ANALYZING THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE

The four horsemen of the Apocalypse is one of the most intriguing parts of the Bible. Each rider of the horse brings about a plague that is designed to make it difficult for men, but are all signs of God showing His existence to the world. Things to humble men down from their self-imposed pedestals and hopefully accept the Lord for who He is instead of demanding that He accepts us for what we are. If you read about God punishing the Israelites after they turned from Him in terrible ways, He said through His servants the prophets that after Israel was humbled enough, they would turn back to Him, and He would turn back to them.

The rider of the first horse of the Apocalypse is riding a white horse. His power was to be able to conquer much of Earth. The color of the horse being white is significant because this is the Antichrist who will be as Christ coming in riding on a white horse. The Antichrist will conquer the world to be his one world government. We’re closer to that now than anyone might think. With the recent economic collapses revealing the vulnerabilities of the global economy, it goes to show our economies are already tied to one another. It could take only one more catastrophe that would send this world over the edge.

The rider of the red horse is next, and his power was to take peace from the Earth. Again, we’re right at the door of this possibly happening. Iran is close to having a nuclear bomb to which Israel cannot let them have. Israel as they have done in times past will see to it that this does not come to pass. Iran has the backing of many countries which are not coincidentally the same countries listed as the ones written in the Bible that will come against Israel in the battle of Armageddon, which means “mountains of Megiddo”. The Arab World, Russia, China, and others will be among these nations. Right now a snapping of a twig can send this world into a world war. Even nonbelievers can see this as a possibility.

The rider of the black horse is more mysterious than the others. He was given a pair of balances. There was a voice that said “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.” As most know, this is a plague on the economy. What is a bit of a mystery is how specific this plague really is and it goes to show how subtle some of God’s words really are. One part is that the oil and the wine aren’t actually oil and wine at all. If there is a great plague upon the economy, of course the price of oil and wine would be hurt. Oil you don’t just cook with but you anoint with. Wine is fermented grape juice, but during fermentation impurities come out of the grape juice. What that really says is “don’t hurt the anointed and the pure”. To prove this further, Psalm 105:15 says “touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” Exactly what my interpretation of Revelation 6:6. It’s either that or that the price of oil and wine will not go up when everything else does. You be the judge. Two, specifically one measure of wheat and three measures of barley make up a good sized loaf of bread. You can make two decent sized loaves of bread. It says that each a measure of wheat and three measures of barley are a penny. What is a penny according to what is written? The answer is in Matthew chapter 20. Just about all of that chapter is a parable from Christ which means that it doesn’t matter when a person comes to Christ in their life, that they will receive the same things a person will receive if they came to Christ early in their lives. Hidden in that parable is what a penny is. The man who owned the land offered men to work in his field a penny for a day’s work. A penny represents a working man’s daily wage. This clarifies the economic plague of the black horse making it mean it would take a poor working man’s daily wage to be able to buy a loaf or so of bread. If that seems far-fetched as how there could be a plague so strong, one must be a student of history. In Russia shortly before and after communism fell, people lined up in the streets to pay $20 for a loaf of bread. It was worse in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. I remember bread being mentioned specifically in those old news stories. This will be a plague of great economic woe and will give power to the one who has “the solution”.

The rider of the last horse rides a pale horse. This is the worst of all of the horsemen. The rider of the pale horse had Hell follow with him and his name was Death. This is Satan after being kicked down to Earth himself. Satan is Death, and Hell will follow him. Satan will make war with Israel geographically and the nations aligned with Israel. He will also go after Christians. War, hunger, and pestilences will kill a fourth part of the Earth. Pestilence isn’t written there specifically, but among the things described by Jesus in Matthew 24 and other gospels when He describes the end times says that there will be many pestilences. We’ve had SARS and the bird flu threaten to take many people for the last several years now. An outbreak of either or both would do great damage. AIDS already has taken many, and continues to be the biggest threat to the people of Africa.

