as a high school student, an autocratic religious fundamentalist teacher became obsessed with me. It took many years before I realized the falsehoods and abuse he inflicted upon me. The belief system came from the Exclusive Brethren Mennonites, and follows a false doctrine written in the 1800’s by John Darby. The theology and doctrine they follow is called dispensationalism.
I always kind of thought religious people were superior, and seemed to think they had all the answers. Plus they were the judges of those who are bad. “Oh you are a bad girl, just like your wicked mother” – was the teacher’s mantra. They were far superior, because they had been blessed by God.
I was indoctrinated with false doctrine, without even knowing it. I could not escape the guy. He followed me around school, basketball games, and whatever activities were going on outside of school. He forced me into his car on numerous occasions, and took me to his house for all night sessions of brainwashing, with really strange dogma and lies. I remember being told what a wonderful Christian he was, and was ordered to obey his authority. But for the life of me, I could never figure out what was so wonderful about him.
To me the biggest contradiction was the lies he told me about my own life and our mother, when I knew perfectly well what the truth was. But to refute him brought punishment, so I had to sit and listen to him. In fact, this guy entrapped and ensnared me for life. I am still being punished by the teacher and my older brother. The two of them have been in collusion since day one.
There has been a great deal of pain, deception, and family betrayal – as a result of a high school teacher, who inflicted all this upon me just months before I graduated. From then on, I could not get rid of the guy. He continued to follow me after I graduated, and throughout my life. My rich and powerful older brother made sure he was invited to every family function. If the teacher decided to visit me and I said no, I got cornered and raged at by my brother. That’s pretty much how they kept me in the trap.
He would not take no for an answer. I remember thinking, “for crying out loud, even God does not force us into a relationship with him”. One of the things that took so long to figure out, was the fact there are so many different belief systems among Christians. The hypocrisy is as dark and dismal as those all night sessions with the teacher – and then as glaring as the noon day sun, with all the blinding contradictions.
Yet challenging him, in his mind, was like defying God. Saying no and telling him to get lost meant I must be mentally ill, because his supreme ego would not permit him to accept rejection. The teacher would always tell me my family would not support me if I refused to have anything to do with him. That is only because of his collusion with my older brother. Their plot over my life was based on nothing but lies, manipulations, false accusations, and orders from Ledcor headquarters (my own big brother) – to keep the punishment going.
The teacher has harboured a very delusional concept of his relationship with me from the get-go, which is typical of the stalker types. He was determined to be my daddy-god for life. Stalkers have all kinds of illusions and delusions about those they become obsessed with. They imagine themselves to be the father, the husband, the saviour, the soul-mate – or whatever.
They often develop long-term fixed delusional belief systems about the relationship with their victims. No matter how many times you make it clear you want nothing to do with them – they will not accept it. In my case, he had the escape routes blocked. He always maintained and manipulated access to me, until I really put my foot down. The punishment for doing so has never ended, but even so, it was well worth it.
A huge percentage of television and youtube preachers, like the teacher I got saddled with – embrace false doctrine. Others are brainwashed by those power abusing leaders, or else simply misinterpret things.
The one thing we can be sure about, is the level of deception is sky high. So in my own interpretation of things, the white horse represents deception by those with authority. They give the appearance of being lily white, but look at what they are bringing with them? They bring hatred, division, unjust punishment, and deception to the extent, they will lie about who you are. To them, black is white – and white is black. They speak in opposites. They act and claim the very opposite of what they are professing.
The white horse to me, represents the introduction of this final earthly battle. It brings a spirit of deception and division to set the stage for the rest. The battle of Armageddon, is about bringing all the things we fear the most right in front of us. It is in our minds and spirits. The tension in the plot is rising. Much of it is about the love of money.
Working to earn money is to be expected. Money itself is not evil. It is the love of money that causes betrayals, murders, exploitation, deception, and harm to others. That is when money turns from being a tool or a blessing – into true evil.
Some people serve mammon, and become very arrogant in the process. But in the final judgement, the Bible does make it crystal clear – greed is catastrophic. Even at the time of a natural death, surely people know they cannot take anything with them. Power must be so intoxicating for some people, it removes common sense.
It might be impossible for us to fully comprehend the Bible, to separate the metaphorical from the literalistic interpretations, and to put the pieces together. There seems to be some key elements to help with the construct of Biblical beliefs. The first is of God as the creator. Then it is the redemption and salvation through Christ, and finally – judgment.
