Four horsemen of apocalypse… no, this is not some kind of motorbike gang, what I’m about introduce
to you are prophecies
relates to the famous Four Horsemen ,
which are described in second part of Bible in the last book of the New
Testament, which is called the Book of Revelation (in Greek, the word
for Revelation is Ἀποκάλυψις or Apocalypse),
written by John the Theologian of Patmos.
There is a chapter which relates to
us the story of a doomsday revelation. The most common interpretation of
this chapter is the description of a period in history when a large part of
earth’s population would perish through a combination of wars, diseases, and
hunger. In the Bible, these hardships are described as horsemen, riding in
succession at the behest of Jesus, in the form of
the Lamb of God.
Just before the four horsemen appear the chapter begins by describing a God sitting on the
throne and holding in his right-hand divine scroll sealed with seven seals.
Each one of these seven seals represent a different aspect of the apocalypse:
the first four relate to the horsemen, the fifth releases the martyr’s cries
for the God’s wrath , the sixth ushers a series of cataclysmic natural
disasters, while the seventh calls forth the seven angelic trumpeters, who
carry seven vials of plagues and divine wrath, which they pour out on the
sinful and the wicked. The Lamb of God, being worthy to open the first
four seals, does so, and summons one after another four Horsemen, setting in motion
the ferocious cleansing of the earth.
First Seal: The White Horse
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 and
see!" 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)
First seal reveals to us a rider on a white horse he is the most mysterious of all
horsemen since his role is the only one not explicitly stated. There are
diverse opinions about his
identity. One of them is that rider is a personification of Christ. The white
color of the horse and the rider related to divine purity and righteously, and
the bow he carried as the tool of divine punishment also later Christ appear on
a white horse in revelation 19 which may support this theory. Another theory is
that he is an antichrist as his power represent conquering that no one can
resist and will enslave the populace of the earth.
The first seal
opens at the beginning of the final 7-year “tribulation”. The white horse and
rider represent three and a half years of peace followed by three and a half
years of war represented by the bow.
Second Seal: The Red Horse
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature
say, "Come and see!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.
Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay
each other. To him was given a large sword. (Revelation 6:3-4)
Second rider on a red horse represent war. The red
color is thought to represent the fire and blood of warfare, and his divine
authority to take peace from the earth and ability to make
men kill one another clearly symbolizes global warfare. Swords held upward
in
military symbolism signify war and entering into battle.
Let’s remember
what war really is: When Euripides, the Greek playwright wished to depict
warfare on the stage, he did not bring on an army with banners. He brought on a
bent and bewildered old woman leading a weeping child by the hand who had lost
her parents. That is war.
Third Seal: The Black Horse
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say,
"Come and see!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its
rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like
a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a
day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage
the oil and the wine!" (Revelation 6:5-6)
Third rider has a black horse he is almost always
described a personification of Famine. Black color is attributed to negative
aspect like mourning, desolation and night. In his hands he carries a pair of balances
indicating the way that food would have been weighed during time of famine. In
the passage, it is read that the indicated price of grain is about ten times
normal but is instructed not to harm the oil and the wine which signifies that
this scarcity should not fall, one popular interpretation of this states that
the black horseman signifies the Imperial, ruling oppression of the lower
class. The rich rulers hold the scales and dispense what meager rations they
deem sufficient, while the luxuries remain abundant and out of reach for the
poor. A growing divide between classes and fellow men could be a perfect aspect
of an end time revelation. Worldwide famine is not hard to imagine there are
some report that state “Hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria
and tuberculosis combined.”
Fourth Seal: The Pale Horse
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
living creature say, "Come and see!" I looked and there before me was
a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind
him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine,
and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:7-8)
The final horseman on a pale
horse serves as a culmination with the most powerful and feared rider Death
itself. He is the only named rider, and the only one without a weapon instead
he is followed by Hades. The word "Pale"
is the Greek word for "green.” This is the ashen look bearing the sickly and
lifeless color of a corpse without blood. The part that states
that power was given unto them over the fourth of the earth could
be interpreted in various ways. They either could destroy a quarter of the earth,
or that each of the four horsemen would have a single quarter of the earth.
1. Have you ever heard about
four horsemen of the apocalypse ?? what do you think
about them
2. Should we take such
revelations literally? Why ?
3.
If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
Comments
2. We shouldn't. I see it more as a fantasy, just a bit more old. But I can understand that there are people for which it's important part of their beliefs, and that they may take it a bit more serious that me.
3. If they were real, then there probably could be 3 places where they could reside. Heaven, Hell and our very own Earth. Last option would be the most funny. Imagine living next door to one of horsemen of apocalypse. Every week drinking morning coffee with him, borrowing and lending house stuff, and doing some barbecue from time to time. And then comes the apocalypse! I wonder if we'd get better treatment for befriending them beforehand in such situation :D.
I haven't, maybe that's the case because I'm not a religious person. I mean the name was rining a bell for me but that's probably because they were common in popculture and I didn't know anything about them. I think that they are quite scary characters.
2.
Absolutely not. Probably there are some metaphores hideen at that characters, but we shouldn't take this stories literally.
3.
If they were real, probably somewhere were no humans were, on other planets located a long distance from earth, like Marvel villians.
