QFTBOC: Revelation 19:14 – Heavenly Horses :: By Mark A. Becker
Introduction
One of the things I really enjoy doing with the ministry the Lord has blessed me with is answering questions of believers and unbelievers alike. The questions people have never cease to amaze me; most I have never even considered myself.
This QFTBOC (Questions from the Body of Christ) series are articles from these questions I have received and will be in a question and response format.
If you or someone you know has a question pertaining to the Word of God – theology, difficult passages, eschatology, etc. – I would really like to hear from you.
If I end up using your question, and you would like to have your name and/or place of residence listed on the question in the article, please specify with your submitted question; otherwise, if I use your question, it will be listed as “Anonymous.”
Regardless, I will make every attempt to answer every person’s question(s) in response to the emails I receive. Depending on volume, it may be a little while until you hear back from me, but my intention is to respond to all inquiries.
Other articles in this series are:
QFTBOC: Civil Disobedience and Patriotism
QFTBOC: Memory – Fully Retained or Total Reset?
QFTBOC: Psalm 91, Protection, & God’s Will
QFTBOC: God’s Chastisement of His Children
QFTBOC: What’s Satan’s Problem?
QFTBOC: Can We Know Another’s Salvation?
QFTBOC: Childbirth Purification & Christ
QFTBOC: Peter & John at the Palace of the High Priest
QFTBOC: Living for Christ in a Dark World
QFTBOC: Family and the Afterlife
QFTBOC: Those Who Have Never Heard the Gospel
QFTBOC: Salvation in the Tribulation
QFTBOC: ‘Age of Accountability’
QFTBOC: Why the Eternally Lost?
QFTBOC: “Enoch ‘Walked’ with God”
Question
Hi Mark,
Hello, my brother. Love you, man. Question: Will we get to name our horses at the second coming?
Carl Bridgewater – Louisiana
Response
[Mark’s note: Carl and I have been corresponding for a couple of years now and have developed a very nice friendship. One of the things I love about Carl – besides his excellent questions – is that Carl personalizes the Word of God. That is, Carl is always looking at the Scriptures through his own eyes and wonders what those passages could be conveying to him personally and how they apply to him and his family — something we could all do better at.]
Hi Carl!
This is why I like hearing from the body of Christ – I always get questions I have never considered before.
I suppose the answer might lie in when these horses were created. If they are created at that time – just for us – I would think it possible that we would get to name them. But if they were created any time before that, then I would suppose that they would already have names.
Nevertheless, your great question, Carl, did generate in me intriguing thoughts regarding the Heavenly Horses of Revelation 19:14 and other passages of Scripture that also reveal Heavenly Horses. We should examine some of them and see if we can offer any interesting conjectures.
I would also love to hear the thoughts of our readers regarding this very unique subject matter.
Underlined Scripture passages are my own emphasis.
Elijah
When Elijah was translated to heaven, there appeared a chariot and horses of fire.
“And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.
“And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.” – 2 Kings 2:9-12
On reassessment, though, there does seem to be something missing from this account, something that we might expect would have been there when Elijah was taken to heaven.
Elisha
“And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
“And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” – 2 Kings 6:15-17
As in Elijah’s translation, I cannot get past the feeling that something seems to be missing that I would usually expect to be there in this spiritually unique situation.
Revelation 9
The demonic horde at the sixth Trumpet Judgment had features that resembled horses.
“Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
“And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.” – Revelation 9:14-17
It is very interesting to me that this demonic horde had the appearance – as best as John could describe – of “horses.”
Joel had a similar vision.
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
“A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
“The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.” – Joel 2:1-5
In both Revelation 9 and Joel 2 we seem to see entities that had “the appearance of horses.”
Prophetic Hebrew Words of Warfare
In Prophetic Hebrew Words of Warfare, we investigated the Hebrew word for “horses” and discovered something of significance when we relayed the following.
‘Horses’
The Hebrew word for “horses” is 5483 סוּס “cuwc” (“sū·s” or plural “sū·sîm”) and means a swallow, swift (type of bird). It can also mean crane, horseback, or cuc {soos}; from an unused root meaning to skip (properly, for joy); a horse (as leaping); also a swallow (from its rapid flight) — crane, horse (-back, -hoof). Compare parash.
As we can see, this word most often translated as “horses” is a rather mysterious word with the main thrust of its definition being that of something swift.
What I found fascinating – yet not really surprising as I was somewhat expecting this – is that while the word can mean horse, the word’s primary definition applies to bird flight or rapid flight and to skip.
These definitions and descriptions, of course, can be applied to both birds and horses and is the same Hebrew word used in our Joel, Elijah, and Elisha texts above.
