Hello John and Doves,

The book of The Revelation was written by John - one of the twelve apostles - while he was on the Island of Patmos.  This book is also called The Apocalypse.  It was written in ancient Greek - that was the common language of the day.

I want to do a short study on the riders of the pale horse of Revelation 6:8.  Because many have been looking at this new coronavirus leading us into the Tribulation with the fourth horses of the Apocalypse.

"And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and the one sitting on it, the name of him was Death, and Hades was following with him; and authority was given to them over the fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with plagues, and by the beasts of the earth.

Other translations:

"And it's rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him."

"It's rider was named Death, and Hades was following after him."

It's interesting that the name of the rider and his companion are given and their names being with a capital letter.  Like they are 'someone' or 'some thing'.

So, who is "Hades" in Greek history?  Who is "Death' in Greek history?

Hades was the god of the dead and king of the Underworld.  He was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon.  When their Titan father, Kronos, died they split up their inheritance and Hades got the Underworld.

"However, despite the fact that Hades ruled over the Underworld, he was not associated with death itself.  That honor fell to Thanatos, which literally translates to 'death' in Greek.   "It was said that Thanatos (Death) would accompany the dying and dead souls to the Underworld, where they would then fall under the care of Hades."https://vocal.media/futurism/gods-and-goddesses-of-death-in-mythology
Gods and Goddesses of Death in Mythology

This is why Death (Thanatos) is riding the horse and Hades follows him.  Thanatos is bringing the dying and dead to Hades' Underworld. 

Hades has a position of power in Greek mythology - he is a god.  Thanatos is considered to be a minor figure in Greek mythology.

So here we have Paul writing about Greek 'mythology' in The Revelation that was revealed to him by Jesus Christ himself!  Giving validity to the Greek characters of mythology!

Revelation 1:1  "This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass.  He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John..."

Why would Jesus reveal and identify Greek gods - telling us that they show up during the Tribulation?

This would tell us that these mythological gods and other figures are not myths at all and that they are coming back.  Or at least, some are.  These are what come upon the earth as the first four seals are broken. (And possibly others that arrive later in the Tribulation!)

Death (Thanatos) is the fourth rider.  There are three other riders on horses.

There is a white horse and the rider has a bow and he's given a crown and he rides around fighting battles and 'conquering'.

There is a red horse and the rider is given a great sword and he is given permission to take peace from men and cause men to slay one another.  Bringing war and slaughter.

There is black horse and the rider is given a pair of scales.  And "A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barely will cost a day's pay.  And don't waste the olive oil and wine."  Bringing severe inflation - a day's wages for a loaf of bread!

If the fourth horse has a 'mythological' figure riding it, I would venture to say, that the other three horses also have 'mythological' figures riding them.

Are these the only Greek figures mentioned in The Revelation?  Probably not.  There is yet another king!

Revelation 9:11 : "They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon - the Destroyer.  Apollyon is very much like the name Apollo - the Greek god of the sun, plagues, prophecy, knowledge, etc.  "The origin of the name Apollo is still not properly understood.  Many Greeks seem to have supposed that it stands for "destroyer"!!...https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Apollo/apollo.html
☀ Apollo :: Greek God of the Sun and Light

Apollyon is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Abaddon (the angel of the bottomless pit - the 'nethermost of the two regions of the lower world')

Apollyon in Strong's is The Destroyer - the king of the locusts.  These locusts are released onto the earth when the fifth angel sounds his trumpet....and the pit to the Abyss is opened by an angel.  This opening is so terrible that the smoke from it darkens the sun and the sky.  Out of this Abyss comes the locusts who go after "only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads."  Revelation 9:4  They can not kill but they can torment and cause great agony - for 5 months.

We know of various Greek characters that are half man have animal - Medusa was a woman with snakes for hair; Chiron was half man and half horse (a centaur); Minotaur was half man and half bull; etc.  And these locusts are described as having faces that looked like human faces - they had hair like women's hair and teeth like lion's teeth; and tails with stingers that they use to hurt people.

So where did these Greek gods come from?  They are the fallen angels (the Watchers of the book of Daniel)...the ones that are referred to in Genesis 6:3  "the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as their wives any they chose."  Their offspring are referred to as the mighty men of renown or the mighty men of old - like Nimrod.

The Book of Enoch tells the story of how 200 angels swore an oath to carry out their plan to "take for ourselves  from among the daughters of men, and beget children with them." 

