Revelation 19 Part 2

Revelation 19 Part II Remember we are in the midst of the section that describes the end judgment of those enemies of the Lord and His bride, the dragon (chapters 20 and beyond), and here the beast and false prophet (from chapter 13). Observations 1. I saw heaven opened...this time it is not merely a door, it is heaven itself, anticipating the riding forth of the Lord almighty to judge the earth, the beast, and the false prophet. 2. Behold a white horse...this was He we first met in chapter 6 as one of the four horsemen, who here is seen again at the end coming to finish what was begun; before He was said to come conquering and to conquer, now He comes to finish judgment. 3. He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True...the two designations show that He rides to complete His betrothal and promised redemption, and the latter to show He judges rightly. 4. In righteousness he doth judge and make war...here is the answer to the term true, by which He righteously judges and engages in warfare against those allied against us and our God. 5. His eyes were as a flame of fire...His are eyes that penetrate and see, knowing all, seeing all, He comes with those eyes that are inflamed in majesty and divinity, full of vengeance. 6. On his head were many crowns...He is after all the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and He will possess all crowns on heaven and on earth. His authority is given of the Father, which was designated as all authority. His battles are many and His victor laurels are innumerable. 7. He had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself...perhaps it speaks of the peculiar favor that is His given by the Father. His is an especial majesty and glory which no man can know. His splendor is unfathomable and His wonder unsearchable. 8. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood...this is not the blood of the Lamb seen here, but the blood of His enemies. See the similarity with Isaiah, 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. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? 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. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come (Is. 63:1ff), and what John saw in chapter 14, And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. 9. His name is called The Word of God....what John once said some thirty or so years before, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, is here again alluded to, as the eternal logos is He that is the sum of the living Word. This speaks to the name which no man could know. He is the embodiment of the Word of God, He is that which is His Word, as John said, No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. 10. The armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses...He is followed by the host of heaven, all the angelic beings that are also mounted in battle; with Him they ride forth to do His bidding in war. He comes to make war with the beast, the false prophet, and the dragon, and shall prevail in the end. 11. Clothed in fine linen, white and clean....like Him they are of His creation and kept holy by His own majesty; His army is that of a righteous calling. 12. Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations...we see the means by which He makes war, how it is He conquers, it is all by the logos, Him, His word, the word, which makes war and brings the victory. By His word He has bound the strong man, He has plundered his kingdom, He has brought the victory, with it He has smote the nations. So, while we are observing the end of the beast and false prophet, we still observe that this is an elongated process, which over this age reaches its climax in the end, at the final Armageddon, when He rides forth to finally subdue and judge them all. 13. He shall rule them with a rod of iron...He once said to the church of Thyatira, And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father, where that woman Jezebel had gained a foothold in their midst; it was by His word that they would gain the victory and subdue her. It was by His word and is by His word that He judges her. The whore has been judged. Now He rides to judge the beast and false prophet. He subdues all our enemies by His word. We saw this at the beginning of this section in chapter 12, where it was said, And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. We then with John are seeing Him that we saw before in this fashion, in chapters 1, 2, 12, and 14, as He makes ready to ride forth in final conquest with the host of heaven. He has been engaged in this warfare since the onset of this age, His design is to conquer, plunder, and subdue, and now He is readied here to complete that work. 14. He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God...remember this whole section is of the wrath of God, which is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men in this age, which will be fully expunged. What better than to see Him again as the One that has been saddled and riding forth to complete the objective of judgment and wrath in this present age. 15. He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written...here is where the covenant promise is reminded, as the thigh where Isaac swore, where the sign of Abraham was given, to the Seed is the promise given. Now is revealed that name which no man could know, it has been revealed, it is being revealed, and in His final subduing of our foes and His it will fully be declared that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. From the beginning this was the mystery revealed. He is the Word of God. 16. I saw an angel standing in the sun...here is the summons of the beasts that come to dine upon the carcasses of the defeated. Here is the angel that is in the heat, splendor, and brightness of the sun seen heralding the coming end of all His enemies, even though it is not yet come. The carcasses of His enemies and ours shall lie in the streets, shall be baked in the afternoon sun, left for their rot. 17. To all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven...from the heavens come the beasts to dine on their flesh. Their end and ruin is as sure as sure, so that the beasts can be summoned while as yet the carcasses are not yet strewn. But like a battlefield left after the battle, so the beasts are prepared for a feast. 18. Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper...like before we saw the bride made ready for that great supper, here the contrast is drawn for the beasts to be made ready for He that shall at once appear to lay them ruin who were His foes and ours. The supper we attend is accompanies with the judgment of them. 19. That ye may eat the flesh of kings...the kings of the earth, the beast that arose from the sea, from humanity, which is and was and shall be, is here readied as carrion for the vultures that shall dine on their rebellious corpses. They who once sat on thrones lie open in the baking sun to be devoured. For they have been laid low by the King of Kings and His myriads of hosts. 20. I saw the beast...here is what this all has been building toward; first the whore, now the beast and false prophet, and soon (20f) the dragon. 21. Gathered together to make war...they have been at war, and here we have the allusion to the final end, that which we heard before designated by God that said it is done, when they shall once and for all at that which was called Armageddon, be laid to waste. It represents not a coming, long, protracted battle, but a readying of the final day, when the forces are all made ready and for an age engaged, shall fall in a moment! They have for this whole age been made ready for this moment of their demise. 22. And with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him...first the beast, Babylon, the empires and kingdoms of men, along now with that lamblike beast, where nations wed with the false prophet, like Rome and the Holy Roman Empire, corrupt, apostate, judged, they shall all fall in an instant! 23. Both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone...here is the end, here is Armageddon, not a battle on earth, but the final subduing and judgment of them all, as God declares it is done, and hell opens agape to swallow them up. He casts them as the millstone to the depths of lasting and utter judgment. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, He shall speak and it shall be done, we gathered to that great supper above, their carcasses, empires, and memorials left strewn for the rot, as they as cast to eternal perdition forever. 24. The remnant were slain with the sword of him...see how it never changes, but the Word is what subdues them, as it did on the cross, when Jesus said, It is finished! So shall be their end! See how sudden is their end, as it says in 2 Thessalonians, For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. There is no great sign of the end, but simply the end, when God shall declare it is done and Christ rides forth to slay them all with the Word of His mouth. This age is the age of God's wrath. It is the age of Christ's conquest and revelation of Himself as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is the end of all allied forces against Him, the Godhead, and His elect. "We have seen the end of men who bear the mark of the beast (15, 16). We have also witnessed the fall of Babylon (17:1f). We have read the description of Christ's victory over the beast and false prophet (19:11f). All go down in defeat. Their discomfiture is not complete until the day of Christ's coming in judgment. Then all go down together, even though their histories have been presented under different symbols and in separate paragraphs. One foe, the leader of them all, remains. It is the dragon, Satan. His ruin is described in the final section of Apocalypse (Hendriks)." Doctrines I. Eternal perdition. It is readied and prepared for a lasting memorial to the enemies and rebellious against so great a God and His Son. II. The holiness of God. See how never a word is spoken against the rightness of God and His Son; their work is impeccable and beyond reproach. III. The mystery of Christ the Lord. His is an ever increasing revelation of His person, His work, His glory, and His work in saving and conquering. IV. The sum of the ages. The ages are two; that preceding the coming of Christ and that the revealing of Christ having come, that anticipating the coming conquest and that of the great conquest, that prefiguring salvation and redemption and that completing the whole of divine glory in redemption. Uses 1. For our courage. 2. For our victory cry. 3. For our delight. 4. For our hope. 2