REVELATION
CHAPTER 19, “The Wedding Supper Of The Lamb / Glorious Appearing Of Jesus”
By
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at
chapter 18 and the overthrow of commercial
1.1.1. In
that chapter, John received a revelation from another angel concerning the
complete overthrow of
1.1.2. From
several Old Testament prophesies concerning the city of Babylon, we read that
the city was prophesied to at some time be completely destroyed at the time of
the “day of the Lord” (Isaiah 13-14 ; Jeremiah 50-51), to the extent
that there would never be another city build on its foundations (Jeremiah
51:26), nor would any person every inhabit it again (Isaiah 13:20). However, history reveals to us that though
the city of
1.1.3. Primarily
because Babylon was never destroyed in the way that Isaiah and Jeremiah
prophesied it was to be destroyed, we believe that chapter 18 deals with the
literal overflow of a literal city, a rebuilt city of ancient Babylon which
will be the capital city of the Antichrist during the second half of the 7 Year
Tribulation.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at
chapter 19 and the wedding supper of the Lamb, plus the Glorious Appearing of
Jesus at the end of the 7 Year Tribulation.
1.2.1.
First in this chapter, we hear multitudes
from heaven giving the injunction to Praise the Lord because now that
1.2.2.
Next, John begins to tell us about the
Wedding Feast of the Lamb that may occur before the Battle of Armageddon, but
may be that which ushers in His Millennial kingdom after that battle.
1.2.2.1.One of Jesus’
favorite themes in His parables and dialog with His disciples was that of the
Wedding Feast. This theme often came up
and Jesus taught His disciples that He is the bridegroom and the church is His
bride whom He would is one day returning for.
1.2.3.
Then, we see the “Glorious Appearing”
of Jesus when heaven is opened and He comes riding a white horse, followed by
the armies of heaven upon white horses, Jesus descends and puts an end to the
Battle of Armageddon.
1.2.4.
Finally, we see the stage set for the Millennial
Reign of Christ as the Antichrist and False Prophet are thrown into the
2.
VS 19:1-2 - “19:1 After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great
multitude in heaven, saying,“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong
to our God; because His judgments are
true and righteous; for He has judged
the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has
avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.”” - A great multitude in heaven
now say in a loud voice ‘Hallelujah’
2.1.
This is the first time in the New Testament
that the word ‘hallelujah’ is used.
2.1.1.
The word means ‘Praise the Lord’ and it
is a verb and therefore a command or injunction.
2.1.2.
The word is used only in this chapter of the
New Testament.
2.1.3.
It is not until the destruction of
2.1.3.1.
2.2.
This is a great multitude of people and/or
angels shouting ‘halleluia’ and it is comprised perhaps of all of both
groups who are found in heaven at this point in time.
2.3.
The injunction of ‘hallelujah’ is given
by a multitude in heaven because the full ‘salvation and glory and power’
that ‘belong to our God’ can now be fully realized.
2.3.1.
Up until this chapter God has allowed a ‘usurper’,
Satan, to exist, and thus the Lord has not been able to reveal His complete
salvation and glory and power.
2.3.1.1.An angel will bind
the Devil for 1,000 years during which time the Millennial Reign of Christ will
commence.
2.3.1.2.At the end of the
1,000 year reign of Christ, the Devil will be loosed and He will gather together
a rebellion against the Lord which will be squashed, and this will show that
even when mankind is free to choose the Lord apart from a tempter, they will
choose to rebel.
2.4.
It is time now for God’s vengeance to be
poured out on the earth, and when He finally exercises His wrath, it will be
without mercy.
2.4.1.
This reminds me of the saying, “beware of
the wrath of a patient man”. God has
been so patient with all of mankind all throughout history, however now His
patience has ceased and His judgment will be complete for those who refuse to
repent and worship and exalt the Lord as king and God.
2.4.2.
There is a difference in the scripture
between the judgment of God, and His wrath being poured out on the earth, and it
is His wrath which is poured out in the Battle of Armeggedon which is to occur
in this chapter. Wrath is a fiercely
burning anger vehemently unleashed upon those who are fully and justly
deserving of it.
2.5.
