The Little Book of the End of the World (9 page)

  The third horseman rides a black horse, and is the only one of the Four Horsemen to speak. He carries a balancing scales, talking about the price of wheat, oil and wine: he is recognised as Famine.

  The final horseman is the only one of the four to be named in the Book of Revelations, and rides a pale horse. He is called Death, and he is followed closely by Hell. Different interpretations imply that Death is an evil figure and commands the demonic armies of Hell; others suggest that this reference to Hell is the combined mass of every person who has ever died, with Death restoring them to their place in the new world. There is also a suggestion that Death has enslaved the old pagan gods of death. Like Jesus, he is a master of death itself, making this pale rider a powerful figure.

Although the Four Horsemen are not destructive figures, their affinity to the End of the World has led to them becoming feared characters and harbingers of death and destruction. Some works of art separate them entirely from their biblical origins, focusing only on their role as bringers of doom. To further build the fear of these figures, the White Rider is often transformed from Conquest into Pestilence or Plague.

Of course, this reading neglects the fact that the Four Horsemen are summoned by, and presumably answerable to, God.

With an emphasis on the Four Horsemen, the Seven Seals are often neglected, especially the fifth, sixth and seventh of their number. The final seals are actually closer to an Apocalypse that we have already discussed, bringing home the existing ideas about the End of the World. The fifth seal resurrects martyrs and anyone who has died for their faith, winning their assistance in the final battle; the sixth seal signals a great earthquake and a rain of stars; and the seventh seal ushers in a moment of darkness and silence.

ARMAGEDDON

After Revelations introduces the key players in the End of the World, the stage is set for them to clash in a final battle. That battle takes the form of another by-word for the Endtimes: Armageddon.

The literal meaning of Armageddon refers to the site of the final battle involving these key players, with Jesus, the saints and the faithful battle on the side of God while the Antichrist, Satan and the beasts provide the enemies. There are no interpretations as to how long this battle will last, but it will lead to the defeat of the Antichrist and the beasts, with Satan cast into the pit for a period of 1,000 years as punishment for his deeds. However, Satan is not killed or defeated: this final victory is reserved for a time when Satan returns.

Armageddon may actually be a real place, as the name bears close similarities to Tel Megiddo, an ancient settlement about 150km north of Jerusalem.

GEHENNA

After Satan has been cast into the pit, he will return for one final battle; it is only then, with the ultimate defeat of Satan, that Heaven and Earth can be reborn and that all of the dead will rise again. Satan is ultimately defeated when Jesus casts him and his followers into a lake of fire.

Just as Armageddon provides the location of a climactic battle, this final battle is tied to a specific place, with all the clues pointing towards the valley of Gehenna, just outside Jerusalem. The valley was used as both a burial grounds and a site for pagan sacrifices, making if especially fitting as the final resting place of a fallen angel. Gehenna was so closely linked to the concept of death that it has become a Jewish by-word for Hell and the afterlife.

Gehenna is also acknowledged as a place of fire, as many of the sacrifices that took place there involved fire and flames.

Since Gehenna is not an actual lake of fire, this reading suggests that Revelations was not written to be read around the world, but rather has some specific meanings to those familiar with the history and geography of the Israel of the time.

7

READING REVELATIONS: INTERPRETATIONS AND HIDDEN MEANINGS

As we’ve already seen, there are many different interpretations of the Book of Revelations: some offer a terrifying vision of the End of the World and the fantastical events that will usher in this period; others are far more subtle, a reference to established books and history with political promises and threats about what will befall the enemies of the faithful.

In this chapter, we’ll look at just some of the meanings that can be read into Revelations, using codes and references that take into account the time and place in which the book was written.

Revelations may not have been written as one complete text, with the book gathered from a variety of different sources. The earliest fragments of the book date from
AD
70, meaning that Revelations was written during the first Jewish-Roman war. Also known as the Great Revolt, this was an attempted rebellion by the Jewish peoples against the Roman Empire that had been occupying Israel for over 100 years. The war came to a bloody climax in the Siege of Jerusalem, where parts of the city were burned and Roman forces destroyed the Temple.

A Preterist reading of Revelations adopts this as its starting point, looking at all of the imagery discussed within the book as a reference to contemporary events: the word has its origins in the Latin word
praetor
meaning past, implying that the contents of Revelations are firmly historical.

SEVEN

The number seven occurs multiple times throughout the Book of Revelations: there are Seven Seals and many different beasts with seven heads.

Seven is also a number used in reference to Rome, the city built on seven hills, with the city itself – and its associated empire – becoming a sort of beast with seven heads.

The Whore of Babylon, referenced in Revelations, is also a false idol who – like Rome – stands atop seven mountains.

Between the death of Jesus in
AD
33 and the Siege of Jerusalem in
AD
70, there are seven Roman emperors, each the head of an enemy to the Jewish and Christian peoples.

NERO

We have already seen that Nero’s name may feature directly in Revelations as the number of the Beast, and there are several aspects of his life and rule that make his inclusion fitting.

Nero was the Roman emperor for fourteen years from
AD
54, one of the longest serving emperors of this early Christian period. He was also one of the most active in the persecution of Christians, killing and torturing Christians throughout the Roman Empire.

Even in the present day, Nero’s name is become synonymous with corrupt government and rulers. He is known for his pride and extravagant taste: he portrayed himself as an idol to the Roman Empire, in a role that many Christians would have considered blasphemous.

The historian Tacitus noted that Nero had a specific loathing of Christians that went far beyond civic duty and protection of the Empire: Christian slaves and prisoners were tied up in his personal gardens, doused in oil and then burned at the stake in order to provide nightly illumination for his estate and the rest of the city.

This is not the only story that links Nero to fire and destruction: the Great Fire of Rome occurred in
AD
64 and destroyed most of the city. Many of the destroyed buildings were in the area of Nero’s palaces, with some of them sitting on land marked for future extensions. Some people suggested that Nero ordered these fires himself to make way for his own building work and extending his own wealth.

FOUR

The horsemen introduces the number four to Revelations: these characters may be a reference to the four Roman emperors following Nero, all of whom held power for only a short period of time.

Nero took his own life in
AD
68 following revolts and unrest throughout the Empire. His death created a power vacuum and led to the Year of Four Emperors, when Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian came to rule in quick succession. Galba, Otho and Vitellius all faced opposition, dying quickly, with only Vespasian bringing an end to the period of uncertainty with his lengthy reign.

Each of these four emperors possessed traits that are similar to those of the Four Horsemen:

  Galba was a stern ruler who used force to keep tight control over the coffers and taxes of the Empire.

  Otho bought his way into power, using his private soldiers to attain the role of Emperor.

  Vitelius can be compared to the famine-like third horseman: he is described as a glutton who would order extravagant feasts four times a day, often at the houses of the other nobles.

  Finally, Vespasian ruled for ten years and was a key player in the Jewish Revolt and the Siege of Jerusalem. Although Vespasian’s attitude towards the Jewish people has been recorded as being quite favourable, the high death toll during this period means that it isn’t a stretch to believe that he could have been associated with Death.