With the completion of Chapter 18, we now shift our attention to heaven
for the final four chapters of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chapter
19 contains
Songs celebrating the destruction of Babylon (materialism) (verses 1-5)
1After this I
heard
what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:
"Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
After this
After what? The judgment and total annihilation of the whore called
Babylon (chapters
17-18).
As we have found from our studies of the last two chapters, The
collapse of Babylon is
the collapse of the global economy. But it is more than that. It is
also the spiritual (evil) motivators that are destroyed. These
motivators are greed, envy, anger, idolatry, and so on and so on.
Most scholars tend to write about the harlot as only pertaining to the
unbelieving world and/or those who did take the mark of the beast (Revelation
13:11-18). I would suggest that the judgments in chapters 17 and 18
are aimed squarely at organized churches and religions. It is clear
that the Revelation of Jesus Christ
1) is written to seven churches (Revelation 1:11), and
2) "my people" (Revelation
18:4-5) are not to be playing
footsie (and a whole lot of other things) with the harlot.
I heard what sounded like the ROAR of a
GREAT MULTITUDE in HEAVEN shouting:
Scholars are divided as to whom the GREAT MULTITUDE are. Some say this
is the heavenly host of angels¹; others say this is the same GREAT
MULTITUDE of tribulation saints in Revelation
7:9. For all we know it may be a merged choir of all heaven's
occupants; angels, redeemed/raptured saints, the 24 elders and the 4
living creatures (verse 4).
It does contain one of the mysteries of heaven, however, in that, we
really don't know the language of heaven. It is unified and can be
spoken by all listed previously and by fetuses and young children who
were not able to or had learned to speak. Spirit-filled believers can
testify to talking with God the Father in another tongue or prayer
language. But one can only wonder at how the spiritual nature of an
unborn fetus, for example, can participate in this LOUD VOICE?
"HALLELUJAH! SALVATION and GLORY and POWER belong to our
God,
This is the first time that HALLELUJAH is used in the New Testament.
Literally translated it means "Praise Him Who Is". In the Old
Testament, this same HALLELUJAH is translated "Praise the Lord" as in Psalm
104:31-35-35.
We see GLORY and POWER in Revelation 4:11
given to Jesus Christ because He is Worthy. Here SALVATION is added to
confirm the completion of His Worthiness. Furthermore, this is the
response to the command given in Revelation
18:20.
SALVATION: We can find SALVATION in no other than Jesus Christ (Acts
4:5-12). But the full meaning of SALVATION here is to include the
redemption of the earth from the sin curse as we discussed in the
chapter 5 verse studies.
GLORY: This is the essence of God. As Moses experienced it (Exodus
33:17-23), the GLORY of God contains GOODNESS, NAME OF THE LORD,
GRACIOUSNESS, and COMPASSION. When one comes to understand and
worship God's GLORY, one will not have any other gods (Exodus
20:21-26).
POWER: So POWERful is the GLORY of God, that one becomes afraid of its
brilliance (Exodus
34:29-35). This is not being afraid like being scared, but rather
like having a holy respect for God. We are to "FEAR GOD" was the
conclusion "The Preacher" came to (Ecclesiastes
12:13-14).
In this verse, we see the three spiritual aspects that the GREAT
MULTITUDE
has in common. Yet how little is heard about these aspects from our
present day leaders. If our leaders are to "shepherd" us into eternity,
then I think we should be prepared in these three aspects so that we
won't feel out of place in heaven. Or to make this even more personal,
when was the last time you shared with someone about SALVATION or GLORY
or POWER as you have experienced it in your life? ¹ MacArthur, John Jr., Revelation 12-22,
Moody Press, Chicago, page 196
2for true and just are his
judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her
adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants."
for TRUE and JUST are HIS JUDGMENTS.
This is the third time we hear that HIS JUDGMENTS are TRUE and
JUST (Revelation 15:3 and Revelation 16:7 are the other two times).
When something is repeated for three times in Revelation, the statement
is to be considered of high importance. TRUE and JUST are
requirements to be able to JUDGE. Thus, these JUDGMENTS can only be
GOD's JUDGMENTS. We, even as redeemed believers, do not qualify yet (Luke
22:19-30).
For a contrast to what is TRUE, Jesus gives us an example about the
devil in John
8:31-44-47. Along with the lying comes deception (2
John 4-7-11). Believers are warned to not be taken in by the
deception to the point of not acknowledging that Jesus Christ came in
the flesh. There are so-called Christians today who are trying to
downplay this TRUTH. They are in line for HIS JUDGMENTS.
for 1)He has CONDEMNED the
GREAT PROSTITUTE who corrupted the earth by her ADULTERIES.
God certainly doesn't consider the
PROSTITUTE to be GREAT; only GOD is GREAT. Thus this verse is for human
consumption. Humans have a tendency to idolize people they "look up to"
or those who have wealth or political power or religious stature. Many
so-called Christians succumb to this temptation. They have become
corrupted by her ADULTERIES. They have rationalized their "Christian"
status with their desired social status even after being specifically
commanded to get away from the PROSTITUTE (Revelation
18:4-5). So strong is the corruption that many times "Christians"
don't even recognize it or take steps to remove themselves.
Just a side note, most of the Bible truly is about and for Abraham's
descendants. But here "corrupted the earth" makes the JUDGMENT for all
mankind.
