The 7 Seals - Part 1

The 7 Seals – Part 1

The Rider on the White Horse

All scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Bible. Any deviations are not intentional. All underlines, bold and words within brackets are the author's.

For more articles on other issues, please visit our website at: www.seekingfortruth.com .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article may be duplicated (or printed) for distribution provided that no changes are made to it and, the above copyright

and link to our website remains intact. It may be distributed only in its original form, unedited, and free of charge.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Revelation 6:2 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.

Who is the rider on this white horse? Many in our day tell us that since Christ is portrayed as a rider upon a white horse in Rev. 19:11, that we must also interpret this rider upon a white horse to be Christ as well. The only problem with this is that scripture tells us many other things which contradict such an interpretation. Here are a few reasons why we must understand this rider as Antichrist rather than Christ.

I. The rider goes forth conquering, and to conquer.

Revelation 6:2 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.

The word "conquer" here is strongs #3528. But #3528 is only translated as "conquer" here. Most of the time, it is translated as some form of the word "overcome" and once as "prevailed". When we look at these references, we find something interesting. This cannot be referring to Christ because:

A. Christ had already overcome and prevailed prior to this time, so it cannot be referring to Him.

1. Christ had already overcome (#3528).

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

2. Christ had already prevailed (#3528).

Revelation 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Since Christ had already overcome & prevailed, the text must be referring to someone else who shall be given to overcome in the future.

B. It is the beast who shall be given to overcome.

1. The beast shall overcome (#3528) the 2 witnesses.

Revelation 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

2. The beast shall be "given" to overcome (#3528) the saints.

Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Notice the word "given" here. That is the exact same wording that was used of the rider on the white horse in Rev. 6:2.

3. Antichrist shall be given to prevail.

Daniel 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

II. Christ is the one opening the seals and allowing these events to occur, not the one doing them.

Revelation 6:1 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.

After all, Christ is not killing the martyrs as in the 5th seal.

Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Christ is allowing these events to happen, but is not the one performing them. Satan is the one doing these things when he is loosed from the bottomless pit.

III. Since Antichrist comes in the name of the true Christ, and seeks to deceive people that he is Christ, it should be no mystery that he is here portrayed as riding upon a white horse as Christ does.

Matthew 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Revelation 6:2 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.

IV. This more correctly fits with the rest of the seals.

In the 2nd seal, the rider is given to go forth to make war.

Revelation 6:3-4 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Who is riding forth to make war here? These seals are progressive.

1. The rider on the white horse goes forth to conquer/overcome/prevail.

2. Which leads to war (2^nd seal).

3. Which leads to a famine in the siege (3^rd seal).

4. Which leads to death (4^th seal).

5. Which leads to martyrs (5^th seal), etc.

Christ will not ride forth to make war until the second coming (Rev. 19). Who then is it that is going forth to make war here?

Revelation 20:7-8 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Revelation 13:1, 7 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Revelation 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Daniel 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

We must remember that when Satan was bound a seal was set upon him.

Revelation 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

This unsealing of the seals is directly related to the unsealing of Satan, who had previously been bound, but who is not loosed and given power that he might make war on the saints.

V. This interpretation more correctly aligns with Matthew 24.

1st Seal - antichrist --- Matt. 24 - antichrists - verse 5.

2nd seal - war --- Matt. 24 - wars - verse 6.

3rd seal - famine --- Matt. 24 - famines - verse 7.

4th seal - death --- Matt. 24 - pestilence - verse 7.

5th seal - martyrs --- Matt. 24 - martyrs - verse 9.

If we take the first seal to refer to Christ instead of the antichrist, it does not fit.

VI. Rev. 6:8 confirms this interpretation.

Revelation 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Here we have a summation of the evil deeds to the riders upon the 4 horses. When we align their deeds with the horses themselves we find something quite interesting. We will do this in reverse orders.

Rider #4 = Death (Rev. 6:7-8).

Rider #3 = Hunger (Rev. 6:5-6).

Rider #2 = War (Rev. 6:3-4).

When we come to #1, there is only one of the 4 left and that is “beasts” (think of the 2 beasts of Rev. 13).

Rider #1 – Beasts

So the rider upon the white horse must be a reference to Antichrist rather than Christ. For Christ shall in no way be referred to as a beast. There are other reasons which could be presented, but this should be sufficient for us to see that the rider on the white horse in Revelation chapter 6 is Antichrist and not Christ.