- Sep 10, 2021
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- #81
Well, if someone thinks the third seal is broken now, wouldn't the other two seals, the first and second, have to have been broken prior?
Aren't the seals broken,opened, in order one after the other?
Btw, sorry if my reply wasn't very in depth and simply deferred to the way I put things in the OP. There's not a lot of imagery to go on in defining what each of the four horsemen actually represent, but let me give a little more detail on how I see things.
The passage reads as follows:
And I saw that the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living creatures saying, "Draw near and see." And I saw a white horse, and the rider was holding a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering. And when he opened the second seal, the second living creature spoke. And a red horse went forth, and it was granted to its rider that he would take peace from the earth, and that they would kill one another. And a great sword was given to him. And when he opened the third seal, the third living creature spoke. And he saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a balance in his hand. And when he opened the fourth seal, the fourth living creature spoke. And I saw a pale horse, and the rider's name was Death, and Hell was following him. And authority was given to him over a fourth of the earth to destroy by the sword, by famine, and by death. (Rev. 6:1–8)
Now, the first two horsemen are carrying weapons, and weapons are used to kill with. The first has a bow and the second a sword. But the second is specifically associated with war, political upheaval and social unrest (i.e. taking peace from the earth). What then would the first represent? It would have to be something that kills large numbers of people other than through war and social unrest. The two primary choices here would be A. disease, and B. natural disasters. Both are said to occur in the end-times, for Jesus taught that:
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)
Some do not, but I tie this passage directly to Revelations Chapter 6 and the four horsemen. The same elements of war and famine are mentioned, and Jesus said these things would be only the beginning of sorrows, just as Revelations starts off the whole apocalyptic narrative with the four horsemen and the breaking of the seven seals.
But if both passages relate to one another, this again leaves us with a choice. The red horseman corresponds with "wars and rumors of wars," and the black horseman corresponds with "famines." The white horse also kills large numbers of people, but the only other things mentioned in Matthew 24:7 are pestilences and earthquakes, so it comes down to which of these would best be epitomized as a singular conqueror. Earthquakes are separate events, so personifying them as an individual "conqueror" is less natural for me. A worldwide epidemic like Covid-19 fits the imagery more nicely. I also recall watching a video once on how the word "corona" means literally "crown" in Latin, so all things considered a global epidemic fits the description better than a series of localized events.