Salvation and judgment in history from the throne of god and of the little lamb
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| Revelation as the followers of the Lamb!
In the light of this usage in Revelation (the specific identification of the “victors” or “over-comers” as followers of the Lamb, and the Lamb Himself as Victor; along with the consistent use of the color white for good, not evil), combined with the express imagery in 19:14 where the Word of God rides the white horse, we are compelled to interpret the white horse in chapter six as symbolic for the world-wide mission of the victorious messen-gers of Jesus, who go forth in human history, with all its bloodshed and tragedies, to win yet more and more victories through the proclamation of the Gospel. Walvoord apparently sees all of this, but rejects the identification, stating that "To hold that the rider in 6:2 is Christ Himself, however, is out of order chronologically, for Christ comes on a white horse not at the beginning but at the end of the tribulation." (Pp. 126-27) But this comment shows that Walvoord is bringing his conviction concerning the chronology of Jesus' coming to Revelation (as if he is in possession of an infallible “time-table” which Jesus must follow!), rather than forming that conviction out of the text of Rev-elation itself, which will provide us with a quite different “chronology” of events–i.e., it sees Jesus as already present in human history, walking in the midst of the churches, and leading His followers to ultimate victory!). If, as we insist, Jesus is the Lord of history (Who "comes with the clouds" throughout human history--see 1:7 with its footnote), then it is perfectly understandable how this vision can describe King Jesus in his victorious "holy war," coming to the nations of the earth through His armies of missionaries in a world-wide campaign that entails much suffering on their part, but that leads to ultimate victory. Swete admits that the interpretation of the rider of the white horse as the victorious Jesus is tempting, but rejects it for the following reasons: "...The two riders [in chapters 6 and 19] have nothing in common beyond the white horse; the details are distinct; contrast, for example. the [‘many diadems’] of 19:12 with the single [‘victor's wreath’] here, and the [‘sharp sword’ of chapter 19] with the [‘bow’ of chapter 6]." (P. 86) But throughout Revelation the various visions have distinct differences--such striking differences, for example, as picturing Jesus as both a "Little Lamb" and a "Lion of the Tribe of Judah" at one and the same time! Indeed, as we have seen John's way of dealing with symbols taken from the Jewish Bible, we can only expect such variances in detail in his symbolism. Swete adds, "A vision of the victorious Christ would be inappropriate at the opening of a series which symbolizes bloodshed, famine, and pestilence. Rather we have here a picture of triumphant militarism. The lust of conquest which makes great Empires, whether the Seer had in view the Empire of the Caesars or the Parthian power which menaced it..." (P. 86) But we must not follow Swete (or Charles, or Beasley-Murray, or others) in this, since our own sense of what is "appropriate" or "inappropriate" may not have been John's. Indeed, for many of us, our sense is quite different from John’s in many ways. We want a victorious King Jesus, who doesn't wear the marks of death on His body; we want a King Who leads us into victory without struggle, without our having to suffer grievous loss, or having to bear His wooden post on our own shoulders! But the victorious Lord of lords and King of kings in Revelation is a militant rider on a white horse (so chapter 19), Whose armies are riding forth to victory in the midst of history's most grievous problems. The victory of His followers, His “over-comers” is won in the midst of wars, and famine, and in the face of death and the grave. They go forth to do battle in the earthly cities where human blood flows--in the Calcuttas and Bombays and New York Cities and Berlins and Miamis and Wacos and Oklahoma Cities of the world. Indeed, the divine will is being done even in the most dreadful experiences of human history--that is what is involved in confes- sing Jesus as Lord of history, and it is the context of His followers’ conquering! We think that the vision of chapter 6 pictures the mission of the followers of Jesus in terms of a "triumphant militarism"--it is a battle for the inner-most-beings of people all around the world, symbolized here by a physical bow, but meaning (we think) the bows and arrows of the word of God. That battle takes place in the midst of earth's wars, and famines, and humanity's facing death and the underworld. That is the exact context in which the good news of Jesus, announced by His missionaries, does battle, and wins victory after victory! It is the kind of battle depicted in Ephesians 6:10-20.
