Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. (NASB95) The “white horse rider” is a reference to Christ and is distinguished from the white horse rider in Revelation 6:2, which refers to Antichrist coming as a peacemaker during the first half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
In the ancient world, the horse was an animal used for warfare, thus here it speaks of Christ making war against His enemies. During His First Advent, He came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, which was an animal that symbolized peace, which He was offering to the nation of Israel, which they rejected when they crucified Him. The fact that Christ is on a white horse is alluding to the ancient Roman Triumph.
Revelation 19:11-13 presents a twelve-fold description of Jesus Christ when He appears at His Second Advent. The first description is that He is “faithful and true.” Our Lord is described as “faithful,” which means that He can always be counted on to keep His promises unlike rulers throughout human history who made promises they could not or did not fulfill. He is described as “true” meaning that He is the “real deal,” the perfect ruler for this world who always tells the truth because as to His divine nature, He is truth.
The second description “in righteousness He judges and wages war” means that every enemy of God on the earth is about to be judged and executed and removed from the earth and this is in accordance with His perfect righteousness. This stands in stark contrast to Christ’s “First Advent,” when He came full of grace and truth, not to judge but to bear the penalty of sin, to be judged for our sin. However, at His “Second Advent” He comes as Judge.
Revelation 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. (NASB95) The third description of our Lord is that His “eyes are a flame of fire,” which is symbolic language for the fact that at His Second Advent, He will come to judge those on the earth in rebellion against God and to put down all unrighteousness.
The fourth description of Christ is that “on His head are many diadems,” which symbolizes Christ’s right to rule as absolute, sole ruler of planet earth.
The fifth description of our Lord is that “He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.”
The word “name” refers to our Lord’s character. Jesus Christ is unique as the God-Man in that He is the only member of the Trinity with a human nature and He is the only member of the human race who has a divine nature as God, thus no one knows His name except Himself.
