SUBJECT:   Revelation 6:2 - The rider of the white horse

QUESTIONS:  Is the rider of the white horse Jesus Christ?  Is the bow actually a rainbow?

ANSWER:

First the verses in question:

Revelation 6:1-8

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.

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.

3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

4 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.

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

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.

On an initial read, what can we say?  In verse 1 Jesus is opening the seals and revealing each of 4 horsemen in a specific order.  There are 4 horses.  Each has a rider.  Each rider is given power.  Each rider does something, one after the other.  Some believe the first rider to be Christ.

Rider one (white) is given a bow, a crown and goes forth to conquer.

Rider two (red) is given power to take peace away from the earth such that the people on earth kill EACH OTHER.  The rider is given a great sword.

Rider three (black) is given balances.  Verse 6 describes famine clearly.

Rider four (pale) is called Death.  Hell (grave) follows him.  Power is given to them over ONE FOURTH of the earth to kill with sword, and hunger and death.  They even kill the animals (beasts of the earth).

Now, Mr. Armstrong says that Rider one is the false prophet.  Some believe it is Christ.  Before we even get into the Word of God,

Strong's and the commentaries, I have to ask:

If the first rider is Christ, then why is war going to take place between humans?  Why is there going to be famine?  Why will one fourth of the earth die by the sword and hunger (famine)?  Why will the animals be killed?

Whether one wants to believe that the red, black and pale horses come WITH or AFTER the white horse, it would not make sense for these things to happen AFTER the return of Jesus Christ.

I would have to ask why one would believe the white horse to have Christ as a rider based on these questions.

NEXT:

The chronology of the Book of Revelation:

The book of Revelation has a specific flow which is in order of actual events:
 

Now, as you can see, Chapter 19 is the prophecy which describes the second coming of Jesus Christ.  There is no way for this story flow to have Christ returning in Chapter 6.  Let us take a look at the description of Christ's return in Chapter 19.  It is given in some detail.

Notice what it says:

Revelation 19:11-16

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.

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

There is nothing here about a rainbow.  If the individual on the horse in Chapter 6, then Chapter 19 is a repeat of that same Christ returning on a white horse.  They are not the same!!

SPEAKING OF RAINBOWS:

In Chapter 6, we see the individual on the white horse with a bow.  Mr. Armstrong describes this as a bow as in "bow and arrow".  If

this bow is actually a 'rainbow', then how would one explain Revelation 10:1?

Revelation 10:1-2

1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face

was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

"Rainbow" is also used in Revelation 4:3

Revelation 4:2-3

2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Note:  If the bow in Chapter 6 is a rainbow, then why doesn't it say "rainbow" exactly as in Chapters 4 and 10?

Let us go to Strong's and compare the two words:

NT:5115—Revelation 6:2

toxon (tox'-on); from the base of NT:5088; a bow (apparently as the simplest fabric):

KJV - bow. ~Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance

NT:2463—Revelation 10:1

iris (ee'-ris); perhaps from NT:2046; a rainbow ("iris"):

KJV - rainbow. ~Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance

Note:  Not the same word.

Now, oddly, in Bible dictionaries, we see "rainbow" sometimes referred to as "bow in the cloud".  Now notice this from the Unger's Bible Dictionary.  It refers to "rainbow" as "bow in the cloud" and gives Revelation 4:3 and 10:1 as where it is used but NOT Revelation 6:2.

RAINBOW (Heb. qesheth, "bow in the cloud," Gen 9:13-16; Ezek 1:28; Grk. iris, Rev 4:3; 10:1). The token of the covenant that God made with Noah when he came out from the ark, that "never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh." Although some interpreters have concluded that in establishing the rainbow as the sign of His love and the witness of His promise (Eccl.{Ecclesiasticus} 43:11) God was appropriating something that already existed, we agree with Keil and Delitzsch (Com. on Gen 9:13 ff.) that "the establishment of the rainbow as a covenant sign of the promise that there should be no flood again, presupposes that it appears then for the first time in the vault and clouds of heaven. From this it may be inferred, not that it did not rain before the flood (see 2:5-6), but that the atmosphere was differently constituted." ~From The New Unger's Bible Dictionary

COMMENTARIES ON CHAPTER 6 AND VERSE 2----BOW

Let us take a look at the commentaries to see how it defines or interprets "bow".

Rev 6:2

(3) The bow: "and he that sat on him had a bow." The bow would be a natural emblem Of war-as it was used in war; or of hunting-as it was used for that purpose. It was a common instrument of attack or defense, and seems to have been early invented, for it is found in all rude nations. Compare Genesis 27:3; 48:22; 49:24; Joshua 24:12; 1 Samuel 18:4; Psalm 37:15; Isaiah 7:24. ~from Barnes' Notes

Note:  This one sees it as a bow as in bow and arrow.  So does the People's New Testament (a commentary written in 1891):

The bow:  He is armed with a usual weapon of war in that age. The bow may simply signify that the rider is a great, warlike figure, or there may be a special significance in the fact that he is armed with a bow instead of a sword or spear.

Note:  They see it as a bow.

