The Second Seal—WAR

When the second seal opens, a red horse appears: “And when He had opened the SECOND SEAL, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (Rev. 6:3-4). As with Christ in Revelation 19:1-21, the sword here is depicted as an instrument of war and killing.

This horse and rider “take peace from the earth.” The opposite of peace is war. When peace is removed, war is what remains. This pictures the “wars and rumours of wars” that Christ referenced in Matthew 24:6. Wars have continued and grown steadily worse since the time of Christ’s prophecy. But this part of John’s astounding vision has the gravest implications for all alive on earth today.

This horseman represents the dreadful destruction of world war. In the Matthew 24:1-51 parallel prophecy, war immediately follows false religion. By the end of the age, the potential for devastation in war has become so great that it holds the power to take peace not just from two or more nations, but now “from the earth.”

Only in the modern age have such terrible weapons of mass destruction been available. The twentieth century saw the two most devastating wars in history, with World War II far more destructive than World War I.

We are now in the last recess—intermission—preceding the time of the truly greatest war, prophesied to exceed anything in the last century. A sinning, rebellious humanity will soon reach the end of its rope. We have reached a time when war’s potential cannot grow worse, but can now erase all life from earth in one final blast of complete destruction—if Christ did not intervene and cut events “short” (Mt 24:22). (Read our free booklet The Red Horse – “You Shall Hear of Wars…” to understand more thoroughly about what Christ meant by this warning.)

But the pattern of history is that famine always follows war. This is why famine (the third seal) follows on the heels of war (the second seal).

The Third Seal—FAMINE

The third seal opens and a black horse, a symbol of famine, appears: “And when He had opened the THIRD SEAL, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see you hurt not the oil and the wine” (Rev. 6:5-6).

This pictures extreme worldwide famine, beyond anything civilization has ever seen. This devouring condition is seizing the entire world in an extraordinary way. Famine is now far worse than most imagine. (Read our extensive free booklet The Black Horse – “There Shall Be Famines…”.)

The Fourth Seal—DISEASE

The opening of the fourth seal reveals a pale horse, which represents pestilence or disease: “And when He had opened the FOURTH SEAL, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth” (Rev 6:7-8).

This horse is depicted as pale because it is sickly. It obviously represents disease—pestilence! Invariably, war leads to famine—and resulting malnutrition leads to disease. New diseases, or old ones grown worse, seem to be appearing almost daily. The death toll from disease around the world is staggering—now over a quarter million die every day! As with the fulfilment of the other seals, there is far more information available about disease than could begin to fit in this booklet. (Read our well-researched free booklet The Pale Horse – “There Shall Be Pestilences…”to understand more about the growing worldwide suffering in the wake of the pale horse.)

The Fifth Seal—THE GREAT TRIBULATION

The opening of the fifth seal does not reveal a horse. Instead, it briefly overviews the soon-to-come worst time of world trouble in history (Matt. 24:21)—the Great Tribulation!

Again, many prophecies in both the Old and New Testaments explain and describe this period. This series of world events will be truly colossal in nature—and thoroughly explaining it involves far more than space available in this booklet.

Of course, the most terrible wars, famines and diseases still lie ahead. These will greatly intensify before the Great Tribulation begins. Even so, remember that, after Christ had described the first four seals, plus earthquakes, He concluded, “All these are the BEGINNING of sorrows [travail or tribulation]” (Matt. 24:8). They are far from the end of matters.

The next thing to follow these beginning events and conditions is the Tribulation. We will shortly prove this.

But first we need to explain another important aspect of what the Tribulation means. Here is what Christ told His disciples would occur next: “Then shall they deliver YOU up to be afflicted, and shall kill YOU: and YOU shall be hated of all nations for My Name’s sake” (Matt. 24:9).

Now understand something. Two different pronouns appear in this passage—“they” and “you.” Christ did this for a very specific reason. Whenever He was describing true Christians, He spoke of “you.” Those who were deceivers and not of the truth—the many who are falsely converted—are often referred to as “they” or other similar pronouns.

Sometimes the term “you” can also refer to national Israel or Judah, or to them and to true Christians. Whenever the passage is speaking nationally, it is either referring to Israel, or Judah, or both. When coupled with Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:1-38, it is quite obvious that Christ is referring to both.