4 SECOND SEAL . (A Red Horse.) Revelation 6:3-4. “ And when He had opened the 'SECOND SEAL,' I heard the 'Second Beast' say, Come. And there went out another Horse that was RED: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a GREAT SWORD.”There is no need to tarry long with this SEAL. When it was broken John heard the second, or “ Calf-like Living Creature” say, “Come,” and a “RED HORSE” appeared and went forth, whose Rider was given a “GREAT SWORD,” and who had power to take peace from the earth, and cause men to kill one another. The symbolism is very clear. Red, the color of the Horse, is a symbol of BLOOD, and the Sword is a symbol of WAR. The time is clearly that prophesied by Christ--“ And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars . . . for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” Matthew 24:6-7. This seems to imply that the Antichrist will not have everything his own way, and that his Autocratic methods will lead to insubordination and civil wars among the nations under some great leader represented by the Rider of the Red Horse, whose “ Great Sword” is symbolical of the awful destruction of human life that will follow. This is a fulfillment of 1. Thess. 5:3. “ When they shall say PEACE and SAFETY; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” We learn from this “ Seal” that wars are likely to break out at any time and that there will be no peace on the earth until the return of the “ Prince of Peace.”THIRD SEAL . (A Black Horse.) “ And when He opened the 'THIRD SEAL,' I heard the 'Third Beast' say, Come. And I beheld, and lo a BLACK HORSE: and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the Four Beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny: and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”When the “THIRD SEAL” was broken John heard the third or “ Man-like Living Creature” say--“Come,” and a “BLACK HORSE” appeared and went forth, whose Rider held in his hand a “pair of balances,” and John heard the voice of an invisible person in the midst of the “ Four Living Creatures” say--“A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” The “BLACK HORSE” signifies famine, and the Rider the “Conserver of Food.” When all able bodied men are drafted for war, and no one left to sow and harvest the crops, then famine is sure to follow. So great will be the famine, that it will take a “ denarius” a day's wages, to buy a “ choenix” (2 pints) of wheat,” the daily ration of a slave. What is meant by not hurting the oil and wine, may be, that as the Olive tree and grapevine do not bear their fruit until some months after the wheat and barley harvest, and grow without much attention, their crops would not be so much affected by war, and therefore the Olive trees and grapevines were not to be ruthlessly destroyed by invaders for they were needed for medicinal purposes.FOURTH SEAL . (A Pale Horse.) “ And when He had opened the 'FOURTH SEAL,' I heard the voice of the 'Fourth Beast' say, Come. And I looked, and behold a PALE HORSE: and his name that sat on him was DEATH, and HELL (Hades) followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with SWORD, and with HUNGER, and with DEATH, and with the BEASTS OF THE EARTH.”When the “FOURTH SEAL” was broken John heard the fourth, or “ Eagle-like Living Creature” say--“Come,” and a “PALE HORSE” appeared and went forth. Note the “corpse-like” color of the Horse. We are not surprised then when the Rider upon the “PALE HORSE” is called “DEATH,” and that “HADES,” the “Grave,” not “Hell,” follows after “Death” like a great “ Voracious Monster” to swallow up the victims of “DEATH.” It is worthy of note that the Riders of the first three Horses are not named, but it will be very clear when the events they chronicle occur, who and what is meant. Here however the Rider is personified and called “DEATH,” and his consort is called “HADES,” they are inseparable companions. The reference here is clearly to some great that shall come upon the earth. After a devastating war, followed by famine, during which the dead are left unburied, a is sure to follow. The “ fourth part of the earth” over which the Pestilence shall sweep will probably be that part of the Eastern Hemisphere covered by the revived Roman Empire. So great will be the destruction of human life in the days of the “ Fourth Seal” that HADES will have to enlarge herself and open her mouth without measure, as foretold in Isaiah 5:13-16. The means of destruction mentioned--the SWORD, HUNGER, DEATH, and the BEASTS OF THE EARTH, are the “FOUR SORE ” of Ezekiel 14:21, that are to fall upon --“ For thus saith the Lord God: How much more when I send my 'FOUR SORE ' upon , the SWORD, and the FAMINE, and the NOISOME BEAST, and the , to cut off from it man and beast.” Those will be awful times to those who must pass through them. But the Church will not be in them having been “ caught out” before as promised. But awful as those days will be, they will be only the “ OF SORROWS” for those who are left. Matthew 24:6-8. And the worst thing about them will be that they are “Hardening Judgments,” and instead of the people repenting and calling upon God, they will call on the mountains and rocks to hide them from the face of Him that sitteth on the Throne. Revelation 6:15-17.