2) He has AVENGED on
her
the
BLOOD of His SERVANTS."
Here we finally have the answer to the
martyr's request in Revelation 6:10. The
list of those avenged is given in Revelation
18:24.
"Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up
for ever and ever."
And again they shouted:
"HALLELUJAH!
Praise to the One Who Is -- twice indicates this is the highest honor
we can give for our salvation (verse 1).
Additionally, this time the PRAISE is for the complete victory over
Babylon. No longer are these Babylonian practices (primarily economic)
found within the body of believers. Instead the ones who removed
themselves from Babylon (Revelation
18:4-5)
are totally committed to living by faith (Luke
18:1-8).
The SMOKE from her goes up for EVER and EVER."
This confirms that Babylon, global economy and politics, are completely
destroyed. The "NEVER"s in Revelation
18:21-23 are permanent no matter how the devil and beasts will try
to survive. The prophesy in Isaiah
34:5-10-15, if you believe that it is talking about this time, says
there aren't any nobles (economists or politicians) who can put whole
system back together again in a recognizable form. The earth has been
prepared for the 1000 year reign of Christ (Revelation
20:4-6).
SMOKE is all that is left of what was thought to be of substance. As
such, it is a symbol of complete destruction and previously just the
sight of it caused
mourning (Revelation 18:9 and Revelation 18:18). What a contrast here,
though, the sight of the SMOKE is cause for a burst of PRAISE!
Note that the duration, for EVER and EVER, is the same amount of time
that those who took the mark of the beast will be tormented (Revelation
14:9-12).
4 The
twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and
worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
"Amen, Hallelujah!"
The twenty-four ELDERS and the four LIVING CREATURES fell
down and WORSHIPED GOD,
The twenty-four ELDERS generally are believed to be representative of
the redeemed believers in heaven. Neither the ELDERS nor the LIVING
CREATURES are mentioned in Revelation after this. After the marriage of
the redeemed believer (bride) to Jesus Christ, (the revealed One,
bridegroom) takes place (verse 7), there is no need
to distinguish
between the two --- they have become ONE (Ephesians
5:22-31-33). From
here on out, the Revelation truly is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, the four LIVING CREATURES have positions around the
THRONE of God. They continually acknowledge or WORSHIP God for the
total and complete GOOD that God is and that is why they continually
say "AMEN" (Revelation 5:14). The LIVING
CREATURES, by being so close
to God, appear to see everything (Revelation
5:8-10). Since they are
full of eyes, front and back and within (Revelation
4:6,8), they fully
understand what the complete destruction of Babylon (evil) means. It is
as if they are to heaven as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
is to the earth (Genesis
2:15-17). Even as we, today, cannot find the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so too in heaven after this
verse, the four LIVING CREATURES are not heard from again. That is not
to say that they are removed from their position around the THRONE.
who was seated on the THRONE. And they cried:
Please refer back to Revelation
4 for the
details of this place in
heaven.
"Amen.
Hallelujah!"
When the word of God, whether as the Law (Nehemiah
8:1-12) or Salvation
(Luke
15:3-7) or Judgment (this portion of Revelation), the response is
or should be "AMEN" and "HALLELUJAH!". Israel's sins and punishment
(Psalm
106) can be thought of as a microcosm of the whole earth's
iniquities and punishment. When the final realization of what God did
to save His chosen people, the people are to say "Amen. Praise the
Lord!"
5Then a voice came from
the throne, saying: "Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both small and great!"
Then a voice came from the THRONE, saying:
"PRAISE OUR GOD,
John hears a voice coming from the THRONE. It probably isn't either
God's or Jesus' because of the way "PRAISE OUR GOD" is worded.
The area around the THRONE is fairly crowded or intense (see previous
verse).
It should be noted that this command to "PRAISE OUR GOD" is for
a select group. The use of the pronoun, OUR, shows that this is a
unified group, His servants are the ones to PRAISE HIM. Otherwise,
the command would have been generic, "PRAISE GOD".
all you his SERVANTS,
The THRONE is surrounded by this group of SERVANTS. To be a SERVANT
implies one who is committed to God for eternal
life. Since this portion of scripture comes after the fall of Babylon,
this group, more specifically, probably are those who did come out of
her, Babylon (Revelation
18:4-5). The New
Testament has many examples
(Luke
6:20-26; Luke
8:11-15; Luke
16:19-31; Matthew
19:23-30) of how
difficult is will be for people who believe they are materially
independent from God to reach this position around the THRONE. Even
today, they bring that same attitude within the organized church. The
penetration of material independence is so great that many churches
seem to function just fine without putting too much faith/trust in God.
you who FEAR Him,
This FEAR is a holy respect for God. One would think that PRAISE and
FEAR do not go together, but PRAISE rises up out of respect. This is
the way Psalm
112:1-6 describes this PRAISE and FEAR relationship. In fact, after
all is considered (as the Preacher did in Ecclesiastes
12:13-14), all that matters is to "fear God and keep His
commandments". The Preacher goes on to say that this applies to every
person,
both small and great!"
Material status is uniquely earthly and has no place around the THRONE.
Around the THRONE, we all will be His SERVANTS and share equally
in His blessings (Psalm
115:12-13-18). Take a moment right now as you have studied this
verse and just "PRAISE
OUR GOD!"
