-------Behold a Pale Green Horse------

The book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse, is a book that has been much studied and commented on and God promises a blessing to those who reads and hears the word of the prophecy of that book.

The traditional dispensational view of this book that the 21 judgments of God on planet Earth begin after the Rapture and are contained in a 7 year time period. Chapter Six begins the tribulation and Chapter 19 has the tribulation culminating in the return of Christ. I have always thought that there was just too much happening in these books to be confined to just a 7 year period of time, but I lean toward the dispensational view of prophecy.

Could it be that these prophecies have double applications? We are certainly seeing shadows of the events outlined in this book in the world of today.

The prophecy that is the focus of this article is the Fourth Seal judgment found in Revelation Chapter 6, "7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say , Come and see . 8 And I looked , and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

The traditional view of this prophecy is that the persona we may sometimes refer to as "The Grim Reaper" or "Death" has been given the authority by God to kill a fourth part of mankind through war, hunger, pestilence, and wild animals. Hell follows death because the people who are killed are opposed to God and have rejected his Son, Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Therefore, when their bodies die their souls are taken to hell.

In his Bible commentary, Jimmy Swaggart makes the comment that "the fourth part of the earth" may refer to the Middle East and its vicinity.

The question is are the Seal judgments confined to the 7 year tribulation period or do they have a longer fulfillment? Prophecy teacher Irvin Baxter thinks so.

Without going into detail, Mr. Baxter believes the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse are Catholicism - the white horse, Communism - the red horse, Capitalism - the black horse and Islam - the pale horse.

It is the pale horse that intrigues me. How does Mr. Baxter arrive at the conclusion the pale horse could refer to the rise of Islam?

The original Greek word that has been translated to pale in the King James version was "Chloros". This is the word from which "Chlorophyll" is derived from. "Chloros" means "green" or "pale green".

The color of Islam is green. The Islamic flag is green. The soldiers wear green arm bands. So the phrase "behold a "chloros" horse could be accurately translated to read "behold a green or pale green horse". Perhaps the interpreters of the King James version felt that there was no such thing as a green horse so instead of putting pale green they just put pale. We do not know.

If the pale horse is Islam and Death rides on it how does that fit with the Islamic culture? Islam teaches that the only sure way into heaven is die during Jihad or Holy War and becoming a martyr for the cause; the men are promised 72 vestal virgins. The women really have no promises.

What are Muslim radicals known for? Blowing themselves up and taking as many people as possible with them. Suicide is not condoned by scripture and neither is murder. Hell is what follows for these radicals not a bunch of virgins.

The people who are Islamic are somewhere between 1 billion and 2 billion people, approximately the fourth part of the population of the earth. All of the Muslim nations are in upheaval right now which means they are arming themselves. The leader of Iran wants to start World War III. If he does, then hunger and pestilence will follow and the wild beasts of the earth will eat man for food.

It could be possible the "wild beasts of the earth" could refer to "bestial men" rather than animals. God said of Ishmael, the father of the Arab world and most Muslims, that "he would a be a wild man". This also refers to the descendants of Ishmael. Genesis 16:12

What is intriguing about the idea of the Fourth Seal judgment being the rise of Islam is what comes after. The Arabic Koran teaches Muslims that if they cannot convert a Jew or a Christian to Islam, then they should be killed.

Logically, if the the Fourth Seal is the rise of Islam, then persecution of Christians and Jews would follow. Looking at the countries that are Islamic, they are the poorest, have the most disease, and have the hungriest people in the world. Great numbers of Christians and Jews are tortured and killed by Muslims and this is documented by the organization called the Voice of the Martyrs.

What is the Fifth Seal? "9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held : 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying , How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled ." Revelation Chapter Six

It is not only Islam that persecutes Christians, Communism declares there is no God. Capitalism makes Jesus someone who wants to add funds to your bank account not a savior and Catholicism states there is no salvation outside the Catholic church. All four systems are anti Jesus in some form.

Could it be that some of the Seals have already been opened? Something to think about.

Copyright 2011 by Gary Goodworth