Coronavirus and The White Horse of Revelation
Beginning early in the year in 2020, the world began experiencing a global phenomenon, ostensibly triggered by a global pandemic, but one which made the whole world sit back and take notice. In light of the global nature of the experience, I think its worth considering if those events have any possible connection to the events that are foretold with the first seal of the book of Revelation and the rider on a white horse…
Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Revelation 6:1-2, NASB — The First Seal—A Rider on White Horse
Let’s take a close look at the rider on the white horse. He is holding a bow and wears a crown. He also makes moves to conquer and subdue, but somehow without war. In today’s context, that could be understood to be political, legislative, through treaties, or even with technology. The rider holds a bow. It is unclear whether or not he has arrows. The Greek term is not explicit in this regard, but arrows are not specifically mentioned. A bow does represent a threat, however, and it is a long-distance weapon that travels through the air. The last item that the rider mentions is a crown. The Latin Vulgate translates this word as “corona.”
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the COVID-19 virus, commonly called the Coronavirus, had become a global pandemic and the world suddenly began to change.[1] Unlike pandemics of the past, this virus seemed to have a power behind it that moved all of the countries of the world to respond the same way. This “crown-virus” began to affect people around the globe. Markets crashed more spectacularly than at any time since 1929 in the U.S. and similarly around the world. Global travel ground to halt. Businesses have laid off more people than ever before in the U.S. Non-essential businesses have been ordered to close and mass shelter-in-place quarantines have been implemented in almost every country in the world. And many people believe that this is just the beginning. Like watching the tide go out before a massive tsunami strikes a coastline, we instinctively know that this will cause much greater and longer lasting impacts.[2] In other words, it is not hard to imagine that the tremendous upheavals that we are currently experiencing will lead to even greater disruptions in the future. Possibly even war or famine. It’s also not hard to imagine that this virus could further mutate and infect and kill a greater number of people, or that there could be complications caused by a rushed vaccine. The world has never seen a response like this. So while we can’t be sure what the ramifications will be, the worst could definitely be yet to come.
I also have a hard time believing that COVID-19 being called the Coronavirus (crown-virus) is a coincidence. And, if you consider that it is an airborne virus that has traveled the globe in its impact, the metaphor of a bow is also fitting. Finally, there is a lot of legislation being passed during this crisis that is threatening people’s freedoms, much of which may not be fully felt or understood until after this whole event passes. You might even say that this is the first time ever that nations from Communist to Democratic to Islamic Republic have all responded the same and in a somewhat coordinated fashion. That is truly amazing! There is also talk of mandatory global vaccinations[3] and permanent implantable ID chips being used for everyone on the planet.[4] Hence, there is good reason to believe that there are changes going on behind the scenes that are going to affect individual liberties in profound ways.
I have also heard many good Bible teachers say that this can’t be the first seal of Revelation for two reasons. First, we aren’t seeing the global catastrophic death rates that are foretold in Revelation. To this I would respond, that those things are not expected until the fourth seal. So, for an opener, I think this still fits very well. Second, many say that this can’t be the first seal because the Rapture hasn’t happened yet. To this I can only respond that the precise timing of the Rapture is not explicit in scripture. So, rather than assuming it can’t be the first seal, it might be a better idea to consider the option that the pre-tribulation rapture view may not be correct and then get started on re-calibrating our expectations.
Other objections may be raised on the fact that we don’t have proof that Daniel’s 70th Week has begun, which seems to be a necessary precondition for the First Seal. On this point, I also agree that the seals should begin to open only in the final seven years. I also don’t think we can dogmatically assert that it has begun, because for one, there is still no temple on the Temple Mount and if it has begun there are only a few years left to build it. So I don’t it is possibly yet to know for sure, but there are reasons to believe that we could be in the final week. For example, we currently have Trump’s peace plan in play, which was published January 28, 2020.[5] This date coincides well with the start of the current pandemic. Furthermore, Israel has begun to follow the peace plan, so even though it was passed unilaterally, with some Gulf State abstentions, if they continue enacting the plan then I would argue it is the de facto plan and that it is already being put into action.