6Then I heard
what sounded
like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud
peals
of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Then I heard what sounded -- like a great multitude, (the
Redeemed as in verse 1) -- like the roar of rushing waters (as
Jesus in Revelation 1:15) and
-- like
loud peals of thunder, (as Jesus in Revelation
14:2),
shouting:
Thus, this is the combined voices of the Bride and the Bridegroom whose
marriage will soon be celebrated (next verse).
"Hallelujah!
The happy couple shouts, "Praise to the One Who Is"! The kingdom has
been delivered to God the Father, the Almighty (1
Corinthians
15:20-24-28). The fall and complete destruction of Babylon
(materialism) also fulfills the earth's redemption process (Revelation
5:1).
For our Lord God ALMIGHTY REIGNS.
This isn't like the wedding vows you hear in churches today, but this
is a vow, nevertheless, which recognizes the KINGLY AUTHORITY of God,
the Father. As One Couple (Philippians
3:17-21), they recognize God using His fullest and mightiest name,
the ALMIGHTY (Revelation 4:8,Revelation 1:8). If
you are among the REDEEMED, then someday,
you, too, will take this vow.
The word, REIGNS, really would have been better translated, "has begun
to REIGN." This is the beginning of God's kingly REIGN over the
earth both spiritually and physically (Revelation
20:4-6).
7Let us rejoice
and
be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and
his
bride has made herself ready.
"Let us
REJOICE and
BE GLAD and
give him GLORY!
The "us" is the happy couple celebrating their marriage (see previous verse). The groom always has given GLORY to
Him (God, the Father - John
5:17-47). So this request is mostly likely a reminder for the BRIDE
.
For the
WEDDING of the LAMB has come, and
When we become a believer in Christ, the
engagement period leading up to this marriage begins. This is a
spiritual marriage and has nothing to do with the physical urges that
drive so many of the earthly marriages (Matthew
22:23-30-33).
Those who are wearing bright and clean linen clothes (next verse).
As one can see, there is no distinction as to race, religious
affiliation, social status, or wealth. Thus for the BRIDE to make
herself READY must be something other than that. It is left to the
reader to determine how the BRIDE has gotten herself ready.
An interesting sidebar here: while the BRIDE is referred to in the
feminine form here, it probably is to reinforce the concept of believer
procreation. That is, it is the female side of human beings which bears
the child. In the same manner, believers beget other believers when the
Gospel is proclaimed with the help of the Holy Spirit (John
3:1-5-21). This partially explains why it seems more difficult for
male believers to witness to others about Salvation. They aren't use to
being child bearers.
8Fine linen,
bright
and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous
acts of the saints.)
And it was given to her to clothe herself in Fine linen,
bright and clean, was given her to wear."
The BRIDE is permitted to be dressed in a bright and clean fine linen
wedding dress. More than that, to be able to be the BRIDE, she must be
dressed like this (Matthew
22:1-14). John confirms that she truly is dressed like this (Revelation 21:2).
This also signifies the priestly role that the BRIDE will play (Revelation 1:6 and Revelation
5:10). In the Old Testament, the priest's robe or ephod was made of
fine twisted linen (Exodus
28:1-6-43). The material of the ephod is symbolic of:
table
from "An Exposition of The Revelation of Jesus Christ", Ella A. Rust,
p. 317
Jesus Christ is both the GROOM and High Priest (Hebrews
9:11-14) and is dressed like this (Revelation
19:11-14). If the groom and BRIDE are to be a married couple, then
she, too, must be pure and clean (2
Corinthians 6:14-18).
(Fine linen stands for THE RIGHTEOUS ACTS of THE
SAINTS.)
What are the characteristics of these RIGHTEOUS ACTS?
There is a paradox here. We cannot be saved (or become the BRIDE) by
works (RIGHTEOUS ACTS) (Ephesians
2:8-10). Salvation only happens by faith in Christ Jesus (GROOM).
Yet here at the marriage feast, what we are wearing is what we did
(RIGHTEOUS ACTS) after we accepted Christ by faith.
9Then the angel
said
to me, "Write: `Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper
of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God."
Then the angel said to me, "Write, `BLESSED are those who are invited
to the MARRIAGE SUPPER of the LAMB.'
The speaker probably is the angel in Revelation
17:1 who had shown John the destruction of Babylon (materialism
globally). He goes on to show the other side: the MARRIAGE SUPPER of
the LAMB. The sight must be so awesome that John is standing
there grasping for anything he can relate this to. Apparently, he can't
find anything so beautiful, and so the angel has to remind him again to
"WRITE" (Revelation
1: 11,19).
This "BLESSED" is the fourth one in the Revelation (see
the list in Revelation 1:3). There is
variance among scholars as to whom are the invited. Some suggest that
the BRIDE is not at the MARRIAGE SUPPER. In Jewish weddings, the bride
was brought to the groom at the end of the MARRIAGE SUPPER. So the
invited must be guests. Interpreting this says that the believers saved
under grace, i.e. after Christ's resurrection and up to the rapture are
not the ones invited. That would leave pre-Christ's resurrection and
after rapture believers as the invited. This distinction may be reading
too much into this verse; rather, it probably means the invited are
those who have attained salvation regardless for age period. God
doesn't want any to perish (2
Peter 3:8-9-13) and the MARRIAGE SUPPER is for the living.
Furthermore, Jesus in Matthew
8:5-11-13 indicates there is no distinction between Jews or
Gentiles at the SUPPER. This doesn't take anything away from the status
the Jews hold as God's chosen people.