We see here that it is God’s ‘bondservants’
who have been martyred that are being avenged by the Lord. In the Jewish law, it was stated that if a
person took a slave for any reason (such as an unpaid debt for instance) that
he had to release him after 7 years, though the Jews didn’t always follow this
law. However, if after the 7 year period
had passed, if the slave thought that his master had treated him well and that
he was part of the family, then he could of his own free will make himself a
servant for life to this master, and thus he became a ‘bondservant’. To mark a slave as being a ‘bondservant’
his master would pierce the slave’s ear with an awl. All true Christians are ‘bondservants’
of God. We have yielded up our life to
the Lord of our own free will and placed our lot with the Lord, and as slaves
to the Lord we are on this earth to do the Lord’s will and bidding and please
Him in all respects. There will be no
people in heaven who first were not ‘bondservants’ to the Lord upon this
earth.
3.
VS 19:3-4 - “3 And a second
time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four
living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying,
“Amen. Hallelujah!”” - For the second and third times in the New Testament, and in this
chapter, the injunction to ‘Praise the Lord!’ is given using this word
‘Hallelujah’
3.1.
The occasion for the injunction to praise the
Lord is the smoke that will rise up forever and ever from the fallen city of
3.1.1.
In chapter 31, we see that the holy city of
3.2.
In verse 4, the 24 elders and four living
creatures which we first met in chapter 4, and who have continued with us
throughout the book, they fall down and then worship the Lord saying, ‘Amen,
Hallelujah!’
3.3.
It is significant that we realize here that
all throughout all of time and even before time, the Lord has always been
sitting upon His throne.
3.3.1.
The Lord is king and reigns over all, and no
power or conglomerate of power can even come close to challenging His power to
rule and reign.
3.3.2.
The Lord has allowed Satan to be on the loose
on earth for a time, and he has been loosed so that men’s hearts can be tested
as to whether or not they will truly love and follow the Lord, however He has
remained on the throne.
3.3.3.
We will see later in this chapter that it is
one of God’s angels who binds up Satan in the Abyss (Bottomless Pit) for the
thousand years duration of Christ’s Millennial Reign.
3.3.4.
We Christians can rest and take comfort in
the knowledge that the Lord has us in His hand and that nothing can come into our
life or harm us in any way but that He allows it for His specific purposes.
4.
VS 19:5 - “5 And a voice came
from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants,
you who fear Him, the small and the great.”” - A voice comes from the throne giving the
injunction to ‘give praise’ to the Lord
4.1.
We have to ask the question as to whom the
voice coming from the throne belongs to here?
4.1.1.
I think that because the voice is not
identified, that there is a possibility that the voice is the voice of Jesus. Christ, the third person of the Trinity is leading
out in worship in Hebrews 2:12, in some future point in time, therefore this is
definitely a possibility.
4.2.
The voice gives the injunction to God’s ‘bondservants’
(namely, those who ‘fear Him’) to praise Him.
4.2.1.
A true Christian must be a person who has a
holy reverence and respect for the Lord, one who truly worships the Lord.
4.3.
Among God’s bond-servants, there will be
those who in the eyes of men were of ‘small’ stature, as well as those
who were of ‘great’ stature, however one and all are to praise Him.
4.3.1.
When we stand before the Lord, the smallness
or the greatness of every man and woman’s stature will be determined not by
what others did or did not think about them, but rather what the Lord thinks
about them, and there will be many surprises for all of us at that time because
some whom we never would have expected will be thought of highly by the Lord,
and some we thought would be exalted by the Lord, will not be.
5.
VS 19:6 - “6 And I heard, as
it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as
the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our
God, the Almighty, reigns.” - The voice of the great multitude like the sound of many waters and
mighty peals of thunder cries out
5.1.
The voice of the Lord was previously heard to
be like the sound of ‘many waters’, and here the sound of the great
multitude of the redeemed and possibly also of angels is heard to be like the
sound of many waters.
5.2.
The power of the voices of this great
multitude is also described as ‘mighty peals of thunder’.
5.3.
Again, this multitude gives the injunction to
‘praise the Lord’ by saying, ‘Hallelujah!’
5.4.
Again we are reminded by this mighty
multitude that the Lord on His throne ‘reigns’.
6.
VS 19:7-10 - “7 “Let us rejoice
and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come
and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 And it was given to her to clothe
herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous
acts of the saints. 9 And he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are
invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are
true words of God.” 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he *said to
me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold
the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit
of prophecy.”” - We are told that the Wedding
Feast of the Lamb has now come
6.1.
Chapter 19 of the book of Revelation is the
part of the end times where Jesus returns to the earth on the white horse with
a Name that only He knows on His head and “King of Kings and Lord of lords”
written on His thigh.
6.1.1.
