Revelation 6:1-8

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!”  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.  When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”  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.  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.  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!”  When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”  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.

The scroll with the seven seals is being opened and with the opening of each of the first four seals, John sees the image of a horse that represents a judgment that is falling on the earth.  It is easy for us to imagine that thigs will always continue the way that things currently are.  It is hard for us to imagine God intervening in the course of history to judge the people on earth.  However, that day will come and it is sobering to consider.

THE WHITE HORSE: The first seal on the scroll is opened and with it a rider on a white horse appears.  The rider has a bow, and he is given a crown.  I believe that this rider is the Antichrist.  There is a time of tribulation coming upon the earth where God will judge the earth.  John is given a vision of how this judgment will play out.  This seven-year period is also known as the 70^th week in Daniel’s vision.  This time of judgment will be marked by the reign of a person known as Antichrist.  He will be a political figure which is why he has a crown, who promises to bring peace to the earth, likely symbolized by the bow with no arrows.  The peace he promises is fake and his rule is marked by deception.  He strives to imitate Jesus and will be successful at deceiving many people, but he has no real power to accomplish what he promises.  

THE RED HORSE: The red horse demonstrates that the peace promised by the Antichrist was just an illusion.  War breaks out on the earth as people and nations struggle for control and turn to violence to accomplish their goals.  The rider on this horse is given a sword and takes peace from the earth.  Wars have raged on the earth in every generation.  There have been a few wars that have involved much of the world.  This war is likely to make all the other wars seem minor in scale.  The Antichrist wants a peace that recognizes him as the supreme leader.  Other leaders in other nations will not simply accept this declaration and will go to war to dispute this claim.

THE BLACK HORSE: The third seal is broken and a black horse appears.  This rider has a scale in his hands and proclaims the outrageously high prices of very basic foods.  The cost of even bread will be prohibitive for most people.  There is nothing productive about war so it is only natural that a large-scale war will usher in a time of large-scale famine.  It is hard for us to imagine things like famine in today’s culture of abundance.  Certainly, there are part of the world today that suffer from a lack of nutrition, but that is due to corruption and distribution issues that prevent the abundance of food from reaching some places of the world.  This famine will be global and bring about great suffering.

THE PALE HORSE: This fourth and final horse represents death.  The result of war and famine will certainly take a toll on the number of people on the planet.  There will likely be diseases in a pandemic type judgment that will also claim the lives of many people.  Sickness and death will be prevalent in this world that is under the influence of Satan and the rule of Antichrist.  All men have been created in the image of God which is why Satan wants to do all he can to destroy us.  Many of God’s judgments on the earth are simply allowing sinful men and satanic forces to have their way on the earth.  

APPLICATION: Remember that God is the righteous judge of this world and will one day bring about the terrible events described in this text.  Submit to His will and live to worship Him.  Beware of false saviors and sources of hope that do not come from the Lord.  He alone is worthy of our worship and allegiance.