Page 53 - BV17

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 53

Here, then, is something great enough in its influence upon all mankind to be compared with
the gospel itself, though of OPPOSITE CHARACTER -- a thing that has followed the course of the
gospel everywhere, even as the BLACK HORSE is shown following the white horse. It is a force
that has powerfully affected the very character of Christian civilization. While the rider of the white
horse symbolizes the going forth of the TRUE gospel under the power of YEHOVAH’s spirit, the
rider of the black horse symbolizes the going forth of a FALSE gospel under Satan’s spirit -- a false
gospel going forth with “the balances of deceit” -- a deceitful gospel that has ensnared millions! If
the WHITE HORSE and its rider represents the going forth of the TRUE gospel, the BLACK
HORSE (which is the very opposite of white) must represent the going forth of a FALSE gospel -- a
gospel of darkness and death.

The history of the past nineteen centuries fully confirms this conclusion. Paul mentions that
the black horse was beginning to ride in his day when he proclaimed: “For the mystery of lawless-
ness is already at work,” and “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day will not come un-
less the falling away [from the true gospel] comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of
perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he
sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God....The coming of the lawless one is
according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrigh-
teous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion [in the form of the black
horse], that they should believe the lie [the false gospel], that they all may be condemned who did
not believe the truth [true gospel] but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thessalonians 2:7, 3-4,
9-12).

This came to pass when the Roman Empire collapsed and the Roman Catholic Church rose
to power in its vacuum. From Paul’s day to the present, the black horse has followed right behind
the white and red horses, seemingly to overwhelm and hide from the world the true gospel message
that Yeshua and the disciples brought to a darkened civilization. Look around you today -- instead
of one pure, unadulterated worship of YEHOVAH God you find dozens, even hundreds, of differ-
ing and bickering “Christian” sects each claiming to have the “truth.” Logic dictates that only one
can have the truth and that one, wherever it may be, is the result of the work of the white horse and
its rider, while all the others are a result of the ride of the BLACK HORSE across the centuries. The
prophecy of Hosea and the vision of John have been fulfilled, but the end is not yet.

The Ephah

Powerful corroboration of this understanding of the rider of the black horse is found in the
visions of Zechariah. In Chapter Four Zechariah describes his vision of the golden candlestick
whose seven lamps were fed with golden oil through golden pipes -- this being a figure of
YEHOVAH God’s testimony on earth through His seven churches (see Revelation 2:1 - 3:22). This
part of Zechariah closely parallels the visions John had at Patmos. Turning from the contemplation
of the golden candlestick, Zechariah saw a flying roll (or scroll) which the angel that talked with
him said was “the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth.” This shows that out of
Judea was to come not only “the blessing of Abraham” (the true gospel) through those who were of
“the faith of Abraham,” but also “the curse” (the false gospel) through those who rejected
YEHOVAH’s truth and refused to submit themselves to His righteousness (Romans 10:3).

The Berean Voice September-October 2002