Christ comes in this chapter to bring an end
to the Battle of Armegeddon, cast the Beast and the False Prophet into the Lake
of Fire, and then to usher in His Millennial Kingdom.
6.1.2.
Before the Millennial Reign begins however,
the Wedding Feast of the Lamb takes place.
6.2.
We must also consider the fact that in the
book of Revelation we see the resolution of every doctrine once mentioned in
the Bible, and the fulfillment of every prophesy found in the Old
Testament. In the book of Revelation we
see the completion of what the institution of marriage, that which was inaugurated
by the Lord Himself, pointed to:
6.3.
In Genesis 2:24, we see that it was God who
created the institution of marriage, as He of His own will created Eve from the
rib of Adam.
6.4.
Likewise, it was at a wedding that Jesus
performed His first miracle of turning water into wine.
6.4.1.
In doing this, Jesus was teaching us a couple
of things.
6.4.1.1.It shows His
approval and sanctification of marriage.
6.4.1.2.It shows that God
values the celebration of joy in the consummation of a marriage.
6.4.2.
Marriage was intended by God to be monogamous
and permanent (Matt. 19:3-8).
6.4.3.
As we see from the Old Testament, marriage
was intended by the Lord from the beginning to symbolize His relationship to
His people.
6.4.3.1.We can see this in
Hosea 2:19-20, “ 19 “And I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness
and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion, 20 And I will betroth you
to Me in faithfulness. Then you will
know the Lord.”
6.4.3.2.Old Testament
prophets condemned idolatrous
6.4.4.
In the New Testament, the church is called “the
Bride of Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2;
6.4.4.1.John the Baptist
was the first in the New Testament to refer to Christ as ‘the bridegroom’
(John 3:28-30).
6.4.5.
Some believe that the bride of Christ here is
6.4.5.1.This is supported
by the fact that in Rev. 21:12, 14 the 12 tribes as well as the 12 apostles are
depicted in the description of the heavenly
6.4.5.2.However, in support
of those who claim that the bride is the church only, we see in Leviticus 21:14
that the priests were only allowed to marry a woman who was a virgin and who
had not been divorced, and then in Jeremiah 3:8 we see that the Lord gave
6.4.5.2.1.These
scriptures definitely refute the argument of those who claim that the bride is
the nation of
6.4.6.
The apostle Paul wrote in the New Testament
that marriage is intended to paint a picture of our relationship to the Lord,
Eph. 5:30-32, “30 because we are members of His body. 31 For this cause a
man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the
two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with
reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each individual among
you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she
respect her husband.”
6.4.6.1.Paul called this a
“great mystery”.
6.4.6.2.The two becoming one
flesh pictures in a most graphic way the close union and fellowship of a
believer in Christ with the Lord.
6.4.7.
I believe that the Wedding Feast of the Lamb
will be a literal feast on food by the people of God but also that it
symbolizes the consummation for all time of complete, perfect, and eternal
fellowship that all believers will have with the Lord when He returns for us.
6.4.7.1.John writes here in
Rev. 19:10 that those who are come to the wedding feast of the Lamb will be ‘blessed’.
6.4.7.1.1.This
is the ‘blessedness of sweet fellowship’ with the Lord.
6.4.7.1.2.It
ought to be such an encouragement to us to seek the Lord and to spend time with
him when we consider how greatly it is that He wants to be with us.
6.4.7.1.2.1.I
for one am glad that the Lord does not just want us for eternity to worship and
glorify Him in awe and terror from afar, but rather He desires for us to have
close intimate fellowship with Him.
6.4.7.1.3.The
intimacy which we will have with the Lord for eternity can be had right here
and now if we would just realize how ‘blessed’ those times with Him
really are and desire more than anything to spend time in fellowship with Him.
6.4.7.1.4.In
this life, we who are Christ’s church are actually ‘engaged’ to be
married to the Lord, 2 Cor. 11:2-3, “2 For I am jealous for you with a godly
jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present
you as a pure virgin. 3 But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by
his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity
of devotion to Christ.”
6.5.
In Matt. 22:2-14, Jesus spoke a parable about
a king who was giving a wedding feast for His Son, “2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared
to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 “And he sent out his slaves
to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were
unwilling to come. 4 “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who
have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened
livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding
feast.”’ 5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm,
another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them
and killed them. 7 “But the king was enraged and sent his armies, and destroyed
those murderers, and set their city on fire. 8 “Then he *said to his slaves,
‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 ‘Go
therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the
wedding feast.’ 10 “And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered
together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled
with dinner guests. 11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner
guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to
him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was
speechless. 13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot,
and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.””
