revaltions 6: 1-17

[Coffeespiller87]

what exacetely is this passge referring to? is the white horse fighting with all the evil ones? for what purpose?

[larryt]

what exacetely is this passge referring to? is the white horse fighting with all the evil ones? for what purpose?

Hi coffee,

There is always some speculation as to the interpretation of prophetic passages so what is said here is always and necessary to ask in prayer for more illumination by the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 6 is the beginning of the judgments of God being poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth. The first horse is probably the only controversial one. Some say that it is Christ, some the Antichrist, one that is an imitator of Christ. The older commentaries lean toward thinking that it is Jesus Christ because of the white horse.(See Matthew Henry) As we get closer to the present commentators look at the rider of the white horse as an impostor because of the lack of arrows for the bow. Matthew Poole gives both views.

Ver. 2. Some, by this white horse, understand the gospel; others, the Roman empire. And by him that sat thereon with a bow, some understand Christ going forth with power to convert the nations; others (and in my opinion more probably) the Roman emperors, armed with power, and having the imperial crown, carrying all before them. So as that which God intended by this to reveal to St. John, was, that the Roman emperors should yet continue, and use their power against his church. Those that understand by the white horse, the gospel, or God

[Murse32]

what exacetely is this passge referring to? is the white horse fighting with all the evil ones? for what purpose?

Hey coffeespiller87,

Much like the previous statement, I have to agree that I have heard many different interpretations of this passage. Therefore, I will give my thoughts on it and hopefully it may shed some light.

I must add, that I do hold a dispensationalistic view on Revelation, so if this is not your cup of tea, you may hold different thoughts and thats ok as well.

The way that I've always look at it was during Chapter 6, Jesus is in Heaven at this time. He is the one in charge of opening up the seven seals. After He breaks the first seal, we than see in verse 2, the white horse. To me, it wouldn't make sense if Jesus was opening a seal for Himself. This seems to be the kick-off of the tribulation with the anti-christ (whoever or whatever that may be) being revealed.

Once again, because I hold the dispensationlist view, I believe in a pre-trib rapture (for those of you who do not believe this way, it is ok, please don't start a debate. thats not the purpose of THIS post) therefore my thoughts are that He who restrains satan, is now removed and he (satan) can now move freely.

The reason for my thinking that this is the antichrist, is we know that satan mocks and copies the things of God in his own fashion. For this reason the white horse resembles a form of peace and/or victory. In the book of Daniel, we see this son of perdition making a peace treaty that will be broken mid way through the tribulation. My thoughts are this: The jews denied Christ because they didn't feel He was what they were expecting. They thought the Messiah would bring actual peace to the land of Israel...they mistook the prophecies of what peace it was though (this we know). Therefore, my thoughts are that the antichrist will bring peace to the land of Israel...they will probably hail him as the long awaited Messiah. The reason for the crown? could be that on earth he has much power...could be for the fact that we see many angels, faithful or fallen wearing crowns in the bible. To keep it simple, just flip a few pages in revelation 9:7 where we see the "locusts" from the abyss. They seem to have what looks to be a crown of gold on their heads. Many believe these "locusts" are some form of demon, that is why they have a king (abaddon), or it COULD mean that God has allowed him the power of the earth for the time being, therefore it shows him "getting a crown" where as of right now, Christ wears the crown.

As far as the bow is concerned, one author (not myself) writes this:

The bow is also a symbol of war and conquest. Some see here a reference to the feared Parthians. They were well known for their archery skills in battle. "A 'Parthian shot' still means a final, devastating blow, to which there is no possible answer" (William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, "The Revelation of John," volume 2, revised edition, p. 4).

The dreaded Parthians, on Rome's eastern flank, were an undefeated enemy. In a failed invasion, the Roman armies were defeated in A. D. 62 by the Parthian general Vologeses in the Tigris river valley. The disaster must still have been remembered in the days when Revelation was written. The churches in the Roman province of Asia (to whom the book was written) must have been quite aware of the Parthians as bowmen riding white horses. Such a horseman could serve as an immediate metaphor of military power and conquest.

However, Revelation's visions and content contain many dozens of allusions to the Old Testament. Here we also find the metaphor of the bow as a symbol of conquest (Psalm 46:9; Jeremiah 49:35; Ezekiel 39:3; Hosea 1:5).

So, I hope this helps you some. As I have said before, if this is not your way of thinking, for I know not all hold this view, I hope that you can still pull something out of it.

Take Care

With love in Christ

[exrockstar]

what exacetely is this passge referring to? is the white horse fighting with all the evil ones? for what purpose?

did you notice that the first rider held a bow? it doesn't say that he was ready to shoot nor was he carrying arrows.

however, he was on a mission to do something.

thought you may find that interesting.

