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.”

As we examine this horse and rider, we also see that he had a bow and a crown was given to him. If we look at only the words these symbols could be interpreted in a number of ways, but if we look up the meaning of the words the possibilities become more limited.

A BOW

The word used for bow here is only used in the New Testament in this place. If we use Vines definition and the Old Testament reference in Habakkuk, we find that it was a war bow.

BOW (NOUN) toxon ^5115^, “a bow,” is used in <Revelation. 6:2>. Cf. <Hab. 3:8-9>. The instrument is frequently mentioned in the Sept., especially in the Psalms. # (from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)(Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers).

From the Hab 3:9 scripture we find that the bow used there is a war bow. Strong’s # 7198 qesheth (keh’-sheth); from 7185 in the original sense (of 6983) of bending: a bow, for shooting (hence, figuratively, strength) or the iris: KJV– X arch (-er), + arrow, bow ([-man, -shot]).

“The man, or the group the man represents, has a bow, which is an instrument of war, and he is setting out as a conqueror bent on conquest.”

This definitely shows that the rider had too much of a conquering attitude, and he was willing to use force, and coercion, to convince others on doctrinal matters or to get others to join the church. Because of the importance of seeing that the early church did have this problem, we quote another scripture which is different from the ones above, that actually shows what the problem was.

“Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.” (Phil 1:15-17)

Having a bow implies the use of arrows, against your enemies. This is the same thing that Satan does, in that he is willing to shoot arrows of persecution, in order to overcome those who oppose him. There are several scriptures that describe his arrows to us, and we see that we are to avoid them, or at least have on our armor to stop them.

“Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words, That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.” (Psa 64:2-4)

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (Eph 6:16)

It’s interesting that we are not told that this rider has any arrows. It may be that we are to understand that he has the arrows, or it may signify that at the time we see him here, he does not have the power (the resources, arrows) to do anything regarding conquest. The desire was there, but he had to wait to take control, after the power of the Roman Empire was taken out of the way.

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.” (2 Thess 2:7)

The word “bow” symbolizes military conquest, in which the church was not to be involved. This problem occurred, because it was incorrect for the church to be doing this before the time of the kingdom. They should have waited for the Lord to come, and then after they have completed their earthly walk they would have been able to reign with him in heaven in the next age.

Looking at the above definition of bow and the crown, we think that the problem being shown to us here was the misuse of POWER, and this was what the first living creature is showing us, and complaining about. If this rider had been doing what he should have, he would not have needed a war bow.

Continued with next post.