6.5.1.
This parable teaches us that there will be
some excluded from the wedding feast because of their own free will in refusing
to be a part of it.
6.5.2.
The parable also teaches that a true
conversion involving regeneration by the Holy Spirit is necessary, as implied
by the man who did not come dressed properly for such a magnificent wedding.
6.5.2.1.I have known many
presumptuous people such as this man.
Some would accept Christianity if it were only “fire insurance”,
however to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him is another
thing.
6.5.2.2.Some of those in
this group could be those who would try to come to God on their own terms
instead of the way in which He has prescribed (believing in Jesus Christ and His
work on the cross for their sins).
6.6.
In Matt. 25:1-13, Jesus taught a parable
about ten virgins who took lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom, “25:1 “Then
the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps,
and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 “And five of them were foolish, and five
were prudent. 3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with
them, 4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 5 “Now while
the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. 6 “But at
midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7
“Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 “And the foolish said
to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 “But
the prudent answered, saying, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too;
go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “And while they were
going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready
went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. 11 “And later the
other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 “But he
answered and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 “Be on the alert
then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”
6.6.1.
This parable teaches that there will also be
people excluded from the wedding feast due to negligence.
6.6.1.1.On this earth we
are to be always to be making ourselves ready to be joined to the Lord, as
Jesus taught us in Luke 12:35-40, “35 “Be dressed in readiness, and keep
your lamps alight. 36 “And be like men who are waiting for their master when he
returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to
him when he comes and knocks. 37 “Blessed are those slaves whom the master
shall find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird
himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait
on them. 38 “Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and
finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 39 “And be sure of this, that if the
head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not
have allowed his house to be broken into. 40 “You too, be ready; for the Son of
Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.””
6.6.1.1.1.Peter
exhorts us in 2 Peter 3:13-14 to be diligent to be found by Him in peace,
spotless, and blameless, “13 But according to His promise we are looking for
new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these
things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.”
6.6.1.2.Faith without works
is dead (James 2:20) and if a person is not preparing his heart to be joined to
the Lord when the Lord returns for him, then this is evidence that he does not
truly have saving faith in Christ.
6.6.1.3.These virgins that
didn’t bring enough oil for their lamps symbolize those supposed Christians who
haven’t sufficiently counted the cost of following Jesus. Some people believe in Jesus for a few months
then fall away, some for a few years then fall away, some for a few days. True saving faith however is a faith that has
counted the cost of following Christ and chosen to believe and to follow Christ
for an entire lifetime.
6.6.1.4.In Christ’s
parable, the virgins who didn’t bring enough oil for their lamps are outwardly
no different from the rest of the virgins.
Likewise, there are many in the church who are among us and they do want
to go to heaven, however they have never committed themselves to become
diligent in their following of Him.
6.6.1.4.1.These
are ones who may have thought that they might have had a salvation experience
with the Lord, and they have a type of intellectual faith in the Lord, however
their faith is not a saving faith.
6.7.
When we go to be with Christ, we will have
been purified by the Lord and made like Christ before we go to this feast.
6.7.1.
The apostle John wrote about this in 1 John
3:2-3, “2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as
yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him,
because we shall see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed
on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
6.7.2.
Since man’s fall, our righteousness has now
become ‘filthy rags’ (Isaiah 64:6).
6.7.3.
We are saved by God’s grace, not by our own
works (Eph. 2:8-10).
6.7.4.
The Lord Himself will clothe us, as John
writes in Rev. 19:8.
6.7.5.
Interestingly, in Eph. 5:25-27, Paul wrote to
husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church in order that they
might do what He is doing and will do with the church, namely, present her to
the Lord as a bride without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and
blameless, “25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the
church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having
cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to
Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such
thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.”
6.8.
Henry Morris writes about the Jewish custom
of betrothal and the marriage and marriage supper, “The betrothal was
normally arranged by the parents long before the actual wedding. The marriage contract was effected by the
payment of a dowry by the bride’s parents.
Months, or perhaps years later when the bride and groom were ready for
marriage, the date for the wedding feast would be set. At the appointed time, the bridegroom and his
friends would set forth from his home to her home to claim his bride. There she, his chaste virgin bride,
would await his coming with her own friends, all virgins, who would accompany
her to the wedding supper, sumptously provided at great expense by the father
of the bridegroom. Upon the arrival of
the bridegroom, the bride would be surrendered to him by her parents, and he
would carry her back to his own home with great joy and anticipation. They would be followed by their friends, who
would then join them in the happy wedding celebration at the home of the
groom’s father. From that time on, the bride and groom were united,
never to be parted until death if God’s ideal plan for marriage were accepted
and followed by them. Thus did the
marriage supper consummate the marriage.