Strangely or maybe not so strangely (because of 1 Corinthians 2:14) some commentaries see the rider of the white horse in Revelation 6:2 as being Christ though NONE OF THE 10 or more commentaries I studied rendered the "bow" as a rainbow.  Now in response to those who would see Christ as the rider in Chapter 6 and verse 2, I submit the following from two commentaries:

THE MEANING OF THE FIRST SEAL.--In ascertaining the meaning of a series of prophetic symbols, portraying events which follow successively, it is of great importance to interpret the first aright. A wrong start will lead astray along the whole line of interpretation. Before giving my own views I will indicate briefly those of leading commentaries concerning the significance of the White Horse and His Rider. "A symbol of Christ's victorious power."--Godet. "A symbol of the conquering Gospel."--Alford. "The Rider is Christ."--Archdeacon Lee in "Speaker's Commentary." "It is our Lord riding prosperously."--Dr. Wm. Milligan of Aberdeen. "Christ is going forth to judgment."--Hengstenberg. "The Rider is Christ."--Lange. "The Roman Empire. The Persian Empire was symbolized by a ram (Dan. 8:3); the Macedonian Empire by a goat (Dan. 8:5), and here the Roman Empire by a white horse and his rider."--Elliott. "The prosperous period of the Roman Empire extending from the Emperor Nerva to the end of the Antonines." ~Barnes Notes

The preponderance of interpretation is in favor of the view that the symbol signifies the conquests of Christ, either in person or through the gospel. It is with some hesitation that I dissent from the view that spiritual conflicts and victories are signified. (1) Four horses in succession follow. The latter three cannot refer to spiritual changes. If the first horseman represents a spiritual power the others cannot represent carnal powers. If they refer to events in the secular world, the meaning of the first must also be sought there. (2) It has been urged that the Rider upon the white horse in chapter 19 is the same as that of the first seal. There is nothing common but the white horse. The Rider of chapter 19 is clothed, armed and crowned differently. He wears garments sprinkled with blood, has upon his head many diadems (kingly crowns) and out of his mouth proceeds the sword of the Word of God. This warrior holds a bow and wears a garland instead of a diadem. (3) Christ appears often in Revelation, and there is always something symbolical about the manner in which he is represented. In the fifth chapter he appears under the symbol of a Lamb; and again, in chapter 14, it is the Lamb who stands in Mt. Zion. In the fourteenth verse of the same chapter, one "like the Son of Man" is seen upon a white cloud, with a sharp sickle in his hand, to indicate that the harvest time has come, when the earth shall be reaped. In chapter 1, the Son of Man is seen, radiant as the sun, with a two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth. In chapter 19 one sat upon a white horse, who was called Faithful and True, wearing upon his head many crowns, clothed in a vesture sprinkled with blood, and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp sword, emblematic of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The sword is constantly used as a symbol of the Word, which is Christ's instrumentality for reducing the world to his sway. The conquering Savior is constantly pictured forth with the sword proceeding out of his mouth, but never appears with a bow. ~PEOPLE'S NEW TESTAMENT

Revelation 6:1-8

The identity of the first horse will in large part be determined by the identification of the following three. The second horse and its rider are said to take peace from the earth, and this, with the words slay and sword, indicates war. The third horse and its rider surely represent scarcity of food, though not altogether a famine. (The Roman coin denarius, here translated shilling (ASV), was the equivalent of a man's wages for a day of work. One measure of barley or grain was the average daily consumption of workmen). The fourth horse and its rider, more dreadful than any of the others, bear the very name Death. To them was given authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth (ASV).

In the light of the meaning of the second, third, and fourth riders, it would seem unreasonable to identify the first rider with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the rider on the white horse in Revelation 19. When Christ does come, "conquering and to conquer," there will be no subsequent judgments, such as the second, third, and fourth horses represent. Swete is correct in saying of the first horse, "A vision of the victorious Christ would be inappropriate at the opening of a series which symbolizes bloodshed, famine, pestilence." Even Torrance discerns this, though he adopts a strictly spiritual scheme of interpretation: "Can there be any doubt that this is the vision of antichrist? It so resembles the real Christ that it deceives people, even many a reader of this passage! . . . It applies whenever evil is mounted upon good and whenever spiritual wickedness conquers by borrowing from the Christian Faith."  ~Thomas F. Torrance, The Apocalypse Today, p. 44

Note that in these first four scenes there are no names of individuals, human or superhuman, no geographical terms, and no specific events. The judgments are, as it were, of a general nature: wars have occurred often on earth, and they are often accompanied by pestilence and by scarcity of food, if not famine conditions. This would seem to be, then, just a preliminary phase of the more terrible judgments to follow. ~from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary

Note:  A very interesting comment in this commentary in the second paragraph:

IT (the rider of the white horse in Revelation 6:2) SO RESEMBLES THE REAL CHRIST THAT IT DECEIVES PEOPLE, EVEN MANY A

READER OF THIS PASSAGE!!

This is the whole point of the prophecy.  Early in the end time prophecies is the antichrist.  Much of the world will believe it is Christ. 

They will be fooled.

Matthew 24:5

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

Matthew 24:23-24

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Matthew 24:26

Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

Mark 13:6

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

Mark 13:21-22

21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:

22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

Luke 21:8

And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go

ye not therefore after them.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-12

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

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.

5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1 John 2:18

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 John 2:22

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1 John 4:3

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2 John 7

For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

It is clear that there have been and shall be false prophets and those that would deceive others into thinking that they are Christ.  The individual on the white horse in Revelation 6 and verse 2 is the great and final false prophet.  He will meet his end at the return of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:20

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.