Shadows are interesting things. They communicate a reality, yet, they themselves are not really real. They indicate the thing that is coming, yet, they are not the things themselves.
Pastor Ken Ortize (Calvary Chapel Spokane)
While the terrifying horsemen of the Apocalypse have not yet begun their fateful ride across our planet, they are coming, and soon. Even now we can see their shadow stretching out before them, and hear, as it were, the echoes of their galloping hoof steps long before their arrival.
In fact, the closer we draw to that hour, the louder the sound grows and more ominous and shadowy our surroundings become. It is not only the sound that precedes them but also the force of events their galloping causes as if it were pushing the air ahead of them much in the same way strong winds often precede a storm front pushing through. We can see the foundations beginning to take shape, which will ultimately find its fulfillment inside the 70th Week of Daniel, even in our own day.
God allows this pre or ante-types of echoes, to foreshadow the horror to come. Not to scare the believer, but as a warning for us that time is running out. The reason it is obvious to us, and not the world is because the world is not looking for it. Furthermore, they are incapable of understanding what is transpiring right in front of their very eyes. The convergence of the signs is for those who are watching to know the season and to see that day approaching, as the Bible instructs.
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
Listed below, are the four events foreshadowing the coming of the four horsemen of the apocalypse (not the horsemen themselves). These are the “once in a human history” events that are setting the stage for the horsemen to ride so that when that time comes, they will need no tactical pause or delay once Christ opens their seals to unleash them. These are the things the Bible states are necessary for our age to come to its predestined end. I will list the Revelation 6 passage, and then the corresponding signs which precede them.
Behold, the White Horse
Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. Revelation 6:1-2
One of the biggest signs foreshadowing the fulfillment of this horse rider’s arrival is the establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945. Not since the Tower of Babel has mankind ever been united in a form of global governance as it is today. This might seem odd considering how polarized the world seems to be, either due to religious and/or political reasons. Nevertheless, there was, for the first time, a political body in which all nations can meet and come to air their grievances or to unite or oppose some political decision put forth by the rest of the UN or its Security Council.
The British, Ottoman, Holy Roman, Byzantine, Roman, Greek, Persian, Babylonian, and Egyptian empires never held sway over the world entire. And yes, at present, the UN is rather a feckless, benign governing body, however, that is ONLY because the United States is standing in its way. Once we have our superpower status removed (courtesy of the Rapture), the UN will become the global beast it was destined to become.
This transition away from national sovereignty was at a standstill for most of the 20th century. However, 9/11, and the subsequent “Global War on Terror,” put teeth to the global mechanism by which the world would move forward. Then, in 2008, the Obama Administration began laying the seeds of corruption and usurpation so much so, that whoever followed, had no choice but to contend with a greatly emboldened deep state apparatus bent on global government. We all witnessed the flexing of this power by the Deep State during the 2020 election coup d'état.
Although Donald Trump overwhelmingly won the popular vote, the Deep State desperately needed him removed. They needed him removed because he was undoing a decade’s worth of global web work which had been designed to make it impossible for our nation to remain sovereign. Trump’s removal set the stage for the inept Democrat party to assume total control and to expedite our nation’s dismantlement. Once the Rapture occurs, the debt-riddled, inept American government will collapse rather quickly, and the world will be thrown into chaos. It is at this point, the rider on the white horse (the Antichrist) appears on the world’s stage to take the reins.
Behold, the Red Horse
When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. Rev. 6:3-4
Perhaps one of my most favorite quotes I’ve ever used these past ten years is by an author writing about the cause of World War I. It goes like this:
In early 1914, though, it seemed almost impossible that Britain and France would go to war with Germany to defend Russia against Austria-Hungary over a dispute with Serbia. Yet by June 28, war moved straight from impossible to inevitable — without ever passing through improbable. Four years later, 10 million people had died. (Anatole Koletsky)
World War I set the stage for World War II with its impossible demands set forth by the Treaty of Versailles. This, along with the ensuing global economic depression, allowed for a man like Adolph Hitler to rise to the top. At the conclusion of the Second World War, the US drops atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan, thus causing other nations to rush headlong into a nuclear arms race which would embroil the world for the next forty years in what we called the Cold War.
Since the cost of war between the two competing nuclear superpowers was too high (i.e., the US and USSR) they spent the next forty years fighting each other through proxy wars. This is the way it was until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, and then shortly after the Soviet Union collapsing in 1991. At this point, the US remained the sole superpower on the face of the earth.
However, peace was short-lived. A new threat emerged and it didn’t wear a uniform but shrouded itself in a poisonous ideology masked by religious beliefs.
On September 11, 2001, the US suffered its greatest terror attack since Pearl Harbor (1941). It was at this point the US declared a ‘global war on terror,’ and put together a global coalition to take out these extremist leaders wherever they may be, and lay waste to their safe-havens.
