Revelation 19:11-21 - The Sword of the Lord
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Revelation 19:11–21 (ESV)
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.
These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
Two weeks ago we saw the final judgment begin. Last week, we saw the accompanying salvation of the elect that will go along with the final judgment of the wicked at Christ’s coming.
But as I said last week, we had not yet seen the completion of the final judgment in this vision cycle. Tonight, that is what we are going to see.
John hears the rejoicing in heaven during the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and then:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
A few times the Bible talks about the heavens being opened. It is always written from the point of view of man on the earth - which remember, John is seeing these events from the perspective of the earth.
The first time we here of this, it is the prophet Ezekiel as a captive in Babylon who sees the heavens opened:
In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
He says that the vision he is given is a vision of God Himself. And we have considered that vision and the symbolism that is carried over into the book of Revelation. What Ezekiel sees is God in His glory, but as we saw, it is Christ that he sees. Not only is the symbolism of the four living creatures used there, but Ezekiel says:
Ezekiel 1:26–28 (ESV)
And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around.
And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
And while we won’t go over it all again, the description of this One with the likeness of a human appearance is Christ. The descriptions here match many of the descriptions of the risen Christ from the first chapter of Revelation.
We discussed the bow in the cloud and how that represents the reminder to God about the judgment of the Flood and how when Christ comes again He is coming with the bow of God and His arrows will be aimed at the wicked.
But the point is, the first time we see the heavens opened in the Bible, God reveals Himself in Christ.
The next time we read about the heavens being opened, we get another revelation of Who Christ is. Jesus comes to John the Baptist, and John baptizes Him, and we read:
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Both the Spirit and the Father here bear witness to Christ.
The next time we see the heavens opened is not coincidentally when the very first Christian is martyred. When Stephen bears witness to Who Christ is to the Jews, they stone him. And this is what we read:
Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Again, we have the witness of the Holy Spirit - this time from within Stephen. He sees the glory of God like Ezekiel. And He sees the Son of Man.
And at the end, when the great persecution is happening and we are waiting fully awake for the return of Christ, we will see the heavens opened and the Son of Man coming.
The last time before the book of Revelation that we see the heaven’s opened is later in Acts. Peter is alone praying on a housetop, and he has a vision of heaven opening:
Acts 10:9–16 (ESV)
The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth.
In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.
And of course, while Peter doesn’t see Christ, he hears Him - much like John has heard Him in Revelation a bunch of time. And this vision reveals to Peter that Christ is the Savior of the whole world. That nobody is now unclean based on their physical lineage.
So taken all together, the visions of the heaven opening in the Bible reveal that God is triune, that Christ is God, that He will save those of all the earth, and that He is coming in judgment.
That is what John is seeing here:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
And we have already seen this in the book of Revelation. In the seventh trumpet, which records the same events as what we are looking at tonight, we read that the trumpet blows, John hears the saints praising God in heaven for His now established reign and His judgment of the wicked - which is what we saw last week in the first half of this chapter.
And then:
Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
The Temple, of course, is heaven - the earthly Temple was meant to picture heaven. And the Ark of the Covenant is Christ - God’s presence with His people.
This is heaven opening and Christ coming.
Like here:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
We see here a white horse. This is not the first time that we are seeing a rider on a white horse. We saw way back in the second vision cycle the seven seals on the scroll that, as we saw, represent all of time between Christ’s two comings.
And we read this:
Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
Does anyone remember what this rider represented?
This is the Gospel going forth into all the world. This is the weapon of our warfare in the here and now - the message of Jesus Christ. It is the message of Him with the bow - as we saw in Ezekiel and earlier in the book of Revelation. It is the message of the King.
Remember, we are in a war!
And we conquer, as we also saw in the second trumpet, by taking back souls for Christ and destroying Stan’s kingdom bit by bit.
