Are The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse A Real Religious Belief?

Answer 1

Many beliefs believe that you should not interpret the Book of Revelation (Assuming that is where you got this from) and if you take the book as fact then yes they will come near the ending of the world, although many believe that this is not truly how the world will end, they believe that it is not what is guaranteed to happen.

Answer:

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the first four seals of Revelation 6... aren't "religious belief."

The "revelation" [the revealing"] is "The Revelation of JESUS CHRIST..." (Rev.1:1). It's a revealing by Christ, Himself, of end time world events that shall precede His return to earth with the Kingdom of God.

The Apocalypse [the book of Revelation] is written as a "parable"... which the Bible reveals is intended to "hide the meaning of what's said" from the general public [the multitudes].

"...the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but unto them it is not given... Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." (Matt.13:10-13)

That is how the book of Revelation has been received by the world in general - generally misunderstood. Because the world doesn't let Jesus interpret it... and tries to do it itself.

Jesus always took His disciples aside when the crowd had gone away, and explained to them "in private" WHAT THE PARABLES MEANT.

"...blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear." (Matt.13:16)

"All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them... Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house [His house]: and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field." (Matt.13:34-36)

The disciples didn't even understand them until Jesus explained them.

So, is the book of Revelation a "parable" THAT ONLY Jesus Christ CAN EXPLAIN to His servants -- "...to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass..." (Rev.1:1).

Where in the Bible can we go to find where Jesus explains "privately" to His disciples the same "end time events" to which the book of Revelation alludes?

"...as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately..." (Matt.24:3).

Of course, it's Matthew 24 [Mark 13 & Luke 21] -- the "Olivet Prophecy" -- as some men call it today. These accounts are the same end time events as Revelation, that lead up to Jesus' return... only in Jesus' clear and plain words of explanation of what the "symbols" of Revelation mean.

Remember... this is the "Revelation of Jesus Christ"... and no one else.

"...no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon... Behold, the Lion of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof." (Rev.5:4-5)

Matthew 24 is straight forward in its chronology and lists the overlapping endtime events in the same order as the six seals of Revelation 6 fall.

The first four seals of Revelation 6 are the famous "four horsemen." Therefore, the first things Jesus lists in Matthew 24 "interpret" the "horsemen" for us as we sit "privately" with the Word of God and drink in His Living Water.

Jesus tells us that the four horsemen are "false religion, war, famines, pestilences." He states it clearly in Matthew 24:4-8... finishing His description of the horsemen with:

"All these are the beginning of sorrows." (verse 8)

What follows this is His description of what He calls a time of "Great Tribulation" [Rev.6; seal 5] for the whole world unlike any other time in history. The "private" description of Rev.6's fifth seal [the Great Tribulation] is Matthew 24's verses - 9-28.

The "four horsemen" are the ongoing events in the existence of all of man's generations... with "false religious belief" merely being the first one [with Jesus' emphasis on "false Christianity" and not just ones that don't profess Christ].

He says that these "horsemen" [religious deception, wars, etc] are the "beginning of sorrows." Another way of saying, these things will increase and intensify and build until they cause the world to erupt into the Great Tribulation.

The four horsemen are the things going on in the world all around us... which are so common and a part of our lives THAT WE DON'T EVEN SEE THEM!

Look at the religion that's in all the papers, now, that's causing such upheaval around the world among the nations... fomenting the global unrest and economic turmoil and riots and wars.

The four horsemen have been riding over the earth... and no one seems the wiser. And the global peril and distress is building, and building -- and we live with it, daily -- and take little or no notice [because there's nothing we can do about it].

"...For ALL THESE THINGS MUST COME TO PASS, but the end is NOT YET." (Matt.24:6)

"...DO NOT BE ALARMED. SUCH THINGS MUST HAPPEN, but the end IS STILL TO COME." (Mark 13:7 NIV)

"...DO NOT BE FRIGHTENED. THESE THINGS MUST HAPPEN FIRST, but the end WILL NOT COME RIGHT AWAY." (Luke 21:9 NIV)

That's what the four horsemen are... "THINGS"... that are the "beginning of sorrows [woes, troubles, tribulation]" -- the "things" [world events] that will lead the world into the "beginning of the Great Tribulation."

"For then shall be Great Tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be [again]. And except those days should be shortened, there should be no flesh saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (Matt.24:21-22)

The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are the unprecedented "things" happening in the world, now [global economic distress and ultimate collapse perpetrated by the religious beliefs of some, the resulting wars, famines, pestilences, diseases, earthquakes in diverse places], that are leading the world into the prophesied end time Great Tribulation.

"So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time." (Mark 13:23 NIV)

Answer 2

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are symbolic figures mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of The Bible. They represent Conquest, War, Famine, and Death, and are believed to be harbingers of the end times. While interpreted differently by various religious traditions, they are primarily seen as symbolic rather than literal beings.