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.

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

358. And a crown was given unto him. That this signifies life eternal, which is the reward of victory, is manifest from the signification of a crown, which, when spiritual combat is treated of, as in this case, denotes life eternal, which is the reward of victory. That spiritual combat is here treated of, is clear from what precedes and follows. In what precedes it is said, that He who sat upon the white horse had a bow, and by a bow is signified the doctrine of charity and faith, from which evils and falsities are fought against and dispersed. And also from what follows, in which it is said, and "He went forth conquering, and to conquer," by which is signified victory over them; hence by the crown is here signified life eternal, which is the reward of victory.

[2] The same is signified by a crown, where temptations are treated of, because temptations are spiritual combats, as in the second chapter of this book, where these [words occur]:

"Behold, it shall be that the devil will cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tempted; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (verse 10).

That wisdom and eternal happiness are here signified by a crown, may be seen above (n. 126). Wisdom and eternal happiness taken together are life eternal, for in wisdom and eternal happiness the very life of heaven consists. The same is signified by the crown of the martyrs, because they were in tribulation, and were faithful even to death, and were also in temptations, and conquered; crowns were also given to them after death, but lest they should thence arrogate honour to themselves, and thus contract haughtiness, they cast them off from their heads. Because by wars in the Word are signified wars in a spiritual sense, which are combats against evils and falsities, and by kings are signified truths from good which fight against them; hence, in ancient times, when men were in the knowledge of correspondences and representations, the kings in their battles had a crown upon the head, and a bracelet upon the arm; as is evident from the second book of Samuel:

[3] The boy the son of an Amalekite, who told David that Saul and Jonathan were dead, said, "I came upon mount Gilboa, when behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and leaders followed hard after him. And he called to me, Come and slay me. And I stood against him, and slew him, and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and I bring them to thee" (1:5-10).

The crown in battle was then a mark of combat, and the bracelet, upon the arm was a mark of power, each against evils and falsities. These combats are also signified by battles everywhere in the Word, even in the historical parts. (That the bracelet upon the arm signifies the power of truth from good, may be seen, n. 3105. What further the crowns of kings signify, and crowns in general, see n. 272.)

2069. 'Kings of peoples will be from her' means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, meant by 'kings of peoples'. This is clear from the meaning of 'kings' as all truths in general, dealt with above in 2015, and from the meaning of 'peoples' also as truths, in general all things that are spiritual. For 'kings' are spoken of in reference to peoples, and not so much in reference to nations except when the nations mean evils, dealt with in 1259, 1260. In the prophetical part of the Word kings and peoples are mentioned many times, but nowhere are they used to mean kings and peoples, for at no point are kings and peoples the subject in the Word proper, which is the internal sense, but the celestial and spiritual things comprising the Lord's kingdom, and so goods and truths. The sense of the letter expresses itself by means of perceivable objects, as anyone does with words, merely to enable understanding.

[2] Since the subject here is Sarah and the promise that 'kings of peoples will be from her', and since 'Sarah' means Divine Truth which was the Lord's, 'kings of peoples' clearly means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, which are all the truths of the internal Church, that is, the interior truths of faith. Because these truths come from the Lord, they are frequently called 'kings' in the Word, and also 'a king's sons', as shown above in 2015.

[3] Anyone may see that some internal Divine matter lies concealed in the words that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. For the subject in this verse is Isaac, of whom it is said, 'I will bless him, and he will become nations', but of Sarah that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. Almost the same was also said of Abraham in verse 6 above, that 'kings will go out of him'; but it did not say as it does of Sarah, 'kings of peoples'. The arcanum within this lies too deep to allow it to be uncovered and described in a few words. From the representation and meaning of 'Abraham' as Divine Good and from the representation and meaning of 'Sarah' as Divine Truth the arcanum is to some extent evident, namely that from the Lord's Divine Good meant by 'Abraham' all celestial truth will come forth and have its being, and from the Lord's Divine Truth meant by 'Sarah' all spiritual truth will do so. Celestial truth is the truth which exists with celestial angels, and spiritual truth that which exists with spiritual angels. Or what amounts to the same, celestial truth was the truth which existed with members of the Most Ancient Church which came before the Flood and which was a celestial Church, spiritual truth that which existed with members of the Ancient Church which came after the Flood and was a spiritual Church. For angels, as also members of the Church, are distinguished into celestial and spiritual. That which distinguishes the celestial from the spiritual is love to the Lord, and that which distinguishes spiritual from celestial is love towards the neighbour.

[4] No more can be said about celestial truth and spiritual truth however until the difference between the celestial and the spiritual is known, or what amounts to the same, the difference between the celestial Church and the spiritual. For this see Volume One, in 202, 337, 1577; then concerning the nature of the Most Ancient Church and the nature of the Ancient Church, in 597, 607, 640, 765, 1114-1125, and in many other places. On the point that possessing love to the Lord constitutes the celestial, and possessing love towards the neighbour the spiritual, see 2023.

[5] These considerations now show what the arcanum is, namely that 'the kings who will go out of Abraham', referred to in verse 6, mean celestial truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Good, while 'the kings of peoples who will be from Sarah', referred to in the present verse, mean spiritual truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Truth. For the Lord's Divine Good is unable to flow in except with the celestial man since it is an influx into the will part of his mind, as was the case with the Most Ancient Church, whereas with the spiritual man the Lord's Divine Truth is flowing in since the influx is solely into the understanding part, which in him has been separated from the will part, 2053 (end). Or what amounts to the same, celestial good is flowing in with the celestial man, and spiritual good with the spiritual man. As a consequence the Lord is seen by celestial angels as the Sun, but by spiritual angels as the Moon, 1529, 1530.