Revelation Insights #2
A Most Unlikely
Interpretation

In module 1 we concluded . . .

(a) that the meeting in chapters 4 and 5 takes place in the sanctuary,

(b) that the meeting in chapters 4 and 5 takes place during or after 1844, and

(c) that one of the primary purposes of this meeting was to hand the kingdom to Jesus and to confer supreme majesty and power upon Him, and this that He might conduct the investigative judgment and oversee the climactic events that are to bring the age of sin to a close.

Now, with this behind us, the main purpose of this module is to establish the chronological setting for the opening of the seals as presented in Revelation 6.

Because we have established that chapters 4 and 5 take place during or after 1844, and because chapters 4 and 5 introduce us to a scroll that is sealed with seven seals, we would logically expect the first seal (6:2) to come into existence at some time during or after 1844. The problem here, however, is that this view is far removed from our traditional interpretation of Revelation 6:2.

According to our traditional interpretation, the rider on the white horse represents  . . . "a beautiful symbol of the triumphs of the gospel in the first century of the Christian dispensation." (Roy Allan Anderson, Unfolding The Revelation, p.63)

While we have long held to this interpretation, and while many have sought to support and to defend this interpretation, it is by no means a well-supported or an universally accepted interpretation. According to Billy Graham and many other commentators, the rider on the white horse of chapter 6 is anything but a triumphant church in the first century A.D..

"Who, therefore, is the rider on the white horse? He is not Christ, but a deceiver who seeks to capture the hearts and souls of men and women. He is one who seeks to have people acknowledge him as Lord instead of the true Christ. Satan’s greatest disguise has always been to appear before men as an angel of light." [2 Corinthians 11:14] (Billy Graham, Approaching Hoofbeats, pp.88, 78)

A similar interpretation reads as follows:

"Can there be any doubt that this is the vision of antiChrist [another christ]? 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)

In this light, therefore, the all-important questions that we now have to answer are these:

(1) When does the white horse and rider of 6:2 find fulfillment, and

(2) What is the true identity of the white horse and its rider?

The table below gives us a graphical overview of the subject matter in question.

With utmost respect to those who might believe otherwise, I humbly record that I can find no evidence in the inspired writings to support the claim that the rider on the white horse represents "the triumphs of the gospel in the first century of the Christian dispensation." On the contrary, I have found a wealth of evidence suggesting that this interpretation simply cannot be correct. The following are just some of the more obvious reasons why I say this:

¤  Firstly because, and as discussed in Module 1, it is clear that Revelation 4 and 5 take place during or after 1844. These chapters introduce us to the scroll and its seals and, as such, it is obvious that the seals, including the white horse of 6:2, are opened during or after 1844 - and certainly not in the first century A.D..

¤  Secondly because, according to Jesus (Rev. 2:1-7), the church in the first century of the Christian dispensation, Ephesus, was largely a loveless church. In Thompson's NKJV, the sub heading for the message to this church actually reads "The Loveless Church." Inspiration assures us that this church was unrepentant, selfish, coldhearted, hard, and destitute of God’s Spirit and His love. As such, the gospel is hardly likely to have "triumphed" significantly whilst under the guardianship of such a loveless church, a church, we are told, that was "unable to bring honor to the name of the Redeemer." (7BC956.5). This being the case, there is no reason whatsoever why Jesus would associate the Ephesian or apostolic era with a "triumphant white horse." Further discussion and proof.

¤  Thirdly because I just cannot understand why Jesus would paint so dismal a picture of His last day church in chapter 3, then indicate in chapter 4:1 that He is about to tell us "what must take place after this," and that He would then proceed to tell us, according to our traditional interpretation, about a "triumphant" church that existed many centuries before this. This simply does not make sense. Further discussion and proof.

¤  Fourthly because I find extreme difficulty understanding why Jesus would give to John a vision that speaks of the character of the church during seven successive periods of history (chapters 2 to 3), followed by a second, concurrent vision of the church/world during four successive periods of history (chapter 6:1-8)? Further discussion and proof.

