THE KNIGHTS OF THE APOCALYPSE

Jesus, in one of his last speeches to his disciples near the Temple in Jerusalem, spoke of an unprecedented period of human history marked by great suffering and anguish. He said, "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now —and never to be equaled again" (Matthew 24:21). According to the Apostle John, this period will begin with the appearance of the emblematic figure of the four horsemen of Revelation.

Of course, these are not exactly knights, but events presented in a stylized way in the mould of apocalyptic literature which is highly symbolic. These events constitute the first four seals of the book that Jesus received from the hands of God the Father (Revelation 5:7). In this book, there are the divine orders for the destruction of the human system, characterized by sin and idolatry for later implantation of a new order of things with "new heavens and new earth" (Revelation 21:1). These orders appear in the forms of "seven seals", "seven trumpets" and "seven bowls", which when executed result in catastrophic events for humanity and nature or creation.

As for the first seal, John says, "I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest" (Revelation 6:2). This "seal" is a reference to the "rumors of war". This can be observed, nowadays, in the many sources of warlike tensions that exist in the world.For example: Russia vs. USA and Europe; China vs. USA; China vs. India; China vs. Taiwan; China vs. Philippines; Iran vs. USA; Iran vs. Israel; North Korea vs. South Korea and USA; North Korea vs. Japan.

The second seal refers to the war. John said, "Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword" (Revelation 6:4). The rumors of war create an instability in relations between nations and give rise to warlike tension. God has held the present world scenario, but the time will come, at the beginning of the "great tribulation",in which He will allow the rupture of these tensions which will provoke the outbreak of conflicts on a global scale.

As for the description of the third seal (Revelation 6:5,6), it is understood that there is a widespread hunger on the planet. In fact, hunger is one of the immediate consequences of the state of war, since the resources and production systems, at these times, are directed to the production of armaments, equipment and other supplies needed to conduct military operations. Add to this the conditions of serious destruction of cities and areas of conflict, making it impossible to plant, manufacture, process and flow food to the large population masses.

Food shortages, together with environmental degradation in war zones, generate the right conditions for a death scenario. And this, death, is the fourth knight of the Apocalypse. John said, "I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8).

Note that after the opening of the four seals, the living conditions on Earth will be very precarious, due to the damage produced by the nuclear conflicts and the large volume of corpses resulting from fighting, hunger and disease. It is also interesting to note that in the other divine interventions to destroy the human system (sixth seal, trumpets and bowls) in order to establish "new heavens and new earth," angels do certain actions that produce devastating cataclysms on Earth, but in the first four seals He uses the very structure of the human system to destroy it.

Antônio Maia – M.Div.

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