Here, we see the final and complete destruction of Satan’s kingdom:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
Here, the One on the horse is the object of the Gospel that we have as our weapon of war - the Word of God that the Word of God points to (and hold onto that thought for a minute, because we’ll be coming back to it).
Here, He judges and makes war. He has been making war all along through His church. As we saw in the trumpets - He has been judging the world in ways that point to the final judgment all along.
But here, He comes to judge finally and completely, and win the war finally and completely.
And note, He does all of this in righteousness. This is a just judgment He is rendering. He is righteous to judge.
And we also see that the rider here is called Faithful and True.
These are descriptions of Christ throughout the book of Revelation. Like when Christ addresses the church in Laodicea and refers to Himself this way:
Revelation 3:14 (ESV)
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness…
This is Who John sees coming from heaven:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
Then he continues:
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
We see here that His eyes are a flame of fire. This is another indication of who this is. We read in John’s description of the risen and glorified Christ in chapter 1:
The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
We see Christ refer to Himself this way in His address to the church in Thyatira:
“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
And the flame of fire represents the judgment of God. This is the Judge of all things from Whose eyes nothing is hidden. This is why His judgment is righteous.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
As we saw from back in the first seal, the rider on the horse that represents the Gospel of the King going forth wore a crown. But there’s more to it than that.
The word “diadem” is simply a transliteration of the Greek word διάδημα. There is another Greek word for “crown” that is used throughout the New Testament, including in the book of Revelation. But the word “diadem” appears only three times in the New Testament, all in the book of Revelation.
First, we see Satan wearing diadems:
And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
A little later, we see the sea beast that Satan gives his power and throne to, and it is described as resembling Satan:
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
Here, Christ is said to be wearing “many” crowns, showing Who really has authority. That the dragon - Satan - and his beast - worldly power - wear crowns shows their power over the world - its system and the reprobate that are part of the world. But it is a false claim to authority.
Here, Christ has “many” crowns because at His coming everyone will realize Who the true King is. He has the true claim to authority.
As Paul said:
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
But I also think there is more imagery being pulled from the book of Isaiah here. In that closing section - chapters 60-66 that we talked briefly about last week - we read this of the coming final salvation:
Isaiah 62:1–5 (ESV)
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
We see a lot of the same language here that we see in chapter 19 of the book of Revelation. The fire, the name, the diadem, the marriage - this is all about the return of Christ.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
And what is this name written that no one knows but Himself?
I believe it is the name YHWH. Why?
Well, because the Jews would never say the name. It was written in their Scriptures, but the name was never to be said. It was only a written name.
And the fact of the matter is that nobody knows what the name YHWH means.
It is not the name God gives to Moses in Exodus 3. There, God says “I am that I am” and to tell Israel “I am” sent him. Only there the word is אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה, which is a first person imperfect verb.
And the imperfect can be used for past, present, or future actions. So this can mean “I have been” or “I am” or “I will be”.
The word YHWH is the third person imperfect verb, so it may mean “He has been” “He is” or “He will be.” And of course, the verb became a proper name for God in the Bible. But as a standalone name - with no context around it - we don’t know what the word means.
And I don’t think it is a coincidence that nobody knows which tense to use - past, present, or future - when we are dealing with the God Who says:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
And in keeping with this idea - and with the Isaiah passage - Christ tells us this in the first vision cycle:
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
And this is a clear reference to the Second Coming. The Temple is heaven, and this refers to our eternal residence in the New Heaven and the New Earth, as we will see in the last vision cycle, as well.
And the “new name” of Christ is one and the same with the name of God - because this is when Christ will be revealed to everyone without exception as God Almighty.
And the writing of the name on His people refers back to the headpiece the High Priest would wear in the presence of YHWH in the Temple:
“You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.
And now, as Peter tells us:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
This is the elect. We are all priests.
As we saw in the third vision cycle, before the final judgment comes, something needed to be done to the elect:
Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
And of course, we saw the sealed are the 144,000 that John hears about, but sees:
Revelation 7:9 (ESV)
…a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
This is the elect of all time.
