or Why Four Horsemen but Seven Seals?

“…the Egyptians are men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.”  Isaiah 31:3

One of the three laws for Israelite kings was a command against multiplying horses and chariots—especially Egyptian ones. Solomon’s horse trading was, for a nation with a miraculous escape ON FOOT, in the eyes of the Lord, just like the faithless behaviour of the Hebrews in the wilderness. It’s always better to dwell in a tent with God than in a palace with the devil. Solomon’s kingdom of chariots and oppression became a new Egypt. By the end of the era, the pigs ruled the farm.

Chariots became a symbol of the unbelief that trusts in the fleeting strength of men:

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” Psalms 20:7

“He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.” Psalms 46:9

“At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, Both the chariot and horse were cast into a dead sleep.” Psalms 76:6

The only chariots the Lord permitted were His own.

“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands; The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.” Psalms 68:17 [1]

David understood that the Lord’s chariot was a fiery cloud. Fighting ON FOOT, in the power of God, David walked on the wings of the wind (Psalm 104:3). When faithful, God’s armies cross any overflowing Jordan dryshod (Isaiah 11:15). The chariot-cloud/Ark goes before them.

“And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds.”  Esther 8:10

Both Zechariah and Esther are books with equine imagery. Zechariah’s visions begin with the captive church as horses in “the deep.” The visions take us through the establishment of Jeremiah’s predicted “new Covenant” and end with the Lord’s chariots racing out of the Temple. As the last phase of the Covenant document, the horses are the “four rivers” of Covenant succession that carry the Word from Garden to Land to World.

The ministry of Christ ended with “rivers” flowing from His “belly.” For Jesus, the succession came when He stood on the Mount of Olives and passed the baton to His disciples. He had been given all authority, and now He was giving it to them. They became four rivers, the four horsemen of the apocalypse flowing from the Garden that would water the whole Land. This they did. [2]

But in Revelation, the four horsemen are the first four of seven seals. This is because, in the greater first century pattern, the ascension of Christ was only Firstfruits. Christ on the mountain was Moses on Sinai, and after ascending He “opened the Law” at Pentecost. The Law has seven seals (seven Lampstand lights), and the central part of Revelation shows the blessings and curses that followed in the wake of the open Law.[3]

The first century Covenant pattern also ends with Covenant succession. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ begins the pattern again accompanied by the ascended first century church, and the white horse is now plural. Garden, Land, World. [4]

The Lord’s couriers don’t need horses and chariots of flesh. We have beautiful feet. We walk on the wind.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  John 3:8

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[1] See Angels in the Trees – 2.
[2] See also Saved from the Green Horse.
[3] Note that the fifth seal was the summoning of the “armies” of dead saints, the Old Covenant warriors.
[4] For much more on this, listen to James Jordan’s lectures on Revelation, available from me here, and from www.wordmp3.com.

When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a green [Greek: chloros] horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the [Land], to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the [Land].

The four horsemen of the apocalypse are the Gospel. They are released as the seals on the New Covenant scroll are broken by Christ after His ascension. The white horse brings the Word, the red horse brings division (as Jesus promised), the black horse starves the old order (or Covenant) but does no harm to the new, and finally, the green horse (a Levite with a sword1), ends the old order.

James Jordan notices that Revelation 7:15-17 follows the Creation week pattern.

Light “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple;

Firmament and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. (New Jerusalem)

Land, Grain & Fruits They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; (bread and wine)

Ruling Lights the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat (no more oppressive government from false shepherds)

Schools/Flocks For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, (Christ intercedes for His flock)

Man and he will guide them to springs of living water, (a resurrected garden/Temple)

Dominion and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Sabbath rest and clear judgment)

Jesus refers to the sun-beaten, starving captives in Isaiah 49:10, but here they were leaving Herod’s Babylon hungry and thirsty for righteousness. He saved the New Covenant “remnant” from the green horse plagues (the apostles) who brought an end to the old order with their flaming swords (tongues).

Though this text applies to the first century, the Gospel still follows this fourfold pattern wherever it goes.

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1 Levi’s stone was an emerald. For more details on the horsemen, see James B. Jordan, The Vindication of Jesus Christ. You can purchase his Revelation lectures from www.wordmp3.com (USA) or in Australia from me here.

P.S. Belshazzar experienced the Word as four horsemen, although the order is slightly different. Word, Weighed, Cut off, Kingdom Divided. Mene, Tekel and Perez are Aramaic names of measure of currency. Worship is signified as “buying and selling” (Revelation 13:17). The four horsemen bring a new “economy.”