Four Horsemen -Revelation 6:1-8

Revelation 6:1-8 ESV

1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

The four horseman seem to speak of four judgements against Jerusalem. We find four acts of judgement in the Old Testament in the fourteenth chapter of Ezekiel as follows:

Ezekiel 14:21-23
“For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast! 22 But behold, some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; behold, when they come out to you, and you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it. 23 They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God.”

Jeremiah 21:6-7
And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion. ’

God has used outside conquerors numerous times in the past to punish Israel. The beasts we will see later as agents of Satan will repeat history as they war against the saints. Jerusalem has seen more than its share of sword, famine, and pestilence. This vision of four horsemen might be considered both in light of history and the days to come. The past often foreshadows the future. An example would be the bronze snake Moses erected in the desert as commanded by God to save the Israelites from poisonous snakes, or the plagues visited on Egypt before they were freed from slavery.
The galloping hooves of judgement continues to be heard in the events of today. The streets of today in Jerusalem and the world are subject to the endless cycles of violence and want. They serve to confirm these latter days.

The eye of the storm is centered in Jerusalem. Revelation, from chapter 4 on, is seen through the eyes of Israel.