The First Seal

We are introduced to the Seals in Revelation 6, and the first opening of these seals in Verse One. Although the seals are not literally numbered, for practical reasons and descriptive reasons the seals are named by the order in which they are opened.

In verse 2 we read that ONE OF THE SEALS, is opened by 'the Lamb', Jesus Christ.

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.

It is often said that this represents Christ Himself and we can see this by looking at Revelation 19:11 where we have the Second Coming and Christ is clearly seen coming in a similar manner.

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.
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.

Although there are similarities there are also clearly opposites. In the picture we are examining the rider only has a 'bow', a weapon of attack generally from a distances, it can symbolise an attack without warning a first strike designed to weaked the enemies forces before the foot soilders come in for the kill. Although in itself it has great devastating power it can by no means match the weapon in the second instance which is the living Word of God, spoken by Christ and which has no counter measure (Psalms 45:4-5). The rider from the first seal can not be Christ, who never used any other weapon than the Word of God, described as a two edged sword. He came into the world as the Word made flesh, (John 1:1,14) and will return only to gather the Church and then finally to gather his Chosen race, Israel.

Secondly we look at the 'crown' given to the rider in the first seal. Note the crown was 'given'. This indicates that certain power and authority had been given by God to the rider to carry out a certain task or objective. Christ does not need to be given any power or authority, his rule and power is unquestionable and without limit. In Revelation 19:12 we read Christ 'had' many crowns, none of which are described as being 'given'.

The two crowns mentioned in the two scriptures are in fact different words, for different types of crowns. In the case of the Second Coming, Christ wears many 'crowns' - diadema - the diadem, which is a kingly distinction where as the first seal rider wears a garland crown or wreath - stephanos - which is a crown given for victory in battle, for great achievements. It is a crown for a specific event or period of time where as the crown worn by Christ is a ruling crown a more powerful and lasting form of power.

Of course the white horse and rider could be classed as one of the four spirits mentioned in Zechariah 1:7-17, 6:1-8. We are given clear similarities between the four horsemen of the apocalypse, seals 1-4 and the 4 spirits, which roam the earth. Zechariah 6:5 tells us the meaning of the white, black, red and grisled horses mentioned from Chapter 6:1.

5. And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits (or winds) which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

However there are some holes in this theory. These are not God's spirits; these are angels on specific judgmental missions against man and as such would be angels specific to this job.

The 7 seals (7 is God's number) are split into two sections 1 to 4 and 3 to 7. Four represents the earth in almost all representations (earth, air, fire and water) and the three is the Spritual side, the make up of God (Father, Holy Ghost and Word).

The first 4 can be classed as 'physical judgements' upon the earth and the beginning of 'travail' They also correspond with the opening words of the Lord's address on the Mount of Olives (Mathew 24-25, Mark 13 & Luke 21:5-36).The second three seals are seen as 'spiritual judgements' and herald in the time of Jacobs trouble, such as not been seen from the beginning of creation and never shall be again, (Mathew 24:21, Mark 13:19).

If this first seal is a physical judgement AGAINST the earth what is actually taking place within this seal. What is the judgement on the earth. If it is Christ helping the Church or Christian to overcome it's enemy then it is neither judgement on the earth nor Biblically correct.

We then come to the phrase -

'and he went forth conquering and to conquer'.

Which is also translated as the following in various versions but the actual word Conquer is generally stated as being derived from 'overcome' -

'and he went away, to go from victory to victory'
'and he rode out as a conquer, bent on conquest'
'and he went forth overcoming and in order that he might overcome'

In all the translations the common ground can be seen, the rider is out to win. But it is well to note thet the crown given to him was one of victory in a single game or campaign not a total conquest as Christ's. The authority was given to win for a season or an event not a lasting or eternal reign. We must not take too much comfort from this though. this is after all a judgement on mankind and will involve suffering and loss of life for some or many.

The rider of the white horse is definately the Anti-Christ and his power to overcome is confirmed in scriptures (Daniel 7:7 & Revelation 13:1). The entrance or result of this rider is to cause peace to go from the earth as we see in the Second Seal (Mathew 24:7). Lucifer or Satan has prepared the Anti-Christ and God releases power to him to ride into a time reserved for 'him', a time signifying the 'end times' and the culmination of the history of the earth and God's plan for humanity.