[Revelation 6]
{6:1} And I saw that the Lamb had opened one of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living creatures saying, in a voice like thunder: “Draw near and see.”
{6:2} And I saw, and behold, a white horse. And he who was sitting upon it was holding a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering, so that he might prevail.

The first horseman symbolizes a set of events that begins the tribulation: a great war. In my interpretation, this event is World War 3, which is a war between Iran and the other Arab/Muslim nations of that region and Europe, the U.S. and Allies. When will this war begin? When Iran has enough nuclear weapons (at least 3 or 4). World War 3 begins with a nuclear attack by Iran on New York City (as soon as 2013 or as late as 2016).

The first horseman is also the first seal of the seven Seals in the book of Revelation. The first horseman/seal is World War 3, in which only a few nuclear weapons are used (perhaps only two: against NYC and Rome). But the sixth seal is a full-scale nuclear war, World War 4 (in the 2030’s).

{6:12} And when he had opened the sixth seal, I saw, and behold, a great earthquake occurred. And the sun became black, like a haircloth sack, and the entire moon became like blood.
{6:13} And the stars from heaven fell upon the earth, just as when a fig tree, shaken by a great wind, drops its immature figs.
{6:14} And heaven receded, like a scroll being rolled up. And every mountain, and the islands, were moved from their places.
{6:15} And the kings of the earth, and the rulers, and the military leaders, and the wealthy, and the strong, and everyone, servant and free, hid themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
{6:16} And they said to the mountains and the rocks: “Fall over us and hide us from the face of the One sitting upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
{6:17} For the great day of their wrath has arrived. And who will be able to stand?”

The mushroom cloud from nuclear explosions also looks like a fig tree. The falling figs represent falling nuclear bombs or missiles. The severity of this event is indicated by the severe symbolism: the sky receding, people sheltering from fallout in the mountains and “caves” (fallout shelters). The change in the color of the sun and moon is due to the particulate matter in the upper atmosphere obscuring the light from sun and moon, also resulting in the later event of nuclear winter (Rev 8:12).

Preparations for this first event of the tribulation are limited. (I’ll cover preparations for the sixth seal later.)

World War 3 will cause severe economic problems. You might want to save up some money in an emergency fund. You should also consider gaining some skills and knowledge that would make your family more self-sufficient. In a severe economic downturn, or worse, goods and services will be less available and more expensive.

For information on different levels of radiation from fallout and how much harm they cause, see my booklet: Radiation Exposure Level and Effects. That booklet also describes over-the-counter medications that can be used in cases of internal contamination with radioactive elements.

For radiation detection, the least expensive yet effective passive radiation detection device is the RADTriage card, which currently costs about $30.00. It has chemicals printed on the card that change color in response to different levels of accumulated radiation. An active radiation detector, with an LCD readout of the radiation level, is much more expensive.

War will also result in civil unrest and food shortages, but I’ll cover that in subsequent posts.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.