6:1 - And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
6:2 - And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

24:4 - And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
24:5 - For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

By comparing Scripture with Scripture we are made to understand that the rider of the white horse who was given a crown to wear in John's vision is none other than a description of the "anti-Christ" or of the "many anti-Christs" that are to appear in the last days.

Listening to Christ plainly speaking of the deception is clear and what he or they do is just as clear: "To Deceive Many"! How? There are three ways this can be done: by "a spirit" posing as the Holy Spirit - by preaching "a false Gospel" - and by pretending to be "another Christ". In this case it is "another Christ"!

Note too that Jesus is never "Given" a crown. He already has one. He already conquered, through the cross!!! So... when one compares Revelation with the Olivet Discourse one can only conclude that the rider John sees represents the anti-Christ (or many anti-Christs).

6:3 - And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
6:4 - 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.

24:6 - And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
24:7a - For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

Again the comparison spells a time of... "War". The way John sees all of this in his vision is the way that Jesus described it to the apostles earlier during the Discourse on the Mount. Whereas John is seeing and describing a vision of what he sees, Jesus is speaking of these same things that John later sees, clearly.
Again note: The rider of the red horse comes to take peace away from the earth. This means that "Peace" must have been in place before it can be taken away.

6:5 - And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6:6 - 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.

24:7b - and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
24:8 - All these are the beginning of sorrows.

What John refers to as the kind of war that will make everything scarce, he includes "food". Men will work all day to earn enough money just to buy food. Food will be in short supply all over the world, along with what Jesus calls: Pestilences and earthquakes in various places. Yet; Jesus says, "these are not the end of troubles but only the beginning", and they will involve the whole world.

6:7 - And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
6:8 - And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell 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.

24:9 - Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
24:10 - And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
24:11 - And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24:12 - And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
24:13 - But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
24:14 - And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Here we see the "Great Tribulation" in action. The riders names are Death and Hell. Between them they are empowered to kill nearly 2 Billion people. Jesus goes into more detail and says it plainly. He talks about this conflict as between one group and another, between one person and another.

This is definetly a time of testing for Christians. This time will be so bad, and iniquity run so rampant that even members of their own household will feel compelled to turn them over to the authorities for rewards. As one will see, all of this happens when the abomination of desolation is set up and declares itself as God (Revelation 13:15).

6:9 - And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
6:10 - And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
6:11 - And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

24:15 - When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
24:16 - Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
24:17 - Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
24:18 - Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
24:19 - And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
24:20 - But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
24:21 - For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
24:22 - And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
24:23 - Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24:24 - For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
24:25 - Behold, I have told you before.
24:26 - Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
24:27 - For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
24:28 - For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

In Revelation 6:9 it is plain to see that these are "Christians". Only "Christians" have the testimony (i.e. witness) of Jesus! Here we see those being killed for their testimony and for the word of God. The abomination that causes desolation is set up and we are getting a good description of its power.

The warning instructions are much like those given to Lot's gang as they were fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah. Also the instructions not to listen to the false Christs and false prophets is very clear. Their power will be so great that they will fool everyone, even trying to confuse and fool the elect of God themselves.

6:12 - And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 6:13 - And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
6:14 - And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

24:29 - Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

It is upon the opening of the sixth seal that everything is played out for Jesus to appear. First the earth is shaken, everything grows dark, and heaven departs! As heaven departs the entire world begins to tremble with fear of realizing what's about to happen.... but too late! This all happens immediately after the tribulation. Then....

6:15 - And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
6:16 - And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
6:17 - For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

24:30 - And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
24:31 - And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

"BOOM" - Like Lightning - Like a thief in the night - In an instant - heaven is rolled back and Jesus suddenly appears in great power and ablaze with glory as the rest of the world cringes and tries to hide from His presence. At this instant we who are alive and remain; looking for the appearing of our Blessed Hope, are caught up (by the angels) to meet the Lord the instant He appears in the air (sky), and we are "changed".

In the meantime the rest of the world; especially those who took the mark, will cry out trying desperatly to escape and hide away from the coming judgement of this world and those who are in (i.e. "of") it.

Now the trouble with taking a position of being pre trib., mid trib., preterist, etc., is that Jesus has clearly warned us of all of this before it even happens (24:25). There is no excuse!!! He tells us who we are to look for, what and when, and that when He appears and comes to resurrect and catch-up His church it will be like the sky set on fire in the total brilliance and glory of His coming. That is how He in His second coming will be... and that is who we are to look for and what we are to look forward to.

Once we all (the entire church) are clear of this earth, His wrath will begin and nothing on earth will be able to stay His hand. The time of His appearing will mark... "The Day Of The Lord"... a day that Paul says will not occur until AFTER the apostacy is underway and the anti-Christ comes to power (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).

May every blessing in Christ be yours,
Biff