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)

7272. 'And I will harden Pharaoh's heart' means obstinacy rising from the evil of falsity. This is clear from the meaning of 'hardening' as obstinacy. Its rise from the evil of falsity is meant by 'Pharaoh's heart', for in the genuine sense 'the heart' means the good which belongs to heavenly love, 3313, 3887, 3889, and therefore in the contrary sense it means hellish evil. And the reason why it is the evil of falsity is that 'Pharaoh' represents those who are steeped in falsity. The evil of falsity is anything which traces its origin back to basic ideas of falsity. Take for example the idea, such as existed among the Israelites and Jews, that they were made holy by means of external acts - by sacrifices, washings, or the sprinkling of blood - and that they were not made holy through charity and faith, thus that they were holy even though their lives were filled with hatred, vengeance, plundering, savagery, and the like. These evils are what are called the evils of falsity, because they trace their origin back to basic ideas of falsity.

[2] Take as another example a person who believes that faith alone saves and that the works of charity contribute nothing to salvation, a person who also believes that he can be saved even in his final hour before death, no matter what kind of life he has been leading throughout the whole course of his life. If on the basis of these ideas he leads a life devoid of any charity and is filled with contempt for others, enmity and hatred towards anyone who does not pay him respect, the desire for revenge, the craving to deprive others of their goods, lack of pity, trickery, and deceit, these evils too are evils of falsity. They are such because he convinces himself on the basis of a falsity either that they are not evils or that even if they were evils they would nevertheless be purged, provided that before he breathed his last he declared with apparent trust his belief that the Lord is the Mediator and that sins are purged through His passion on the Cross.

[3] Take as yet another example those who approach people who have died, make supplication to them as saints, and so venerate them, even images of them. The evil contained in that practice is the evil of falsity. Doers of the evil of falsity all believe that falsity is the truth, and consequently that evil either is not evil or else cannot cause damnation. It is similar with those who believe that sins can be pardoned by mere human beings, and also with those who believe that they can be brought into heaven, regardless of their sins, that is, of their foul spiritual odour and stench. In short the evils of falsity are as many in number as the falsities of faith and worship. Such evils do cause condemnation, but not to so great an extent as evils that have their origin in evil. Evils that have their origin in evil are those which exist as a result of a desire welling up from self-love and love of the world.