intercession and their prayers, the angels of heaven and armies on earth, the trumpets of judgment and the bowls of wrath, our Lord[‘s army] is riding forth victoriously, conquering and to conquer." (P. 96) Newport states: "According to Mark 13:10, before the end, ‘The gospel must first be preached to all nations.’ And according to Matthew 24:14, ‘...This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.’ [Matthew 24 is speaking specifically of a world-wide proclamation of the gospel before the destruction of Jerusalem and within the life-time of the generation alive at the time of Jesus!] Thus the rider in Revelation 6:3 is not necessarily Christ, but symbolizes the dynamic proclamation of the gospel to the end of history... "Revelation 6:1-2 and other important biblical passages indicate that the course of the age is not to be one of unrelieved evil in which God's people are surrendered helpless-ly and passively into the hands of hostile powers...The proclamation of the gospel will win its victories. It will be preached effectively in all the world. In spite of an evil and hostile environment characterized by human hatred, strife, and opposition, the gospel will make its way victoriously in all the world." (Pp. 185-86) There is always a temptation for theology to divorce Jesus and his Kingdom from the hurts and pains, the wars and famines, the diseases and tragedies that haunt human history. But Biblical Theology will not allow this "escape mechanism." Rather, the Bible constantly speaks to its readers of the "holy war" of YHWH, and pictures human history in all its gruesome, terrifying aspects. It is just there, in this world, in its actual history, with the rise and fall of nations, with its wars and earthquakes and famines, that the King of kings and Lord of lords is doing battle, leading His people to total victory. It is in the midst of just this human context that the Lord of history goes forth through His people, conquer-ing and in order to conquer--winning His great victories over the toughest of opposition that this world can throw against Him! So Revelation 6 can (and we believe should) be under-stood to teach! The “Historicist” view is very different. As Gregg explains, for this view, “The white horse (verse 2) and rider of the first seal refer to the period of Roman imperialism from the death of Domitian (A.D. 96) to the peace made by Commodus with the Germans in A.D. 180. This was the period of the five good emperors: Nerva (96-98); Trajan (98-117); Hadrian (117-138); and the two Antonines, Antoninus Pius (138-161) and Marcus Antoninus Aurelius (161-180). These five expanded Rome by military conquest until occupying most of the territories formerly ruled by the three preceding empires, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece... ”Barnes writes, ‘It was in general a period of prosperity, of triumph, of conquest–well represented by the horseman on the white horse going forth to conquest.’” (P. 102) But we ask, where in this chapter is there any indication of these various emperors and this time period? This all seems very artificial, and no one, simply by reading the text of Revelation, without a world history book in hand, and with the assumption that John is attempting to foretell the history of Rome through his vivid symbols, could ever come up with such an interpretation! The “Preterist” view varies with different authors, but, for example, David S. Clark believes that “With the breaking of the first seal, the progression of events leading to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 begins. Horses represent war. The first four seals, when broken, release horses with their riders, hence, warfare and its accompaniments...It is not true to fact that conquest comes in one age, war in another, famine in another, and death in another. They all belong to the same age...they all go together, conquest, war, famine, death. And if these symbols point to any specific time there is every reason to believe that they point to the very period in which John was writing and in which his churches were living; and that they had specific reference to the last days of the Jewish state, at the destruction of Jerusalem.” (Quoted by Gregg, pp. 103-04) Gregg adds that “Since the holocaust of A.D. 70 was preceded by three years of war between Jews and the Romans, some take this rider on the white horse to be Vespasian or Titus at the head of the Roman armies...Alternatively, the rider could be Christ, seen as going forth to war against His murderers.” (P. 104) But how much would John, on the Island of Patmos, have known concerning the happenings in far-off Israel? And if he knew of the destruction of Jerusalem, and if that event played such an important role in his understanding, why is there not one specific, unmistakable mention of it in Revelation? We cannot miss its great importance for Mark– and for Matthew, and Luke–but where is the slightest hint of it in Revelation? Also, if Revelation was not written until the 90's, during the reign of Domitian, this interpretation is anachronistic. 