¤  Fifthly because we have been told that the solemn messages of Revelation "have been given in their order." (8T302). The Daniel and Revelation Committee also tell us that "Revelation embraces a step-by-step progression through history." (Symposium On Revelation, Daniel & Revelation Series - Volume 6, p.19). This being the case, should it not be our first priority to make every effort to understand the events of Revelation as they have been given to us - "in their order?" If this does not enable us to unfold the book, then and only then should we feel at liberty to entertain the idea of a new scene that is "out of order," one that takes place in a totally different time period. In this light, I find extreme difficulty positioning the white horse of chapter 6 at the beginning of the Christian era? Further discussion and proof.

¤  Sixthly because we have always believed that Scripture should interpret itself. In Revelation 19 Jesus rides upon a white horse and that white horse obviously represents an organization or institution - which in this instance is the church. Scripture teaches us, therefore, that a horse in prophecy represents an organization or institution. As such, it is extremely difficult to believe that the four horses of Revelation 6 represent four periods in history.

¤  Seventhly I would like us to compare the two-sided scroll that John saw in Revelation 5 with two other passages of Scripture that also refer to a scroll that has writing on both sides.

Ezekiel saw just such a scroll and "on both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe." (Ezekiel 2:9-10)

Zechariah also saw a scroll that had writing on both sides. This scroll spoke of "the curse that is going out over the whole land." (Zechariah 5:1-3)

Ezekiel, Zechariah and John each saw a scroll. All three scrolls were most unusual in that they had writing on both sides. Textual evidence suggests that Ezekiel's scroll and Zechariah's scroll could well be types of John's scroll and that, as such, in the prophetic sense at least, in all three cases we could well be looking at the same scroll. Regardless of whether this is true or not, if the "two-sided" scroll that Ezekiel saw speaks of woe, and if the "two-sided" scroll that Zechariah saw speaks of woe, and if, as we have seen above, John's "two-sided" scroll speaks of the woeful history of a woeful planet, and if the seven seals are woeful events that are going to usher in the end of this world, is it not extremely difficult to believe that the first seal, that being the white horse of Revelation 6, speaks of "a triumphant church at the beginning of the Christian era?" Wouldn't you be more inclined to believe that this scroll and its seals speak primarily of woe? In the light of all the evidence that has thus far been presented, and in consideration of the following, we sincerely believe that the primary focus of the seven seals is woe.

-  Seeing that we know all too well that a woeful time of trouble will take place during the Laodicean era, . . .

-  Seeing that chapters 4 and 5 follow immediately after Jesus' woeful message to the Laodicean church in chapter 3, . . .

-  Seeing that there is a wealth of evidence to support the claim that the events of chapters 4 and 5 take place after modern-day Laodicea has developed its distinctive character, . . .

-  And seeing that the white horse of chapter 6 is definitely connected to and develops its unique characteristics after the events of chapters 4 and 5, I find it infinitely easier to believe that the primary focus of this scroll is not on a triumphant church at the beginning of the Christian era, but on woeful end-time events that are sanctioned by Jesus in the light of Laodicea's failure; woeful events that will force God's remnant people out of the comfort zone and that will ultimately lead them to perform, "in days of darkness, under the pressure of trial and persecution," the work which they could have "performed in peace and comparative prosperity." (5T456/7)

On how many occasions did Israel suffer woe when they failed the Lord? Their persistent failure even led to a situation where they eventually ate their own children! Is Laodicea not going to suffer woe on account of her failings? As typical Laodiceans (who are in need of nothing and who do not imagine for one minute that they are failing the Lord), we might be hoping to sail into heaven on clouds of ease (while all those whom we have neglected suffer because of our neglect), but it should be pretty obvious to any student of Scripture that Laodicea is going to have to suffer the consequences of her lethargy.

Are we justified in suggesting, therefore, that the seven seals speak primarily of woeful end-time events, and that the white horse of Revelation 6 could well be an instrument of woe that develops its distinctive character during the Laodicean era, rather than "a triumphant church at the beginning of the Christian dispensation," a church (Ephesus) that opened with a flash of "first love" followed by a spiritual crash that took place long before the end of the first century A.D.

