"... Many do not think this horseman symbolizes suffering but rather Christ himself leading his spiritual forces to victory throughout history. The following reasons may be given: First, verse 2 may be an allusion to Psalm 45:3-5, which pictures a good Israelite king defeating enemies with arrows and “riding on victoriously.” Second, in Revelation 19:11-16, Christ, with diadems on his head, rides on a white horse and defeats his enemies. Third, white always in Revelation (fourteen times) refers to the holiness of God, Christ, or the saints. Finally, there is no explicit woe attached to the first horseman, as there is with the remaining three. On the other hand, while the above arguments have weight, it is more likely that the rider on the white horse represents Satan or his servants who are oppressing people. The picture of the four horsemen comes from Zechariah 1:8-15 and 6:1-8, where they all bring suffering on people. The point is that they are all the same-they are not different. Likewise here, the first horseman must bring woe as do all the others. As we have already seen, Ezekiel 14 speaks of four severe forms of suffering coming on people rather than one good blessing and three woes. Indeed, whenever there are groups of four in Revelation (first four trumpets, first four bowls), they are always forms of suffering or woe ..."