Revelation 6:1-2 - The White Horse

Okay, so here we are. Chapter 6 starts that part of Revelation where pretty much everyone stops reading. Even after the oddness of some of the first five chapters, you start reading this chapter and somewhere in it you stop reading, close the book and put it down. It starts being out there somewhere with so much symbolism and seemingly little relation to other things. It also starts describing events and circumstances that are just not pleasant. Even though the biggest movies and video games that everyone watches and plays usually have extreme violence in them of some kind, reading about it in the Bible is very often too much. Perhaps, it is the idea that it strikes too close to a reality we must accept and we would prefer not to know of it, much less imagine it, knowing that we, our children, or their children (or anyone for that matter) might have to endure a portion of it.

You can’t read Revelations 6 onward without first stopping to read Matthew 24. Jesus describes all of what follows in his descriptions to the disciples. In fact, it is very helpful to read Matthew 24 concurrently with Revelations 6 and notice all of the parallels.

The scene coming from chapter 5 is the slain Lamb of God stands before the throne of God in heaven. Every being in heaven, on earth, and under the earth have sung praises to Him because He alone is the only one worthy to take the scroll from God. The scroll is sealed with seven seals (it is perfectly sealed) and what it says is a mystery. I believe it is either God’s written plan for His Creation, as most commentaries agree, or it is the written woes and cries of the people (as in Ezekiel) and the Lamb is going to open the scroll as the only answer to man’s sin.

This is commonly referred to as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Zechariah 6:1-8 describes four horses with chariots that walk “to and fro throughout the earth”. There are similarities in his vision to what we will read here.

I will try to parallel a few of the most common interpretations for these symbols, not all of course, but the most commonly accepted views.

1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Most commentaries refuse to believe that this is anything other than the false messiah, or anti-christ. The reasoning is:

1. He answers to the voice of one of the four living creatures. Christ answers to no one in heaven except the Father.  
2. He has a bow but no arrows. He rides out as a conqueror bent on conquest but has no weapon.  
3. He is on a white horse and has a crown. He imitates the actual Christ, but has no power (no arrows).

The idea presented by the majority of studies is that these seals, followed by the trumpets, and further followed by the bowls are judgments on the people. It must be remembered that all judgments are contained in the seals. The trumpets and bowls are contained in the seventh seal. The first judgment then is the release of a false savior. Someone the world will follow but who leads to destruction.

Another idea is that these riders relate to the church as a whole. It is particularly the Seventh Day Adventists who hold this interpretation. The white horse is the time in church history when the church grew quickly and the gospel spread across the world. It is the apostolic church riding victoriously in history under the banner of Jesus.

Yet another idea is that this rider is indeed the Christ. It is Him coming in the flesh to man. He comes without a sword, but with a bow. He comes in love but with no arrows. He will not force His power into the hearts of man. He has the crown of life to rescue any who will hear the truth. It is the beginning of God’s plan for man to make a way of salvation and to answer the woes and cries of the people. He comes as a conqueror of sin bent on living in the world without sin and dying unjustly on a cross for everyone’s sins.