Fly without wings and be victorious without sword
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. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
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And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Revelation of John 19: 11-21
It is quite simple to jump into the understanding of the text: And behold a white horse. It would be silly not to start here and pass by this mark. We see and we see a white horse. We can understand it verbatim, because it is possible, a white horse and its rider. And they fly from heaven, like the flying carpets of Thousand and One Nights. Or like the good wishess of the old times when the Bedouin blessed their horses:"Fly without wings and be victorious without sword!"
The rider is called Faithful and True, and the Word of God. Therefore he is the Messiah, Jesus. In consequence Jesus is returning from heaven in the tradition of the desert of Arabia, like a true son of Ismael. Like a bedouin on back of his Arabian horse.
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You imediatelly think of a parallel in the New Testament, the moving into Jerusalem by Jesus on Palm Sunday, before his crucífication, on back of a donkey and followed by its filly. And by binding all those single threats together, the understanding of Revelation 19 becomes obvious: Jesus came from a hadar or sedentary society. But his last three years as a wandering preacher of the kingdom of heaven he already lived like a nomad, like Abraham, the progenitor of both the children of Israel and of the children of Ismael. He rode an riding animal of villages and towns, and fitting his role as suffering servant of God who was to go to the cross of Golgatha. He was frenetic celebrated at his moving into Jerusalem as King and Messiah. The red carpet were the branches of the palm tress that hastily covered the dust of the earth. And the mood would soon fizzle out: For the kiss that was like a bell striking the hour of his death and his consequent resurrection in the dark night!
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Diametrically different and at the same time similar in many aspects, the scene of the returning Messiah. According to the Bedouin world, Jesus will return in the tradition of the desert of Arabia, as a son of Ismael not only by clothing and head-dress, his ´aqal worthy a King, like we know from today´s crowned families of the Arab peninsula. And much more in a spiritual likeness to the Bedouin, namely as someone robbing! As a raider! And wasn´t Jesus reckoned among robbers hanging on the cross? Now, this Akid, the leader of many riders on white horses on the Day of the Lord, the Day of Judgement, what will be his booty? What will be the booty of his ghazzu starting in heaven? The booty is the decisive question on sense or nonsense of a ghazzu, the booty, the prey, that is us, mankind completely!
Jesus will no more throw out a fisherman´s net. And nor will he send his fishermen disciples to do so. Not at all. He wants to do the great catch or haul. And nobody may escape his net. He will appear as the Great herder, no more Galilean fisherman, but the Good Shepherd to conquer his like, his brothers and sisters, his bride. For the Marriage of Heaven and Earth, to introduce them to his father. And besides, Ismael, the brother that Jews and Christians alike lost sight of, will finally be honoured as he deserves. Maybe Ismael will follow Jesus close on his heels, or precise close on the heels of his white horse.
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The first rider, the bringer of peace and conquerer of whole mankind, in the dress of a raiding people, with eyes like flames of fire! The most important at last: We will see him as he is, from eye to eye. Like Isaiah 33: 17 pronounces: Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off. When his nahawa, his war-cry will fill the heavens: ANA ACHUNA - I AM YOUR BROTHER! As loud as the first cry of a newborn so wonderful in the ears of everyone, the fanfares of a new age, a new era under the loving eyes of the heavenly father. The up-beat and the galopp to the Resurrection Symphony into eternal life!
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... and the false images of God, the false suggestions about how God may be, will be canceld in a twinkle of an eye, when we see the Messiah as he is. All's well that ends well. And as if by magic, by an iron rod, all that someone could believe or think wrong of God has vanished into the air. And our way, the path of rightousness, will lead straight up to the house of the father, and will lift us all up from the dust and ashes of the earth!
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... and the false imaginations in the minds of people will fade away as well (eaten by the fowls or birds flying in heaven).
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More Biblical citations from the Old Testament and ideas to better understand the last Day of Judgement can be seen here:
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