1 I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures saying, with voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and there before me was a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow. And a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering that he might overcome. (Rev. 6:1-2, NKJV)
John said earlier in Rev. 4:5, “Lightnings and thunderings and voices proceeded from the throne.”
This article is the continuation of a series on the Horses of the Apocalypse. For the full development of thought leading to these suggestions, please refer back to the introductory articles beginning with https://michaelmannauthor.com/discerning-the-times.
When a ruler wanted to be intimate with someone, he or she would meet them in the garden. For a conversation about world affairs, they might meet in the salon or library. When the ruler sat upon the throne, it was only to enact laws or pass judgements. Keep this in mind going forward.
What are the four living creatures?
“In the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures had six wings each, and they were covered with eyes all around. All day and night, without ceasing, they were saying:
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.’”
Rev. 4:6b-8, NKJV
The first of the four living creatures – an angel with six wings and a face like a lion – introduced the white horse. The lion is universally accepted as a type of royalty. The heraldry of the Tribe of Judah used the lion because it was the tribe from which their kings came, starting with David.
Note that in heraldry, the face of the lion always faces leftward, or to the west.
The horse is white, symbolic of lawfulness. Whatever the king says, is law. The rider wears a crown, also indicating royalty. He carries a bow, and goes forth conquering.
The bow became strategically important in world events during the infantry revolution of the fifteenth century, a time when armies were still sent out by kings. The development of the long bow made large infantries the norm when it was discovered that whichever side had the most archers won battles, no matter how good the other side’s cavalry was.
It was inexpensive to arm and train longbow archers compared to knights and cavalry, and it gave an advantage against older methods of warfare from the Roman and Medieval ages. A line of pikemen was stationed up front to unhorse the charging cavalry, while light infantry with short swords and blunt weapons surged in to kill them before they could get back up in their heavy armor.
Meanwhile, a deadly hail of arrows took out the back ranks, sometimes with flaming rags on them to set enemy fortifications and engines of war ablaze.
At that time, a small number of white European kings were able to conquer and establish colonial rule across the entire world – a thing no nation had ever done before. England was the best of them, forging an empire so vast they they could say the sun never set upon it.
As time went on, the bow was replaced with rifles, machine guns, artillery, and armed aircraft, but large infantries remained the norm afterward.
When the Archangel Gabriel told Daniel about the time of trouble in the end times, he said,
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Rev. 12:4, NKJV)
The two clues we are given are that many people will travel, and knowledge will increase. When did modern travel begin? When did modern knowledge increase?
My teacher, Rabbi Cody, said that many began to travel the whole world after Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Fifteenth century, same time as the infantry revolution. The discoveries of Columbus made the colonization of the world possible for the white kings of Europe, who sailed their armies across the earth, conquering.
Knowledge began to increase with Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. It was in operation by 1450. Martin Luther’s Theses were printed in 1522. The Renaissance occurred in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Word of God was able to go out to the whole world, beginning with the Gutenberg Bible.
When I heard these things for the first time from Rabbi Cody, I doubted. I said, “I don’t believe this – but if it is true, I must know more.”
There is more. Take a look at the heraldry of the Kings of Europe in the fifteenth century:
Western European kingdoms used the lion, with the head of the lion facing west. Eastern European kingdoms used the eagle, so the eagle’s wings are eastward.
Daniel saw four beasts, which he learns from Gabriel are kingdoms:
2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
We learned in Zechariah Chapter Six that the four horses of Zechariah’s vision in Chapter One were the four winds, a type pointing to the Holy Spirit when he moves in power. The four beasts of Daniel’s vision rise from the sea of humanity in response to the stirring of the four winds, just as the four horses go out like winds across the whole earth. The two visions are one in meaning.
The first of these four beasts was like a lion with eagle’s wings. The only period of time that makes sense for this to represent kingdoms is the fifteenth century, when the kingdoms of Western Europe were pictured as lions, and the kingdoms of Eastern Europe were pictured as eagles.
The lion’s wings were plucked off. What can this mean? The kingdoms of Eastern Europe lost their monarchies as they became republics, but the countries of Western Europe retained their monarchs in a ceremonial role.
There remain, as of 2020, twelve sovereign monarchies in Europe. Seven are kingdoms: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. Andorra, Liechtenstein, and Monaco are principalities, while Luxembourg is a Grand Duchy. The Vatican City is a theocratic state ruled by the Pope.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchies_in_Europe
Daniel’s prophesy appears to describe the 15th-19th centuries, as the wings on the royal lion were completely plucked off in the East, erstwhile the kingdoms of the West retained their monarchies, but reduced them to the role of a mere man or woman – a figurehead.