Isaiah 49:2
2 And He has made My
mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has concealed me, and He
has also made me a select arrow; He has hidden me in His quiver.
Other expositors
type him as Satan's antichrist. They do so because he isn't identified
as Christ in 19:11,12,16, and type his arrowless bow as representative of the
false peace that will come initially through the antichrist’s rule.
In this position
the white-steeded conqueror inaugurates the Great Tribulation while confirming
traditional scholarship's sequence of a 4:3 rapture of the church (see Rapture
Right or Wrong, Are You a Pretribber?)
False Religion
A third less popular
view types the first Horseman of the Apocalypse with the image of false religion
that has convoluted the church and society since Jesus appeared. His royal appearance
and symbolic lack of power (arrowless bow) present a convincing “style
and no substance” picture of the wolf in sheep’s clothing Jesus
warned of in Matthew 7:15
15 "Beware
of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are
ravenous wolves.
I am among this
first rider/false prophet interpretive group, who are in good company, by the
way, having Billy Graham as our most noticeable advocate.
“Who,
therefore, is the rider on the white horse? He is not Christ, but a deceiver
who seeks to capture the hearts and souls of men and women. He is one who seeks
to have people acknowledge him as Lord instead of the true Christ.
Satan’s
greatest disguise has always been to appear before men as an angel of light”
(2 Corinthians 11:14).
Billy Graham
Approaching Hoofbeats, p. 88, 78
God's Answer to Prophetic Guesswork—
Connecting Key Words & Events
But the
Spirit hasn’t left us with prophetic symbolism only to interpret
this rider’s horse and garb. I came to the false religion conclusion before
I knew Rev. Graham shared my view because of key word connections found in Christ’s Olivette
Discourse and Revelation's seals. So let’s look at that now to see what
you think.
As the student of biblical eschatology keeps an eye out in the Old and New Testament
prophets for KEY words, prophetic figures, and eschatological events, KEY words
and events will perceptively repeat themselves. The Word of God is, after all,
the verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs of God. The principles of
hermeneutics presume each own an important communicative purpose in their individual
biblical placements and purposes to know through studied observation why
God breathed them into text.
The remarkable
parallel progression of key eschatological words and events in Revelation 6
and Matthew 24 (including the parallel voices of the Synoptics [Mark 13 and
Luke 21]) confirm the sequential probability that John's first apocalyptic rider
depicts the many false prophet-Messiahs and their religions that have and have
yet to come during our current age of the church.
Let’s
look.
A Parallel Look at Revelation's Four Apocalyptic
Horsemen and Christ's Olivette Discourse
Revelation 6; Matthew 24
A Striking Confirmation of Similar Events
Matthew 7:15
15 "Beware
of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are
ravenous wolves.
The principle of
Chronological Ascent* (*see “Hunting for Key Words the Inductive Way”)
puts in perspective a sequence of similar events in Jesus’ Matthew 24
prophecy of last-day’s church age events, and His opening of the seals
in Revelation 6. Open your Bible to recognize the chronology and you’ll
see what I mean.
Matthew 24:3
3 And as
He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately,
saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your
coming, and of the end of the age?"
1. Admonition 1: "False Christs" and their huge "misleadings"
(Matt. 24:4,5/ Mk. 13:6/Lk. 21:8) as paralleled by the attack and Messianic
deception of horseman No.1 (Rev. 6:2):
Matthew 24:4-5
4 And Jesus
answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.
5 "For many
will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
Seal 1
Revelation 6:2
2 And I looked,
and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given
to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer.
2. Admonition 2: Wars and rumors of war (Matt. 24:6,7a./Mk. 13:7/Lk.
21:9) …as paralleled by the attacking warrior horseman of seal No.2 (Rev
6:4):
Matthew 24:6,7a.
6 "And
you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened,
for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
7 "For nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom….
Seal 2
Revelation 6:3-4
3 And when
He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come."
4 And another,
a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace
from the earth, and that men should slay one another; and a great sword was
given to him.
3. Admonition 3: Famines (Matt 24:7b./Mk 13:8/Lk 21:11) as paralleled
by the black scale bearing horseman of seal No. 3 (Rev 6:5,6):
Matthew 24:7b
"and there will be famines and earthquakes."
