11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on 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 written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Rev 19:11-16
We have already encountered “the one who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron.” This is the male child from chapter 12. The soul gives birth to the child, the I AM, but the spiritual powers had to take the child to safety, to safeguard our new-born individuality from the dragon, the powers of the earth, who would swallow him up. Now the matured I AM returns.
Tarot card nineteen, The Sun, depicts the I AM as a young child riding a white horse.
The white horse is a symbol of the purified intellect. The purified intellect arises once the astral body is cleansed and placed in the service of the I AM.
The description of the I AM in Revelation 19 is not one of a child. The I AM can now take charge of our evolution. United with the thinking forces arising from the enlightened astral, it balances the scales of justice. It is in charge of our karma. No one knows the name of our I AM. The essence of the human being is sealed away in the most sacred part of our being and no other human being can perceive it. Nevertheless, the I AM, which is the inner Christ Self, will now lead the armies of heaven, our spiritual energies and perceptions. The I AM will cut away the delusions of the old perceptions and understandings with the sword of truth. It has eyes of fire - our vision penetrates outer appearances. A sharp sword comes from his mouth: our words and thoughts will become powerful and effective in cutting through the old materialistic consciousness.
We know who this mighty being mounted upon the vehicle of our intellect is; it is Christ in us, the hope of glory.
The image
The heavens open again. From here we gaze into the future. The rider on the white horse is the same rider who marked the opening of the first seal in Revelation 6. Now however, he will rule the nations “with a rod of iron.” He is the gift of the I AM.
The Waite Smith Tarot was a great re-envisioning of the traditional Tarot. It combined the talents of the esoteric scholar, A. E. Waite with the visionary artist Pamela Coleman Smith. In “The Sun”, they have presented the Rider on the White Horse as a child. This is because our I AM is only in its infancy in this present time. Symbols of the Sun stand behind the foreground characters. This reminds us that not only is the I AM a gift of Christ, the “Sun Being”, we are now able to open the Sun body (the etheric) and perceive the reality of Christ in the spiritual worlds.
For today, let us find time to let our normal, talkative, chatty consciousness wind down into silence. This permits our “etheric eyes” to open. Through this etheric vision, the I AM can show us an aspect of our reality, an aspect of our purpose. Let us go forward today with a renewed sense of purpose, because each of us is a being which has descended from the spiritual worlds, and for each of us there comes a stage when, just like St John, we see “heaven opened.”
The White Horse appears again... Once our Lord comes in that manner, to lead us on and give us the white horse which is the purity of intelligence, the complete and pure spirituality, with the ability to use our soul as a sword, then we have the ability to rule the nations with a rod of iron... We will then have the power of the stars with us so we can rule this earth.
Rev Mario Schoenmaker, The Book of Revelation, 1984 Lecture Series