The Warrior in White

The first entry in this series can be found here.
The previous entry can be found here.

The preaching of the gospel is not mere man’s talk; it is Christ riding on his white horse, going forth conquering and to conquer.¹

Charles Spurgeon wrote that in 1865, and it has been pasted at the top of my sermon manuscripts since the second half of 2015. However, while most of this quote refers to Revelation 19:11-16, there is a conflation here with Revelation 6:2. And that is the ultimate question of this text: Is Jesus the first horseman of the apocalypse? I want to change my answer (five years later) from the blog post linked above and now say, “Yes.”

This means that everything from Revelation 6:1-19:21 takes place during the same period of time that Revelation 2-3 depicts: the Church Age. The end times began when the Gospel was unleashed (at the latest at Pentecost [Acts 2]), and Christ has been working in the background — riding his white horse — throughout the whole of Revelation, conquering the world by the power of the gospel. While we often get distracted by the news headlines — and trying to link them to texts in Revelation — Jesus’ conquering mission is at glorious work all the time, even when we fail to recognize it. And it demands more of our attention than we give to the headlines.

John continues his Revelation of Jesus Christ by returning to a character he mentioned in passing back in Revelation 6:2. Jesus is the first horseman of the apocalypse, and he is victorious amidst all the other catastrophes and commotions and challengers that Revelation has described:

Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on His head. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself. He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed Him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from His mouth, so that He might strike the nations with it. He will shepherd them with an iron scepter. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh:

KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS.

Then I saw an angel standing on the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.”

Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against His army. But the beast was taken prisoner, and along with him the false prophet, who had performed the signs in his presence. He deceived those who accepted the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image with these signs. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭11-21 ‭HCSB‬‬

This text can be divided into two parts. The identity of the horseman (19:11-16) and the result of his ride (19:17-21).

Before expositing these points, it is worth noting why he should be equated with the first horseman of the apocalypse. There are two key reasons for this identification, which can then be further supported by looking at the description that follows in 19:11-16. However, the primary thing to remember about this text is that Revelation is apocalyptic. We’ve rightly understood Revelation primarily symbolically to this point, and it would be inconsistent to change that now.

The first reason to understand Jesus as the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6:2 is because every other reference to “white” in Revelation (except maybe the white throne in 20:11) is a reference either to Jesus or his people. Revelation 1:14; 14:14; and 19:11 all clearly refer to Jesus, and Revelation 2:17; 3:4-5, 18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9, 13-14; and 19:14 all refer to his people, often explicitly as a result of his grace. As such, there’s no good reason to say that the rider on the “white horse” of Revelation 6:2 is not Jesus.

The second reason to understand Jesus to be the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6:2 is because he was “given a crown (στέφανος)” and Jesus is said in 19:12 to have many crowns (διάδημα) on his head. The implication here is that (just like Revelation 19:16 declares) Jesus has conquered kings and now wears their crowns as his victory spoils. But if he’s wearing their crowns as victory spoils when he returns, then his victory over them is not one of violence and destruction. Rather, the picture here is what we see previewed in Joshua 2.

The identity of the horseman (19:11-16)

The description of the rider on the white horse makes it clear that he is Jesus (even though he is never actually identified as “Jesus” in this passage), but it also piles up descriptors that take us back to earlier portions of Revelation.

• He self-identified as “Faithful and True” in 3:14
• He threatened war against those who refused to repent in 2:16
• “His eyes were like a fiery flame” in 1:14
• Those following him are Christians, to whom he had previously promised white garments (3:4-5, 18; 4:4)
• “A sharp sword came from his mouth” in 1:16
• He promised to shepherd with an iron scepter in 2:27

There are two clear Old Testament references here. The first is from Psalm 2:9. Interestingly, whereas the Hebrew Bible of Psalm 2 makes both clauses parallel (both lines imply being shattered), the Septuagint (LXX) contrasts the two lines:

“You will rule them with a steel rod.
Like a vessel of a potter you will break them.”²

The whole point of this Psalm is that kings need to stop rebelling against God. God will rule those well who humbly submit to him, but he will crush those who refuse. The fact that John only cites the first half of this verse implies that the emphasis is on those who humbly submit to his rule. (We will come back to this idea when we look at the result of his ride).

The second Old Testament reference is in Isaiah 63:1-6, where we read:

Who is this coming from Edom
in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah—
this One who is splendid in His apparel,
rising up proudly in His great might?

It is I, proclaiming vindication,
powerful to save.

Why are Your clothes red,
and Your garments like one who treads a winepress?

I trampled the winepress alone,
and no one from the nations was with Me.
I trampled them in My anger
and ground them underfoot in My fury;
their blood spattered My garments,
and all My clothes were stained.
For I planned the day of vengeance,
and the year of My redemption came.
I looked, but there was no one to help,
and I was amazed that no one assisted;
so My arm accomplished victory for Me,
and My wrath assisted Me.
I crushed nations in My anger;
I made them drunk with My wrath
and poured out their blood on the ground. (HCSB)

This is echoed by two lines in Revelation 19:

• He wore a robe stained with blood (19:13)
• He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty (19:15b)

It is worth noting that the reference to Psalm 2 occurs in between these two references to Isaiah 63 (Revelation 19:15a). This should give us a hint about how the Isaiah 63 references should be understood.

