Uncovering the role of the First Horseman of the Apocalypse over history so we can recognize how he is conquering leaders, institutions, and governments today.
READ TIME: 6-7 Minutes
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.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. –Revelation 6:1-2
The Identity of the First Horseman on the White Horse
The first horseman, the rider on the white horse, is a mysterious figure. Some believe he is Jesus, others say he is the Antichrist, but these views fail to understand the history of the horsemen going back millennia.
To begin to resolve his identity, let’s examine the nature of the living creature who summons him. As I discussed in the last post, the first living creature summons the first horseman. This living creature appears like a lion. As a lion, he represents Jesus’ nature as King.
This horseman is also very king-like in his entrance and is described similarly to Jesus’s arrival in the skies in Revelation 19.
19:11 describes Jesus’ arrival as follows, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse,…“
The entrance of the first horseman is very similar, stating, “I looked, and behold, a white horse…“
This similarity has led many to conclude this horseman is Jesus. But as I explained in my last post, this conclusion is not logical. Jesus opens the seals, which permits the living creature to call forth the horsemen. If Jesus has this authority over the living creatures, how could these creatures command Jesus to come forward as a rider? Heaven has a chain of command, and God has given Jesus all authority For Jesus to be a rider, it would break this chain of command.
Also, the first horseman corresponds to the first sign given by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse. Jesus stated, “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.”
As Jesus is the true Christ, the true King, this horseman is the sign of false christs, false kings.
As such, it seems logical that the first horseman is the Antichrist. But this is also not the case.
Could the First Horseman be the Antichrist?
The four horsemen are summoned by the living creatures in heaven and operate in obedience to God (more on this later in the post). They are not under Satan’s command nor under the command of any other fallen angel.
Conversely, it is Satan who brings forth the Antichrist/Beast from the sea/abyss and Satan who commands him. Therefore the first horseman cannot be the Antichrist.
For this same reason, the first horseman cannot be the False Prophet, the Beast from the Land, who serves the first Beast.
However, the first horseman’s mistaken identity highlights his nature. He is a spirit of false Christs, false kings, false authority.
Though he appears like Christ and wears a crown like Christ, his crown is not a royal crown referred to as a diádēma, but a crown of victory referred to as a stephanos (typically a crown of leaves). So while this horseman may appear like a king, he is a deceptive spirit, resolved to lure kings to their downfall. In doing so, he conquers.
The Rider on the White Horse Conquers in the Old Testament
The most apparent aspect of the first horseman is that he is a conqueror, and his role is to conquer. As I mentioned in the previous post on the four horsemen, the book of Revelation is not the first place the Bible describes the rider on the white horse.
We first read of a rider of white horses in Zechariah 1. In this vision, Zechariah overhears a conversation between the Angel of the Lord, riders of four colors of horses, and the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. This introduction to the horsemen explains that these spirits patrol the earth, ultimately seeking to quell God’s anger and wrath. And like a special forces team, each one has a role to play.
Zechariah isn’t shown their mission but hears the Lord of Heavens Armies express His displeasure with the nations that have scattered Israel and His plans to bring Israel back to peaceful times.
While this vision introduces the horsemen, another vision seen by Zechariah shows them moving into action.
Notes on discrepancies about the horses and riders in Zechariah 1:
If you read Zechariah 1, you will notice that Zechariah only mentions the rider of the red horse. However, in verse 11, the response comes from more than one rider, indicating there are riders for the other horses as well.
I also want to address the discrepancy in the colors of the horses in Zechariah 1. Most translations describe the horses as red, sorrel (chestnut), and white. This sentence indicates that there are only three horses/horsemen. However, when reading this verse in the Septuagint, which is based on much older (though now lost) Hebrew texts, we see four colors of horses. These horses are red, grey, piebald, and white. This version is more consistent with Zechariah 6, which contains a vision of horses of four colors: red, black, ash-piebald, and white.
The First Horseman Takes Action
In Zechariah 6, we get to see the horsemen ride into action.
(Note: The fact that the riders are in chariots is a significant distinction, but one that does not diminish the role of the horsemen as signified through the color of horse they ride/drive. So I will save this topic for another day.)
In this vision, the Lord of the earth sends a chariot with black horses to the north, and the white horses follow. Zechariah’s vision doesn’t tell us what the horsemen do, but the vision concludes with the Lord saying, “they have appeased My wrath in the land of the north.”
How did these riders in chariots appease God’s wrath? Daniel gives us the answer.
Zechariah had this vision at the tail end of the Babylonian exile. We know from Daniel 5 that it was around this time that Belshazzar desecrated the temple vessels, and the Persians successfully invaded Babylon. That very night the Persians slew Belshazzar, and Darius the Mede took over Babylon. This event ultimately led to the order by King Cyrus to allow the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem.
