Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 5:2

"And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" — Revelation 5:2 (ASV)

The identification of the first rider seated on a white horse has given interpreters great difficulty. The main difficulty is whether the rider on the white horse represents Christ and the victory of the gospel or the Antichrist and the forces of evil. In favor of the first identification is the striking similarity of this rider to the portrayal of Christ in 19:11–16, the symbolism of white throughout Revelation always being associated with righteousness and Christ (e.g., 1:14; 2:17; 3:4–5, 18; 4:4; et al.), and the references in the Olivet Discourse to the preaching of the gospel throughout the world before the end.

Support for the identification of the white horse with the Antichrist and his forces is the parallelism with the other three horses, which are instruments of judgment. The references in 19:11–16 to the rider on the white horse as “Faithful and True” and as one who judges and makes war with justice stands in contrast to the rider in 6:2, who is not faithful or true and who wages war for unjust conquest. Moreover, the Lamb opens the seals and would not be one of the riders, nor would it be proper to have an angelic being call forth Christ. Again, a “bow” would most naturally be connected with the enemy of God’s people (Ezekiel 39:3). Finally, Jesus himself shows that the first events mentioned are the rise of “false Christs and false prophets” (Matthew 24:24).

It must be admitted that the problem of the identity of the rider on the white horse may be solved either way. The evidence, however, seems to favor slightly the second solution, which identifies the white horse with the Antichrist and his forces that seek to conquer the followers of Christ. John sensed that these persecutions were already present in his day and that they would culminate in a final, more severe form (Revelation 13:7).

Each of the first four seals, then, represents conflict directed at Christians to test them and to sift out false disciples (v.10). This interpretation need not necessarily eliminate the fact that the seals may also refer to judgments on humankind in general. Yet since the fifth seal stresses the cry of the martyred Christians, probably the thought of Christian persecution belongs also in the first four seals. Each of them unleashes events that separate false belief from true. The destruction of Jerusalem is a case in point (Lk 21:20ff.). The white horse goes forth to conquer, and as he does so, judgment falls on the unbelief of Israel , while at the same time there is a testing of believers to separate the chaff from the wheat (cf. Lk 21:12-19).

The “bow” suggests forces opposed to Christians (cf. Gog in Eze 39:3). A “crown” (GK 5109) refers to victorious conquest (cf. Revelation 19:12). “He was given” is the formula for the sovereign permission to carry out acts that, from a human viewpoint, seem contrary to God’s character but nevertheless accomplish his will (cf. 13:5, 7, 15). Thus the rider on the white horse may also point to the attacks of the false Jews (2:9; 3:9) and to the affront to Christians from pagan religionists and the persecutions from Rome, as well as to all future, limited victories over the church by Satan (cf. 2:13; 12:17).

While v.2 would be sobering for first-century believers, at the same time it would encourage them, provided they understood that the Lamb had permitted their testing and suffering. So they could trust that in the midst of seeming defeat from their enemies, he would ultimately be the victor (17:14).

The “four angels” at “the four corners of the earth” hold “the four winds of the earth” from blowing on the earth until the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads. The expression “the four corners of the earth” was used in antiquity among the Near-Eastern nations much as we use “the four points of the compass.” Since nowhere in Revelation do we read of the four winds actually blowing, they may be taken as representing the earthly catastrophes that occur under the trumpets and bowls.

Another angel comes from the “east” (possibly from Jerusalem, to emphasize its mission of salvation?) and calls to the four others not to release their destruction until the servants of God have a “seal” (GK 5382) on their foreheads.

Such a seal indicates ownership by God and the Lamb (14:1). It also offers protection or security for the bearers (cf. 9:4, where the demonic forces are told to harm “only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads”).

We can better understand the “seal” if we examine what John sees regarding the “mark” (GK 5916) of the beast (13:16–17). Those who have the mark are not only identified as beast worshipers but they have become the objects of God’s irreversible wrath (14:9, 11). This implies, by contrast, that those who have “the seal of God” are God worshipers and are the objects of his abiding grace. In 16:2, the bowl of God’s wrath seems directed exclusively toward those who have the mark of the beast, thus excluding those with the seal of God (cf. 16:6). Furthermore, those having the mark of the beast are deluded by the beast (19:20), whereas the sealed of God are apparently not deceived. Finally, a martyred group is seen just prior to their resurrection and thousand-year reign with Christ and are described as not having the mark of the beast or worshiping him (20:4).

In the light of these passages, we may say that the “sealed” are the people of God and that their sealing must be related to their salvation (cf. Paul’s use of “sealed” in 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30). Elsewhere, the sealed are described as those “who had been redeemed from the earth” (14:3–4; cf. Romans 8:23; James 1:18). In fact, “baptism” was considered a “seal” of salvation in the early church. While the seal may not protect the sealed against harm inflicted by human agency (13:7; 20:4), they are protected from the divine plagues (16:2). As for OT background, Ezekiel 9:4–7 seems primary. In this passage, a divine messenger with stylus in hand was to go through the apostate Jerusalem of Ezekiel’s day and put a mark upon the foreheads of those who deplored the faithless idolatry of the Israelites. Those so marked were the faithful and true servants of God; they would be spared the divine slaughtering of the rebellious inhabitants of the city.

The sealing language would have the effect of assuring God’s people of his special concern and plan for them. Even when facing persecution and martyrdom at the hand of the beast, they can be certain that no plague from God will touch them but that they will be in his presence forever because they are his very own possession (cf. 3:10). Therefore, the seal on the forehead is a divine mark of ownership, the presence of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30). Consequently, those thus sealed must be Christians and not unconverted Jews or Gentiles.

A mighty angel shouts out a challenge for anyone to come forth who is “worthy” (GK 545) to open the great scroll and its seals. All creation in heaven and earth and under the earth stood motionless and speechless. No one had the authority and virtue for such a task. If the scroll contains both the revelation and the carrying out of the final drama of history, then John’s despair can be appreciated. In this vision, the execution of events on earth is ascribed to the Lamb. As the seals are broken and the roll opened, salvation history unfolds until history culminates in the kingdom reign of the Messiah over the whole earth. History, then, has its center in Jesus Christ and its goal in his triumphant reign over all the powers of the world.