In this blog we are going to begin our study of the Tribulation period. This period begins in Revelation 6 with the opening of seven seals. We will focus our attention on studying the opening of the first seal.
Before we jump into the opening of the first seal I want to explain what the Tribulation period is. The Tribulation is a seven year period when God will pour out His wrath on the unbelieving world. It can be read in Revelation 6 through Revelation 19. Now, in saying that I also want to point out that I personally do not believe the church will be present during the Tribulation. I believe in Pre-Tribulation Theory, that Jesus will Rapture his church (1 Thess. 4:13-18) prior to the Tribulation.
Now, with that said, turn your attention to Revelation 6:1. It reads, “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!” What John is witnessing is Jesus, who is the Lamb, beginning to open the seven seals; Jesus is the only one in all of heaven and earth who can do this. And as Jesus does, John hears one of the four living creatures that we talked about back in Revelation 4:6-8 summoning something or someone to come; and this is a pattern you will see with each of the first four seals.
Question #1: What or who is the living creature calling out to “come”? What or who is being summoned?
The answer to that question is this: As each of the first four seals are broken one of the four living creatures is summoning a horseman. That’s one horseman per seal for the first four seals. Many refer to these horsemen as The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse. If you have never read about them in Scripture, it is likely you have at least heard of The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse in movies.
We can read about them in Revelation 6:2-8: “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. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ 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. 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. 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! When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’ 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 the sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”
Question #2: Who are these four horsemen and what are they responsible for?
In general, each of these four horsemen represent God’s judgment on people’s sin and rebellion. We can think of them as a foretaste of the final judgments that are to come later in the Tribulation. And keep in mind, the further we go in the Tribulation the worse God’s wrath becomes on the earth. For today, we are going to simply look the first horseman who is revealed with the opening of the first seal.
Seal #1 – Horseman #1: The Rider On The White Horse.
Revelation 6:2 reads, “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. There are two views on who this rider is.
The first view is that this rider is Jesus. However, I do not believe this view is correct, and I do not for two reasons: Reason #1) if you keep Revelation 6:2 within its context, each of these horseman relate to judgment and destruction. Reason #2) in Revelation 19:11-21 there is another rider on a white horse, different from the one we see in Revelation 6, who is called “Faithful and True”, which is describing Jesus as He makes His Second Coming. So, I do not believe the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6:2 is Jesus.
The second view, the view I hold to, is this: the Antichrist as he rises to power. Who is the Antichrist? I cannot give you a name, but I can give you a description. I can tell you, according to 1 John 2:18 and 1 John 4:3 the spirit of the antichrist is at work right now in the world and has been since Jesus’ ascension into heaven – “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour….This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” I can tell you according to 1 John 2:22 and 1 John 4:3, the spirit of the antichrist denies God the Father and God the Son – “Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son….every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God” And I can tell you according to 2 John 7, the spirit of the antichrist is in the world to deceive and turn people away from Jesus – “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
But according to Revelation 6:2 there will be one single Antichrist, and when he comes he will take on the appearance of a man. Why does he appear to John as a rider on a white horse? His appearing to John coming on a white horse as Jesus will in Revelation 19 makes sense, because part of his responsibility is to deceive many by setting himself up as the savior of the world. So, he comes into the world masquerading himself as though he is the Christ. How will he do that? He will have great power and authority, which does not come from God, but comes from Satan, so that he can do many false signs and wonders; and again, to deceive people into thinking he is the Christ. And he will be victorious with this deception, which is why the Scripture says, “he came out conquering, and to conquer.” Many during the Tribulation will be deceived into thinking this person, who is the Antichrist and gets his power to do signs and wonders from Satan, is the Messiah.
Furthermore, according to the prophet Daniel in Daniel 9:26-27, when the Antichrist appears he will be exalted to a position of world leader. As the world leader he will work during the Tribulation period to bring unity to the nations, including bringing a peace treaty between Israel and nations that oppose Israel; that is why the text says he has “a crown…given to him.” This work towards global peace and unity, by the way, only aids in deceiving people into thinking that he is the Christ.
However, what will happen eventually through the Tribulation, is that the Antichrist will turn, break his peace treaty with Israel, and make war on those who have come to believe in Christ during the Tribulation period. And yes, there will be an opportunity to turn to God after the Rapture; we’ll talk about that later.
One other thing as we close, everything that happens with the next three horsemen is thought to be the result of the Antichrist’s rise to global power. Instead of world peace, what actually will happen is war, starvation, and a fourth of the planet’s population will die. I’ll make sense of that comment as we go alone in the blogs to come.