Today we pick up on the first seal judgment in Revelation 6:12. We find that Christ Jesus has taken from the hand of the Father a scroll in Revelation 5, and that scroll He is now getting ready to open and reveal to us the seven seals. As the seals are broken, they reveal to us the content of this scroll.
The first seal is in Revelation 6:1, “Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals,” we find the Lamb, Jesus Christ, breaking these seals, “and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, ‘Come.’” We recall the four living creatures from back in Revelation 4-5. Now one of those cries out with a very powerful voice and he says, “Come,” or come up here. It appears he is drawing John’s attention to what is going to happen here, and he calls him to come. And he says, “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.” So, as the first seal is opened, what we find is someone riding a white horse and he has a crown and a bow, like a bow and arrow, and he is also going out conquering and to conquer. What we seem to have here is a picture of one that looks much like Jesus Christ Himself. As a matter of fact, in Revelation 19, we find that the Lord comes on a white horse. So, at first it seems like this is a picture of Christ coming Himself, but when we look at it closely, we find that is not the case. We find that in Revelation 19 the Lord conquers, but that is at the end of the Tribulation, at the end, seven years from this point in time in Revelation 6. This verse is at the very beginning of the Tribulation. So, if it is not Christ then who is it? We have a suspicion here by reading Revelation 6:2 that this is a picture not of Christ Himself, but of one who is imitating Christ. One that we normally call the antichrist. Antimeaning either in substitution for or against. He is always opposing the Lord, and always imitating the Lord. Further, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 talks about what the antichrist will do when he comes which helps us to make a decision about who this is in this verse. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 says, “that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” So, we have a picture here of the antichrist. As a matter of fact, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, is all about the coming of this one who is called a man of lawlessness here. The one who opposes Christ. The one who sets himself up in the temple as being God and wanting to be worshiped by God. He is empowered by God. His major weapon is not necessarily warfare or violence, it is deception. In 2 Thessalonians 2:10 it says, “with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish.” His major weapon is to deceive people. So, he comes on the scene, according to 2 Thessalonians, and he deceives those who do not know Christ, and they follow him. As a matter of fact, it appears, many worship him. So, he is a powerful deceiver . . .
