Sunday School Notes: Revelation 19:11-13
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! And the one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war in righteousness. 12 His eyes are [as] a flame of fire, and upon his head are many crowns. He has a name written which no-one knows except him. 13 And he is clothed in a garment dipped [or covered] in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
John is now given a new vision, this time of a rider on a white horse. He lists twelve significant things about this rider, all of which are symbols that tell us something about this rider and what he does. We covered the first seven of these in this class. We’ll look at the rest, Lord willing, next time.
Before we get to those symbols, the first significant thing to note is the fact that John sees heaven opened. Previously, John has seen a door standing open in heaven through which was the heavenly throne room (4:1), God’s temple in heaven opened making the Ark of the Covenant visible (11:19), and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven opened out of which came the seven angels with seven plagues (15:5). But this is the first time John has seen heaven itself opened. Perhaps the most significant time someone sees something like this in the New Testament is in Acts 8:56. There, just before he is stoned to death, Stephen says he sees heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
Like Stephen, John is seeing behind the veil into the heavenly realms. And also like Stephen, there is little doubt that he sees Jesus. From the description he gives us, the rider on the white horse could be no-one else.
The image of a rider on a white horse leading armies was a popular victory portrait in the Roman world. Artistic depictions of the conquering general or emperor astride his horse, sword in hand, leading his legions to glorious victory, were commonplace. In the context of Revelation, however, this rider on a white horse is loaded with symbolism.
Why a white horse? As we have observed numerous times before, the color white signifies purity, goodness, spotlessness. But there’s also another overtone to the symbolic meaning. In 6:2, we encountered another rider on a white horse. The first of the seven seals let loose a rider with a crown and a bow going out on a white horse to conquer. This rider was certainly not Jesus–quite the opposite. However, he was going out under Jesus’s direction to accomplish part of God’s plan to bring judgment upon the world. So the white horse also carries with it the notion of vindication. We see this also in 6:11 with the white robe given to the saints under the altar in response to their question, “how long before you will judge and avenge our blood?” The robe is both Christ’s righteousness covering his people. But it is also a reminder that God will vindicate His name and bring his vengeance to bear on the earth-dwellers. Finally, in 14:14, John saw the Son of Man on a white cloud with a sickle ready to harvest. He first harvests his own, but then the angel harvests the earth-dwellers, sending them to the wine press. Once again, the color white is associated with justice, vindication, and vengeance.
[Side note: One commentator suggests the rider in 6:2 is a parody of Jesus here in 19:11. That might be so, and even if it is, that doesn’t negate the symbolism of the white horse.]
Then we come to John’s description of the rider. Again, there are twelve points John makes about this rider, some straight-forward, some requiring a little more thought. These are the first seven.
1. He is called Faithful and True. We haven’t seen these two titles together like this in Revelation so far, although Jesus has been called both faithful and true on separate occasions. Most notable of these are 3:7, where he is holy, true, and has the key of David, and 3:14, where he is the faithful and true witness (close, but it refers to Jesus as witness, not to his character). “Faithful and True” goes along with the theme of vindication. He will do as he promised and bring judgment. Unlike man’s justice, God’s justice will prevail. No-one who deserves punishment escapes the Lord. Even if we don’t see God’s justice manifest now, in this life, He will deal with the wrong-doer in the life to come. God will be faithful to His people and the promises He made to them.
2. He judges and wages war in righteousness. That the Lord judges in righteousness is evident throughout the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms (see, for example, Psalm 96:11-13 and Psalm 97:1-7). God does not take up with His enemies without cause. His judgment is always sound and morally unassailable. Naturally, since we are rebel sinners, we have no right or ground to dispute the rightness of God’s actions. We deserve the punishment we get, either upon ourselves, or upon Christ who bore the wrath of God on behalf of his people.
We judge and wage war with sinful hearts. We have mixed motives, greed, envy, prejudice, and other inappropriate influences on our judgments. In fact, we only know what good judgment is because God reveals that to us in Scripture. Our justice only approximates true justice the closer we follow God’s justice.
“Wages war” here is both literal and metaphorical. In the Old Testament we saw Israel going to battle to defend their land and to repel those that came against them. In so far as God was on their side, God was waging literal war with Israel. God also wages war in terms of judgment, as we have seen played out symbolically through the great prostitute.