It is this beautiful
custom which apparently is in view here in this striking picture of the
marriage of the Lamb. The marriage had
been engaged long ago when the heavenly Father essayed to claim a Bride for His
Son from the world of lost mankind. In
this case, however, the Bride had no dowry to offer for a husband and was quite
unworthy of such a wedding. Therefore
the Son offered to pay the price Himself.
He became the Lamb of God, taking away the sin of the world (John 1:29),
and His shed blood became the purchase price that made the Bride fit to enter
the home of His father. The garments of
salvation, her robes of righteousness provided by Him, replaced her own filthy
rags, and she became His espoused Bride.
It was a long time,
however, before He could actually go forth to claim His Bride. Finally the day had come and He had received
her to Himself from the home of her parents, taking her with Him to the place
of the wedding. The time en route
(corresponding to the time between the “rapture” and the actual wedding supper)
would be a time of fellowship and also a time of further cleansing and
purification in His presence (corresponding to her appearance at His judgment
seat). But now at last, it was almost
time for the wedding.”
6.9.
The wedding feast of the Lamb which will take
place in heaven could last the entire duration of the 7 Year Tribulation Period
or some portion of it, or it could usher in the Millennium. It is most likely also that the Bema Seat
Judgment of rewards for Christians will either follow this wedding feast or be
part of it. I think that it is most
likely that the latter will occur for several reasons:
6.9.1. Sequentially,
it is listed as occurring in Rev. chapter 19, right before the battle of
Armageddon and the 2nd coming of Christ, and is described as finally being able
to occur now that God has finished all of His Tribulation judgments against
Babylon (Rev. 17&18).
6.9.2. Also, Tribulation
saints would not be included in that feast if it occurred during the
Tribulation, nor would the redeemed of Israel who have come to Christ as part
of the major conversion of the nation of Israel (Rom. 11:26). And, remember that
the names of the 12 tribes of
6.9.3. Also, I
have to believe that the Bema Seat judgment of rewards for believers would have
to be part of that feast, and that would make it an awards banquet centered
around Jesus, the Lamb. And, how long would such a feast take for all of the
redeemed by Christ who have ever lived??? This will be an epic event that will
take years to complete unless the Lord somehow alters the passage of time for
those attending this feast.
6.10.
In conclusion, there are four types of people
in Christ’s parables concerning wedding feasts, a) Those who refuse to go to the wedding feast,
b) Those who go but are not converted in heart (thus don’t wear proper wedding
clothes), c) Those who would sincerely like to go the wedding feast, and these
even gather together with those who are going, yet they are left behind for
their negligence in preparing themselves to meet Him, d) Those who bring enough
oil for their lamps (showing their diligence in preparing themselves for the
bridegroom by having sufficiently counted the cost and thus having waited
patiently for him to come), and who are welcomed into the feasts with arms
opened wide. Which one of these people
are you?
6.10.1.For
those who are not the last group here, Joel, in Joel 2:12-13, exhorts us as to
what we are to do in order to avert God’s judgment falling upon us, 12”Yet
even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to
Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is
gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and
relenting of evil.”
6.11. In
verse 10, we have the very interesting clause, “the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophesy”. This phrase
teaches us that all of prophesy in the scriptures is related to Jesus
Christ. It all points to Him. In the church, we can discern false teaching
and false teachers by whether or not they are making the major emphasis
something other than Jesus. For
instance, in our culture here in
7.
VS 19:11 - “11 And I saw
heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called
Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war” - The Second Coming
(Advent) of Christ
7.1.
Here in this verse we see an event that to
our knowledge has never occurred in all of history, heaven is opened. This event allows the Lord along with the
armies of heaven to return to the earth on this day.
7.2.
This verse shows the One who first came to
earth and His people as the Lamb in meekness, now returning as the mighty Lion
of the Tribe of Judah who will conquer
and take possession of that which is His, the earth.
7.2.1.
What follows is the Lord’s wrath poured out
upon the earth and in the Battle of Armeggedon.
7.2.1.1.The word “Armageddon”
refers to the
7.2.1.1.1.In
the
7.2.1.2.The Battle of
Armageddon is really over almost before it starts, for the Lord immediately
slays all the armies assembled there.
