Revelation 6:1-8 | The Four Riders Of The Apocalypse

Revelation 6:1-8
The Four Riders of the Apocalypse

I. Introduction

1. The transition from the church’s teachings to the scene surrounding the seven sealed scrolls now gives way to the seven-year tribulation.
   1. This period is known as Daniel’s 70^th week or Jacob’s Trouble.
   2. The tribulation will be presented to us through the lens of four symbols.
      1. Seals, trumpets, thunders, and bowls.
         
         “Specifically, in the book of Revelation, there are four symbols under which these judgments evolve: (1) the opening of a seven-sealed book, (2) the sounding of seven angelic trumpets, (3) the reverberations of seven thunders, and (4) the outpouring of seven bowls of divine wrath.”^[1]
         
2. What is the purpose of the Great Tribulation?
   1. End wickedness
      
      Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.^[2]
      
   2. A great harvest of souls (Rev 7:1-17).
   3. Chasten and purify rebellious Israel.
      
      Ezekiel 20:33–38 ³³ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. ³⁴ I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. ³⁵ And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. ³⁶ Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord God. ³⁷ “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; ³⁸ I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
      
3. This will be the worst period of human history the planet has ever seen.
   1. Cataclysmic judgments upon the earth.
   2. Earthquakes, asteroid showers, volcanic eruptions, etc.
   3. War, famine, and disease will collide upon the earth in a compressed amount of time.
   4. Direct attacks from Satan and the fallen world.

II. v. 1 The Worthy One opens the sealed scroll.

¹ 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.”

1. As we move into chapter 6, the Lord opens the sealed scroll, which allows for Jesus to reclaim this earth.
   1. Each of the seven seals reveals a new set of judgments that is going to come upon the earth.
2. These first 4 seals are represented by 4 horses of different colors.
   
   
   
   1. They are often referred to as the four riders of the apocalypse.
3. Outline
   1. The seventh seal opens into seven trumpets of judgment (Rev 8:1-11:19) and the seventh trumpet (Rev 11:15) announces seven bowls of further judgment (Rev 16:1-21).
   2. There is a very interesting parallel that we can make between Revelation 6 and Matthew 24.
   3. Here is a brief overview of the seven seals of judgment the earth will experience during the Great Tribulation.
      1. The first seal brings a deceiver (Matt 24:4-5).
         
         Matthew 24:4-5 ⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
         
         
      2. The second seal brings war (Matt 24:6–7).
         
         Matthew 24:6-7 ⁶ “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.”
         
         1. Jesus told His disciples this would be another sign before the end of the world.
            
      3. The third seal brings famine (Matt 24:7).
         
         Matthew 24:7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.”
         
      4. The fourth seal brings death (Matt 24:7).
         
         Matthew 24:7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.”
         
         
      5. The fifth seal brings persecution (Matt 24:9).
         
         Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.”
         
         
      6. The sixth seal brings cosmic chaos (Matt 24:29).
         
         Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
         
         
      7. The seventh seal introduces the seven trumpets, which announce further judgment (Matt 24:30).
         
         Matthew 24:30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

III. v. 2 First seal – the white horse of deception.

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.

1. Some have seen this rider as Jesus who comes at the end of the tribulation to save Israel and establish His Kingdom.
   1. But as you consider what follows this rider and what Scripture tells us will happen at the beginning of this last week of Israel’s prophecy, it seems quite obvious that this rider is the Antichrist, not Christ.
   2. The rider will appear as the great savior of the world riding in on his white horse, but the Bible tells us that he will deceive and conquer.
2. This rider has a bow, but no arrows are mentioned. This possibly indicates that his initial conquest will result from diplomatic peace treaties.
   1. Before the battle of Armageddon, there will be a time of peace in the world.
   2. The Antichrist seizes power by promising peace.
   3. Daniel prophesied about the Antichrist who would stand against the Prince of Princes.
      
      Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
      
      1. Note that he will destroy through peace.
   4. Daniel makes the same point in Daniel 11.
      
      Daniel 11:21 And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
      
      
   5. So, when the Antichrist arrives on the scene, the world will be hungry for a leader that will guide and direct the world away from self-destruction.
   6. This blind desire for peace will be the bait that hooks nations to follow his leadership.
3. Daniel 9:24-27 tells us that the Antichrist will sign a treaty in Israel for 7 years.
   1. In the middle of this time, his true colors will show as He breaks this treaty and commits the abomination of desolation as spoken of in the New Testament by Jesus and Paul.
   2. Today we see once again that Israel is once again in a military engagement against her neighbors because of the unwillingness of the nations to accept her right as a nation in the region.
   3. When we see military action between Israel and the Palestinians, it raises immediate concerns of a wider, more serious conflict with nations like Iran who seem to daily announce their desire and intent to wipe Israel off the face of the map.
   4. When this man of peace arrives, He will be able to broker a peace deal with Israel.
4. Actions
   1. He speaks of peace (1 Thess 5:3; Dan 11:21).
   2. He commits the abomination of desolation (2 Thess 2:3-4; Dan 9; Matt 24).
   3. He controls the monetary system (Rev 13).
   4. He requires the mark of the beast.
   5. He seeks to destroy Israel in the tribulation.
5. Timing
   1. He will appear on the scene after the rapture of the church (2 Thess 2:3-4).
   2. In other places this period is called the 70 weeks (Dan 9).

IV. vv. 3-4 Second seal – The red horse of war.

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.

1. On the heels of false peace will be a period when peace is removed from the earth.
   
   “The uniqueness of the tribulation period seems to be that this second rider signals the taking of all peace from the earth. The most debilitating traits of greed and lust for power and money assert themselves, creating myriads of conflicts across the entire face of the globe so that conflict rather than peace becomes the rule.”^[3]

V. vv. 5-6 Third seal – the black horse of famine.

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.”

1. War often brings famine.
2. There are currently millions who live in areas where famine is a reality.
3. The price is a day’s wage for barley or wheat.
   
   “This dry measure quart (choinix) amounted to little more than could be successfully cradled in two human hands.”^[4]

VI. vv. 7-8 Fourth seal – the pale horse of death.

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.

1. This rider comes with a sword, hunger, and beasts of the earth.
   1. The death and hunger are already being experienced.
   2. This rider brings more of the same, except that the unleashing of wild beasts is new. This seems to be a natural outflow of famine.
2. The death toll from this rider is 25% of the population of the world.
   1. The world population is currently at 8.3 billion.
   2. 2.075 people represent 25% of the world’s population.
   3. Those numbers break down as follows:
      1. The United States (349 million), Indonesia (288 million), Pakistan (259 million), Nigeria (242 million), Brazil (214 million), Bangladesh (177 million), Russia (143 million), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (116 million), Mexico (133 million), and Japan (122 million) together have approximately 2.04 billion people.
3. Disease – Jesus spoke of pestilence before His return to earth.
   1. One of the great threats facing the world today is the next pandemic.
   2. History has shown that disease can spread quickly with devastating effects.

VII. Conclusion

1. The world is racing towards a terrible day of tribulation.
2. We must be ready for the Lord’s return and share the gospel with as many as possible.
3. Of course, whether these events begin in our generation or not, we should be ready.
4. We do not want to be caught unaware.

---

^[1] Paige Patterson, Revelation, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 39, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2012), 176.

[2] All Scripture quotations are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

^[3] Paige Patterson, Revelation, 180.

^[4] Paige Patterson, Revelation, 181.