Verse 4
The red horse probably symbolizes bloodshed and war. The rider of this horse removes peace from the earth and begins war. There do not seem to me to be sufficient similarities between this red horse rider and the one in Zechariah 1:8 to identify them as the same individual. The one in Zechariah is probably the Angel of the Lord. [Note: See Merrill F. Unger, Zechariah, p. 27.]
If we observe the Olivet Discourse parallelism, the time when peace ends is probably before the middle of the Tribulation (cf. Matthew 24:6-7 a; Mark 13:7-8 a; Luke 21:9-10). This is, therefore, not a reference to the termination of peace with Israel that Antichrist will effect, which will signal the middle of the Tribulation and the beginning of the Great Tribulation (cf. Matthew 24:15).
The large sword (Gr. machaira megale) represents authority to slay people. War on the earth will follow the manifestation of Antichrist. The warfare in view here seems to be part of what Ezekiel described in Ezekiel 38, 39 as the battle of Gog and Magog. [Note: See Pentecost, Things to . . ., p. 352; and John F. Walvoord, The Nations in Prophecy, p. 103.]
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