The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

I. Introduction
A. Why is there such great evil in the world? Why so much hatred and conflict? What so many natural disasters? So many diseases, so many tragedies? That’s what our passage this morning is all about.
B. Revelation 6:1–8 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. 3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be 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 wine!” 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
C. Over the last two weeks we covered the grand heavenly vision, including the drama of a scroll John sees in the hand of God which sealed with seven seals, and finally the Lion of Judah is introduced, who turns out to be a Lamb, who is clearly Jesus, as the One who can open the seals.
1. What follows in the next chapter (6) is a continued vision of the opening of the seven seals, which begins the unfolding of what is contained in the scroll.
2. This doesn’t mean the worship in Rev.4-5 has come to an end. Clearly it continues through the rest of the age. While there’s joy & worship in heaven, there’s also trouble & chaos on earth.
3. But the order in which we’re given these things is not accidental. Only after the concept of His reign and His victory is very well established are we shown the troubled waters of the world, which might seem to some to conflict with the calm, peaceful triumph of Rev.4-5.
D. Chapter six of Revelation covers the first six seals. The first four are brief and seem to go together, so we’ll cover the first four today and then give the fifth and then the sixth their own week.
E. There is no reason to think these seals happen one at a time. They are simultaneous.
1. — “This is suggested in that (1) the fourth seal summarizes the prior three (see below on 6:8); (2) the models of Ezek. 14:12–13; Zech. 6:5–8; and the Synoptic eschatological discourse, on which Rev. 6:1–8 is based, portray events of tribulation occurring simultaneously (see further below); indeed, the Synoptic parallels, though fairly uniform, even have different sequences of the trials from Rev. 6:1–11; (3) the glorified saints in Rev. 6:9–11 appear to have suffered under all four trials portrayed in the seals.” – Beale
F. The “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” in Rev.6:1-8 describe the destructive forces unleashed on the world between the time of Christ’s suffering at the cross and the glorious day of His return.
G. So, let’s talk about each of these four horsemen.
II. The first horseman seems to depict military conquest, empire-building, nation rising against nation.
A. 2 “a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.”
B. The biggest question about the first horseman has to do with his identity. Some people connect him with Christ because he bears a resemblance to the vision of Christ in Rev.19:11-16. Both ride on a white horse, both have crowns on their heads, both conquer. There are reasonable people on both sides and from my perspective it really doesn’t make that much difference in the big picture.
1. But, along with many others, I don’t think it’s Christ, for several reasons.
a. — It fits in with the group of the four horseman, the other three of which are obviously evil.
(1) — All four have the same introduction: the Lamb opens the seal and one of the four living creatures says, “Come!” Each is then given authority to do his job (except #3; v.2, 4, 8).
b. — In Matt.24:1ff.; Mark 13:1ff.; & Luke 21:5ff. Jesus gave a description of what was to happen in the future. It is known as His eschatological discourse.
(1) — Let me read a few verses: Luke 21:9-11 – “When you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” Matthew 24:8 – “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
(2) — Here the words of Jesus correspond to this description of the four horseman in Rev.6: wars & tumults, nation rising against nation, great earthquakes, famines, pestilences, persecution. This includes not only the bloodshed, famine and death of the second, third &fourth horsemen, but the conquest and conquering of the first horseman (war, nation rising up against nation).
c. — The first horseman seems to be included in the summarizing statement referring to all of the horsemen in 8b.
2. — Why then is the horse white just like Christ’s horse in Rev.19? Well, in this same eschatological discourse, the first woe Jesus mentioned as preceding His return is “false Christs &false prophets” who will come in Christ’s name and mislead many (Mark 13:5-6; Matt.24:4-5; Luke 21:8), which may explain the whiteness of the horse.
III. The second horseman depicts bloodshed.
A. 3-4 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
B. The red color of this horse seems to correspond to the bloodshed of its rider.
C. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, causing war, conflict, murder, class warfare, riots, terrorism, etc.
1. But at the end of the first century, if a believer were to hear about people slaying one another, they would also think of the many believers slaughtered for their faith. Jesus said in Matt.10:34, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”
D. Notice that though this rider is given a large sword, he is not said to kill anyone. Men kill one another. The horseman takes peace away and men proceed to commit the bloodshed.
E. The study of history proves that the second horseman has been very successful. In many ways, red is the color of mankind.
IV. The third horseman seems to depict famine.
A. 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be 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 wine!”
1. In the ancient world when food became scarce, it was distributed by rationed amounts using scales (Lev.26:26; 2Kg.7:1; Ezek.4:10,16). And thus scales represent famine.
