Swine Flu and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Swine Flu and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse*
April 28, 2009
Fear of an imminent, potentially devastating flu pandemic is sweeping
the globe.
A multistrained swine flu has infected nearly 2,000 people in Mexico, it
is believed, killing up to 149 as of Monday just in that one country.
According to authorities, this flu is an animal strain of the H1N1 virus
that killed around 50 million people in 1918.
The United States declared a state of emergency on the weekend when at
least 20 people were identified with the virus. Cases have also been
identified in Canada, New Zealand and Spain. European Union Health
Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou went so far as to warn EU citizens
against traveling to America or Mexico. Margaret Chan, director general
of the World Health Organization, warned that the virus has “pandemic
potential” and is a “public health event of international concern.”
“We have determined that this virus is contagious and is spreading from
human to human,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported
on its website. In Mexico City, the government has canceled all public
events, from ministerial speaking engagements to rock concerts. Schools
have been closed and millions have been cautioned against going to work.
Soldiers and police have handed out 2 million face masks in the city.
For those familiar with Bible prophecy, the sea of face-masked people in
Mexico City and widespread fear of a global flu pandemic brings to mind
the image of the pale, or sickly, horse of the four horsemen of the
apocalypse, as described by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation.
The first three horsemen of the apocalypse symbolize religious
deception, war, and famine. Along with the fourth horseman, pestilence,
these riders represent the end-time culmination of the most traumatic
problems endured by a rebellious mankind. They picture one of the most
ominous scenarios ever.
“And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
beast say, Come and see. 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” (Revelation 6:7-8).
The key to the identity of the last horseman is the word pale, which
often makes us think of someone who is feeling sick, having an
anemic-looking appearance. Pale is translated from the Greek chloros,
which we would normally take to mean the color of chlorophyll, the
property that gives plants their healthy green appearance. When used
biblically, however, chloros means the sickly pale green color of
sickness and disease.
In Matthew 24, Christ the Revelator unlocks the true identity of this
pale green horse: “and there shall be … pestilences” (verse 7). The man
on the pale horse symbolizes climactic, globe-encircling plagues and
pandemics occurring and soon to occur in this modern age!
The only reason for this type of extreme punishment is man’s unabated
rebellion toward his Creator God. “As it is written in the law of Moses,
all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the
Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy
truth” (Daniel 9:13). The book of Daniel is an end-time prophecy (Daniel
12:4, 9).
Let’s examine Deuteronomy 28 (part of the law of Moses) and add
modern-day expressions to see more clearly how this warning applies to
our time now. “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto
the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and
his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall
come upon thee, and overtake thee …. The Lord shall make the pestilence
cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither
thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption
[chronic, degenerate diseases such as aids], and with a fever, and with
an inflammation [malaria or communicative diseases such as influenzas],
and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and
with mildew … with the botch of Egypt [elephantiasis], and with the
emerods [tumors, cancer, etc.], and with the scab, and with the itch
[aggravated psoriasis and other nutrient-deficiency diseases such as
scurvy, rickets, etc.], whereof thou canst not be healed [incurable or
drug-resistant diseases] … with madness [mental illness, insanity] and
blindness and astonishment of heart [emotional distresses such as
depression]” (Deuteronomy 28:15, 21-22, 27-28).
The next verse (verse 29) graphically depicts the utter hopelessness of
mankind suffering from these and the many other innumerable scourges of
our generation.
In America, health care remains a controversial subject among lawmakers.
Billions of dollars are spent annually. We have too many problems
already to try to satisfactorily deal with new ones that seem to pop up
without warning. To make matters worse, we live in a small world. And
what about the prospect of blatant terrorist acts to damage air, soil or
water quality?
Millions are prophesied to die because they fail to heed God’s warnings
to turn to Him with the type of contrite attitude necessary to please
Him (Isaiah 66:2). God wants true repentance—a turning away from the
carnal “human nature” that we possess to the spiritual nature God
originally intended us to develop.
Beyond the suffering, however, Jesus Christ is returning to this Earth
to bring it all the joy and happiness man has continually sought after!
God will mercifully end the deadly sweep of the four horsemen just
before they eradicate mankind from off the Earth.
Whether the current outbreak of swine flu will grow to pandemic levels
remains to be seen, but disease epidemics are certain to come.
Related Link:
For more on this fourth horseman of the apocalypse, as well as the other
three, read our bible study series on The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.