By David J. MacLeod [1]
Introduction
Two contemporary parables will serve as an introduction to this exposition of Revelation 6:1–8. The first is a true story and concerns a man named Harry Truman, the caretaker of a recreation lodge on Spirit Lake, five miles north of Mt. St. Helens’ smoke-enshrouded peak in Oregon. Harry had been warned by Rangers and neighbors that the mountain was going to blow up. Geologists had been watching their seismographs for some time, and the evidence predicted that the volcano would soon explode with such a fury that it would flatten the surrounding forest.
Warnings blared from loudspeakers on patrol cars and helicopters and blinked from battery-powered signs at every major crossroad. Radio and television announcers pled with their audiences to flee to safety. Harry Truman ignored them all. He grinned on national television and said, “Nobody knows more about this mountain than Harry, and it don’t dare blow up on him.”
On May 18, 1980, at 8:31 A. M. the mountain exploded. I cannot help wondering if Harry regretted his decision in the millisecond he had before the concussive waves, traveling faster than the speed of sound, flattened him and everything else for 150 square miles. Did he have time to mourn his stubbornness as millions of tons of rock disintegrated and disappeared into a cloud reaching ten miles into the sky? Did he have second thoughts as the wall of mud and ash 50 feet high buried his cabin, his cats, and his freshly mowed lawn--or had he been vaporized when the mountain erupted with a force 500 times greater than the nuclear bomb that had leveled Hiroshima, Japan in 1945?
Harry Truman is now a legend in Oregon. In gift shops he smiles down on customers from posters, T-shirts, and beer mugs. There is even a song about old Harry, the stubborn man who put his ear to the mountain but would not heed the warnings. [2]
My second parable concerns the well-known laboratory experiment of the frogs that were put in a bowl of water. The water was gradually raised to the boiling point, with the remarkable result that they all expired without making any serious effort to jump out of the bowl. Malcolm Muggeridge, the late British journalist and broadcaster, gave an address years ago in which he mentioned that experiment and drew a lesson for our times. “The frogs are us,” he said, “the water is our habitat, and the Media, by accustoming us to the gradual deterioration of our values and our circumstances, ensure that the boiling point comes upon us unawares.” [3]
We listen to news accounts of ever increasing crime; we hear of children on drugs and of a murder rate in the capital of our nation of more than one per day; we abort our children in ever increasing numbers; we live in homes marked by division and disobedience; we exist in a time characterized by greed, murder, malice, slander, perversion, and hatred of God (cf. Rom. 1:28–32); we watch and enjoy films with ever more explicit violence and immorality; we enjoy the fathomless imbecilities of advertising which pander to our physical vanity and materialistic values; and we are unaware that the time of the book of Revelation is about to burst upon us.
Muggeridge says that Western Civilization is now in an advanced state of decomposition and that another Dark age will soon be upon us. And the tragedy is that we are, like Harry Truman and the frogs in the lab, immune to the warning signals.
The present essay is an exposition of four paragraphs in that part of the book of Revelation (chapters 6–19) which deals with the yet future period of divine judgment upon the earth. The judgments described in these chapters take place over a seven year period called by our Lord and the Apostle John “the tribulation” (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 7:14). This time of judgment will be followed by the thousand-year reign of Christ upon the earth described in Rev. 20:4–6.
In the immediate context the Apostle John has been caught up to heaven in a vision where he sees the throne of God. In God’s right hand is a scroll, sealed along the edge with seven seals. This scroll is a testamentary disposition, i.e., a testament or will. [4] It contains the inheritance of the people of God, namely, the joys of the millennial kingdom. Before the scroll can be opened, however, the seals along the edge must be broken.
As we read the chapters to follow, we learn that the seals symbolize the judgments to fall upon the earth before the kingdom of God is established. No one in all the universe is found worthy to take the scroll and open it except the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb who was slain, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is worthy to open the seals because He was slaughtered to deliver men from their sins (Rev. 5:2–10).
He is worthy to break the seals and open the testament and dispose of the affairs of this world. First the seals are broken, and the judgments take place (Rev. 6–19). [5] Then the scroll is opened, and there is the disposition of the kingdom to God’s people (Rev. 20–22).
When we turn to Revelation 6 the seven seal judgments begin to unfold. These judgments fall into two groups, one group of four judgments and one of three. In this exposition I shall consider the first four judgments, symbolized by four riders mounted on horses. Horses, we should remember, were most often associated in the ancient world with warfare and the battlefield (Job 39:19–25). [6]
The Breaking Of The First Seal: The Rider On The White Horse, vv. 1-2
As John watches, the Lamb breaks the first seal. Then one of the four living creatures, or cherubs, from God’s throne calls out with a voice of thunder, i.e., a voice of terror, majesty and judgment, “Come!” John then sees a rider on a white horse with a bow. A crown is given to him and he goes out “to conquer.”
Who is the rider on the white horse? There have been three interpretations that have enjoyed some popularity through the centuries: (1) The rider is Christ. This is the earliest explanation from a writer after New Testament times. Irenaeus (A.D. 130-200) wrote, “John says [of Christ] in the Apocalypse: He went forth conquering, that He should conquer.” [7] In favor of this interpretation is the fact that Christ does appear on a white horse in Rev. 19:11. [8] (2) The rider is the world-wide proclamation of the gospel. The basis for this second view is Mark 13:10, which says that, “the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” [9] (3) The rider is Antichrist. The third interpretation is that the rider is the yet future political figure who shall gain dominion over the earth (cf. Rev. 13:7–8). [10]
The view that the first horseman is the Antichrist is to be preferred for these reasons: (1) Besides the white horses, the riders in chapters 6 and 19 are different. In chapter 19 our Lord has a sword that characterizes Him as the judge of the church and the world. And He has royal crowns (διαδήματα). The rider in chapter 6, however, has a bow and a victor’s wreath (στέφανος). (2) The rider cannot be Christ, because Christ is already symbolized by another figure in the scene, namely, the Lamb. (3) The rider on the white horse is part of a group that brings devastating calamities and destruction upon the earth. It seems unlikely that he would bring good when the others bring woe. The picture here is not of the victory of Christ but of the wrath of God. “Messiah,” says Charles, “cannot appear before the Messianic woes.” [11] A picture of the victorious Christ would be quite out of place in a passage telling of disaster after disaster. [12] Criswell observed that there are certain figures in the Bible that Christ cannot associate with in common cause. We can imagine our Lord with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace; or with His disciples Peter, James and John. But we cannot imagine Him associating in common cause with these bloody, pestilential horsemen. [13] (4) The passage parallel to this one in Matthew 24 indicates that the rider is Antichrist:
The rider cannot symbolize the gospel, for the gospel had already been sent out over the earth some 50 years before the Revelation was written. [14]
I take the rider, then, as do many modern commentators, as “triumphant militarism” personified in the Antichrist of the endtime. [15] Those who identify the rider on the white horse in chapter 6 as Christ make the mistake of interpreting chapter 6 in view of chapter 19. Instead, the rider of chapter 19 should be interpreted in view of chapter 6. From chapters 6 through chapter 18 we read of the havoc, chaos, and destruction caused by the false Christ. Then, in chapter 19, the Apostle John introduces the true Christ, the true rider on the white horse, the true ruler of this world.
