Zechariah turns from the angelic messenger standing with him and looks at the two mountains towering above the northern plain. The late afternoon sun blazes against the barren slopes, transforming the peaks into pillars of polished brass. The mountains, standing like sentinels of justice, twin towers of grace and truth, remind him of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, Moses’ mountains of blessing and cursing[1] .

Suddenly, from the canyon between the mountains, a chariot comes charging towards Zechariah and the angel. Strong and swift red stallions draw the chariot, quickly closing the distance between them. Then a second chariot appears, this one pulled by black horses. Then a third comes with white horses, and a fourth drawn by dappled horses. The four chariots circle Zechariah and his companion once, twice, and a third time as though needing to release stored up energy. When they finally stop, the chariots surround the two, one in front, one behind, and one on either side.

Zechariah spins around, his eyes on the horses – uncertain what they might do. The horses strain at their harnesses, digging at the ground with their hooves, like stallions waiting for the signal to start a race. The horsemen, mounted in their chariots, grip the reins tightly; they too appear anxious to begin their mission. Zechariah turns to his angelic escort and asks, "What are these, my lord?" (Zechariah 6:4b) The angel responds, "These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world." (Zechariah 6:5) 

Kingdoms in Conflict

 “Daniel spoke, saying, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other."” (Daniel 7:2-3) The prophet Daniel’s dream of the four winds or spirits of heaven portrayed the same four horsemen seen by Zechariah. The Hebrew uses the same word, ruach, for wind or spirit, so the four winds refer to the four spirits of heaven, just as expressed by the angel to Zechariah. Daniel’s vision goes on to relate the rise of four great political powers arising out of the Great Sea, which represents the peoples of the earth. These four spirits, servants of Satan but subject to the dominion of the King of the Universe, are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Four Ministries of Christ

Son of God Saviour

Son of Joseph Healer

Son of David King of Kings

Son of Man Holy Spirit Baptizer

Satan’s Counterfeit

Scorpio Eagle

Taurus Ox

Leo Lion

Aquarius Man

As mentioned in closing chapter 3, Separating The Two Kingdoms, the four ministries of Christ as represented by the cherubim face the opposition of four satanic spirits. That chapter presented the following two diagrams.

These two illustrations do not give a clear contrast between their opposing pairs. The contrast will be more apparent when we have a more complete understanding of Christ’s four ministries. In order to understand the breadth and depth of the four ministries we must first consider some principles related to The Law of Liberty.

1.      The Law of Liberty refers to the New Covenant, which replaced the law of bondage, the Old Covenant. In Romans, we find “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2)

2.    The Apostle John lists the three areas of temptation Satan used to attack Eve in the Garden and Jesus in the wilderness. He attacks us in the same three areas. In his attack, he targets our physical realm, our soulish realm, and our spiritual realm. “For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15, 16)

3.     Peter states that Satan holds us in bondage through fear of death. This happens because we know our sin places us under the death penalty. “The wages of sin is death.” In order to protect ourselves from death, we build strongholds of pleasure, power, and prestige. These strongholds become our prisons, functioning under the Law of Sin and Death.

4.  In place of these ungodly substitutes, God offers physical sustenance, emotional security, and spiritual significance. We might also list them as provision, protection, and purpose. These blessings come through the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus ÿ211; the Law of Liberty.

The Four Horsemen

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse come charging out of the pages of Revelation preparing the way for the Great Tribulation that will follow. As Jesus opens the first four seals, the Four Cherubim introduce us to their counterparts among the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These satanic spirits operate in opposition to the four ministries of Christ as represented by the cherubim. Now, let’s look at the Four Ministries of Christ vs. the Four Horsemen.

1.  Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, came into this world, taking on the form of a servant. He came to restore our place as sons of God. The Spirit of Antichrist promotes humanism, making man to be his own god and ignoring the victory won by God’s Son on the cross. The Antichrist Spirit tempts us with pride and prestige. God calls us to humility and gives us purpose and significance.

2.  Jesus, the Son of David, came as the Commander of the army of the LORD to establish God’s kingdom in the earth. He came to defeat the enemy who would steal, kill, and destroy.  The Spirit of War inspires and directs the kings of the earth, opposing the rule of God’s kingdom in the earth. The Spirit of War tempts us with personal or political power and leads us into rebellion against God. This spirit inspires and directs the Kings of the Earth, subverting peace and bringing war. God offers security and protection from the attacks of the enemy.

3.    Jesus came fulfilling the role of the Son of Joseph to supply for every physical need. Healing? Yes. But so much more. The Spirit of Famine tempts us with fleshly pleasure, promising to supply every want. This spirit inspires and directs the Merchants of the Earth, subverting fruitfulness and bringing barrenness. God offers sustenance and provision for His children.

4.     Refering to himself the Son of Man, Jesus came to pour out His Spirit, the Spirit of Life, on all flesh. “The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45b) The Spirit of Death reaps the harvest of death sown by the first three dark angels countering the work of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.

