The seven years of the tribulation period is the consummation of Daniel’s 70 week prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27). It is further divided into two 3 ½ year periods. There is little mention of the first 3 ½ year period in Scripture but Daniel does mention that there will be a peace covenant confirmed and that the Jews will resume sacrifices in their temple. It is likely that the world peace agreement will allow for freedom of religion for all. The peace agreement appears to be working until a sneak attack is launched against Israel which must occur at the very end of the first 3 ½ year period.
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The Great Tribulation
The 2nd of those periods is referred to as the Great Tribulation as described by Christ in his Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21). More detail is provided in the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments described in Revelation 6-19. The midway mark of the 7-year tribulation period will mark several important changes on earth. The Old Testament prophecy recorded in Ezekiel 38-39 reveals that God will draw out a great army from the far north of Israel who launch a sneak attack against Israel. The attackers will be miraculously wiped out by a great demonstration of God’s power and the world will be stunned. Then the stage will be set to unleash the judgments contained within the seven sealed scroll (Revelation 5). The first four of these seals comprise what we have come to know as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
A typical scroll used by a king or important diplomat in John’s day may have been about 15 feet long and normally would have had writing on one side. This scroll had writing on both sides which must be an indication of the exhaustive nature of the judgments contained within. The scroll may have been sealed in a way that as the first seal was broken it would allow a portion to be unrolled and read up to a point and then the second seal would have to be broken to allow more to be read and so on through all seven seals. This could be accomplished by beginning with a fully open scroll and rolling it up to the appropriate section and applying a seal to the side end which would bind the rolled section together. Once that wax seal was hardened, more could be rolled up and the next seal applied and so on. When completed, the breaking of a seal would allow the reader to read down to the next seal but then they would have to break that seal to read further.
The four horsemen of the apocalypse correlate to the first four seals and bring about conquest, war, famine and death as noted in the chart below:
| Seal # | Horseman | Color of Horse | Objective |
| 1 | 1st | White | Conquest |
| 2 | 2nd | Fiery Red | War |
| 3 | 3rd | Black | Famine |
| 4 | 4th | Pale | Death |
Ultimately, ¼ of the world, both man and beast, are killed. In history, the flood of Noah was the most devastating disaster in which only 8 survivors were left with pairs of animals to repopulate the earth. In modern times, we’ve never experienced such a numerical disaster. World War II was the deadliest conflict in which around 60 – 80 million people lost their lives. That represented roughly 2-3% of the world population at the time. That war lasted 6 years. The impression given in Revelation is that these seals are broken in relatively rapid succession. As disastrous as the devastation related to the four horseman seems, it is merely a precursor to much worse and far reaching wrath of God Almighty on his creation in much the same way as it was in Noah’s day.
“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!’ 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.
“When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ 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.
“When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ 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, ‘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!’
“When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’ 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 6:1-8
The First Horseman, Conquest
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!” 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 first task is to definitively identify the rider of the horse. Christ is pictured riding a white horse in his Second Coming (Revelation 19:11) and this is a white horse. But this is not the second coming, nor is it Christ. This is clearly the antichrist. Remember the antichrist is indwelled by Satan who is known as the father of lies (John 8:44) and he will use supernatural power to deceive many (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10) and his goal is to gain power over the world and receive worship. He creates a counterfeit to God’s kingdom on earth and becomes a dictator over the world. He institutes the mark of the beast and does not allow buying or selling without the mark and demands worship from all people of the earth. His conquest is set up by a war instigated by God (Ezekiel 38:1-6) that will have occurred near the end of the initial 3 ½ years of peace facilitated by the peace agreement confirmed by the antichrist (Daniel 9:27). The complete prophecy regarding this war is recorded in Ezekiel 38-39. There it is recorded that Israel is living in peace! Israel has not ever lived in peace since the time of Christ and this obviously won’t be possible apart from the peace covenant confirmed by the antichrist as mentioned in Daniel 9:27. The whole world will be living under peace for most of the 3 ½ years but a sneak attack is launched against Israel and those attackers, from several nations, are wiped out simultaneously by a demonstration of God’s mighty power. This would likely stun the entire world and lead to disarray and confusion among the 10 nation confederation of that time (Daniel 7:17-28). It would be at this point that the antichrist would seize control of the world. So in heaven as the first seal is broken, on earth the correlating event is the antichrist gaining control of the 10 nation confederacy, or in other words, gaining control of the whole world. He is able to do this without waging war himself because of the sneak attack prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. He conquers the world through power, influence and probably threats, but not battle. That is consistent with the rider holding a bow but no mention of arrows. He is riding a white horse which signifies victory and he is given a crown which is consistent with the notion that he has become ruler of the world.
So to review this important timeline, the rapture occurs at some point in the future and the believers are removed from the earth. A ten-nation confederation is formed by the leaders of those unbelievers in the world who were left behind. The world leaders confirm a peace covenant led by the man later known as the antichrist, though initially he must present himself as a peacemaker and trusted diplomat. The world continues for most of the first half of the tribulation period living in peace and enjoying religious freedom. The Jews are allowed to resume sacrifices at their temple in Jerusalem and other religions thrive as well. All people left behind after the rapture are unbelievers and all religions being observed are false religions (Revelation 9:20). Then, probably near the very end of the first 3 ½ years, the sneak attack of Ezekiel 38-39 occurs. In the aftermath of God’s great demonstration of power and the annihilation of those attacking armies, the world falls under the control of the antichrist who dominates as an evil dictator for the next 3 ½ years.
