SEAL TWO - THE RED HORSE

"And when he opened the Second Seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 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." - (REVELATION 6: 3-4)

The Futurists say that this prophecy refers to the rise of Red Atheistic Communism since 1917, and the way in which that evil system has spread conflict and bloodshed across the globe. To believe this interpretation we would have to break the entire symbolism of the prophecy. The symbol of the Horse and Rider as we have already seen refers to the Pagan Roman Empire, the change of colour from white to red indicates, historical progression. We have now entered the era following the Cretan Emperors. Furthermore the earth mentioned in the prophecy does not refer to the whole wide world, but rather to the "Roman Earth", or Continental Europe, where these Horsemen prophecies find their fulfilment. Now let us look at the verses in more detail.

AN ERA OF BLOODY CONFLICT

The fact that this phase in the history of Imperial Rome is described as Red, and the references to taking peace from the earth, and killing one another, all go to prove that the Empire had entered a period of violence, bloodshed and civil strife. History tells us that when the Emperor Commodus succeeded the Cretan dynasty, good government and peaceful conditions began to break down all over the Empire. Commodus himself was to be assassinated, and during the ninety years that followed, civil war and slaughter became the order of the day, as imperial Rome began the slide down to ruin and destruction. The historian Sismondi records that during this period there were no less than thirty-two Emperors and twenty-seven Pretenders, the rise and fall of each being attended by fierce and bloody conflict.

Commodus

THE GREAT SWORD

The Red Horseman is described as having been given a Great Sword, and not only does this also indicate the violent nature of those times, but it shows the source from which much of the violence emanated. The sword was regarded as the symbol of the military profession, and it was during the reign of Commodus that the power of the army and its generals began to increase. Legions contended for supremacy and raised their generals up and placed them on the Imperial throne of the Caesars. The power of the Senate was crushed as one military coup followed another; the population groaned under the tyranny and brutality of the rival armies, and the rule of the Great Sword, seen by the Seer of Patmos had become the order of the day.

It is also interesting to note on this same point that it had been the Roman custom for the Emperor to present a sword to the Praetorian Prefect and to the Imperial Lieutenant, when they were officially appointed. These swords represented the military and civil powers of the Empire, and Paul makes reference to this when he states of the ruler:

"He beareth not the sword in vain." - (ROMANS 13:4)

Almost a century of violence and bloodshed under the Red Horseman, was to produce the inevitable results of economic ruin and famine: which brings us to the Third seal.