Transparency is needed to sort things out. Before big change happens, God first reveals what’s really going on.

In the Book of Revelation - the last book of the Word - the apostle John describes a series of apocalyptic visions that he experienced during his exile on the Isle of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea.

In one of these visions, he saw four horsemen, the first riding a white horse, the second a red horse, the third a black, and the fourth - named Death - riding a pale horse. These "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" - oft-pictured - are described in Revelation 6:1-8.

What do these horses, and their riders, represent? What do they have to do with us, today? Watch as Curtis Childs and Jonathan Rose explore the hidden Bible meaning of the Four Horsemen in the Book of Revelation, in this video from the Swedenborg and Life Series, from the Swedenborg Foundation.

Plus, to go straight to the source, follow the links below to the places in "Apocalypse Revealed" where Swedenborg explained the inner meaning of this famous Bible story. A good place to start would be Apocalypse Revealed 298.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 315; Apocalypse Revealed 262-263, 301, 306, 314, 316, 320, 322-323)

384. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill. That this signifies deprivation of all good and thence of all truth from the Word, and thence also in the doctrine of their church from the Word, is plain from the signification of power as denoting effect, because to be able denotes to effect; from the signification of killing or slaying, as denoting to deprive of good and truth (concerning which see above, n. 366); from the signification of the fourth part, as denoting all the good and truth thence, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the earth, as denoting the church, and everything thereof (concerning which see above, n. 29, 304). And because a church is a church from the doctrine there, and from a life according to it; and because every doctrine of the church should be from the Word, hence the doctrine of the church from the Word is also at the same time signified. From these considerations it is evident, that by power being given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill, is signified, the deprivation of all good and the truth thence from the Word, and, consequently, in the doctrine of the church from the Word. By its being said that "power was given unto them," is meant, that [it is] in the evils and the falsities thence, which also are signified by death and hell. That those who are in evils and falsities deprive themselves of all perception of good and understanding of truth from the Word, and thence in the doctrine of their church from the Word, is quite clear from those who are in falsities of doctrine from evils of life. Such, although they read the Word, either do not see the truths therein, or falsify them by applying them to the falsities of their own principle, and to the evils of their own love. For the sense of the letter of the Word is of such a nature, that those who are in good see truths therein, and those who are in evil see falsities; for the sense of the letter is adapted to the apprehension of children, boys, and simple people, and therefore is written according to the appearance; but still in that sense truths lie hidden which none see but those who are in good, while those who are in evil do not desire to see them, but by perverse interpretations apply all things to the evils of their own loves and to the falsities of their own principles. This is quite evident from so many heresies within the church, especially from the wicked Babylonian heresy, and also from the Jewish heresy.

[2] The reason why the fourth part signifies all good and the truth thence, is, because the number four signifies the conjunction of good and truth, and hence the fourth part or a fourth signifies the all of conjunction. Mention is frequently made in the Word of a third part, and also of a fourth part, and those who do not know that all numbers signify things, may suppose that a third part signifies a third part, and a fourth part a fourth part, or that they signify something; whereas by a third part is signified all truth, and by a fourth part all good; and because all truth is from good, hence by a fourth part are signified all good and the truth thence, here the deprivation of these, because it is said that power was given to them over the fourth part of the earth to kill. That three, and hence a third part, is said of truths, will be seen in the following pages where that number is mentioned. But that four, and hence a fourth part, are said of goods and the truths thence, is, because they signify their conjunction. That this is the case has been made evident to me by much experience from the spiritual world. For when the discourse with the angels there has been concerning the conjunction of good and truth, or of love and faith, and that discourse has been directed to numbers, the number four has been shown, and sometimes also the number two, or the number eight, or the number sixteen, because these numbers signify similar things; for numbers multiplied and divided into themselves, signify the same as the numbers by which they are multiplied or divided (see n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973). That angelic speech also falls into numbers, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 263). That four signifies the conjunction of good and truth, derives its origin from the four quarters in heaven, in two of which, namely, in the east and west, dwell those who are in the good of love, and in the other two, namely, in the south and the north, those who are in truths thence (as may also be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 141-153). Hence by the four quarters, or by the four winds, are signified all good and the truth thence, and by four the conjunction thereof. The reason why the fourth part signifies the all of the conjunction of good and truth, is, because the fourth there makes the all, and the fourth is significative of conjunction; hence by killing the fourth part is signified the all of conjunction, consequently, all good and truth; for where there is no conjunction things are not, for good is not given without truth, nor truth without good; they are in their essence one, because truth is of good, and good is of truth (as is evident from what is said, and the passages adduced concerning good and truth in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 11-27).

