‘And I saw Heaven opened and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war in righteousness. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written which no one knows but himself. And he is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and his name is called The Word of God.'
In Revelation 4:1 a door was opened in Heaven for John to have access to heavenly things but now the Heaven itself is opened and the world sees the glory of Christ. In the words of Revelation 1:7, ‘behold He comes with the clouds and every eye will see Him'.
Jesus elsewhere connects this moment with the rapture of the people of God, ‘they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other' (Matthew 24:30-31). They are transformed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). They meet the Lord ‘in the air' (1 Thessalonians 4:17). And He then proceeds onward to judge the world. The judgment of the nations in Matthew 25:31-46 pictures this in another way. All such descriptions are using earthly illustrations to depict heavenly realities, the taking of His people to be with Himself and the final judgment of mankind and of Satan.
‘A white horse.' Whiteness represents righteousness. The horse here is in contrast with the white horse of Revelation 6:2 where it represented a false profession of righteousness and messiahship by the one who went out. This rider has a sharp two-edged sword coming from His mouth, that rider had a bow, this rider has many diadems, that one had a single crown, this rider's aim is to judge and fight wickedness, He ‘makes war' in righteousness, that rider's aim was only to conquer. This is the true Messiah, that one represented the false. The only thing in common is the white horse.
‘Called faithful and true.' The combination, taken from Revelation 3:14 (which see - compare Revelation 1:5 for faithful and Revelation 3:7 for true), emphasises truth against falsehood and reliability against unfaithfulness. He is the supreme One in whose mouth is no lie (Revelation 14:5), the One Who can be fully trusted both for rightness of teaching and honesty of purpose. He is the truth (John 14:6), very much in contrast with the ‘father of lies' (John 8:11). In both the earlier references to ‘faithful' it connects with ‘witness' and we must therefore see here also that He Who comes was the One Who Himself suffered unto death, the faithful Witness.
‘He judges and makes war in righteousness.' Again we have the contrast with others who ‘make war' but in their case it was not in righteousness. He is a new visible authority on the scene of earth and the contrast of what He is, is emphatically brought out. This is expanded in v. 15 where it is noted that He fights with a sharp sword that comes from His mouth (compare Revelation 1:16). He does not fight with weapons but with His eyes of fire and with His word of power, for none can resist Him. This brings out again that the warfare which is such a common feature of Revelation is largely a war of ‘words', of truth against falsehood, of right against wrong, although those whose power is less, often have to enforce them by physical means.
‘His eyes are as a flame of fire' (compare Revelation 1:14; Revelation 2:18). Fire reveals the ‘otherness' and holiness of God (Exodus 19:18; Exodus 24:17; Ezekiel 1:27; Hebrews 12:29), it reveals the purity and effectiveness of His judgments (Deuteronomy 4:24; Isaiah 66:15-16; 1 Corinthians 3:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Hebrews 12:29), it tests for and removes impurities (Zechariah 13:9). His fire burns up His adversaries in the context of righteousness and justice (Psalms 97:3). So He is the Holy One, tearing away the refuge of lies (Isaiah 28:17), revealing falsehood, searching the heart and mind, and in the end, where He cannot save, judging and destroying.
‘And on his head are many diadems.' He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16) and thus His crowns are numberless. This contrasts with the seven heads and the ten horns of Satan whose power and jurisdiction is limited. It contrasts even more with earthly rulers who have even fewer crowns and are even more limited.
‘And he has a name written which no one knows but himself.' We can compare the secret name given to the overcomer (Revelation 2:17) and His new name (Revelation 3:12). The ‘name' in the Old Testament revealed the personality and/or importance of the bearer. Thus the fact that He has an unrevealed name declares that He is not yet fully known because such knowledge awaits the future. He has yet more wonders in store for His people. It is the prerogative of the overcomer that he will come to know that new name, to fully know Christ in all the wonder of His being. It may, however, be that we are to see that ‘hidden' name as ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords', the name written on His clothes and on His thigh (Revelation 19:16), previously hidden but now revealed in all its fullness at His coming (compare Philippians 2:11).
‘And he is clothed in a garment dipped (some authorities have ‘sprinkled') in blood.' In Isaiah 63, when God carries out His judgment on Edom He appears as a figure ‘glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength' (Isaiah 63:1). He is One Who is pictured as having trodden the winepress of His wrath with the result that His clothes are sprinkled with men's blood (Isaiah 63:3). Thus the picture here is primarily one of judgment. His clothes are blood sprinkled because He is coming as the judge, carrying out the judgments of God.
Yet His clothes appear to have been ‘dipped in blood' even before He comes, and He has come directly from Heaven. There is no suggestion anywhere of previous conflict. And the only blood in Heaven is that of the slain Lamb. This would therefore suggest that we are to see here One Who Himself has been in the winepress of God's wrath as He bore the sins of others. He is the Lamb as it had been slain (Revelation 5:6), with blood sprinkled on its fleece. He Who carries out the judgments of God has Himself experienced that judgment, for He has borne it on behalf of the redeemed. We can compare how the coat of Joseph was dipped in blood to signify his death (in that case falsely) (Genesis 37:31). Thus the blood speaks both of redemption and of judgment.
‘And His name is called the Word of God.' This is one of John's favourite names for Christ. He is the Word Who was with God before time began, and indeed was Himself of the nature of Godhood (John 1:1); He is the Word through Whom God created the world (John 1:3 compare Hebrews 1:1-3); He is the Word as the revelation of God to man and giver of life (John 1:14; 1 John 1:1). But He is also the Word made flesh (John 1:14). Now He comes as God's Word in judgment. By Him, the perfect man, will all men be tested and measured, and by Him those who rejected Him as the Word will be condemned. He comes not only as the Creator God, and the God of revelation and judgment, but also as perfect Man, as God's revelation of Himself to man.