Fourth Seal – Rider on the Pale Horse (verses 7-8)

7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

This pale color is really a color of an indefinite hue in the original language. The word that is translated here “pale” is translated in some other places in the New Testament as “green” or “a bluish-type color.” The suggestion here is, perhaps, something that is pale, something that is sort of ashen in color, something that, if you will, represents death. The rider of this horse personifies Death.

This is an interesting image: Hades was traveling along with Death. How was Hades traveling? Was Hades on a horse as well? Was Hades sort of running along aside? Well, we don’t know. It doesn’t say.

And what kind of an image is this, anyway? Is this really a very clear image that we can see in our minds? It’s a very difficult image. We can certainly see a pale horse and a rider, but what is Hades, and how is that represented here?

Well, we know that each time Hades is mentioned in Revelation, it is associated with Death. Indeed, they are companions, one of the other. Christ has the keys to both Death and Hades we’re told in chapter 1, and verse 18 [“I am He Who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”]. Here, the horseman, who is Death, and his attendant, Hades, are, in a sense, working together, working in conjunction with one another.

The good news is—and we have to get all the way over to chapter 20, and verse 13, but at the end when we “get to the end of the story,” so to speak, we know that Death and Hades both give up the dead that are in them and both are cast into the lake of fire, Revelation 20, and verse 14. [Revelation 20:13-14: “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.¹⁴Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”]

Here we have an image that, yes, it’s difficult for us to picture, but the implication has to do with Death and Hades, Hades being the realm, the place, of the dead.

They are given authority. Well, Christ has ALL authority in heaven and on the earth [“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,’” Matthew 28:18.]. He rules in all realms, but there is a permission which is granted here for Death, for the instruments of Death to have their way in a limited fashion. In some way that we do not understand or fully appreciate how it is done, the Lord uses the service of the rider (Death) to carry out and accomplish the divine purpose which is bound up in this sealed scroll.

The authority that they are given is over “a fourth of the earth.” I suggest that we not, as in everything else, try to make that something literal, but rather, an indication that, indeed, this is allowed—this permission has been granted. It’s not something that Satan, who is the administrator of Death, has been able to wrest away on his own by his own power and authority, but rather, this has been granted to him. He has, indeed, been granted some authority, albeit, limited authority. I believe that is what is represented here by the “a fourth of the earth.” No, he doesn’t have authority over ALL the earth, but he has some authority, which has been given to him.

We see here that the means of Death are detailed for us. First of all, we see that that he kills with the sword. This would be the sword that a soldier used in that day, the great Thracian sword, it was called. It would be distinguished from other types of cutting instruments, for example, a knife which was used for the butchering of animals, or used in the sacrificial offerings, and so on. This is actually the sword of war. We can see that it symbolizes, perhaps, carnal or military warfare. We had already spoken about spiritual warfare and those saints of God who would be martyred, who would be killed for their faith and belief. But we see represented here, I believe, this carnal, or this military warfare. This is, as a matter of fact, being introduced for the first time. The Lord permits, even uses the sword of nations to execute judgment upon the earth. We know that nation has been warring with nation for generations, for centuries, from prior to the 1^st Century AD and continuing on, even to this day.

We see also that he kills with famine—famine which swept countries in those days, taking a tremendous toll. Famine, in a sense, can be viewed as a companion of warfare. Many times, famine follows the ravages of war. It did in that day. It continues, even to this day. Think about some of the problems that we see in countries in recent years, like Ethiopia, Liberia and others. But the point is, people war and fight against one another. There is civil war; there is cross-border war and things like that, and the result is oftentimes—during the war and at the end of the war—famine. Crops have been destroyed; communication systems are destroyed and so on and so forth. It worked in that day; it works in this day.

Third, he kills with what some translations say is “death.” But, most commentators believe that that is a suggestion of “pestilence.” This, as well, often accompanies, is a companion of, both war and famine. As these things take place, the population experiences sickness and disease which can be brought on by infestations of various bugs, rats, and so on. (I don’t mean to get too descriptive of these things.) But notice, as well, that Jesus associated famine and pestilence when He was telling of the calamities which would come upon Jerusalem, Luke, chapter 21, and verse 11 [“And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.”] This also fits with an Old Testament verse that we’re going to look at in just a moment.