Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man. - Luke 21:36
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man. - Luke 21:36
This Bible study will step on some toes, however, it is not my intention to offend. As Paul said:
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. - 2 Corinthians 7:9-10
The Lord wants us to understand the book of Revelation. He makes this desire clear in the Book of Revelations first and last chapters:
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear [with understanding]
the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which
are written therein: for the time is at hand.
- Revelation 1:3
AND
And he saith unto me, Seal not [do not keep them secret] the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. - Revelation 22:10
Therefore, when we, the followers of Christ, read this book it should not be a mystery. However, both Daniel and Paul imply that the wicked either cannot, or will not understand.
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. - Daniel 12:10
AND
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
The premise of this study is that, with a little prayerful study, the four horsemen are easy to understand, they are four different philosophies or religions controlled by the state. In John’s time they were future philosophies; today three of the four horsemen have already become history.
I will try to prove each of these points going to the book of Revelation and looking at each of the four horseman individually. Doing so, we will try to learn learn the identity and belief system of each horseman from his color and symbols.
And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. - Revelation 6:1-2
First, a little history: the emperor Constantine instituted the marriage between Christianity and the state in what is now known as the Roman Catholic Church. This first church of the Roman Empire was not just a church; after Rome's fall, she had her own kingdom, the Papal States, as well as rule over the other kingdoms of Europe. The Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church, are all state churches and children of the Roman Catholic Church.
The state church created the divine right of kings. When King Henry VIII wanted to get a divorce the pope, as his authority, forbade it. Though England split off from the Church of Rome in the early fifteen hundreds, King Henry VIII continued to hold to the state-church system. A little later, when Martin Luther separated from Roman Catholicism, he too continued the state-church system. One big difference between between the Christianity that Jesus taught and the state church is that the state church uses the sword of the civil government to make her converts.
The white horse in the Book of Revelation is the State-church; a church that is authorized and controlled by political leaders, not Jesus Christ. Members of a state church cease to be martyred for their testimony of Jesus and, as history has shown, she has killed "heretics" herself.
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. - Revelation 3:4
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
- Revelation
19:14
If you get your concordance out and look up the color white in the Bible, you will see that it is the color of Christianity, therefore this horseman will claim that his authority comes from Jesus Christ.
The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance defines the word bow as "A bow (apparently as the simplest fabric)". If James Strong's definition is accurate, this bow may not refer to a weapon but, rather, to a man of the cloth, a metaphor that today refers to the priesthood or clergy of the church.
Since the white horse has a crown, the state church must have one too. The Pope has a triple crown called a Triregno. According to a Roman Catholic website 1 the Papal Tiara is formed by three crowns and it symbolizes the triple lordship of the Pope: father of kings, governor of the world and Vicar of Christ.
As already mentioned, the founder of the state-church system was the emperor Constantine. He was inspired by a vision of a cross of light above the sun with an inscription that said, By this, conquer. In obedience to this vision, Constantine put the cross as an icon on his shields, then went forth and conquered Rome. At that time he was crowned king of the European part of the Roman Empire. Constantine literally went forth conquering and to conquer. A historical look will show that since that time, the Roman Catholic Church continued to conquer kingdoms in a campaign that lasted till the seventeenth century.
The white horseman's goal is the whole world, and as an eternal city, she is patient.