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Lesson 34 Hope of Israel Ministries BIBLE Correspondence Course 3




The White Horse of Revelation 6:2



LESSON 34

Guesses of Men


In a booklet published by the Worldwide
Church of God in 1976, entitled The White
Horse: False Religion and authored by George
Ritter, the following statement is made --
“The white horseman in Revelation 6...is
the harbinger of a series of calamitous events
that culminate in the prophesied Great Trib-
ulation....From all indications...the white horse
would correspond to the COUNTERFEIT
CHRISTS and RELIGIOUS DECEPTION first
mentioned in the Olivet prophecy....John’s
horseman, after having given the world a slick
religious feint, ‘went out conquering and to
conquer.’ In the past...the first horseman of
FALSE RELIGION had plenty of outside help.
Much of it came from a well-oiled combination
of a false church aligned with an autocratic
state” (pp. 53-54).
In The Book of Revelation Unveiled at Some believe the white horse of Revelation 6
Last by Herbert W. Armstrong, a similar represents a false Messiah promulgating false
interpretation is promulgated: religion.
“The first [seal] was a white horse. Many
men, using human interpretation, have looked Revelation, comes up with a different inter-
over into the 19th chapter of Revelation, where pretation for the white horse of Revelation 6:
we find the description of the glorious return of “The fact that horses are prominent in the
Christ [sic] pictured as coming on a white horse, first four seals clearly designates that the
and have made the great error of deciding that GOVERNMENT of this period [Roman] relies
this first seal, then, since it is a white horse, on the power and might of aggressive military
pictures the second coming of Christ. But strength to carry on and rule. The different colors
Christ’s own revealing of the meaning is that [of the horses] denote the TYPE OF GOVERN-
THIS WHITE HORSE OF THE FIRST SEAL MENT and KIND OF RULE exercised over the
PICTURES EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE -- Empire....these horses, with their four riders, had
THOSE PREACHING A FALSE CHRIST, a definite historical fulfillment in the ACTIV-
different from the Christ of the New Testament! ITIES OF IMPERIAL ROME....The white horse
It refers to this GREAT DECEPTION that has signifies justice and designates a period, while
descended like a dark cloud to cover the earth under military authority, yet one in which the
and hide from it the glorious truth of God!” (pp. crowned rider would be an EMPEROR and rule
22-23). with magnanimity. The fact that he carried a bow
indicates that those against whom he fought in
Howard B. Rand, in his book Study in



The White Horse of Revelation 6:2
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