Thus, the US would spend the next two decades entrenched in Middle East conflicts, and use the premise of preventing terrorism to pass some of the most intrusive and unethical violations of American civil liberties since WWII. Nevertheless, war was declared, not on an army or a nation, but an ideology. And a war on an ideology is a dangerous premise since those in power can redefine what ideologies or religions they deem “dangerous.”
Behold, the Black Horse
When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” Rev. 6:5-6
The death of fiat currency is the single biggest enabler for the power of the Antichrist. If the Black Horse represents economic collapse and demise, then that must come about by the death of fiat (legacy) currencies. This also means something must take its place; the rise of digital currency. Quoting from the Hal Lindsey article (see here), China’s race toward fiscal supremacy will launch the new “arms race” of the 21st century.
Digital currencies have been around for a while. Bitcoin is the best-known. But the digital yuan is something different. Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency, not associated with any government. The digital yuan is the beginning of a new wave of government-supported cybercurrencies that will soon encircle the world.
In July of this year, CNBC’s Dain Evans wrote, “China is beating the US when it comes to innovation in online money, posing challenges to the US dollar’s status as the de facto monetary reserve. Nearly 80 countries — including China and the US — are in the process of developing a CBDC, or Central Bank Digital Currency. It’s a form of money that’s regulated but exists entirely online. China has already launched its digital yuan to more than a million Chinese citizens, while the US is still largely focused on research.”
With the collapse of the US after the Rapture, and the subsequent financial global crisis this will induce, global cyber currencies will be realigned and potentially, absorbed into ten regional cyber currencies. At this point, some groups like the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund will assume control of managing these currencies through the aid of both artificial intelligence and quantum computing systems. Given the fact that almost every manufactured product in the world already has some form of digital ID (e.g., barcodes, QR codes, microchips, etc.), and with the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT), controlling all buying and selling will be for the first time in human history, not only possible but inevitable.
Behold, the Pale Horse
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. Revelation 6:7-8
One of the biggest takeaways I have noticed throughout the last two years regarding the global response to the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), is not the innate desire by responsible governments to eradicate this manmade virus, but in the slavish demands of obedience it placed on their citizens. Stay home. Shut your business down. Social distance. Wear a mask. Take the shot. Take both shots. Take both shots and wear the mask. Take both shots, wear a mask, and stay home. Get the vaccine passport.
As previously mentioned elsewhere, perhaps COVID-19 was created with the sole intention of not just creating a new virus through illegal gain-of-function research, but for creating the global need for a vaccine passport. The premise behind this thinking is as follows: If you don’t get a passport, you cannot travel or work. You cannot buy or sell. You cannot go to school. You basically surrender your right to a normal life.
While this COVID-19(84) crisis is not the Fourth Seal of Revelation 6, I believe (personal opinion here) that this enforcement of these untested shots (these are not vaccines btw), may lead to a superbug scenario down the road that later plays out when the fourth horsemen ride.
Furthermore, the removal of the Restrainer at the Rapture (2 Thess. 2:7) does not just unleash man’s base desires, and the demonic realm from manifesting in our world in a way not seen since before Noah’s flood, but the reaction from nature itself who becomes hostile to this explosion of evil, all of which, claims the lives of nearly 1/4 of the global population.
Conclusion
Given that we are now seeing the shadows of these horsemen in our day, what does this mean for you and me? What are we to do with this information?
First of all, we must recognize that our time remaining, is incredibly short. Things are being condensed and compacted to the point that this convergence has been coming at us like a flood. This should promote two reactions from us: 1) Loosen our grip on the things of this world, 2) step up to become the Watchmen God has called us to be.
Second, knowing the time is nigh, we should have a sense of urgency and seriousness in regards to our outreach. Whether that is a ministry we run, we support, or just in the personal relationships at home and work, we must strive to present the gospel to everyone, everywhere. This is hard, especially when doing this for people who know us best.
Lastly, focus on what is important. What is important, are those things that are eternal. Football, movies, music, stocks, and bonds (personal wealth), careers, etc. are all fading away. All the systems we held in reverence, for so long, are fading away. Even the COVID-19 lockdowns proved that true with the complete disruption of normal life. Only what we do for Christ will last forever.
The only “new normal” from here on out, will be that there is no more normal life. 2020 was not as bad as it will get; 2020 was only the beginning. Each month and year from here on out will continually escalate and drive this world to the point where a one-world government is the only viable solution. This is by design. Although I believe we are to be salt and light in our communities, by joining the local school boards and standing up against the socialist encroachment, just remember the Bible forewarned us that things would get worse before they got better. And while things may start to look their bleakest, just remember the words of our Lord.
Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. Luke 21:28 (emphasis mine)