Prophetically speaking, the Lord said He would use Judah as His “goodly horse” in the battle, Zechariah 10, verse 3. ["My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I will punish the goatherds. For the LORD of hosts will visit His flock, The house of Judah, And will make them as His royal horse in the battle.”]

Thinking about the symbolism of a horse, “white” is a heavenly color, and it indicates holiness. The rider of the white horse represents Christ Himself coming forth, going forth into the nations with the might of the Gospel, symbolizing a heavenly mission of conquest.

The rider carries a bow. We understand that the bow is a weapon of antiquity; a weapon that was used in warfare, but a weapon which is still in existence today—not used so much in warfare, but certainly used in target practice and hunting, and so on. But, in Bible times it was used in much the same way. It was used for hunting. David speaks about using a bow.

Then in Habakkuk’s psalm, Jehovah is described as “riding upon His horse and upon His chariots of salvation,” as He comes to rescue people and thresh the nations. In the conflict, His bow was made “quite bare,” meaning that His bow was unsheathed—it was ready for use. [Habakkuk 3:8-9: “Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers? Was Thine anger against the rivers, Or Thy wrath against the sea, That Thou didst ride upon Thy horses, Upon Thy chariots of salvation? ⁹ Thy bow was made quite bare; The oaths to the tribes were a sure word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.”]

In the Messianic Psalm, it is said of the King, “Thine arrows are sharp; the peoples fall under Thee. They are in the heart of the King’s enemy,” Psalm 45, and verse 5.

So, we’ve seen the horse; we’ve seen the rider; we’ve seen that the rider has a bow. And then, there is a crown given to the rider. This word “crown” in the original language indicates a “victory crown,” indicating a victory that has been won in a conflict, as He has gone forth “conquering, and to conquer.”

Let’s see if we can put these things together. We’ve seen the symbolic use of horses, of bows and arrows; we’ve seen the symbolism of a “crown of victory.” It seems to me, what we’re looking at here is not an earthly conquest in a sense of some great battle which is going to be fought on the earth. But, rather, we’re looking at the victorious Christ carrying out the content of this sealed scroll. He is leading the charge—no, not of an earthly army, but of a spiritual army. The spiritual army has gone forth into battle, into a war. That was taking place in that day, and it has been taking place ever since. Even today, we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Christ the Lord is our Commander; He is our Leader. He is mounted upon—now, we’re speaking in symbols here again, but trying to capitalize upon the vision of John—He is riding upon this white steed—the heavenly, pure color of white. He leads the charge. We are IN the Lord’s army, participating in this divine, heavenly battle. We could point to any number of passages in the New Testament where we see the analogy of warfare being used. [Romans 13:12: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” Ephesians 6:10-20: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8: “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” Revelation 19:19: “And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him Who sat on the horse and against His army.”]

Again, what John sees here, as part of God’s divine plan, is not the mounting, the outfitting of a secular/physical army in that day, nor in this day. But rather, John sees a spiritual army to go forth to fight a spiritual fight against His enemies.

Second Seal – Rider on the Red Horse (verses 3-4)

3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Bible commentators generally believe that the color “red” indicates “blood and bloodshed.” But, once again, we’re speaking of a spiritual war and spiritual warfare. Indeed, there will be casualties in this war as there in any war. This second horse and its rider represent just that. In that day—we spoke a good bit about this as we began this study in Revelation—in that day, the Lord’s people were under intense persecution. They had been persecuted in the past, initially by the Jews. Beginning with Stephen as the first martyr that we know of, Acts, chapter 6, and continuing on, the persecution by the Jews became more and more intense. That same persecution was picked up by the Romans—by Emperor Nero, and then by Domician and others. This persecution became more and more intense. There were more and more of the Lord’s people who died, who were martyred, who were killed for their faith, not only at this time, but prior to this time.

So, they are represented here—not as individuals, but as a group. We will see when we get over to the fifth seal that they will have something to say. They have a request to make.

As part of this divine plan that we’re seeing unfolded here before us, there is spiritual warfare which is going to happen. As a part of that spiritual warfare, there are going to be casualties.