How we live our lives is more important than we realize. Our beliefs will eventually teach us who we serve. Redemption is about understanding we were bought for a price. We should know beyond any doubt, who we belong to, as we journey through the process of forgiveness and redemption. If we are believers, we know there will be a final judgement. Repentance has to be sincere and come from the heart.
If things play out as dramatically as Revelation portrays, the end times will be the greatest test of courage and faith we could ever imagine. Yet overcoming such fears, is likened to the analogy of the increasing intensity of labour pains. When we are in labour – we know and believe the outcome is well worth it. The end result is joy, along with a sense of overwhelming love and awe.
Some Christians believe they will be beamed up before facing great tribulation. If we look at history, and what happened to the early Christians, we might get a reality check on the theory of a pre-tribulation rapture. There is no Biblical evidence to support that claim either. But, you can always find stuff in the Bible to suit what you want to believe. What could be more desirable than an escape into the clouds just when the going gets tough?
Others believe there will be a rapture at the half way point of the great tribulation. In my mind, neither of these theories hold water. The rapture theory is steeped in dispensationalism, which I know beyond a shadow of a doubt by my own experiences, as being false and evil to the core. Personally, I reject all the pre-tribulation and mid-tribulation theories. In fact, there cannot even be a measuring of time to claim there will be a seven year tribulation in the first place. I think it is clear there will be tribulation, but the length of time is unknown.
Some people believe there will be a never ending hellfire for non-believers. Some think people go straight to heaven when they die. Others believe we rest or sleep until Christ returns.
To be honest, even though most televangelist preachers and mainstream churches teach pre-tribulation rapture, the takeover by a single anti-christ, and a seven year tribulation – for the most part, those concepts are not part of the Biblical dramatizations. I’m no Bible scholar. But I have evaluated the most pessimistic and terrifying of the fundamentalist beliefs I was indoctrinated with, and find it to be false. The John Darby bible is false doctrine. John Darby made hundreds of changes to the original Bible, yet few Christians seem to realize this.
The Bible does not describe a single anti-christ, but many antichrists, and often refers to it as the spirit of the antichrist. The Bible consistently tells us that no one knows when Christ will return. Therefore, all the unlocking of the timelines from the book of Daniel is futile. The same goes for the dispensations, or timelines as crafted and outlined by Darby.
We are also told many times throughout the Bible, that to God, a day can be as a thousand years, and vice versa. So we simply do not know the timelines, otherwise people would be able to accurately interpret the return of Christ. Therefore those timelines go out the window with the rest of false doctrine.
Another set of beliefs places the prophecies of Revelation as past tense. They claim the tribulation already took place in 70AD, and the evil ruler or antichrist was Nero. This particular belief system envisions a world that is becoming increasingly better, not worse. We are going in the direction of Utopia, not great tribulation.
Although placing tribulation in past tense is an optimistic interpretation, it does not make sense either, because Nero has nothing to do with the end of the age. The events that took place in Rome during that terrible time in human history, did not turn out to precede the second coming of Christ.
So what is the truth? We may not find out until the end of the age arrives. Even if things unfold as dramatically as Revelation describes, some people will be in the midst of it, and still not believe it.
In the end, what we believe, is the final inalienable right we will never have to let go of. We have been warned many times not to be deceived. The white horse and the leader of the apocalypse is the deceiver, or more likely, the spirit of deception.
I do believe Christ will return. I believe the four horsemen of the apocalypse are prophetic visions depicting the end of the age, or the culmination of the great battle between good and evil. It does not mean we can predict what will happen next. But we can see the changes and what is developing now, as an indication of metaphorical comparisons at the very least.
It could take a day, or it could take another thousand years for the end times scenarios to fully play out. With the dramatic changes throughout the world in this past year, it does seem things are unfolding before our eyes.
When we look at the four horsemen, it could seem pretty grim. When I listened to the religious zealot teacher, it seemed even worse. Shaking the dispensational theology loose and getting free of it, totally changed my outlook. It is a relief to know the teacher was wrong, and I do not have to believe what he believes, in order to be a Christian.
But now, I see these things as a precursor – a confrontation of the great deceptions and polarizations we have been plunged into. I see the lily white supremacy and arrogance of false prophets. Each successive horse spells out for us, what follows the first one. I think the period of tribulation varies for different individuals. Some people have to deal with far more adversity, tribulation and persecution than others do.