2252. That 'perhaps there may be fifty righteous persons in the midst of the city' means that the truths may be full of goods is clear from the meaning of 'fifty' as full, from the meaning of 'righteous' as good, dealt with in 612, 2235, from [the meaning] of 'midst' as that which is within, 1074, and from [the meaning] of 'the city' as truth, 402. Thus 'fifty righteous persons in the midst of the city' in the internal sense means that the truths may be full of goods. That this meaning exists within these words cannot be seen by anyone from the letter, for the historical details of the literal sense lead the mind in an altogether different direction or to think in a different way; but that these words are nevertheless perceived according to that meaning by those who possess the internal sense, I know for certain. Moreover the actual numbers mentioned, such as fifty here, and forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and ten in what follows, are never perceived as numbers by those who possess the internal sense but as real things or as states, as shown in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075.

[2] Indeed the ancients also used numbers to mark off one from another the states of their Church; and the nature of such numbers worked out by them becomes clear from the meaning of the numbers in the paragraphs that have just been mentioned. The meaning possessed by numbers was received by those people from the representatives which manifest themselves in the world of spirits. There when anything appears as that which is numbered, it does not mean something defined by means of numbers but means some real thing or else a state, as becomes clear from what has been presented in 2129, 2130, and also in 2089, regarding 'twelve' meaning all things of faith. It is similar with the numbers that now follow. This shows what the nature of the Word is in the internal sense.

[3] The reason 'fifty' means that which is full is that it is the number which comes after seven times seven, or forty-nine, and so marks the completion of the latter number. This explains why in the representative Church the feast of the seven sabbaths ¹ was held on the fiftieth day, and why a jubilee was held in the fiftieth year. Regarding the feast of the seven sabbaths the following is said in Moses,

You shall count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath; from the day you bring the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven sabbaths shall there be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count fifty days, and offer a new gift to Jehovah. Leviticus 23:15-16.

Regarding the jubilee in the same book,

You shall count for yourself seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years, and you shall have a time of seven sabbaths of years, forty-nine years. And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you. Leviticus 25:8, 10.

From this it is evident that 'the fiftieth' means that which marks the full completion of the sabbaths.

[4] What is more, whenever 'fifty' is mentioned in the Word it means that which is full, as in the case of the numbering of the Levites aged thirty years and over up to fifty years of age, Numbers 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:25. Here 'fifty' stands for the full or final state of that period of ministerial service. A man found lying with a young woman who was a virgin had to give to the young woman's father fifty pieces of silver, and she had to be his wife; nor could he divorce her, Deuteronomy 22:29. Here 'fifty pieces of silver' stands for a full fine and a full recompense. David's giving to Araunah fifty pieces of silver for the threshing-floor, where he built an altar to Jehovah, 2 Samuel 24:24, stands for a full price and a full payment. Absalom's making ready for himself a chariot and horses, and his having fifty men running before him, 2 Samuel 15:1, and Adonijah's likewise having chariots and horsemen, and fifty men running before him, 1 Kings 1:5, stand for their full dignity and majesty. For these people received from the ancients certain numbers which were representative and carried spiritual meanings and which were observed by them. Those numbers were also commanded in their religious observances, though the majority of the people did not know what was meant by them.

[5] In the same way, because 'fifty' means that which is full and this number was also representative, as has been stated, the same thing is meant in the Lord's parable concerning the steward, who said to the man owing oil,

How much do you owe my master? He said, A hundred baths of oil. Then he said to him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Luke 16:5-6.

'Fifty' stands for the full discharge of the debt. Being a number it does indeed seem to imply nothing more than a number, when in fact in the internal sense this number is used in every case to mean that which is full, as also in Haggai,

One came to the winevat to draw fifty measures from the winevat, and there were only twenty. Haggai 2:16.

This means that instead of a full amount there was not much. 'Fifty' would not have been mentioned in the prophet if it had not carried this meaning.

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