In the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee the Australian hero is in New York with his girl friend. A group of hoodlums tries to rob them. One of them carries a switch-blade knife. “Watch out! He’s got a knife!” the young woman exclaims. Crocodile Dundee reaches to a sheath at his back and pulls out a monstrous knife and smiles, “That’s not a knife; this is a knife!” The hoodlums flee. In Revelation 19 Almighty God considers the false Christ on the white horse who has terrorized the earth during the tribulation period. “That’s not the Christ,” He proclaims. “THIS IS THE CHRIST!” And our Lord appears to conquer His enemies.
There is a common formula in the description of each of the horsemen. The formula has three ingredients: (1) The color of his horse (clearly referring to the significance of the rider). (2) A symbol disclosing his purpose (bow, sword, balance, name). (3) An interpretation of his activity (conquering, taking peace from the earth, raising the price of food, killing). [16]
The Color Of His Horse
The first horseman rides a white horse. White is a symbol of victory, and ancient conquerors, e.g., Roman generals, used white horses in victory marches. [17] We should not be surprised that Antichrist is mounted on the same color horse as Christ, i.e., white, symbolic of victory or triumph, and of righteousness and peace. [18] This fits the entire evil picture in Revelation. The satanic powers, and especially the Antichrist, are seen as perverted imitations, or anti-types of God and Christ. There is, for example, a counterfeit Trinity (Satan and the two beasts) in chapters 12 and 13. Then there is the contrast between Israel, the mother of Messiah (chapter 12), and Babylon, the mother of harlots (chapters 17 and 18).
This terrible imitation of Christ, this Christ of hell, rides through the events of the tribulation period to meet his anti-type, the rider on the white horse in chapter 19. This second rider on a white horse is the True Ruler and Almighty Judge who will appear at the very end of history. [19]
The Symbol Of His Purpose
The rider carries a bow. In John’s day the great enemy of the Romans to the East were the Parthians, the most famous archers of antiquity. In A.D. 62 one of their leaders, Vologäses, had won a great victory over the Roman army. Many in the empire feared an all-out invasion. [20] John may be using the Parthians as a picture of Antichrist.
In the Old Testament prophecy of Ezekiel (chapters 38–39) Antichrist is named Gog, and he wields a bow (Ezek. 39:3) which is taken from him at his defeat. The bow is a symbol of “distant warfare” as opposed to hand-to-hand conflict. [21] Antichrist apparently has unchecked victory at first; the moment he appears, he conquers. He wins the battle without the carnage brought by the second horseman.
The world today is an armed camp. Many of our greatest thinkers speak of the need of a one world government, a new world order. Prof. Arnold Toynbee, the great historian, once said, “By forcing on mankind more and more lethal weapons and at the same time making the whole world more and more interdependent economically, technology has brought mankind to such a degree of distress that we are ripe for deifying any new Caesar who might succeed in giving the world unity and peace.” G. K. Chesterton observed in his day, “One of the paradoxes of this age is that it is the age of Pacifism, but not the age of Peace.” There is much talk about peace. Antichrist will promise peace. A number of years ago the newspapers carried a story of a woman in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who named the United Nations as the beneficiary of her $700,000 estate “in the fervent hope that this relatively small contribution may be of some effect in bringing about universal peace on earth and good will among men.” Upon reading this account, J. Vernon McGee, the well known radio preacher, commented, “[That woman] poured [her] money down a rat hole,” because you cannot buy peace with $700,000 or even $700 trillion. [22]
When Antichrist comes to power, he is going to offer peace. People will think that the millennium has arrived, but it will actually be a time of trouble such as the world has never before seen (cf. Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21).
The Interpretation Of His Activity
“A crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer.” A crown is the symbol of a commander in chief or a victor. [23] But whom does he seek to conquer? Revelation 13:7–8 says that he seeks to conquer the entire earth. It also says that he especially seeks to conquer “the saints” (13:7, i.e., God’s people on earth at that time). The Apostle says that he persecutes them (6:9–11; 13:5–10). He also tries to mislead them, i.e., to seduce them with false doctrine, false apostles, indifference, relaxation of faith and love (cf. the warnings to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3; also 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).
Billy Graham and his wife Ruth were staying at a hotel in Paris. A knock came on the door. Two men stood there. One explained in very broken English that the other was the “messiah” who had come to speak to Mr. Graham on a “divine errand.” Later Mrs. Graham said, “He claimed to be the Christ, but he couldn’t even speak to us in our own language.” [24]
John the Apostle says in his first epistle that even today there are people who have the spirit of Antichrist, namely, false teachers and cultists who deny the true deity and humanity of Christ; new age gurus who attempt to demote our Lord into some form of spirit guide; liberal theologians who reject the biblical claims that Christ is the eternal Son of God and second person of the Trinity; cult leaders who seek to have an almost god-like control over their followers.
One further note: Our text says that the Lamb broke the seal that brought this rider on the scene. The text also says that a crown “was given” (ἐδόθη) to him. John sees the whole process of judgment under the control of God. The conqueror has only what Almighty God allows him to have. God is completely sovereign, so His people do not need to be dismayed. [25]
And so, Antichrist is the first of the divine judgments. He is, we know from other Scriptures (cf. Dan. 7:7–8, 11; 11:36–39), a Caesar-like, Napolean-like, Stalin-like, Hitler-like figure with a lust for world dominion. Swete reminds us that “The lust of conquest which makes great Empires. .. was the first and most momentous of the precursors of the final revelation.” [26]
The Breaking Of The Second Seal: The Rider On The Red Horse, vv. 3-4
The Color Of His Horse
The Lamb now breaks the second seal, and one of the living creatures says, “Come!” A rider on a red horse appears. The term πυρρός, translated “red”, was used in the Septuagint (Num. 19:2) of the red-brown of a heifer and of blood red water (2 Kings 3:22). The context here suggests that the horse is blood red due to its connection with bloodshed and war. [27]
The Symbol Of His Purpose
A “great sword” is given to him. The word used (μάχαιρα) means “knife,” and here it indicates a weapon of war, i.e., a sword. This symbol suggests slaughter and bloodshed. [28]
The Interpretation Of His Activity
The second rider is given authority to plunge the world into war. It is granted to him “to take peace from the earth, and that men should slay one another.” When the Apostle Paul speaks of the era of Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2, he says that God’s restraining work ends and implies that a period of general lawlessness breaks out.