These plagues are frightening to say the least, but if this is the generation to see it then it has a lot of work to do. This is the most selfish and lost generation in this age’s history. So many do not believe and belittle things that are of God. Many who do believe don’t fully believe what is written. “It’s all in the interpretation” I’ve heard many times. That’s such a lazy thought to have. Of course it’s in the interpretation, but God’s word is GOD’S WORD, not man’s. Trace things back to the original languages of Hebrew and Greek. Those are God’s words written in its original form. The King James is man’s translation of God’s word. Read with a Strong’s Concordance which will explain to you what it originally says in the Hebrew for the OT and the Greek for the NT. Get ready. Prepare yourselves. We are at the door.

ANTICHRIST POSSIBILITIES

There are some silly candidates put forth by people as possibly being the Antichrist. George Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and others. They’re not even worthy of commenting on other than those are just silly prospects as who the Antichrist might be.

There are enough clues in the Bible to at least tell everyone the origin of the Antichrist. In Daniel 7 it describes where the Antichrist will come from. It says that he will come from the fourth and last empire to take over Israel, and that it will be a reformation of this empire. In the redeveloping of this empire, the eleventh nation to join will be diverse from all of the others. This is the nation that the Antichrist will come from. The fourth empire to come was the Roman Empire. That means it will be a reformation of this empire that the Antichrist will come from. If I’m right and many others are also right, the European Union is the new Roman Empire. Look at what it’s done. It was at first a modest trade organization between European countries, and now it’s got its own army and now is the law of Europe. They brought forth the European currency, the euro. Great power lies with the EU, and that power is growing. What was the eleventh nation to join? Both Spain and Portugal came in at the same time and were the eleventh nations. So which is it? Much of the power of the EU lies in Madrid. When attacks upon and by Israel happen, Madrid steps in. If the EU is indeed the new Roman Empire, then he will most likely come from Spain.

1. King Juan Carlos of Spain: He’s the most well-known possible Antichrist. I have good reason to believe it is not him. He’s old. One thing the Antichrist probably won’t be. He does have a lot going for him. He’s the King of Spain. He has an incredible, diverse amount of royalty in him. Only his descendants have more royal blood. His ancestor was once titled King of Jerusalem. He has a lot of power in Spain. He’s more than just a titled King. He does have responsibilities beyond the royal family in Britain. I still have a very strong belief it is not him.

2. Javier Solana: Some have looked at him as the Antichrist as well. He has a lot of power within the EU and NATO as well. He is Spain’s top representative to the EU on security matters. Again, he’s too old to be the Antichrist in my opinion. I’m more sure of him not being the Antichrist than King Juan Carlos.

3. Prince Felipe: The most credible Antichrist possibility. Pope Pius XII said that when Jerusalem is in Israeli control that it will begin “the countdown” towards the tribulation period. The reason for his prediction is Jesus said that Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until their time is fulfilled. Later Jesus said this generation shall not pass. It’s important also to note that Jesus specifically said this of Jerusalem, and not Israel. Jerusalem came under Jewish control after Israel once again became a nation. That happened in 1967 after the Six Day War, while Israel was re-established in 1948. Prince Felipe was born in 1968. The Bible says that the number of his name will be six-six-six. His name is Felipe Borbon Carlos. He is a good looking man. Lucifer was God’s most beautiful angel. He has all of his father’s royal blood and then some. His mother is the Queen of Greece. Not only will he inherit his father’s titles and has the same bloodline, but he has even more royalty in him than his father. Prince Felipe is the one that sticks out in my mind. It might not be him, but he has all of the qualities necessary except the Antichrist will not be married, but there is divorce. He to me is the most intriguing possibility.

Some might say “why debate about this”. Well why would God give us clues? There’s a reason for that. He’s not going to give us clues and expect us not to look into them. We are inching closer everyday to that day. It’s a good thing to keep your eyes opened. No matter who it will be, all but the elect have the ability bow to him for at least a moment. Only the election of grace will be ensured to not bow their knee at all. There will only be seven thousand of them when that day comes. The decision upon this creation doesn’t rest on if they ever bow their knee. It’s will they keep their faith at the end of the age. Will they stand their ground when they know what is right. Remember, the sounding of the seventh trump will remove the spirit of slumber upon this creation, and the mystery of everything is finished. That will be what is most important. All will know Jesus is the Christ and Satan is the evil one, but many will be so weak they will still fall.