What Are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
I don’t believe the world will End in an Instance but my belief is that time could end in a moment
the way we know life to be. If we don’t wake up and start living right!
Which means to find solutions to the world problems and this doesn’t mean having people working thirty hour week with no benefit or motivation for a better life. In Revelation 6, Jesus opens the seven seals of judgment to begin the Tribulation period on earth. The first four seals he opens are the four horsemen, and each is released from heaven to usher in various judgments on the earth. While some apocalyptic judgments are specific events, these are overarching judgments that will last for periods throughout the Tribulation.
Here’s a look at each symbol individually:
The White Horse
“And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him,
and he went out conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:2)
The rider on the white horse is the Antichrist. He will arrive on the world scene at the beginning of the Tribulation and work to unite the nations, signing a peace treaty with Israel. He will be a charismatic leader that presents himself as the savior of the world. His power and authority will come from the dragon (Satan), and like Satan he is a great deceiver. The symbol of him on a white horse aptly illustrates this quality, then, for Jesus returns to earth on a white horse (Revelation 19:11-14). Satan’s purpose has always been to counterfeit the work of Christ. By the second half of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will break his peace treaty and wage open war against believers.
The Red Horse
“Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” (Revelation 6:4)
The next horseman, the red horse, represents war and bloodshed. Nation will rise against nation during the Tribulation and individuals against each other. It is a time of murder, assassination, bloodshed, revolution, and war.
The Black Horse
“So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.’” (Revelation 6:5-6)
Black is often connected with famine in the Bible; and food shortage is a typical byproduct of the war that will be happening. A denarius was the standard daily wage for ancient laborers.
In the early days of the Tribulation period, food will be in short supply; people will have to work all day just to get enough food to eat. Yet the luxuries of the wealthy (“oil and wine”) will remain untouched. The famine will provide the way for the Antichrist’s rule. Later in the Tribulation, He will require the people to take his mark in order to buy or sell. Hunger will play into his hands and strengthen his control.
The Pale Horse
“So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:8)
Death is the pale rider with Hades (hell) following behind. They will kill with the sword, hunger, disease, and wild beasts—the four judgments the Lord said he would send in Ezekiel 14:21. Death and Hades are mentioned together three times in Revelation, and the first time in Revelation 1:18 tells us that Christ holds the keys to Death and Hades. Though the companions will wreak havoc during the Tribulation, Jesus holds the ultimate power and will throw them both into the lake of fire after the Battle of Armageddon.
Just the Beginning
The four horsemen are just the beginning. The book of Revelation outlines many more judgments
and events that will happen on earth in the End Times.
This article is part of our larger End Times Resource Library. Learn more about the rapture, the anti-christ, bible prophecy and the tribulation with articles that explain Biblical truths. You do not need to fear or worry about the future! Here are some of Nostradamus’ prophecies for 2020 — paired with a leading psychic’s own predictions for 2020.
PUBLISHED: Jun 4, 2020 By Sebastian Kettley
>>>>>
Battle of Armageddon
Antichrist
End Times
Tribulation
Prophecies of Jesus
End Times Bible Prophecy
Old Testament Bible Prophecy
Signs of the End Times
666 Meaning
Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Purgatory
What is Premillennialism?
What is Amillennialism?
What is Postmillennialism?
The Second Coming of Jesus
So You Think It Won’t Happen Again;
The main cause of the fall of the Roman Empire is still a topic of debate among historians,
maybe because it is a symbol of what we fear about our own civilization. There are many different theories about why a superpower that ruled for 500 years crumbled and fell, but most scholars degree that it wasn’t one event, but a series of factors that caused a steady decline. Alexander Demandt, for example, had 210 different theories and even more emerged afterwards.
Possible Major Causes:
Conflict between the Emperor and the Senate
Weakening of the emperor’s authority ( the Emperor was no longer seen as a god)
Political Corruption – there was never a clear-cut system for choosing a new emperor, leading the ones in power to “sell” the position to the highest bidder.
Money wasting – the Romans were very fond of their prostitutes and orgies and wasted a lot of money on lavish parties, as well as their yearly “games”
Slave labor and price competition – Large, wealthy farm owners used slaves to work their farms, allowing them to farm cheaply, in contrast to smaller farmers who had to pay their workmen and could not compete price wise. Farmers had to sell their farms, leading to high unemployment figures.
Economical Decline – After Marcus Aurelius, the Romans stopped expanding their empire, causing in a decrease of gold coming into the empire. The Romans however kept spending, causing coin makers to use less gold, decreasing the value of money.
Military spending – Because they wasted so much money and had to defend their borders all the time,
the Government focused more on military spending than building houses or other public works, which enraged the people. Many stopped volunteering for the army, forcing the government to employ hired mercenaries,
who were expensive, highly unreliable and ended up turning against the Roman Empire.
A stop in technological advancement – The Romans were great engineers, but did not
focus on how to produce goods more effectively to provide to their growing population.
The Eastern Empire – The Roman Empire was divided in a Eastern and Western empire that drifted apart, making the empire easier to manage, but also weaker. Maybe the empire’s rapid expansion was its own downfall in the end.
