Who is the Rider on the Black Horse?

The third horseman of the Apocalypse rides on a black horse. The first horseman rode on a white horse which could be the coming Antichrist or a world system that professes to be Christian in nature but, in reality, just imitates true Christianity. Catholicism has the most political influence in our world and many of their beliefs cannot be found in scripture. According to Zechariah Chapter 6, the four horsemen are four spirits released by God to enact judgments upon the world.

The second horseman rode on a red horse which could be either the bringer of war during the tribulation or a world system that causes war. Communism certainly fits the description of the red horse. The third rider sits on top of a black horse. What does scripture say about this dark spirit? 5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say , Come and see . And I beheld , and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say , A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." Revelation Chapter 6

The dispensational or futurist view has this ebony rider bringing famine upon the entire world. The sequence of events that lead up to the black horse are 1. The Antichrist becomes a world leader through politics and diplomacy. He is supposed to bring peace upon the Earth. However, this peace is a false peace. 2. The rider on the red horse brings war which will be the true fruit of the Antichrist. "For when they shall say , Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child ; and they shall not escape . 1 Thess. 5:3 This war will bring about hyper inflation and famine. It will take a day's wages just to buy a loaf of bread and there will be no money left for luxuries. However, the rich will not be affected and they will continue to buy their oil and wine.

This means there will be a huge gap in the distribution of wealth. We see that happening now. CEOs of huge corporations make huge amounts of money but it is their underpaid employees who provide most of the labor. Hyper inflation will render any working man or woman poor but the wealthy can ride it out.

There is already much famine in third world countries. Terrorists and corrupt governments steal the food supplies that other countries send in to help feed the starving but they never get that food. The rider on the black horse and the red horse parallels what Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 "6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled : for all these things must come to pass , but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

The fact that we have always had wars and rumor of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes leads me to believe the four horsemen of the Apocalypse have both a long range fulfillment (history) and a short term fulfillment (the tribulation period).

If the rider on the black horse represents a world system that results in a large gap of the distribution of wealth, what system would that be? It would be Capitalism. Catholicism, Communism, and Capitalism are three major influences or spirits that cause conflicts between the nations and these spirits could easily be represented by the white, red, and black horses.

The flag of Capitalism is black and yellow. Yellow, of course, symbolizes gold while black represents "anarchy" the simple absence of recognized public government. The black market operates on the principle of anarchy.

According to scripture, what will be the end result of Capitalism? 1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. James 5

Gold and silver, although highly valued in today's world, will become worthless as Capitalism, along with Catholicism and Communism, will one day cease to exist.

Copyr 2011 by Gary Goodworth

Prophecies that lead up to the Black Horse