Revelation: The Hope - White Horse
- Nancy Counts
- Apr 6
- 6 min read
What a wild week! Tornados. Catastrophic flooding. Massive earthquakes. Stock market losses of almost 2 trillion dollars. Life certainly feels precarious right now. This Revelation study hits a little too close to home.
If I sit and ruminate too much on all the horror surrounding us, my anxiety and fear overtake me. I find myself having to stay off social media and block out the news because the distress can really overwhelm.
We left off in Revelation 18 where John proclaims, “The fruit you craved has left you. All your splendid and glamorous things are gone, never to be found again!” verse 14. With so many people disenfranchised and the unfathomable loss of property and life across the entirety of the globe, one has to sense the groaning of the earth.
In the midst of the chaos, a voice cries out, “Fear not!”
There is a reason fear is mentioned over 500 times in the Bible. We are fearful creatures. We like to control our environment because we gain a false sense of security when we feel in charge. But events like this last week remind us all how little control we actually have over the circumstances surrounding us - and that produces major fear and anxiety!
I think about my often anxious "Swiftie," and I worry for her future - what is in store for her in the next 25 years? This is what her generation understands about a White Horse:
Say you're sorry that face of an angel comes out just when you need it to. As I paced back and forth all this time "cause I honestly believed in you. Holdin' on, the days drag on. Stupid girl. I should've known. That I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet and lead her up the stairwell. This ain't Hollywood, this is a small tow. I was dreamer before you went and let me down. Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around.
The Disney generation grew up waiting for their knight in shining armor to ride in on his white horse and save the day. Be honest. Who doesn't want to be rescued by the White Horse?
Great News!!!
The end of Revelation comes to the rescue! When we can look at the events unfolding around us through the lens of John’s book, we gain perspective on how all of this mess will finally turn out. And we literally have our Savior on a White Horse riding in to save us all...
“Then I saw heaven and earth opened and there was a white horse, its rider is called Faithful and True and he judges and makes war with justice…He wore a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God.” Revelation 19:11-13.
What thoughts come to mind when you hear the words “Faithful and True?” Why does John capitalize these words?
The ancient Greeks highly valued the concept of truth. Hours of debate and countless philosophical texts devote themselves to determining what the ancients deemed “faithful and true”. Here in Revelation 19, God puts to rest all the arguments and shows Christ as the only Truth. Why? Christ willingly sacrificed His life, and His robes are dipped in blood as the remembrance that he alone atoned for all of mankind.
I have been to churches that try to sanitize the crucifixion of Christ. Something about our modern culture finds Christ's sacrifice off putting. I have heard people question why a blood sacrifice? Why would a loving God choose this method to atone for the sins of humans?
2000 years removed from the Ancient Near East is 2000 years removed from idol sacrifice. The ancient peoples did not have our modern medical knowledge. But they observed when an animal, be it man or beast, lost its blood, life ceased. Blood was precious. Blood was life.
Going back as far as we have written record, man offered blood sacrifices to whatever deity to whom they claimed allegiance. When Abraham took Isaac to the mountain as God required, offering his son as a blood sacrifice would not have been as shocking an act as we perceive it today. But God provided an alternate way for Abraham. “Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named the place The Lord Will Provide.” Genesis 22:13-14.
And God has provided an alternate way for you and me - the blood of Jesus Christ.
Often, we wade in the weeds of the Bible and often trip over Truths that really contradict our current culture. Our feelings get in the way when we do not understand and our sense of justice is challenged. But read Revelation 19:11-13 again. Jesus, who is capital Faithful and True, judges all of mankind and wages war with justice.
We can deduce what it means that mankind will be judged, but what does it mean, He wages war with justice?
Throughout Revelation, John draws the contrast between the actions and desires of Babylon and the actions and desires of the Lord. If Jesus will ultimately judge us all, he will also correct all of our errant thinking and not allow injustice to exist any more. I don’t know about you, but I long for that day when real justice prevails, and we no longer depend on the faulty logic of man to appropriately determine what is just.
But before Jesus’ final triumph, “Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army. Revelation 19:19
Satan is determined to fight until the bitter end. He knows the outcome of this war. He knows he is going into the “lake of fire that burns with sulfur” in verse 20. Nevertheless, he relentlessly pursues humanity with his false promises and false justice. In Chapter 20, John reports that an angel with the key to the abyss, “seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” verse 2.
Think about that for a minute. Neither God nor Jesus bothered to bind Satan in the abyss for 1000 years. They sent an angel who gladly carried out the task. Satan could so easily be defeated that an angel has the authority to cast him into the lake of sulfur. So here come the big questions…
Why do I give so much authority to Satan in my life? Why do I allow him to put knots of anxiety in my gut and fear producing thoughts in my head? Why do I yield my Holy Spirit authority to the father of lies? Why do I crave an earthly white horse savior when I have a Savior for all eternity?
When we get bogged down in the baggage of the day, we tend to loose sight of eternity and look to the trials of this present moment. As we wind down our study of Revelation, let’s not forget the end of the story. Jesus rides triumphantly onto the scene on His white horse, Faithful and True. Don’t let the burdens of the world overwhelm you. Jesus gave up his life blood so you and I are free from worry we were never meant to carry.
So whenever life threatens to overwhelm, rest in the assurance of Jesus’ triumphal entry. Satan gets what he deserves, and Jesus reigns on this earthly realm for 1000 years. But this is the paradox of God. In order to provide the opportunity for every soul ever created to come into a life giving relationship with Jesus and participate in the 1000 year reign, Satan still has the opportunity to operate and attempt to convince us to follow him instead.
Are you waiting on your gallant knight to sweep you up into an earthly fantasy, or do you know the true rider of the White Horse who offers eternity? As Revelation draws to a close, time is running short to know exactly whom you are waiting for.
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