Many commentators feel that what is spoken of in Revelation 6:4 includes not only hostilities between countries, but also internecine strife, i.e., civil war. John’s readers would be familiar with such strife. In the thirty years before the reign of Herod the Great in Palestine (67-37 B.C.) no fewer than 100,000 men died in abortive revolutions. In A.D. 61, in Britain, there was a rebellion connected with Queen Boadicea. The Romans crushed 150,000 of her soldiers, and she committed suicide. [29] In A.D. 66-70 the war between Rome and the Jews took place. Almost 1,000,000 Jews died in the siege of Jerusalem. There was terrible famine in the city, and civil war among competing factions of Jews. When a group of Jews sought to flee, a horrible ring of 500 of them was crucified around the city. [30]
It has always been so throughout history. From 1496 B.C. to A.D. 1861, the world knew 3, 130 years of war and 227 years of peace. In the last 400 years European nations have signed more than 8,000 peace treaties. In this century 8.5 million died in World War I, and 22 million died in World War II. The Vietnam conflict cost the U.S. 47,000 of our young men and maimed another 100,000 for life. [31] What our text tells us is that in the years just prior to the Second Coming of Christ God is going to give civilization over to war (cf. Rom. 1:24, 26, 28).
There has always been a tendency in the human heart to glamorize war. Sometimes war is necessary and just, but it is never glamorous. When Euripides (480-406 B.C.), the Greek dramatist sought to depict warfare on stage, he did not bring on an army with banners. He brought on a bent and bewildered old woman leading by the hand a weeping child who had lost his parents. [32]
During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) a journalist watched a little boy walking along the street, obviously lost, and bewildered, and terrified, dragging along a toy that had lost its wheels. Suddenly there was the crack of a rifle shot, and the little boy pitched on the ground dead. That is war, and that is the destiny of our civilization. [33]
Commenting on mankind’s propensity to war, a well known Canadian poet and songwriter wrote,
There was a sad sad lady, weeping all night long,
She received a sad sad message from a voice on the telephone;
Her children all were sleeping as she waited out the dark
How could she tell those children that their father was shot down?
She took them to her side that day and she told them one by one,
Your father was a good man ten thousand miles from home.
There was a young girl waiting in the early afternoon,
And she heard the name of someone who said he’d be home soon;
And she wondered how they got him, but the papers did not tell
There’d be no sweet reunion, there’d be no wedding bells.
She took herself into her room, and she turned the bed sheets down
And she cried into the silken folds of her new wedding gown. [34]
As John looks on to the tribulation period, international slaughter and civil war will be the order of the day. [35]
The Breaking Of The Third Seal: The Rider On The Black Horse, vv. 5-6
The Color Of His Horse
The Lamb now breaks the third seal; and when the third living creature says “Come!”, a rider on a black horse appears. The color black is the color of frightfulness and mourning. [36]
The Symbol Of His Purpose
The third horseman carries in his hand a pair of scales that symbolize his work. This implies that food will have to be weighed out and rationed with care. The weighing of food is a prophetic announcement of famine. [37]
The Interpretation Of His Activity
As John watches the rider on the black horse, he hears a voice from “the center of the four living creatures.” The voice says, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius.” As is generally true, whether in the ancient world or in the modern world, scarcity and famine follow war. [38]
Illustrations of the connection between war and famine abound. For example, until the Communist revolution in the Soviet Union, Russia had always been a grain exporting nation. Lenin and later Stalin declared war on their own peasant class to enforce the collectivization of Russia’s agriculture. The deaths numbered over 10 million. There were terrible famines during that time, and Russia became a grain importing nation. [39]
A number of years ago a book was written in which the author warned that no part of the world, in the event of serious crop failure, is more than one year away from critical starvation. Even the rich United States with all its surpluses is not more than two years away. [40]
A denarius was a working man’s daily wage. A quart of wheat was considered the daily need of one person. In normal times a denarius could purchase 8, 12, or even 16 times as much wheat. [41] If a man has a family, he will have to use the cheaper barley, generally considered the food of horses and beasts of burden. [42] For a denarius he can purchase three quarts of barley.
The fact that the voice announcing the prices comes from the living creatures who are in the middle of and around God’s throne (4:6) suggests two things: First, these creatures probably represent the whole order of animate creation (cf. 4:7). It is as if they protest on behalf of creation the famine among men. Nature produces enough if it was not for men’s crimes. [43] Second, it appears that God has something to do with price lists. When we watch prices go up and down, and when we hear the weather reports and crop reports, and when we listen to the latest stock prices and economic indicators, we never think of anything divine connected with them. How wrong we are!
A few years ago a Christian economist was asked how the deficit problem in the United States could be solved. The country seems to be quickly going into debt. He responded, “Outlaw abortion!” His questioner felt this was a non sequitur response, i.e., his answer had nothing to do with the question. How illogical, his questioner felt, to connect the economy with the violation of God’s laws. The economist was being quite logical and biblical, however. The sins of mankind are often punished within their own lifetime on earth. Our passage suggests that in the future tribulation period Almighty God will lay His hands on every activity of man in judgment. His judgments will touch the everyday realities of food and prices.
At the end of verse 6 limits are set to the famine: “Do not harm the oil and the wine.” Oil and wine would be less affected by warfare in that olive trees and vines grow with little attention, while growing grain requires much human effort. [44] Commentators differ on the command not to harm the oil and the wine. I think this suggests that social inequities continue in the tribulation period, i.e., paying for the necessities of life further impoverishes the poor, while the luxuries of the rich continue. [45]
During the reign of Domitian, in John’s day, there was a shortage of grain and a superabundance of wine in Italy. The emperor ordered that no new vineyards be planted and that half of the existing vineyards be cut down to plant grain. There was such an outcry [from the rich?] that the edict was withdrawn and a punishment imposed on those who had allowed their vineyards to go out of cultivation. [46]
The thought is that there will be an abundance of such things as expensive foodstuffs, toiletries, beauty aids and conditioners (“oil”), and liquor (“wine”), but a scarcity--for the poor--of essential foodstuffs. [47]
Shortly after World War I, Donald Grey Barnhouse, soon to be famous as a great evangelical Bible teacher, was in Vienna. There was great misery in the city. Often the streets were blocked by funerals, three out of four of which were for children. There was a nine o’clock curfew due to a lack of coal. The city was filled with wealthy refugees from Russia and other countries. Walking along the street one afternoon, Barnhouse saw skeletal men in rags, standing in the snow and begging for money. They were in their bare feet, and their feet left blood on the snow, Barnhouse remembered. Girls in poor clothing and in wooden shoes offered themselves as prostitutes for a coin worth less than a penny. Coming out of the opera (which had begun early to conform to the curfew regulations) were well dressed men escorting women with fabulous jewels. The wealthy men beat the poor with their canes to clear a way to the limousines. [48]
In our own time war has brought famine to parts of the globe. Nutrition experts warn of global disaster in our time. In the tribulation things will get worse.
