The Pale Horseman - the last of Four

“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.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭6:7-8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

We learnt from Revelation 5 vs. 1 that there were 7 seals. Seven is the number of completion. We are anticipating that when the seventh seal is opened it will all be over.

The opening of the fourth seal tells us that we are more than past the halfway mark.

The seals represent to me a time line, they represent circumstances which must come to past before the end of time as we know it arrives. The black horseman represented the time we are currently in, we are close to the end of the reign of the black horseman. We should expect to see an intensifying in deceit, poverty and famine, but we are not at the end of the black horseman’s reign yet. How much longer do we have before the fourth seal is opened and its impact is clear in our world? The Bible doesn’t tell us the day or the hour but we will surely recognise the signs when the Pale Horseman rides.

The fourth beast beckons to John to come and see what the removal of the fourth seal is going to reveal.

John looks and sees a rider but this time the horse is Pale. Something else that is different, is that the rider has a name, DEATH. This rider did not come alone either, this rider is being followed by Hell.

This is chilling. The rider is reflective of his name. He brings death. Names are significant in the bible - Abram's name was changed to Abraham. Abram meant 'high father' but Abraham means 'father of a multitude'. Abraham was told he would be the father of many nations, his new name reflected his destiny. Names that God assigns to people are usually reflective of their destiny. This rider is called Death.

The bible tells us power was given to them (Death and Hell), to kill 25%, or one fourth of the population of the world. Right now there are over 7 billion people in the world - almost 8 billion. Imagine 2 billion people in the world dying? One out of every four people will die when this horseman rides. No one will have to tell you that the time of the Pale Horseman has started, you will see it for yourself. On the left and on the right, friends, family, loved ones will be dying - sadly there will be nothing we can do to stop that. This is one of the reasons people find the book of Revelation to be scary, but remember, when we see these things it is simply saying that our Saviour is returning soon. So don't be afraid - in fact rejoice!

The question is, how do they die? They die mainly in four ways.

The first is by the sword. In bible times the sword was the weapon of choice and was reflective of war and violence, it was also used to describe the government or those in authority.

Romans chapter 13 vs 4

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil..

So some of the people that die will die because of fights, battles, attacks and confrontations with the governments of the world. After the black horseman rides and people have been deceived and justice taken away from them, there will be rebellion and uprisings. These will be dealt with very harshly by governments, resulting in the deaths of many.

The second is by hunger. Remember, in the time of the black horseman basic food items will be scarce and famine will be starting to spread throughout many lands. People will be starving to death. Even today, we are already hearing talk about food shortages and challenges. This is time to take wisdom from the bible and start planting your own home garden. When the pale horseman rides, many will die from hunger.

The third is by death. Some bibles translate this word death to 'plague', some to 'disease', and some to 'pestilence'. All across the world we are already seeing an increase in death by disease, now they are calling it Covid, but that is not all we are seeing, we are seeing mutations of the disease which they are calling Delta and various other names. The riding of the pale horse is an indication that what would have started out as a relatively benign illness will become a full fledge plague or disease that takes many lives around the world. Then we have all heard about increased swarms of locusts, rats and mice. These contribute to the plagues, disease and of course pestilence.

The fourth is by wild animals. As the population of the world declines, spaces taken over by man will be reclaimed by the wild animals. Even in Barbados, we know that monkeys can take over a home or neighbourhood if you don't constantly make efforts to drive them away. In other countries there are other animals that will also take over areas if enough people are not around to drive them away. Those that remain will have challenges with the wild beasts from the areas near to them.

So what about Hell - which followed this Pale Rider? Hell is reserved for those who do not accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Those who do not repent of their sins and ask Jesus Christ to come into their heart and be the Lord of their lives. Hell is reserved for those who die in their sins. When the Pale Horse rides, death will be abundant, many who do not know Christ as Lord and Saviour will die without the opportunity to give their hearts to the Lord. Hell will benefit richly from this sad state of affairs.

As we prepare for our next session and await the opening of the fifth seal, I want to encourage you to tell someone about Jesus Christ today while there is still time to speak freely, when the pale horseman rides many will be dying in their sins and we may not have the opportunity to reach out to them. Reach out to someone today, and lets do our part in preventing hell from overflowing with our friends, family, loved ones and neighbours.