As the Lamb opened the second seal, one of the four living creatures called to the second horse. This horse is red, a color that is normally associated with war. The word for red here is actually the word associated with fire (πυρρός), hence the NIV’s “fiery red.” This is the same word which will describe the dragon on Revelation 12:3. Revelation 6:3 uses a divine passive: the rider was given a large sword.”
Although it seems clear this rider represents war, it is less clear what kind of war is intended. If the first rider is the antichrist, the natural result of an emperor bent on conquest is constant war. In fact, Jesus predicted there would be “wars and rumors of wars” as part of the birth pangs leading up to his second coming. For most interpreters, the red house represents “international and civil strife” (Charles, 164).
In the context of the first century, this is a reversal of Pax Romana. While the Peace of Rome was not a universal peace, it did mean that the Romans maintained peace and prosperity throughout the Empire. That the rider as a great sword may allude to Rome since in the Roman Empire, only the Emperor was allowed to ride with a sword (Aune, 2:396; Dio Cassius, 42.27.2).
When peace is taken from the earth, people will slay one another. The verb (σφάζω) is associated with violence and murder; it is a vivid word meaning “to slaughter, either animals or persons; in contexts referring to persons, the implication is of violence and mercilessness” (LN 20.72). In Revelation 5:6 the same verb is used to describe the Lamb standing “as though it had been slain.” Greg Beale says “is used by John without exception to refer to the death of Christ or his followers” (The Book of Revelation, 379). Beale does notice Revelation 13:3, one of the heads “seemed to have a mortal wound” (ESV), using the perfect passive participle of σφάζω. But since this is a parody of the death of Jesus, he considered it in the same category.
A problem for the view the red horse represents persecution of the followers of Jesus is the reference to people slaying one another. If the slaughter is persecution of the Lamb’s followers, then it is hard to see how they would attack one another.
In the Animal Apocalypse the writer says one of the fallen angels using a sword against the other animals and they attack one another:
1 Enoch 88.1-2 I then saw one of those four who had come out earlier seizing that first star, binding his hands and feet, and throwing him into an abyss—this abyss was narrow and deep, empty and dark. 2 Also one of them drew a sword and gave it to those elephants, camels, and donkeys; then they began to attack one another, and on account of them the whole earth was quaking.
Notice the animals attack one another. Later, the writer says “a great sword was given to the sheep” who then used it against all the other beasts of the field in order to kill them (1 Enoch 90.19).
This rider on a red horse therefore builds on the metaphor the first rider. Prior to the time when God intervenes in history to rescue his people, there will be continual civil strife, “wars and rumors of wars.” What is important here is the appearance of peace in the Roman Empire in the first century is an illusion. John is predicting the breakdown of peace as human empires strive against one another.
Red! One of the few Greek words that I remember is πυρρός which of course means fire. Red also is a color that is often associated with sin. With this being a rider that is riding on a red horse, with the historical context that we know, war seems to be the appropriate classification of what is gong on as war often leads to sinful behavior such as murder and violence. With reading Revelation 6:3-4 straight up without historical background, it would have been impossible to know about the peace that is being described in Rome during the first century. This is an interesting type of prophetic language as it is written “John is predicting the breakdown of peace as human empires strive against one another” (Reading Acts). God being one who recuses his people is an important element in this passage and all throughout scripture. We can see even today throughout world history that once peace is taken away, often the human response is violence and murder as mentioned in the article. I don’t believe that the red hose fully represents the persecution of followers of Jesus, however a continuation of war and violence from the first horse.
To start off, it is interesting that the lamb appears to have a fatal wound on his head, seeing as Jesus did not take a fatal wound to the head during the process of his crucifixion and resurrection.
I do not think the rider on the red horse is the anti-Christ, as you stated above, the red horse causes the people to attack one another, and this does not seem accurate for followers of Christ. However, followers of Christ do attack each other every day, just maybe not physically. Furthermore, as we see in 1 Enoch, angels have the ability to cause animals to attack one another. Aren’t humans just animals made in the image of God? Therefore, I do not think it is far stretched to say that the rider on the Red horse could cause the followers of Christ to attack one another, regardless of if he is the anti-Christ or not.
Furthermore, Blackwell states that “death and disease represented by the horsemen are experiences with which John’s readers would have been very familiar” (Blackwell 70). Therefore, as you also stated, within the Roman empire, only the Emperor could wear a sword. Therefore, I do lean more towards the idea that the rider on the red horse is some type of imagery for a Roman leader that was either in power or would soon raise to power.
Bibliography:
Blackwell, Ben C. and Goodrich, John K. Reading Revelation in Context: John’s Apocalypse and Second Temple Judaism. Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan. 2019.
Growing up in a Christian home we learned a lot about the Bible. However, one thing we didn’t look into much was revelation. While er read through the book and spent a small amount of time talking about it, we never really dove into what it all means and the context behind it. Now in college it is interesting to read about revelation in such a different light. One that shines understanding onto the words and images told about through all of revelation. It is interesting to think that the color of a horse can hold so much meaning over the text. The color red is associated with many things, but to look at it in this context “war” and “fire” are the two things the color is being associated with. I find it interesting to understand the context more as it reveals more and more about the book and the true meaning behind the word and imagery.
This a very important part of the book of Revelation because it is a promise from God that when the second seal is open a fiery red horse and its rider with a giant sword will be granted access to Earth, and when that horse comes all of mankind will inevitably turn against each other and war and strife will break out amongst mankind. I find this very scary because there will already be so much chaos and anarchy in the world that mankind will grow frustrated and impatient ultimately leading to war. “When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword” (Revelation 6:3-4). I think that this is very applicable to our modern day in age because there are already civil wars in many countries, and there are plenty of nations that are looking for war amongst other nations. Thus, I feel as if we are not too far off of end times; although we will never have a clue when the time really comes it is still relevant to love each other as if we love ourselves so when the day does come, we may be saved and not slaughtered by the attributes of the fiery red horseman. The thing that stood out to me the most from P.Longs blog post was when he stated, “When peace is taken from the earth, people will slay one another” (P.Long). This quote is pivotal because it is applicable to us today, for when there is no peace in the world there is no order, resulting in chaos and strife between all of mankind.