Day 112

“Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come!” ² I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” Rev 6:1-2 NASB.

Who is this rider on the white horse? The symbols seem to consistently point in the same direction. First of all, the horse is white in colour. Throughout the book of Revelation, the colour white always refers to the things of Christ and His people. The same is true for the “victory crown” (Greek: stephanos) that the rider wears.

While the language of conquering might seem to reflect something negative, it is primarily a spiritual term in Revelation. In fact, up until chapter six, the Greek word for conquering always refers to Christ and his people (“to the one who overcomes I will give. . .”). The word “conquer” in Revelation refers to overcoming in spiritual matters (Rev 5:5; 12:11).

The rider on the white horse, therefore, represents the gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning with His enthronement in heaven (Rev 5) and continuing until the very end. Passing on that gospel is now the major activity of God’s people on earth.

The scene of the first seal describes the spread of the gospel, which started powerfully at Pentecost. Through the dispersion of the gospel, Christ began expanding His kingdom. Prophetically, the scene of the first seal corresponds to the message to the church at Ephesus; it describes the apostolic period of the first century during which the gospel spread rapidly throughout the world.

We should always remember that, in Christ, we are on the winning side, regardless of what might be our immediate circumstances?

The seven churches had given us a look inside the church, now we will see the political/worldly response to the gospel. An outside look so to speak.