End times series:
Revelation 19
By Liaf
We are on the subject of Christ’s Second Coming here. I must say, going through this end-time series is challenging, and to this very day some minor details bother me. Doing this series helps me to "iron out" these details to re-emphasize them in our minds. Sometimes the teachers learn with the students. As I read other sources, listen to tapes, or study other ministries here on the Internet, I see (as I said from the first day) that no two agree on everything. This subject is complex. However, many agree on the main events that occur in a certain order. And we take a position of a literal fulfillment of prophecy. The trouble with some liberal theologians is that these prophecies are interpreted historically only or perhaps as an allegory. In that case, we respectfully disagree and believe the literal interpretation is the correct one. One would need to do a lot of imaginative allegorizing to claim that there will not be some sort of future fulfillment, and a literal Second Coming of Christ. For the rest of the ministries that believe there is a future fulfillment, they mostly believe in a Tribulation, an Antichrist who rises to power, severe persecution, the Second Coming of Christ, and a final judgement. What we may not agree on is the timing of the rapture (or if there is any at all), where Antichrist comes from, or the meaning of symbols (such as Revelation 12). These are what I call the "details". Such things will not make enemies out of me (no matter how nasty I sometimes sound J ). I am my own worst critic; I sometimes question my own interpretations or beliefs to see if they contradict any other scripture. I am constantly rerunning things through my mind. And writing these messages forces us to solidify any "on the fence" position where we normally dismiss them in our minds. We must either go one way or another. With that being said, I believe all that was said thus far (and what we believe) is verifying itself--- no serious contradictions that I can see. Readers? Anything that was said in one message appear to contradict another? Let us know. Sometimes it’s just my poor choice of words--- or as an ol’ Dutchman (which I am) would say, "I don’t talk too goot." Let’s turn our King James Bibles to Revelation 19 and understand God’s Word to us:
Revelation 19:1-9: And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
After several verses of praise and accolades for God’s righteous judgement, we see that the wife of the Lamb (the church and all believers there in heaven) is ready to be married to Christ. The fine white linen represents the righteousness of the saints. However, we must remember the source of that righteousness. Remember that parable that Jesus told about the wedding feast that nobody came to (Matthew 22)? Many are called, but few are chosen. Not too many respond to God’s invitation. So people everywhere were beckoned to come. The parable ends with a man being condemned because he did not have a wedding garment. I often wondered why the King was so cruel to the guy who had no wedding garment when he at least came to the feast? I was indignant at this passage until I understood it. In that culture, the guests were given garments to wear. To wear anything else was an arrogant insult (worse than not coming). This represents that righteousness is given on God’s terms, not man’s terms. God is not so hard up for converts that he will stoop to mans’ standards. Thus, this parable parallels the idea of the fine, white linen. The marriage is consummated in heaven and the bride (saints) will return with Christ for the marriage supper here on Earth (Matthew 25). Let’s continue reading:
Revelation 19:10-14: And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Please, do not confuse this white horse rider with the one in Revelation 6. The one in Revelation 6 is Antichrist who comes with a bow but no arrow. He is released as one of the seals. Now Christ would not be there in heaven releasing himself, but instead comes back to Earth in Revelation 19. Compare this horse rider. He is Faithful and True. There is no need to explain that. Was the false Christ (the beast) that way? No. He looked good, only to turn sour. This horse rider makes war in righteousness. He has eyes of judgement with many crowns. He has a garment dipped in blood (of his enemies) and is called The Word of God. John 1:1 says who that is. This is none other than the victorious Christ returning to make war on his enemies. What about the "name written, that no man knew, but he himself"? What does that mean? I don’t know. The Bible says no man knows. If I claimed I did, I would discredit my whole message by proving myself a liar. This is like the seven thunders that John was not allowed to record. I can speculate, however. Revelation 3:12 also mentions this. And the context is such that Jesus is promising the overcomer with blessings in the new heavens and Earth. It’s a newness or recreation