The Fourth Horseman

(Revelation 6:1-8) And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder: “Come!” ² And I saw, and look! a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went out conquering and to complete his conquest.

³ When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say: “Come!” ⁴ Another came out, a fiery-colored horse, and it was granted to the one seated on it to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another, and he was given a great sword.

⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: “Come!” And I saw, and look! a black horse, and the one seated on it had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ I heard what sounded like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say: “A quart of wheat for a de·narʹi·us and three quarts of barley for a de·narʹi·us; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say: “Come!” ⁸ And I saw, and look! a pale horse, and the one seated on it had the name Death. And the Grave was closely following him. 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 the wild beasts of the earth.

The sword represents warfare. Two of the horsemen were given a sword. And two of the horsemen were tasked with famine.

How is warfare by the 2nd horseman different from warfare by the 4th?

How is famine by the 3rd horseman different from famine by the 4th?

The 2nd horseman was granted to take peace away from all "the earth" and the 3rd horseman had no restrictions placed upon him.

The 4th horseman, however, was only given authority over "the fourth part of the earth".

At Revelation 6:8 the definite article "the" in front of "fourth part of the earth" is there in the original Greek to identify a specific "part of the earth", "the fourth part" as opposed to the non-specific 'a fourth part'.

So the 2nd and 3rd horsemen were granted to cause warfare and famine earth wide, while the 4th horseman is limited to a specific quarter of the earth. But which quarter of the earth? The description of the horse may provide a clue.

Though the scripture describes the 4th horse as "pale", the original Greek word is chlóros which has the definition of green or pale green, and is the origin of the word "chlorophyll" which is what makes plants green. That same Greek word is used only three other times in the Bible: at Mark 6:39 "on the green grass"; at Revelation 8:7 "all the green vegetation"; and at Revelation 9:4 "or any green plant".

Should those verses be translated the same way that Revelation 6:8 is?

Mark 6:39 - 'on the pale grass'

Revelation 8:7 - 'all the pale vegetation'

Revelation 9:4 - 'or any pale plant'

Of course not. Then why translate Revelation 6:8 differently?

Is there any relation to the color green and a specific quarter of the earth today?

To Muslims the color green represents nature and life, and apparently green was their prophet Mohammed's favorite color. The Quran describes paradise as a place where people "will wear green garments of fine silk." (Surah 76:21) One hadith, or teaching, says, "When Allah's Apostle (Mohammed) died, he was covered with a Hibra Burd," which is a green square garment. Green was also the color of their prophet Mohammed’s tribe and was used in flags and other symbols in Islamic conquests. During the "Christian" crusades Islamic soldiers wore green to identify themselves. (Crusaders avoided green in their coats of arms to help prevent friendly fire.)

For centuries in Persia only descendants of Mohammed, known as the Sayyids, were allowed to wear green turbans. Anyone else would be punished for it. Green was also favored by the Ottoman Empire which after the Tanzimat reforms of the mid-19th century dyed its secular flags red and its religious flags green.

Green is used in mosque decorations, marriage apparel, sacred graves, Quran bindings, and several Muslim country flags. Green has been associated with Islam since its founding and is still very prevalent in the Muslim world, which makes up about 24% of the earth's population.

Muslims believe that the Mahdi, who will be assisted by Jesus Christ in his second coming, will lead the armies of Islam in the end-times struggle against the enemies of Islam. This great war is called al-Malhamah al-Kubrah or Armageddon and they believe it will end with a great victory for Muslims.

Below is the name of the Mahdi in Islamic calligraphy as it appears in Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the mosque established and originally built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia, the third mosque built in the history of Islam, one of the largest mosques in the world, and the second-holiest site in Islam. Having it backed in green shows their reverence for the color.

Now Muslims have committed terrorist activity in other places in the world, but the sword symbolizes warfare and in these last days it is the middle east (the Muslim quarter of the world) that is plagued by war.

Why is there even a 4th horseman if he is basically the same as the 2nd and 3rd even though he is limited to a certain quarter of the earth? Because they follow each other in time. He is the last horseman. The one just before Armageddon. The 2nd and 3rd horsemen began their ride at the beginning of the last days. The 4th horseman rides at the end of the last days.

How many die?

Now is Revelation 6:8 telling us that the fourth horseman is going to kill everyone who lives in that particular quarter of the earth? No. "Authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill". It does not say that authority was given them to kill the fourth part of the earth. They just have authority to kill within that fourth part.

Let's look at Revelation 9:14, 15, which is also describing what goes on during the great tribulation just as Revelation 6:8 is, it also gives us a clue as to which quarter of the earth is being referred to.

(Revelation 9:14, 15) say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet: “Untie the four angels who are bound at the great river Eu·phraʹtes.” ¹⁵ And the four angels who have been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were untied to kill a third of the people.

Perhaps Revelation 6:8 and 9:14,15 are telling us that only one third of the people will be killed in that specific fourth part of the earth that surrounds the Euphrates river. If so then not all of the people in that fourth part of the earth will be killed.

final thoughts

If all of this is correct than this is a comforting message for the other three quarters of the planet since they (we) do not have to endure what the four angels and the 4th horseman bring since they are doing their work elsewhere. That, of course, does not mean that the rest of the planet is free of crime and is a safe place to be. We are all still living in a world which has Satan as its ruler. (John 12:31; 1 John 5:19)

What do you think of this hypotheses?

:^)
Dave
da.getmyip@gmail.com

last edited 05-22-2018

Some sources:

http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/6-8.htm

http://www.truthnet.org/islam/Islam-Bible/4Islambeliefs

http://www.islamicweb.com/history/mahdi.htm

http://dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=481

http://theonlyquran.com/hadith/Sahih-Bukhari/?chapter=72&hadith=700&pagesize=15

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_by_country