7.2.1.2.1.Some
say that there is no real battle that occurs, however I do not believe that
this is a true statement.
7.3.
This is not the same white horse as that of
the apocalypse rider mentioned earlier in the book who goes out to conquer,
this is the Lord who comes with all of the redeemed as well as the holy angels
for the mission of immediately judging the nations in the Battle of Armegeddon
and subduing the earth.
7.3.1.
The previous rider on the white horse in
chapter 6 of Revelation was the Beast (Antichrist).
7.4.
One of Jesus’ many names is ‘Faithful and
True’, and John uses this name for Jesus since it symbolizes the fact that
He is coming in order to finish the execution of all of the promises which He
has made to His people from His Word.
7.5.
His cause is totally holy and righteous as He
now comes in order to pour out the fury of His wrath upon the nations of those
who oppose Him and persecute His saints.
8.
VS 19:12 - “12 And His eyes
are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name
written upon Him which no one knows except Himself” - The rider is the
glorified Lord Jesus Christ
8.1.
In chapter 1 of the book we saw the risen
glorified Lord, and His eyes there were as a flame of fire, but here they ‘are
a flame of fire’.
8.2.
In this verse, Jesus has upon His head many ‘diadems’
which are crowns worn by royalty, for He is the King of kings.
8.2.1.
In chapter 6, the rider on the white horse
who symbolized the Beast had a ‘stephanos’ crown, or a victor’s crown,
not the crown of royalty which only King Jesus could wear.
8.2.2.
It is hard for me to imagine what John saw
when he writes here that Jesus had ‘many’ diadems, or crowns, upon His
head. The many crowns are probably not
to be taken literally but are symbolic of the unequalled authority and glorious
pomp and circumstance that Jesus will have on this day, that glory and
authority which will be infinitely greater than any king has ever had who
reigned upon the earth.
8.3.
The Bible records many names for the Lord
Jesus, and here John records that there is a Name being worn by Christ which
only He knows.
9.
VS 19:13 - “13 And He is
clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God.” - Jesus’ robe is dipped in
blood
9.1.
Lets now consider a sequence of events to
occur on this day of Jesus’ Glorious Appearing:
9.1.1.
In Matt. 24:27-31 we read that on this day
the sun, moon, and stars will not give their light, “27 For
as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be . 28 For wheresoever the
carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together . 29 Immediately
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers
of the heavens shall be shaken : 30 And then shall appear the sign
of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory . 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of
a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from
one end of heaven to the other.”
9.1.2.
A second rapture appears to occur from Psalm 50:1-6,
and this would then occur for the Tribulation saints who are still alive upon
the earth, “1 The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken,
and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. 2
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. 3 Our
God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and
it shall be very tempestuous round about him. 4 He shall call to the
heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. 5 Gather
my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by
sacrifice. 6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for
God is judge himself. Selah.”
9.1.2.1.Tim Lahaye suggests
that if the Wedding Feast of the Lamb were to occur towards the very end of the
7 Year Tribulation that this rapture could occur just prior to the feast.
9.1.3.
We see that there will evidently be a few
battles on this day of Jesus’ Glorious Appearing, and thus the battles on this
day are referred to in Rev. 16:14 as, “The battle on the great day of the
Lord” :
9.1.3.1.In Isaiah 63:1-6,
we read that even before Jesus comes to the battle of Armageddon that He will
first go to Edom where many of His people have fled for safety, “”1 Who
is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that
is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I
that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2 Wherefore art thou
red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? 3
I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was
none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury;
and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my
raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the
year of my redeemed is come. 5 And I looked, and there was
none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore
mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. 6 And
I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and
I will bring down their strength to the earth.””
9.1.3.1.1.
9.1.3.2.Next will perhaps
be the battle in the
9.1.3.3.According to Joel
3:1-2,9-17, there will be a battle in the valley of Jehoshaphat on this day as
well, “1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I
shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will
also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of
Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage
Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land…9 Proclaim
ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the
men of war draw near; let them come up: 10 Beat your plowshares into
swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am
strong. 11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather
yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O
LORD. 12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the
9.1.3.3.1.Harper’s
Bible Dictionary has the following entry for where this “valley of
Jehoshaphat” is located, “Jehoshaphat, Valley of, ( je-hohʹshuh-fat
), the site where the nations surrounding Israel will be judged by God for
transgressions committed against Israel according to Joel 3:2 , 12 . Some
scholars claim that the
9.1.3.3.1.1.The
Kidron valley runs from the east to the south east of
9.1.3.4.There is a final
battle that will occur on this day that will be a battle for Jerusalem, and is
prophesied in Zech. 12:1-9, “1 The burden of the word of the LORD
for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the
foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 2 Behold,
I will make
9.1.4.