Zechariah 1 and 6
In Zechariah 1, the prophet saw some horses.
“I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.” – Zechariah 1:8
Here is what was said of these horses:
“And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.” – Zechariah 1:10-11
It seems that these horses speak!
In Zechariah 6, we see some other horses and chariots, bringing to mind Elijah’s and Elisha’s experiences.
“And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.
“In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.” – Zechariah 6:1-3
Again, Zechariah inquired of these four chariots and their horses, and here was the response:
“And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.” – Zechariah 6:5
Again, this is the same Hebrew word, 5483 “cuwc” (“sū·s” or plural “sū·sîm”).
In this passage, they are called “spirits.”
We seem to be getting somewhere!
Now, here is our passage that you referenced, Carl.
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war…
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” – Revelation 19:11, 14
Observe that “the armies which were in heaven” were “clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” This reference to “fine linen, white and clean,” is linked to the bride of Christ just a few verses earlier when “His wife” was described as being “granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white” for The Marriage Supper of The Lamb which had just taken place in heaven in the presence of the Father prior the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
“And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” – Revelation 19:7-9
Therefore, these “armies which were in heaven” are the resurrected Saints – the bride of Christ, the church, and the Old Testament and the Tribulation Saints who had previously died and are resurrected at approximately the midway point of the Tribulation to be the distinguished guests “which are called unto The Marriage Supper of The Lamb.”
Thus, all these resurrected Saints will comprise “the armies which were in heaven” that were “clothed in fine linen, white and clean” that will follow our glorious Bridegroom “upon white horses” at our Lord’s Second Coming.
The question must then be asked, where are the angels who are to come with Messiah Yeshua and “the armies which were in heaven” to Earth at the Second Coming?
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory…” – Matthew 25:31
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” – Matthew 24:30-31
Where are the angels, indeed?
Angels?
What seems to be the missing link in all of this?
When we consider that in our Zechariah, Elijah, and Elisha passages where Heavenly Horses are in view, there seems to be something missing in all of them, and that is angels!
Why were no angels mentioned in our Elijah and Elisha passages?
Would we not expect that angels would be present for Elijah’s translation to heaven along with the Heavenly Horses and chariots of fire?
And would we not anticipate angels to be among the Heavenly Horses and chariots of fire when Elisha was surrounded by the Syrians?
Yet we do not hear of any angels in these passages; we only read of Heavenly Horses and chariots of fire.
But maybe they have been there all along, and we just did not recognize them.
For in the Zechariah 1 passage, the Heavenly Horses speak!
And in the Zechariah 6 passage, the Heavenly Horses with their chariots are called “spirits”!
Angels, we are told, are spirits of fire!
“… Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.” – Hebrews 1:7
Could these Heavenly Horses be angels – both holy and fallen angels in their respective passages – that take horse form? We know that angels can assume human form, so why could they not take horse form, especially for battle and other prominent spiritual roles?
Or might some of the myriads of angels that God has created actually possess horse-like features in their natural supernatural state? Far-fetched?
Well, considering the four living creatures that Ezekiel observed and the four beasts that John witnessed – which Ezekiel referred to as Cherubim in Ezekiel 10:20 and others are called Seraphim in Isaiah 6:2-3 – then the notion does not seem to be such a stretch.
“As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.” – Ezekiel 1:10
“This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.” – Ezekiel 10:20
“Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” – Isaiah 6:2-3
“And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
“And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” – Revelation 4:6-8
God is certainly a God of diversity and beauty, so it should not surprise us in the least that the angelic order He created would be of immense variety and creativity.
When it comes to our Heavenly Horses at the Second Coming, what if each of our guardian angels took the form of these Heavenly Horses, or had these natural supernatural features to begin with, to personally escort us to Earth with our Bridegroom. After all, we do know that the angels will be coming with us!
Might the angels, taking the form of Heavenly Horses, or, again, possibly possessing these horse-like features in their natural supernatural state, escort the remnant of Israel back to their homeland just as they will escort us from heaven?
Of course, all of this is speculation because we are just not told. Yet the information we examined in this article sure seems to point in that direction.
We may not get to name our Heavenly Horses; nevertheless, it will certainly be a blessing and very cool to get to know them!
Thank you for your wonderful question, Carl, that sent me on a journey I was absolutely not expecting. I sure do like how you think, my friend — out of the box and creatively.
I love you, too, brother! I so appreciate your heart for knowing our Lord and His Word better. Keep up the great work!
***
May we all keep Answering the Call of The Great Commission, and giving an answer to every man and woman who so desperately needs Jesus and asks us, “Why Am I Here and What Is It All About?”
Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!
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