The Breaking Of The Fourth Seal: The Rider On The Ashen Horse, vv. 7-8
The Color Of His Horse
The Lamb breaks the fourth seal, the living creatures say, “Come!”, and there appears a rider on an ashen horse. The Greek term for “ashen” (χλωρός) is the one from which we get our English word chlorine. It denotes a yellowish green. [49] Due to the context John probably intends to suggest the appearance of a person whose face is struck with terror, or perhaps he intends the color of a corpse or putrefying flesh. [50]
The Symbol Of His Purpose
The symbol of this rider is his name, namely, “Death.” What this rider brings is an intensification of the first three seals. As one of the older commentators remarked, “God does not work miracles where none are needed.” He explained that, “evils are all so closely related, that it is only necessary to start one, to bring down the whole train.” [51]
In the ancient world (and in the modern world, too) one of the results of war was “pestilence.” [52] Plagues often followed war. In our present world, with its bacteriological weapons, the horrible possibilities of Antichrist’s reign are indeed grim.
Our text tells us that the fourth horseman is assisted in his campaign of death by the wild beasts. If too many people are decimated by war and its aftermath, the population of wild beasts grows. There are not people to kill them off. The increase of wild beasts becomes an additional danger to the survivors (cf. Deut. 7:22).
The Interpretation Of His Activity
The picture before us is an awful one. Death is allowed to take fully one quarter of the world’s population. Following him on foot is Hades (ὁ ᾅδης). Hades is the destination of the souls that do not know Christ as Savior (cf. Luke 16:23). It is here personified as some great voracious monster. [53]
In the Book of Revelation Death and Hades are the rulers of the realm of those who do not possess the sacrificial forgiveness supplied by the Lamb of God, i.e., Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:18; 20:13–14a). [54]
So, the object of the fourth rider is clear. He seeks a rich harvest for the ruler of the kingdom of the dead (cf. Hebrews 2:14–15). The breaking of the fourth seal discloses to us that the effects of these judgments embrace not only the earthly life, but also the life beyond. [55]
Conclusion
In Revelation 6:1–8 John sees a vast world-wide empire, the empire of Antichrist, outwardly victorious and eager for fresh conquests. Whatever his promises, the rider on the white horse will not produce peace. His rule will be full of the elements of unrest, danger, and misery. War, scarcity, plagues, and death in all its forms follow in his train.
These calamities repeat themselves throughout history. Yet at the time of the end they will be set loose in all their intensity by the hand of Christ. They will prepare the way for His opening the scroll and giving the inheritance of the kingdom to His people. [56]
Some lessons and applications may be drawn from this study: (1) Our passage teaches the absolute sovereignty of God. The four riders are given their authority from heaven. Everything they do is directed and limited by Almighty God and the Lamb. God’s people have nothing to fear from Antichrist, for the Lamb is their Lord. (2) The four seals demonstrate the self-defeating character of sin. Antichrist shows us in a graphic way the spirit of self-aggrandizement that is one of the fruits of sin. All God needs to do is let events take their course, and sinners will inevitably be punished. [57] (3) Christ’s work includes not only redemption but also judgment. One commentator has said, “From the death on the Cross flow overwhelming tides of divine wrath.” [58] What he means is that Christ’s death was not only salvation from sin, but condemnation of sin. [59] Those who will not embrace the Lamb as redeemer and share with Him the inheritance of the Kingdom of God will themselves be embraced by death and Hades and dwell in the kingdom of the dead. (4) In this passage Almighty God reveals what this vain, proud and guilty world is coming to. [60] Our civilization shall one day expire under the Antichrist. The immediate future, therefore, holds not peace but judgment. (5) The question that faces each reader today is this: “How do you stand in relation to the Lamb who breaks the seals? Are you a Christian? Then you will be kept from “the hour” of tribulation (Rev. 3:10). Our Lord’s counsel to you is “Be on the alert” (Matt. 25:13) and “Abide in Me” (John 15:4). Keep yourself in fellowship with Him. Be thankful that judgment for you is passed. No divine wrath remains for you. Are you not a Christian? My friend, there is only one way to escape the judgment of Him who breaks the seals. Trust in His meritorious sacrifice as the satisfaction for your guilt. You are a guilty sinner, but Christ’s death is sufficient to put away all your guilt.
Notes
Introduction
Two contemporary parables will serve as an introduction to this exposition of Revelation 6:1–8. The first is a true story and concerns a man named Harry Truman, the caretaker of a recreation lodge on Spirit Lake, five miles north of Mt. St. Helens’ smoke-enshrouded peak in Oregon. Harry had been warned by Rangers and neighbors that the mountain was going to blow up. Geologists had been watching their seismographs for some time, and the evidence predicted that the volcano would soon explode with such a fury that it would flatten the surrounding forest.
Warnings blared from loudspeakers on patrol cars and helicopters and blinked from battery-powered signs at every major crossroad. Radio and television announcers pled with their audiences to flee to safety. Harry Truman ignored them all. He grinned on national television and said, “Nobody knows more about this mountain than Harry, and it don’t dare blow up on him.”
On May 18, 1980, at 8:31 A. M. the mountain exploded. I cannot help wondering if Harry regretted his decision in the millisecond he had before the concussive waves, traveling faster than the speed of sound, flattened him and everything else for 150 square miles. Did he have time to mourn his stubbornness as millions of tons of rock disintegrated and disappeared into a cloud reaching ten miles into the sky? Did he have second thoughts as the wall of mud and ash 50 feet high buried his cabin, his cats, and his freshly mowed lawn--or had he been vaporized when the mountain erupted with a force 500 times greater than the nuclear bomb that had leveled Hiroshima, Japan in 1945?
Harry Truman is now a legend in Oregon. In gift shops he smiles down on customers from posters, T-shirts, and beer mugs. There is even a song about old Harry, the stubborn man who put his ear to the mountain but would not heed the warnings. [2]
My second parable concerns the well-known laboratory experiment of the frogs that were put in a bowl of water. The water was gradually raised to the boiling point, with the remarkable result that they all expired without making any serious effort to jump out of the bowl. Malcolm Muggeridge, the late British journalist and broadcaster, gave an address years ago in which he mentioned that experiment and drew a lesson for our times. “The frogs are us,” he said, “the water is our habitat, and the Media, by accustoming us to the gradual deterioration of our values and our circumstances, ensure that the boiling point comes upon us unawares.” [3]
We listen to news accounts of ever increasing crime; we hear of children on drugs and of a murder rate in the capital of our nation of more than one per day; we abort our children in ever increasing numbers; we live in homes marked by division and disobedience; we exist in a time characterized by greed, murder, malice, slander, perversion, and hatred of God (cf. Rom. 1:28–32); we watch and enjoy films with ever more explicit violence and immorality; we enjoy the fathomless imbecilities of advertising which pander to our physical vanity and materialistic values; and we are unaware that the time of the book of Revelation is about to burst upon us.
