part 25: Four Horsemen & Covenant with Many
Puzzled About Revelation, may 12 2022
“Doesn’t the Bible say that the Antichrist will make a “covenant” with Israel at the start of the “seven-year tribulation” period? Doesn’t that begin with the breaking of the first seal?”
Main texts: Revelation 6:3-8; Daniel 9:27
General Observations
Tonight we will look at the second and third horsemen. Also, I would like to answer a question I was recently asked, that is, if the first seal has been broken, why have we not seen the covenant of peace? This is based on the teaching of many pre-trib rapture teachers that the first seal is the antichrist, and that he comes to deceive the nations and to make a deceptive peace covenant with the nation of Israel. I hope to demonstrate tonight that the “covenant with many” as described by Daniel, actually fits within the six seals.
Seal 6 unleashes the celestial disturbances and great shaking associated with the Day of the Lord’s wrath at the end of the age. (More teaching on May 26th). Seal 6 ends this present age and transitions us into the age to come.
Seal 5 coincides with the time of the “abomination that causes desolation” and the Great Tribulation Martyrs (next week).
Seals 1-4 are connected in their ORIGIN (all proceed from the throne, all horsemen) and their EFFECTS result in one quarter of the earth being killed by sword, famine, and snake venom poisoning (Rev. 6:8). It would be even more accurate to say that the deception of Seal #1 is directly responsible for bringing about the destructive forces of Seals #2-4 (consider our contemporary situation).
Revelation and the Gospel accounts
The seals follow the SAME PATTERN as Jesus’ teaching on the end of the age in Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21 (“The Olivet Discourse”), giving us even greater insight into their meaning.
Seal #2: The Red Horse: War
“When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.”
There is a connection between the red and white horse. It is because of the deception of the nations that they are ripe for war. It seems to me that the goal of the four horsemen is to conquer the nations and bring them into subjection and into a place of crisis whereby we need a new world order, we need a great reset, we need to start over.
It appears that men will slay one another, not only at a national level, nation against nation, but also at an individual level, men slaying each other.
Matt. 24:6-7: “You will hear of wars and [the sounds] of wars (Seal #2) but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen [first], but the end is still to come. 7 Nation (ethnos) will rise against nation (ethnos), and kingdom against kingdom.”
“Ethnos” can be translated “tribes” or “families” so Jesus is actually saying that one of the signs preceding His coming is that there will be great family division on the earth. A house divided cannot stand.
Matt. 10:34-36: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”
Seal #3: The Black Horse: Famine, Economic Collapse & Inflation
“When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
Matt. 24:7-8: “There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
Luke 21:11: “There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”
These famines are a direct result of the wars of Seal #2 and the deception & plagues of Seal #1. They are a man-made (but God-ordained) collapse of the global supply chain, resulting in massive inflation on “essentials” for the average citizen, while leaving luxury items (oil, wine) untouched. The rich will get richer while the poor get even poorer!
Rev. 6:8:“They (Four Horsemen) were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and [death], and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
The coming plagues, wars, and famines will be given power to take the lives of one quarter of the earth’s population: ~2 billion souls!
See “Preparing for the Tribulation” teaching series based on the Sermon on the Mount
Seven-year covenant Question
Q: Doesn’t the Bible say that the Antichrist will make a “covenant” with Israel at the start of the “seven-year tribulation” period? Doesn’t that begin with the breaking of the first seal?
The Bible doesn’t teach a “7-year Tribulation”. Rather, it teaches that there will be “great tribulation” for the saints during the last 42 months (3-1/2 years, 1260 days) of Daniel’s 70th “Week,” during the time of the “abomination that causes desolation” and reign of the Beast (See Dan. 9:27; 12:11-12; Matt. 24:15; Rev. 11:2; 13:5).
Q: What is the connection between Revelation 6 and the “covenant with many” that begins Daniel’s 70th Week (Daniel 9:27)?
