Rev. 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."
This is NOT the Lord.
There are two white horses in Revelation. In chapter 19 there is another rider on a white horse:
"Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war."
This One has a sharp sword that comes out of His mouth, and He is called the Word of God. His robe is dipped in blood and on His robe and on His thigh is a name written. There is no mistaking who that rider is. His name is KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, and He leads the armies of heaven.
That is
not this rider from Revelation 6:2.
This rider sits on a white horse, which historically is associated with leading an army and being the distinctive color of the authority of the leader. The typical historic position of the leader of an army that is in the field, where there are horses in the army, the typical position of that rider who leads is on a white horse. So this is some kind of a leader. He carries a bow as opposed to a sword. The One, the great champion, has a sword that comes out of His mouth;
this one has a bow.
“And a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”
He has a crown on his head, and it says a crown was given to him.
So he did not inherently possess a crown; one was given to him.
That is important because there are two words that signify “crown.” The normal word for “crown” is diadem; in the Greek, it is
diadema, and it references a hereditary crown, such as that kings wear, one who has access to kingly rule.
But this crown is called
stephanos. We get the name, Stephen, from it. It references someone who, in the Greek Games, was referred to as the
victor ludorum. Literally, it was given to the winner of Greek games or the Olympics.
Laudo is to praise; so,
the victor ludorum is the celebrated athlete of the games.
That is the crown this rider has:
a crown from his own striving against other men. He is the ultimate man's man and it lauded by other men who give him the crown.
Jesus was not given all authority in heaven and on earth nor was Jesus given all the nations as His inheritance
because of His ability to subdue by the force of His own personhood. Jesus was given the authority by God. He was given the diadem, the power to rule heaven and earth,
because of His obedient life.
Immediately, we have the juxtaposition between the Lamb who had overcome and the rider on the white horse who goes out
conquering and to conquer. AND, his opposition is man. The opposition of the saints is not flesh and blood. But here, this rider subjugates man, conquers them.
Furthermore word “conquering,” it is the word
nikao, and we get the word “Nike". Like the swoosh, Nike. It was, of course, the report that the Greek athlete, the Athenian athlete, brought back from the plains of Marathon where the Athenians went out to engage the Persian hordes. Pheidippides, the athlete, collapsed as he brought the word of the victory of the Athenians on the plains of Marathon, and he uttered one word, “Nike,” meaning "we have overcome, we have conquered!". Again, striving against other men.
This is not the conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah who overcame, as we are to overcome, by the submission of our lives to the purposes of God. Jesus is not the devouring lion. He is greater, and He can destroy the devouring lion.
“For the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed, has overcome, and He is worthy to take the scroll and to open the seals” His overcoming is by only doing what He sees His Father doing and ultimately by becoming the Lamb of God: giving up His own life for the life of the saints.
In the same way, we overcome
"by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and that we choose not to save our own lives, even unto death".
Lastly, part of the manner of his conquering is
he has a bow but the Lord has the sword that comes out of His mouth.
The bow is associated with a man in the Old Testament called Nimrod. Nimrod is described as a great hunter, as one who hunted with a bow; and he is the founder of the city known as Babel, where the rebellion against God in the ancient times, following the flood, was again reformulated on the earth.
This conqueror hunts men as prey like Nimrod of the Old Testament.
The bow, his method of conquering, connects the rider on this horse back to Nimrod, who opposes God and subjugates man by his own strength.
I'll pause here for now. Bless you.
