Revelation Chapter 19 Verses 11-13

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. 13 He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

There have been many openings in Revelation. In 4:1 a door was opened in heaven. In 11:19 the temple of God in heaven was opened. In 15:5 the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony was opened. In verse 11 heaven itself is opened.

The first seal in Chapter 6 showed a rider on a white horse who wore a crown and went out conquering and to conquer. Here again we see a rider on a white horse. But, as we discussed in Chapter 6, this rider is different. The rider here is called Faithful and True, and his name is The Word of God. This rider is Jesus Christ, the conqueror of Rome and the righteous judge.

Think for a moment about who it is who is seeing this incredible image of Christ! John likely grew up with Jesus and was the special apostle “whom Jesus loved.” John was with Jesus throughout his earthly ministry even up to the foot of the cross. He was Jesus’ cousin and had seen Jesus in many different settings and circumstances both before his death and after his resurrection. He had witnessed the transfiguration. And yet here he was — old, alone, persecuted, and exiled. Perhaps Jesus had just forgotten about poor old John. Hardly! John sees him once again — as a rider on a white horse, with eyes like a flame of fire, with many diadems on his head, clad in a robe dipped in blood, and wearing the very name that John had used to open his gospel account, The Word of God. Aside from the comfort this book provided to the church, just imagine the comfort this vision provided to John!

Satan wore seven diadems and the beast from the sea wore 10, but Jesus wears “many” diadems. He is the King of kings!

We are told that the rider “has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself,” yet in the very next verse we read that “the name by which he is called is The Word of God.” How can it be true that no one knows a name that is given for all to see in the next verse?

Names in the Bible are often used to denote a person’s status. When one’s status changed, his name was often changed. We are reminded, for example, of Abram, Jacob, and Saul. To have a name that no one else can know means that you have a status that no one else can share. That is certainly true of Jesus — only he can be called The Word of God. Only he has that status.

His robe is dipped in blood. Whose blood? Some argue it is Christ’s own blood, pointing again to the image of Christ as the lamb that was slain. Others argue it is the blood of the martyrs, shown as a reminder of why Rome, the bloody city, was being judged. Those views are possibilities, but a more likely answer is that the blood is the blood of Jesus’ past enemies. The picture of Christ shown here is one of a warrior going out to conquer the enemies of his people. The ability of this warrior to conquer is emphasized by showing him drenched in the blood of those he has previously conquered — and Revelation is full of reminders of his past victories over the enemies of God’s people. We are reminded of the description of God in Isaiah 63:3 —

I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

Finally, although we will see next that Christ rides with an army, we will also see that he alone does all of the work. Jesus doesn’t need an army to take care of Rome!

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