The Judgments on Earth
The second of three studies of The Revelation of Jesus Christ
by Paige Ramsey
“The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” – Lesson 3
Revelation 6:1-17
Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard 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 the wine.”
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
The Beginning of the Great Tribulation
There will be a time of judgment on this earth. The beginning of that judgment is recorded here in chapter six. This is the beginning of the Great Tribulation Period.
In Matthew 24, where Jesus informs his disciples about the last days, we find three questions in verse 3: 1) When will the temple be destroyed? 2) What will be the sign of Your coming? and 3) What will be the sign of the end of the world?
The temple, as they knew it in their day, was destroyed in 70 AD. However, Jesus did not come in 70 AD, nor did the end of the world. (See Matthew 24:29-31)
Verse 21 says “…there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
I believe this (in chapter six of The Revelation) is the beginning of that time of tribulation that Jesus spoke about. It is also referenced in Daniel 9, known as Daniel’s seventieth week: the abomination of desolation: the Great Tribulation period.
The Seventy Weeks of Daniel
Daniel 9:20-27 – vs 24: seventy weeks = seventy 7-year periods = 490 years
“The Seventy Week Prophecy is not just useless, obscure, arcane information for religious nerds.
It contains exceedingly important information for God’s covenant people. They will need this knowledge
and this wisdom as they approach the thresholds at the climax of this age.”
7 sevens + 62 sevens = 69 sevens (of Biblical years) or 69 x 7 = 483 Biblical Years.
The Edict of Artaxerxes Longimanus given to Nehemiah in 445 B.C. recorded in Nehemiah 2 gives us the only time in which that royal authority was given for the restoration of Jerusalem as a sovereign city-state. It was given by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah, the king’s cup-bearer. (Event 1)
So the time span of the 69 weeks goes for 483 x 360 = 173,880 days. When we do the math, these days bridge two epic one day events in holy history. And they do it exactly! 173,880 days from the day Artaxerxes authorized the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Jesus was presented as the Prince and rode into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey. Just a few days later, He was crucified (cut-off). Both these two one day events faithfully satisfy the Daniel 9:25 text for the beginning and ending of the first 69 weeks of the 70 Week Prophecy of Daniel.
“The Magi, rulers and wise men from the east, from the courts of Persia, knew Daniel’s prophecy. They knew the year in which the Messiah would appear. And so perhaps forty years before this date they had begun watching for a sign that the Christ child had been born. God honored their diligence. When the time of the incarnation came He gave them a sign. And the star led them on to the Christ-Child. … The Magi, (and there were probably dozens if not hundreds of them), travelled in from Mesopotamia and regions in the east. Groups of them travelled to Jerusalem over a period of some years looking for the Christ child. They were not the occultists we see presented in books or in the movie theater.”
From the going forth until the Messiah = 49 years + 434 years = 483 years. This leaves seven years to fulfill the prophecy of 490 Jewish years.
Vs. 27 – The Great Tribulation is divided into two 3½ year parts.
The Anti-Christ will deceive.
Daniel 11:31-37 – When the Anti-Christ claims to be God and sits in the temple, the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24 is accomplished.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
One of the first things we find in chapter six is a change of stance: In chapter four, the attention moves from earth to the third heaven; in chapter six, the attention moves back to the earth. Now, during the time we have been viewing the scene of God’s Throne Room in the third heaven, what has transpired on the earth?
1. A private rapture (a thief in the night) will create chaos
2. Fear and confusion will overtake the people
Q: What will the ones who are left have to deal with after the rapture? _________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Apocalypse = ____________________. Every time a seal is broken, another judgment is revealed.
Rev. 6:1-2 – ____________________ is the only One worthy to break the seals.
As we look at the opening of these seals, let’s correlate the verses of the four horsemen to Matthew 24:4-10
The first seal: a white horse and he who sits had a bow and a crown = deception of the Anti-Christ. Matthew 24:4-5 =
deception
- This white horse is not the white horse that Jesus Christ will ride when He comes at the Second Coming, but its rider is mimicking the Lord Jesus Christ in Rev. 19.
- He will convince the Jewish nation that He is their Messiah. He will deceive all the nations into following him.
- The bow without arrows symbolizes peace. During the first half of the tribulation, there will be a false sense of peace. He conquers and will conquer not with weapons, but with his deceptive speech.
- The word translated “crown” is not the Diadem – only Christ wears the diadem – this crown is the stephanos: a prize given in the games – a symbol of honor. It is not a crown earned, but an honorary crown given.
The second seal: a red horse = war. Matthew 24:6-7a = war
- The rider could easily be the same rider as the first horse. Now he has a sword instead of a bow. One of the “signs of the times” is war and rumors of war. We are seeing this today like no other day. There is no peace in our world. Every country and nation is on edge, concerned about what is going to happen next. But, when the second seal is broken, the wars that will break loose will put all other wars to shame.
