The Horsemen

[Faceless One]

The four horsemen of the apocalypse discribed in revelation do interest me to a degree. But I have a few questions regarding them. Who do they actually serve and what is their real directive? Bare in mind that I have not studed scripture to a great degree and ask about them here as to get an informed christian insight into them in stead of struggling to understand them myself. All answers appreciated.

 

[ViaCrucis]

The four horsemen of the apocalypse discribed in revelation do interest me to a degree. But I have a few questions regarding them. Who do they actually serve and what is their real directive? Bare in mind that I have not studed scripture to a great degree and ask about them here as to get an informed christian insight into them in stead of struggling to understand them myself. All answers appreciated.

They're not persons, they are apocalyptic symbols (apocalyptic doesn't mean "end of the world", but revelatory); as such they don't serve anyone since they don't exist.

As they are symbolic figures in the text, there has tended to be some differences of interpretation concerning them; or more specifically on the first, the rider on the white horse. My position is that the rider on the white horse, like the other horsemen, is thematic. Namely he represents Conquest, just as the others represent War, Famine, and Death. Conquest brings war, war brings famine and disease, which brings death.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[The LOUD Cry]

The four horsemen of the apocalypse discribed in revelation do interest me to a degree. But I have a few questions regarding them. Who do they actually serve and what is their real directive? Bare in mind that I have not studed scripture to a great degree and ask about them here as to get an informed christian insight into them in stead of struggling to understand them myself. All answers appreciated.

The Four Horsemen are already past, as is the other 5th and 6th Seals [almost done on 6th]... currently we are between Revelation 6:13 and 14. If you want to know what the 4 horsemen are, as well as the other seals, one must understand the structure of Revelation, and from where the imagery comes from and what the symbols mean, as they are given from scripture.

The white horse is the First Church era as it went forth with the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, and rides unto the end, though the peoples goes through various downfalls... as given by the other horses...

The structure of Revelation is such that the 4 horsemen [four seals, and also the latter 3 seals] follow in parallel even from the 7 Churches, as well as the 7 Trumpets. Each is recounting from a different perspective of the church eras. Therefore the White horse is the Church era "Ephesus".

The very structure of Revelation is built in the very shape [chiastically] of the 7 Branch Candlestick of the Sanctuary.

For example, quoted partially from [with additions, photos]:

http://www.christianforums.com/t7562877-2/#post57599413

PROLOGUE
(1:1-8)
Introduction

(1) Testimony of Jesus 1:2
(2) Blessed is how who reads 1:3
(3) Behold, He is coming 1:7
(4) I AM the Alpha and The Omega 1:8,11

EPILOGUE
(22:8-17)
Conclusion

(1) Testimony of Jesus 22:16
(2) Blessed is He who keeps 22:7
(3) Behold, I am coming soon 22:12,20
(4) I AM the Alpha and The Omega 22:13

Or COMPARE:

7 CHURCHES
(1:10-3:22)
Christ counsels His Church, at War, Scattered in Many Cities

(1) Christ walks among 7 lamps 2:1
(2) Tree of Life 2:7
(3) Open Door 3:8
(4) Christ sits on His Father's Throne 3:21
(5) New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven 3:12
(6) I am coming soon 3:11

NEW JERUSALEM
(21:9-22:9)
Christ Rewards His Church, at Peace, Gathered Into One City

(1) Christ is the Eternal Lamp 21:33
(2) Tree Of Life 22:2
(3) Gates Never Closed 21:25
(4) Throne of God and of the Lamb 21:1,3
(5) New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven 21:10
(6) I am coming soon 22:7

Or COMPARE:

7 SEALS
(4:1-8:1)
Christ Shields His Afflicted People

(1) Heaven Opened 4:1
(2) Rider on White Horse followed by riders on Colored Horses 6:2-8
(3) Souls of Martyrs, under Altar, ask for Judgment 6:9,10 (symbolic)
(4) White Robes 6:11; 7:9-14
(5) Kings, Generals, etc., ask to be killed 6:15,16

MILLENIUM
(19:11-21:8)
Christ Enthrones His Resurrected People

(1) Heaven Opened 19:11
(2) Rider on White Horse followed by rider on White Horses 19:11,14
(3) Souls of Martyrs, Resurrected, are Enthroned as Judges 20:4-6
(4) White Robes 19:14
(5) Kings, Captains, etc., are killed 19:17-21

Or COMPARE:

