"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True.... And His name is called The Word of God." (Revelation 19:11,13)

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The White Horse

By Rev. David R. Simons

Can you picture in your mind a prancing white stallion whose coat glistens in the sunlight? Can you see him carrying on his back the most important rider in the universe?

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.... He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.... And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:11-13, 16).

Perhaps you have already guessed that the beautiful white horse with his powerful rider is not the kind of horse and rider that we would see in the natural world. So you have come to the conclusion that something else, some other kind of horse is meant in the passage from Revelation.

This is the horse and rider that John saw on the Isle of Patmos when his spiritual eyes were opened to see into the spiritual world. If you were in the spiritual world, and your spiritual eyes were opened to the light of heaven, you, too, might see this horse and know exactly what you were seeing. For, we are told, a white horse means the Spiritual Sense of the Word, which glistens in the light of the Spiritual Sun. The Rider is the Lord Himself, whose name is KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

What if I said that we really cannot celebrate New Church Day—the Nineteenth of June—unless we see this white horse and learn to know who the majestic rider is, and what He calls Himself?

Here on earth you can see this special horse in a book of the Heavenly Doctrine called The White Horse. If I were to show you this book you might say, “But that’s a book and not a horse. How can anyone ride a book?” You would be right; it is a book and not a natural animal. However, if you saw it spiritually, you would see it as a beautiful white horse.

Did you ever consider that the things a book can do for our minds a horse can do for us in the physical world? Think about this and you will understand why John saw a white horse, and why a book which tells us about the Spiritual Sense of the Word is called The White Horse. As a horse is spirited, lively, and beautiful, so a book can inspire us to stimulating thoughts and beautiful feelings or loves. As a horse carries his rider swiftly from one place to another, so a book can carry us to new ideas. Once men used to fight from horseback, and books—especially those given to us by the Lord—provide us with truths from which to fight what is evil and false. A horse can jump over obstacles and hurdles. And so the truth carries us over walls or bars, over false ideas that would stop our spiritual progress. A horse can carry us great distances, just as a book revealed by the Lord can carry us all the way to heaven. And, what’s more, when we study this book, when we learn to think from it and live from it, then the Lord can ride into our minds to be for us the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

If we think about what horses do for us and what they mean spiritually we can understand why Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger—a feeding place for horses. In ancient times the kings of Judah rode triumphantly into the capital city on an ass or donkey—a close relative of the horse. So Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king riding on a colt, the foal of an ass. At His Second Coming the Lord chose to come riding on a white horse, on the Spiritual Sense of the Word. And He presented Himself, His precious truth, in a book called The White Horse. This is so that all people who read, study, and think about Him from His revelation will come to see, with greater and greater clarity, that “The Lord God Jesus Christ Reigns, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

© 2003 General Church of the New Jerusalem.

This is chapter 10 from the book “Take a Deep Breath” an illustrated book for young adults dealing with a variety of religious topics. It is available from the General Church Office of Education for $. For more information call 215-914-4949 or email oed@newchurch.edu.

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