We are living in an eventful time. As our history draws nearer to its conclusion, we look forward to the Rapture and Jesus Christ’s Millennial Reign. For the past two years, we have been looking at the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ because these will be the main events in our future. Yet, many things are expected to occur before the Day of Christ and the Day of the Lord.
The Book of Revelation discloses to us many things. Among these are the Letters of Warning sent out to the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse, crucial messages to the churches in these Last Days. Not long after, the apostle John saw in his vision the Lamb of God/Lion of Judah opening seven seals, marking the Second Coming of Christ and the coming of the Apocalypse. The first four seals are of particular interest, for they are the earliest indicators of the onset of the Last Days.
The opening of the seals can be found in Revelation Chapters 5-8, and the four before-mentioned seals can be found in Revelation Chapter 6. The Book of Revelation is full of symbolic language. However, the images throughout are vivid, and the message is clear. A voice like thunder calls out, and four horsemen ride forth as the Lamb of God opens each of their seals one by one.
Pestilence and War: The First Two Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Because this article posits the thesis that we may be currently already in the era of the Red Horseman which is the second horseman, we will be focusing on the first two horsemen. We will mention the third and four horsemen in passing but assuming we do an elaboration of them, it will be in a future article.
‘I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest’ – Revelation 6:1-2
The apostle John describes the first rider as riding on a white horse. Most commonly, the rider on the white horse is identified as Pestilence and associated with infectious disease and plague. Though Pestilence carries a bow as a symbol of conquest, he does not carry arrows. Nevertheless, like a wave or tsunami, pestilence – such as the recent COVID-19 – can envelop large swathes of territories in the blink of an eye. Like the coronavirus, the rider of the white horse wears a crown.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword – Revelation 6:3-4
After the first horseman rides out, a second seal is opened. The second horseman is on a red horse with a coat like fire. And this time, the vision is more explicit. The rider is said to be given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. In his hand is a large sword, held upright as in a declaration of war. The rider on the red horse is often identified as War, closely associated with red, the colour of the fires of destruction and blood.
The scripture regarding the horsemen then goes on to describe the third rider who carries a merchant‘s scale and symbolises the sufferings caused by Economic Upheaval, and the fourth horseman who symbolises Death with Hades following close behind him.
Implications of Pestilence and War in Today’s World
Each of these horsemen has specific implications for the state of today’s world. Truth to tell, their influences are already very much a fabric of this world. Here, we will look at Pestilence and War.
Back in the olden days, pestilence had been part and parcel of life. Few people lived beyond the age of 40 and diseases were often very rampant and contagious. Despite the progress civilization seems to be making towards eradicating diseases since then, not long ago the world was once again taken unprepared. The COVID-19 pandemic was of such scale that it encompassed the entire globe and locked it down for 2-3 whole years. The pandemic claimed millions of lives (official number around 7 million as of May 2024), not just from among the ordinary populace, but also affluent and often prominent people.
War has also been a constant part of human history. Despite two world wars taking place in the first half of the 20th century, battles and wars continued in many parts of the world even after the Second World War. Instead of finding solutions for peace, powerful nations instead escalated their research on nuclear weaponry which has the potential for unparalleled destruction that shadows even the two world wars. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the worldwide total inventory of nuclear weapons as of 2021 stood at 13,080. From that year onwards, at least one-third of these weapons had already been deployed with operational forces.
These two factors are important to keep in mind to give us a sense of the scale of destruction in the End Days.
Are We in the Era of the Red Horseman?
We have seen the devastating effects of pestilence and war throughout history. But the Book of Revelation relates specifically to a series of events that would culminate in the Second Coming of Christ. Pestilence and war has always been with us. However, Revelation 6 narrates the unleashing of the four horsemen in a particular sequence and in quick succession.
First comes Pestilence, also known as Plague. Second comes War. Following War, will come Economic Upheaval, and finally, Death. Have any events in recent times followed this sequence in quick succession? Many feel the COVID-19 plague and the commencement of escalation in the Russo-Ukrainian War near the tail end of the pandemic to be harbingers of the horsemen.
In Revelation 6:2, Pestilence is described as wearing a crown and riding out bent on conquest. In recent times, we experienced a global pandemic. The COVID-19 virus is also described as the coronavirus and it is covered with a crown of club-shaped peplomers or spikes. This term, corona, is significant. Terence Chorba of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA wrote in 2020:
Although the term corona was first used in English in the 1500s, it was borrowed directly from the Latin word for “crown.” Corona is derived from the Ancient Greek κορώνη (korōnè), meaning “garland” or “wreath,” coming from a proto-Indo-European root, sker– or ker-, meaning “to turn” or “to bend.”
Our modern-day corona conceptualization of club-shaped spikes on the coronavirus surface comes from traditional representations of crowns as radiate headbands, worn as symbols of sovereign power, to liken that power to that of the sun. – The Concept of the Crown and Its Potential Role in the Downfall of Coronavirus ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7454052/ )
Not long after, before the coronavirus pandemic had even subsided, a certain superpower country declared war on a neighbouring nation. In Revelation 6:4, War is described as riding on a fiery red horse, holding a large sword and with the power to take peace from the Earth. The colour often related to the said superpower and which can be found on their flag is a fiery red. Their symbol is that of a hammer and sickle, but there have been many swords described not just as a straight blade but also in the shape of sickles, and sickles have often been viewed in relation to the food economy. The Russia-Ukraine War is of global importance and it is a harbinger. The reasons for this are apparent but we will go a little bit into the probable future significance in terms of even the food economy further down.