7 TRUMPETS
(8:2-11:18)
Severe Judgments Warn The World

(1) Earth 8:7
(2) Sea 8:8,9
(3) Rivers and Fountains 8:10,11
(4) Sun, Moon, Stars 8:12
(5) Darkness, Bottomless Pit, Locusts 9:1-11
(6) River Euphrates 9:13-21
(7) Loud Voices: The Kingdom is Christs's 11:15-18

7 LAST PLAGUES
(15:1-16:21)
Very Severe Judgments Punish the World

(1) Earth 16:2
(2) Sea 16:3
(3) Rivers and Fountains 16:4
(4) Sun 16:8,9
(5) Darkness on Throne of the Beast 16:10,11
(6) River Euphrates 16:12,16
(7) A Loud Voice: It is Done! 16:17-21

Or COMPARE:

GREAT CONTROVERSY
(11:19-14:20)
Trials of the True Mother & Her Children

(1) True Mother, dressed in White 12:1,2
(2) Her Children Keep The Commandments 12:17
(3) Woman in Wilderness 12:14
(4) Beast with 7 Heads, 10 Horns 12:3; 13:1
(5) Fallen is Babylon! 14:8
(6) Testimony of Jesus 12:17

FALL OF BABYLON
(17:1-19:10)
Downfall of the False Mother

(1) False Mother, dressed in Purple 17:4
(2) Her Children are Harlots 17:5
(3) Woman in Wilderness 17:3
(4) Beast with 7 Heads, 10 Horns 17:3
(5) Fallen is Babylon! 18:2
(6) Testimony of Jesus 19:10

(HISTORIC ARM --> Fulfilled "side by side" unto the End)
7 CHURCHES
7 SEALS
7 TRUMPETS
GREAT CONTROVERSY

(ESCHATOLOGICAL ARM --> Fulfilled in "pairs" (2 long and 2 short) in the End Time)
7 LAST PLAGUES (short)
FALL OF BABYLON (long)
MILLENNIUM (long)
NEW JERUSALEM (short)

[Quoted and Adapted from several visual charts in "God Cares, Volume 2, The Message of Revelation For You and Your Family" pgs 56-62; C. Mervyn Maxwell, Ph.D; Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1985]

Daniel is written in parallel fashion as well, with further detail in further visions.

 

[Faceless One]

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[dysert]

The four horsemen of the apocalypse discribed in revelation do interest me to a degree. But I have a few questions regarding them. Who do they actually serve and what is their real directive? Bare in mind that I have not studed scripture to a great degree and ask about them here as to get an informed christian insight into them in stead of struggling to understand them myself. All answers appreciated.

As you've noticed already, many people have many different interpretations of what's in Revelation. Here's the text you're asking about:

Rev. 6:1-8

Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and see." Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard 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 the wine."

When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see." So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.​

As you can see, each of the four horses are commanded to emerge by a holy angel, so they are ultimately under God's control. The horses are the vehicles by which God's judgments are delivered at the beginning of the yet-future tribulation. The first horse introduces the antichrist. The second horse brings war. The third horse brings famine. The fourth horse brings death.

The four judgments are just the beginning of judgments that God will deliver to the unbelieving world at the end of this current age. There are over a dozen additional judgments that follow, each getting worse than than the ones before.

I hope this explanation helps instead of bringing more confusion.

 

[Radagast]

The four horsemen of the apocalypse discribed in revelation do interest me to a degree. But I have a few questions regarding them. Who do they actually serve and what is their real directive? Bare in mind that I have not studed scripture to a great degree and ask about them here as to get an informed christian insight into them in stead of struggling to understand them myself. All answers appreciated.

Wikipedia is fairly good on this topic. Like ViaCrucis, I think the horsemen represent the forces of Conquest, War, Famine, and Death. Those forces are still with us.

 

[Believe the Impossible]

This is a good explanation, but is only one view; I'm sure you will see others who take the Horseman to be literal. I disagree with this assertion as what they represent, are things that happen over a time period, not as a concrete, one-time event. War, economic hardship and starvation can all lead to death; and although one nuclear explosion could happen instantaneously and make each of these a literal, one-time action, I believe it is an overview of the trends of the whole, escalating quickly, but still over time.