The Lord will finally touch His feet down
upon the
9.1.4.1.The Mount of Olives
is a high hill located just east of
9.1.4.2.Remember, it was
the
9.1.4.3.Tim Lahaye writes
the following about the Mount of Olives, “Some Bible commentators have
indicated that a natural division exists between the two high points on the
Mount of Olives, which will cleave in two, thus creating a new passageway from
9.2.
The blood which Jesus’ robe has been dipped
into is not His, not the blood which He shed for the sins of the world upon the
cross, this is the blood of those whom He is to slay in these battles on the
Day of the Lord, as well as those whom He will slay with the Word of His mouth
in the Battle of Armeggedon.
9.2.1.
At Armageddon, we have already seen that the
blood is to go up to the height of a horse’s bridal (perhaps 4 feet deep), so
this gives us an idea of just how many people are going to be in this Battle in
the valley of Meggido.
9.3.
John reveals another of Jesus’ many names
here: Word of God.
9.3.1.
This of course reminds us of John’s writings
in the first chapter of his gospel concerning Christ, “1:1 In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the
beginning with God. 3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him
nothing came into being that has come into being.”
9.3.1.1.John goes on to
mention in verse 14 of John chapter 1 that the “word became flesh and we
beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth”.
9.3.1.2.Jesus is the ‘word’
(Greek word ‘logos’) or ‘expression’ of God to mankind, His revelation
of Himself to us.
9.3.1.2.1.Jesus
said that heaven and earth would pass away but His words would never pass away
(Matt. 24:35) also.
9.3.1.3.Jesus was the full
representation of the Father in human form, and if we want to know what God is
like we only need to take a long look at Jesus Christ.
9.3.2.
Hebrews 1:1-3 speaks of Jesus as God’s final
and full revelation of Himself and of His being the exact representation of His
nature, “1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the
prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has
spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom
also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and
the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of
His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on high,”
10.
VS 19:14 - “14 And the armies
which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him
on white horses” - The armies which are in heaven are following behind Christ on the
white horse
10.1.
Who comprises these armies following Christ?
10.1.1.Certainly the
saints who have been resurrected in glory, honor, and power and who will reign
with the Lord for eternity will be in this group.
10.1.2.Certainly the ones
whom the Old Testament describes as the armies in heaven will be there, the
holy angels.
10.1.3.All those in this
army are free or purified of all sin, as is symbolized in fine linen, and being
‘white and clean.’
11.
VS 19:15 - “15 And from His
mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He
will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce
wrath of God, the Almighty” - Jesus first smites the nations, and then rules
over them
11.1.
The way in which Jesus conquers the army in
the Battle of Armeggedon is simply through His spoken Word, and thus He is seen
here with a ‘sharp sword’ coming out of His mouth.
11.1.1.This time of God’s
judgment of wrath upon the nations is what the Old Testament records in Isaiah
28:21 as being His ‘strange work’, since normally the Lord is gracious
and compassionate and patiently waits for those who are lost to come to
repentence, “21For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be
wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work;
and bring to pass his act, his strange act.”
11.2.
After slaying the wicked people gathered
there in the
11.2.1.Though the Devil
will be bound 1,000 years, sin will evidently still be present amongst a small
group of people who did not worship the Beast nor come to the Battle of
Armeggedon, however any transgression of God’s laws will be quickly squelched
and punished.
11.2.1.1.For
those who in the world and who refuse yearly to come to
11.2.1.2.The
canopy of water that before the flood was above the earth will be
reestablished, and this shielding of the earth from the harmful rays of the sun
and increased barometric pressure will cause the life span of people to begin
to return to what it was before the flood.
11.2.1.2.1.Soon,
the earth will be repopulated and have more people than ever before.
11.2.2.The curse of sin
which was placed upon the earth in Genesis 3 will now begin to be reversed.
11.3.
A ‘winepress’ consisted of two parts,
above was the vat where the grapes are squeezed down releasing their juice,
below is where all of the wine runs.
11.3.1.Scripture speaks in
a few places besides here about the wicked coming under this punishment by the
Lord so that they are squeezed to death in His winepress of judgment.
11.3.2.Some
form of trauma to the armies gathered at Armageddon is what causes their blood
to flow up to the height of a horse’s bridle.
