If you are a football fan, you will have heard of Notre Dame's legendary "four horsemen."
The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the legendary backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team. The players that made up this group were Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden.
After Notre Dame's 13-7 upset victory over a strong Army team, on October 18, 1924, the newspaper read:
"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."
George Strickler, then Rockne's student publicity aide and later sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, made sure the name stuck. After the team arrived back in South Bend, he posed the four players, dressed in their uniforms, on the backs of four horses from a livery stable in town. The wire services picked up the now-famous photo, and the legendary status of the Four Horsemen was assured.
1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!"
The scroll with seven seals is the revelation of future events (see Revelation 4:1)...
"After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
The Lamb is Jesus. He is the only one worthy to open the seals, and reveal things to come.
The four living creatures are angels close to God's throne.
The angel's voice is like thunder.
1) Angels are not little babies with wings.
2) Thunder will get your attention.
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.
What does white symbolize in the Bible? It often symbolizes righteousness and purity.
Isaiah 1:18 says
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
The angels wear white. The Redeemed wear white.
The Greek word translated "white" is leukos, from which we have our English word for the disease of the white blood cells, leukemia.
Zechariah 6 speaks of the four horses, but with chariots...
Zechariah and Revelation agree that the influence of the four horse and horsemen is WORLDWIDE, North, South, East and West.
In a similar passage, Revelation 19 shows Jesus riding on a white horse:
Who is the rider on the white horse in Revelation six? Probably not Jesus because this rider is just one of a group of four.
This first rider:
He holds a bow, a long-range weapon of war, more deadly than a sword, at distances. He is given a crown. The Greek word is stephanos (a victor's crown) not "diadema" a crown of authority. He rides forth to conquer. He symbolizes widespread war. He is not a foot soldier. His horse carries him to distant lands. His weapon is a long distance weapon.
Some people think this is Jesus. Some people think he is the anti-Christ. I would suggest neither. He is just a symbol of warfare. A massive world war is coming. We have already been working up to world war. WW1 bears the name, but really it was a war in Europe. WW2 bears the name, but really it was confined to Europe and the South Pacific. Perhaps this horseman means that someday a world war is coming that will truly involve warfare on every continent, North, South, East and West.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"
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.
Red symbolizes sin. It is also the color of blood. The rider of this red horse has a "large sword." The Greek words for "large sword" are "megalei machaira." A "machaira" was the average size sword of the Roman soldier. But this sword is a very large sword. We recognize the root word "mega." We use it today to mean something is very large.
A recent ad:
"M&M'S Announces a Big New Addition to the Family...New Mega M&M'S are on average 55 percent bigger than the originals and give chocolate lovers more chocolate and peanut in every bite. Anything more would have been too big and anything less too small, which is why America's favorite M&M'S Brand Chocolate Candies is introducing a perfectly big treat made especially for adults. Mega M&M'S, a new version of the iconic color-coated candies, are on average 55 percent bigger in size than original M&M'S and come in six new hues that appeal to adults: maroon, teal, blue-gray, beige, gold and brown."
There was a pre-historic shark: megalodon. Based on fossil teeth, it may have grown to be as long as a football field. His mouth was big enough to swallow a school bus.
So, this rider has a "mega sword," and of course this super sized sword means a lot of people are about to die. He has power to remove peace from the earth, and to make men slay each other." The white rider means war, and the red rider means the war will be bloody and will lead to enormous loss of life.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
6 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!"
Black in the Bible MAY possibly symbolize death from famine. For example in Exodus 10:15 we read of a plague of locusts that ate up all the vegetation:
"They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail-everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt." "Men love DARKNESS because their deeds are evil."
Joel 2:1-2 is another depiction of a plague of locusts, and seems to fit here:
Locusts were a terrible scourge in Old Testament days, and could eat up all the crops, and bring famine.
Certainly what is described here in Revelation six is famine. The scales were used to weigh grain. Wheat and barley were rare and expensive. The prices mentioned here say that a working man had to labor for an entire day just to have a little bit of food. Oil and wine were precious and protected, and too expensive for the average person.
This is to be expected in a time of world war. Even in WW1 and WW2 there was food rationing, and rationing of raw materials. If there is a future truly world wide war then growing crops will be interfered with, and getting crops to market, etc. etc.