2. Not only do scales suggest that food was scarce, but also that it could be purchased only at greatly inflated prices. The denarius was a Roman coin equivalent to the daily wage of a working man (cf. Matt 20:2). So, for a day’s work a man could buy only enough wheat for himself or enough of the less nutritious barley for three, probably about 10-12 times the normal price.
3. As with the previous two woes, famine here affects all people, but Christians are also definitely in mind. One of the most common forms of persecution is economic persecution, whereby those who will not bow to that society’s gods aren’t allowed much access to the basic necessities of life.
4. It’s possible this is also what “harm the oil & wine” refers to as well. The Geneva Bible suggests that it might mean “overcharge for the oil & wine,” also referring to economic persecution.
V. The fourth horseman depicts death.
A. 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him.
B. The pale horse probably refers to the color of a corpse.
C. But then, following this description of the fourth horseman, it seems that there is a summarizing statement referring to all of the horsemen: “They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”
D. So, this fourth horseman seems to sort of summarize all of the horsemen as agents of death, though it does add two new causes of death: pestilence (plague) and death by wild beasts.
1. And though it may sound strange to our ears to include wild beasts as an agent of death, we must remember that for the first century Christian, martyrdom often occurred by means of wild beasts.
E. One of the reasons it is important to remember that the persecution and martyrdom of believers is part of what is in mind in this passage is that the fifth seal, which we will talk about in our next sermon, is all about martyrs – Christians killed for their faith – crying out to God for vengeance.
VI. So, here in the descriptions of these four horseman we are given a picture of the severe afflictions even now being brought upon our world. And you don’t have to delve very deeply into the news or into history to see that it’s a rather accurate portrayal.
A. But the most important thing to see here is that, even though it might seem like all this is at cross-purposes with God on His throne, ultimately it is God Himself who is bringing it all to pass.
1. This is not only stated, it is emphasized. It is the Lamb who opens the seals. It is the angelic beings who call forth these horseman. It is God who gives them the authority to do their job.
2. The command “with a voice like thunder” originates from the throne (Rev.4:5).
3. This is also seen in the reference to the fourth rider’s name, Death, and the fact that “Hades followed him.” Just a few chapters earlier, in Rev.1:18, Jesus is said to have the keys of death and Hades. It is through these horsemen that Jesus is subjecting many in the world to death and ultimately to Hades.
VII. Application
A. The book of Revelation is not G-rated. It contains disturbing images.
1. Why is this? The world is not a G-rated place. And things God does aren’t always G-rated.
2. The book of Revelation is mingled. There is beautiful and wonderful news, and there is ghastly and terrifying news.
3. Let’s just review what we’ve learned thus far:
a. We are introduced to Jesus in Rev.1: “Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth, who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, who is coming with the clouds, and to whom will be glory and dominion forever and ever.
(1) He is saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (1:17-18)
(2) He is standing among His churches, helping & fixing them by means of His word (1:13,16,20).
b. All this is good and happy news. But then in Rev.2-3 we see that some of the churches are a mess, and most of them are having major problems. And even the ones which seem to be doing well are experiencing severe persecution. That’s bad news.
c. Then in the vision of Rev.4-5, we see the heavenly scene where God is on His throne and the Lamb is able to open the seven seals which are preventing the scroll from being opened. Those two chapters are very happy and good, though somewhat daunting.
4. But then comes the seven seals. And the first four are pretty brutal: telling us that the world we live in is full of death, bloodshed, famine, oppression and pestilence.
a. And that doesn’t just mean the world way far away. Sometimes we ourselves are affected.
b. This may seem horrifying, but it is just the beginning.
5. But there is also good news here about the bad news.
a. It’s good that the terrible things are tempered: the famine and the destruction are only partial.
b. It’s even better that God is in control even when terrible stuff happens.
6. But it’s mainly bad news: life is hard, great forces of evil have been inflicted on our world. We don’t get “carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease.” (Isaac Watts, Am I a Soldier? T573)
7. But this isn’t really new. What we’ve read of Revelation so far seems like the vision version of what Jesus said in Jn.16:33: “In this world you will have tribulation BUT be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”
8. These passages are important because we need to see that the true God of the Bible is not a safe God. He’s not playing games. He means business!
a. People can complain all they want. They can accuse God of being unloving all they want.
b. But He is who He is. And He’s a holy God. He’s going to act justly no matter what anyone thinks.