This is our final salvation when we will be with Christ forever:
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
And we see here again the tie in between the written or preached Word of God, and Christ Who is the Word of God. That’s why the Gospel of the first seal so closely resembles Christ Himself.
And notice here that He is clothed in a white robe. This is His righteousness. It is the righteousness that Christ clothes us in as His elect.
But also notice that the robe is dipped in blood. This refers to the atoning blood of Christ that has saved the elect. Even though He was completely righteous, He still bled for us to make us righteous.
But, realize, that is blood of judgment. He bled to take our judgment. And either Christ has taken our judgment or we will be judged. Either He has bled for our sins, or we will bleed for our sins.
So this isn’t just the atoning blood of Christ.
It is the blood of the judged.
Returning to Isaiah we read:
Isaiah 63:1–3 (ESV)
Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.
Christ was trodden in the winepress of God’s wrath alone for our sake.
And we see in verse 15:
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Which is a call back to the fourth vision cycle where we saw the winepress of the wrath of God:
And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
And as we saw, the judgment there takes place outside the city, which is where Christ was crucified - outside the city. All the judgment that takes place is the same, the only question is Who takes that judgment. It is either Christ Who takes our judgment, or we will take that judgment.
And here, Christ is coming to judge those whose judgment He has not taken, and all those whose judgment was borne by Christ - as we have seen - will come with Him in judgment:
And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
There we see the fine linen that we saw back in verse 8 tat belongs to the Bride of Christ, which is the church:
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Here, those of us clothed in the fine linen will meet Him in the air and return with Him in judgment:
And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
And this will also include the righteous angels. The whole host of heaven will come with Christ. We have seen how angels are used as agents of judgment throughout the book of Revelation. Here, they will be with Christ at the final judgment.
And how will he judge?
Revelation 19:15 (ESV)
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations
This is a reference to the Word of God. The Word of God judges by the Word of God.
The Word of God - the Bible - is called a sword multiple times in the New Testament. Paul encourages us to take on the armor of Christ, but to also arm ourselves with:
Ephesians 6:17 (ESV)
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
The writer of Hebrews tells us that:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And the sword of the Word of God is given by the Word of God Himself. He is the pinnacle of God’s revelation to us. This is why we saw that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. As we saw, this is talking about our testimony - the prophetic proclamation of the church.
Our calling is to reveal Christ to the world. Our weapon of war against the spiritual powers of darkness is the Word of God.
And the war will end when the Word of God Himself reveals Himself in judgment:
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
And just like with a word He created all that is, with a word He will destroy all that is wicked.
This is what the Apostle Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians:
2 Thessalonians 2:3–8 (ESV)
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
And when He does that, He will establish His visible reign, which we have seen the saints praise Him for over and over again in the book of Revelation whenever the Second Coming is symbolized.
And that reign is pictured here:
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
The “on His robe and His thigh” may be a bad translation. The word in Greek for “and” may also communicate clarification or specificity. So here, the name is written on His robe, specifically His thigh. Why is that important?
Because that is where a warrior would wear His sword. But the sword of the Lord is the Word of God. That John can see where this is written means there is no weapon there.
And note the name written: “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Many believe this is the name referred to in verse 12. But then this is not a name that nobody knows but Himself.
Regardless, this is not the first time we are seeing this name. Earlier in this vision cycle when the angels tells John what was about to happen, we read of the united wicked world under the anti-Christ and the war they make against Christ:
They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”
This is what we are seeing here. The chosen coming with Christ, and His conquering of the wicked - man and angel:
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
But there’s more here. This is not the first time that we read of the King of kings and Lord of lords. In 1 Timothy we read this:
I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
Paul here tells Timothy to persevere - to endure - until the coming of Christ. And at the proper time, He will will appear and display to all Who He is - the only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
And this ties in with what we saw with the diadems. Those that Satan wears and bestows on the beast are lies. They have no authority. Only the sovereign God Who Paul says is Jesus Christ - only He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
But where does Paul get this terminology from?
