The Fourth Horseman

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

[Rev 6:7-8]

Paradoxically, what seemingly is most straightforward of horsemen is actually the most mystifying and perplexing.

What can be more straightforward an interpretation than what is written, namely that a quarter of the earth shall die from the sword - which is often taken as symbolic of wars and conflict - famine, plaque and wild beast of the earth.

But a little reflection reveals something amissed.

For surely everyone dies, and not just a quarter of the earth. For God have made it explicit that man shall not live more than a hundred and twenty years:

Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."

[Gen 6:3]

God proclaimed this in the times of Noah, before the Flood, and Noah himself lived up to 350 years and much later Abraham lived to 157 years. Moses however died exactly at 120 years. So it seems that there is a gradual decline in man's lifespan from that proclaimation, and only effected from the time of Moses, and now any centenarian is something to be amazed about.

Perhaps the death by the Fourth Horseman, named Death, and his partner, Hades, is not the same kind of death as the death that all mortals will die from. What death is this then? is it more accursed to die from this death?

Further what is the significance of dying from the sword, famine, plaque and wild beasts' attacks as compared to that from earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, accidents - industrial, domestic, etc - ordinary sicknesses and diseases, congential hereditary defects, or just "old" age?

Then it does not seem to say anything new nor does it give any new insight, unlike the other three horsemen.

Whatever your interpretation of the preceeding horsemen, the fourth is just an echo of them all, a kind of summary or conclusion to that which preceeded, namely that death is the end of this all.

So is it just a summary?

It can simply means that Death is the outcome to whatever Man does, in all his endeavours. But my interpretation framework or perspective thus far is that these horsemen reveals the essence of what mankind and earthly life is all about, or the fundamental characteristics which shaped and defined what humankind is, for all times from the beginning to the end. This fourth horseman is - apparently - not saying anything of this sort.

And so I rather consistently think it is saying something that I cannot discern at this moment in time.

There is however a new thing, not suggested in the preceeding horsemen, namely that mankind being killed by wild beasts of the earth.

This is actually strange thing: for animals do not naturally attack humans, for they are given a spirit to fear man, as God have ordained so:

The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands.

[Gen 9:2]

This God ordained after the Flood even as he sets a bow in the sky.

But of course people have been killed by animals from a long time ago, certainly in biblical times: it is entirely believable to Jacob that Joseph was attacked and killed by a wild beast. And that only means that the fourth horseman have been in the world again from a long time ago too, as with the other three.

Nonetheless deaths from wild beasts of the earth is a rare thing, and probably getting rarer.

For example in the US around the period of year 2000, 177 annual fatalities are due to animals, which includes such as riding accidents, as compared to over 2 million total fatalities (of which 20% are tabacco related), ie in the order of 0.01%.

So deaths from animal attacks are very very insignificant, at least in terms of their numbers, and will perhaps get even less significant as the wilderness shrinks and mankind have less opportunity meeting wild animals. Also species are going extinct even by the day.

So what is the significance about death from wild beasts' attack? What is the big deal about Man being killed by wild beasts of the earth?

Perhaps there is yet-to-happen scenario where wild animals, or insects, lose the spirit of the fear of Man and go on a rampage and deaths from animals' attack becomes a significant proportion of deaths. That sounds scary indeed, but this is purely speculative.

But we need not speculate, for we can already know for certain that God's ordination is somehow breached.

And for this to happen either wild beasts, in specific individuals or in their entirety, had a new spirit that no longer fear Man, or conversely that Man, again individually or in the entire mankind, is of a new spirit, for which these wild animals do not fear or which do not come under God's original protective ordination. And the change of spirit either in the animals or in Man himself is in the authority given to this horseman, Death, and his partner Hades.

And so the Fourth Horseman may be saying that life's nature is fundamentally changed on this earth, even at the spiritual level.

Then there is yet another strange thing, namely death from death itself. The original Greek that is translated plaque is actually the exact same word as the name of the Fourth Horseman, translated Death. It is hard to make sense of death by death itself.

But we can be sure of one thing, namely this death is by the joint authority of the Fourth horsemen and Hades: "They were given power ...". Thus the authority is not solely the Devil's, but rather given jointly to both Man and the Devil. In other words the Devil cannot work on his own. He needs Man, even as Man needs the Devil, to do their deeds.

So whereas Man was created in the likeness of God to "rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground" [Gen 1:26], now Man works with Hades, or the Devil, as a partner to fundamentally change the spiritual nature of things on earth.

And Death is an unnatural thing, for Man was created for Eternity, even as the Devil knew from the Beginning.

Finally we can perhaps read in the current environmental impact and irreversible changes caused by Man's activities, as a reflection of the impact and changes that have been occuring in the spiritual nature of all things, by Man working with his partner, Hades.