~The Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse~
White Horse
The rider of the white horse is very commonly interpreted to be the Antichrist figure, but such an interpretation ignores much of the imagery presented throughout the Revelation and many cross references of whom the Bible names as being given a crown. For instance, every
other time the colour white is used in the Revelation, it is always
representative of righteousness and holiness, and whenever the author,
John, depicts a malevolent force, he consistently shows it as evil (the
two beasts of chapter 13, or the scarlet beast
and the prostitute of chapter 17).
[edit] Red Horse
The rider of the second horse is generally held to represent War.
The red color of his horse represents blood spilled on the battlefield.
He carries a greatsword, which represents battle and fighting. The Red Horse is also said to represent the Planet Mars.
Revelation 6:4 - "And there went out another horse that was red: and
power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth,
and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a
great sword."
[edit] Black Horse
The third horseman, riding the black horse, is called Famine. The black color of the third horse could be a symbol of the dead.
Revelation 6:5 - 6:6 - “And when he had opened the third seal, I
heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black
horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I
heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat
for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou
hurt not the oil and the wine.’”
[edit] Pale Horse
The fourth horseman, his colour is sage (on the pale, or sickly
horse, which may be the source of the notion of "pestilence" as a
separate horseman) is explicitly named Death.
The Greek word interpreted here as "pale" is elsewhere in the New
Testament translated as "paisley." The horse is sometimes translated as
"pale," "pale green," or "green." The pale greenish color of the fourth
horse could mean fear, sickness, decay, and famine. His horse is thin
and weak, instead of strong and healthy.
Revelation 6:8 - "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his
name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power
was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with
sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the
earth."