Muggeridge says that Western Civilization is now in an advanced state of decomposition and that another Dark age will soon be upon us. And the tragedy is that we are, like Harry Truman and the frogs in the lab, immune to the warning signals.
The present essay is an exposition of four paragraphs in that part of the book of Revelation (chapters 6–19) which deals with the yet future period of divine judgment upon the earth. The judgments described in these chapters take place over a seven year period called by our Lord and the Apostle John “the tribulation” (Matt. 24:21; Rev. 7:14). This time of judgment will be followed by the thousand-year reign of Christ upon the earth described in Rev. 20:4–6.
In the immediate context the Apostle John has been caught up to heaven in a vision where he sees the throne of God. In God’s right hand is a scroll, sealed along the edge with seven seals. This scroll is a testamentary disposition, i.e., a testament or will. [4] It contains the inheritance of the people of God, namely, the joys of the millennial kingdom. Before the scroll can be opened, however, the seals along the edge must be broken.
As we read the chapters to follow, we learn that the seals symbolize the judgments to fall upon the earth before the kingdom of God is established. No one in all the universe is found worthy to take the scroll and open it except the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb who was slain, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is worthy to open the seals because He was slaughtered to deliver men from their sins (Rev. 5:2–10).
He is worthy to break the seals and open the testament and dispose of the affairs of this world. First the seals are broken, and the judgments take place (Rev. 6–19). [5] Then the scroll is opened, and there is the disposition of the kingdom to God’s people (Rev. 20–22).
When we turn to Revelation 6 the seven seal judgments begin to unfold. These judgments fall into two groups, one group of four judgments and one of three. In this exposition I shall consider the first four judgments, symbolized by four riders mounted on horses. Horses, we should remember, were most often associated in the ancient world with warfare and the battlefield (Job 39:19–25). [6]
The Breaking Of The First Seal: The Rider On The White Horse, vv. 1-2
As John watches, the Lamb breaks the first seal. Then one of the four living creatures, or cherubs, from God’s throne calls out with a voice of thunder, i.e., a voice of terror, majesty and judgment, “Come!” John then sees a rider on a white horse with a bow. A crown is given to him and he goes out “to conquer.”
Who is the rider on the white horse? There have been three interpretations that have enjoyed some popularity through the centuries: (1) The rider is Christ. This is the earliest explanation from a writer after New Testament times. Irenaeus (A.D. 130-200) wrote, “John says [of Christ] in the Apocalypse: He went forth conquering, that He should conquer.” [7] In favor of this interpretation is the fact that Christ does appear on a white horse in Rev. 19:11. [8] (2) The rider is the world-wide proclamation of the gospel. The basis for this second view is Mark 13:10, which says that, “the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.” [9] (3) The rider is Antichrist. The third interpretation is that the rider is the yet future political figure who shall gain dominion over the earth (cf. Rev. 13:7–8). [10]
The view that the first horseman is the Antichrist is to be preferred for these reasons: (1) Besides the white horses, the riders in chapters 6 and 19 are different. In chapter 19 our Lord has a sword that characterizes Him as the judge of the church and the world. And He has royal crowns (διαδήματα). The rider in chapter 6, however, has a bow and a victor’s wreath (στέφανος). (2) The rider cannot be Christ, because Christ is already symbolized by another figure in the scene, namely, the Lamb. (3) The rider on the white horse is part of a group that brings devastating calamities and destruction upon the earth. It seems unlikely that he would bring good when the others bring woe. The picture here is not of the victory of Christ but of the wrath of God. “Messiah,” says Charles, “cannot appear before the Messianic woes.” [11] A picture of the victorious Christ would be quite out of place in a passage telling of disaster after disaster. [12] Criswell observed that there are certain figures in the Bible that Christ cannot associate with in common cause. We can imagine our Lord with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace; or with His disciples Peter, James and John. But we cannot imagine Him associating in common cause with these bloody, pestilential horsemen. [13] (4) The passage parallel to this one in Matthew 24 indicates that the rider is Antichrist:
Matthew 24 (Mk 13; Lk 21)
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Revelation 6
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False Christs, v. 5
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White horse
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Wars, vv. 6–7
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Wars
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Famines, v. 7
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Famine
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Pestilence (Lk 21:11)
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Pestilence
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The rider cannot symbolize the gospel, for the gospel had already been sent out over the earth some 50 years before the Revelation was written. [14]
I take the rider, then, as do many modern commentators, as “triumphant militarism” personified in the Antichrist of the endtime. [15] Those who identify the rider on the white horse in chapter 6 as Christ make the mistake of interpreting chapter 6 in view of chapter 19. Instead, the rider of chapter 19 should be interpreted in view of chapter 6. From chapters 6 through chapter 18 we read of the havoc, chaos, and destruction caused by the false Christ. Then, in chapter 19, the Apostle John introduces the true Christ, the true rider on the white horse, the true ruler of this world.
In the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee the Australian hero is in New York with his girl friend. A group of hoodlums tries to rob them. One of them carries a switch-blade knife. “Watch out! He’s got a knife!” the young woman exclaims. Crocodile Dundee reaches to a sheath at his back and pulls out a monstrous knife and smiles, “That’s not a knife; this is a knife!” The hoodlums flee. In Revelation 19 Almighty God considers the false Christ on the white horse who has terrorized the earth during the tribulation period. “That’s not the Christ,” He proclaims. “THIS IS THE CHRIST!” And our Lord appears to conquer His enemies.
There is a common formula in the description of each of the horsemen. The formula has three ingredients: (1) The color of his horse (clearly referring to the significance of the rider). (2) A symbol disclosing his purpose (bow, sword, balance, name). (3) An interpretation of his activity (conquering, taking peace from the earth, raising the price of food, killing). [16]
The Color Of His Horse
The first horseman rides a white horse. White is a symbol of victory, and ancient conquerors, e.g., Roman generals, used white horses in victory marches. [17] We should not be surprised that Antichrist is mounted on the same color horse as Christ, i.e., white, symbolic of victory or triumph, and of righteousness and peace. [18] This fits the entire evil picture in Revelation. The satanic powers, and especially the Antichrist, are seen as perverted imitations, or anti-types of God and Christ. There is, for example, a counterfeit Trinity (Satan and the two beasts) in chapters 12 and 13. Then there is the contrast between Israel, the mother of Messiah (chapter 12), and Babylon, the mother of harlots (chapters 17 and 18).
This terrible imitation of Christ, this Christ of hell, rides through the events of the tribulation period to meet his anti-type, the rider on the white horse in chapter 19. This second rider on a white horse is the True Ruler and Almighty Judge who will appear at the very end of history. [19]
The Symbol Of His Purpose
The rider carries a bow. In John’s day the great enemy of the Romans to the East were the Parthians, the most famous archers of antiquity. In A.D. 62 one of their leaders, Vologäses, had won a great victory over the Roman army. Many in the empire feared an all-out invasion. [20] John may be using the Parthians as a picture of Antichrist.