12.
VS 19:16 - “16 And on His robe
and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”” - Jesus is the King of kings
and Lord of lords
12.1.
This Name speaks of the role that Jesus is
now to fulfill for all eternity, for He is to reign over the earth for a
thousand years, and over the new heavens and earth for eternity.
12.1.1.All of the nations and
their leaders will be subjected to Jesus during the millennium.
13.
VS 19:17-19 - “17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all
the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God; 18
in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and
the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them
and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the
earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the
horse, and against His army” - A mighty angel cries out to gather all of the
birds on the earth to come to the Battle of Armeggedon
13.1.
This shows the awesomeness of God’s holy
angels that this one can stand without injury ‘in the sun’ and be seen
and heard here on the earth.
13.1.1.With the speed of
sound being around 600 miles an hour, though this angel in the sun might be
seen upon earth, the fact that John could hear him without a 4 or 5 day lag
time shows the miraculous nature of this event.
It could be though that the angel merely blocks the sun yet is not
actually in the sun. However, it would
still be miraculous that all over the earth this angel’s voice could be heard.
13.2.
Since the earth itself is not going to be
destroyed when Christ slays all of the armies gathered for the Battle of
Armeggedon, evidently He wants to have the birds eat all of the flesh off of
this great army of people to be slain in order not to pollute the earth before
His kingdom is established in nearby Jerusalem.
13.3.
If we think that the Alfred Hitchcock movie,
“The Birds”, was scary, imagine what all of the people in this army are
going to feel when they see the skies turned overhead black because of the
gathering of all of the birds that are upon the earth.
13.4.
God’s judgment will be no respecter of
persons, nor of their station in this life, therefore John writes that those
whose flesh will be eaten consists of ‘all men, both free men and slaves, and
small and great’.
13.5.
In Ezek. 39:17-22, Ezekiel also wrote about
this feast that will occur for these birds on this day.
14.
VS 19:20-21 - “20 And the
beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his
presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and
those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of
fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword
which came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were
filled with their flesh” - The beast and the false prophet are both thrown alive into the
14.1.
There will be no ‘annihilation’ as
some in the church have erroneously taught and believed, for the beast and the
false prophet are here thrown alive into the Lake of Fire at the end of chapter
19, and yet we will see in chapter 20 that at the end of the thousand year
reign of Christ that they are both still there and alive.
14.1.1.Jesus often talked
about hell as being like a lake of fire.
14.1.1.1.Mark
9:43-48, “43 “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is
better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into
hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44 [where their worm does not die, and the
fire is not quenched.] 45 “And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off;
it is better for you to enter life lame, than having your two feet, to be cast
into hell, 46 [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 47
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out; it is better for you to
enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into
hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”
14.1.1.2.Matthew
3:12, “12 “And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly
clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
14.1.1.3.Matthew
25:41, “41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me,
accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and
his angels.”
14.2.
We have already seen in Rev. 14:9-10 that the
beast will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Lord and
the angels, “9 And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a
loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on
his forehead or upon his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath
of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb.”
14.3.
This verse, as well as some in the next
chapter, also dispell the erroneous teaching that the beast or the false prophet
are institutions rather than individuals.
These are real men being thrown into the lake of fire.
14.4.
We have already seen how that the false
prophet will be sort of the public relations director for the reign of terror
of the one-world ruler, the beast.
14.5.
In the next chapter, we will see that the
Devil (and surely all of the fallen angels also) will be bound in the Abyss
(Bottomless Pit) for the duration of the thousand years, only to be released at
the last in order to instigate a last unsuccessful rebellion against the Lord.
14.6.
The rest of the army will be killed on this
day, and their souls will go to hades in order to wait with all of the rest on
this earth who have died and who were not God’s people.
14.6.1.We will see at the
end of the next chapter that all of those who were not considered by God as His
people will be resurrected after the Millennial Reign of Christ, in order to
appear for the judgment of eternal condemnation for their sins. Hades will then give up the souls who are in
it, and all will go to the Great White Throne of Judgment of condemnation.
14.7.
We see in Rev. 21:8 that all those who are
not God’s people will eventually (at the Great White Throne Judgment) be thrown
into the lake of fire.
14.8.
The army is killed by the sword which
proceeds out of Christ’s mouth, i.e. by His Word (with which He also was able
to speak all things into existence).
14.9.
We see finally that the birds do in fact eat
all of the flesh off of all of the dead bodies of the army which has gathered
itself for