I was thinking recently about a discussion many years ago with a dear Christian minister and Berean Bible teacher. The subject was the identity of the rider on the white horse of the first seal in the Book of Revelation. This wonderful preacher of God’s word was born at the turn of the Twentieth Century and was unbiased by the Rapture theology that became popular in the seventies. He thought that the rider of the first seal (Revelation 6:1-2) should be identified with the conquering Jesus at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-16). Without question there is similarity between the two passages. My opinion was based on what seemed to be more logical, that the rider of the first seal was the antichrist and the breaking of the first seal begins the Tribulation. Christ return at the battle of Armageddon is the end. Today I believe both of us were mistaken about the identity of the rider. The significance of the discussion is that neither of us sought to harmonize all the scripture on the end-times and the second advent of Jesus Christ.
If the rider isn’t Jesus or the antichrist, who else could it be? That is an intriguing thought since most commentaries on the Tribulation denote three characters; Jesus Christ, Satan/antichrist, and the false prophet. Of the three the antichrist is the most logical choice. But there is an Old Testament book that tells of other characters who have a role in the Tribulation. In addition to the Messiah and the antichrist there are the kings of the North and South, four Persian kings, and a great warrior king. The great warrior king precedes the antichrist and it is from the chaos that results from the warrior king’s conquering that allows the antichrist to rise.
The book of Daniel contains five eschatological prophecies. Each ends with the destruction of Satan/antichrist and establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. Daniel’s first details concerning the great warrior king comes in chapter eight as the goat that conquers Persia. His kingdom is shattered allowing the antichrist to rise. The same events begin the last vision of Daniel where the great warrior king comes against the fourth king of Persia (Daniel 11:1-4). The majority of the last vision focuses on the chaos between the kings of the North and South and the eventual rise of the antichrist.
The last three visions of Daniel, chapter eight Ram and Goat, chapter nine 70 weeks, and chapters ten through twelve kings of the North and South, all give the same timeframe. Chapter eight give 2300 days that the vision will last (Daniel 8:13-14). The vision begins with the rise of Persia and its being conquered by a king from the west and finishes when the antichrist meets his end. There will be seven years from the conflict between a great warrior king from the west conquering Persia to the return of Jesus Christ to reign on the earth.
The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians that the antichrist was being restrained and could not rise until the restrainer was removed (2Thessalonians 2:5-12). The breaking of the seals in Revelation chapter 6 fulfills removal of the restrainer with the first seal releasing a great warrior king. The next three seals tell of great chaos that lead to the martyred saints of the fifth seal and the judgment of the earth for rejecting God in the sixth seal.
Identifying the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6:1-2 with the great warrior king of Daniel eight and eleven is not only logical, it also brings the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation into harmony. Christendom may well be caught unaware that events in the Middle East between Iran and Turkey signal the breaking of the first seal of Revelation. (See blog post “Where In The World – The Ram and Goat? April 17, 2017” for details on Iran and Turkey) It seems Christianity is expecting some great event like the Rapture to herald in the Tribulation.
With the world being desensitized to war in the Middle East, Christians will consider clashes between Iran and Turkey as normal world affairs rather than the possibility it is the beginning of the end-times.
Who is the rider on the white horse? Only God knows for sure, but I don’t want us to be caught unaware that the Tribulation may be closer than most of Christendom thinks.
May God bless you in your study of His word.