In conclusion, does the current global Coronavirus pandemic represent the White Horse of Revelation? I don’t know that for sure, yet, but you can bet that I’ll be watching developments very closely. I think we all should be…
[1] Jamie Gumbrecht and Jacqueline Howard. “WHO declares novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic,” CNN, March 11, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/11/health/coronavirus-pandemic-world-health-organization/index.html
[2] Tamara Lush. “Coronavirus claims an unexpected victim: Florida vegetables,” Associated Press, Apr 08, 2020, https://www.blackhillsfox.com/content/news/Coronavirus-claims-an-unexpected-victim-Florida-vegetables–569472951.html
[3] James Hitchings-Hales and Pia Gralki. “Bill Gates on Coronavirus: 5 Things World Leaders Must Do Right Away,” globalcitizen.org, March 2, 2020, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/bill-gates-coronavirus-COVID-19-pandemic-plan/
[4] “ID 2020,” https://id2020.org
[5] “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People,” Published January 28, 2020, https://www.whitehouse.gov/peacetoprosperity/
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10 Comments on “Coronavirus and The White Horse of Revelation”
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End Times Berean 
Wonderful analysis. One other interesting observation the Greek word for “bow” is “toxon” where we get our word toxin.
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Excellent explanation! What I really like abiut this article is the way the author puts the puzzle peaces together, but at the same time is warning that some peaces could be wrong place. What a time we are living in, lots of troubles but also joy because we know that Christ is coming!!
Many thanks for the article!!
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I would like to also add a couple of other observations. The color white also identifies with cleanliness, purity and it is the universal symbol for the medical field. This whole pandemic has been about “cleanliness” and “medicine”. In addition, the white horse not only conquers but keeps conquering. It is now September 2021 and we are experiencing the delta variant of the coronavirus which keeps conquering. More mutations/variants are on the horizon and corona is here to stay. It has not been conquered with a vaccine. So, if the coronavirus is the white horse then we need to be looking for the coming Red Horse who brings war. I would just say to watch out for the RED communist countries of China and/or Russia…especially with this current US administration.
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Yes!! So glad to hear someone else say this! I have been thinking this for a while now. What if the seals are the birth pains and is included in revelation, but not in the 7 years. What if the 7 years starts at the 7th seal/1st trumpet??? Then the trumpets would be the tribulation and the bowls would be the great tribulation? Totaling 7 years? I know this isn’t what is traditionally taught, but I am thinking of everything, trying not to be deceived! It sure does seem to me like Trump was the rider of the white horse. Not THE antichrist, but an antichrist spirit who is deceiving us all to bring in corona and the vaccine. All this turmoil in the Middle East and Biden sure does seem like it could lead to the second horse. Also the inflation/food shortage of the third horse is lining up. Please let me know your thoughts!
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Thank you for commenting Jessica! The Book of Revelation doesn’t give us the timing of the Seals/Trumpets/Bowls in relation to the final 7 years from Daniel 9 or even connected to the start of the 42 months or the Abomination of Desolation, so we could have some surprises in the overall timing for sure, but I don’t think the seals happen outside of the final seven years.
Also, it doesn’t seem that other three riders (red, black, pale) will be represented by human actors, so I kind of doubt that the white horse symbol was meant to be understood as revealing a person either. Many people think that it does/will, but I have reservations about reading it that way. And you’re right, the rest of the horses could easily be just around the corner. Blessings!
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I agree the white horse is cornavirus. I think each horse/seal is about a year long and the year 2020 marks year 1 of 7. I think the red horse is the mass misinformation war going on pushing the vaccines and lies in media and forcing compliance and persecuting people who are resisting entering the new world order and complying with the vaccines and the vaccine passports and will culminate in persecution for those who don’t get a microchip for the soon new world currency and vaccine proof system. So the red horse is a information and lies war that is a spiritual warfare with people turning on each other – that and some mix of race war and political war. The black horse will be famine orchestrated by supply chain disruptions on purpose to cause panic and mass depopulation and unrest to pave the way for antiChrist. The pale green horse will be people getting sick and dying of the virus and vaccine combo as well as hunting down the unvaccinated. The 5th seal will be persecution of the Christians under the antiChrist. The third temple can be built in under 3 months using modern building methods and several hundred construction companies all working together with unlimited funding. Not to mention all the materials could already be preassembled and stored underground ready to snap together like legos. I believe the antiChrist will announce themself close to the midway point of the 7 years – so around 2023 – since Bible says he reigns for 42 months.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Larry! Yes, everything looks like we are approaching that scenario, with the exception that I’m expecting true blood shed from the red horse, because he is given a great sword and is given the power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay one another, but there are already plenty of signs that those days are coming or are already beginning. I don’t think we’ll need to wait much longer to find out which, though.
