_Heaven_ is _open_, and our attention is first of all directed to a
rider _upon a white horse_. The description given of this rider leaves
no doubt as to who He is. The "whiteness" of the horse is the emblem
of a purity that can be connected with the kingdom of God alone. The
description of the Rider--_Faithful_, who will not suffer one word
that He has promised to fail; _True_, not true as opposed to false,
but real as opposed to shadowy--corresponds only to something
essentially Divine; while the particulars of His appearance afterwards
mentioned take us back to the glorified Son of man of chap. i., and to
other passages of this and other books of the Bible which speak of the
same glorious Person. There are _the eyes_ like _a flame of fire_ of
chap. i. 14 and chap. ii. 18. There are _upon His head many diadems_,
a fact not previously mentioned, but corresponding to the many
royalties which belong to Him whom all things obey. There is the _name
which none but He Himself knoweth_, for "no one knoweth the Son save
the Father."[515] There is the _garment sprinkled with blood_, of
which we read in the prophet Isaiah,[516] the blood, not that of the
Conqueror shed for us, but the blood of His enemies staining His
raiment as He returns victorious from the field. There is the name
_The Word of God_, with which St. John alone has made us familiar in
the opening of his Gospel. There are _the armies which are in heaven,
following Him upon white horses_, and _clothed in fine linen, white
and pure_, to which our attention is directed, not for their sake, but
for His, for He has made them partakers of His victory. There is the
_sharp sword proceeding out of His mouth_ of chap. i. 16 and chap. ii.
12. There is the _smiting of the nations_, of which we have already
heard in chap. ii. 27 and chap. xii. 5. There is the _treading of the
winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God_, spoken of
in chap. xiv. 19, 20. Finally, there is _on His garment and on His
thigh the name_ KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. All these traits
leave no doubt who this Captain of salvation is; and all are noted
that we may better understand both the glory of His person, and the
nature of His accomplished work.
One thing therefore alone remains: that the great adversaries of His
people shall be consigned to their doom; and to this the Seer
proceeds:--