The Revelation from Jesus Christ to John has given passionate people endless discussions about what it means. I provide my own perspective below.
Revelation 6 New King James Version (NKJV)
First Seal: The Conqueror
6 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.” 2 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.
Interjection: Many people believe that the rider on the white horse is Jesus. I believe that it is antichrist as do many others. If you believe that the first horseman is Jesus and he is leading the horrors that follow in the next 3 horsemen then I strongly encourage you to pray and research. I provide perspective below.
Second Seal: Conflict on Earth
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 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.
Interjection: For most it is pretty clear that the second rider is war but also it is likely just physical violence. In modern times we have become so desensitized to it because either you are living in it or you are not but many of those see it in the news and media pretty consistently. U.S. citizens are mostly so apathetic because the chance of it happening here or to them are so remote, so we think. It actually is happening significantly in many large cities. In so many cities around the world, hearing explosions and gunfire is a daily occurrence. This includes U.S. cities. The daily homicide rate in many large U.S. cities is staggering. I don’t believe we have to have tanks rolling down the street to say that the red horse is riding globally.
Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth
5 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. 6 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.”
Interjection: The famine that this implies will be worse than anything in modern times. This will affect the U.S. because it depicts an economic situation. I believe we could start seeing this increase exponentially between the severe weather and the current locust swarms, certain foods may become scarce and we will see the prices increase.
Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 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.
Interjection: So the fourth seal describes how these 4 will have “power” over “a fourth” of the earth. This is where Scripture can be misinterpreted. Does it mean the majority of one land mass? I doubt it but I do not know. Then there is the list of ways people will be killed. The first two are pretty self explanatory, sword likely referring to war or violence. Hunger: lack of basic needs (food, water). But why would it say death? Isn’t death the result of the rest of the list? I believe it could mean diseases. In Matthew 24 Jesus talks about Wars, Famines and Pestilences. Then there are “the beasts of the earth”. Are these literal beasts like as in animals? Scripture refers to ruling governments as beasts. Just something to think about.
Now granted we have seen all of these for hundreds of years but Jesus also compares these times to sorrows or “birth pains” in some translations meaning they become more frequent and more intense the closer to the end we get. I believe we are seeing that pretty clearly.
The Rider of the white horse.
If this rider is the antichrist then he has not been revealed yet as 2 Thessalonians describes. The question is whether or not the ac needs to be revealed before the other 3 riders are allowed to do their things. Just thinking about this makes me realize that if 3 of the 4 riders are not actual characters and are just depicting events to transpire then why wouldn’t the first rider be the same? What if each rider represents a more specific event:
Rider 1: A significant turn away from GOD globally, especially by world governments but also by more and more people. (The Apostasy)
Rider 2: Global wars and violence
Rider 3: Global famine and diseases
Rider 4: Global death rates increase. 25%?
Given that so much is happening in the world today I believe that it behooves us to consider different possibilities.