And I saw, and behold a white horse
Representing the ministration of the Gospel in the times of the
apostles, which were just now finishing, John being the last of
them, who saw this vision; and the "horse" being a swift,
majestic, and warlike creature, and fearless of opposition and
war, may design the swift progress of the Gospel in the world,
the majesty, power, and authority with which it came, and
opposition it met with, and which was bore down before it; and
its "white" colour may denote the purity of Gospel truths, the
peace it proclaims, the joy brings, and the triumph that attends
it, on account of victories obtained by it, and which is
afterwards suggested: white horses were used in triumphs, in
token of victory F14; a white horse, in a dream, is a
good sign with the Jews F15; and Astrampsychus says F16, a
vision of white horses is an apparition of angels; and so one of
those angels which the Jews suppose to have the care of men, and
the preservation of them, is said F17 to ride by him, and at
his right hand, upon a white horse; but the rider here is not an
angel, but the head of all principality and power:
and he that sat on him had a bow;
with arrows; the bow is the word of the Gospel, and the arrows
the doctrines of it; see ( Habakkuk 3:9
) ( Psalms
45:5 ) ; so called for their swift motion, sudden and secret
striking, piercing, and penetrating nature, reaching to the very
hearts of men; laying open the secret thoughts and iniquity
thereof; wounding, and causing them to fall, and submit
themselves to the sceptre of Christ's kingdom:
and a crown was given unto him;
by God the Father; expressive of Christ's regal power and
authority, of his honour and dignity, and of his victories and
conquests:
and he went forth, conquering and to conquer;
in the ministration of the Gospel, which went forth, as did all
the first ministers of it, from Jerusalem, to the several parts
of the world; from the east, on which side of the throne was the
first living creature, who called upon John to come and see this
sight, as the standard of the tribe of Judah, which had a lion
upon it, was on the east side of the camp of Israel; and out of
Zion went forth the word of the Lord, which was very victorious,
both among Jews and Gentiles, to the conversion of thousands of
them, and to the planting of a multitude of churches among them,
and to the setting up and advancing the kingdom of Christ; but
inasmuch as yet all things are not made subject to him, he is
represented as going forth in the Gospel, still conquering, and
to conquer, what remain to be conquered: that Christ is designed
by him that sat on the white horse, and is thus described, is
evident from ( Revelation
19:11-13 ) ; with which compare ( Psalms 45:3 Psalms 45:4 ) , though
as this emblem may respect the Roman empire, the white horse may
be an emblem of the strong, warlike, and conquering state of it;
and the rider which a bow and crown may design Vespasian, whom
Christ made use of as an instrument to conquer his enemies the
Jews, and who, in consequence thereof, had the imperial crown put
upon him; and it may be further observed, that though his
conquest of them was a very great one, yet they afterwards rose
up in the empire, in great numbers, rebelled, and did much
mischief, when they were entirely conquered by Trajan and
Hadrian, who seem to be intended in the next seal.