Tribulation Events
Tribulation means a time of trouble. Jesus said that before he returned there would be a terrible time on the earth like none that had come before (Matthew 24:21). If it were not cut short, no flesh would survive on the earth (Matthew 24:22). Read Matthew 24 and Revelation chapters 6-16 to understand everything that has to happen. I believe that the tribulation will come upon this generation (Matthew 24:32-34), so we must be ready for it.
The tribulation will involve both spiritual and physical events, all of which will be unprecedented in their scale and scope, such as a nuclear war and its aftermath of famines possibly killing 1/4 of mankind (Revelation 6:4-8), a world-wide persecution of Christians in every nation unto death (Matthew 24:9; Revelation 6:10-11), literal comet and meteorite strikes (Revelation 8:7-11), and possibly a gigantic volcanic eruption (Revelation 6:12-14), hordes of locust-like creatures torturing mankind (Revelation 9:2-11), a great war that will kill 1/3 of mankind (Revelation 9:18), and a man called the Antichrist who will conquer the earth and be worshipped by all those not written in Jesus' book of life (Revelation 13:7-8).
"Armageddon" is a place where the world's armies will be gathered for a battle (Revelation 16:14-16) at the end of the tribulation. I believe this battle will happen at the 2nd coming (Revelation 19:19-21).
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Will There Really Be Nuclear War?
In the coming tribulation I believe we need to be prepared to see the possible use of nuclear weapons, which may be represented by the "great sword" of the 2nd horseman in Revelation: "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a GREAT SWORD" (Revelation 6:4). Note that Revelation 6:8 says 1/4 of the earth dies as a result of this warfare and its resulting famines.
Other Biblical passages may also be describing the use of nuclear weapons: "Fire, and PILLARS OF SMOKE. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come" (Joel 2:30-31).
"So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, NEITHER SHALL THERE BE ANY STRENGTH TO WITHSTAND. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand SHALL BE CONSUMED" (Daniel 11:15-16).
"Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath AGAINST ALL FLESH from the south to the north: That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and EVERY HEART SHALL MELT, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD. Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their PRIVY CHAMBERS. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! IT IS MADE BRIGHT" (Ezekiel 21:2-15).
At his 2nd coming, Jesus' own holy fire, sword, and brimstone will be even more terrible than nuclear weapons:
"For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many" (Isaiah 66:15-16).
"For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it" (Isaiah 30:33).
"For our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29)
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The 1st Seal
I believe it's possible the white horse of the 1st seal (Revelation 6:2) could picture the spread of the gospel of Christ to all nations before the tribulation begins (Matthew 24:14). Christ will be with us by his Spirit even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:19-20), but he will not return physically on a white horse until the 2nd coming (Revelation 19:11), which will be after the tribulation (Matthew 24:29-31).
The bow may represent the far reach of his gospel as it is preached "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Note that it doesn't say the bow has no arrows. The Bible often refers to bows without specifically referring to their arrows (Genesis 48:22, Joshua 24:12, 2 Chronicles 17:17, Nehemiah 4:13, Nehemiah 4:16, Job 20:24, Psalm 44:6, Isaiah 13:18, Jeremiah 6:23, Jeremiah 50:42, Hosea 1:7, Zechariah 9:10, Zechariah 10:4). If someone shouted out "Look out! He's got a gun!" Would you reply, "Why should I look out? You didn't say he has any bullets."
Revelation 6:2 doesn't require that the white horse cause any suffering or bring any deception.
The giving of the crown could possibly represent the preaching of the gospel being given power unto it before it could go forth unto all nations: "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
While the word "conquer" means to overcome, this can refer to good overcoming evil. The same Greek word translated "conquer" in Revelation 6:2 is translated as "overcome" in Luke 11:22, Romans 12:21, 1 John 2:13-14, 1 John 4:4, 1 John 5:4-5, Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 2:26, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 3:12, Revelation 3:21, Revelation 12:11, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 21:7; and as "prevailed" in Revelation 5:5; and as "gotten the victory" in Revelation 15:2; all of which verses refer to good overcoming evil.
