The purpose of this section is to reassure the saints that the fearsome beasts of Revelation 13:1–18 are destined to return to the hell whence they came, there to experience God’s endless judgment. Though under their leadership the kings and mighty of the earth gather to make war against Jesus Christ (and hence his church), the Lord presses on his people that Christ’s victory is guaranteed. God’s people should echo the confidence of Old Testament passages as Psalm 46:1–11.

The name of the triumphant Rider on the white horse is King of kings and Lord of lords. His victory over the beasts and their armies implies advancement in his kingdom. That kingdom comes not by the brain or brawn of man but by the preaching of the gospel. Preaching may seem to us to be so ineffective as a means to building a kingdom, but here the Lord reminds us not to despise the power of the Word (see also Jeremiah 23:29; Hebrews 4:12). In fact, the two beasts, including the second beast’s deception, are no match for Jesus’ sword. Those beasts, already captured as they are, are not free to do whatever they would to resist Jesus’ triumphant church-gathering work in God’s world. For the people of God in a world of apostasy, here is great comfort. The gates of hell can never and will never prevail (Matthew 16:18). Christ through his victory on the cross has breached those gates (Colossians 2:15).

In the midst of all that’s spiritually unsettling in this life, we do well to keep following John’s finger: behold, a white horse! Of all the things Christians could wish to see in a wide-open heaven, the Lord tells us the white horse provides us with the comfort and reassurance we need as long as we remain in this life. That horse reminds us that Christ has conquered and keeps conquering over the years and centuries. Victory is always his!