Who is the Rider of the White Horse in Revelation 6?

Who is the rider of the white horse in Revelation Chapter 6? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We would love to hear from you. And here's our phone number. It's 1-833-843-2633.

That's 833-THE-CORE. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. You can watch Adriel Live right now in the studio on our YouTube channel and send us a message that way. You can always send us an email as well.

Here's your email address for questions. It's questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to a voicemail from one of our listeners.

This is Michelle. It's from Hebrews 10 29. I really believe I have a heart of unbelief, and I really think I don't have any hope because I have been willfully sinning. And I was wondering if someone like me could still come to Jesus, and what verse can you show me that even though you may seem too far gone, that you can come back? I'm really scared because I willfully sinned, and I trampled on Jesus's blood.

And I really didn't know what that meant until I heard a message. And I know God hates sin, and I'm a sinner, and I don't know what to do. My heart wants Jesus, and the other part just wants to give up. Just go live in the world because you know he won't save you, and you're just destined for hell. So I was just asking for verses that show that maybe God's not done with you.

And please explain Hebrews 10 29. Thank you. Michelle, the first thing I want to do is pray for you. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we come before you right now, and we want to lift Michelle, our sister, up to you as she is wrestling, Lord, wrestling with the sense of your love, wrestling with hope, Lord God, that the blood of Jesus, your son, is sufficient even to cleanse her sins. And I pray, Lord God, that you would fill her with a heart of faith, that you would help her, Lord God, to see with the eyes of faith the grace, the goodness, the forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ. I pray that she would receive that for herself, Lord God, that it wouldn't be something foreign to her or something that she feels like doesn't apply to her, but that she would realize, gracious God, that your goodness, your love, your mercy is for all those who call upon the name of your son Jesus, and that as she calls upon the name of Jesus, that you do not cast her out, but that you welcome her and that you forgive her. And Lord, would you do that for her, we pray, and comfort her in Jesus' name.

Amen. Michelle, many people read Hebrews chapter 10 and are confused, are afraid, because you get to verse 26, and the author of the Hebrews says, Go on sinning deliberately. After receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, this is verse 29, do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the spirit of grace?

We know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I'm going to stop there in verse 31. First, you have to understand, Michelle, the context of the book of Hebrews. This was a book that was being written to a congregation, a group of Christians, who had professed faith in Christ, but were being tempted to go back to the old covenant system of worship.

That is, instead of relying on Jesus' once for all sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins, they were relying on their own works, their own works of righteousness, their own adherence to the law, the ceremonial law, the sacrifices of the old covenant. This is why, throughout the book of Hebrews, you have this continual refrain that Jesus is better. He's better than the old covenant priesthood. He's better than the old covenant sacrifices.

He's better than the angels. The author of the Hebrews is trying to get these people to understand that Jesus is the one that they need to cling to and hope in, because if they trust in anything else, there's a serious problem. For those who are turning from their sins and from their own self-righteousness and trusting in the once for all work of Jesus Christ, actually, this book is an immense comfort. But for those who are saying, I don't trust in Jesus' sacrifice, I'm going to get to God on my own through my own offerings, through my own sacrifices, through the old covenant, the types and shadows of the old covenant, which is, again, what these people were doing.

For those people, there's a serious warning. This isn't just addressed to Christians who are sinning deliberately. That is, I did something wrong, I knew it was sinful, and I did it anyway. That's not what is being addressed here. This is specifically talking about people who, having heard the gospel, are now turning from it and trusting in something other than Jesus, and that's why the author of the Hebrews says you're trampling the Son of God underfoot.

Well, what comfort is there, then? What verse can I give you? Well, just listen to what he says in the next verse, in verse 32. Writing to these people, who I think are in a worse condition than you, frankly, it sounds to me like you're saying, I've done something that I knew was sinful, I'm continuing to sin, but I'm conflicted with this. To these people who are being tempted to turn away from the gospel, he says in verse 32, recall the former days when you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

You had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward, for you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Even the author of the Hebrews holds out hope for these people, and the hope is not in them, not in their own righteousness, but in their confidence. Their confidence is in Jesus Christ, and he's saying don't throw that away. Don't turn away from Christ and from the gospel and begin trusting in something else.

Don't put confidence in yourself. Put your confidence in Christ and hold fast to Jesus, the anchor of your soul. So I would say to you, look, if you're trusting in Christ, if you're going to God saying, Lord, I battle with sin, I struggle with sin, I even do the things that I don't want to do at times. Romans chapter 7, Paul talks about this, and you're broken and you're afraid and you're saying, God, have mercy upon me, a sinner. I believe when you go to the Lord in faith, he's merciful to you.

I know that he is, and you can cling to that, to the promise of his word and receive his forgiveness. One of the things that Satan wants to do, I think, in our lives is get us to believe that our sin is too much for God. That's a lie, that maybe the Lord is done with me, he's through with me for whatever reason. And people who think that way, they're despairing, they're afraid, they're terrified, they feel like, just as you said, Michelle, well, maybe I should just turn away altogether and live in sin if God is just going to reject me.