The third seal: a black horse = famine. Matthew 24:7b = famine
- The rider has balances in his hand. When war breaks out, famine results. There is no peace in the world today. Enormous inflation. A measure (1 quart) of wheat is enough for one meal. The penny (a denarius) is about a day’s wage. During this time, a meal will cost a day’s wage.
- David Chilton, a preterist, gives an interesting take on the black horse of famine: “The Curse devours productivity in every area, and the ungodly culture perishes through starvation, disease, and oppression (Deut. 28:15-34). This is how God controls the wicked: They must spend so much time just surviving that they are unable to exercise ungodly dominion over the earth. In the long run, this is the history of every culture that departs from God’s Word.”
[iii]
- Dan Cozart gives some interesting facts: “The population of the world supersedes six billion. Famine has already set in. Half the children of the world of preschool age are so undernourished that their physical and mental growth is retarded and mortality among them is sixty times what it is in more fortunate societies. More than half the world goes to bed hungry every night. Malnutrition stalks the globe. It claims ten thousand lives every day in the United States. Every sunrise finds 203,000 additional mouths to feed. This will grow out of limits during the Great Tribulation period. A time of famine.”
[iv]
The fourth seal: a pale horse = death. Matthew 24:8-10 = death
- In WW1 20,000,000 died of influenza and 6,000,000 died of typhus (typhoid fever).
- Notice the word beasts mentioned in verse 8. This word could possibly be translated “pests”. Remember the pestilence in Matt 24:7. The most destructive animal is the rat. If 95% of the rat population is exterminated in a given area, the rat population will replenish itself in 1 year. Rats carry as many as 35 different diseases. Its fleas carry the bubonic plague which killed a third of the population of Europe in the fourteenth century. Their fleas carry typhus, which in four centuries has killed some 200,000,000 people.
[iv]
- Other pest infestations are on the rise in the United States: bed bugs, bird mites, head lice, etc.
- One fourth of the population will die during this time. With a pop of 6 Billion, it means one and one half billion people will die.
The fifth seal: martyrs who were slain for Christ cry out for God to avenge the ones who murdered them.
- Some – and some great Bible scholars are in this group – say these are the tribulation saints (those who will be saved during the great tribulation and must be martyred as a result). However, the tribulation saints have not yet been accomplished completely. First, the 144,000 Jewish missionaries must be sent forth so that their message can have fruit.
- I believe these to be the martyred of all the church age. They have been waiting for vindication for their wrongful deaths. The Lord tells them that they must wait because there will be more who will be martyred during this last seven year period.
The sixth seal: a great earthquake – the sun turns black – the moon is as blood – the stars fall to the earth as untimely figs – the heaven departs as a scroll – the mountains and islands move out of their places – men (from the greatest to the least) hide in the caves and cry to the mountains and rocks to fall upon them.
- It is hard to imagine what it would be like to live through these types of judgments. To see the earth violently reacting in ways that cannot be predicted or controlled, and experienced by people who do not have any regard for God. They have no place to turn for help. Instead of crying out to God, they display their complete and utter disregard of Him by praying to the inanimate objects around them!
- Only grace turns men to Christ. Men who are totally depraved cannot and will not turn to Him. God’s sovereign grace must do a work in their hearts so that they can understand how to exercise faith in Him. This is the picture of man without God. Totally lost without hope.
Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Master and Savior? ___________________
When did you exercise faith in Him? ________________________________________
If you cannot adequately answer these questions, you need to be saved! Do not put off such an important decision. The fact that you are contemplating and deliberating over this issue shows that God, through His Holy Spirit is dealing with you.
Believe in the Lord (Master) Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Recognize that He alone is worthy to rule your life. Confess your sin to God. Repent of (turn away from) the sins you have committed and are committing, and turn to God to live according to His plan. For anyone (whosoever) calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
PRE-WRATH RAPTURE
I must point out here that those who hold to the “Pre-Wrath Rapture” believe the rapture will take place after the sixth seal has been broken and before the seventh seal is broken.
Christ will then appear in the sky in all his splendid glory and his angels “will gather his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt 24:31). Paul expands on this gathering using
explicit resurrection and rapture language (1 Thess 4:13–18). Between the sixth and seventh seal, the
book of Revelation depicts the raptured as “a great multitude that no one could number” who were “the
ones who have come out of the great tribulation” (Rev 7:9, 14). This is followed by the onset of God’s
judgment (Rev 8:1–6).[ia]
This view is quite plausible, and if it is correct, God’s people should not be taken unaware (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8), and we should be prepared to face the events of the first six seals.
[ia] Kurschner, Alan; http://www.alankurschner.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Prewrath.pdf Copyright © 2013 (January) by Alan Kurschner.
Other Bible Studies by Paige Ramsey: