Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - The Pale Horse and Its Rider - Conclusion

 The opening of each of the first four seals has been followed by the summons "Come!' " Each time, a horse and its rider came charging forth. Starting with the fifth seal, we no longer hear such a summons. But those horsemen are still riding, and they will continue at the gallop throughout the conclusion of the system of things. (Compare Matthew 28:20.) With other momentous events does Jesus reveal as he opens the remaining three seals? Some of the happenings are invisible to human eyes. Others, though visible, are yet future. Nevertheless, their fulfillment is certain. Let us see what they are. 

Next time: Chapter Seventeen/'Slaughtered Souls' Rewarded

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 The information revealed by the opening of the first four seals reassures us because it teaches us not despair at the warfare, hunger, disease, and other causes of untimely death that are so rampant today; neither should we lose hope because human leaders have failed to solve current problems. If world conditions make it evident that the riders of the red, black, and pale horses are abroad, do not forget that the Rider of the white horse was first to begin his ride. Jesus has become King, and he has already conquered to the extent of casting Satan out of the heavens. His further conquests have included his gathering out the remaining ones of the sons of spiritual Israel and the international great crowd, numbering into the millions for survival through the great tribulation.  (Revelation 7:4, 9, 14) His ride must continue until he completes his conquest. 

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 Death by wild beasts has seldom made headlines in modern times, though in tropical countries wild animals have steadily claimed victims throughout the 20th century. In the future, they may claim even more if lands become desolated because of warfare or people become too emaciated by famine to fight off hungry animals. Additionally, there are many humans today who, like unreasoning animals, display beastly dispositions quite contrary to those described at Isaiah 11:6, 9. Those people are largely responsible for the global expansion of sex-related crimes, murder, terrorism, and bombings in the modern world. (Compare Ezkiel 21:31; Romans 1:28-31; 2 Peter 2:12.) The fourth horseman reaps their victims too. Indeed, the main point of this prophetic scene appears to be that the rider of the pale horse harvests untimely death of mankind in many ways.

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 Of current importance here is "deadly plague." Following in the wake of the ravages of World War I, the Spanish flu reaped over 20 million human lives in just a few months of 1918-1919. The only territory on earth to escape this scourge was the small island of St. Helena. in other places where the population was decimated, funeral pyres were lit to burn the piles of bodies. And today there is the incidence of heart disease and cancer, much of which is caused by tobacco pollution. In what has been described as "the ugly decade" of the 1980's, a way of life that is lawless by Bible standards has added the scourge of AIDS to the "deadly plague." At the time of this writing, all who contract this disease and die, and die, and it is estimated that in the United States alone 27,000 will be sick with AIDS by 1991; millions appear to be doomed in Africa. How thankful Jehovah's people are that the wise counsel of his Word keeps them away from fornication and misuse of blood, through which so many diseases are transmitted today! - ACTS 15:28, 29; Compare 1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-11. 

John's vision mentions wild beasts as a fourth cause of timely death. Indeed, the four things featured by the opening of the fourth seal-warfare, famine, disease, and wild beasts-were in ancient times viewed as predominant causes of untimely death. So, they would foreshadow all causes of untimely death today. It is just as Jehovah warned Israel: ""So, too, it will be when there will my four injurious acts of judgment-sword and famine-that I shall actually send upon Jerusalem in order to cut off from it earthling man and domestic animal." - EZKIEL 14:21.

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 The vision enumerates some of the ways: "And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by he wild beast of the earth." (Revelation 6:8b) Not necessarily a literal fourth of earth's population but a large portion of the earth, whether densely or sparsely inhabited, would be affected by this ride. This horseman reaps the victims of the big sword of the second horseman and the famines and the food shortages of the third. He reaps his own harvest too, from deadly plague and also a harvest from the earthquakes, as describe at LUKE 21:10, 11.

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! -The Pale Horse and Its Rider

 The story is not yet completely told. Jesus opens the fourth seal, and John tells us the result: "And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature say: 'Come!' "(Revelation 6:7) This is the voice of the cherub that resembles a flying eagle. Farsighted wisdom is indicated, and truly John, the John class, and all other earthly servants of God have needed to observe and act with insight in view of what is here depicted. So doing, we may find a measure of protection from the scourges that plague the worldly-wise of today's proud, immoral generation." -1 CORINTHIANS 1:20, 21. 

What new horrors are unleashed, then, as the fourth horseman responds the call? John tells us: "And I saw and look! a pale horse; and the one seated upon it had the name Death, and Hades was following close behind him." (Revelation 6:8a) The rider of the last horse has a name Death. He is the only one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse to reveal his identity so directly. Fittingly, Death rides a horse that is pale, since the word pale (Greek khlo-ros') is in Greek literature to describe faces that are blanched, as if by disease. Also fittingly, Death is closely followed in some unexplained manner by Hades (gravedom), since Hades receives to itself the greater number of those who fall victim to the ravages of the fourth horsemen. Happily, for these there will be a resurrection, when 'death and Hades give up those dead in them.' (Revelation 20;1-3) But how does Death claim those victims?

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - A Black Horse Plunges Forth - Conclusion

 How happy we can b3e that the Rider of the white horse will soon rein in that galloping black horse! For it is written concerning His loving provision for the new world: "In his days the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more. . . .There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth on top of the mountains there will be an overflow." - PSALM 72:7, 16; see also ISAIAH 25:6-8. 

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 What is implied by the statement, "Do not harm the olive oil and the wine"? Some have viewed it as meaning that while many would be short of food and even starving, the luxuries of the rich would not be harmed. But in the Middle East, oil and wine are not really luxuries. In Bible times, bread, oil, and wine were viewed as staples. (Compare Genesis 14:18; Psalm 104:14, 15.) Water was not always good, so wine was widely used for drinking and sometimes for medicinal purposes. (1 Timothy 5:23) With regard to oil, in Elijah's day the widow of Zarephath poor as she was, still had some oil left with which to cook her remaining flour. (1 Kings 17:12) Therefore the command "do no harm the olive oil and the wine" appears to be advice not to use up these basic commodities too quickly but to be sparing in their use. Otherwise, they will be 'harmed,' that is, they will run out before the famine ends. 

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Chapter Sixteen/Four Horsemen at the Gallop! - A Black Horse Plunges Forth

 John has more to tell us: "And I heard a voice as if in the midst of the four living creatures say: 'A quart of wheat for a denarius; and three quarts if barley for a denarius; and do no harm the olive oil and the wine.' "(Revelation 6:6) All four cherubs are united in expressing a need to watch food supplies carefully-just as the people had to "eat bread by weight and in anxious care prior to Jerusalem's destruction in 607 B.C.E. (Ezekiel 4:16) In John's time, a quart of wheat was reckoned to be the daily ration for a soldier. How much would such a ration cost?  One denarius-a whole day's wage! (Matthew 20:2) What if a man had a family? Well, he could buy three quarts of unpolished barley instead. Even that would feed only a small family. And barley was not viewed as a quality food such as wheat. 

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 What does John see, then, as the third summons to "Come!" is answered?  "And I saw, and, look! a black horse; and the one seated upon it had a pair of scales in his hand." (Revelation 6:5b) Stark famine! That is the dire message of this prophetic scene. It points forward to situations early in the Lord's day when food was rationed out by scales.  Since 1914 famine has been a continuing worldwide problem. Modern warfare brings famine in its wake. For resources normally used in feeding the hungry are often diverted to supplying war weapons. Farm workers are conscripted, and battle-scarred fields and scorched earth policies curtail food production. How true this was during the 1930's, five million perished in just one famine in the Ukraine.  The second world war brought in its wake more food shortages and famines. As the black horse continued its gallop, The World Food Council reported in mid-1987 that 512 million humans were starving and that 40,000 children die of hunger-related causes every day. 

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