34. The Rider on the White Horse
In Revelation 19, we meet the Rider on the White Horse, who “treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty.” He appears at the end of Revelation 14, in the hour of reaping the harvest, of cleansing the Holy City.
The Rider on the White Horse first appeared in Revelation 1. The Spirit of Christ had “eyes aflame with fire”Rev 1:14 and the “sound of many waters.”Rev 1:15 A “sharp sword went from His mouth,”Rev 1:16 which is the Word of God.Eph 6:17
The Rider on the White Horse will strike down the Gentiles using the Word of God. He is called “Faithful and True.”Rev 19:11 “In righteousness He judges and wages war.”Rev 19:11 “He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.”Rev 19:12 “He treads the winepress of God’s wrath alone,” as we read in Isa 63:3: “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me.”
The Rider on the White Horse is the end-time Sanctified Church. He has “a robe dipped in blood,”Rev 19:13 baptized in the blood of Christ. Revelation 19, like every passage that describes the end-time Sanctified Church, begins with a description of the evidence of the holy spirit. In verse 6, we hear “the sound of many waters.” This is the sound of the end-time Church that was first described in Ezekiel 1 and 43.
He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
Revelation 19:12
Isaiah said, “The Lord has a strong and mighty one … who will bring down the drunkards of Ephraim who are overcome with wineIsa 28:2-3…. With a people of stammering lips and another tongue, He will speak to this people.”Isa 28:11 The apostle Paul explained these stammering lips as “speaking in tongues.”1 Cor 14:21 The “drunkards of Ephraim” represent those who were made drunk by the wine of the great harlot.
Isaiah described the correction of the “drunkards of Ephraim,” saying, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, here a little — that they might go and fall backward and be broken.”Isa 28:13
35. The Fourth Trumpet
Dan 8:14, Rev 8:12, Rev 14:6-20, Rev 16:1-11
Daniel said that “after 2,300 days the sanctuary will be cleansed.”Dan 8:14 The fourth trumpet completes this cleansing.
When the fourth angel sounds, a third of the sun and moon and stars are darkened. These represent the Kingdom of Heaven, and this darkening represents the final cleansing of the lawless. Only the saints remain. The truth is fully restored, and the desolation of the Kingdom of Heaven has come to an end. This ends the war with the beast and the false prophet, as described in Dan 9:26: “Till the end of the war desolations are determined.” All those in the Kingdom of God are now filled with the holy spirit.
The fourth angel sounded and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck
Revelation 8:12
The fourth trumpet is the hour to reap the harvest described in Rev 14:14–20. The grapes are now fully ripe: “The fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”Rom 11:25-26 Here, the angels reveal themselves as manifestations of the Spirit of Christ, to signify “one body.” One “like the Son of Man”Rev 14:14 watches from the cloud. Another cries out “with a loud voice”Rev 14:15 as the Archangel. In the last verse of Revelation 14, the Spirit of Christ as the Rider on the White Horse treads on the winepress outside the city, “and blood came out from the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles.”Rev 14:20 His appearance at the end of Revelation 14 signifies that the saints are now in one body, as Paul said: “We were all baptized by one spirit into one body.”1 Cor 12:13 This one body represents the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer that we all become one.
There are two bowls of wrath that correspond to the fourth trumpet. In the fourth bowl of wrath, men are burned by the brightness of the sun.Rev 16:8-9 The apostle Paul told us that Christ would destroy the lawless one through the brightness of His coming.2 Thess 2:8, see also Matt 13:43 In the fifth bowl of wrath, the angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was completely darkened. The worshipers of the beast “gnawed their tongues because of pain.”Rev 16:10 Their effort to show themselves as the elect of God is completely futile.
36. The End of the Great Tribulation
The fourth trumpet ended the Great Tribulation described in Revelation 7 and Matthew 24.
Many have been confused by the expression “Great Tribulation.” We can easily understand its meaning in Revelation 7. Here, we meet two groups of the elect: those who come out of the Great Tribulation and those who are sealed by the spirit of God, called the 144,000. The “seal of God” was explained by the apostle Paul: “Do not grieve the holy spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”Eph 4:30 Those who came out of the Great Tribulation were unable to receive the holy spirit because they did not belong to a Church that obeyed the commandments of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Immediately from the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky.”
Matthew 24:29
We know that after the bishop of Rome exalted himself as high as Christ, the holy spirit was taken from the Church. Believers lost the seal of God and the assurance of salvation. Thus, Jesus said that when one “stands in the holy place as spoken of by Daniel the prophetMatt 24:15 … there will be a Great Tribulation, such as has not occurred from the beginning of the world.”Matt 24:21 The one who stood in the holy place was the bishop of Rome. After he changed the doctrines of Christ’s Church, the place of his sanctuary was cast to the ground. The spirit of Truth was taken away from it.