But that's a lie from Satan, that's not true. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for you to forgive all of your sins because it's God's grace, God's mercy. You're called to lay hold of it by faith, to accept that, to realize that no matter how great your sin is, your Savior Jesus is greater, Michelle. And he calls you to receive his goodness, his grace, his mercy, and he gives it to you freely. And so may God comfort you with those words, and may you be at peace, sister, in the Gospel, in what Jesus has done for you. God bless. What powerful words of assurance.

Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We have a brand new Bible study we want to tell you about. This is really cool because it looks at the parables of Jesus. Yeah, the Bible study is called The Parables of King Jesus. It's a 10-week study, and so a really great resource if you want to learn about the parables on your own, or if you're just interested in digging into the teachings of Jesus.

Maybe this summer, you know, make that a goal of yours. Get a hold of this resource, and it's not just a resource that you can go through on your own. I mean, one of the things that we love about these studies is they're great for groups as well, and so if your church is looking for a new study to go through in small groups or something like that, then get a hold of this resource. Again, it's called The Parables of King Jesus. You can get a copy over at corechristianity.com, and it's yours for a donation of $20 or more. Love to get that in your hands this summer, and as Adriel said, we actually would love to get this to you if you've got a small group or a Sunday school class that is looking for some curriculum to go through.

This would be a great thing to start on this fall. Again, it's called The Parables of King Jesus, and you can find it by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Well, we do receive voicemails here, and you can call us 24 hours a day with your question and leave us a voicemail at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

Here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Pat. My question is, in the book of Revelation, chapter 6, verse 2, is a white horse, and he who sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. Now, some of the translations say that that is the Antichrist, and others say that is Jesus. Which is it, since the other three horses represent war and famine and death?

Who is the rider on that white horse? And chapter 6, verse 2. Thank you. Bye-bye. Yes.

Pat, thank you for that question. I just started preaching through the book of Revelation for our church, and I'm not at chapter 6 yet, so my mind might change in the next several months. But right now where I'm at is I actually think that this is an Antichrist figure or something representative of evil. Now, one of the reasons that people will suggest, well, this is Jesus, is because of the fact that this rider is on a white horse. And later in the book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 19, you have Jesus, the word of God, described as riding on a white horse, judging, and making war.

And so there's that similarity there. And so, you know, it's not that that interpretation is baseless, that there's nothing to support it. Here, in the beginning of verse 1 of chapter 6, it says, I watched when the Lamb, and the Lamb is Jesus, right? I mean, throughout the book of Revelation, you saw that earlier in chapter 5. I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and so Jesus is the one who's releasing these riders, who are bringing about judgment.

In particular, judgment against those who persecute the saints, those who came against the church. Opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a loud voice like thunder, come. And I looked and behold a white horse, and its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer. Well, in chapter 13, the beast has the ability to conquer, in particular the saints. The evil one is given the opportunity and ability to persecute the saints. Ultimately, right, God is the one who's in control, and certainly Jesus is the one who is opening the seals here. And so we rest in the fact that the Lord is in control. This is one of the things that we do see throughout the book of Revelation, is despite the great tribulation and persecution and suffering that the church is experiencing, that God is the one who is still seated on his throne, who's in control. He is the first and the last, Jesus is the first and the last, so the people don't have to be afraid, we don't have to fear. But here I do think that this first rider is not to be identified with Christ, but is to be identified with this evil figure. And of course, the following riders also seem to be identified with this sort of negative figure, and so some people say, well, why then the white horse? Well, remember, and this is something we see throughout the book of Revelation as well, that the evil one wants to imitate Jesus, wants to in some sense mimic him, that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

So that very well could be why there's this similarity, this correlation, it just emphasizes the deceptive nature of the evil one. And so it's for those reasons that I think, well, probably not Jesus there on the white horse in Revelation chapter six. But again, as I mentioned, there are biblical reasons that people will say that we think it is Jesus there, and so I think the big thing for us to take away is one, the fact that Jesus is the one who's absolutely in control.

Very beginning of chapter six, he's the one that opens the seals, he's the one who's guiding history and ultimately guarding and protecting his people, bringing them to himself even through the suffering that they experience. And so thank you for that question, and I love to see that you're digging into the book of Revelation. By the way, we have a great Bible study on the book of Revelation as well, we'd love to tell you about that. You can find out more by going to corechristianity.com forward slash studies.

It's just an awesome Bible study that will help you understand that book, which can be a little bit confusing at times. Well, our phone lines are open and we're taking calls for the next eight minutes or so if you have a question for Pastor Adriel about the Bible or the Christian life, we'd love to hear from you. And in fact, we're going to be recording a second core Christianity program today, so we'll be taking calls for the next thirty five minutes or so. You can call us. Here are the phone numbers.

