Revelation

Chapter 19
Notes and Thoughts

John now is shown five very key events that will take place before the world ends, God is about to "wrap up" human history and open the doors to the new heaven and earth that He has always planned for His creations, the humans.

If you have ever had any doubt that God was in control then read this chapter. Satan may have been in control of the earth, but now God has acted and destroyed all Satan had produced, "the corrupt harlot" of the world system. She has been destroyed, now the true Bride, previously hidden in heaven, is about to be revealed.

Heaven rejoices

Revelation 19:1-10.

"1 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:
2 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.
3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

"Alleluia’s," now fill the heavens. (This is the Greek form of the Hebrew "Hallelujah," which means ‘praise the Lord.’)

Verses 1-4: God has sent His judgement. Now God’s people sing His praises.
"The great whore" must be Babylon, the Satanic political systems and the false religious systems have now been destroyed. Both were found guilty of destruction of the people of God as well as rejection of God.

Verse 2: True and right are His judgements. The people do not directly rejoice over the destruction of Babylon, so many souls are lost to eternity. Heaven is rejoicing that the judgements of God are perfect.
Revelation 15:3

"3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints."

Revelation 16:7.

"7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments."

Verses 5,6: The omnipotent, (all knowing,) God reigns, God has always reigned in heaven, now He is to conquer the earth which has rejected Him. Because of His mercy, love and sovereignty, He has allowed evil men and angels to destroy His creation, now, He has carried out His plans on the earth, God has conquered the thrones of man and of Satan on earth. God’s people in heaven, a very large number, gives praise and rejoices.

The true Bride is ready.

Verses 7-10: The Bride, of course is the Church.
Revelation 19:7-10.

"7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Ephesians 5:27.

"27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

John 3:29.

"29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled."

Revelation 21:9.

"9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife."

Revelation 22:17.

"17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

The Bride, the church of believers, is prepared and dress in "the righteousness of saints." When the bride arrived at first in heaven at the Judgement Seat of Christ, she was covered in the spots and blemishes of sin,
Ephesians 5:27.

"27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

But now, on this day the Church is radiant in her glory, she has made herself ready for the service. However, this wedding is to be different, normally the bride has all the glory at a wedding, but today, it is the bridegroom who is to be the centre of the honour.

Jewish weddings take two stages, first there is the engagement, often arranged by the parents while the bride and bridegroom were young. This engagement could not be broken except by any unfaithfulness by one of the couple, and this involved a type of divorce.
On the wedding day the bridegroom would go to the home of the bride and claim her for himself, they then go to a wedding supper, the guests would join the couple in this feast, which could last for up to a week. Today, the Church is still in the ‘engaged’ situation, with Jesus Christ the future bridegroom. He will one day return and collect His bride from her home, the Rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

"13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

At the Judgement Seat of Christ the bride will be examined and ‘spots’and ‘blemishes’ removed. The bride, the Church of True Believers, will then be prepared to return to earth with Christ at the end of the tribulation.

Verse 9: There is an invitation to the wedding supper sent out, this is not an invitation to the bride, it is for the ‘guests,’ those believers from the Old Testament and those who turned to God during the Tribulation.

Verse 10: John is so overcome with emotion that he starts to worship the angel with him. Worshipping of angels is wrong,
Colossians 2:18.

"18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,"

Hebrews 1:4-6.

"4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6 And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. "

We do not worship any servants of God.

"25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man."

Christ will return.

Revelation 19:11-16.

"11 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.
12 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.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 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 wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

Verses 11-16: We have seen a rider on a white horse before, the antichrist,
Revelation 6:2.

"2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."

But in this case John is describing the Conqueror, the true Christ.
John now records the names of this white rider, Jesus Christ, putting emphasis on the names of Jesus.

Verse 11: "Faithful and True." Totally unlike the antichrist who was full of lies.

Verse 12: "A secret Name." We are not told what the name was, we will have to wait to be in heaven to know.

Verse 13: "The Word of God." The Father has revealed Himself through the Son, the incarnate Word.
John 14:6,7.

"6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. "

Verse 16: "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." This title shows His absolute power. His absolute victory.

John also highlights the appearance of the rider, his description of the rider as the King of Kings.
His "eyes were as a flame of fire," searching judgement which can see everything.
"On His head were many crowns," indicates his position, His sovereignty, His perfect rule.
"Vesture (clothes) dipped in blood," judgement. It is not the blood of Jesus but of HIS ENEMIES.
"The sword in His mouth," The Word of God. He speaks and controls the nations.
With His "feet" he treads on the wine press of the wrath of God.

Jesus is not alone in His conquest, the armies of heaven are with Him.

Who are they?

Definitely angelic beings,
Matthew 25:31.

" 31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:"

2 Thessalonians 1:7.

"7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,"

Also the Believers, the saints,
1 Thessalonians 3:13.

"13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."

2 Thessalonians 1:10.

"10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."

The world has set up its army, originally against Israel, but now turned to fight against the Lord. Their weapons are useless against the King of Kings.

The Heavenly Army.

Verse 15: There is an army from heaven with the Lord, but they do not need to fight, Christ Himself will defeat the enemy just by His Words, "out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword."

Verse 16: This is the King of kings and Lord of lords, there is no greater.

The armies of the earth are defeated.

Revelation 19:17-21.

"17 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;
18 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.
19 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.
20 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.
21 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."

Verse 17: The angel, standing very visibly in the sun, sends a warning to the people on the earth, calling "scavenger birds to prepare for a good meal."

This is the Battle of Armageddon.

This battle was anticipated in the earlier chapter,
Revelation 14:14-20.

"14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
20 And the wine press was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the wine press, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."

All that our Lord does is speak the Word and "out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:".

Verse 20:The leaders of this revolt and rejection of God, the Beast and False Prophet are defeated and captured.

Verse 19: The earth army is made up by many nations, "kings of the earth, and their armies," gathered together to fight God’s army. Having seen the terrible things that God had sent onto the earth during the tribulation how this army could expect to win a battle against the armies of God seems difficult to explain, Satan’s ‘Beast’ and ‘False prophet’ must have been very persuading.
John tells us that Satan’s earthly representatives are captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire, to start their eternal punishment. They will be later joined by Satan and those whose name is not in the "Book of Life" at the end of the thousand years of rule by Jesus on the earth,
Revelations 20:10-15.

"10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Verse 21: All the other people in this army from earth, who were against Jesus as Lord, were killed, their spirits and souls passed into a place called ‘Hades,’ the unseen world, to await the final judgement.
This battle turns out to be a complete slaughter, we are told that the birds of prey and scavenger birds are well filled.

The record continues into Revelation chapter 20.