The tribulation of Satan is a threat to our salvation. Thus, Jesus said, “Unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved.”Matt 24:22
Jesus continued, however, saying, “Immediately from the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky.”Matt 24:29 Here, He described the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars in the fourth trumpet, which ends the Great Tribulation.
37. The Church of All Nations
Isa 2:2-4, Isa 4:1, Zech 8:1-23, Zech 14:8
The Church of the end days will be a great blessing to all the nations of the earth.
Through the prophet Isaiah, God told us that in the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house would be established at the top of the mountains, and all the nations will flow to it. He described the end-time Church with excitement: “On that day, seven women will take hold of one Man, saying, ‘We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by Your Name and take away our reproach.’”Isa 4:1
on that day, it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea
Zechariah 14:8
Zechariah said, “Ten men will grasp the garment of a Jew.”Zech 8:23 “I will save My people from the land of the east, and from the land of the westZech 8:7 …. on that day, it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur. And the Lord shall be king over all the Earth; on that day, it shall be the Lord one, and His Name one.”Zech 14:8-9
Zechariah said Jerusalem would be called the city of truth.Zech 8:2
Isaiah prophesied, “Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths…. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’”Isa 2:3-4
The apostle Paul told us that the last days would be a time of peace and safety1 Thess 5:3 before Satan is released to deceive the nations again.
38. He Shall Abolish All Rule
Ezek 39:17-18, Dan 4:17, Dan 7:27, 1 Cor 15:25
The Psalmist wrote, “Why do the Nations rage so furiously together … against the Lord and His anointed?”Psa 2:2 And to the Son, He said, “You shall rule them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them to pieces as a potter’s vessel.”Psa 2:9
Thus, Jesus said, “He who overcomes, to him I will give him authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.”Rev 2:26-27
An angel told King Nebuchadnezzar that he must become as a beast in the field until seven times passed over him, so that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men.Dan 4:17
He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
1 Corinthians 15:25
The prophet Daniel described the four beasts that persecuted the saints and exercised their power as they saw fit, but he said, “The greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.”Dan 7:27 By “given to the people” he meant democracy. After the Reformation, all the kingdoms of Europe that persecuted the saints became democratic states.
The apostle Paul said that the end would come “when He has abolished all rule and authority and power … for He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”1 Cor 15:25 This is dramatically illustrated in Revelation 19. The Rider on the White Horse has a name written on His thigh: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”Rev 19:16 The saints who fly in mid-heaven “eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men.”Rev 19:18 This signifies the eating of their authority, just as the ten kings of Europe ate the flesh of the great harlot.Rev 17:16 The great supper of the saints was first prophesied in Ezekiel 39. Ezekiel said the birds of the air would “eat the flesh of the mighty, drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams and lambs, of goats and bulls.”Ezek 39:18
Before Satan is released, the last enemies that will be destroyed are the beast and the false prophet, who will be thrown into the lake of fire.Rev 19:20
39. May They All Be One
When Jesus puts all His enemies under His feet,1 Cor 15:25 His prayer for the unity of God and man will be fulfilled.
Before going to the cross, Jesus prayed that all who believe in Him would be one, sanctified by the truth, “that the world may know that You sent Me.”John 17:21
Hosea called his son Jezreel, which means “God scatters,” referring to the multitude of denominations that now exist. God said, however, that the Earth would answer Jezreel with grain, new wine, and oilHos 2:22 — the communion with God in the bread and wine, and the gift of the holy spirit.
To Hosea, God said, “I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, all her appointed feastsHos 2:11 …. I will allure her, I will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfort to herHos 2:14 … she shall sing there as in the days of her youthHos 2:15 …. The earth will answer with grain, with new wine, and with oil. They will answer Jezreel.”Hos 2:22
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who would believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one
John 17:20-21
God promised to end the feast days and religious observances created by men. He wants true fellowship with man. He is looking for true worshipers, who will worship Him in spirit and truth.
Ezekiel prophesied that God would gather His people together under one Shepherd, “my servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.”Ezek 37:24-25 Jesus said, “I am the Good ShepherdJohn 10:11 …. There will be one flock and one shepherd.”John 10:16
We know that God will fulfill Jesus’ prayer because in the previous chapter of John, Jesus said to His disciples, “Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.”John 16:24 Sometimes, we must go through a spiritual battle before our prayers can be answered, but we know that God will answer our prayers when we pray according to His will. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask You to take them from the world but to deliver them from the evil oneJohn 17:15 …. May they all be one, just as You are in Me and I am in You.”John 17:21