Enoch writes about 200 hundred angels that descended to the summit of Mount Hermon...because they bound themselves there to fulfill their purpose - on the penalty of Herem, anathema."  (being banned, destruction) 

Under the leadership of 20 captains they defiled themselves with the daughters of men, unto whom they taught many things and gave them gifts. 

The Greek gods were worshiped by people because they gave them 'gifts' - medicine, knowledge of warfare, the art of beekeeping, knowledge of animals husbandry and farming, knowledge of the constellations, winemaking, metalworking, the art of sculpture...things men desired.  https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/
Greek Gods List • Names of the Greek Gods

Enoch explains what these fallen angels did:

"And Sehmihazzah, their chief, said to them, "I fear that you will not want to do this deed, and I alone shall be guilty of a great sin."  And they all answered him and said, "Let us all swear an oath, and let us bind one another with a curse, that none of us turn back from this counsel until we fulfill it and do this deed."  Then they all swore together and bound one another with a curse.  And they were, all of them, two hundred, who descended in the days of Jared onto the peak of Mount Hermon.  And they call the mountain "Hermon" because they swore and bound one another with a curse on it". http://ms.augsburgfortress.org/downloads/9780800699109Chapter1.pdf?redirected=true
9780800699109Chapter1.pdf

Enoch goes on and names the chiefs of these angels...there are 20.  These chiefs taught men different things - ex. Asael taught men to make swords of iron and weapons and shields and breastplates and every instrument of war.  He showed them metals of the earth and how they should work gold...to fashion it for bracelets and ornaments for women.  Shemihazah taught spells and the cutting of roots.  Hermani taught sorcery for the loosing of spells and magic and skill.  Kokabel taught the signs of the stars....then they all began to reveal mysteries to their wives and their children.......You see what Asael has done, who has taught all iniquity on the earth and has revealed the eternal mysteries that are in the heaven, which the sons of men were striving to learn."

From this evil deed that the angels wrought upon the earth..."the Most High declared, and the Great Holy One spoke.  And He sent Sariel to the son of Lamech, saying, "Go to Noah and say to him in my name, "Hide yourself,"  And reveal to him that the end is coming, that the whole earth will perish; and tell him that a deluge is about to come on the whole earth and destroy everything on the earth....."Go, Raphael, and bind Asael hand and food, and cast him into the darkness...Throw him there and cover him with darkness, and let him dwell there for an exceedingly long time..."  The story continues with others and their punishment.

Enoch goes on to write, "And Uriel (an angel of God) said to me, "There stand the angels who mingled with women.  And their spirits - having assumed many forms - bring destruction on men and lead them astray to sacrifice to demons as to gods until the day of the great judgment, in which they will be judged with finality. And the wives of the transgressing angels will become sirens."http://ms.augsburgfortress.org/downloads/9780800699109Chapter1.pdf?redirected=true
9780800699109Chapter1.pdf

Enoch tells us about angels being 'bound'.  In Revelation 9:13-15:  "The sixth angel sounded his trumpet...It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River....and the four angels...were released to kill a third of mankind.

The Greek gods parallel the Roman gods, and then there are the Egyptian gods, etc.  Historically, civilizations all over the world have their list of gods. - all similar stories.

We do not know if this new coronavirus will be just an example, a taste, of what is coming in the Tribulation or if it is the start of the pestilence of the fourth horse, the breaking of the fourth seal...leading up to and continuing into the Tribulation.  But what is coming in the Tribulation will be horrifying.

It's the opening of the fourth seal with the release of the fourth horse that brings death by plague, famine, sword and by the wild beasts. We can easily see how economic collapse can result in famine and wars.  A fourth of the earth dies because of this rider.  They, Death and Hades, are given power, just like the angels unbound from the Euphrates are given power  - to kill men.  A lot of men.

So far, this pestilence has not reached it's peak and so far, there is no end in sight.  Just guesses and speculation as to how long this will be a pandemic, how long mankind will have to deal with this plague.

This pandemic is causing suffering for all - physically, economically, financially!  We are only beginning to see the financial and economic toll this is taking - all around the world.  Will it carry us into the Tribulation?

But either way, the seals will be broken and the horses will ride.  As to who the riders are of the other three horses is set aside for a future study.

Hoping the Rapture is in our near future!

G-d help us all!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Maranatha!

Chance