Does the bible explain WHO the 4 horsemen are?

Answer 1

The First Seal -

Notice here whom it is, that “Opens” the first seal and the event that follows.

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

There is much debate as to what this Rider on the White Horse represents. Some have mistakenly, identify him as Jesus, because in Chapter 19 Jesus appears on a White Horse, wearing a crown and bringing to an end all the terrible series of judgments that has come upon the earth.

But it is a great mistake to identify these two because the context is entirely different. Here we are looking at the “beginning” of the judgments of God, and in Chapter 19 we see the “end” of them.

Here it is significant that this Rider on the White Horse here bears some resemblance to the appearance of Jesus on a great White Horse in Chapter 19.

They both ride a White Horse; they both Wear Crowns; and both are Bent on Conquest.

This Rider is someone who is like Christ, but is not Christ. This is doubtless the long predicted Antichrist, whom Scripture speaks of in various places, who is yet to appear on the stage of humanity, even though there has been many types of antichrist, to take the stage of earth history, but have passed on!

Thinking about the over all comparison of Jesus and the antichrist?

Jesus ministry was 3 ½ years. The antichrist ministry will be 3 ½ year. Jesus is from above, the antichrist is from beneath. Jesus is the truth, the antichrist is a liar, Jesus performed miracles the antichrist will perform miracles.

So, this Rider is “None Other” than the same one that Brother Paul calls the "Man of Sin" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and the Wicked One in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, who is yet to appear and offer himself as though he were Christ.

In John 5:43 Jesus says to the Jews of his day… I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

This Rider comes like Christ, but in his “Own” name.

Notice he is given a Bow, but no mentioning of arrows? Which, is a symbol of Peace, and give the appearance to be a bloodless conquest he’s launches.

With this Rider having no weapons of war. I think it is clear that this suggests some kind of overpowering of the minds and wills of men, without physical destruction.

The overpowering of the minds and wills of mankind in some form of deceit, by lying that misleads and deceives men and thus overcomes them without the use of weapons of war, or the shedding of man-kinds blood.


Following me to Matthew 24, and the first words Jesus spoke to his disciples concerning the sings of the end of time.

Here we read; And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. In Matthew 24, You will find references to the possibility of deception throughout it. The White Horse he is riding, in a symbol and representative of World Condition, he’s bring in, through this delusions of the mind.

Today, mankind is bemused by delusions. We are hardly aware of how much we are being deceived all the time. Turn on the television and fraudulent ideas, along with a mixture of truth, are immediately poured into your brain. Pick up a magazine or read a newspaper and you will find they make false claims that certain acquisitions will produce great blessing and liberty for you. Drugs deceive and deludes the mind! Millions of people, young and old, are being deceived by the flush of feeling of well-being that a drug produces for a time.

Think about it, even Perfume ads deceive! They offer outlandish, extravagant promises of ecstasy and romance that will follow if you merely douse yourself with something from a bottle. Oh how easy the human mind can be deceived and deluded! And one of the most damaging, delusions of our time is the New Age movement that deludes and deceives the minds! This movement is filled with lies and deceptions!

It claims that men and women have secret and special powers, hidden abilities within, which if you discover them will enable you to rule people, to manipulate them and run the world to suit yourself. These ideas are constantly being fed into the human mind.

We are obviously living in a very deceitful age. Follow me to Brother Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. Here we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 we read;

Even “him” whose coming is after the working of “Satan” with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

This makes it crystal clear, does it not? This first conquest by evil in the last days is set in motion when God takes off the reins and lets deceit have its way among mankind until it reaches a climax of delusion. We will learn many more details of this as we continue. But here with the Rider of the White Horse, we have a Leader of World Peace, being established by Delusions.

The Second Seal –

In Revelation 6:3-4 we read;

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

This Rider and his “Red Horse” is easy to recognize. It’s War! But not war between great armies, at least for the moment. The words “kill one another” is a reference to civil war or civil anarchy where mobs of people group together to attack and destroy other peoples whom they do not like.

This we are seeing on a small scale on our Television broadcasts, around the world. Individual gangs raging war in the streets and towns of the Nations.

This Red Horse is a picture of murderous slaying of others by people unrestrained by any authority or control. With this I’m remind of all the incident lives and blood that was shed amidst the flooding from Hurricane Katrina, by the gangs. One thing that caught my attention was something that was said by a Reporter on Current Affair, in reference to all the Rapes, Murders, and the Looting that was taking place. “Look what Katrina has done to us”

Katrina, wasn’t the one that caused all of this wickedness, to break forth! It was “Already” there in the hearts of some! It just took Katrina and the opportunity to bring forth the fruit of the wicked trees!

Here we have in the Rider of the Red Horse, the climax of this wickedness on a World wide scale. For verse 4 tells us, he is given a “great sword.”

Now, in the days when John wrote this letter, it was a time that they obviously did not have such weapons as Guns, Bombs, Missiles, Tanks, or any of the modern weapons of warfare.

Such weapons of destruction had to be put in terms that people would understand in that day, so the major weapon of destruction then was a Sword.

But now is a "great" sword, a powerful weapon of destruction given. It is a picture of the awesome power of our modern day weapons of war, something that destroys enormous numbers of people. Now, if you read Chapters 38th and 39th of Ezekiel, you will find a vivid description of such warfare, where armies come down out of the north into the Holy Land and are decimated by what appears to be radiation type of sickness, which would also include nuclear weapons as well.

Those Chapters are a powerful picture written, portraying this “Great Sword” of Revelation.

The Third Seal -

In Revelation 6:5-6 we read; And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Here we are looking at what some refer to as “World Wide Famine” on the earth.

Now, the scales symbolize food being weighed out carefully. It is in such short supply that it must be rationed.

