In the first three chapters of Revelation, John sees a vision of Jesus, giving him messages for the various churches. Beginning in Chapter 4, he sees a vision of events to come. Chapter 4 is devoted to explaining his vision at the beginning, specifically, to describing God and His throne. In Chapter 5, events begin to occur, first, the book that no man can open, representing the gospel ("good news") that is to be given to man. The Lamb, representing Jesus, slain as a sacrifice is introduced, able to open the book by virtue of His sacrifice.
The sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus were allready accomplished when John had his vision. This was history, given to show a time-line to John for the events he was about to see. So anything else is in John's future. The four horsemen arrive beginning with Chapter 6, with each horseman coming after the opening of a seal. These are not four literal horses that will ride across the earth, but represent four entities to come after Jesus' ascention to heaven.
The first horseman appears in Revelation 6:2. The horse is white and the rider carries a bow and wears a crown, with the instruction to conquer. At first thought, the bow may seem to be the type associated with launching arrows, but this is not the case. The greek word here translated as "bow" actually refers to a bow as in a rainbow. The crown is significant, as is the instruction to conquer. This rider is a ruler who conquers other nations. One such person did arise after the ressurection and ascention of Jesus to conquer many nations. His name was Napoleon Bonaparte.
The second horse appears in verse 4 - this time the horse is red and the rider has a great sword, with the instructions to take peace from the Earth that men should kill one another. Again, history gives us the name of a ruler that fit this description - Adolph Hitler, the greatest killer of mankind in history.
The third horse is described in Verses 5 and 6. It is black, and it's rider holds a pair of balances. A voice accompanies this horseman, but comes from the midst of the throneroom, not from the rider. This voice declares prices and says not to hurt the oil or the wine. This signifies that the hose is a capitalistic nation, without a specific ruler or specific instructions. Since Adolph Hitler, the strongest nation on Earth has fit this description, right down to the balances - the symbol of justice for the United States of America.
So here, we have our time-line reference - we are at the third seal. There are a total of seven seals, the last encompassing seven "judgements". You should notice that these events do not come a certain distance apart, they simply occur in the order given. If you are unconcerned now because you think we have a lot of time left, DON'T BE! The spacing of these events shorten as they near the end - A lot can happen in a very short time.
The fourth and last horse is described in Verse 8. A "pale" horse, riden by Death, followed by Hell. He is given authority over one-fourth of the world, and he kills with sword, with hunger, with death, and with the "beasts of the Earth". This is a terrifying vision. This horse (nation) will kill more than Adolph Hitler, using the sword (war), hunger (great famines), and death (plagues?), as well as with the beasts (nations) of the Earth. This is World War III. There is one nation today that contains roughly one-fourth of the world population - China.
There are some unusual things about his description, if it is translated and closely read. The word which was translated as "pale" is "cloros", meaning "pale green". It is the same word that "clorophyl", the substance that makes plants green, is derived from. Hell in this instance, as in most instances, refers to "the grave". The latter is understandable as the grave will follow behind this rider, but the "pale green" is confusing, at least to me. All I can do is watch for a reference to it to occur. More information about each of these nations/rulers, especially the last, can be found in other places in the Bible.
In Daniel Chapter 7, we find four beasts that are to come upon the Earth - the first like a lion, the second like a bear, and the third like a winged leopard. Of the lion, I cannot say much; my history is weak where Napoleon is concerned. The second, a bear devouring flesh, is a decent representation of Germany under Adolph Hitler's rule. The third is interesting in that it has four heads - a possible reference to another vision by Daniel in Chapter 8. This time, he sees a ram with two horns conquering to the north, west, and south (not to the East). This indicates that the nation is on the eastern coast of a continent. It is finally stopped by a he-goat, which comes from the West without touching the ground (Air Force?). The word translated as "he-goat" is unique - it actually refers to a female goat, but can refer to many male goats. Thus, the goat is many acting as one - not a bad description of the United States.
Beginning in Daniel 8:20, we are given an interpretation of the ram and goat - The ram is symbolic of Media and Persia, the easternmost lands known in Daniel's day. Some early maps show Persia as extending to the East indefinitely. Media is the land known today as the Middle East. This insdicates to me an alliance between a ruler in Asia and a ruler in the Middle East. The goat is the king of Grecia (Greece), however, this can be read two ways - as the king of the nation of Greece, or as a Greek king of a nation. With the he-goat definition, I believe it is the latter - the United States under the leadership of a descendant of Greece. Notice that the words "king of Grecia" are used - the United States does not have a king. In Verse 21, he is also called the "first king". It is possible that the United States will become a monarchy - for a short time.
In Verse 22, the he-goat nation is immediately broken up into four nations after the victory. This is not too surprising, realizing the strife that exists allready between some sections of the American people. Here is where the four-headed leopard ties in - the four heads represent a nation with four directions, and the United States will split into four separate nations according to these interpretations. Now that we have tied Daniels vision of the beasts to the four horsemen, what does he say about the fourth beast - the one yet to come? Actually, Daniel tells us a lot, both from his detailed description and from the interpretation he was given. His description of this beast begins in Daniel 7:7 - dreadful and terrifying, extremely strong, destroying what it willed, with seven heads and ten horns. In Daniel 7:23, we recieve a heavenly interpretation: It is the fourth kingdom that will arise on the Earth, and it will devastate the Earth. The ten horns are ten kings that will be, and they will be followed by another king (horn), described in Daniel 7:8-9, that will defeat three of the original kings. This last king is described as being blasphemous toward heaven, attempting to change the plans of the Allmighty God. But here, I am getting ahead of myself. There will be more on this "eleventh horn" later. It is sufficient here to say that this fourth beast will devastate the Earth.
The best with seven heads and ten horns also shows up in the book of Revelation beginning with Chapter 13. This description is nealy identical, with a few additional details - one of the heads is wounded, "like unto death", and recovers. This causes people to worship the beast - but this is not the beast with the mark 666 - this is the forerunner of a second version of this best (nation). In Revelation 17:7-14, St. John recieves a divine interpretation of his vision of the beast. Here, the seven heads are seven mountains where a woman sits. The woman could refer to a few different things - sin, because a woman originally tempted Adam or the whore mentioned in Revelation who symbolizes corruption, just to name two of them. I know you may be getting tired of me saying this, but she is mentioned later. This second interpretation seems to make the most sense.
So what do we have so far? We have the United States warring with a power on the East coast of a continent, possibly China in conjunction with a power in the middle East, possibly Saddam Hussein. This happens under the leadership of the U.S.'s first king, who will be of Greek descent. After this, the United States will split into four separate nations and the stage will be set for the fourth beast, the fourth horseman, to arise, probably China. This will begin World War III, which will devastate the entire planet. Scared yet? The worst is yet to come - just remember that in the end, Jesus wins. I would like to take this opportunity to offer you a few links to Christian ministries that you can turn to for answers to your spiritual concerns - Trinity Broadcasting, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Jesse Duplantis Ministries, Christ for all Nations, and Jerry Savelle Ministries. All these are sites where you will find people who will not condemn you, but will lift you up and introduce you to Jesus! Please feel free to contact them.
The Warnings of Jesus
The Four Horsemen
The Mark of the Beast
Who Is the Anti-Christ?
Hell Does Not Exist
The End of the World
Nostradamus
Minor Prophets
Links to similar sites
return to home page