666 Aune comments that “The phrase kai. ivdou. i[ppoj leuko,j( kai. o` kaqh,menoj evpV auvto.n, kai idou hippos leukos, kai ho kathemenos ep’ auton, literally ‘and behold, a white horse and the one seated on it,’ is repeated verbatim in 19:11, a fact that suggests some kind of literary correlation between the two passages, perhaps even the identity of the two cavaliers. The white horse is an allusion based on the team of white horses in the vision of Zechariah 6:3... “It is possible to interpret the figure of the cavalier in either a positive or a negative manner, though the fact that the second, third, and fourth seals are negative makes it difficult to maintain that the first seal is positive [we think it is not difficult; the fact that the positive rider goes forth in the midst of terrifyingly negative circumstances is intended– because that is the nature of the white horse’s mission!] “1. Positive interpretations: “a. Christ, the Messiah, or the Divine Warrior. Since the cavalier on the white horse in 19:11-16 is called ‘the Word of God’ and represents the Messiah, interpreters beginning with Irenaeus ([2nd century A.D.] Against Heresies 4.21.3) have understood the cavalier in 6:2 as Christ...Despite the verbal similarity between 6:2 and 19:12, however, the two cava-liers have actually very little in common: though both have white mounts, the cavalier in 6:2 carries a bow and wears a wreath (ste,fanoj, stephanos) of victory, while the cavalier in 19:11-16 has a sharp two-edged sword in his mouth and wears many diadems (diadh-, mata, diademata), symbols of sovereignty [but, we ask, is not the Messiah both Victor and Sovereign?]...The first cavalier should not be identified with the Messiah of 19:11-16 since it is obviously the Lamb himself who is opening the seals, and it is therefore unlikely that the Lamb is also the cavalier...Further, the Messiah is not expected to appear before the Messianic woes are complete [but this is a conviction that Aune and others bring to the text, not something found in Revelation. In fact, the Messiah has already appeared in the heavenly vision and letters to the 7 churches in chapter 1-3, and is walking amidst the 7 churches, long before the judgments of the later chapters appear]... “b. The victorious progress of the gospel [if the Little Lamb is understood as sending forth His missionaries with the gospel, this eliminates any inconsistency in seeing the Little Lamb as opening the seals]... “c. A general argument for interpreting the four horsemen in a positive way is the fact that the image of the celestial cavalier is widely understood in the Greco-Roman world as a savior who delivers people from various types of trouble... “2. Negative interpretations: “a. Military conquest...or, more specifically, a Parthian invasion... “b. The Antichrist or false Messiahs. This view is usually based on the supposition that the sequence of...Mark 13 and parallels...is somehow replicated in Revelation 6:1-17... “c. Gunkel suggested that the first cavalier represents the sun god Mithras...” (Pp. 393-94) 667 The neuter noun τόξον, toxon means "bow," a weapon used to shoot arrows. It is important to note that this is also the noun used in the Greek translation of Genesis 9:13, 14 and 16 for the "rainbow" that YHWH placed in the clouds to symbolize his covenant of peace with humanity. Can that be its meaning here? It is certainly tempting to think that John's vision means that peace in the midst of human conflicts can come only by submit-ting to the rider on the white horse, i.e., by accepting the gospel. It is helpful to observe very similar imagery used in Psalm 45:3-5, in its description of the ideal king of Israel, a Psalm quoted in Hebrews 1:8-9 and applied to Jesus: “Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and right relationships! Let your right hand display awesome deeds; let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet!” John's vision takes this kind of imagery seriously, and can be understood as symbolic for Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords, who rides forth victoriously into human history through His armies of missionaries, conq- uering evil for the Kingdom of God. Aune comments that “The cavalier carries a bow (arrows are not mentioned, though certainly implied)...Bow and arrows [are] proverbial instruments of death along with the sword and asps [venomous snakes]...The bow was not, however, a Roman weapon but one widely used in Greece, Anatolia [Asia Minor], and the Near East, especially in Parthia [the country to the southeast of the Caspian Sea, ancient Persia, modern Iran; the Parthian warriors fought on horseback with the bow as their only weapon]...The bow (together with arrows) is used in the Old Testament as a symbol for divine chastisement (Deuteronomy 32:42; Isaiah 34:6; Habakkuk 3:9; Lamentations 3:12-13; Psalm 7:13-14). According to Deuteronomy 32:23-25...the arrows of the Lord cause famine, plague, wild animals, and the sword. That these four plagues are mentioned specifically in verse 8 suggests that they are the ‘arrows’ unleashed by the first cavalier...” (P. 394) However, while all of this is true, it is also true that in the New Testament the physi-cal weapons of a typical Roman soldier are used as symbols for the “spiritual weapons” of the missionaries of Christ–see especially Ephesians 6:10-18–and see the military imagery for the word of God in Hebrews 4:12. It is not wise to seek to interpret the symbols in Revelation with an insistence that imagery can have only one meaning–here, for example, the imagery may well have militaristic meaning, but also may just as well have “spiritual” meaning, i.e., the “bow” may symbolize the weapon used for firing the “arrows” of the word of God into the hearts of people. What do you think? 