Seal 3
Revelation 6:5-6
5 And when
He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." And
I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales
in his hand.
6 And I heard
as it were a voice in the center 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 the wine."
4. Admonition 4: The Anitchrist's Great Tribulation (Matt
24:15-23/Mk 13:14-21) and person (Matt 24:24/Mk 13:22) as paralleled by the
fourth seal's horseman named "Death" (Rev 6:8).
Matthew 24:15-21
15 "Therefore
when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel
the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16 then let
those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
17 let him
who is on the housetop not go down to get the things out that are in his house;
18 and let
him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak.
19 "But woe
to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days!
20 "But pray
that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath;
21 for then
there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning
of the world until now, nor ever shall.
Seal 4
Revelation 6:8
8 And I looked,
and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades
was following with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of
the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the
wild beasts of the earth.
The description
of the fourth rider's events and his chronological sequence with Jesus’
prophesied Great Tribulation presents compelling evidence that he is symbolic
of the Eschaton’s antichrist. The color of his horse is a pale "deathly"
looking yellow/green (chloros "ashen" NAS, "pale", KJV). His name is
"Death" (thanatos: "terror", or, "death, and the fear of it"), and the
place of his work (hades) follows with him. One could almost imagine
an entourage' of disembodied spirits crowding behind his footsteps as he pulls
an open grave.
Those who type
the first conquering rider with Christ or the antichrist type the fourth rider
with plague because of the tremendous amount of death he will produce. And they
have reasonable symbolic grounds based on his sickly green color. But you have
to discount a number of other hermeneutic principles to come to this conclusion—not
the least of which is literal intent—when you objectively study
the resources this death-dealer will have at his disposal.
His deadly arsenal
listed in verse 8 is said to include, sword, famine, pestilence (thanatos,
same as his name in the Greek meaning "death" and "the terror of it"), and the
wild beasts of the earth. They are also authorized to do what they will
do: another key word connection that helps interpret the pale (NKJV)
rider as the antichrist.
He bolts out of
seal four in sequence with Jesus’ next last-days prophesied event of the
Great Tribulation to kill one quarter of the earth’s population during
his "authorized" reign.
Revelation 6:8b
8 ...And authority was given to them over a fourth of
the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the
wild beasts of the earth.
How Much Is One Fourth?
If this rider's
dispensation were to occur within the next ten years (2,012 A.D.)— and
if over the period until then the rate of population increases in proportion
with the way that it already has—7.3 billion people will inhabit the planet
by the time of his latter day ride.
Subtracting the
one third of this figure (2.4 bill) that are destined to perish as the result
of God's trumpets (Rev. 8-11); then subtracting one quarter the amount of the
4.9 billion that would remain; 1.2 billion people would perish as the
result of this horseman’s coming profusion of death. That is
one thousand two hundred million.
"Authority"
A "Tribulation" Key Word Connection to the Antichrist's Coming Reign
Revelation 6:8b
And AUTHORITY was given to them over a fourth of the earth...
To set himself
up as God while in the absence of any spiritual restraint be free to terrorize
and exterminate all who oppose, is Satan’s long-range global goal (Is.
14:13,14; Ezek. 28:15,16; Rev. 12:4). He is the classical terrorist. Though
he's come very close in many murderous regime's of the past, it has only been
for a lack of spiritual authority and power that his plans have fallen short.
Yet, for a brief
period of time during the Great Tribulation, it will seem as though his wildest
dreams have come true. Unprecedented spiritual manifestations will occur
through animals, men, and a living Nebu- chadnezzar-like graven
image to kill and captivate the antichrist's latter day world. During his
designated time in history, God will simply turn His back on Satan's growing
menace, and as if a police force were to go on strike in a high crime area,
AUTHORIZE this coming despot's horrible forty-two month reign.
The good news is, immediately with his authorized advent, Revelation's bowls
will begin tearing his kingdom apart.
Revelation 16:2
2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon
the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark
of the beast and those who worshiped his image.
But in the meantime,
he will be granted authority to act.
Revelation 6:8b
8 …And
authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and
with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Revelation 13:5b-7
5 …and
authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.
6 And he opened
his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle,
that is, those who dwell in heaven.
7 And it was
given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority
over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.
Wild Beasts of the Earth?
