SEAL ONE - THE WHITE HORSE

Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, having been proven worthy to open the Seals, the unfolding of sacred prophecy in world history begins with these words:-

"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer." - (REVELATION 6:1-2)

Who or what then is represented by this First or White Horseman of the Apocalypse? Some Christians have erroneously taught that this represented Christ and that it was an end-time prophecy. Such is not the case. This error or misrepresentation rests upon certain vague similarities between the White Horseman and the one spoken of in Revelation 19:11-16. He indeed is the victorious Christ returning at the end of this age, accompanied by the angelic hosts, to destroy evil, and to establish His eternal Kingdom on the earth, where He shall reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Any similarity can exist only in the minds of the most superficial students of Scripture; for a close examination reveals vital and essential differences in the description with regard to attire, accompaniment and weaponry. Furthermore as we have already made clear John was being shown a vision of:

"Things which must be hereafter." -   (REVELATION 4:1)

The White Horseman and his successors must therefore represent the era of history which follows John's own day i.e. The Roman Empire.

THE SYMBOL OF HORSEMEN

The use of Horsemen as a symbol also helps us to identify the system being described, for in several other portions of Scripture the Horse and the Rider are used to symbolise Heathen Military Power. Let us look at a few examples.

1) THE DOWNFALL OF PHARAOH'S EGYPTIAN HOSTS

"The Horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea." - (EXODUS 15:21)

"Horsemen riding upon horses." - (EZEKIEL 23:6)

 

3) THE OVERTHROW OF HEATHEN NATIONS

"With thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider." - (JEREMIAH 51:21)

"The horses and their riders shall come down." - (HAGGAI 2:22)

Since horses and riders symbolise Heathen Powers, we need only ask what the prevailing Heathen Power was in John's day and the answer is the Roman Empire. The White Horseman is therefore the first phase in the tracing of the decline of that same Empire, which was the Fourth Empire of the prophecies of Daniel, symbolised as the Iron Legs of Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2:33 and 40) and as the Dreadful and Terrible Beast with Iron Teeth of Daniel's dream (Daniel 7:7).

Roman Coins showing the Horse

sacred to Mars

Furthermore secular history provides additional confirmatory evidence that the Horses and their riders refer to Pagan Imperial Rome. The Romans worshipped Mars as their god of war, to whom they dedicated the Horse, exhibiting it for centuries at their religious festivals. Also in similar manner to their Imperial predecessors the Greeks and the Medo-Persians, who had stamped the goat and the ram upon their coins as emblems, the Romans emblazoned their coinage with the war horse, often complete with rider wearing a crown and with a sword or a balance. The White Horseman therefore represents the first of four phases of the history of the Roman Empire in its descent into oblivion, commencing in the First Century A.D. when the Lamb broke the Seal and ending in the Fourth Century A.D. with the doom of Imperial Rome. Now let us look more closely at the White Horseman. He is first of all described as:

A) HAVING A BOW

We must now ask ourselves how the bow came to be associated with the Roman Empire, whose rulers are usually depicted with either the sword or spear in their hand. History records that until the Emperor Domitian, all the Emperors of Rome had been of Italian extraction, but that after Domitian there arose a new line of rulers of Cretan origin the first of whom was Nerva. The four Emperors who succeeded him were each in turn adopted by his predecessor, and were known as the Cretan Dynasty. These were:-

1. NERVA                     

2. TRAJAN                   

3. HADRIAN                

4. ANTONINUS           

5. AURELIUS                

This helps us therefore to date the area of the White Horseman prophecy, for the Bow was the symbol of the Cretans, whose island home had become a part of the Roman Empire in 66 B.C. The ancient Israelites called them Crethim or Cherithites and their famous archers served in the body-guard of King David. They claimed to have derived their knowledge of archery and the use of the bow from the pagan god Apollo and the goddess Diana. They sculptured the bow on their tombs and depicted it on their coins. Hence the Apostle saw the White Horseman carrying a bow, by which we can interpret the symbolism.

A Cretan Coin showing

Apollo with his bow

The White Horseman is also portrayed as:

B) HAVING A CROWN

This description also helps us to date and interpret the prophecy, because the word used for crown in the original Greek text of the Apocalypse means not a diadem of gold and precious stones, but rather a laurel crown. This was indeed part of the royal regalia of the Roman Emperors of this period of history.

The White Horseman is said to have gone forth:

C) CONQUERING AND TO CONQUER

The historian Gibbon is his classic work:- "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" tells us that the era of the Cretan Dynasty was a time of military triumph and economic expansion for Imperial Rome. The borders of the Empire were pushed to their greatest point of expansion whilst relatively good government flourished within its boundaries. During this period Trajan conquered Dacia (modern Rumania) and annexed the Kingdom of the Nabateans, as the province of Arabia, and he even for a time wrested control of Armenia and Mesopotania from the Parthians. We reproduce as further evidence this Roman coin which depicts the Cretan Emperor Aurelius riding forth on horseback to conquest, and crowned with a laurel wreath or circlet as his crown.

There can be little doubt therefore that this first White Horseman represents Imperial Rome under its Cretan Emperors in the final stage of its unchallenged grandeur and glory before it descended into the decline symbolised for us by the next three Seals which also use the emblem of the Horseman.

A Cretan Emperor M. Aurelius with the Laurel Crown