Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Many people understand the book of Revelation as portraying what is going to happen at the end of the world. This comes from what is known as the pre-millennial view, popularized in Tim LaHaye’s and Jerry B. Jenkins’ Left Behind series, which is a recent interpretation pushed by dispensationalists. Rather than see the Bible as a portraying the unfolding of God’s covenant with His people, dispensationalists tend to divide biblical history into dispensations, i.e., different ages to which God has allotted distinctive administrative principles.

The historic view of the church has been the post-millennial view, which provides a more optimistic view of human history and, in the case of partial preterism, places most of the events of Revelation in the past.

Here’s an explanation of Revelation from this perspective by Peter Leithart:

The horsemen who are summoned by the living creatures in Revelation 6 are known as “horsemen of the Apocalypse.” This is what they are, technically, since they are horsemen and they appear in a book called “the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ.”

But usually that phrase implies something more: these horsemen, who represent horrors like war, famine, and death, represent a series of signs that will occur just before the end of the world. When you see the horsemen ride out, then you know the end is near.

There are problems with that.

It’s not what Jesus says, though, in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24). He says the opposite. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, He says, don’t be afraid; it’s not the end. There will be famines and earthquakes, but these are just the “beginning of birth pangs.”

Besides, the notion that these horsemen represent the end doesn’t fit into Revelation. Think about what has just happened.

John has ascended into the heavenly throne room of God. There’s a worship service going on. But something is amiss. There’s a sealed book at the right hand of the Enthroned One, and no one is around to open it and reveal and unleash its contents.

No one – until the Lion of Judah appears in the guise of an ascended Lamb. That’s Jesus, in case you were confused, and He’s worthy to take the book and open the seals.

What’s happening? It’s pretty obvious once it’s pointed out (as Jim Jordan did to me many years ago): First there’s no Lamb, then there’s a Lamb. The Lamb appears in heaven. The Lamb that is Jesus. Sound familiar? It should; what John is seeing is the ascension of Jesus from the viewpoint of heaven.

Gathered on a mountain with the other apostles, John watched Jesus disappear into a cloud, entering heaven. Now, in vision, He has the privilege of seeing Jesus’ heavenly advent from the other side of the firmament.

Read Leithart’s full column here.