The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible, a piece of apocalypse literature attributed to John of Patmos, and generally regarded as dating to about AD 95.
Similar allusions are contained in the Old Testament books of Ezekiel and Zechariah, written about six centuries prior.
Though the text only provides a name for the fourth horseman, subsequent commentary often identifies them as personifications of Pestilence (Zelos/Zelus), War (Ares/Mars), Famine (Limos/Fames), and Death (Thanatos/Mors or Moros/Fatum).
Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God/Lion of Judah opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses.
All of the horsemen save for Death are portrayed as being human in appearance.
In John's revelation the first horseman rides a white horse, carries a bow, and is given a crown as a figure of conquest , perhaps invoking pestilence, or the Antichrist.
In Scripture, the bow has been a long-standing weapon of military triumph and the crown is the conqueror's headdress. Some scholars have argued that this first horseman is Jesus Christ, but that interpretation is inconsistent with the immediate context and the symbolism of the other three riders.
Thus, most scholars recognize the first rider to represent military conquest.
He may also stand for the Antichrist, a charismatic leader who will soon emerge as a false imitation of Jesus Christ.
The second carries a sword and rides a red horse as the creator of (civil) war, conflict, and strife.
The second rider appears on a fiery red horse, with the power to take away peace from the earth and make humans slay one another.
He carries a mighty sword, which is not a large two-edged sword, but a dagger, like the kind used in hand-to-hand combat. This horseman symbolizes the devastating violence of warfare.
The third, a food merchant, rides a black horse symbolizing famine and carries the scales.
This rider holds a pair of scales in his hand. A voice predicts unbearable inflation of costs and scarcity of food, causing widespread famine, hunger, and shortage of necessities brought on by war.
The scales allude to the careful measuring of food. In times of scarcity, every grain of wheat gets counted.
Even today, warfare commonly brings on food supply shortages and starvation. Thus, this third horseman of the apocalypse personifies famine.
The fourth and final horse is pale, upon it rides Death, accompanied by Hades.
"They were given authority over a quarter of the Earth, to kill with sword, famine and plague, and by means of the beasts of the Earth."
Christianity typically interprets the Four Horsemen as a vision of harbingers of the Last Judgment, setting a divine end-time upon the world.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described by John of Patmos in his Book of Revelations, the last book of the New Testament.
The chapter tells of a “‘book’, or ‘scroll’, in God’s right hand that is sealed with seven seals”.
The Lamb of God, or Lion of Judah, (Jesus Christ) opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons forth four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses.
Although some interpretations differ, in most accounts, the four riders are seen as symbolizing Conquest, War, Famine, and Death, respectively.
The Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen are to set a divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment.
The White Horse.
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come and see!”
I looked, and there before me was a white horse!
Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. ( Revelation 6:1-2)
The Red Horse.
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come and see!”
Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other.
To him was given a large sword. ( Revelation 6:3-4)
The Black Horse.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see!”
I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” (Revelation 6:5-6).
This rider holds a pair of scales in his hand. A voice predicts unbearable inflation of costs and scarcity of food, causing widespread famine, hunger, and shortage of necessities brought on by war.
The scales allude to the careful measuring of food. In times of scarcity, every grain of wheat gets counted. Even today, warfare commonly brings on food supply shortages and starvation. Thus, this third horseman of the apocalypse personifies famine
The Pale Horse.
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come and see!”
I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.
They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8).
What is most amazing, or perhaps terrifying, is that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are just precursors of even worse judgments that come later in the tribulation (Revelation chapters 8—9 and 16).
For all the horror brought by the Four Horsemen, there is much more to come.
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