The use of the word “Penny” in the original is referring to a days wage! This would indicate a famine so devastating that no one can get very much because it takes a day's wages to earn a single quart of wheat or, because it is cheaper, three quarts of barley.

This would purchase only enough food for one person for a day. You would work all day long and all you would be able to earn at best would be enough for your own physical needs. There would be nothing for your family or for anyone else.

But what’s interesting is that the Luxuries, the Oil and the Wine, are left untouched?

Now, perhaps this is not referring to famine because in the opening of the next seal, as we will see, famine is specifically mentioned as part of that judgment.

So, what else causes terrible shortages and creates high prices so that people cannot buy adequate amounts of food? It is inflation on the Runway! Inflation that is caused by economics out of control, and there’s panic in the marketplace!

A good example of this type of inflation can seen in Germany after World War 1. Reading in history, of the people taking ten thousand German marks bills, loading them into wheelbarrows, and taking them to market to buy a single loaf of bread. This is what out of control inflation does. It makes money worthless. Think about it! With inflation on the rise as it is today, what is a single $1.00 bill worth? About .50 Cents?

It’s the out of control inflation, which, in turn becomes a reason for the rigid controls over buying and selling which we find in Chapter 13 verse 17, when, under the reign of antichrist, the whole world is subjected to enormously restrictive controls so that "no one can buy or sell” without the mark of the beast…. 666.

The Fourth Seal -

In Revelation 6:7-8 we read; And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

This Rider of the Pale Horse is named "Death" and trailing along behind, is a figure that is identified as "Hades," or Hell.

Death takes the body and Hades takes the soul.

Death rides the horse, but Hades follows for the unsaved!
Death Rides the Horse, but Hades is the Hearse that carries the unsaved soul way.

Answer 2

The four horsemen of the apocalypse are described in Revelation chapter 6, verse 1-8. The four horsemen are symbolic descriptions of different events which will take place in the end times. The first horseman of the apocalypse is mentioned in Revelation 6:2, "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." This first horseman likely refers to the antichrist, who will be given authority and will conquer all who oppose him. The antichrist is the false imitator of the true Christ, as He will return on a white horse (Revelation 19:11-16).



The second horseman of the apocalypse is spoken of in Revelation 6:4, "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." The second horseman refers to terrible warfare that will break out in the end times. The third horseman is described in Revelation 6:5-6, "...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!" The third horseman of the apocalypse refers to a great famine that will take place, likely as a result of the wars from the second horseman. Food will be scarce, but luxuries such as wine and oil will still be readily available.



The fourth horseman is mentioned in Revelation 6:8, "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." The fourth horseman of the apocalypse is symbolic of death and devastation. It seems to be a combination of the previous horsemen. The fourth horseman of the apocalypse will bring further warfare and terrible famines along with awful plagues and diseases. 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).

Recommended Resource: Understanding End Times Prophecy by Paul Benware.

Answer 3

The first mention of the horses is in the book of Zechariah in the OT. They are something like angelic entities that then get reinterpreted in the Apocalypse where they bring judgement to earthlngs. One has the power of the sword [war; red horse], another of pestilence [death; pale horse], and another of inflicting famine upon the people [black horse], and another is destroys and takes over things [conquest; white horse]. In medieval times, these horsemen--or horses--were associated with evil winds in the four directions that were kept in abeyance by the archangels of the four quarters.

Answer 4

Revelation 6; 1-8/
The rider of the WHITE horse has a bow and a crown. that implies warfare and Kingship.
this is Jesus at Armageddon, carrying on war against the world's governments.
Jesus is the King of God's Kingdom [ that we pray for at Matthew 6; 9,10.
The FIERY COLOURED horse denotes Warfare. A sword and slaughter,
The BLACK horse denotes Famine, with scales in the hand of the rider denoting Quantities [ of food]
The PALE horse denotes plague and sickness.

All are experienced during warfare

And it also shows that Jesus is no longer a helpless baby in his mother's arms, as constantly depicted by major religions.
Jesus is riding out to get rid of wickedness on the earth.
He has temporarily locked up Satan and his demons for a thousand years and is 'sorting' out the earth.

Answer 5

The White Horse in Revelation 6 when the seals are opened, represents the Anti-Christ.

The Second: The fiery red Horse and it's rider represent open warfare; the false peace under the white horse and it's rider are removed and civil war ensues. (Matthew 24:6 -- "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

The Third: The Black horse and it's rider represent famine.

The Fourth: The Pale horse and it's rider represents death; the natural result of death and famine.

Answer 6

It does in Revelation.The first is the man on the White Horse,he is the Anti Christ.He comes with a bow and no arrows because he first come as a peacemaker.Later he shows his evil side .A lot of people think that's Jesus but we don't see Him until chapter 19 the others are pretty self explanatory.

Answer 7

The four horseman are not a WHO. They are not one individual. The horseman of the apocalypse represent the worst of what we face. In the end times there will be, Wars and rumors of Wars, there will be famine, and disease, and the fourth horseman will be death who reaps a bountiful harvest from the first three.

In other words, life will be cheap, and brutal, and living in and of itself will be a challenge and a struggle. We will face the greed and hate of man turned against one another (War) We will face the wrath of mother nature in the form of famine and starvation from drought and failing crops, and then ultimately we will be faced with disease and pestilence as well.

Sounds gruesome huh?

But that is the point of this passage.

Things will be bad. LOL

Answer 8

Yes.

False Christ

Wars

Famine

Pestilence

Answer 9

Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and an extra redneck KKK (the book writers thought 4 was a more balanced number than 3).

Answer 10

GWB, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz.

Answer 11

Mitch, Rudy, John, and Sam