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The White Horse: Christ or Antichrist?

By Biblical Researcher Eli of Kittim

The current view holds that the first horseman of the Apocalypse represents the Antichrist (the assumption is as follows: if Christ already came, then the white horse must be referring to the Antichrist). Here's why the mainstream view is wrong:

(1) There are no counterfeit signs found anywhere in the Bible.

So why should this be a precedent? That is, why would a white horse (a symbol of purity and righteousness) represent something as black as hell? Is the Deity deceiving us? Is it possible that white is really black or that good is really evil in the Bible? The mainstream view would have to reservedly admit that it's possible, only because that is the logical conclusion of a counterfeit sign found in scripture. I vehemently disagree. The white symbol of purity is consistent throughout the Bible. There are no counterfeit signs in scripture. Hence the white horse does not represent the antichrist: it symbolizes Christ!

Here is an excerpt from my book, The Little Book of Revelation: The First Coming of Jesus at the End of Days:

//"Immediately I saw a white horse appear, and its rider was holding a bow; he was given a victor’s crown and he went away, to go from victory to victory" (Rev. 6:2, NJB).

The biblical term victory is intimately associated with Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, which ultimately results in the conquering of death itself (1 Cor. 15:54, 57), while the metaphor of the bow represents God’s covenant with the human race (see the Septuagint’s translation of Gen. 9.13, which uses the exact same Greek word for “rainbow” that’s used in Rev. 6.2, namely, “toxon”)! The background to the latter symbol can be found in the writings of the Old Testament. In the wake of the great flood, the deity declares to Noah, the apparent savior of the human species:

‘I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth’ (Gen. 9:13).

The New King James version of the Bible translates the word bow as "rainbow" (Gen. 9:13). The image of the rainbow is closely associated with the biblical story of Joseph, a savior type figure who wore “a coat of many colors” (Gen. 37:3; cf. 49:22-24, KJ). For all intents and purposes, all these stories of God’s covenant with the world share many common traits and culminate in the apocalyptic Messiah who is crowned with a rainbow (bow) upon his head:

"And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book which was open" (Rev. 10:1-2).

Therefore, the first horseman of the Apocalypse (6:2), who is in possession of a bow (the covenant), is evidently none other than Christ himself (cf. Rev. 14:14). Irenaeus, a second century theologian, held the same view, namely, that the first rider of the white horse who is depicted as a peacemaker represents Jesus Christ (Mounce, Robert H. The Book of Revelation. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Rev. ed. [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997], p. 141). Here is another passage that introduces the prelude to this same event; it represents a deeply unsettling episode in world history:

"And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. … And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God" (Rev. 19:11-13).

The above phrase – “and behold, a white horse” – is identical to the one used in the book of Revelation chapter 6 and verse 2 concerning the first horseman of the Apocalypse. Just as the latter horseman conquered death, the former horseman (from Rev. 19:11-13) is “dipped in blood,” as both scenarios imply that he has been slain. Essentially, Revelation 6:2 and Revelation 19:11 appear to be two sides of the same coin. The composite biblical message indicates that Christ will be the first person to be revealed in the final days of the coming apocalypse. In point of fact, Revelation 19:11 provides more in-depth details into the specifics of Revelation 6:2.//

(2) Note that the white horseman is WITHOUT arrows (signifying peace, not war).

(3) Revelation 6:8—in discussing the upcoming, end times wars and famines—MAKES NO MENTION of the white horse at all, but begins with the second horse, the Red Horse:

"And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth." (Rev. 6:8, ESV).

Notice that the white horse is never mentioned. The war commences with the second horse (The Red Horse, which I believe represents the Antichrist):

"And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword [2nd horse/red horse: 'and a great sword was given to him' Rev. 6:4] and with famine [3rd horse/black horse] and with pestilence [4th horse/ashen horse] and by wild beasts of the earth."

This would strongly suggest that the white horse is NOT the Antichrist, but Jesus Christ, especially in view of Revelation 12:1-5 as well as a multitude of different verses and passages thus presented! This constitutes further proof that Jesus is the first person to be revealed in the last days, who commences the sequence of end time events...