theme. Likewise, this is the Lord of the new order of things: the Kingdom of God. That’s my two cents. Notice the armies that come back with him. Their attire is the same as stated earlier in verse 8. These are the saints (the church) coming back with Christ. I do not know what could be clearer. If they are coming back with him, they must have been with him (and not for a very short time in a "U-turn" rapture, either). Many ministries, including orthodox Christianity have their disagreements on the timing of the rapture and resurrection of Christians. I can see both sides. I understand where they are coming from and the arguments might even be compelling. However, whenever there is an issue "on the fence" such as this, I often turn to apocryphal literature to see what those writers believed. Enoch 2:1 says, "Behold, he comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgement upon them, and destroy the wicked…." Someone may respond, "But Liaf, that is not the inspired Word of God." I won’t comment. But let’s just say this. Jude 1:14-15 quotes this same passage. "But Liaf," protests an evangelist, "just because he quotes it does not mean it’s inspired." Tell ya what. He believed enough of it to quote it, and nobody denies that the book of Jude is inspired. Therefore, by virtue of Jude’s quotation, that makes it inspired. Actually, I do not think this rapture issue is really "on the fence" as much as some claim it is. I already stated several logic problems regarding a "post-Trib" rapture. Some "Lost Tribe" ministries may shudder in horror that I am the only so-called "British Israelite" that believes in a pre-Trib rapture. They will present their material as if all of Christianity is ignorant and they alone have inside information. The problem I have with that attitude is that denying a pre-Trib rapture basically requires we sweep this apocryphal stuff under the rug. And that, my friends, does not sound like somebody who has inside information. (You’d think they would suck up this information instead.) With all this said, let’s complete this chapter:
Revelation 19:15-21: And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Out of the mouth of Jesus Christ comes a sharp sword to smite the nations. These are those gathered together at Armageddon to fight. An angel will call the birds everywhere to feast on the carrion from this great slaughter. What does the sword represent? Is this literal? I believe "yes and no". There will be a real slaughter, and there is something that comes out of the mouth of our Lord to slay these people. We may debate the nature of this sword, however. (These are one of those details I mentioned about earlier that can be bothersome.) In Luke 2:35 the idea of a sword is used to discern the motives of the heart. In a more likely application, both Ephesians and Hebrews equates the Word of God to a sword. In the former, it is called the "sword of the Spirit". In the latter case, it is used as a "discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart". Just as God spoke and everything became into being out of nothing (according to Hebrews), likewise he can speak and true judgement can be revealed. Judgement from God results in a sinner’s death.
In a similar passage in Zechariah 14 (but not in the same location), the Lord will stand on the Mount of Olives to split it in half for those in Jerusalem to flee. Even at the time of the very end, there will be military campaigns against Jerusalem as well. For those who are left, the Lord provides a way for his people there to flee just outside of Jerusalem. Read that chapter to see what kind of plague afflicts those people. Some have suggested this is a nuclear blast or great heat of some sort. Again, I am not sure of the mechanism the Lord will use to make peoples’ flesh rot off even as they are standing. You take your choice. But whatever it is, it will happen. This is as good as any science fiction movie can get. This sets the stage for the judgement before the millennium.
In spite of all the Armageddon slaughter, the Lord will save those two bad guys (the beast and false prophet) for a much worse fate: the eternal lake of fire. The Lord wanted then punished in a special way. The birds will eat the others that will fall. This puts a humorous and ironic twist on things. Wasn’t it Jesus who once said, "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" This, of course, is applicable today in a much less violent connotation. But I find it interesting that in the end, God takes care of the birds all right! They not only live like kings, they are eating them (and all the others as well)!
When Jesus returns, there will be a "sheep and goat" judgement as stated in Matthew. This separates out the good from the evil people who are yet alive after all this Tribulation. I will deal with that more in the next chapter, and I will also go over some other items in that passage of Matthew that deals with Armageddon (so that the two are not confused).