B. So what is God up to? What’s His agenda in all this?
1. It is certainly not to make mankind as happy as possible.
2. Why would He allow the world be such a brutal and scary place?
a. Maybe man’s greatest need is not to be assured and pleasured, but to be humbled and woken up.
b. Now man doesn’t think he is the problem. If anything, he thinks God’s the problem. In the garden of Eden, Adam & Eve were deceived into thinking their loving God was actually depriving them. And people have been blaming God ever since: It was this woman You gave me! (Gen.3:12)
3. Jesus talked about this in Luke 13:1-5, and what He said is helpful in understanding Rev.6:1-8. You see, two terrible things had recently happened in the area, and everyone was talking about it:
a. Pontius Pilate had some Galilean Jews brutally killed either near or inside the temple and then had their blood mixed with the blood of the sacrifices, abusing the corpses and desecrating the temple.
b. Somehow a great tower in Siloam had collapsed and killed 18 people.
4. And when someone brought this to Jesus’ attention, He used the occasion to challenge the way people think about things like this.“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
a. When injustices or tragedies occur, how should we think about it?
b. Of course, we should all be sad and compassionate, and to help those who are affected, but Jesus tells us it should also make us think about our own sin.
c. There’s nothing wrong with working hard to make sure buildings don’t collapse, and leaders don’t act ruthlessly, but clearly in the mind of Jesus this kind of thing is not the big problem in the world. The big problem in the world is that people don’t yield to God and worship Him.
d. Catastrophes and injustices are going to happen, no matter how hard the engineers work or what laws are passed.
e. Because of sin, God cursed this world. And this curse is progressive, as we see in the story of the tower of Babel, when God made people speak different languages. If the curse wasn’t progressive, if we could cure all the diseases and none more would crop up, if we could build earthquake-proof and hurricane-proof buildings and they stopped causing devastation, if we could stop the wars and solve problems at the negotiating table, if we could have full employment and eliminate poverty, we would only glory in ourselves and forget all about God.
f. Or perhaps we are hard-hearted enough when something like this happens to think: “God is punishing those wicked people in Turkey and Syria!” “Do you think that these people in Turkey and Syria were worse sinners than we are, because they suffered in this way? No; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
g. Is Jesus saying that if we repent, we won’t be killed by tyrants or falling towers? I don’t think so.
h. I think He’s saying that if we repent, then there is no more evil in our afflictions – even if we die.
5. We see in all this that God takes human sin and rebellion much more seriously than we do.
6. And He takes what happens to people after they die much more seriously than most do.
7. He knows that people need to be woken up, need to be shaken, our attention needs to be arrested.
8. The world cannot imagine anything better than earthly comfort, success and longevity. So, that’s what they think love would mean if there was a loving God.
9. When we had our house fire 32 years ago, our kids had just fallen into a deep sleep and it was very difficult to wake them up. But we couldn’t carry six kids out of the house, and so we had to wake them up no matter how hard it was. It would’ve been supremely unloving to let them sleep.
a. And they all understand now, but at the time, our efforts to wake them didn’t feel like love.
C. The fact is, there is another world coming. God wants to prepare us for the life to come.
1. And He cares infinitely for His people. He knows we need tribulation. He knows we need opposition & tribulation. He knows we need to be disturbed. He knows we need to be woken up.
2. And so, when trouble comes to the world, Christians suffer alongside the wicked.
3. But for us, these afflictions don’t represent judgment for our wickedness, they are agents of His love for our sanctification and purification. “For all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.” (Rom.8:28)
4. We think that what’s wrong with our lives is that our problems are too big, but what’s really wrong is that our God is too small, and we are asleep toward Him.
5. Every married couple (and others as well) knows what it’s like to be talking to someone who’s acting like they’re listening but they’re not really listening. That’s the way we are with God.
6. And God knows that taking Him lightly and giving Him only a small amount of our attention is stupid, foolhardy and dangerous.
7. And so, for believers, whether we feel it or not, our afflictions are needed and for our good.
8. The Lamb is allowing forces of evil to wreak havoc on the earth, but they are constructive and medicinal for His beloved ones. And He gives His people the help they need to conquer through their long and grueling journey.
D. The world doesn’t need us to tell them about the existence of war and famines and plagues and conflicts. But they do need us to tell them that these things are not just meaningless accidents.
1. They do need us to tell them that despite the chaos and confusion of the world, there is an ordered plan, which cannot be thwarted and is being fulfilled.
2. They do need us to tell them that suffering does not occur randomly or by chance, but that it is Christ sitting on His throne who controls it all for both redemptive and judicial purposes, and that the same One who gave Himself as a sacrificial Lamb for our sins is the One who orders it all in love.
3. Most of them will be angry to hear about God being in control of these things, but there are a few who will be intrigued and eventually won to Christ, by the power of His Spirit.