The Seven Seals: Revelation 6:1-17

In the first place, it should be recalled that these seven seals taken together represent the Holy Spirit's restraining ministry vis-à-vis the future Tribulation and its characteristic trends, and, secondly, that these seals have heretofore kept closed the "book" which is the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world at His Second Advent, the time when He ushers in His glorious millennial kingdom. That return and reign can only come after the prophesied period of satanic excess and divine judgment upon it known as the Tribulation, and the Tribulation in turn cannot occur until God, and specifically the Lamb, opens the seals (that is, commands the removal of the seven-fold Holy Spirit restraint) which prevent the onset of the Tribulation before its time. This twin perspective is important when considering the opening up of the separate seals in chapter six, because this process has so frequently been misunderstood and misconstrued.

The first thing to note about the opening up of the seals and their concomitant descriptions is that, in stark contrast to the later trumpets and bowls (with which they are often wrongly grouped and compared), these seal-descriptions do not portray events in process (as opposed to the trumpet and bowl judgments which are "real time" occurrences), nor are they representative of specific divine judgment per se (except in so far as the entire Tribulation can be so characterized).(55) On the contrary, the opening of each of the six seals of chapter six are all accompanied by previews of broad trends to come once the Tribulation begins, and it is the opening of the seventh seal, the last impediment to the launching of the apocalypse, which finally begins the action in earnest. The six seals of chapter six give a chronological overview of the major trends of horrendous distress and disruption that will characterize the seven years (resulting from antichrist's satanic activities and the ultimate divine response to them), with seal-trends one through four coming fully into play in the first half of the Tribulation, and seals five and six reserved for the second half or "Great Tribulation". Thus through careful attention to and understanding of the six seals, the reader of Revelation is given a framework for all the events to come even before the opening of the seventh seal and consequent initiation of the Tribulation per se.

The so-called "four horsemen" of seals one through four are symbols representing specific tribulational trends (as is the case with seals five and six as well), and are not actual entities in their own right. This is an especially important point to grasp given the recurrent mistranslation of these verses which one finds in most English versions: as will be seen from the translations given below, the four living creatures do not address their respective "horsemen" with the command "come!", but in reality are addressing John with the dual commands "come and see!" (commands followed in each of the four cases by the appearance of one the sequential symbolic horsemen for John to view, consider and record).

The Heavenly Prelude to the Tribulation: Revelation 4:1 - 7:17; Part 2B of The Coming Tribulation series: a History of the Apocalypse. The Seven Seals: Revelation 6:1-17

 

[OldWiseGuy]

The white horseman indeed represents conquest, the conquest of deception. The red horseman of war follows, therefore although mounted on a horse and carrying a weapon the first horsemen doesn't conquer by force but through deceit and treachery. We see that today that almost no one in the entire world is telling truth, or even knows what truth is.

The worlds population has been thoroughly conquered in this regard and already rejects truth whenever it is presented to them. Of course this opens the door wide for the next three horsemen.

 

[The LOUD Cry]

Thanks for clearing that up.

Sure, for the prophecies given are defined by scripture itself:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 2 Peter 1:20

Therefore, it must be "...precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:" Isaiah 28:10

Therefore anyone who says, "Well...I think it means this... or maybe that, or there is no real understanding to be had and to each his own..." does not understand what they are saying in so saying.

Very Basic Parallels [though there is some more details and overlapping]:

7 CHURCHES.....7 SEALS................................7 TRUMPETS
[Rev 1:1-3:22]...[Rev 5:1-8:1]........................[Rev 8:2-11:19]
[1] Ephesus........[1] White Horse w/bow/crown...[1] Hail/Fire/Blood,etc
[2] Smyrna.........[2] Red Horse Great Sword.......[2] Mountain afire, etc
[3] Pergamos......[3] Black Horse w/balances.......[3] Gr Star fell/Wormwood
[4] Thyatira........[4] Pale Horse Death and Grave.[4] Sun/Moon/Stars smite
[5] Sardis...........[5] Altar/Judgment called for.....[5] Star fell/Pit/Locusts
[6] Philadelphia....[6] Quake,Sun/moon/stars, etc..[6] 4 Angels Loosed
[7] Laodicea.......[7] Silence in Heaven...............[7] Kingdom Come!

Therefore, each of the symbols given in the Revelation of Jesus Christ are found elsewhere throughout scripture if not directly in the Revelation itself.

For instance:

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Revelation 5:6

What is this "Lamb"?

Scripture itself defines it:

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29

And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! John 1:36

etc., for this is how the prophecies work, when there is not direct interpretation by God's own prophets and messengers in the scripture itself, for instance:

The ram which thou sawest having [two] horns [are] the kings of Media and Persia. Daniel 8:20

He who has ears to hear let him hear, and he who has eyes to see let him see.