[EricH]

I believe they are simply characteristics of the judgement that will be sent to the earth at that time:

6:1-2 is political intirigue

6:3-4 is war

6:5-6 is food shortages

6:7-8 is death on a massive scale

6:9-11 is persecution of the saints and martyrdom

6:12-17 is natural catastrophes

[EricH]

Moved from Doctrinal Questions to Eschatology

[spaceman]

Given that the seals (along with the trumpets and bowls) are the judegements of God, is it possible that the first seal represents the anti-christ taking power? Since the Bible says that the rider of this horse has a bow but says nothing about arrows could indicate that he takes power through diplomacy and intrigue as opposed to militarily.

[lekh l'kha]

I read someone likening the first four seals to the "birthpains" once:

"And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must occur; but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."

(Mat 24:6-8)

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come."

(Mat 24:14)

"And I saw. And behold a white horse! And he sitting on it had a bow. And a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.

And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come and see. And another, a red horse, went out. And power was given to him sitting on it, to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. And there was given to him a great sword.

And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. And I looked, and lo, a black horse. And he sitting on it had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenixes of barley for a denarius. And do not hurt the oil and the wine.

And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him sitting on it was Death, and Hell followed with him.

And authority was given to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword (2nd seal?) and with hunger (3rd seal?) and with death (4th seal?) and by the beasts of the earth."

(Rev 6:2-8)

I don't know if the first four seals parallel the birth-pains of Matthew 24. But it's just a suggestion.

lekh

[nebula]

I think the expression "bow and arrows" is an English expression, but not one consistent with the Bible. I've posted this before, and sorry, I don't have the time and energy right now to repost it or seeka nd find it - but often in the Bible there will be a mention of "bow" but not with arrows. The arrows are implied to accompany the bow - the same way we say "gun" but dont mentione the "bullets."

So I am not convinced that the mention of the bow but not the arrows is significant to anything. I believe the arrows are implied with the bow.

Thus, the rider on the white horse is a Conquorer or the spirit of conquest, which precedes War.

Since the horse is white, and white being symbolic of holiness or purity, I personally lean towards the notion that this spirit of conquest is either religious in nature has a seemingly "pure" intention (i.e. taking over to make the world "a better place" - yeah, yeah, that's the ticket!).

[lekh l'kha]

I read someone likening the first four seals to the "birthpains" once:

"And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must occur; but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."

(Mat 24:6-8)

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come."

(Mat 24:14)

"And I saw. And behold a white horse! And he sitting on it had a bow. And a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.

And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come and see. And another, a red horse, went out. And power was given to him sitting on it, to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. And there was given to him a great sword.

And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. And I looked, and lo, a black horse. And he sitting on it had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenixes of barley for a denarius. And do not hurt the oil and the wine.

And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him sitting on it was Death, and Hell followed with him.

And authority was given to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword (2nd seal?) and with hunger (3rd seal?) and with death (4th seal?) and by the beasts of the earth."

(Rev 6:2-8)

I don't know if the first four seals parallel the birth-pains of Matthew 24. But it's just a suggestion.

lekh

There's another possible reason why the first four seals parallel the birth-pains of Matthew 24:

In Matthew 24, Jesus said that the birth-pains would be followed by great tribulation, and then He said that "immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

And then the sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the heaven with power and great glory." (Mat 24:29-30)

"And when He had opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs when she is shaken by a mighty wind.

And the heaven departed like a scroll when it is rolled together. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.

And they said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath has come, and who will be able to stand?" (Rev 6:12-17)

"And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Mat 24:31)

After these things I looked, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palms in their hands...

... And one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these who are arrayed in white robes, and from where do they come? And I said to him, Sir, you know.

And he said to me, These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes, and have whitened them in the blood of the Lamb.

Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. And He sitting on the throne will dwell among them. They will not hunger any more, nor thirst any more, nor will the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them and will lead them to the fountains of living waters. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes." (Rev 7: 9, 13-16)

If (I'm saying IF) the first four seals correspond to the birth-pains before the great tribulation in Matthew 24, and the sixth seal corresponds to what takes place immediately after the great tribulation, then it's interesting that in-between we find the 5th seal:

"And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held.

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Until when, Master, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

And white robes were given to each one of them. And it was said to them that they should rest yet for a little time, until both their fellow servants and their brothers (those about to be killed as they were ) should have their number made complete. " (Rev 6:9-11)

If the great tribulation comes in-between the birth-pains and the gathering of the saints who had come out of the great tribulation, then perhaps it's important to realize that Jesus said that the great tribulation will be shortened for the elect's sake - meaning the elect will be there going through the great tribulation?:

"for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. " (Mat 24:21-22)

"Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When its branch is still tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near. So you, likewise, when you see all these things, shall know that it is near, at the doors." (Mat 24: 32-33)

"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth so that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.

And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Do not hurt the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousands, having been sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel. (Rev 7:1-4)

I hope no-one's going to shoot me now.

lekh