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The Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Seal # 1: The White Horse & Rider is that global deception, false peace and prosperity and the rise of the superman called the Antichrist. The Bible does not say how long this period lasts but it could last up to 42 months since the Antichrist is only allowed to do his evil for 42 months. What all happens during this first seal? The Antichrist rises as a superman in the world scene. He solves the Aran-Israeli problem (Dan. 9:27) by making a peace agreement/covenant. Then he allows Israel to build a Temple (Rev. 11:1). Which may take up to 42 months.
Seal # 2: The Red Horse & Rider is the rapid spread of the Revived Roman Emperor’s widening conquest of humanity through bloodshed and war, in which God tells us that he “takes peace” (v. 4). The great sword is the same word that is used for a Roman Legionnaire’s smaller, battle sword used for close-in warfare. So this is killing, warfare, and death from fighting.
Seal # 3: The Black Horse & Rider is the spread of famine and scarcity. Upheaval, unrest, and warfare disrupt global food supply chains and there is widespread starvation.
Seal # 4: The Pale Horse & Rider is the horrific duo of Death and Hades. Death takes the body and the Grave or Hades takes the soul. The means of such death across the world will be all of the warfare and famine of the second and third seals, plus the addition of most likely pestilences and plagues called “beasts”. All told the first half of the Tribulation’s seven-year (Daniel’s last week of the 70) is a net loss of one in four humans.
Seal # 5: The Prayers of the Martyrs are unleashed. Just as our prayers for God’s Kingdom to come are going to be reflected in His wrath during the Tribulation, here we see those who have been slain for their witness for Christ. They are in heaven, so they are perfected, so nothing they do is wrong or sinful. It is righteous in Heaven to ask God to judge the evildoers of this Earth. The martyrs pray, and God powerfully responds. Those prayers break forth in the next seal. As if a global dictator, global wars, famines, pestilences, and death were not enough, now we see God’s Wrath in action. All of the troubles of the Tribulation so far were generated by humans. Now comes a little taste of the Wrath of God.
Seal # 6: The Wrath of God is unleashed and the whole Earth shakes. What an awful time that will be. God unleashed six forms of wrath and touches every level of humanity. Look at the exact wording John uses.
Revelation 6:12-17 (NKJV)
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold,
1. there was a great earthquake; and
2. the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and
3. the moon became like blood. 13 And
4. the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then
5. the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and
6. every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
15 And
1. the kings of the earth,
2. the great men,
3. the rich men,
4. the commanders,
5. the mighty men,
6. every slave and
7. every free man,
hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”