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.

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

340. "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (6:17) This symbolically means that they became of such a character of themselves as a result of their separation from good and faithful people, because of the Last Judgment, which they could not otherwise endure.

The great day of the Lamb's wrath symbolizes the day of the Last Judgment. And "who is able to stand" symbolizes an inability to bear it because of the torture experienced. For when a last judgment is at hand, the Lord draws near with heaven, and of the people who are below in the world of spirits, only those are able to bear the Lord's coming who are inwardly good, and the inwardly good are people who refrain from evils as being sins and turn to the Lord.

That the day of the Lord's wrath symbolizes a last judgment is clearly apparent from the following passages:

While the wrath of the anger of Jehovah has not yet come upon you, while the day of the anger of Jehovah has not yet come upon you..., it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the anger of Jehovah. (Zephaniah 2:2-3)

Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, cruel, and one of ire and the wrath of His anger... (Isaiah 13:9, cf. 13:13)

The great day of Jehovah is near... That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish..., a day of darkness and pitch darkness... (Zephaniah 1:14-15)

...Your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead, and for rewarding Your servants..., and for destroying those who destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:18)

Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, because His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalms 2:12)

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