In a sense, everyone is invited to the SUPPER as everyone's name is
written in the book of life to begin with. We choose to "uninvite"
ourselves by having our name erased from the book of life (Revelation 3:5). Our actions or life style
or life motivations then indicate our choice (James
4). If we choose to be an enemy of God, then we certainly aren't
going to be invited to the MARRIAGE SUPPER. The SUPPER is for the
cleansed (previous verse) and the righteous. The
invitation is the knock on the 'church' door (Revelation
3:20).....we choose to answer the knock or not.
And he said to me,"These are TRUE
WORDS OF GOD."
This seems so obvious to us, but John has seen and written about so
much caused by the devil or deceiver (Revelation
12:9), that he may have wondered whether this MARRIAGE SUPPER is
one of the devil's deceptions (Mark
13:14-22-23). Thus it is entirely appropriate for the angel to
confirm that the invitation to the MARRIAGE SUPPER is authentic and
from God.
This expression is used twice more in the Revelation (Revelation 21:5 and Revelation 22:6). Heaven must be so awesome
and different due to the absence of evil that John has to be assured
that this is NOT a deception. All uses of this expression surround
glimpses of the new heaven.
10At this I fell
at
his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a
fellow
servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of
Jesus.
Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
At this I fell at his feet to worship him.
Clearly John is very human and totally out of place during the vision
of the MARRIAGE SUPPER. He did what many who have had this kind of
brush with purity and righteousness (see Matthew
17:1-6-8 for example) have done. Except here, Jesus was
involved in the SUPPER, so John falls down at the angel's feet and that
is not good. First, we must WORSHIP GOD and not angels. The worship of
angels defrauds the worshipper of their desired goal (Colossians
2:16-18-19).
But he said to
me,"Do not do it! I am a FELLOW SERVANT with you and with your brothers
who hold to the TESTIMONY of JESUS.
The rebuke is firmly given with sweet humility. The angel is a created
being with the purpose to serve God and by extension the redeemed (ones
who hold the TESTIMONY of JESUS). These who hold the TESTIMONY of JESUS
are the same ones with whom the dragon (devil) is making war (Revelation 12:17).
Angels are very aware of their position in heaven. Apparently, they,
too, at one time were given a choice: Serve GOD or join the devil
(dragon -- Revelation
12:7-9). This angel chose to serve God and, in turn, the redeemed.
Interestingly, John doesn't fully understand what he has done wrong
because he will do it again (Revelation
22:8,9).
WORSHIP GOD! For the TESTIMONY of
JESUS is the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY."
It is clear where our worship is to be directed: GOD. Anything else is idolatry
and violates God's forever commandment (Exodus
20:4-6). The angel here acknowledges that the God he knew from his
creation was also sent to earth to assume a human form (denoted by the
use of the name JESUS -- Luke
1:26-31-38 and Matthew
1:18-25). The angel emphasizes God as the triune God. WORSHIP GOD
(the Father). For the TESTIMONY of JESUS (the Son) is the SPIRIT (Holy
Spirit) of PROPHESY. Soon this Holy Trinity will be doing away with the
Unholy Trinity (devil himself, Revelation
20:10; beast, verse 20; and false prophet, verse 20).
11I saw heaven
standing
open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called
Faithful
and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
I saw HEAVEN STANDING OPEN
This may seem strange, but apparently heaven is not a wide-open place.
Rather, at least with respect to this sin-riddled earth, heaven is
protected from evil (Matthew
3:13-16-17, Acts
7:54-56-60, Revelation
4:1, and Revelation 15:5). One
should be aware that Hades is within
sight/hearing distance of Abraham's boson (heaven?). The need to
protect heaven from evil should also make us much more alert to the
foibles of the devil The devil is very crafty and will be able to
deceive many (like the sand of the seashore - Revelation
20:8) after
the millennial reign of Christ.
This may also explain why the New Jerusalem (heaven) has gates
(Revelation 21:12).
and there before me was a WHITE HORSE, whose RIDER
The WHITE HORSE symbolizes power and warfare from a righteous, pure,
and holy army. The commander-in-chief, here denoted as HE, is none
other than Jesus Christ. While we have seen how Jesus Christ looks in
heaven (Revelation
1:12-16), here we find Him in his "military" role
and as Messiah (John
4:25-26).
(1) is CALLED FAITHFUL and TRUE.
This ties back to Jesus being called
"The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the Creation
of God....(Revelation 3:14). The Creator
of this earth is coming back
to earth as Commander-in-chief with his armies (verse
14) to
reclaim the earth as the rightful owner.
In human terms, we never can be FAITHFUL and TRUE because of the sin
curse placed upon us. So we hear phrases like "fair" or "impartial"
used; but even these are hard to confirm. Comparing among earthlings
always leaves room for untruth. Not so with Jesus Christ; He is CALLED
(by God, we assume) FAITHFUL and TRUE;
(2) With JUSTICE HE JUDGES and MAKES WAR.
Because Jesus is TRUE, He is able to JUDGE and execute this WAR against
evil. We, as His supporting army, should have been faithful during our
basic training (Ephesians
6:10-12-20). Then we will be able to wage war with Jesus. Sadly,
too many so-called Christians never go to 'boot camp'; it is doubtful
they'll be part of the army (verse 14).
