Thank you! Where to start? 🤔
EP: The four horsemen didn't start in 1914 or earlier- the timing is once Jesus is enthroned in heaven.
PW: Leaving aside 1914, the identity of the four horsemen is a matter of some debate. Ever since the earliest (extant) commentaries on Revelation (see Victorinus of Ptus, 250-304), there have been disputes about the identity of the horsemen, whether the first horseman is Christ himself or the Antichrist, and how the other horsemen harm people and the earth. So there are generally two main directions: that the 1st rider on the white horse is Christ, or that the 1st rider is the Antichrist. All interpretations then tend to agree that the subsequent horsemen bring physical hardship in the form of wars, famine and disease, and vicious animals, affecting 1/4 of the planet...
For completeness, I should add that the JWs again chose not entirely wrong (the 1st horseman is Christ), which is a better choice than the Antichrist, but the weakness of the JW interpretation is often discussed: the Christ, as the Lamb, is the one who opens the seals, which is probably why he doesn't jump from horse to horse. Most importantly: John does not particularly describe the rider himself. Jesus Himself, as the rider, only appears - in an active role - as the victorious King in chapter 19. If he was already riding out now, why would he be riding out in chapter 19? Furthermore, in the 5th seal, the symbolic souls do not perceive the activity of the horsemen as judgment. Therefore, it must be something else.
But typical of JWs, they don't level with their opponents anywhere. Either they are ignorant of them or they silently ignore them and appropriate their interpretations, which can be traced back through the centuries, and again silently pass them off to their "sheep" as God's revealed, one, true and actual light...
So I will try to look at it differently!
The key to revealing the identity of the 4 horsemen is the statement about the plagues that will strike 1/4 of the earth.
However, two insertions are necessary here:
1. Christ
2. theodicea's question
Re 1: Revelation is given to Jesus and as the angel tells John in 19:10 so it is true that Jesus' sayings, are spirit i.e. an invisible, moving force to interpret the mystery i.e. literally: prophecy. And since Revelation is a book of prophecy, Jesus' sayings are the first source for the exegesis of Revelation. This is known, but less often, it is applied...
Ad 2: Theodicy is a difficult question. I'll keep it to the absolute minimum: God is love, and he has placed his love above his justice and righteousness. Love does not nullify law and justice, but those who fail to use love will be confronted and God's law and justice (and wrath). God does not put out a smoldering wick and break a broken stalk => the goal of Revelation is the salvation of people, not their slaughter by 1/4 or 1/3. Again, everyone knows this, but few consistently apply....
So as I wrote above, the key to interpreting Revelation is Jesus. So did Jesus ever talk about there being four kinds of earth, and from what would one infer that there is 1/4 of an earth? In my opinion, yes, and it is a parable about four types of land.
It is his famous parable from Matt 13 ch. where the grain falls on the road, the rock, the thorns and the good soil. Jesus then goes on to give another parable in Matt. 13:24, specifying the situation where the grain does come up, but immediately weeds appear. The field (land) is the world. Here, in my opinion, is the 1/4 we are looking for.
From this perspective, it is then easy to deduce the identity of the four horsemen when in Matt 13:39 Jesus explains the parable, and says that the reapers are angels and the harvest is the end of the ages.
So the revelation begins quite unobtrusively, like a thief in the night, the angels, at the call from heaven, set out to reap the firstfruits => those who have already ripened, to destroy the weeds, to do no harm to those who are not yet ripe...they are only interested in God's field, where God's sons and daughters are. That's why they work on 1/4 of the earth. That is why it is said that wheat and barley are of equal value. It has nothing to do with some physical famine. It is a picture that wheat i.e. sons and daughters of God will be three times less than barley i.e. people who are not Christians but still behave as described in the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Like oil and wine: these are the ones who are merciful, healing "wounds" like wine, anointing "pains" like oil. Why should God punish them? I remind you: he will not break the broken grass...
Are hunger, the sword, and animals literal plagues then? In their case, no: they induce spiritual hunger, for the receptive, they divide with the sword of the spirit the right from the wrong, they impose the yoke => the law of Christ on those who want to follow it. Those who are afflicted with wounds, those wounds are to bring them to repentance, because if they don't, they will fall victim to death, they will have to hope for a resurrection from the sheol/hades, and some will fall victim to an even worse wound: the animals, to be discovered later. And getting out of the power of the animals will be even more difficult, at which time the wrath of God will really be revealed...
All this will happen quite subtly, there may be real wars, pandemics, earthquakes, famines in the world. People will be really preoccupied with the problems of this world. But sometimes, in such a situation, quite unobtrusively, up there, one seal will break and from the throne of God will be heard: go...