I've heard of this phenomenon. For me, it's a kind of personification. People identified the most common cataclysms, such as hunger or war, to warriors who ride horses and spread these cataclysms. According to him, not only the end of the world has its riders but also less spectacular events have their riders. For example, the Four Horsemen of the Colds or the Four Horsemen, whose arrival precedes all public holidays, are Storm, Gale, Rain and Road Works.
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why
In my opinion, we should not identify cataclysms with imaginary characters. Nowadays, most of these cataclysms are the responsibility of man, for example War and Hunger. Personification in this case is a transfer of responsibility to imaginary characters.
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
Probably where the above mentioned phenomena occur such as war, hunger, etc. Aczkowiek since World War II no one has seen a horse rider during the war. During the famine he was also not seen, and it is a pity that the horse could have been eaten.
It never interested me much. Of course I encountered four riders like everyone, but I don't pay special attention to them. More to the movie from 2012.
Four Horsemen is a British documentary from 2012 directed by Ross Ashcroft. The film criticizes the fractional reserve banking system, the debt-based economy and the political lobbying of banks, which it considers a serious threat to Western civilization.
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why ?
I don't know. Let me quote the song from the band "Lemon".
There will be no end of the world today because it's tomorrow in Tokyo.
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ?
In heaven. Just where is the sky? Upstairs or downstairs? Or maybe just as scientists have recently stated - the land is flat and is under it? I don't know.
2. I don’t think that we should take such revelations literally. At the end of the day this is an invention of a writer.
3. If they were real, I imagine them being hidden inside of the mountains in the middle of jungle or on some unknown island where human haven’t got yet.
I have heard about four horseman from priest in church and I read about them in literature. I think it’s an interesting vision about the end of world. This vision should remind us that our life is short and at the end only the chosen by God will be allowed to live forever in heaven. We need to change our life to be better and be ready because we don’t know when we die.
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why ?
I think we should try to interpret this vision and find the message flowing from it. It’s all depends on our believe in the end of world and existence of heaven.
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
It's an interesting question. I think they are waiting in room of time (if that room exist). When God break the seals then he release riders. To be honest, we don't know where they are. It's only a poor try to interpret vision by my brain.
Yes, I heard about them. I think it's built in a way to be a terrifying thing, but it doesn't work that way anymore.
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why ?
No. There could be some meta-knowledge which could be a good thing, but taking such things literally is not helpful at all.
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
If they were real I would place every one of them in a seprate continent, for a better effect. But I have no such power.
2. Never take such things literally. Like, lamb opening some seals? Noo way.
3. If they were real... I'd be funny to see them trying to live normal life you know - paying taxes, watching cat videos... I don't think that anyone would take them seriously
Yes, I have heard about them and I don't know what lies under the words "think about them" cause I usually just don't think about them. And even when I do so, there aren't any emotions like "they are cool" or "I hate them". Who has such?
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why ?
Cause you shouldn't take holy texts literally at all. When someone does, bad things happen. Moreover, we haven't got any true revelations which have proofs yet.
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
Right behind someone who reads this comment. Or no. Probably no. But they definitely exist in three parts of Darsiders game that I have on my Steam account. Ceep calm and play Darksiders.
Yes, I've heard about it and I have always thought that this concept is really interesting. It's great that I could get some new information forom your article.
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why ?
No, we shouldn't. It's a great fantazy. Great, interesting but still fantazy
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
They would be far away from our Earth, probably in a diffrent Galaxy or even in a diffrent Universe
1. Of course I've heard about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse before. They appear in books or movies quite often, actually. I especially love them in Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's book called "Good Omens" where the Horsemen are very… modernised. For example, Pestilence is replaced by Pollution.
2. I don't think we should be taking fantasy seriously. I also think those prophecies and revelations were supposed to be taken metaphorical only. Unless someone really wants to believe all of those crazy things to happen, I guess it's up to them, really.
3. If they were real, they'd probably retire by now seeing how humanity is doing all of the destruction of the world part all by themselves. In the meantime, why shouldn't they enjoy some holidays?
1. Have you ever heard about four horsemen of the apocalypse ?? what do you think about them
I prefer to keep my religion beliefs for myself and it's hard to fully answer your question without unrevealing them. So putting it simple - yes, I've heard about them and I think knowing the symbolism of it is important to any human being.
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why ?
No. It's originated from Old Testament and Old testament is not meant to be taken literally.
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
Probably sugar, alcohol, drugs and carnivore diet :D
Yes, four horsemen are popular in various media through out all of time. Their symbolic meaning is logically sound. Personally I don't have any opinion about them, I just know this concept exists.
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why ?
Personally it's fiction not revelation, period.
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
It's impossible to be real according to our surrounding laws of physics, biology etc. But in many medias like tv series, books, etc. depict their effect of existence.
Yes, I have. Nowadays, most of people used to know them probably from mass media (especially memes with the last horseman). In the childhood I was interested in mythology and read a lot about myths from other religions as well as from christian.
2. Should we take such revelations literally? Why ?
Of course we shouldn't. Most of things and phenomena in the Bible were explained with metaphor and this story also is one of them. This way was better understood by common people.
3. If they were real, where do you think they could be now ??
If you mean "real" as them literally being horsemen, I think they would be hidden. The first and the third ones probably would be in tough places with drought and without civilisation. The second one would be with heavy-handed politicians in authoritarian countries. And the fourth one would be the most common and live in for example hospital or retirement home.