Jot this down. It's 833-THE-CORE, 833-THE-CORE or 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Cynthia in St. Louis, Missouri. Cynthia, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Yes, thank you for taking my call. I am of Native American descent, and I wanted to know, because the original Native Americans did not have Christianity, and they believed in the God of the universe, will their spirits be in heaven? Cynthia, thank you for that question.

Very, very thoughtful question. There are a few passages of scripture that I think about. One is in Acts, chapter 14, in verse 16.

This is Paul and Barnabas. In verse 16, it says, in past generations, God allowed all nations to walk in their own ways, yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. In other words, God was giving to the nations of the world, even prior to the coming of Christ, those that hadn't heard the Gospel, this common grace satisfying them with fruitful seasons, with food and with gladness. He was giving them this witness, and then just a couple chapters later, in Acts, chapter 17, as Paul is speaking in the Iriapagus, he says in verse 24, The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods in the boundaries of their dwelling, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, for we are indeed God's offspring. And then Paul goes on to say this, Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. Of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. So here Paul seems to say, look, God overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he's calling everyone everywhere to repentance through Jesus Christ.

There's no excuse. And the reality is, even with just the creation that we see, in one sense there's no excuse. Even if you don't hear the gospel, there are people who don't ever hear the gospel, who only have the testimony of creation and of God's common grace, his goodness to mankind through those seasons and foods and good gifts that God gives, as was said there in Acts chapter 14. And this is something that the apostle Paul talks about in Romans chapter 1, where he talks about how the created order reveals to us God as the sovereign Lord, as the creator of all things. The problem, Cynthia, is human sin. We take what God has revealed about himself, that he is the sovereign Lord of creation, and we suppress that truth in unrighteousness, and we turn away from the Lord, and we worship the things that we create with our own hands, idolatry.

So a couple of things. What I would say is those prior to Christ who never heard the gospel, they do have the testimony of God's creation, and that's enough to hold each and every one of us accountable. Two, I would say we're judged more severely or less severely on the basis of what we know, on the light that we have received, if you will, and I think that this is a principle that we see throughout the Bible. And so for those who don't have the clear proclamation of the gospel, who are just sort of feeling their way towards the truth, as Paul talked about there in Acts chapter 17, they're going to be judged justly by God, just like everyone else. But I think that there's grace and mercy and that in one sense the judgment for people who hear the truth all the time and reject it and fight against it is going to be far more severe than it is for others, those who never heard it.

And so we don't understand entirely how this is all going to work out. We know that only those who are coming to God through Christ can be saved, but we do know that God is merciful and that God is just. And so however God parses this out, it's going to be just and it's going to be good and he's going to receive praise and glory for what he's done because everything that he does is good and true and right. And so those are a few of the passages that I would point you to. Acts 14, Acts 17, Romans chapter 1. And in summary what those show is one, God did not leave himself without a witness throughout the world. Two, God basically is calling all people to himself, that they might feel their way to him, if you will. And three, that we're all judged accountable on the basis of even the light of nature, we might say, what we see in the created order and yet with that God is calling us to embrace the gospel as well through preachers, through teachers, through his special revelation.

And so Cynthia, may God bless you and thank you for that question. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. A reminder, we have this brand new Bible study that we are offering today. It's called the parables of King Jesus. It's just so good and we'd love to get that in your hands sometime this summer to go through individually or maybe in a small group from your church. You can find out more by going to our website corechristianity.com forward slash studies.

Again, corechristianity.com forward slash studies. Let's go to Diane calling in from St. Charles, Missouri. Diane, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi, thank you for taking my call. I was wondering, did Israel and Israelites get their name from Jacob when God changed his name to Israel?

Yeah, I would say yes. Thank you for that question. Yeah, and when did that happen? That happened in Genesis chapter 32 where you have Jacob, he's sort of this baptismal picture. He crosses the waters of the J book and wrestles with God and God says to him in verse 28, then he said, your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.

So there's this transformation that takes place. The children of Israel receive their name from this work of God, from this new identity that God has bestowed upon the patriarch and so we are in one sense the beneficiaries of that too because by faith we're the children of Abraham. We're a part of Israel, if you will, the people of God through Jesus Christ. This is something the Apostle Paul brings out in the book of Romans in Romans chapters 9 through 11.

But yeah, I would say that the answer to your question is yes, they did get their name from the patriarch Jacob and from the changing of his name to Israel. We've talked about this before, Adriel, the fact that Jacob was the deceiver until he wrestled with God and had that change of heart and that gives I guess hope for all of us who maybe have a not so great past and that God offers that redemption. Yeah, one of the things that's amazing struck me while I was preaching through the book of Genesis was just how messed up Jacob is and yet God chooses him and uses him. Prior to this in Genesis 32, he's exhibiting fear, cowardice and then he has this experience with God that makes him courageous and bold and God transforms him. That change of heart is something that God did. It was a work of the Holy Spirit and so as you say, Bill, this gives us all hope that the Lord can work in our lives despite our past, despite our failures, that he's sufficient. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.