668 The noun στέφανος, stephanos means "wreath," "crown." Such wreaths, made of intertwined leaves, were used to indicate the winner of an athletic contest, and became in religious language a symbol for heavenly reward. In the preceding footnote we have referred to Psalm 45 for the kind of imagery involved in this vision. Here, with regard to the "wreath" of victory, compare the following statement from Psalm 21:1-3, made concerning the divinely chosen king: “O YHWH, the king rejoices in Your strength. How great is his joy in the victories You give! You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips. You welcomed him with rich blessings and placed a crown (στέφανος, stepha-nos) of pure gold on his head!” It is to be observed that in Psalm 21 the divinely chosen king wins his victories in human history, in the midst of fire, evil plots and wicked schemes. We believe that the same thing is true here in Revelation 6. Aune interprets by stating, “That the cavalier is awarded a crown before he rides out may be construed as a promise of victory.” (P. 395) We have already seen the statement in Revelation 3:11 that the faithful in Philadelphia are described as already wearing a ste,fanoj, stephanos, “crown.” 669 Aune comments that “This is the first occurrence of the aorist passive evdo,qh, edothe, a...’passive of divine activity,’ used 22 times in Revelation...referring to a divine commission or divine enablement bestowed on all the cavaliers with the exception of the third (verses 5-6).” (Pp. 394-95) 670 Aune reports that Oecumenius [the Greek bishop of Tricca in the 7th century, author of a commentary on Revelation] reads the definite article before the present participle, o` nikw/n, ho nikon, and comments that “But he went out, he says, that the conqueror might conquer. And Christ was the conqueror.” (P. 380) We think it much more appropriate to interpret the present participle, nikw/n, nikon, in the light of its other nine occurrences in Revelation, where it without exception refers to followers of Jesus who are actively overcoming opposition: Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 15:2 and 21:7. Compare also 11:7 and 13:7 where the verb (not the participle) is used with reference to the beast’s conquering the set-apart people, contrasted with 12:11 and 15:2 where the set-apart people are described as conquering the beast. For occur-rences of the verb nika,w, nikao, “to conquer,” used with reference to Jesus, see Revela-tion 3:21, 5:5 and 17:14. 671 The conjunction kai,, kai, “and,” is omitted by Minuscules 1006, 1611, 1841, 2053, a few other Greek manuscripts, the entire Latin tradition, the Harclean Syriac and the Latin translation of Irenaeus (before 395 A.D.). The omission does not change the meaning of Revelation, but reflects the attempt by later copyists to eliminate unnecessary words from the original text. 672 The phrase ἵνα νικήσῃ, hina nikese, “in order that he might conquer,” is changed to the aorist verb evni,khsen, enikesen, “(and) he conquered,” by Sinaiticus, Minuscule 2344, some manuscripts of the Sahidic Coptic and the Bohairic Coptic. This changes the mean-ing of Revelation slightly–instead of depicting the possibility that the rider of the white horse “might conquer” in the future, it depicts the rider’s mission as successful–“he conquered.” This makes little difference for the overall meaning of Revelation–unless the interpreter insists on making all of the visions refer to the future. This rider of the white horse has already been declared a victor, and has been given the wreath or crown signifying victory (compare the same imagery used in the letter to the church at Philadel-phia, that already wears its crown, as the hour of trial nears, 3:11). Still, even though already declared victor, the rider goes forth conquering, with intent purpose to continue conquering (according to the text which we consider to be original). In the light of Revelation 19:11-21, it seems clear that John would have his readers think in terms of the great, victorious Lord of the churches, Who has won eternal victory, and Who is now sending His followers out on a universal campaign of spiritual warfare, which will engage them in the greatest struggle in human history, to become victorious over all of the evil powers and demonic forces that oppose and fight against His Kingdom. If this is taken to be the correct understanding of the rider on the white horse, it means that the followers of the risen Lord Jesus follow a Divine Warrior Who leads them forth to battle--and they should expect to struggle courageously in following Him. They should not think that their experience as His followers is to be one of peaceful ease and comfort, without trials and hardships, or life-threatening demands. The eternal victory has been won; but there is still work to be done, additional victories to be won by the Risen Lord and by His people who follow His leadership! What it means to "follow Jesus" is to follow Him into battle with all the forces of evil that pollute and destroy human and divine values in history, and to use all of our energies and talents to win victories for our King! 673 Immediately following the imperative “Come!”, the phrase kai. iv,de, kai ide, “and see,” is interpolated into the original text by Sinaiticus, Minuscule 2344, a few other Greek manuscripts, the majority of Old Latin witnesses, the Clementine Latin Vulgate, a few manuscripts of the Bohairic Coptic, Primasius (who died about 567 A.D.) and Beatus of Liebana (8th century A.D.) Compare verse 1, where the same interpolation is made by many of these same witnesses. Again, the interpolation does not change the meaning of Revelation, but is of the nature of later “commentary” on the original text. 674 The phrase ei=don kai. ivdou,, eidon kai idou, “I saw and look,” is interpolated into the original text at this point by Sinaiticus, a few other Greek manuscripts, and the Bohairic Coptic (see). The phrase does not change the meaning of Revelation, but is an attempt by later copyists and translators to make the original text more graphic. 675 The adjective πυρρός, |