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I am glad to see that some people are seeing this in a way similar to mine.
To me, January 2020 and the COVID-19 ‘pandemic’ marks the opening of the first seal and the beginning of the ride of the white horse. I think LeeAnn’s comment is spot on about the color white and the medical field. In traditional interpretation, the white horse is said to represent false prophets. This fits very well with the proclamations (mostly counterproductive) and predictions (mostly wrong) of the medical authorities.
However, I suggest that the bow is not the corona virus and its variants. The virus is represented by the crown, and the danger of these viruses to our health has been way overhyped. I suggest that the bow (toxin) is actually the so-called vaccines because the vaccines contain or produce a spike protein (i.e., an arrow) that causes damage to the vascular system (i.e., the circulatory system where blood flows), as well as other bad medical effects.
This seems to tie the first seal to the second seal, the opening of second seal marking the beginning of the ride of the red (blood) horse. The traditional interpretation of the second horse is war, and war is likely to be part of the ride of the red horse. But, the opening of the second seal and the beginning of the ride of the red horse could be marked by the world wide mass vaccination program started in January 2021.
As for the third seal and the beginning of the ride of the black horse, Larry’s views seem possible. We are already seeing food price increases and the destruction of supply chains. Outright famine will not be far behind. The the ride of the black horse will begin very soon, possibly as early as January 2022 as supply chain crunches and winter in the northern hemisphere intensifies food shortages. The year-by-year count Larry suggests for the seals seems to me to be a reasonable interpretation.
As for the fourth seal, the ‘vaccines’, war and hunger will inevitably lead to the opening of the fourth seal and the ride of the pale horse of death and pestilence. The so-called vaccines have been shown to cause microclots in the circulatory system (look up Dr. Charles Hoffe and what he has to say) and are also compromising people’s immune systems through antibody dependent enhancement (ADE) (look up Dr. Geert Van Den Bosche and what he has to say). Microclots and ADE will have a delayed effect contributing to mass deaths in a few years, just in time for the opening of the fourth seal (perhaps starting in January 2023 if the year-by-year seal opening schedule is correct). The vaccines will destroy people’s immune systems making people susceptible to any pestilence, including the common cold.
In my view, the opening of the first four seals happens during the beginning of sorrows (Matthew 24: 5-8). I do not know whether the beginning of sorrows is outside or overlaps with the final 7 year period of Daniel 9. However, Matthew 24:9 (“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake”) is after the beginning of the sorrows and appears to represent the opening of the fifth seal, so perhaps the opening of the fifth seal is the beginning of the 7 year period of Daniel 9, with the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place at the mid-way point of that period marking the beginning of the Great Tribulation. If the year-by-year sequence of seal openings is correct, then the fifth seal could open in January 2024, the Great Tribulation could start in mid-2027 and the return of Christ in early 2031 or so.
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Hello Christian,
Just want to say that I do enjoy reading your articles and updates.
In this article you mention that “On this point, I also agree that the seals should begin to open only in the final seven years”. I’m curious as to your reasons for believing that. Thematically, it would seem to make some sense. But beyond that, I can’t seem to find any hard evidence to suggest that this first seal coincides with the start of the final seven or that it falls within the final seven. We know from Daniel that it is a “covenant with many” that kicks off the final seven.
“He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven. In the middle of the seven. he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” Dan 9:27
Am I missing something obvious?
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Thank you, Ted. 🙂
It is true that it is only an assumption that the first seal of the scroll is opened at the beginning of the seven years. It’s logical, but it must be presumed, which means it doesn’t have to be true. I’m presently in the editing stage for a new book that will explain my thoughts much better, but I think there are three possibilities. First, that the seals begin to open long before the final week of Daniel’s seventy weeks. The challenge for that view is identifying the four horsemen in a period of time that perhaps lasts for decades but kills a quarter of the earth. The other option is that they don’t begin to open until the second half of the final week. What convinces me the most at present, though, are the things that we are presently watching develop that I think are leading us to the other three horsemen in the not so distant future. Or rather that their full expressions could be revealed in the not so distant future, because one could argue that war & strife, famine, and death are already beginning to accelerate their pace. But if the present trend stops and goes back to the way things were instead of continuing to get worse, then we’ll have to say that although in the beginning it looked like they could be happening, it wasn’t it. But who thinks it looks like this whole ship is about to right itself, stabilize, and move into smooth seas?
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