In the Old Testament prophecy of Ezekiel (chapters 38–39) Antichrist is named Gog, and he wields a bow (Ezek. 39:3) which is taken from him at his defeat. The bow is a symbol of “distant warfare” as opposed to hand-to-hand conflict. [21] Antichrist apparently has unchecked victory at first; the moment he appears, he conquers. He wins the battle without the carnage brought by the second horseman.
The world today is an armed camp. Many of our greatest thinkers speak of the need of a one world government, a new world order. Prof. Arnold Toynbee, the great historian, once said, “By forcing on mankind more and more lethal weapons and at the same time making the whole world more and more interdependent economically, technology has brought mankind to such a degree of distress that we are ripe for deifying any new Caesar who might succeed in giving the world unity and peace.” G. K. Chesterton observed in his day, “One of the paradoxes of this age is that it is the age of Pacifism, but not the age of Peace.” There is much talk about peace. Antichrist will promise peace. A number of years ago the newspapers carried a story of a woman in Fayetteville, Arkansas, who named the United Nations as the beneficiary of her $700,000 estate “in the fervent hope that this relatively small contribution may be of some effect in bringing about universal peace on earth and good will among men.” Upon reading this account, J. Vernon McGee, the well known radio preacher, commented, “[That woman] poured [her] money down a rat hole,” because you cannot buy peace with $700,000 or even $700 trillion. [22]
When Antichrist comes to power, he is going to offer peace. People will think that the millennium has arrived, but it will actually be a time of trouble such as the world has never before seen (cf. Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21).
The Interpretation Of His Activity
“A crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer.” A crown is the symbol of a commander in chief or a victor. [23] But whom does he seek to conquer? Revelation 13:7–8 says that he seeks to conquer the entire earth. It also says that he especially seeks to conquer “the saints” (13:7, i.e., God’s people on earth at that time). The Apostle says that he persecutes them (6:9–11; 13:5–10). He also tries to mislead them, i.e., to seduce them with false doctrine, false apostles, indifference, relaxation of faith and love (cf. the warnings to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3; also 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).
Billy Graham and his wife Ruth were staying at a hotel in Paris. A knock came on the door. Two men stood there. One explained in very broken English that the other was the “messiah” who had come to speak to Mr. Graham on a “divine errand.” Later Mrs. Graham said, “He claimed to be the Christ, but he couldn’t even speak to us in our own language.” [24]
John the Apostle says in his first epistle that even today there are people who have the spirit of Antichrist, namely, false teachers and cultists who deny the true deity and humanity of Christ; new age gurus who attempt to demote our Lord into some form of spirit guide; liberal theologians who reject the biblical claims that Christ is the eternal Son of God and second person of the Trinity; cult leaders who seek to have an almost god-like control over their followers.
One further note: Our text says that the Lamb broke the seal that brought this rider on the scene. The text also says that a crown “was given” (ἐδόθη) to him. John sees the whole process of judgment under the control of God. The conqueror has only what Almighty God allows him to have. God is completely sovereign, so His people do not need to be dismayed. [25]
And so, Antichrist is the first of the divine judgments. He is, we know from other Scriptures (cf. Dan. 7:7–8, 11; 11:36–39), a Caesar-like, Napolean-like, Stalin-like, Hitler-like figure with a lust for world dominion. Swete reminds us that “The lust of conquest which makes great Empires. .. was the first and most momentous of the precursors of the final revelation.” [26]
The Breaking Of The Second Seal: The Rider On The Red Horse, vv. 3-4
The Color Of His Horse
The Lamb now breaks the second seal, and one of the living creatures says, “Come!” A rider on a red horse appears. The term πυρρός, translated “red”, was used in the Septuagint (Num. 19:2) of the red-brown of a heifer and of blood red water (2 Kings 3:22). The context here suggests that the horse is blood red due to its connection with bloodshed and war. [27]
The Symbol Of His Purpose
A “great sword” is given to him. The word used (μάχαιρα) means “knife,” and here it indicates a weapon of war, i.e., a sword. This symbol suggests slaughter and bloodshed. [28]
The Interpretation Of His Activity
The second rider is given authority to plunge the world into war. It is granted to him “to take peace from the earth, and that men should slay one another.” When the Apostle Paul speaks of the era of Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2, he says that God’s restraining work ends and implies that a period of general lawlessness breaks out.
Many commentators feel that what is spoken of in Revelation 6:4 includes not only hostilities between countries, but also internecine strife, i.e., civil war. John’s readers would be familiar with such strife. In the thirty years before the reign of Herod the Great in Palestine (67-37 B.C.) no fewer than 100,000 men died in abortive revolutions. In A.D. 61, in Britain, there was a rebellion connected with Queen Boadicea. The Romans crushed 150,000 of her soldiers, and she committed suicide. [29] In A.D. 66-70 the war between Rome and the Jews took place. Almost 1,000,000 Jews died in the siege of Jerusalem. There was terrible famine in the city, and civil war among competing factions of Jews. When a group of Jews sought to flee, a horrible ring of 500 of them was crucified around the city. [30]
It has always been so throughout history. From 1496 B.C. to A.D. 1861, the world knew 3, 130 years of war and 227 years of peace. In the last 400 years European nations have signed more than 8,000 peace treaties. In this century 8.5 million died in World War I, and 22 million died in World War II. The Vietnam conflict cost the U.S. 47,000 of our young men and maimed another 100,000 for life. [31] What our text tells us is that in the years just prior to the Second Coming of Christ God is going to give civilization over to war (cf. Rom. 1:24, 26, 28).
There has always been a tendency in the human heart to glamorize war. Sometimes war is necessary and just, but it is never glamorous. When Euripides (480-406 B.C.), the Greek dramatist sought to depict warfare on stage, he did not bring on an army with banners. He brought on a bent and bewildered old woman leading by the hand a weeping child who had lost his parents. [32]
During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) a journalist watched a little boy walking along the street, obviously lost, and bewildered, and terrified, dragging along a toy that had lost its wheels. Suddenly there was the crack of a rifle shot, and the little boy pitched on the ground dead. That is war, and that is the destiny of our civilization. [33]
Commenting on mankind’s propensity to war, a well known Canadian poet and songwriter wrote,
There was a sad sad lady, weeping all night long,
She received a sad sad message from a voice on the telephone;
Her children all were sleeping as she waited out the dark
How could she tell those children that their father was shot down?
She took them to her side that day and she told them one by one,
Your father was a good man ten thousand miles from home.
There was a young girl waiting in the early afternoon,
And she heard the name of someone who said he’d be home soon;
And she wondered how they got him, but the papers did not tell
There’d be no sweet reunion, there’d be no wedding bells.
