In a previous post about the seven-sealed scroll opened by Jesus to authorize the events and judgments that will take place during Daniel’s seventieth week, I stated that it begins with the release of the four “horsemen”. It’s my opinion that all four of these horsemen are released immediately upon the full unfurling of this scroll. Jesus then authorizes them to go out in all four directions into the earth to accomplish their tasks. John is shown these horses sequentially in vision form as Jesus pops the seven seals. Horses in scripture are generally depicted as instruments of war, militarily advantageous to their riders. The horses ridden by these four are no exception. Their goals are to conquer, foster war, promote economic hardship, and to kill mankind. Morbid goals indeed, but God is going to exercise His judgment as He sees fit.
The number four is used often by God in prophecy. In this instance, the four horsemen are introduced separately by four cherubim to John as the first four seals on the scroll are opened. These four “living creatures”(cherubim) that surround and support the throne of God are, perhaps, other than the Godhead, the most powerful beings in the universe. According to Ezekiel Chapter 1, these living creatures have four faces, four wings, and move above four “wheels”. The communication to John describing the horsemen come from the thunderous voices of these cherubim. Elsewhere, the prophet Zechariah also depicts four horsemen dispatched by God in chapter 1 of his book. Here, they are described as sent to “walk to and fro throughout the earth” keeping a watch on mankind. Later, in chapter 6 of Zechariah, we see described four chariots pulled by horses also going “to and fro throughout the earth”. These charioteers are said to be “four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth.” (Zechariah 6:5). The prophet Daniel also describes something similar: “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds (spirits) of heaven were stirring up the great sea” (Daniel 7:2). In Revelation we read this: “I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds (spirits) of the earth.” (Revelation 7:1). In my opinion, all of these foursomes described in Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation, are all the same or, at least closely related. They are all spirits (they’re active in the spirit realm) sent from God’s throne to accomplish His purposes on the earth, from simple observation to the stirring up of wide-spread war. The four horsemen unleashed by Jesus when He opens the seven-sealed scroll are sent out to begin the process of God’s judgment of evil on this earth. It’s a seven-year process, ending with Jesus’s return.
Of note is the fact that these horses are of different colors, both in the old and new testaments, indicative of their different functions. In my opinion, it won’t be long until we start seeing the handiwork of these horsemen as they stride to and fro across our earth stirring up trouble amongst men. In my next post, I’ll focus on the mission of the first horseman, the one riding a white horse.
Maranatha, Jim