12His eyes are like blazing
fire,
and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no
one
knows but he himself.
Continuing from the previous verse:
(3) HIS EYES are like blazing fire, and
It is Jesus' EYES that test our faith. The result will be
that we may give praise and honor and glory at this time (1
Peter 1:3-7-9). We know that this was the physical attribute given
to HIS EYES in Revelation 1:14, but
clearly this set of verses here in chapter 19 is spiritual in nature.
The spiritual side is totally open to Jesus. On earth we can be a fake
Christian, acting the part in church, and being a model to those around
us, and yet, when Jesus' EYES pierces into/through us, He will judge
the thoughts and intentions known only to us (we falsely believe). We
may have hidden that secret self from those around us but not from
Jesus (Hebrews
4:12-13).
(4) on HIS HEAD are many
crowns.
Contrast this with what the dragon (Revelation
12:3) and the Beast (Revelation 13:1)
wore on their head(s).
"Many" implies more diadems than any other. Jesus is imbued with royal
dignity. How different this is from the crown of thorns (Mark
15:16-20).
There is an account in the Old Testament of the conquering king
removing the crown from the conquered king and placing it upon his own
head (2
Samuel 12:26-30-31). In a spiritual sense, this finalizes the fall
of the kings of the earth who committed acts of immorality and lived
sensuously with her (the harlot - global economic materialism, Revelation 18:9). Perhaps these diadems
symbolize Jesus' final conquest over the kings of the earth.
(5) HE has a NAME written on HIM that no one knows but he
HIMSELF.
Contrast this with the many blasphemous names the harlot
took for herself (Revelation 17:3).
Without a name, it is hard to brag or boast. That's important to the
devil, you know. He feels he should be the one riding out of heaven on
the white horse (previous verse).
The name is written upon Jesus presumably by God the Father. Its
meaning is hidden from us. Some scholars believe that at some time, we
believers will know what that name is, just as mysteries of God had
been revealed to some of the apostles (Ephesians
3:1-4-13). However, it really is immaterial whether we will get to
know that name. What is important is that we now know "JESUS" and accept him as our Lord and Savior here and now.
13 He is dressed in a robe
dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
(6) He is dressed in a ROBE dipped in
BLOOD,
Often this phrase is compared to the 'vengeance' passage in Isaiah
63:1-6. This implies that the ROBE is covered with enemies' blood.
While this may be, it is more likely that this is Christ's own blood.
He is coming from heaven (verse 11) and the battle
hasn't been enjoined
yet (verse 19). Moreover, in the Revelation, the
blood mentioned is
always Christ's blood (Revelation
1:5; Revelation 5:6, 9; Revelation
7:14; and Revelation 12:11).
Symbolically, we are seeing salvation portrayed. It gives us our white
robes (Revelation 7:14 and Revelation 22:14) when we ride into
'battle' (next verse). We are seeing the pure
revelation of Jesus Christ. That is, righteousness expunging evil (Hebrews
9:11-22).
and (7) HIS NAME is THE WORD OF GOD.
In the previous verse, Jesus has a name written on Him which 'no one
knows except Himself', and now we are told His NAME is called 'THE WORD
OF GOD". One could look upon the previous verse as an endearing
nickname that is used by a parent for his child (Matthew
3:13-17). In this verse, His NAME is essentially how Christ is or
should be known by us, His bride (verse 7). It is the
essence of God's spiritual nature (John
1:1-5) placed in us when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior (John
15:1-17).
During our present period of grace, we most often take 'THE WORD OF
GOD' to mean the Gospel or Good News, and that meaning still is
included here. However, a broader meaning is implied. As
commander-in-chief (verse 11), the WORD OF GOD is
now mostly judgments or vengeance as requested (Revelation
6:9-11 (5th seal)). Words come from the mouth .... recall what
comes from Jesus' mouth (Revelation 1:16
and Revelation 19:21). Again, we see righteousness
supplanting evil using military imagery.
Placing these two phrases together in this verse reinforces the idea
that the BLOOD on the ROBE is CHRIST'S own BLOOD. NO enemy (evil) can
come close to Christ as long as that sword (WORD OF GOD) of pure truth (verse 11) comes from His mouth. The devil introduced
Adam and Eve (and the whole world) to evil (Genesis
3:1-5-7); now Christ is restoring the world to its pristine nonevil
state prior to the millennial reign (Revelation
20:4-6).
Taking a composite look at the 7 spiritual items in verses
11-13, we realize that we have just been given the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
14The armies of heaven were
following
him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
The ARMIES of HEAVEN were following HIM,
All believers have followed HIM; that's how they got to HEAVEN in the
first place, and thus are able to serve in the ARMIES. Using ARMIES
(plural) implies
that this is a collection of entities: Old Testament saints like those
at the mount of transfiguration (Matthew
17:1-3-13) and the bones who
came back to life representing the WHOLE house of Israel (Ezekiel
37:1-10-14), believers in Christ on WHITE HORSES, and angels (Matthew
16:21-27-28 and 2
Thessalonians 1:5-7-10).
