4 HORSE MAN

4 HORSE MAN

In Revelation chapter 4 we see God seated on the throne in heaven, it is he who is sovereign over earthly events. We should notice first that only the Lamb (Jesus) is able to take the scroll from God and to break the seals and reveal its contents. Each of the four riders is summoned onto human history by one of the heavenly living creatures. Notice the phase 'he was given a crown', 'was given power', 'do not damage the oil and the wine', 'were given power over', all of this indicates that the four riders are under the sovereignty of God. Even if we do not understand earthly events, the message of Revelation is that God is sovereign from the start to the finish. Then his enemies will be defeated and punished and his saints vindicated and rewarded. Followed by a new earth with no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

EVIL WITH HANDS

Each one of the four living creatures reveals a horseman, the first three horsemen are summed up by the fourth horsemen, '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'. These are popularly known as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The power of these horsemen is limited to a quarter, with the trumpets later it is limited to a third.

PEOPLES ARE PANIC

The forth horse summarises the first three and is distinctly evil, the first horse signifies the lust for conquest which is commonly the cause of war, which is the next seal and famine (third seal), the fourth seal describes death by sword, famine, plague and wild beasts. It should also be noted that in the sixth seal the wrath of the Lamb falls on the kings, princes, generals and mighty (men) among others who are responsible for war. Rev 19:18 also describes the kings, generals, mighty men, horses and their riders and the rest whose flesh the birds flying in mid-air eat. The four horses cover the four directions of the compass, they are of a unity, just as the first four trumpets and bowls affect the whole earth. The first four seals are introduced by the living creatures, the rest are not.