In this vision, we see that the horsemen work in tandem. Notice that the chariot driver of the black horse went first and prepared the way so that the white horse could conquer it. Of course, the Persian Army physically invaded Babylon, but the spirit of the horseman on the white horse delivered the victory from the spirit realm.
So how did the horseman with the white horse carry out his task? To answer that, let’s examine his nature as revealed through the first living creature.
How the Horseman on the White Horse Takes Babylon
In the case of Babylon, Belshazzar acted in pride and arrogance, desecrating the temple’s vessels and committing an abomination resulting in his downfall. Belshazzar was not the king. But while his father, the king, was out, Belshazzar assumed his role, taking liberties as if he was king.
In doing so, he pridefully ordered his servants to bring the temple vessels for drinking wine at his great feast. We can imagine the scene with Belshazzar inviting thousand of nobles as he sat among his wives and concubines. His hubris soared and placed himself above the sanctity of the temple of God.
While I can’t say that I am an expert on the workings of God’s counsel and courts, it seems to me that God required Belshazzar to make such a blasphemous move to satisfy the rules of justice. It would seem just that God required a person in authority over the empire to commit a transgression that legally permitted Him to take his authority away and order the overthrow of the empire.
We can extrapolate how the horseman accomplished this feat based on Daniel’s account. The horseman on the white horse was the spirit that enticed Belshazzar to make this move. The true king may not have been susceptible to rebel against God. So the horseman targeted a foolish prince, who had temporary authority over the empire in the king’s absence. I may speculate that it was the horseman’s hand that appeared at the feast and wrote on the wall mene, mene, teqel, pharsin.
With the fall of Babylon, God brought peace and opened the door for the Jews to return to their homeland.
Now you may be questioning whether God would lure a leader in this way. However, there is a precedent of God’s council using deceit to bring about His purpose.
God Sends a Deceiving Spirit
To explain this, consider an unusual event that occurred under the reign of King Ahab. 1 Kings 22 describes a scene in heaven where the host of heaven is gathered around God. He asks His council who will go to entice Ahab into battle to fall. One spirit comes forward and says that he will be a deceiving (false, lying) spirit in the mouths of Ahab’s prophets. God tells the spirit to entice Ahab and prevail.
So this case shows us how God may send a lying spirit forth to bring a rebellious leader to his downfall.
Was this deceiving spirit the horseman on the white horse? I don’t know, though it is possible. I find it intriguing that God tells this spirit He will prevail, which can also translate to overcome, the same phrase used to describe the first horseman.
Whether or not this spirit was the first horseman, the point is that this is a strategy we know God has used in the past to bring down the proud and arrogant, who are in rebellion against the authority of God.
We can see a clear example of the white horseman in operation after Jesus’ resurrection.
The Initial Fulfillment of the Olivet Discourse
Preterists often point to examples of how the prophecies in the Oliver Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) appear to have been fulfilled. They use these events to assert that the Book of Revelation concluded at the temple’s destruction. But, as I discussed in the post, Did Jesus Come or is to Come? Reconciling Preterism and Futurism, events fulfilled at the end of the prior age provide a template or paradigm for how they will unfold at the end of this age (2,000 years later).
And because the signs Jesus presented in the Olivet Discourse match the signs of Revelation 6, I believe the four horsemen also played a role in the events that transpired in Jerusalem at the end of the last age. The first of these signs was that false christs and false prophets would arise.
This sign appears to have been fulfilled as documented in Jospehus’ book, The Wars of the Jews. Josephus wrote of how false prophets arose to deceive the people and place them on a path that led to the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem.
Josephus states, “A false prophet was the occasion of these people’s destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. Now there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people…” (Book VI, Chapter 5, P2.)
Then in the Third Jewish-Roman War, a man, Simon bar Kokhba, arose and many Jews believed he was the Messiah. This led to their ultimate expulsion from Israel.
If this sign was fulfilled, then the first horseman fulfilled it. Can we see evidence of his actions today?
Where the First Horseman is Treading Today
To identify the workings of the first horseman, we should look for leaders and institutions that have rebelled against God’s word and have embraced delusions.
The first horseman confirms false beliefs among those who harden their hearts against God and follow false ways. As Paul wrote, “For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness.“
This delusion will appear as confusion to those who know the truth. Confusion in turn leads to division (Tower of Babel) and is often a precursor to conquering. Here are examples of how God uses confusion and division to facilitate the conquering of the rebellious in Deuteronomy, Judges, and Samuel I.
I see the hoof marks of the first horseman in both governments and churches. Delusion, confusion, and division are rampant in certain of these institutions, and conquering is coming.
I am alarmed to see the signs of the first horseman manifesting in churches and democracies around the world including the United States. Could the U.S. be on the verge of conquest?
I will explore this in the next post.
Related Posts:
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Insights You Have Never Heard
Did Jesus Come or is to Come? Reconciling Preterism and Futurism