¤  Eighthly, it is generally agreed within our ranks that it was in +/- A.D. 95 that the aging John received his visions on the isle of Patmos. It was then, we are told, that he “glanced down the stream of time” (ST 05-05-87) on what was shown him of the temple. In order to believe that the first seal (6:2) spans “the first century of the Christian dispensation,” we would have to accept that John looked up the stream of time in order to see this scene. Once again our traditional interpretation of 6:2 just does not fit. And once again, all the evidence suggests that 2:1 to 6:2 represents a step-by-step progression through history? Further discussion and proof.

¤  Ninthly, because Revelation speaks of two riders on white horses. The following comparison between these two riders reveals in no uncertain terms that they have totally different characters and totally different agendas. I find it impossible to consider the following and then to conclude that the rider on the white horse in chapter 6 is the same person as the rider on a white horse in chapter 19.

Consideration 3:

In view of all that is stated above, the reader will appreciate that my general view of the book of Revelation does not differ that much from our traditional historicist or “pioneer” view – except that I see an abundance of evidence suggesting that the events of chapters 4 to 6:2 follow after the events chapters 2 to 3 and, as such, our traditional interpretation of the apocalyptic horsemen simply cannot be correct.

To further illustrate the point, and to further highlight the difficulties that arise from our traditional interpretation, I reproduce below a chart that appears on pages 48-49 of The Symposium on Revelation Book 1 (Holbrook).

Please notice that this chart divides the book of Revelation into eight visions, all of which open with a "Victorious Introduction Scene With Temple Setting." Then it will also be noticed that all but the first and last vision close with an "Eschatological (End Time) Culmination."

In consideration of my claim that the events of chapters 4 to 6:2 follow after the events of chapters 2-3, is it not hugely significant that the first vision above does not include an “eschatological culmination?” Note that the dividing point between the first and second vision falls right between chapters 2&3 and 4&5, and this (4:1) is the focal point of my argument.

To my mind, therefore, Visions 1 and 2 in the chart above are not “in their order” – for they constitute one vision, not two.

This being the case, we would be looking at seven visions instead of eight. For what it is worth, I must state that in a book that speaks of seven churches, seven spirits, seven golden lampstands, seven stars, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven heads, seven crowns, seven plagues, seven golden bowls, seven hills, seven kings, and eight of nothing, I would expect there to be seven natural divisions rather than eight - and this is especially the case if we bear in mind that "the number 7 indicates completeness." (AA585.3)

[While the chart above does not include an eschatological culmination for the last vision, I suggest that this vision does include such a culmination which is found in Revelation 22:7 where Jesus states - "Behold I am coming quickly."]

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In later modules I will present even more convincing evidence to prove that the White horse is a present-day imposter, but for now I must state that, to my mind at least, the evidence presented above is sound and convincing. As such, I humbly and respectfully suggest that our traditional interpretation of chapters 4-6:8 requires further study.

The way I see it, this portion of Revelation is far more logical when we consider the events of chapters 4 to 6:2 as taking place after the events of chapters 2 and 3. After all, is this not why Jesus arranged these passages in the order in which they appear? 

[If we are still having difficulty accepting this, we should not allow our reasoning to be influenced in any way by the chapter divisions in Revelation for, as we well know, these were not in the original - they were only added later by the compilers of Scripture.]

In short, therefore, I suggest that we are creating tremendous difficulties for ourselves, and losing our focus on what Jesus is trying to tell us, by trying to believe that the timing of the events in question is any other than that in which Inspiration saw fit to reveal them to us.

So much for the relationship between chapters 2 and 3 and chapter 4 to 6:2. If these two portions of Scripture represent anything other than a succession of events then I will be hugely surprised.

In the next module we will be considering my second major conviction - that Laodicea's failure, as recorded in chapter 3, is high on the agenda of the throne room meeting of chapter 4.

Dear reader and fellow truth-seeker. We would like to open the door to friendly dialog with anyone who has any suggestion or constructive criticism that will contribute in any way to this document. If you are a Bible scholar, we are inviting you especially to share your insights with us, and to offer your suggestions.

Proceed to Module 3.