3. His eyes are like a burning fire. The Greek here is literally “a flame of fire” (phlox puros). This is the exact term used to describe the eyes of the “one like a son of man” in 1:14. There can be no doubt that the “son of man” of Revelation 1 and the rider of Revelation 19 are the same person. This phrase is also used of the man who appears to Daniel in Daniel 10:6, which is very interesting to say the least.
We are familiar with fire as a symbol of judgment in Revelation. Not only is it used to destroy the ungodly, but it is used to purify the church. This fits the context both here and in Daniel 10:6.
4. He wears many crowns. The crown here is not a stephanos, which is a victory crown, the prize given to winner of a race in the ancient games, for example. This “crown” is a diadēma which the ESV renders “diadem,” a royal crown, indicating power and authority.
In 12:3, the dragon, Satan, has seven heads and 7 diadems. The beast in 13:1 has ten horns and ten diadems. Both of these clearly have a lot of power and authority. However, Jesus has “many diadems.” No number is given, implying that his power and authority far exceeds those of the dragon and the beast. It is without number, limitless.
5. He has a name no-one but he knows. This seems an odd thing to say since we’re about to be told what his name is (see #7 below). Besides, if this is Jesus (which it is) we already know his name! So what does he mean by “a name no-one but he knows”?
This may have reference to to the “new name” spoken of in Isaiah 62:2, coming with the righteousness and salvation of Zion, and the “new name” that no-one knows that will be written on white stones for each one who overcomes in Revelation 2:17. Revelation 3:12 says that the overcomer will have his own new name, as well as God’s name, and the name of the new Jerusalem written upon him. This mysterious name could simply be something that indicates the uniqueness of Jesus. This is a name that he undoubtedly has from the Father, showing their special closeness, as with the “new name” given to believers.
An alternative view sees this “hidden” name as something akin to the name of God in the Old Testament. To the patriarchs He was simply ‘ēl, and by that name he made covenants with them. But as part of His progressive revelation to His people, at the time of Moses He made Himself known to His people as Yahweh, His covenant name. No-one would know (i.e., not in the sense of knowing information, but in the sense of intimate relationship) God by the name Yahweh aside from those to whom He chose to reveal it. Similarly, Christ’s “hidden” name is a name indicating close relationship that he alone knows, and he reveals it only to his own. in Luke 10:21-25, Jesus says that the Son is known only to those the Son chooses to reveal himself. Those who belong to Christ will ultimately know him as “faithful and true,” “the word of God,” and “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
6. He is dressed in an outer garment (himation) dipped in blood. Is this Jesus’s own blood or the blood of others? Is this the blood of redemption that he shed for his people? Those who take this view question how it could be anyone else’s since the battle has not yet begun. Another view suggests that Jesus is riding into battle with the blood of the martyrs on him, as a reminder that he is vindicating those who have suffered for his sake. Finally, there are passages such as Isaiah 63:1-3 that follows the same imagery with the Lord coming in wrath and vengeance. That same passage also makes mention of the wine press which has come up more than once already in Revelation. Since this is a vision, it’s not impossible this blood could be the blood of battle, of those slain by Jesus in judgment. While I lean toward the last view, this is symbolism, so there’s no reason why all of the above–his own blood, the blood of the saints, and the blood of his enemies–cannot be in view.
7. His name is called the Word of God. We might be tempted to think of John 1:1 where Jesus is identified as the Word who is divine and became flesh (1:14). But in the context of Revelation, this phrase has a different significance. In Revelation 1:9, John says he is on Patmos on account of “the word of God and the witness of Jesus.” “The witness of Jesus” is epexegetical, that is, it further explains “the word of God.” So John has been exiled on account of his witness with regard to Jesus. It is the word concerning God, i.e., the revelation about God in Jesus, that has John on Patmos. Jesus is the perfect exegete of God (John 1:18)–he is God’s perfect interpreter, and the best witness to the thoughts and intentions of God.
What is it that Jesus is bearing testimony to here? Judgment. As we will see, Jesus has the judicial sword in his mouth (as he did in chapter 1). The word concerning God that Jesus bears witness to is His promise to judge the earth-dwellers and vindicate His people.
We will continue John’s description of the rider next time.
