Wednesday, December 23 –
It is mid-week, but the last
reading before the weekend. Let me say
in advance, Merry Christmas to you. Our
readings are almost finished. Today we
finish reading Revelation 19:11 – 20:3. Please read the passage and come back
to walk through it again.
I don’t how you feel, but as we left Revelation 18 and the final judgments, the
burden of this all feels lifted. The
drama of the end times is written by John in imagery that at times is horrific
and hard to grasp in reality. As we near
the end of this Revelation John has received, we realize that the overall
picture John is writing about is that Christ Jesus ultimately prevails over
evil as one who “was, is, and is to come” (Revelation 1:8; 4:8). There are many interpretations of how these
events in Revelation unfold, and this short devotional cannot do justice to the
many ways to view this. I am in favor of
a more literal view, which does not mean I don’t see symbols, imagery, and descriptions
that must not be translated literally. I
believe John is trying to write straightforwardly what he hears and sees. What is apparent as we read the Revelation is
that evil exists, and God’s judgment of evil “has” taken place, “is” taking
place, and “will” take place in a final way.
Jesus Christ “is” King of kings and Lord of lords, and “will be” that
also in the end. We pick back up in Revelation
19 as John begins to see the events that lead to Christ’s coming again to the
earth.
“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” (19:11-14).
John had seen “heaven opened”
at the beginning of the heavenly revelation in 4:1. At that time he had been
ushered into heaven to see the throne room of God, the lamb, Jesus, who he saw “as
one who had been slain”. As well, he
saw the heavenly hosts of both angels and saints. John was ushered in to view the end-time
tribulation – “For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can
withstand it?” (Revelation 6:17). Yet in the midst of the great
judgments Christ gathered his church – “Then one of the elders asked me,
“These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I
answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of
the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:13-14).
John saw the warfare of Christ’s heaven and Satan – as dragon,
beast, false prophet - upon the earth (Revelation 12:3-12). John had watched it all revealed, and now, he
sees heaven opened again, but this time it is not that he might “come up”, but
that Jesus would “come down” to claim His Kingdom on the earth.
Jesus is the rider on the white
horse who is called “faithful and true”, a King in all of his royal
splendor (crowns or diadems), and his title was “The Word of God”
(19:11-13). John sees what he had
written at the beginning of His Gospel – “In the beginning was the word, and
the word was with God, and the word was God…” (John 1:1). Jesus has a name that only he knows –
mysterious – the secret is purposeful.
Christ’s robe is “dipped in blood” (19:13), which means he comes
as “the lamb who was slain” (5:12), which is the reason to begin with he
had the right to open the scroll and claim the earth (5:9). Jesus has with him the “armies of heaven”,
which might be angels, but also could be the redeemed saints (cp.
17:14). The weapon of Christ and his
army is not swords, tanks, missiles, but a “sword from his mouth” (19:15). John had seen it before in the beginning
(1:6), and in the words Jesus spoke to the church in Pergamum (2:16). He comes with the word of God as his only
weapon. Paul had written to the
Ephesians to fight the enemy with the armor of God, but the only offensive
weapon they had was “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
(Ephesians 6:17). Christ has “all
authority in heaven and on earth” through His word. Martin Luther understood that as he wrote the
hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, and speaks of the power of God’s
word:
“And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
John sees Jesus conquering
through His word. The power of the Gospel is what will undo the power of evil,
sin that is the Devil’s stronghold. Now
John sees Christ as the conquering King and not just the lamb who was slain.
“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” (19:15-16).
The world system under the
deception of Satan has rejected God’s word as truth, and now the word of God
will prevail. Jesus is not just “a” nice
teacher or “good” person who did good things.
He is the King of kings, and Lord of lords – the one who will overthrow
evil and rule over a renewed creation. As John observes, the scene shifts to an angel
that is “standing in the sun”.
Since angels are created by God with different features than humans, we
could be reading something quite spectacular which would get the attention of
all of the earth. We could also be reading
that John saw the angel against the backdrop of the Sun. The angel addresses birds – probably carrion
– to come feast on the flesh of those that are about to die in the great battle
of Armageddon.
“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” (19:17-19).
There’s nothing pretty about
birds eating dead carcasses, except that it helps clean up the mess. Perhaps John is remembering Jesus’ words to
his disciples on the Mount of Olivet – “For as the lightning comes from the
east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (Matthew 24:27-28). This is twice in the last part of the
Revelation that a supper is convened.
The marriage supper of the lamb is followed by Armageddon (14:14-20;
16:13-16), which is the “great supper of God” for the birds! For John,
it must have seemed to be a sober thing, because imprisoned on an island for
his faith, he sees that the persecution is not the end, but the evil behind the
persecution will face the justice and judgment of the Lord God Almighty!
“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” (19:20-21).
The beast and false prophet, are
thrown into the lake of fire. I have to
pause for it is easy to read over it and not see the doom of rejection and rebellion
against God. These two are the first
ones to experience the eternal torment that will follow for all others who
followed their rejection and rebellion.
Satan had lied to Adam and Eve in the garden, “…the serpent said to
the woman, You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4-5). He lied then, and he
lies today, for he is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Christ conquers the source of evil and those
who followed after it.
John Phillips
writes this to describe the end: “Then suddenly it will all be over. In
fact, there will be no war at all, in the sense that we think of war. There
will be just a word spoken from Him who sits astride the great white horse.
Once He spoke a word to a fig tree, and it withered away. Once He spoke a word
to howling winds and heaving waves, and the storm clouds vanished and the waves
fell still. Once He spoke to a legion of demons bursting at the seams of a poor
man’s soul, and instantly they fled. Now He speaks a word, and the war is over.
The blasphemous, loud-mouthed Beast is stricken where he stands. The false
prophet, the miracle-working windbag from the pit is punctured and still. Another word, and the panic-stricken armies
reel and stagger and fall down dead. Field marshals and generals, admirals and
air commanders, soldiers and sailors, rank and file, one and all—they fall. And
the vultures descend and cover the scene” [1]
Jesus prevails. He defeated the armies of the Kingdoms of the
earth that rejected his rule. He defeats
the leaders of Satan’s evil army – the beast and false prophet are thrown
in the lake of fire, the final place of punishment. Lastly, Jesus prevails against the fallen
angel – Satan.
“Then I saw an angel coming
down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great
chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil
and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit,
and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations
any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released
for a little while” (20:1-3).
The bottomless pit is deep,
dark, and holds Satan, the ancient serpent of the garden, the
Devil and he is bound and thrown into this black-hole pit for a thousand
years. The pit is shut and sealed. This is not his eternal place, but a place that
holds him that he might not have the ability to foster his evil and lies while
Jesus establishes his reign. Satan was
cast out of heaven (12:9) and now he is cast out of the earth! For the first time since the early days of
creation, mankind is free of his destructive work. We live with the dream of that kind of world –
at peace, without sin, safe for all, ruled by love, full of grace, and God’s mercy.
A world with purity and understanding of both God and others. It will come when Christ Jesus comes. Later we not see why John would finish this
off with the benediction “even so come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
Peace
[1]
John Phillips, “Exploring Revelation”, Moody Press, page 236, quoted in
Chuck Swindoll, “Insight Commentary on Revelation”, page 276.
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