This verse continues the military symbolism. The non-military form of
this symbolism is found in Micah
5:2-5-6 where the 7 shepherds are
thought to be Christ and the 8 leaders of men being the ARMIES. Note
how the passage begins with Bethlehem and ends with Nimrod + Assyria
(Babylon). Furthermore, 8 represents divine perfection as does the fact
that those in the ARMIES are
riding on white HORSES and,
We are not told what color the colt was, but it, too, was used in a
triumphal entry (Luke
19:28-40). This is not a coincidence but rather a
foretelling of this spiritual entry from HEAVEN into battle just as
Christ went to battle to conquer death at Calvary.
and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
This is represented in verse 8 also. See the
description
of the holy
ones in Zechariah
14:1-5-9 and the unblamable in Holiness in 1
Thessalonians 3:11-13. It is clear that we are again seeing
righteousness
triumph over evil.
Interestingly, this army is not camouflaged to avoid detection as
modern earth militia are. Rather this is the TRUTH coming forth boldly
like a light set upon a hill (Matthew
5:13-16). There is no doubt that
evil and those committed to evil (who took the mark of the beast and
worshiped the image of the beast) can
fully see Christ and His ARMIES coming. The conflict soon will be
engaged (verses
17-21).
15Out of his mouth comes a
sharp
sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an
iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God
Almighty.
-Out of HIS mouth comes a SHARP SWORD with which (1)
to STRIKE DOWN THE NATIONS.
Because it has been used repeatedly throughout Revelation (Revelation
1:16, Revelation 2:12, Revelation 2:16, and Revelation 19:21), this
imagery of a sharp sword coming from Jesus Christ's mouth is an
important TRUTH for us to understand. I don't understand how just
speaking the Word STRIKES DOWN THE NATIONS. This is part of the
awesomeness
of The Revelation of Jesus Christ. The spoken TRUTH (righteousness)
(John
14:1-6-11) conquers LYING (evil) (1
John 2:18-22-29) every time.
Since the SHARP SWORD comes from HIS mouth, it is clear that we are
talking about spiritual matters here. If they were physical, they
probably could be taken care of by a physician. If they are spiritual,
then the defeat of spiritual wrongdoing and evil can only be done by
God's Word (Luke
4:1-12-13).
In this verse, we see three throwbacks to the Old Testament. To STRIKE
DOWN
the NATIONS, sounds very much like Isaiah
11:1-5. However, since this
is spiritual in nature, the phrase, THE NATIONS (plural), has the
flavor of religious denominations who have played footsie with the
harlot. The harlotry or prideful materialism has made it's way into
many if not all religious denominations. Just as each political nation
has its own cultural mix, various denominations have
their own cultures.
Hence, we find here that no religious denomination will be spared from
the SWORD.
It may have a broader meaning, in that, it may give a glimpse at how
Christ will rule during the millennial period (Revelation
20:4-6). From
a spiritual viewpoint, this indicates there is NO COMPROMISE with evil
when Christ reigns. Yet evil, apparently, has not been completely
suppressed, for after the millennial period, the devil is loosed for a
short time to see whom he may deceive. He's able to convince many that
evil still is glamorous and is the "good life" since as many as the
sand on the seashore are enticed (Revelation
20:7-8-10). Sadly, this
fits with Jesus' comment about even 'the elect' may be deceived during
the tribulation (Mark
13:14-22-23).
(3) He
treads the winepress of the fury of the WRATH OF GOD ALMIGHTY.
This is a visual interpretation of evil being squeezed from the earth
and, in particular, from the various religious denominations. We live
with evil so close by everyday that it has become second nature to us.
So much so that we can't even discern evil when we are confronted by
it. This leads to the same state that the Laodicean church found/finds
itself in (Revelation
3:14-22). It isn't a coincidence that the
'lukewarm' are spit out of His mouth .... it is the same process of the
SWORD STRIKING DOWN the NATIONS.
To indicate the overwhelming, overcoming power of God, both the WRATH
of GOD and the highest name of GOD ALMIGHTY (Revelation
4:8 and
Revelation 19:6), are commingled here in
this verse. Every bit of EVIL
will be squeezed out from the earth, and the earth will be returned to
its original created state which God saw that it was VERY GOOD (Genesis
1:24-31). Interestingly, one could ask the question why restore the
earth to its original state only to have it "pass away" (Revelation
21:1)?
16On his robe and on his thigh
he
has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
On HIS ROBE and on HIS THIGH He has this NAME written:
If you compare Psalm
45:1-9, it is almost as if the Psalmist is writing about this
verse. While the Psalm refers to the sword on the thigh, we know that
the sword really is coming from His mouth (verse 15).
Since the sword represents the spoken truth, what is more true than "KING
OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
This is the same bloodied ROBE in verse 13.
Since ROBES represent righteousness, only Christ using His pure
RIGHTEOUSNESS could even assume this NAME. Furthermore, since the NAME
is across the THIGH part of the ROBE, we can understand that this is
part of His role or position as Son of Man. Placing the NAME on the
THIGH part of the ROBE makes it very visible as He is riding the white
horse. There is no doubt what Christ's name is. And one could assume
that this is the same name that is written on the outside of the scroll
(Revelation 5:1). We see here that Christ
is the rightful owner of the earth and in quasi-military fashion is
reclaiming it. This also allows Christ to establish His thousand year
reign (Revelation
20:4-6).
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Before Christ received His blood stain on the ROBE, Pilate asked Him
this very question, "So you are a KING?" (John
18:33-37-38). Jesus gave Pilate an answer appropriate for that
moment; here, we have the complete answer. Jesus said He was born to be
a king, but not just a king, but rather "KING OF KINGS"!