She took herself into her room, and she turned the bed sheets down
And she cried into the silken folds of her new wedding gown. [34]
As John looks on to the tribulation period, international slaughter and civil war will be the order of the day. [35]
The Breaking Of The Third Seal: The Rider On The Black Horse, vv. 5-6
The Color Of His Horse
The Lamb now breaks the third seal; and when the third living creature says “Come!”, a rider on a black horse appears. The color black is the color of frightfulness and mourning. [36]
The Symbol Of His Purpose
The third horseman carries in his hand a pair of scales that symbolize his work. This implies that food will have to be weighed out and rationed with care. The weighing of food is a prophetic announcement of famine. [37]
The Interpretation Of His Activity
As John watches the rider on the black horse, he hears a voice from “the center of the four living creatures.” The voice says, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius.” As is generally true, whether in the ancient world or in the modern world, scarcity and famine follow war. [38]
Illustrations of the connection between war and famine abound. For example, until the Communist revolution in the Soviet Union, Russia had always been a grain exporting nation. Lenin and later Stalin declared war on their own peasant class to enforce the collectivization of Russia’s agriculture. The deaths numbered over 10 million. There were terrible famines during that time, and Russia became a grain importing nation. [39]
A number of years ago a book was written in which the author warned that no part of the world, in the event of serious crop failure, is more than one year away from critical starvation. Even the rich United States with all its surpluses is not more than two years away. [40]
A denarius was a working man’s daily wage. A quart of wheat was considered the daily need of one person. In normal times a denarius could purchase 8, 12, or even 16 times as much wheat. [41] If a man has a family, he will have to use the cheaper barley, generally considered the food of horses and beasts of burden. [42] For a denarius he can purchase three quarts of barley.
The fact that the voice announcing the prices comes from the living creatures who are in the middle of and around God’s throne (4:6) suggests two things: First, these creatures probably represent the whole order of animate creation (cf. 4:7). It is as if they protest on behalf of creation the famine among men. Nature produces enough if it was not for men’s crimes. [43] Second, it appears that God has something to do with price lists. When we watch prices go up and down, and when we hear the weather reports and crop reports, and when we listen to the latest stock prices and economic indicators, we never think of anything divine connected with them. How wrong we are!
A few years ago a Christian economist was asked how the deficit problem in the United States could be solved. The country seems to be quickly going into debt. He responded, “Outlaw abortion!” His questioner felt this was a non sequitur response, i.e., his answer had nothing to do with the question. How illogical, his questioner felt, to connect the economy with the violation of God’s laws. The economist was being quite logical and biblical, however. The sins of mankind are often punished within their own lifetime on earth. Our passage suggests that in the future tribulation period Almighty God will lay His hands on every activity of man in judgment. His judgments will touch the everyday realities of food and prices.
At the end of verse 6 limits are set to the famine: “Do not harm the oil and the wine.” Oil and wine would be less affected by warfare in that olive trees and vines grow with little attention, while growing grain requires much human effort. [44] Commentators differ on the command not to harm the oil and the wine. I think this suggests that social inequities continue in the tribulation period, i.e., paying for the necessities of life further impoverishes the poor, while the luxuries of the rich continue. [45]
During the reign of Domitian, in John’s day, there was a shortage of grain and a superabundance of wine in Italy. The emperor ordered that no new vineyards be planted and that half of the existing vineyards be cut down to plant grain. There was such an outcry [from the rich?] that the edict was withdrawn and a punishment imposed on those who had allowed their vineyards to go out of cultivation. [46]
The thought is that there will be an abundance of such things as expensive foodstuffs, toiletries, beauty aids and conditioners (“oil”), and liquor (“wine”), but a scarcity--for the poor--of essential foodstuffs. [47]
Shortly after World War I, Donald Grey Barnhouse, soon to be famous as a great evangelical Bible teacher, was in Vienna. There was great misery in the city. Often the streets were blocked by funerals, three out of four of which were for children. There was a nine o’clock curfew due to a lack of coal. The city was filled with wealthy refugees from Russia and other countries. Walking along the street one afternoon, Barnhouse saw skeletal men in rags, standing in the snow and begging for money. They were in their bare feet, and their feet left blood on the snow, Barnhouse remembered. Girls in poor clothing and in wooden shoes offered themselves as prostitutes for a coin worth less than a penny. Coming out of the opera (which had begun early to conform to the curfew regulations) were well dressed men escorting women with fabulous jewels. The wealthy men beat the poor with their canes to clear a way to the limousines. [48]
In our own time war has brought famine to parts of the globe. Nutrition experts warn of global disaster in our time. In the tribulation things will get worse.
The Breaking Of The Fourth Seal: The Rider On The Ashen Horse, vv. 7-8
The Color Of His Horse
The Lamb breaks the fourth seal, the living creatures say, “Come!”, and there appears a rider on an ashen horse. The Greek term for “ashen” (χλωρός) is the one from which we get our English word chlorine. It denotes a yellowish green. [49] Due to the context John probably intends to suggest the appearance of a person whose face is struck with terror, or perhaps he intends the color of a corpse or putrefying flesh. [50]
The Symbol Of His Purpose
The symbol of this rider is his name, namely, “Death.” What this rider brings is an intensification of the first three seals. As one of the older commentators remarked, “God does not work miracles where none are needed.” He explained that, “evils are all so closely related, that it is only necessary to start one, to bring down the whole train.” [51]
In the ancient world (and in the modern world, too) one of the results of war was “pestilence.” [52] Plagues often followed war. In our present world, with its bacteriological weapons, the horrible possibilities of Antichrist’s reign are indeed grim.
Our text tells us that the fourth horseman is assisted in his campaign of death by the wild beasts. If too many people are decimated by war and its aftermath, the population of wild beasts grows. There are not people to kill them off. The increase of wild beasts becomes an additional danger to the survivors (cf. Deut. 7:22).
The Interpretation Of His Activity
The picture before us is an awful one. Death is allowed to take fully one quarter of the world’s population. Following him on foot is Hades (ὁ ᾅδης). Hades is the destination of the souls that do not know Christ as Savior (cf. Luke 16:23). It is here personified as some great voracious monster. [53]
In the Book of Revelation Death and Hades are the rulers of the realm of those who do not possess the sacrificial forgiveness supplied by the Lamb of God, i.e., Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:18; 20:13–14a). [54]
So, the object of the fourth rider is clear. He seeks a rich harvest for the ruler of the kingdom of the dead (cf. Hebrews 2:14–15). The breaking of the fourth seal discloses to us that the effects of these judgments embrace not only the earthly life, but also the life beyond. [55]
Conclusion
In Revelation 6:1–8 John sees a vast world-wide empire, the empire of Antichrist, outwardly victorious and eager for fresh conquests. Whatever his promises, the rider on the white horse will not produce peace. His rule will be full of the elements of unrest, danger, and misery. War, scarcity, plagues, and death in all its forms follow in his train.
