The Antichrist’s Reign of Terror Leads to the Battle of Armageddon. The four horsemen of Revelation 6:1-8 symbolize the Antichrist’s reign of terror.
Entering the world on a white horse in the name of peace, he comes to conquer.
The red horse signifies the bloodshed wrought by him in war. The black horse depicts famine. The pale horse, a mixture of all the colors, represents the death of one-fourth of the world’s population-a result of his conquest.
Coincidentally, the Nazi flag was red, white, and black, and both the swastika and the circle are satanic symbols. Hitler declared that these colors formed “the most brilliant harmony in existence.” Red and black are also the symbolic colors for Satanism.
When the Antichrist enters power, he acts deceptively, and exalts himself above all, and speaks against the God of gods. He honors a strange god of fortresses by acknowledging and glorifying it and causing it to rule over many (Dan. 11:23, 36-39). This might possibly be a weapon system, or computer infrastructure. The Antichrist changes times and laws (Dan. 7:25), and has a statue made of himself, which the False Prophet will cause to speak. Those who refuse to honor his image, he murders. He demands worship from the masses, and the crowds worship him (Rev. 13:8, 14-16). He prospers by accomplishing his aims. His dreadful and terrible empire devours the world, and breaks it in pieces, with the speed of a cheetah. (Dan. 7:7, 8:24; Rev. 13:2).
The final world power is the equal of all the previous world powers combined, and its authority extends worldwide (Rev. 13:2). Revelation 13:7-8 confirms that “authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation and all who dwell on the earth will worship him.” The Antichrist initially gains the masses’ admiration through his eloquence, financial solutions and his ingenious peace proposals. He invades and conquers those nations that oppose him. Isaiah 10:14 records the power of the Antichrist’s conquest in his own words. He declares: “My hand has found like a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was no one who moved his wing, nor opened his mouth, with even a peep.” This lines up with Daniels description of a demonic, animal, metal beast, which rises to great power.
Russia, the kings of the East, and a great nation from the coast of the earth attack and destroy his kingdom, possibly by a nuclear attack. Hearing of this, he goes out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many people,and flees to his sanctuary in Jerusalem. Invading armies attack him in Israel, and the remaining troops of the nations join them at the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:16, 18; Ezekiel. 38; Jer. 4, 5, 50; Dan. 11:40-45).
All of the Old Testament prophets refer to Armageddon as “The Day of the Lord.” Jeremiah 46:10 records it as “a day of vengeance, a great slaughter, north of the river Euphrates.”
The greatest earthquake in history levels and divides cities around the globe. Mountains cease to be, and islands sink under water. The sun darkens, stars fall from the sky, and the moon turns to blood (Is. 2:12; Ezek. 30:3; Zech. 14:1-9; Zeph. 1; Joel 2:1-2, 10, 3:1, 15; Rev. 6:12, 16:9; Mark 13:24-25; Matt. 24:29).
At the Tribulation’s end, Jesus Christ, shining bright as the sun, appears in the clouds with the saints and legions of angels (Rev. 19; Mark 13:26-27; Matt. 24:30). John Walvord records in his book Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation that: “The description of the time of the end confirms Daniel’s revelation that it will be a period of trouble such as the world has never known, trouble of such character that it would result in the extermination of the human race if it were not cut short by the consummation, the second coming of Jesus Christ.”