The primary point is not that Christ is going to slaughter his enemies physically. The sword is not in his hand; it is coming out of his mouth. And the parallel idea is found in Hebrews 4:12,

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

It separates soul and spirit and judges the “ideas and thoughts of the heart.” This is not a sword for causing physical damage. And if you want to point to “joints and marrow,” we must understand that Scripture will not cut your steak. Rather, these two words refer to the toughest of unions; the same root word (for “joints”) occurs in Ephesians 2:21 and 4:16 to refer to God’s knitting together of the Church. Other unions–especially those hostile to the Church–don’t stand a chance against the “joint- and marrow-dividing” power of the Word of God.

So when Christ rides forth with a sword in his mouth, it is the Word of God. This word destroys hostile alliances not by physically splattering their blood, but by killing their hostilities and turning them into faithful followers of him.

This is why he is crowned with many crowns and why he rules the nations. The nations have exchanged their claim to power by submitting to him. And the follow up question is: Will you exchange your claim to sovereignty by submitting to Jesus’ rule over your life?

But we’ll come back to that question in a bit.

The result of his ride (19:17-21)

This portion of text must be understood in light of what we mentioned prior. Remember, the Word of God doesn’t cut your steak.

What we have here is an apocalyptic portrait of the success of the gospel. In a literal battle, birds eat carcasses after the fact. As such, this image of a literal battle scene is highlighting the fact that the gospel destroys the enemies of Christ (by literally making them into followers of Christ). The gospel kills their flesh and raises them to life in the Spirit (cf. Revelation 20:4-7 and the “first resurrection”).

If we want proof of this, let’s look closely at the final two verses of this section:

Both of them (the beast and the false prophet) were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. (19:20b-21)

The beast and false prophet were thrown alive into the lake of fire; the rest were killed. Why do the beast and the false prophet not end up dead by Jesus? Because death is what happens when one believes the gospel.

It’s why we are buried with Jesus under water in baptism. It’s why the idolaters of Revelation are said to be those who “live on the earth” (6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 14; 17:2, 8). In a countercultural twist, according to Revelation it is better to be dead (alive with Christ) than to be alive (and cut off from Christ). Let the gospel kill you so Christ can resurrect you!

Now perhaps you argue: “this sounds great and all, but look at 19:18; the angel calls the birds to eat the flesh of horses. How can horses be saved by the gospel? This has to be understood literally.”

That’s a valid observation, but I think two arguments will help explain why the presence of horses does not nullify this thesis.

First, and most exegetically likely, horses fit perfectly in the battlefield image that John is painting. As such, they would be a necessary casualty of war. Their flesh would also be vulture fodder. It doesn’t mean the picture needs to be taken literally; it merely fleshes out the picture.

Second, and more theologically-oriented, horses could here represent the creation (a theme we’ve seen throughout Revelation already; 8:7-12; 16:3-4, 8) being redeemed as a result of the success of the gospel. Paul makes it clear that the creation longs for the consummation to set all things right (Romans 8:18-25).³

This means that at some point, all human beings alive on the planet will be slain by the Gospel and resurrected as spiritual children of God. This is why Spurgeon can say what he does about the preaching of the Gospel:

The preaching of the gospel is not mere man’s talk; it is Christ riding on his white horse, going forth conquering and to conquer.⁴

But with that, I must ask: Have you placed your faith in Christ yet? Has the gospel dealt the death blow to your rebellious flesh? Christ says all flesh will be killed by the sword that comes from his mouth at some point. But he does not say that all flesh will be killed by that sword always.

If you have not believed the gospel, you stand in danger of the same lake of fire the beast and false prophet will be cast into (cf. Matthew 25:31-46).

Revelation 14:19-20 is another portrait of Christ trampling the winepress of God’s wrath. This portrait is part of a dichotomy being drawn in that text. There are those who are gathered and saved, and there are those who are trampled and destroyed. The portrait of Revelation 19 is a gospel portrait, but the gospel is only the gospel because Christ trampled the wine press of God’s wrath when he died on the cross. If you haven’t placed your faith in him yet, God does not yet see you in him, and you will end up facing that trampling yourself.⁵

I don’t want that for you. I want you to place your faith in Christ and be saved. I want your flesh to be killed by the gospel. The Word of God is powerful. Stop resisting it! Let it change your allegiance today! Let Christ be your shepherd ruler now!

In this with you.

Thanks for reading.

The next entry can be found here.

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References

1. Charles Spurgeon, “What Shall Be Done for Jesus?,” The Spurgeon Archive, last modified 2001, accessed June 5, 2024, http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/s_and_t/wbdj1865.htm. This was originally published in the January 1865 edition of Sword and Trowel. ↩︎
2. Rick Brannan et al., eds., The Lexham English Septuagint (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012). ↩︎
3. Thus, the reference to the horse could be a sign that our beloved pets might be reunited with us in heaven. ↩︎
4. See note 1. ↩︎
5. This trampling represents hell. Whether hell is a place of darkness, torment, literal fire, or simple separation from the gracious presence of God– the point is that you will not like it and should do whatever you possibly can to avoid ending up there. ↩︎