“When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth“
6:7
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.”
By way of emphasis, a voice repeats the phrase, “Come and see.”
6:8
So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
The breaking of the fourth seal brings a pale horse. “Pale” literally means pale green. The name of the rider on this horse is “Death.” “Hades” followed with him. Death takes the body, and Hades takes the soul.
Four forms of death take place in this verse. The “sword” represents not the military but murder; this is individual assault. People will take the law into their own hands. This is a lawless society. Famine takes many people in death. The phrase “with death” may refer to endemic plagues. Diseases like AIDS will cover the earth. These plagues will wipe out entire populations. Finally, because the infrastructures of society that protect people will crumble, wild beasts will attack the population.
This is the aftermath of war and famine. People lose their civility. Famine brings out the worst in people. People will descend to new levels of barbarity. The police systems within national entities break down. Many people will die from a variety of crimes.
One-fourth of the earth will die by riots, famine, disease, and wild animals.
Principle:
The purpose of Tribulation is to get man’s attention.
Application:
Elements of these four seals are in the world today. However, in the Tribulation, these conditions will rise to unprecedented levels.
The purpose of these seals is to make men come to grips with the truth of God. Men will not be able to hide their heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich. Most of us have never lived in anarchy and mob rule. This will cause significant dissonance in people and make them do things they never imagined they would do. When people lose a high standard of living and live in an environment of not earning enough for one meal a day, anarchy will break out. In what were previously stable societies, disorder will prevail. Money will have little value because it inflated out of sight. People will bring buckets of dollars to buy a loaf of bread. This is the inevitable aftermath of the evil of mankind.
interesting take on the subject, count me as a new subscriber!
I’m doing YouTube videos on this subject and I’m always looking for tips. Count me in to along with Jannet
What an interesting perspective. I agree with you on the last paragraph especially today with the midst of Covid 19 where you say “When people lose a high standard of living and live in an environment of not earning enough for one meal a day, anarchy will break out. In what were previously stable societies, disorder will prevail. Money will have little value because it inflated out of sight. People will bring buckets of dollars to buy a loaf of bread. This is the inevitable aftermath of the evil of mankind.” Thanks for sharing!
Grant, thank you for your dedication to teaching the Word. Reading this passage in my daily studies shows how the current state of our world (Jan 2021) is perfectly setting the stage for all these things (lawless riots, famine, disease/plagues, and wild animals) to easily come into play. I am so looking forward to being with our Lord when all this takes place. May God continue to Bless your ministry!
It’s now mid 2021. How does this change your perspective of 1998? We can see the Corona ( crown) Virus occurring and the sword perhaps is the vaccination needle. I believe many will die if they take the vaccination. It’s a depopulation tool being used for mass genocide. Perhaps this is the great falling away rather than the church falling away? Whatever, we need to be ready for the coming of our Lord. Amen.
The purpose of the tribulation is not for God to “get mans attention;” the purpose is for Him to pour out His wrath on an unbelieving, Christ rejecting world. Rev 6:17, 15:1, 16:1,
Carlton, thanks for your post. The purpose of the Tribulation is to bring Israel back to God. When Christ comes at His Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation, Israel will embrace Him as their Messiah and then set up His kingdom, which is a fulfillment of the unconditional promises of the Old Testament.
Quick question and please provide some thoughts. In rereading Rev 6:8.
Many point to this and say that 1/4 of the earth will be killed. However, some read it as “power” was given to him over 1/4th of the earth, in order to kill …. .
So, the question is, is 1/4 of the earth killed OR is 1/4 of the earth given to him in order to kill, etc.?
Grace and Peace!,
RV, it seems to me that God did not give this power randomly but for a purpose. Thus, it was both the authority to execute it and the purpose to do it.
God “allows” Death to kill1/4 of the earth’s population
Death takes the body. Hades takes the soul