It is very easy to imagine this happening, even here in Chattanooga. For example, if there was WW3 oil production would shrink. Gasoline supplies would shrink drastically and costs would sky rocket. What would people on Signal Mountain do if there were no more gasoline? How would farmers run their tractors? How could factories produce food and clothing and other goods? Grocery stores all over would run out of food. Generating plants would run out of fuel. The pumps that supply water to our homes might stop pumping. It might be a good idea to have a year's supply of food stored up in your home, because such an event could happen at any time suddenly. It might be wise to have a few gallons of gasoline safely stored away for an emergency. It might be wise to store water.
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"
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 Greek word translated "pale" is chloros, from which we have our English "chloryphyl," the word for the green substance in leaves. This fourth horse is actually a very pale sickly green, indicating plague and disease.
There is no need to try to figure out what this rider symbolizes, for it is said plainly. His name is Death. Hades is the Greek word for "the grave." When you die, you get buried. Grave yards will overflow. In a time of world war funeral homes will be very busy, unless people are simply buried on the spot when they die.
Plague will become prevalent, as one would expect in world war, and in famine times. Likely the water will be polluted, too. People will be sick, and die. If one fourth of the world's population dies by violence and disease, in some areas wild beasts will proliferate, and they will become dangerous and deadly than they are now. One thinks of coyotes, wolves, serpents, bears, wild boars, and mountain lions. Perhaps even smaller animals, rats and the like, with rabies will be dangerous.
It is not necessary to make sharp distinctions about these four riders, the 'FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE,' because taken together they all really symbolize the same thing. The Bible is predicting that a massive world war is coming, accompanied by famine and disease, and the death of up to 1/4 of the world's population.
From the perspective of Christians in the middle ages, the prophecy of world-wide devastation ALREADY HAPPENED.
1) When the Muslims swept across the Middle East and North Africa, in the seventh and eighth centuries, they slaughtered or enslaved the formerly Christian nations.
2) When the great epidemics of the Middle Ages hit Europe, over 1/4 of the population died.
First Pandemic: Plague of Justinian
The Plague of Justinian in A.D. 541-542 is the first known pandemic on record, and marks the first firmly recorded pattern of bubonic plague. This outbreak is thought to have originated in Ethiopia or Egypt. The huge city of Constantinople imported massive amounts of grain, mostly from Egypt, to feed its citizens. The grain ships may have been the source of contagion for the city, with massive public granaries nurturing the rat and flea population. At its peak the plague was killing 10,000 people in Constantinople every day and ultimately destroyed perhaps 40 percent of the city's inhabitants. It went on to destroy up to a quarter of the human population of the eastern Mediterranean.
In A.D. 588 a second major wave of plague spread through the Mediterranean into what is now France. A maximum of 25 million dead is considered a reasonable estimate.
Second Pandemic: Black Death
From 1347 to 1351, the Black Death, a massive and deadly pandemic, swept through Eurasia, killing approximately one third to one half of the population (according to some estimates) and changing the course of Asian and European history. Plague doctors did what they could, which was not much else but say if a person had the plague or not. It is estimated that anywhere from a quarter to two-thirds of Europe's population became victims to the plague, making the Black Death the largest death toll from any known non-viral epidemic.
The question before us today is: Are we ready for war, for famine and for plague? Americans have been leading the good life for 150 years, and we are not ready for a change. We have the feeling "It could never happen to me!" But it could happen, really, at any time.
1) We ought to be ready in practical ways.
Christians, as responsible human beings, should be prepared for war and natural disasters. Are we ready to take care of our children if there is a food shortage, or water is unavailable? What if a hurricane Katrina hits again, and gasoline goes up to $20 per gallon? What if an epidemic hits? What if Chattanooga was quarantined? What if your home would be without electricity, gas or water for months? Have you ever considered it? What would you do?
2) More importantly, we ought to be ready spiritually. Is our faith strong? Have we learned to depend on God in times of stress? Are we spiritually mature enough that if WW3 struck we would be able to give spiritual leadership to our families and friends? Do we know where to go in the Bible for comfort and encouragement?
WW3 may or may not happen in our lifetimes, but it will eventually happen. The plague may not come in our lifetimes, but it could. Famine may not come now, but someday it will. It is better to get ready now, than to get taken by surprise.
What is the good news in all of this? That God is sufficient. God said to Paul, suffering from an eye disease, a thorn in the flesh: My Grace is sufficient for you.
Whatever happens to you and me, remember: God's grace is sufficient to take care of us. Don't worry, don't be anxious, God is watch over you and me.