It comes from the book of Daniel.
In our Old Testament, which is based on the Masoretic Text, we read about Nebuchadnezzar being humbled by God because God makes him lose his mind and act like a wild animal. But when he’s learned his lesson - once Nebuchadnezzar realizes Who the true king is, God restores him, and we read this:
Daniel 4:34–35 (ESV)
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
But in the Septuagint - which is what the writers of the New Testament would have had - we read this:
Daniel 4:33–34 (LES)
At that time my kingdom was restored to me, and my honor was given back to me. I confess and give thanks to the most high, and I praise the one who created the heaven and the earth and the seas and the rivers and everything in them.
I acknowledge and I praise him, for he alone is God of gods and Lord of lords and king of kings, for he alone produces signs and wonders and alters the appointed times and seasons and durations of time, and removes the dominion of kings and establishes other's in place of them.
Don’t miss the significance of this. The terminology of King of kings and Lord or lords comes from the king of physical Babylon who realized that he had no real power.
And here in Revelation 19, Christ is coming against the king of spiritual Babylon. And the terminology of King of kings and Lord of lords is another indication that nobody - not kings in this world - not even Satan - has any real power. Because Christ is God of gods, King of kings, and Lord of lords.
On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
He will show the king of spiritual Babylon Who reigns.
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”
John then sees an angel call out to the birds to come and gather for the great supper of God. We see here that there is a contrast being drawn between this supper and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
While the elect will celebrate and dine at our final salvation, the birds will be called to dine on the wicked who have been judged.
And this is more imagery pulled from the book of Ezekiel. Speaking of the final judgment, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy:
Ezekiel 39:1–4 (ESV)
“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel.
Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
And then Ezekiel is to call to the birds:
Ezekiel 39:17–20 (ESV)
“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field: ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood.
You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord God.
And the fat beasts of Bashan, I believe, is a reference to the fallen angels, because as I have suggested before, Eden may have been on Mt. Hermon in Bashan, where the angels of Genesis 6 are said to have descended to commit their sins.
But more importantly, this prophecy - all of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 - are the prophecy against Gog of the land of Magog. Those two chapters picture the final judgment.
And part of that is God bringing His enemies against Him in one final battle - this is what the battle of Armageddon pictured - the battle of the Mount of Assembly.
And as we saw, it is God Who will being His enemies together against Him.
The prophecy in Ezekiel starts out like this. And forgive me for the long passage here:
Ezekiel 38:1–16 (ESV)
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.
“Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them. You will advance, coming on like a storm.
You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you. “Thus says the Lord God: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ to seize spoil and carry off plunder,
to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth. Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you,
‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’ “Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it?
You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
God will bring them out. The wicked of all the world will come together as one against God and His people whom He has gathered from all the peoples of the earth. And then God will vindicate His holiness before their eyes.
And the birds of the air will eat the flesh of their dead bodies - all their warriors - their whole army.
That is what John sees here:
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
This is that battle. The beast and the kings of the earth and their armies against Christ and His army. This is what we saw set up in the fourth vision cycle - the two sides of the war.
Chapter 13 - Satan and the beasts and those who take the mark of the beast on one side, and chapter 14: Mt. Zion - the church - who are marked with the name of our God, and the angels of heaven.
And the birds will be prepared to feast on the flesh of the losing side of the battle, and then:
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
The two beasts - worldly power and false religion are thrown into the lake of fire. And those that perpetrated this deceit - the power behind the throne and the originator of lies about God - Satan and the demons - will also be thrown there.
This is the fire Jesus spoke of when He told the parable about His second coming and the separation of the righteous and the wicked, and He says to the wicked:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
But before the wicked are thrown into eternal punishment:
And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
Jesus will win the final battle with a word.
And this is how the sixth vision cycle ends.
Next week, we will begin the seventh and final vision cycle.