"I saw the heaven opened, and behold a White Horse".

THE Commander-in-Chief, the real Commander of the Faithful, the Captain, who leads many sons to glory, was seen by John, sitting upon a white horse in the opened heaven; and all his "called, and chosen, and faithful", hosts, sitting upon white horses likewise. They are themselves the heaven that rejoices over the fall of the Great Harlot; the horses they ride upon are therefore Apocalyptically regarded as in the heaven also.

The white horse upon which the Commander of the Hosts of the heaven rides, is not representative of that symbolized by the white horse of ch. 6:2. This is the Roman Horse of the first seal period. The white horse of the scene before us, is the Hebrew Horse; and all the other horses upon which the faithful hosts who follow him sit, are horses of the same race. A clue to the signification of the horse in this place is found in Zech. 10:3, where the Spirit saith, "Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds (kings of the earth), and I punished the goats;" and the exposition given, showing how and when they were punished, is added in the words, "for YAHWEH Tz'vaoth hath visited his flock the House of Judah, and hath made them his GOODLY HORSE in the battle. And they shall be as mighty ones who tread down as in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because Yahweh is with them," "and shall be seen over them" (ch. 9:14). The House of Judah will then be not only the horse to be ridden, but it will be made a goodly horse, before YAHWEH Tz'vaoth will condescend to ride them in his wars. Zechariah tells us, that "He will save the tents of Judah first" (ch. 12:7): He will save them from Gog; and He will save them from their sins, which is an essential part of his mission. When He hath delivered Jerusalem, The governors of Judah will say heartily, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in YAHWEH Tz'vaoth their Elohim the 144,000 (ch. 12:5). They will have looked upon him whom their ancestors pierced, and repented (v.10); and so find access to the fountain opened to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness (ch. 13:1). Thus they will become nationally white, or "goodly," being "washed in the blood of the Lamb" (Apoc. 7:14). They are by this process grafted into their own olive, and become fit for the master's use, as soldiers of the rank and file in the holy and righteous war.

When Habakkuk saw "Eloahh come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran," he had a glimpse of the military armament of Apoc. 19. He inquires in ch. 3:8 saying, "Was YAHWEH displeased against the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers? Was thy wrath against the sea that thou didst ride upon thy horses, thy vehicles of salvation? Thou didst march through the sea with thine horses, through the mire of great waters" (verse 15). The time of this movement against the nations he terms "the Day of Trouble", and prays that he may rest in it; and adds concerning it, "when he cometh up against the people, he will cut them in pieces with his troops".

Moses also, in Deut. 33:26, alludes to the same military display of power, saying, "there is none like the AlL of Yeshurun riding the heavens in thy help, and in his majesty the clouds. A refuge is the Elohim of old, and underneath the powers of Olahm; and He shall thrust out the enemy; and shall say, Destroy!"

Here then we have a complete army exhibited for the conquest of the nations, and the salvation of the Twelve Tribes of Israel  the Lord Jesus Christ the Commander; "the called, chosen, and faithful" his brethren and companions, filling all the offices of the army; and the men of the Hebrew race the goodly soldiery of the kingdom. The heavenly hosts, or immortal saints, are "the heavens" ridden by the Ail of Yeshurun; while these heavens ride upon their goodly Hebrew horses to the destruction of all the governments of the world. An armament like this, in which every soldier of the ranks shall be able to "chase a thousand, and to put ten thousand to flight" (Deut. 32:30; Lev. 26:8) - an army of Samsons   cannot but be invincible. It will be just the force the necessities of the situation demand- These soldiers of the king of Israel will not only be the goodly horses ridden by the Saints, but they will be the long, or far reaching, sword of their Commander, and his bow and arrow, battle axe, and new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. "I declare," saith the Spirit, "that I will render double to thee; when I have bent Judah for me, and filled the (Judah) bow with (the) Ephraim (arrow), and raised up thy sons, 0 Zion, against thy sons, 0 Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man. And YAHWEH shall be seen over and his arrow (Ephriam) shall go forth as lightning and  Adonai YAHWEH shall blow the trumpet, and his arrow (Ephraim) shall go forth as the lightning: and whirlwinds of Teman" (Zech. 9:13). And in Isa. 41:14, "Fear not thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel, I will help thee, saith YAHWEH, and thy redeemer the Holy One of Israel. Behold I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in YAHWEH, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel". Such is the means employed for the fulfillment of Apoc. 16:20,21, by which we are informed, that "every island fled away, and the mountains were not found;" and that "there fell upon men a great hail out of the heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent" a plague of meteoric stones from the Hebrew hosts of the New Heaven that will be "exceeding great".