According to the Apostle Paul, earth’s inhabitants will be saying “peace and safety” prior to sudden destruction (See Dan. 7:25; 8:25; 1 Thess. 5:3). This suggests that there has been some prior period of chaos on the earth, allowing for the Antichrist to rise to power and receive authority over all the nations of the earth (See Rev. 13:5-7; 17:12-13). He will promise “peace and safety” but will break his promise in the middle of the “week”.
seals #1-4 (deception, war, famine and massive death) will create the necessary condition of chaos on the earth that will allow the 7-year covenant to be brought into effect. But at the mid-point of the 7 years, seal #5, the great tribulation and martyrdom of the saints, will begin and will continue for the final 3.5 years.
Revelation 6 Timeline:
Seals #1-4: Global chaos - Antichrist’s “covenant with many” (Daniel’s 70th Week begins)
Seal #5: Great Tribulation (mid-point of Daniel’s 70th Week)
Seal #6 - Day of the Lord’s wrath (Last Day and Second Coming)
Q: Should we be looking for Antichrist to make a peace covenant with the nation of Israel, as is popularly taught? Or do the Scriptures point us elsewhere?
The Covenant with Many - Dan. 9:24-27
“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm (lit. strengthen) a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
Q1: Who are Daniel’s people?
Those whose names are written in the Book of Life (Dan. 12:1).
The “multitudes” (many) who will be raised in the resurrection (Dan. 12:2).
The “many” righteous who will shine like the stars (Dan. 12:3) and be purified, made spotless, and refined (Dan. 12:10).
See also Rom. 2:28-29; 4:11-17; 9:25-28; 11:25-26
Q2: Who are the “many” that the covenant is made with?
The nation of Israel is most commonly referred to as “the remnant” by the prophets:
o Isaiah 10:20-22: “20 In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. 22 Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return.”
o Jer. 23:3: “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.”
o Ezek. 9:8: “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
o See also Isaiah 11:11,16; 17:3; 37:4,31,32; Jer. 31:7; 43:5; 44:7,12,14,28; Ezekiel 11:13; Micah 2:12; 5:7-8; Zeph. 2:9; 3:13; Zech. 8:6,11,12
The prophets almost always refer to the Gentile nations as the “many”
o Jer. 25:14: “They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
o Ezek. 38:6,8,9,15,22,23; 39:27: “many nations”
o Micah 5:7-8: “The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on man.8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples…”
o Isaiah 52:15, 53:11-12: “He (Messiah) will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him…11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by knowledge of him my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the many, and he will divide the spoils with the many, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”
o See also Isaiah 2:2-4; 17:12; Jer. 22:8; 27:7; 28:8; 50:41; 51:13; Ezek. 3:6; 26:3;32:9-10; 38:6,8(x2),9,15,22,23; 39:27; Dan. 8:25; 11:33,34,39,40,41,42,44; 12:3,4,10; Micah 4:2,3,11,13; 5:7-8; Hab. 2:8,10; Zech. 2:11; 8:20,22
Jesus said that the “new covenant” in His blood was poured out for “many” for the forgiveness of sins (Matt. 26:28).
o Rom. 5:15: “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”
o Heb. 9:27-28: “27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people…”
Q3: Who makes/strengthens the covenant? “Messiah the Prince” or the Antichrist?
That the “prince” who makes this covenant eventually breaks it and then is himself destroyed means it cannot be the Messiah. Therefore, it must be the Antichrist.
Jesus said that “many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other” (Matt. 24:10). The Apostle Paul calls this the rebellion (apostasia- 2 Thess. 2:3). It would make sense, then, that those who profess faith are being corrupted by the evil one to abandon the new covenant and embrace this false covenant of peace (See Dan. 11:32).
If the new covenant was made through Messiah’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, could the corrupted covenant also be for the forgiveness of debts through a covenant in our body and blood (DNA)?? This seems to be exactly what the global elites are planning…
Q4: When will this covenant be established?
I believe the nations will enter into a 7-year “peace agreement” with the Antichrist in the aftermath of Seals 1-4. Interestingly, the U.N. has drafted an “Emergency Constitution” which it wants all nations to sign on to later this year or next in a push to accelerate Agenda 2030. If 2030 is a reasonable end date for the “emergency measures” to expire, that would officially make it a 7-year “covenant” with the nations…