It isn't hard
to imagine the same sort of unbridled demonic power that is going to animate
a statue during the Tribulation as capable of possessing wild beasts.
The Greek transliteration
of these eschatological animals describes them as predators: therion:
"wild beasts," "a hunting, prey."
Will they in a
state of demonic possession during the Great Tribulation terrorize and devour
whomever Satan desires? Or will his puppet statesman re-open Caesar's
coliseum in his rebirthed Roman Empire and again make sport of Christians as
they're thrown to such wild beasts? Both prophetic scenarios are possible.
5. Admonition 5: The carnage of the Great Tribulation and
the cries of the Antichrist's martyrs (Matt. 24:22) as revealed in John's Rev.
6:8-11 disclosure of seal No.5:
Matthew 24:22
22 "And
unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for
the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.
Seal 5
Revelation 6:9
9 And when
He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had
been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they
had maintained…
Eschatology has
coined the word, "Trib-Saints." That is who these “slain”
of the fifth seal are. They are saints of the Lord Jesus who during their
peril in the midst of the Great Tribulation are martyred for their Christian
faith.
The prophetic scenario
painted for John as he views these last days Christian martyrs is one of tragedy
and hope. At first their souls are viewed beneath God's altar—appearing
as a living sacrifice. They are next seen crying out for vengeance. In reply
to their petitions they are then given white robes and encouraged to rest "until
the number of their fellow servants and brethren who were to be killed even
as they had been, should also be fulfilled."
The White Robe Connection
In continuance
of the seal’s table of contents purpose in Revelation 7, John sees these
last-days Christian martyrs as an innumerable multitude praising God before
his throne.
Revelation 7:9
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great
multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes,
with palm branches in their hands...
But for the student of
God's prophetic, this glimpse would not be enough. So the Spirit called on an
elder to more fully explain John’s view.
Revelation 7:13-14
13 And one of the elders answered,
saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from
where have they come?"
14 And I said to him, "My lord, you
know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation,
and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
“These
are the ones who come out of the great tribulation…” You can't
get more definitive than that.
6. Finally, culminating the prophetic key word connections in Christ's
Olivette Discourse and the unsealing of Revelation's eschatological seals,
is Christ's predicted Second Coming (Matt 24:27-31/Mk 13:24-27/Lk 21:25-27)
as revealed in the cataclysmic events of seal No. 6 (Rev 6:12-17).
Matthew 24:27-30
27 "For
just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so
shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 "Wherever
the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
29 "But immediately
after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will
not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of
the heavens will be shaken,
30 and then
the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds
of the sky with power and great glory.
Seal 6
Revelation 6:12-17
12 And
I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and
the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like
blood;
13 and the
stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when
shaken by a great wind.
14 And the
sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and
island were moved out of their places.
15 And the
kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the
strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the
rocks of the mountains;
16 and they
said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence
of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
17 for the
great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?"
Apocalypse Now!
The culminating
church age event of Christ's second coming revealed in this passage proves by
its prophetic sequence the table of contents purpose in Revelation's seals.
Revealed in verse 17 as "the great day of their wrath," it doesn't happen twice
in Scripture, is further revealed in chapters 16 and 19 as "the Battle of Armageddon,"
and "the great day of God," and because of its late date in man's history shows
the church-age overview purpose in these prophetic seals.
So there you have
it, the most cohesive sequence of prophetic key word connections in the Bible’s
eschatological texts. Jesus is the revelator in both paralleling passages that
describe key synchronized events that lead up to His Second Coming.
The symbolism of each rider and their paralleling revelations in Jesus’
Matthew 24 prophecy lend understanding to their events. Seals five and six confirm
that their preceding seals leave us with a comprehensive outline of coming events
between now and the end of the age.
What do you think?
Still believe the white rider Jesus or antichrist interpretation hold water
and that everything which happens after their appearance happens after the church
is gone?
Think about it.
Pray about it. You decide.
And look forward to
our Winter 2002/2003 Issue in which we will key word search the shadows
and types of Revelation's trumpets and bowls with the Exodus plagues that foreshadowed
their events. We will also examine what the Hebrew prophets revealed about
the Millennium. And we will put the test of hermeneutics up against the "main
stream prophetic press" rapture teaching in John 14. So stay tuned.
In His Service Always,
Eschatology Today Sr. Editor, Mark Norris