The conflicting aspects of eschatology for me now are based on the severity of tribulation, and whether it will be as bad as some people envision. There are several verses describing a busy albeit corrupt world. It does not sound quite as apocalyptic as some descriptions. Also, it would appear to be entirely possible to avoid and steer clear of depravity and corruption, therefore be less affected by what is going on. I think tribulation is both personal and worldly, but maybe not as catastrophic as the dispensationalists and other cults would have us believe.
Also the Bible tells us the return of Christ would be like it was in the times of Noah. From gotquestions.org “They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26–27). Jesus was pointing out that, although the people of Noah’s day were totally depraved, they were not the least bit concerned about it. They were carrying on the events of their lives without a single thought of the judgment of God.”
The four horses are giving us the warnings. They are rearing up into a wild and dramatic depiction of what it is to merge worldly warfare with spiritual warfare. In my interpretation of things, we will become more entrenched in spiritual warfare more than anything. Ultimately the battle between good and evil is a spiritual battle, not a carnal one. So many people are caught up in the concept of the mark of the beast. If there is a mark of the beast, there must also be the mark of a Christian, to differentiate the two.
This to me, is a metaphorical interpretation, or should be. The reason I believe so, is because the Bible does refer to the seal of the Holy Spirit as well, but for some reason this assurance gets very little attention.
I think the idea of the mark of the beast being put on one’s forehead or hand is metaphorical. It stands for what you believe, what is in your mind, and who or what you worship. Because what is in your mind, or what you believe in – will motivate your activities. After all, deviousness comes from planning and scheming, followed by doing, or carrying out unscrupulous deeds.
The pale horse of death is what most of us fear the most, especially if Hades or hell is on the heels of that horse, breathing hellfire down our necks. What our secular world fails to wrap their collective heads around, is that we do not face the prospect of just one death.
There is the earthly physical death, when the soul leaves the body and goes to a resting place. The Bible does teach certain things about the time of the second coming. It says the dead in Christ shall rise first. That means believers do not go straight to heaven after death, but they sleep and wait until Christ returns.
It sounds like some people go to a comfortable place to sleep, such as the references made about those who are resting in Abraham’s bosom. Others may not be quite so comfortable – such as the rich man who is described as begging Lazarus for a drink of water, and then asking him to warn his family about this terrible place he found himself.
The second death is the death of the soul for non-believers or those who are not repentant. This death comes after the final judgement. In my opinion, the Bible does not claim there will be eternal hellfire for all unrepentant sinners. It says, “the wages of sin is death”. I know many will disagree, but that is what it says.
How can we believe people go to heaven or hell for all eternity at the time of their physical death, if they have not faced judgement yet? Many would argue it is salvation alone that assures us a place in heaven. But what would be the point of judgment then? Surely there is some sort of plausible integration surrounding the rewards, punishments and system of justice that sets the stage for how people will live eternal lives.
I tend to believe at the time of Christ’s return, the living believers will be joining the dead in Christ to meet Him in the air. Prior to His return, those who are dead, have left their physical bodies and are sleeping somewhere until He returns. Following the return of Christ, there will be something akin to a massive court case.
We are conditioned to fear the first death. But the old saying “giving up the ghost” is somewhat realistic, in that the spirit and soul leave the body. It is not the final death. What is referred to as the second death is the annihilation of a person’s existence following judgement. There may be a certain amount of hellfire to face, but I don’t think people spend all eternity burning in hell. In fact, I cannot even imagine such a thing, and am not sure why it is central to mainstream religion.
I believe the meaning or intent of the four horsemen is to warn us. It helps to give us a conceptual framework for what is happening in this world, and what is to follow. For those who believe in and look forward to the return of Christ – we will see how the final pale horse representing death has been overcome.
The central message of the true Gospel is that death will be overcome. The apocalypse is dramatic, and beyond our comprehension in many ways. But after that, the greatness and glory has just one focus. Christ will bring about the great reset. So even though it seems like things are going to hell in a hand basket, and may get worse in the near future – there is much to look forward to.
Although the wait has been a long one – in the end it will happen in the twinkling of an eye. Then everything on earth, and everyone on the earth – will be changed. As promised – the truth will set us free.
Although any kind of deception, hypocrisy, or contradiction – tends to make us angry, anger is not the remedy. We still need to maintain self-control and follow the laws.
In fact, the most important part of our armour – is peace, truth and love. Against such – there is no law.
Copyright Valerie J. Hayes and Quiet West (2020). Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author/owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Valerie J. Hayes and Quiet West with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.