“And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow…” (Revelation 6:1-2, NASB)

The devil’s white is not the same as God’s white. The enemy may sometimes come to us as a roaring lion to devour, but most of the time, he comes to us as a deceptive angel of light. He may come to us wearing white, but it is not the same as God’s white. After witnessing a vision of worship in heaven, John saw the Lamb open the book of judgment by breaking the seven seals. It says in today’s passage,

“And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come.’ And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer.”

Initially, this rider on a white horse appears to be the messiah who comes to earth as a deliverer. However, this is not Jesus the Messiah but the antichrist who comes pretending to be the savior of the world. We know this because the real second coming of Jesus Christ is described in Revelation 19:11-21. The real Jesus will come riding on a white horse, too, but he himself will be wearing a white robe dipped in blood, whereas we do not know what color robe this rider is wearing. Jesus will wear many crowns rather than one. He will have a sharp sword coming out of his mouth rather than a bow in his hand. The two messiahs look similar, but they are fundamentally different. He is the counterfeit messiah.

Furthermore, if we interpret the book of Revelation chronologically, this rider on the white horse appears immediately after the breaking of the first seal, which results from Jesus, the Lamb of God, opening the book of judgment. In other words, the very first thing that will happen at the beginning of the Great Tribulation Period is the appearance of a ruler who is like Christ but is not Christ. He will come riding on a white horse, which is a symbol of purity and peace, but he will go out to the world “conquering and to conquer.” Instead of peace, he will bring forth more and more wars in the name of peace.

This is the Antichrist who will come to the world, and God will give him authority and power to wreak havoc for a short time. He will go forth to conquer and will be victorious because he will be given authority to act from above. Revelation 13:4-5 says, “People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?’ The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months (3 ½ years).” Then, after conquering much of the world, he will declare himself to be God and seat himself in the most holy place. This is the end result of “conquering and to conquer.” When there is nothing more to conquer on earth, he will seek to conquer heaven itself. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 says, “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” He will deceive many so that people will believe that he is the savior-messiah and cause them to think that God is the enemy and will rally them to war against Him (Rev.19:19-21). Even now, the Bible says that the “spirit of antichrist” is already in the world, lying, deceiving, and misleading to prepare the way for this rider on a white horse (1 Jn.4:3). Beware of the rider on a white horse because Satan’s white is not the same as God’s white.

• Who do you think is the rider on a white horse or represents?
• How can believers today discern between the activities of the two “white horses” – God’s white versus the devil’s white?