The Fourth Seal

By Ashley R. Clarkson
1 September, 2002

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see." - Revelation 6:7

The Last Horseman

The first three horsemen have passed through the earth, leaving war, famine and economic breakdown in their wake. Now comes the last horseman, completing the quadripartite.

Death and Destruction Is Their Lot

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 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." - Revelation 6:7-8

What is immediately most striking about this judgement as opposed to those gone before is that there are two "persons" - death, the rider, and Hell, following close behind. What might this mean? It is much less difficult to comprehend than one might realise. The meaning of the rider named "Death" is obvious, the fourth seal judgement is all to do with death on a large scale. "Hell" following close behind, is simply a statement of what happens to the people who die. Having died, they proceed to Hell, where they will stay until they are delivered up to face God at the White Throne Judgement, and then thrown into the Lake of Fire. They here are working in partnership as a judgement over the rebellious citizens of earth.

Significant is the level of death that is mandated simply to this one judgement. This judgement of death and destruction, will see fully one quarter of the population of the earth at that time die. That is on the scale of billions! Remember, that is larger than any war ever before. How is this to be accomplished? Through the previous judgements, among others. The second seal remember brought forth a cataclysmic war upon the earth, and the third seal saw economic failure and famine. These two judgements, given they are large enough (and biblical evidence suggests they will be, see The GogMagog War (forthcoming)), would definitely be accountable for this level of sheer slaughter. The final two would also provide for this level of death.

It is interesting that they are able to kill with death. What does this mean? Most likely, this involves indirect deaths that result not necessarily as a direct result of the others. For instance, heart attacks or other conditions that could normally be endured in our day would not necessarily be survivable in conditions that will be present throughout this time. Also, there will be others who, not being able to bear the times, will commit suicide in an attempt to escape it.

Only with a cataclysmic war would beasts of the earth approach humans. Normally as we know they are timid enough, but if the destruction of their feeding grounds and other such things affect them, they are likely to view humans as a food source, most likely overcoming their fear of humans (that most animals exhibit). That this is mentioned suggests that the deaths resulting from this occurence will not be few, but relatively frequent, unlike today.

The last horseman of the apocalypse, to fit this criteria, must come quickly behind the previous two horsemen to make sense. In fact, it is my considered opinion that these judgements will be unleashed within a very small space of time of each other. Whilst war plans take time to prepare, once they start the roll-on effects, particularly in a war as violent and deadly as the one awaiting the earth in the future, do not take long to kick in. Whatever the timing however, one thing is clear - the earth faces a terrible time ahead, and it can only get worse.