(Read Part 22)

The four main categories of tribulation judgments are the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments, the thunder judgments and the bowl judgments. The judgments become progressively harsher during the seven-year tribulation period. Jesus discussed the progressive nature of the tribulation judgments in His powerful, prophetic instruction to His disciples in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25).

You can review this progression of these judgments by means of the chart below. We will be expanding upon this distinctly dispensational doctrine of the birthing process of Jesus Christ’s theocratic millennial kingdom in upcoming articles, beginning with this one.

“The World is Stunned by a Large Number of People Unexplainably Missing.” This could very well appear as the breaking news story in the near future. God promised to remove the Christians, dead and alive from the earth, in a one-time glorious event known as the coming rapture of the church age saints (1 Thess. 4:13-18). In short order after the rapture, God the Father will hand Jesus Christ a scroll “sealed with seven seals” (Rev. 5:1). Scholars often refer to the scroll as the “Title Deed to the Earth.”[1]

Jesus will methodically unroll the scroll—removing one of the seven seals at a time—until the scroll is fully open. Each of the seven seals symbolically represent literal horrific judgments that the inhabitants of the Earth will face. Take note of the very important word literal.

Dispensational hermeneutics or, more simply stated, the proper interpretation of the Bible, requires that the readers and interpreters of the Scriptures do so in a literal manner. God uses apocalyptic or symbolic language (see the previous two blogs in this series), but God reveals the literal meaning of the symbols in the Scriptures. This methodology will become evident as we examine the first four seal judgments, properly described as the four horses of the apocalypse (Revelation).

First Seal: White Horse—Antichrist/
Violent War or Political Victory

 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. (Rev. 6:1-2).

The rapture will result in the Antichrist, the rider on the white horse, arriving on the world scene, and within an unspecified period confirming a peace covenant with Israel (Dan. 9:27). The rider appears only with a bow, and no arrows, yet he is wearing a stephanos or “victor’s crown.”[2] The inference is that the Antichrist expended all of his arrows in conquering or that he did not use violence, but politics, to gain his authority in the world.[3]

Second Seal: Red Horse—Men Slaying Each Other

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)

The red color of the horse suggests severe bloodshed as the results of wars (Matt. 24:6) and violence among fellow citizens.

We will continue next time by thinking about the third and fourth seals, which involve black and pale horses, respectively.

Here we stand; we cannot, and must not, be moved from this distinctive dispensational doctrine.

(Read Part 24)

Dr. Richard Schmidt is the founder of Prophecy Focus Ministries, having previously served as a pastor and church planter. His love for the prophetic Scriptures resulted in writing a doctoral dissertation on a dispensational perspective on the mystery church age existing between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel. Dr. Schmidt offers seminars on a variety of prophetic topics to local churches and conferences. We are very excited to involve him as a contributing author to Dispensational Publishing House.

Copyright © 2017 by Dr. Richard Schmidt. Used by permission of the author.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[1] David M. Levy, Revelation: Hearing the Last Word (Bellmawr, NJ: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1999), p. 86.

[2] Ibid., p. 88.

[3] Charles C. Ryrie, Revelation (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1996), p. 55.