These calamities repeat themselves throughout history. Yet at the time of the end they will be set loose in all their intensity by the hand of Christ. They will prepare the way for His opening the scroll and giving the inheritance of the kingdom to His people. [56]
Some lessons and applications may be drawn from this study: (1) Our passage teaches the absolute sovereignty of God. The four riders are given their authority from heaven. Everything they do is directed and limited by Almighty God and the Lamb. God’s people have nothing to fear from Antichrist, for the Lamb is their Lord. (2) The four seals demonstrate the self-defeating character of sin. Antichrist shows us in a graphic way the spirit of self-aggrandizement that is one of the fruits of sin. All God needs to do is let events take their course, and sinners will inevitably be punished. [57] (3) Christ’s work includes not only redemption but also judgment. One commentator has said, “From the death on the Cross flow overwhelming tides of divine wrath.” [58] What he means is that Christ’s death was not only salvation from sin, but condemnation of sin. [59] Those who will not embrace the Lamb as redeemer and share with Him the inheritance of the Kingdom of God will themselves be embraced by death and Hades and dwell in the kingdom of the dead. (4) In this passage Almighty God reveals what this vain, proud and guilty world is coming to. [60] Our civilization shall one day expire under the Antichrist. The immediate future, therefore, holds not peace but judgment. (5) The question that faces each reader today is this: “How do you stand in relation to the Lamb who breaks the seals? Are you a Christian? Then you will be kept from “the hour” of tribulation (Rev. 3:10). Our Lord’s counsel to you is “Be on the alert” (Matt. 25:13) and “Abide in Me” (John 15:4). Keep yourself in fellowship with Him. Be thankful that judgment for you is passed. No divine wrath remains for you. Are you not a Christian? My friend, there is only one way to escape the judgment of Him who breaks the seals. Trust in His meritorious sacrifice as the satisfaction for your guilt. You are a guilty sinner, but Christ’s death is sufficient to put away all your guilt.
Notes
- Dave MacLeod is a faculty member at Emmaus Bible College.
- The story of Harry Truman was widely reported in the news media. The summary of events given here is adapted from Billy Graham, Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Waco: Word Books, 1983), 13–14
- “Living Through an Apocalypse,” Christianity Today (Aug. 16, 1974): 4.
- One of the old German commentators pointed out that in Germany before the introduction of money orders, everyone knew that a letter sealed with five seals contained money (Theodor Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, 3 vols. [Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1909], 3:394). In like manner a legal Roman will was sealed seven times. For example, the emperors Augustus and Vespasian left such wills for their successors (Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars [London: SCM Press, 1955], 182–83; cf. Emmet Russell, “A Roman Law Parallel To Revelation Five,” Bibliotheca Sacra, 115 [1958]: 258-64).
- As I understand the chronology of the Revelation, the first six seals cover the first half of the tribulation. The seventh seal covers the second half of the tribulation called “the great tribulation” (Rev. 7:14). The seventh seal includes two additional series of judgments designated by John as the trumpets and bowls. For a helpful introduction to some of the chronological problems of Revelation, cf. Gary Cohen, Understanding Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1978).
- Cf. Joseph Seiss, Lectures on the Apocalypse, 3 vols., rev. ed. (New York: Charles C. Cook, 1906), 1:311.
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.21.3 in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols., ed. by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, reprint ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967), 1:493.
- For a full defense of this view, cf. William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1939), 113–17; Zane C. Hodges, “The First Horseman of the Apocalypse,” Bibliotheca Sacra, 119 (1962): 324-34.
- George E. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972), 99.
- Mathias Rissi, “The Rider on the White Horse,” Interpretation, 18 (1964): 407-18; John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1966), 126–27; Leon Morris, The Revelation of St. John, TNTC (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969), 103–5; Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B.Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977), 153–54.
- R. H. Charles, The Revelation of St. John, ICC, 2 vols. (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1920), 1:164.
- William Barclay, The Revelation of John, 2 vols., rev. ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976), 2:3.
- W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation, 5 vols. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966), 3:92.
- Seiss, 1:311.
- Cf. H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John (London: Macmillan & Co., 1906), 84; Charles, 164; Mounce, 154; William Kelly, Lectures on the Book of the Revelation (London: G. Morrish, 1874), 136. Note: Swete, Charles, Mounce, et al, are not quite this specific. They simply identify the rider as war or militarism.
- Cf. Rissi, 408.
- Cf. Charles, 1:162; Barclay, 2:3–4.
- Cf. Seiss, 1:314.
- Rissi, 416.
- Cf. Mounce, 154.
- Kelly, 136.
- For the quotations from Toynbee, Chesterton, and McGee, I am indebted to J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible, 5 vols. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983), 5:941.
- Rissi, 417.
- Approaching Hoofbeats, 83.
- Morris, 102, 104.
- Swete, 84.
- TDNT, s.v. “πυρρός,” by Friedrich Lang, 6:952. Lang notes that that word was originally used in contexts to mean “fiery red.”
- Swete, 84; Mounce, 154.
- Barclay, 2:5.
- These events are described by Josephus in The Jewish War, Books 3 to 6.
- Cf. David Jeremiah, “Is War Ever in the Will of God?” Fundamentalist Journal, 1 (Nov., 1982): 18-19.
- Barclay, 2:4.
- Ibid., 4–5.
- Gordon Lightfoot, on the album Don Quixote.
- Cf. Seiss, 1:331. Seiss also included private revenge and murder as part of the second horseman’s legacy.
- Rissi, 410.
- Cf. G. R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation, NCB (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1974) 132.
- Cf. Swete, 85; Mounce, 155.
- Paul Johnson, Modern Times (New York: Harper & Row, 1983), 92–93, 261–62, 271–73, and passim.
- George Borgstrom, Hungry Planet (New York: Macmillan Co., 1967). Cited by Hal Lindsey, There’s a New World Coming (Santa Ana: Vision House, 1973), 106.
- Charles, 1:167.
- Seiss, 1:334
- Cf. Barclay, 2:8; Swete, 86.
- Seiss, 1:334.
- Cf. Morris, 106; contra Mounce, 156.
- Charles, 1:167; Barclay, 2:8.
- Cf. McGee, 942.
- Donald Grey Barnhouse, Revelation: An Expository Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House), 127.
- BAGD, s.v. “χλωρός,” 882.
- Mounce, 156; Seiss, 1:336.
- Seiss, 1:337.
- The Greek word ὁ θάνατος is used in the LXX to translate the Hebrew word for pestilence (הַדֶּבֶר; cf. Swete, 87). In the present passage the first use of θάνατος should be translated “death,” and the second “pestilence” or “plague.”
- Cf. Seiss, 1:338.
- Cf. Rissi, 410
- Ibid.
- Cf. Swete, 87.
- Morris, 102.
- Martin Kiddle, The Revelation of St. John, MNTC (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1940), 110
- Morris, 103.
- Seiss, 1:340
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