Another thing that happens at the beginning of the second 3 ½ year period is that God empowers his two witnesses (Revelation 11:1-14). No mention is made of their specific identification but they possess power similar to that of Moses and Elijah of the Old Testament times. It is apparent at this point that the Jews who were miraculously saved from the sneak attack listen to and believe the Gospel preached by these two witnesses. During the first 3 ½ years they were depicted as worshiping and sacrificing in the temple like in the times before Christ’s final sacrifice. Now they are pictured as believing instead in Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and worshiping the Risen Christ which infuriates the antichrist and he attempts to hunt them down and annihilate them. Many will be slain by the antichrist but God will protect and seal 144,000 of them, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel and they will be guaranteed to survive the final 3 ½ years and become charter members of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on earth instituted upon his second coming to earth. Some gentiles from all nations will also become believers through the testimony of the two witnesses and will help and assist the surviving Jews during that period. These believing gentiles will also become charter members of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on earth. In fact, one of the first things Christ will do upon gaining control of the earth is to bind Satan in the abyss, condemn the antichrist and the false prophet to the lake of fire and judge all unbelievers with the penalty of death. The result is that only true believers will be left on earth. There will be 144,000 Jews and some gentiles from every tribe, language, people and nation (Revelation 5:9). These believers will be governed by Christ the King reigning from David’s throne in Jerusalem, a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy which spans from the birth of Christ in Bethlehem to his reign from Jerusalem. There we see an example of how the Church age and rapture was skipped over without mention and jumps right to his reign as King. Biblical prophecy often skips entire periods in much the same way the Book of Revelation skips over the first 3 ½ year period of the tribulation.
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this. “
Isaiah 9:6-7
The point of all this is that the first horseman in the antichrist. He usurps power of the world away from the 10 nation confederacy and reigns as an evil dictator during the second period of 3 ½ years or what is known as the great tribulation. At the end of the 3 ½ years he will be dethroned by the second coming of Christ to earth who will reign as king.
The Second Horseman, War
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 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. He was given a large sword (Revelation 6:3-4).
Once the first seal was broken and the antichrist was disclosed to the world, all the things Christ spoke of during the Olivet Discourse will occur. So with the antichrist in control, the second seal is broken and war will prevail. Remember, this is only the second seal. There are seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls prior to the coming of Christ! During part of the Olivet Discourse, “Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24:4-8)”.
The Third Horseman, Famine
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” 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, “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! (Revelation 6:5-6)”
War is often followed by tough economic times. Food, jobs and resources in general are scarce. While we’ve observed that to be true in history, the third horseman will bring what must be the greatest worldwide economic devastation ever known. A day’s wages for a day’s food will be the best offer to be found. And apparently not all will be able to find that as famine spreads throughout the earth.
The Fourth Horseman, Death
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 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).
When famine prevails it typically leads to desperation, fighting, disease, and death. Not since the days of Noah has the world experienced such numerical devastation. The flood wiped out all but 8 people, Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives and pairs of animals. From that meager lot, the world was repopulated. One quarter of people and animals will be slain by the fourth horsemen of the apocalypse. Currently there are between 7-8 billion people on earth so a fourth of them would be close to 2 billion. To put that into a more modern context, we can refer to the stats of WW2 which had the most devastating death toll of all wars. That lasted about six years and involved over 50 nations and resulted in 70-85 million deaths, including military casualties and deaths from war related disease and famine. That 70 -85 million deaths correlates to around 3% of the world population at that time. So 25% of the world population during the great tribulation is incredible.
God’s wrath will be poured out on the inhabitants of the earth. Many will suffer and die but some elect will survive. All others will end up eliminated by the time Christ established his kingdom. The beginning of God’s wrath are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The revelation of things to come is given to motivate us to grow in our faith and dedicate our time and energy into serving the Lord. May you grow in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever Amen (2 Peter 3:18).
Author’s Note:
To properly understand what is being communicated as these seals are being broken, we must remember that the Apostle John and the original recipients of his revelation were all familiar with Old Testament Scripture. Additionally they were all well versed on the teaching of Christ during his earthly ministry, and the additional teachings of the apostles as recorded in the New Testament letters. For modern readers who are not familiar with these prerequisites, time should be taken to read and study them. The foundation needs to be laid for the rest of the story to take shape. Important passages would include Daniel chapter 9, Ezekiel 38-39, John 14-17. The Olivet Discourse recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Apostolic teaching distinguishes the Church from Israel and the end of the church age is the rapture. The Rapture of the church is recorded in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. So by the time a reader is familiar with the Bible in general and gets to reading the revelation of the end, things make sense. However, if one was to read the end without having an understanding of all that has preceded it, things can be easily misunderstood or not understood at all. I have included some explanations of end times events in other blog posts and they can be found under the End Times tab.
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
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