I wondered why both "KING OF KINGS" and "LORD OF LORDS" were used.
Either one would be sufficient one would think. But then I recalled how
corporations are structured and realized that this is a direct answer
to the corporate materialism of Babylon. That is,
Christ's NAME
Corporate NAME
Representation
KING of KINGS
Chairman of the Board:
Legitimizes the corporation. Board members typically are Chairmen or
"kings" of other corporations. Denomination leadership from a religious
organization viewpoint. Interestingly, denominations don't usually have
leaders from other denominations within their top structures.
Authorization
LORD of LORDS
Corporate organization with
layers of management up through Officers of the corporation. In the
religious viewpoint, districts or dioceses or missions boards or orders
or equivalents. (1
Timothy 3)
Administration
Having both names then says that Christ is both the Authority and
Administration during the millennial reign.
17
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to
all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great
supper of God,
And I saw an ANGEL standing in the sun,
What an unusual place for an ANGEL to stand. Or is it? You may recall
that the fourth ANGEL with a bowl poured it upon the sun (Revelation 16:8). Even the image below
showing the sun showing off a sunspot makes it easy to see how a
special sunspot could appear to us on earth as an ANGEL. The sun is
constantly being monitored by satellites and radio telescopes, so this
appearance of an ANGEL standing in the sun would be relayed throughout
the earth.
During the tribulation while the fourth trumpet judgment (Revelation 8:12) was taking place, the sun
was darkened. Perhaps the darkened sun erupts with one massive solar
flare that looks like an ANGEL.
Most importantly, this ANGEL's appearance shouts to the reader that
what is happening next is VERY IMPORTANT.
who cried in a LOUD VOICE
Now this complicates things. There is no inter solar medium such as air
to carry the LOUD VOICE of this ANGEL. Hence, we come to one of those
unexplainable events, at least in common earth terms, that will
captivate the earth. Not only that, the devil and his surrogate armies (verse 19) are given notice as to what their fate will
soon be.
Earlier in this chapter in verse 9, we witnessed a
marriage supper. Now, the BIRDS are invited to God's SUPPER. Again, as
in hearing the LOUD VOICE, the BIRDS at least on earth need air in
which to fly. And that, in fact, is what surrounds the earth and
separates the water below from the water above. God made it that way on
the second day of creation (Genesis
1:6-8).
Some expositors tie this verse to Ezekiel
39:17-24 for the language is very similar. There are enough
dissimilarities to also say these are not the same. However, one thing
is clear from Ezekiel, it is iniquity which is the problem (or bird
feed). In Ezekiel, it was iniquity within Israel, in particular, that
was the problem; here in Revelation, it is the iniquity or evil of the
whole earth. Look at how Jesus referred to this in Matthew
24:15-28.
This may well describe in physical terms a spiritual cleansing or
removal of evil from the earth. Evil resides within living beings or in
"water". Evil is real, and must be "eaten" by these BIRDS, to remove it
from mankind. Much, if not all, evil is based in demons, and demons
must go somewhere when they are excised (Mark
5:1-20). The BIRDS will take care of that.
"Come, GATHER TOGETHER for the GREAT SUPPER of God;
It is God's privilege and His will to hold this GREAT SUPPER.
Thankfully, I'm not on the menu! Are YOU?
18 so that you may eat
the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their
riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great."
so that you may eat
THE FLESH OF kings, generals, and mighty men
OF horses and their riders, and
THE FLESH OF all people, free and slave, small
and great."
There is no need to delineate the meaning of each of the persons
involved. Rather 'THE FLESH OF' has been highlighted to show that this
is more of a spiritual meal (previous verse). When
Adam and Eve followed the
advice of Satan and ate fruit from the tree of knowledge of GOOD and
EVIL (Genesis
3:1-7), sin entered into this world. By the time of this
verse in Revelation, the GOOD people are already in heaven and probably
are on those white horses coming with Christ (verse 14),
so these are the ones
who followed EVIL due to the deception of the beast and the false
prophet (verse 20). So here we see EVIL being
removed from ALL MEN (left behind).
Including horses doesn't seem to fit. Probably these are the EVIL
counterpart to what believers ride upon (verse 14).
Also, we had locusts (Revelation 9:7) that
looked like horses prepared for battle, and these were EVIL influences.
Horses may denote how EVIL is transported. We don't understand this
phenomenon, i.e. how does EVIL enter a man (Luke
22:1-3-6)?
Lastly, lest we think this is all spiritual, the literal consumption of
ALL MEN remaining by these birds will take place. This leaves the
interesting question: who will populate the earth during the millennial
reign (Revelation
20:4-6)?
19Then I saw the
beast
and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make
war
against the rider on the horse and his army.
Then I saw (1) THE BEAST and
(2) the KINGS of the earth and their
ARMIES
All that is left on the earth are evil-controlled elements and their
leader, THE BEAST (Revelation
13:1-8 and Revelation
17:11-13). As we found out earlier, the KINGS simply are the evil
power base of THE BEAST. They are his horns (Revelation
17:12). One could think of these KINGS as being evil in specific
areas. It is left to the reader to determine the evil opposite of each
of the Ten Commandments (Exodus
20:1-17), for example. How many of these evil elements are covered
in Revelation 21:8?
This is prophesied in Daniel
11:29-45, and as the last verse in Daniel says, "and no one will
help him".
