Revelation: The Four Horses

 Revelation: Justification by Faith

The Four Horses

Before we go through each horse of Revelation individually, we must first address the four horsemen in general.

It is no secret that these horses are placed in a context of war.
They conquer, carry swords, bring hunger, or bring the troubles of a besieged city.
The rider, before the introduction of modern weaponry—especially in the time of ancient Israel—was one of the most feared military units. The well-known Scythians took their name from this.
But with Revelation 4 and 5 in mind, we must understand that these are not fleshly weapons or physical attacks.
This is an assault from God against the kingdom of Satan in the spiritual realm.

In Zechariah, although it doesn’t give much more information about the horses themselves, we do find the context for these horses.
Zechariah was a prophet during the time when Jerusalem was being restored. Jerusalem had been reduced to dust and ashes by Babylon, but now it was being restored by the Persian Empire, and the people were returning to Jerusalem.
The parallel with Revelation 5 is unmistakable, where Jesus is now establishing a kingdom with the heavenly New Jerusalem as its capital.
Hebrews says:

Hebrews 12:22–24 (ESV):

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Then Zechariah tells us:

Zechariah 1:7–16 (ESV):

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying,
“I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses.
Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’
So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.’
And they answered the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’
Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’
And the Lord answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.
So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.
And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are at ease; for while I was angry but a little, they furthered the disaster.
Therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.’”

The horses were sent out to patrol the land, and they found the nations sitting in quiet and rest as if nothing were wrong. In their carelessness, they worsened the troubles of God’s people. It is in this context that we find the horses.
In this chapter, they seem much less to have the character of instruments of war as in Revelation, and almost more that of messengers returning to God.

Zechariah 6:1–8 (ESV):

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze.
The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses,
the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.
Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth.
The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.”
When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth.
Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.”

That is all for the horses.