Revelation Chapter 6

The First Seal continued

VERSE 1 and 2 “Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”

In the second interpretation of the white horse, we find that many of the conquering generals of the Roman army rode on white horses to show when they were victors. It’s possible that this is what this rider is doing, in that he thinks that he has conquered all and has it made. We will see more of this attitude later, when we look at the crown that he has on.

“White horses were used by victorious Roman Generals in parades called Triumphs. They were an emblem of triumph and power by Rome over a foreign enemy.” However in most cases the generals did not ride upon a white horse during these parades, but rather rode in a chariot drawn by four horses. “The triumph for the victorious general offered extraordinary opportunities for self-publicity and therefore popularity with the people of Rome. The victorious general was seen as, in some way, divine, representing the god Jupiter. (Excerpts were taken from the Bibleview and The Vintage News)

It has been claimed by some that the rider is Christ, but the problem with that view is that if it truly was Christ he would not have ridden only the first horse, but he would have been seen on the other three as well. Christ could not be seen ruling over the world until after the time of the seventh church. The reign of Christ was not to have occurred until the beginning of the seventh thousand year period. That occurred in 1874 A.D. and since then he has gradually been taking control away from the god of this world, Satan. When the church is complete, they will then live and reign with him.

This rider is almost two thousand years ahead of the time in which the reign should have begun. This rider therefore is not exercising legal power, but is running ahead of the Lord. The rider on the white horse can for that reason be identified with the beginnings of the abomination (the spirit of the antichrist), and the forces that sought by stealth and deceit, to force others to either their opinion or even to force them to accept Christ.

Some might argue that the early church did not have such problems, but it’s a simple matter to read the epistles, to find that there were many in the church that were not doing what they should have, as we see in these examples.

“Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!” (1 Cor 6:7, 8)

“For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor 1:11-13)

“Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.” (1 Cor 11:17, 18)

Many of them were thinking that they were better than others, or that only they had the correct doctrine or idea. The idea of an illegal conquering is confirmed in the message to the first church, in that we find Jesus warning them about the Nicolaitans.

“Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Rev 2:6 NAU)

As seen in the study of the seven churches, they represented a group who wanted to lord it over others. We see the same problem here in the first seal.

The problem in the first seal came from the rider of the horse. Even though the horse itself was relatively pure and white, the rider of the horse was not, and as we will see some of the things that were being done by him were bad!

Continued with next post.