Any contemplation of who the rider on the white horse in Revelation chapter six could be....is good and even necessary....for if nothing else it focuses our attention on the return of Jesus Christ in power and glory. The general interpretation over the many centuries has been that this is Christ Himself. So in essence....the Tribulation begins....or the severe judgments of the Tribulation begin....Jesus rides forth in power and judgment....and along with Him He brings war and famine and death....this through the various colored horses that follow.
Along the way another interpretation arose for the rider on the white horse.....that being that this rider was the Antichrist.....coming in a faux peace....to conquer. This is highly speculative....too speculative to build a foundation upon....but that foundation was indeed built in much of the church as it exists today.
So what else is there? Is there any other interpretation? In both of the above interpretations there is a conquerer....either Christ or the Antichrist....and then three judgments.
Oddly....of all places....this is how Wikipedia puts it...."In John's Revelation, the first horseman rides a white horse, carries a bow, and is given a crown-he rides forward as a figure of Conquest, perhaps invoking pestilence, Christ, or the Antichrist." Why pestilence?
The description in God's Word of the fourth rider is that he rides on a pale horse...."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."
In this instance the sword....war....was already mentioned in the red horse.....and famine....was already mentioned in the black horse....but why pestilence....unless that was the already mentioned in the white horse?
I thought it was too coincidental to write about it other than just something to think about....to keep in the back of our minds....so I fashioned the post in this manner....(you can read it not that far below this....in a post titled...."Is The White Horse....Of Revelation Six....The Pandemic?") The reason behind the post....or the coincidence if you will....is that the word bow....in Greek....is toxon....from which we get toxic....this along with the Covid-19....a coronavirus....a corona being essentially a crown....pestilence and a crown....not enough to stand firmly upon....but a little too much to ignore.
So....veils on prophesy are being lifted regularly....this over the past one-hundred years. As I wrote in the first sentence of this post....we are to study John's Revelation....so this is good that we do so. It may be that the more historical interpretation of the rider on the white horse being our coming king....may turn out to be correct....and all praise to God if that be so....but it also may be that white horse was a judgment on the world....and that judgment was a pandemic that has killed at least six million....(a significant figure in itself)....to be followed by war. If this turns out to be the case....then the importance of our not immediately recognizing it....or even considering it....would be that a key evidence of the imminence of the return of our Lord....which would have helped us prepare....would have been missed....and in that even the possibility that the white horse may already be upon us....and the war that is if nothing else....threatened....you would think that would be enough to awaken a sleeping church as to the judgments that we know are coming.
One last thing to store in the back of the mind....that people will say...."peace and safety"....just before sudden destruction comes. That could be when President Trump in essence....more than in essence as he was very clear in that peace and safety and prosperity was here....this in his 2020 State Of The Union address....as the pandemic was just beginning. Or there may be a peace of some sort proclaimed...a great relief...in this current war....or it may be something entirely different.
Addendum: For those new readers who are not familiar with the February 4, 2020 State of the Union address....here are some of the words from the President...."America's fortunes are on the rise.....America's future is blazing bright....our pride is restored....we are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago....and we are never going back....we are advancing with unbridled optimism....This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American epic, The American adventure has only just begun. Our spirit is still young. The sun is still rising, God's grace is still shining, and my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come." News reports that same day announced the first coronavirus death outside of China....in the Philippines.
