The restored (re-established) concept of God’s offer of mercy brought to us by the Lamb of God.
Revelation 6:1-2 "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. 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."
The Book of Revelation knows three kinds of judgements of the Lamb of God:
• The seven seal judgements;
• The seven trumpet judgements;
• The seven vial judgements.
These judgements are coming more and more severely over the world of sinful mankind. In principle these judgements are meant to make mankind see that they are to sincerely repent before God of their sins, if they are to be spared God's judgement.
Isaiah 26:9b "...for when Thy judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."
At the beginning of this sermon we read about the first seal judgement, and God's Word says in 1 Peter 4:17 the following:
"For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
Thus, the first seal judgement is meant for the Church, the house of God, for the repentance of the Church. This is to happen by the preaching of God's Word (will). But this Word was damaged by satan[1] from the beginning; it was weakened by human and satanic influences. For only the pure Word of God is mighty and powerful to bring redemption and sanctification to sinful, repentant mankind.
Thus, this first seal judgement is meant by the Lamb to re-establish/restore the spoken word, the Word of Truth, in order that it is brought in the power and according to God's intention and views/insights. The Word of God that convicts sin, and God's offer of mercy that is offered to mankind in and by the finished sacrifice of the Lamb, must be preached clearly in the Church first.
As already mentioned, satan wanted to damage the Word of God from the beginning, so that it could not have the effect God meant it to have. Satan sealed the roll of Scripture with seven seals. They are seven great sinful bonds, that keep mankind from understanding the true meaning of God's Word because of their by sin darkened thinking. The Lamb, and only the Lamb, can and must break these seals one by one, so that God's Word can be understood clearly again by repentant mankind.
Thus, the first seal that is to be broken brings about the recovery of the understanding of the powerful divine Word, of the divine gospel of redemption. Every recovery happens slowly because of the wrong insight of the Word. He begins to shine His light of judgement in the Church, so that converts might come to Him, and He could grant them mercy and proclaim to them the Word, the Word of the cross; and to make them into conquerors/victors by and in the power of His Word and Spirit, in order that He could use them later as heralds of this victory over sin and satan.
For this purpose He re-introduces the Baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Church, which in this vision of John's on Patmos, is typified by the white horse, the power of God, which God's laborer and servant is to wear.
Much is taught wrongly about this white horse and its rider. At first one was taught that this rider is Christ Himself, but this rider still had to overcome in the end-time, while Jesus Christ already won the victory over satan on Calvary almost 2000 years ago.
Then, one is taught, again wrongly, that this rider is the antichrist. This, too, cannot be true, as the white horse in scriptural sense typifies God's power and righteousness. Besides this rider was crowned with the victor's crown, and he rides conquering and to conquer, while the antichrist, from God's point of view, is anything but a conqueror.
Ezekiel 21:25-27 "And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him."
He (the antichrist) here is called the 'prince of Israel', because he maintains to be the returned Christ, the King of Israel.
The true meaning of this white horse and his rider is, that here the victors of the end-time are pictured. Here God's servant of the last days is pictured, who stands and goes in the victory over sin and satan which he gained by being planted together with the victory of the Lamb, with His death and resurrection (Romans 6:5).
This is the reason we do not see an arrow here, no weapon of attack, for the battle against satan was fought by the Lamb 2000 years ago, and the victory was won and the debt of sin paid for. But he holds forth the true Word of God, typified here by the bow, triumphantly. In this way he lifts up the Word of the cross.
CLICK HERE if you want to read this study – that is to long for the Blog.
Revelation 6:1-2 "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. 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."
The Book of Revelation knows three kinds of judgements of the Lamb of God:
• The seven seal judgements;
• The seven trumpet judgements;
• The seven vial judgements.
These judgements are coming more and more severely over the world of sinful mankind. In principle these judgements are meant to make mankind see that they are to sincerely repent before God of their sins, if they are to be spared God's judgement.
Isaiah 26:9b "...for when Thy judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."
At the beginning of this sermon we read about the first seal judgement, and God's Word says in 1 Peter 4:17 the following:
"For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
Thus, the first seal judgement is meant for the Church, the house of God, for the repentance of the Church. This is to happen by the preaching of God's Word (will). But this Word was damaged by satan[1] from the beginning; it was weakened by human and satanic influences. For only the pure Word of God is mighty and powerful to bring redemption and sanctification to sinful, repentant mankind.
Thus, this first seal judgement is meant by the Lamb to re-establish/restore the spoken word, the Word of Truth, in order that it is brought in the power and according to God's intention and views/insights. The Word of God that convicts sin, and God's offer of mercy that is offered to mankind in and by the finished sacrifice of the Lamb, must be preached clearly in the Church first.
As already mentioned, satan wanted to damage the Word of God from the beginning, so that it could not have the effect God meant it to have. Satan sealed the roll of Scripture with seven seals. They are seven great sinful bonds, that keep mankind from understanding the true meaning of God's Word because of their by sin darkened thinking. The Lamb, and only the Lamb, can and must break these seals one by one, so that God's Word can be understood clearly again by repentant mankind.
Thus, the first seal that is to be broken brings about the recovery of the understanding of the powerful divine Word, of the divine gospel of redemption. Every recovery happens slowly because of the wrong insight of the Word. He begins to shine His light of judgement in the Church, so that converts might come to Him, and He could grant them mercy and proclaim to them the Word, the Word of the cross; and to make them into conquerors/victors by and in the power of His Word and Spirit, in order that He could use them later as heralds of this victory over sin and satan.
For this purpose He re-introduces the Baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Church, which in this vision of John's on Patmos, is typified by the white horse, the power of God, which God's laborer and servant is to wear.
Much is taught wrongly about this white horse and its rider. At first one was taught that this rider is Christ Himself, but this rider still had to overcome in the end-time, while Jesus Christ already won the victory over satan on Calvary almost 2000 years ago.
Then, one is taught, again wrongly, that this rider is the antichrist. This, too, cannot be true, as the white horse in scriptural sense typifies God's power and righteousness. Besides this rider was crowned with the victor's crown, and he rides conquering and to conquer, while the antichrist, from God's point of view, is anything but a conqueror.
Ezekiel 21:25-27 "And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him."
He (the antichrist) here is called the 'prince of Israel', because he maintains to be the returned Christ, the King of Israel.
The true meaning of this white horse and his rider is, that here the victors of the end-time are pictured. Here God's servant of the last days is pictured, who stands and goes in the victory over sin and satan which he gained by being planted together with the victory of the Lamb, with His death and resurrection (Romans 6:5).
This is the reason we do not see an arrow here, no weapon of attack, for the battle against satan was fought by the Lamb 2000 years ago, and the victory was won and the debt of sin paid for. But he holds forth the true Word of God, typified here by the bow, triumphantly. In this way he lifts up the Word of the cross.
CLICK HERE if you want to read this study – that is to long for the Blog.
By E. van den Worm
[1] We write the word satan not with a capital, as it is not a name, but a word meaning opponent or adversary, accuser.
[1] We write the word satan not with a capital, as it is not a name, but a word meaning opponent or adversary, accuser.
