Who are the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and what do they represent?
The Book of Revelation is difficult enough to understand already.
But the four horsemen of Revelation is a whole different story.
In this article, I’ll show you an alternative meaning to these figures, and we’ll exegete the scripture properly.
Towards the end, I'll also give you a new resource - a FREE book explaining Revelation.
Let’s get into this!
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Names and Meanings
To begin, let’s just start with the four horsemen of the apocalypse bible verse:
Revelation 6:1-8 ESV
1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. 3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst 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 wine!” 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
The seals are being opened, and a “horse” is released each time this happens.
Let’s list the colors of each horse:
White
Red
Black
Pale (The Greek word is primarily used for “green,” so we’ll call this horse green)
The first three horses (white, red, and black) do not have names, per se.
But we can note some observations about them:
White - had a rider with a bow and a crown whose mission was to conquer.
Red - had a rider with a sword whose mission was to take peace from the earth, which would cause people to slay each other.
Black - had a rider with scales. Most people think this has to do with poverty and rising prices.
The last horse was green, and the rider did have a name— “Death.”
Also, “Hades” followed him.
It seems their mission was to kill a fourth of the people on earth with the sword, famine, pestilence, and through wild beasts.
Two Views of the Horses
Most Christians believe that the Book of Revelation refers to future events—the end of the world.
They also believe that the Great Tribulation begins with the tearing of this first seal.
So, we’ll start with that view.
Futurist View of the Horses
If you’re a futurist, you’ll apply these horses to something in the future.
Most futurists say that the rider on the white horse is the Antichrist.
He appears divine and royal but is riding in to conquer the world.
They say that the red horse represents war and bloodshed, with some futurists getting more detailed, calling the rider on this horse Russia with Arab allies.
The black horse represents famine as prices increase and food is scarce in the Great Tribulation.
The green horse (according to futurism) represents massive death on Earth as hell begins to attack the world with disease and war on a grander scale.
It’s also important to know that many futurists create more “interesting” theories based on speculation concerning these horses.
In other words, I described above the standard view of futurism concerning the horses.
But lots of people simply apply any meaning they want to these horses.
He says they represent the Arab nations because the colors of the horses are the colors of their flags.
The man in the video doesn’t go into much detail to explain how this plays out in end-time events.
Maybe he’s trying to say that these countries will bring all the pestilence and death to the earth in the future.
But that’s all just speculation. You can’t prove through scripture that these horses have anything to do with the Arab countries of today.
Preterist View of the Horses
Preterists believe these horses were symbolic and represent something around AD 70 (when Jerusalem was destroyed).
If you’re a preterist, you’ll apply these horses to something around that time.
The white horse could represent two things:
It could be the Roman army coming victoriously to conquer Jerusalem.
It could be Christ coming to conquer against his enemies, the unbelieving Jews.
The red horse signifies that “peace” would be taken from the “land” of Jerusalem (not “earth,” as many translations say), and war would break out.
This did happen, as the Jews fought against the Romans and amongst themselves during this time.
The black horse represents famine, as there was an extreme food shortage in Jerusalem around AD 70 due to the war.
Jewish historian Josephus said of this time:
“Many there were indeed who sold what they had for one quart; it was of wheat, if they were of the richer sort, but of barley, if they were poorer.” Wars 5: 10:2
The green horse (to a preterist) means death by pestilence.
The Hebrew term for “pestilence” appears roughly fifty times in the Old Testament and is rendered as thanatos ("death") in the Septuagint over thirty times.
John is borrowing from Ezekiel with this verse:
Ezekiel 14:21
“For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!
God used these methods to inflict judgment on Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
And now, it’s happening again here in AD 70 by the Romans.
During that time, conditions worsened for the Jews due to war and starvation, so much so that there were widespread diseases that killed many (according to Josephus).
Do These Horses Apply To Us, or Will They in the Future?
These horses do not apply to us and will not be in our future.
Because they already happened around AD 70.
Actually, let me take that back a little bit. What do I mean when I say they don't "apply" to us?
I mean that four horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelation are not going happen in our lifetime.
In another sense, they could apply to us like this:
Everything in the Bible is something we should know about and be aware of.
The Book of Revelation is extremely important, in that it shows us today how Christ ended the Old Covenant, and one method he used to do that was the four horsemen.
They were symbolic ways to describe the destruction of Jerusalem, which was typical of Jewish eschatological writing (as in Ezekiel).
Do we have tragedy today from sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence? Yes.
But John was not referring to any of these tragedies of our day. He was talking about the sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence in his day.
What Makes More Sense?
Knowing the two views, it’s now up to you, the reader, to decide which view makes more sense.
However, I advise you not to decide based on just these horses.
The best thing to do is erase everything you know about the end times and start at Matthew 24 with a blank slate.
“Why do I need to “erase” everything?”
Because if you already believe in futurism, you’re just going to see everything through a futurist lens.
We just have to be open to other possibilities.
Extra Resources
It explains everything verse by verse and offers an alternative view of the four horsemen of Revelation.
I have a hard copy of this book, and I would suggest to purchase one. The above link is to a digital copy that is a bit outdated, but all the information is still accurate.
Conclusion
The four horsemen of the apocalypse are not in our future, and I encourage you to study more to come to your own answers.
Comment below and let me know: When did you first hear about the four horsemen of Revelation?
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