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The Book of Revelation 

Beginning in Chapter 6, we see the seals that were upon that mysterious book referred to in chapter 5 as they are opened.  It is highly unlikely that the first 4 seals are literal considering the terminology of the verses. 

Revelation 6:2  “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” 

We read of Jesus coming on a white horse, but folks, this is not Jesus we see depicted in the 2nd verse.  This rider has a crown, signifying that he is a ruler, he is riding a white horse, signifying he is a great warrior, and the rider has a bow in his hand, a weapon of war:  it is interesting to note this rider is not described as having any arrows for his bow.  Let me explain my thinking and reasoning: 

1.  This cannot be Christ simply by reason of the following horsemen.  Jesus is not coming  to bring war (more on this 2nd rider in a moment), famine, pestilence or death.

2.  We know from the bible scriptures the Antichrist is going to be a false messiah.  It is quite possible that the reason for the white horse description is that the Antichrist will appear to be Messiah.

3.  The crown this rider is wearing is NOT a “diadem”: the Greek term for a royal, or king’s crown.  The word used here is in fact, stephanos, or a “victor’s crown”.  Stephanos is the same term used to describe a crown that was given to the winner of a race!  This identifies the rider as a conqueror (much like the winner of a race), but not as royalty or kingly.  The term used for crown here is not the supreme crown of a king but is the same term used for the crown of thorns in Matthew 27:29, Mark 15:17, and John 19:2.

4.  The sword symbolizes the truth, the Word of God.  The bow on the other hand is highly suggestive of falseness or a “counterfeit gospel”  The bow is a weapon of war that is associated with the enemies  of God.  Uriah the Hittite was killed with a bow, King Ahan and King Josiah were killed with bows).  See Jeremiah 49:34, Ezekiel 39:3.

5.  John makes no mention of arrows or a quiver.  Since a bow is nearly worthless without arrows, the lack of arrows may suggest either a war that has been fought, not with blood-letting weapons, but with words or ideas.  It may also be indicative of the idea that this conqueror has the ability to destroy, but instead comes with the pretense of peace (no readily available destructive tools).

One extremely interesting side note considering the recent events in the world is found in Genesis 21:20: 

Genesis 21:20   “And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.” 

When we back up a bit and determine about whom it is the writer is speaking, this becomes a bit alarming!  Read Genesis 21:17:    “And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.”   This is speaking of  ISHMAEL:  the root of ISLAM! 

Verses 3-4:  “ And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 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. “

Note the verse doesn’t say “to bring war”, it says “to take peace FROM the earth”.  This is yet another reason the rider of the first horse could not be Jesus.  When Jesus does come back, he will not be taking peace FROM the earth! 

We understand when peace is taken from the earth, there will be war and the natural progression of war brings the next 2 riders. 

During a great war, food usually becomes very scarce and what little food is available is extremely expensive.  This is exactly what we see in the next 2 verses: 

Revelation 6:5-6   “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.”

A penny was equal to one day’s wages (Matthew 20:2).   A measure of wheat is about 2 lbs of wheat.  This will make about 1 ¾ loaves of bread.  You may think, that’s a good deal of bread, but wait a minute.  That’s an entire day’s wages to buy less than 2 loaves of bread.  This means you have no money left to buy anything to go WITH the bread!  If wheat is this high, how much is Bologna? 

In plain terms:  A man’s daily wages would be just enough to buy for himself, a little bread.  There would be nothing left over for clothes, shelter or other necessities.  There would likewise, be none left for his wife or children.  Granted, you could buy barley at one-third the price of wheat (3 measures of barley for a penny), but barley bread is somewhat of a bitter bread and 3 measures of barely make about the same amount of bread as a measure of wheat.  The statement here is that One Day’s Pay = One Day’s Food FOR ONE PERSON.  This is famine! 

The last part of verse 6 states “hurt not the oil and the wine”.  This is not “oil” for petroleum or vehicles.  This is speaking of olive oil.  Oil and wine were normally used at every meal, in this case, however, they would be considered luxury items and no one could afford them anyway.  Hence, it matters little how much oil or wine are available since they are not sufficient by themselves to sustain life. 

The natural progression of famine is, of course, death.  This last rider, found in Revelation 6:8, is the pale rider and we read that his name is 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.” 

 


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