In addition to Russia, the fiery red colour is something that is common in the flags of many of the former Soviet Union republics. Many of the Communist countries that are in the region but that were not part of the Soviet Union, such as China, also share a commonality in this fiery red colour. Besides Russia, China is also in tension with the west. Many neighbouring countries like Belarus and Poland have also been tensing up. Nearby, North Korea seems to be on a trajectory for war with all their nuclear weapons testing. If you lay out all the flags of these nations, you will see a giant wash of red.
The Red Horseman has also been described as wielding a large sword and given the power to take peace from the world. Lately, we have read in the news about the Russian hypersonic and intercontinental Kinzhal missiles, a ‘large sword’ capable of immense destruction across the world in the blink of an eye. And now in addition, there is a major war taking place in the Holy Land, with Russia possibly supplying much of the weapons used in that conflict. We can picture if the whole region led by a Russia-China active war coalition with such massive weapons of mass destruction, it will form a huge fiery red wave that will engulf the world and take peace from it.
In the wake of the war, certain effects will come in. This is where in Revelation 6:5, Economic Upheaval is said to come in the wake of War, and a voice cries out: “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”. This is an indication of inflation and an economy that has gone haywire. (There is also an indication or hint that while the food economy will be affected, the oil and alcohol industries might remain undisturbed.) The significance of the Russo-Ukrainian War towards global food security and inflation can be seen clearly when we take a look at some vital statistics:
- Russia and Ukraine supply about a quarter of the world’s wheat.
- Ukraine is a major exporter of corn, barley, and rapeseed oil. Ukraine produces almost 50 percent of the world’s sunflower oil.
- Nearly 26 countries rely on Russia and Ukraine for over 50 percent of their grain and oil supply.
- Russia and Belarus are the second and third-largest producers of potash, which is used as the main ingredient in potassium-rich fertilizers.
- Russia is the world’s largest exporter of nitrogen-based fertilizers and phosphates.
With such statistics and the whole region at war, we can picture the possibility of havoc in the world’s food security and economy leading to inflation on a level never seen before as an effect of the ongoing fighting and economic sanctions, inevitably causing sufferings such as food shortages in massive swathes of the world; the riding of the third horseman.
We cannot go into very much detail regarding this viewpoint and school of thought because of space constraints but the conjunction is there for those who look, and there are many articles on the Internet that go into it more deeply. In fact, a high-ranking Russian official, Dmitry Medvedev, had issued a warning back in June 2022, “saying that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the book of Revelation in the bible’s New Testament have already started their trip as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reaches 100 days”.
While much of this might be seen as circumstantial evidence, there is one underlying factor that cannot be so easily dismissed, and that is that all the prerequisites for the rise of the AntiChrist and the Second Coming of Christ are already coming into place. With the infrastructures that were built as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and especially a growing cultural fascination towards metaverses, and with the nations apparently increasingly heading towards a certain type of coalition – a coalition for war – hypothetically one commanding figure cunning or influential enough to take hold of and consolidate all those infrastructures into one superstructure will easily gain control of at least half of the world, bringing him one step closer to what has been described as a ‘global corporate dictatorship’.
There is already a certain element of global resentment towards the Holy Land due to recent developments. Taking advantage of this environment, and standing as the head of the coalition of armies warring against it, the Antichrist can become the most powerful political figure in the entire world. Furthermore, the aforementioned superstructure will also give the Antichrist unprecedented dominance over the world’s economies, particularly in the chaotic time following a period of major wars waged on a colossal scale. Once in power, an ally to that figure will also be able to implement the number of the beast through such a superstructure, possibly in the form of microchip injections.
Implication for Us Today
The shape of world events tells us that what is described in the Book of Revelation will come to pass and that the time of the rise of the Antichrist is near. But above all the destruction and the four horsemen and the Antichrist, we must remember that God and Jesus Christ are always sovereign.
While all these events have to take place before Christ’s Second Coming, Scripture – and the revelations given by God to his apostle John about these days – also tells us that Jesus is coming back. At the end of the present history, Jesus will usher in a Millennium Reign of peace and prosperity. As God’s children, this gives us hope and we look to His coming again with great anticipation.
For our loved ones, however, this is a crucial time and we have responsibilities as Christians. The calling of the Great Commission has a vital purpose, to call us and our loved ones into reconciliation and eternal hope with God as our Heavenly Father. The time is short, and the message has to go out. There has not been such a time as this in the past, where the calling of the Great Commission is so important.
Disclaimer: This article was written from our understanding of eschatology as described in the Bible, and in relation to current day events, with the purpose to encourage discussion and the sharing of thoughts. It takes a neutral stance and is not meant to impinge or offend any belief. We believe that the four horsemen are spiritual forces rather than national ones but that certain events indicate their looming presence and that they are a crucial part of the convergence towards the Last Days.
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I thought the white horse is the anti-christ?
That is one interpretation. But there have also been arguments that the white horseman is Christ. We hold to the neutral interpretation that the first horsemen is Pestilence, without going into the sensitive speculation of whether the white horseman is the Anti-Christ or Christ.