The First Horseman

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

[Rev 6:1-2]

In various commentaries the rider on the white horse is interpreted as Christ himself. Yet in others he is the anti-Christ.

To me the rider is simple Man himself, but with a crown, representing dominion and authority. And where once the earth was part of the kingdom of God, it is now the kingdom of Man.

And Man is bent on bringing all of earth under his dominion by means of the force of arms as depicted in the bow in his hands.

And so Man usurps the authority of God on earth.

We see the rider on the white horse with a crown and a bow in all the powers, empires, kingdoms and governments in all the countries in the world from the past till today.

And where once people depends on God, now they depend on themselves. Where once people had faith, now they rely on their authority, wit, power, etc, to pursue their own goals, whatever these may be, even if they be meaningless and futile.

And Man is indeed powerful, especially when they are of one heart and one mind, and is capable of many feats and achievements, from the Tower of Babel in the past to the space station today and more beyond.

But Man is not God.

And so this is the first attribute that is painted in the first horseman, namely that the world is faithless, believing in themselves and setting themselves to be God, ie idolatry.

(Next: The Second Horseman)