The Antichrist can't be the rider of all four horses because the name of the 4th rider is Death (Revelation 6:8), who is not cast into the lake of fire until 1000 years after the Antichrist (Revelation 19:20, 20:14).
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Comparing Revelation 6 and Matthew 24
Matthew 24 describes events similar to Revelation 6. In Matthew 24, Jesus describes the signs leading up to his coming in the following order:
1. "Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:5).
2. "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars" (Matthew 24:6).
3. "And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places" (Matthew 24:7).
4. "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matthew 24:9-13).
5. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14).
6. "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains" (Matthew 24:15-16).
We could summarize these as:
1. Many Coming In the Name of Christ And Deceiving Many
2. Wars
3. Famines And Pestilences and Earthquakes
4. Persecution
5. True Gospel Reaching All Nations
6. Abomination of Desolation
The first 5 seals of Revelation show the following events:
1. "I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer" (Revelation 6:2).
2. "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword" (Revelation 6:4).
3. "And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine" (Revelation 6:5-6).
4. "And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8).
5. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held" (Revelation 6:9).
We could summarize these as:
1. Unidentified
2. War
3. Famine
4. Death From War, Famine, and Beasts
5. Persecution
There is no match between the 1st events of Matthew 24 and Revelation 6, for the former speaks of many deceiving many, while the latter shows only a single rider and it doesn't say he is a deceiver. The 2nd and 3rd events of each chapter match (War and Famine), the 4th event of Revelation 6 is the result of the War and Famine of both chapters, with the death from "the beasts of the earth" possibly including the microscopic beasts that cause pestilence, and the 4th event of Matthew 24 matches the 5th event of Revelation 6 (Persecution).
The events of Matthew 24 which we don't see expressly stated in Revelation 6 are the true gospel reaching all nations, and the abomination of desolation. While we do see these things in Revelation 13 and 14, there they are shown in reverse order as in Matthew 24, and they aren't shown as being related to the events of Revelation 6 in any way:
"And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven... And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:6-8).
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" (Revelation 14:6).
I believe it's possible that the unidentified white horse of the 1st seal (Revelation 6:2) could picture the spread of the true gospel of Christ to all nations (Matthew 24:14). The reason I believe it is moved up to first place in Revelation 6 is in order to place it before the pattern of suffering begins, and to give the preeminence to the preaching of Christ in that prophetic book, "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10), and so "that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).
But then we're left with the problem of the 1st event of Matthew 24, many coming in the name of Christ and deceiving many, appearing to line up with the 1st event of Revelation 6, the true gospel reaching all nations. I think this is necessarily ambiguous, because there are so many preaching in the name of Christ so many opposing views on so many doctrines that they can't all be right - - many coming in the name of Christ must be deceiving many. But neither can they all be wrong, the true gospel of Christ must be reaching all nations.
Some may say, "Well, if you can bring up the preaching of the true gospel to all nations from being one of the last events in Matthew 24 to being the 1st event in Revelation 6, why can't someone else bring up the abomination of desolation or at least the appearance of the Antichrist on the world scene as a peace-maker, to being the 1st event in Revelation 6?"
Because the preaching of the true gospel to all nations has been an ongoing project since the days of the early church; it is prior in time to any of the end-time events of Matthew 24 and Revelation 6, even though it will only reach its goal of every last nation (people-group) in the end-times; while the abomination of desolation or the appearance of the Antichrist on the world scene as a peace-maker are end-time events only that will probably take place sometime after the wars described in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6.
I believe there will be a magnificent predecessor to the Antichrist who will conquer and unite the Middle East (Daniel 11:13-19) who could come from Iraq or Syria. After he suddenly dies or disappears, his weak successor (Daniel 11:20) will be followed by the Antichrist himself, who will take control stealthily (Daniel 11:21) and make a peace treaty under which he will consolidate his power (Daniel 11:23-24).
The war of the magnificent predecessor (Daniel 11:13-19) and its aftermath of famines and epidemics (Revelation 6:4-8) may be "the beginning of sorrows" spoken of by Christ (Matthew 24:7-8), after which comes great deceptions and apostasy (Matthew 24:11-12), all leading up to the rising up of the Antichrist and the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).