THE BIBLE is divided into the old and the New Testaments. The first book in the Old Testament is the book of Genesis where we can read how God created the Universe and Man. The last book in the New Testament is the book of Revelation where something is told to man by God which bring surprise or shock.
One of the easy ways to know if your Bible is Catholic or Protestant is if the last book in the New Testament of your Bible is printed as Apocalypse, it is Protestant; if it is written as Revelation, it is Catholic. Apocalypse is a Greek word meaning prophetic writing about the end of the world.
It is fitting that the first book in the Bible is Genesis (the creation of the Universe and of man) and the last book is the Apocalypse / Revelation (a shocking description of the signs before the end of the world). The Apocalypse / Revelation was written by John of Patmos (a town in Greece) consisting of visions made in symbolic language which Christians at the time when John wrote it for would have understood but for which non-Christians at that time would be a mystery.
There are different interpretations of the Revelation but the central there is clear. Through Jesus Christ, God will totally defeat all enemies, including Satan and will reward the faithful with the blessing of a new heaven and a new earth. Chapter seven of Revelation dealing with 144,000 persons with seals on their foreheads until today causes disputes. Who are the 144,000 persons? Chapter six described 4 terrible frightening horsemen.
The first rider on a white horse holding a bow and a crown symbolizes conqueror. The second is on a red horse representing war. The third holding a pair of scales on a black horse symbolizes famine while the fourth on a pale horse symbolizes death.
After hundreds of years of debate, the belief is that people greatly suffers worldwide whenever these 4 horsemen ride out trampling and destroying everything on its path. This horrible scenario can be seen in the drawings, pictures in bible church painting and frescoes.
In 1918 spanish writer Vicente Blasco Ibanez wrote the novel “Los Cuatros Jinetes de Apocalipsis” or 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse. Coincidentally, 1918 was the year World War One was about to end and the year the Spanish flu which killed 40 million people worldwide broke out. Ibanez also wrote the novel “Sangre y Arena or Blood and Sand. Both novels were translated by Charlotte Brewster into English and became world wide best sellers for many years.
In the late ‘20s the silent black and white movie “4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” starring the greatest Hollywood movie star Rudolf Valentino dancing the original Argentine tango was the movie hit of the decade. In the ‘40s, the film “Blood and Sand” starring Tyrone Power also became a hit, only one chapter in the novel “Los Cuatros Jinetes de Apocalipsis described how the 4 horsemen began their 1914 ride (Start of First World War) which ended (unknowingly by Ibanez) with the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. This was when a Russian expatriate scholar was explaining the meanings of pictures of the old big bibles.
They heard a loud cry which came from a woman who learned that her husband died in the war and the Russian said “xx too late. The 4 horsemen are now on the loose xx.” During world war one said in 1914 some (red horse) there will be pestilence (white horse) and famine or hunger (black horse). The clean up rider will be on the pale horse (death).