GATHERED TOGETHER to MAKE WAR against
THE RIDER on the horse and
his ARMY.
Since chapter 19 has been primarily the spiritual part of the
redemption of the earth, then what we are seeing here is the spiritual
part of the battle of Armageddon. We saw the physical part in Revelation
16:12-16.
Note that THE BEAST has to have ARMIES, while the Lord only has an
ARMY. And even with ARMIES, the Lord single-handedly kills the ARMIES
with the sword (THE TRUTH) in His mouth (Revelation 19:21).
If we are chosen to serve in the Lord's ARMY for this campaign, then we
won't have to fight but just witness the defeat of evil, PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!
20 But the beast
was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the
miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those
who had received the mark of the beast and worhiped his image. The two
of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
But
THE BEAST was CAPTURED, and with him
the FALSE PROPHET who
had performed the MIRACULOUS SIGNS on his behalf.
These are two of the members of the "UNHOLY TRINITY": Satan, the BEAST (Revelation
13:1-10) playing the counter part to Christ, and the FALSE PROPHET (Revelation
13:11-18) playing a bad imitation of the Holy Spirit. They were the
henchmen/leadership who performed MIRACULOUS SIGNS to delude the
non-believers in
Christ. Suddenly, on the verge of the final battle, they simply were
SEIZED. By whom it isn't stated, but one may imagine that it is the One
who is redeeming the earth (Revelation 5:5,7). He is leading the heavenly ARMY (verse 11and 14). When the
leadership in the form of two of the UNHOLY TRINITY is gone, the hopes
of "the rest" (next verse) are dashed......they
realize they had made the ultimate mistaken choice.
With these signs he had DELUDED
those who had
RECEIVED the MARK OF THE BEAST and
WORSHIPED his image.
Notice how counterfeit these two deceptions are:
1. Christ's gift of salvation is free.
Contrast that with those who received the MARK of the BEAST. They took
the MARK in order to eat and to do business (Revelation
13:17).
2. The act of worship is a (holy) spirit thing. God is a SPIRIT, and we
must WORSHIP Him in Spirit and Truth (John
4:7-24-38). Contrast that with those who WORSHIP the beast's image
in direct violation of God's commandment (Deuteronomy
5:6-9-21).
The two of them were thrown ALIVE into the FIERY LAKE of burning
sulfur.
This is the first mention of the FIERY LAKE (the other references are
Revelation 20:10, Revelation 20:14, Revelation 20:15, and Revelation 21:8). The order in which the
FIERY LAKE is filled appears to be, the BEAST and FALSE
PROPHET, Satan (1000 years later), and the rest, "anyone's name
was not found written in the book of
life" (Revelation 20:14-15). The FIERY LAKE contains EVIL for
eternity. EVIL itself apparently doesn't ever die. Just as believers in
Christ have everlasting/eternal life, so to those who chose EVIL have
an everlasting existence (that may be an understatement!). Since EVIL
exists forever, this may be one explanation why the New Jerusalem has
gates and has angels guarding the gates (Revelation
21:9-12-14).
This is the fulfillment of Daniel's vision, Daniel
7:9-11-12, albeit Daniel sees their bodies destroyed (but not the
EVIL?). Isaiah
66:22-24 talks about the same thing. The BEAST and the FALSE
PROPHET remain ALIVE in the FIERY LAKE because they are not consumed
or annihilated. They are there 1000 years later (Revelation 20:10). At that time, they are
tormented day and night forever.........and there is no reason to
torment something that is dead or totally consumed.
21The rest of them were killed
with
the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all
the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
THE REST WERE KILLED with the SWORD that came our of the
mouth of the RIDER on the horse,
Many biblical scholars believe that 'THE REST' refers to the kings and
their armies in verse 19. This may be the case,
however, this really doesn't tell us anything since we do not know who
is in these armies. We know that those who took the mark of the beast
are still left on this earth, but whether they all are in the armies
isn't stated. Traditionally, armies have only been composed of men (Deuteronomy
20).
If these are spiritual armies, then we can assume that this refers to
the rest of evil or the demonic world. This may be what the odd
statement Jesus used in Luke
21:25-26-28, 'the powers of the heavens' refers to. Most of us have
so little experience in this realm. In the Old Testament, Jeremiah uses
the phrase 'inhabitants of the earth' (Jeremiah
25:29-33) in his prophesy. The 'inhabitants of the earth' may well
include these evil entities (Revelation 12:9).
It shouldn't surprise anyone that just the SWORD or a word of TRUTH
from the mouth of him who sat upon the horse can kill 'THE REST'. That
is it's intended purpose (Revelation 19:15). Even
while Jesus was on this earth, it only took a word:
and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
This probably is both literal and symbolic. Physically, so many will
die at the swipe of the SWORD that there is nobody to bury all of them,
and they will lie as dung on the ground (Zephaniah
1:14-17-18).
Symbolically, the birds are a kind of cleansing force which will remove
(or become filled with) evil (flesh). We don't understand this process
very well for it implies that these birds ultimately are
'sacrificed' into the fiery lake. That there is a correlation
is supported by the prominent use of birds in the purification ritual
for leprosy (Leviticus
14:1-4-9). The result, however, is to return the earth to its
pre-evil state (Genesis
2:4-14) such that the rightful owner may inhabit it (Revelation
20:4-6).