This review demonstrates the contrast between living in the Realm of Darkness and living in the Realm of Glory. Going back to Romans 8, beginning this time in verse 1, we read, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2) Deciding which realm to walk in must be a continuous process. Our initial decision to accept God’s gift of eternal life releases us from the eternal consequences of sin. However, we must still on a daily basis decide which kingdom we will choose.

We find ourselves, like Reuben, standing on the banks of the Jordan River trying to decide what we should do. Should we walk according to the flesh, stay on the safe side, and take care of our sheep? Or should we cross the Jordan River and walk after the Spirit? It seems peaceful on the near side. Perhaps Satan will leave us alone if we offer no threat to his rule.

Those who stay on the near side soon discover Satan sends raiding parties to disrupt their lives and they have no protection against him. However, those who cross over to the Land of Promise inherit great spiritual blessings of God’s kingdom and no longer walk in the guilt and condemnation of sin. But God calls on those who cross over to enter into warfare to defeat the enemy. Those walking according to the Spirit have the power of the Spirit available to overcome Satan in every battle they fight.

The Kings and Merchants of the Earth

The horsemen of the first four seals of Revelation, like the four horsemen introduced to Zechariah, have a mission to complete.  Their mission involves manipulating the Kings and Merchants of the Earth into accomplishing Satan’s agenda in the earthly realm. As the curtain rises for the opening of the first four of Revelation’s seven seals the Kings and the Merchants come on stage to play major roles, bringing cultural chaos upon the earth.

The Kings and Merchants of the Earth, seduced by the New Age harlot unite under the antichrist banner of humanism. Operating under Mystery Babylon’s dark covering, they scheme to build a New World Order. In a perfect world with no sin and no need for a Savior, there would be no issue with a New World Order. War and crime would not exist. Medicine and hospitals would not be needed. Power would not corrupt; let alone absolute power corrupting absolutely. However, in the real world the Kings and Merchants of the Earth work in league with Satan’s harlot, Mystery Babylon, attempting to defeat God’s plan to redeem fallen man from the penalty of sin. The members of this unholy alliance will soon find themselves under the judgment of the Most High, the Judge of all creation.

The Sixth Trumpet

Looking ahead to the sixth trumpet, we observe the angel sounding the trumpet and then receiving a command to release the four angels bound at the Euphrates River. “So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.” (Revelation 9:15-16) 

The language of verse 16 reveals a different meaning than what most prophecy scholars apply to the passage. We read, “Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million.” From this statement prophecy scholars presume an army of two hundred million soldiers mounted on horses and appearing at the battle of Armageddon in the sixth bowl judgment. Some say China could raise an army of two hundred million. That may be true, but they would not likely be able to produce that many horses ready for battle. The effort required to feed such an army of men and horses and move them across a continent to Israel would be unimaginable.

Notice first, the phrase “the army of the horsemen” as found in the Greek manuscripts does not have the first the, but it does have the second. Removing the first article and emphasizing the second portrays a very different picture. We could express the phrase as the horsemen’s army. When we read “army of the horsemen” rather than “army of horsemen” we may conclude we have an army belonging to the horsemen and not an army composed of horsemen. We no longer have two hundred million horse-mounted warriors, but an army of two hundred million soldiers under the command of the four horsemen.

Secondly, in reading the phrase “ … army of the horsemen”, the statement’s assumption of prior knowledge raises the question: What horsemen? When Mary says, “The color of the car was red.” John might ask, “What car?” assuming Mary previously introduced the subject of a particular car.  If Mary says, “Look at that red car.” John understands that Mary just now introduced a car. In the same way, the passage “Now the number of the army of the horsemen … ” does not make a forward reference to horsemen described later, but refers to horsemen already portrayed. Looking back to the horse-like locusts of the previous plague we find no horsemen described there. Having clarified the picture presented by the scripture, watch now as we discover the obvious resolution to the dilemma. Previous erroneous interpretations hid the identity of the horsemen from view.

Let’s review the first four seals. In them we saw four horses, each with a rider. We identified the horsemen as the Spirit of Anti-Christ, the Spirit of War, the Spirit of Famine, and the Spirit of Death. Now in the Sixth Trumpet judgment John introduces the horsemen of verse 16 in the context of the four angels of verse 15. These angelic horsemen are The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Four Horsemen command an army of two hundred million warriors. This may refer to their control over a United Nations army of the New World Order, or it could refer to an army of evil spirits under their command. While these four satanic spirits appear to already be active, God currently restrains them from implementing their final episode of chaos upon the world. God will release them at the year, the day, and the hour He appointed for their ultimate mission. In the third volume of this series, The Overcoming Realm of Glory, we will study the four anointed ministries and the four powerful spiritual weapons empowering God’s army to overcome the four-fold attack of the enemy. For now we need to investigate more closely the Four Horsemen and their missions.