Civil War and Barbarian Invasion – Civil war broke out in Italy and the smaller Roman army had to focus all of its attention there, leaving the borders wide open for the barbarians to attack and invade. Barbarian bandits made travel in the empire unsafe and merchants could not get goods to the cities anymore, leading to the total collapse of the empire. This article is part of our larger resource on the Romans culture, society, economics,
and warfare. Click here for our comprehensive article on the Romans.
The Four Horsemen: Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, and Stonewalling!!!
Being able to identify the Four Horsemen in your conflict discussions is a necessary first step
to eliminating them and replacing them with healthy, productive communication patterns.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a metaphor depicting the end of times in the New Testament.
They describe conquest, war, hunger, and death respectively. We use this metaphor to describe
communication styles that, according to research, can predict the end of a relationship.
1. Criticism
The first horseman is criticism. Criticizing your partner is different than offering a critique or voicing a complaint. The latter two are about specific issues, whereas the former is an ad hominem attack.
It is an attack on your partner at the core of their character.
In effect, you are dismantling their whole being when you criticize.
The important thing is to learn the difference between expressing a complaint and criticizing:
Complaint: “I was scared when you were running late and didn’t call me. I thought we had agreed that we would do that for each other.”
Criticism: “You never think about how your behavior is affecting other people. I don’t believe you are that forgetful, you’re just selfish. You never think of others! You never think of me!”
If you find that you and your partner are critical of each other, don’t assume your relationship is doomed to fail. The problem with criticism is that, when it becomes pervasive, it paves the way for the other, far deadlier horsemen to follow. It makes the victim feel assaulted, rejected, and hurt, and often causes the perpetrator and victim to fall into an escalating pattern where the first horseman reappears with greater and greater frequency and intensity, which eventually leads to contempt.
2. Contempt
The second horseman is contempt. When we communicate in this state, we are truly mean—we treat others with disrespect, mock them with sarcasm, ridicule, call them names, and mimic or use body language such as eye-rolling or scoffing. The target of contempt is made to feel despised and worthless. Contempt goes far beyond criticism. While criticism attacks your partner’s character, contempt assumes a position of moral superiority over them:
Research even shows that couples that are contemptuous of each other are more likely to suffer from infectious illness (colds, the flu, etc.) than others due to weakened immune systems! Contempt is fueled by long-simmering negative thoughts about the partner—which come to
a head when the perpetrator attacks the accused from a position of relative superiority.
Most importantly, contempt is the single greatest predictor of divorce. It must be eliminated.
3. Defensiveness
The third horseman is defensiveness, and it is typically a response to criticism.
We’ve all been defensive, and this horseman is nearly omnipresent when relationships are
on the rocks. When we feel unjustly accused, we fish for excuses and play the innocent victim so that our partner will back off.
Unfortunately, this strategy is almost never successful. Our excuses just tell our partner that
we don’t take their concerns seriously and that we won’t take responsibility for our mistakes:
Question: “Did you call Betty and Ralph to let them know that we’re not coming tonight as
you promised this morning?”
Defensive response: “I was just too darn busy today. As a matter of fact, you know just how busy my schedule was. Why didn’t you just do it?”
This partner not only responds defensively, but they reverse blame in an attempt to make
it the other partner’s fault. Instead, a non-defensive response can express acceptance of responsibility, admission of fault, and understanding of your partner’s perspective:
Although it is perfectly understandable to defend yourself if you’re stressed out and feeling attacked, this approach will not have the desired effect. Defensiveness will only escalate the conflict if the critical spouse does not back down or apologize. This is because defensiveness is really a way of blaming your partner,
and it won’t allow for healthy conflict management.
4. Stonewalling
The fourth horseman is stonewalling, which is usually a response to contempt. Stonewalling occurs when the listener withdraws from the interaction, shuts down, and simply stops responding to their partner. Rather than confronting the issues with their partner, people who stonewall can make evasive maneuvers such as tuning out, turning away, acting busy, or engaging in obsessive or distracting behaviors.
It takes time for the negativity created by the first three horsemen to become overwhelming enough that stonewalling becomes an understandable “out,” but when it does, it frequently becomes a bad habit. And unfortunately, stonewalling isn’t easy to stop. It is a result of feeling physiologically flooded, and when we stonewall, we may not even be in a physiological state where we can discuss things rationally.
If you feel like you’re stonewalling during a conflict, stop the discussion and
ask your partner to take a break:
Then take 20 minutes to do something alone that soothes you—read a book or magazine,
take a walk, go for a run, really, just do anything that helps to stop feeling flooded—
and then return to the conversation once you feel ready.
The Antidotes to the Four Horsemen
Being able to identify the Four Horsemen in your conflict discussions is a necessary
first step to eliminating them, but this knowledge is not enough. To drive away destructive communication and conflict patterns, you must replace them with healthy, productive ones. Fortunately, each horseman has a proven positive behavior that will counteract negativity.
Click here to learn about the antidotes.