The Lord is not so interested in telling you who you are going to marry or what is going to happen to you next week, the spirit of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword Revelation 1:16; Revelation 1:16. But it fails to account for the differences. Now the scene totally changes to heaven. Figuratively, with reference to the church. The white horse is the symbol of the conqueror, because it was on a white horse that a Roman general rode when he celebrated a triumph. The marriage feast will take place on earth following Christ's return with the The only right principle in everything is to go to the source of divine truth, and to seek there refreshment and strength and fitness for whatever our God calls us to. "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 show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." That was Jesus looking forward to the great Messianic Banquet. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 Everything that he decides is right and fair. . 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath 7 made herself ready. The battle is through. Then we have a description of Babylon given. It is impossible to refer it to the past with any show even of reasonable probability, I will not say of reality or truth. servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 19:4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Revelation chapter 19, beginning in verse number 1, the Bible reads "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". The fact is, in the very best authorities it does not exist at all. The relationship of the Christian and Christ must be the closest in all life. Babylon symbolized by its capital city of Babylon. That religious system has an incomparably nearer connection with this mysterious harlot than anything we have yet spoken of. We have here a note of time of signal value. It does not hinder, of course, that in the judgment of the dead each man is judged for his own sin. This has no time element attached. Had it been simply a persecution from pagans, what was there to wonder at in their deadly hatred of the truth and of those who confess it? In Daniel's time, and even to Daniel himself, the book was sealed. "I heard a great voice of much people in heaven": The people are the same with It is derived from halal ( H1984) , which means to praise, and Jah ( H3050) , which is the name of God. In that it "continues" to come forth, indicates this is not literal, but symbolic. The rebellion that had begun in the Garden of Eden is finally ended. man's day. In my opinion it is not absolutely so. They received their power as kings when the beast ceased to exist. 1:4; Heb. Revelation 19:4 "And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down There is nothing in Jesus to harm him; there is every thing to bless there is Himself to be enjoyed, even if they have failed in the full knowledge of it here below. The principle is very clear. I agree with the majority. Verse 4. Second, he alone has that purity which can judge without prejudice. The thought of the relationship between God and his people as a marriage goes far back into the Old Testament. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. It is a picture of final judgment. Verse 11 . If they have only heard His voice, this after all is the incalculable boon; yea, it is the turning-point of all blessing. 21:1-2). It is not complicated, just bare all to God. Isaiah 63:3. There are times when John sees the Lord himself. Nothing more is to be done. He wants you to have a relationship with Him, a loving relationship, not a legal relationship. From Revelation 4 through 19 we have a section mainly concerned with God's judgment upon the world preceding Jesus' earthly reign, the period known as the "Messianic Woes" or the "Great Tribulation." a. God's judgments are announced by a seven-sealed scroll, seven trumpets, seven signs, and seven bowls that pour out God's wrath. As usual John takes his picture from the Old Testament and is thinking of the terrible picture in Isaiah 63:1-3, where the prophet pictures God returning from the destruction of Edom; "I trod them in my anger, and trampled them in my wrath; their life blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment." The blessing given could not be taken back. God uses them for this object,-the setting aside of her, the great religious corruptress, whose centre is found at Rome. Once Jesus enters the battle, it is soon over. for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy ( Revelation 19:10 ). Verse 3. Then the book concludes after a solemn warning against either adding to or taking from its contents. But he tells us further that the Spirit of prophecy, who prophesies in this book, is the testimony of Jesus. 19:9-10a And he said to me: "Write! pl.") And as for the twelve tribes of Israel, they are merely written there, nothing more. Verse By Verse Acts Through Revelation can be taken as capably as picked to act. but it does not follow that various bodies are not raised at different times. It is to be supposed that it will far exceed anything yet seen on the face of the earth. Return First, he is remembering Psalms 97:1: "The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice." All this description closes in verse 5. The great city was either guilty Jerusalem or Babylon. heaven. "And the nations shall walk in the light of it." But along with that God warns of her ruin, and calls on His people (verse 4) to come out of her. "His eyes are like a flame of fire" seeing all the secrets of our lives. From his mouth goes forth a sharp two-edged sword (compare Revelation 1:16). 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse, and he who is mounted on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Verses 6-10: Omnipotent: God is all-powerful, and reigneth over His This bloodthirsty picture is again far more in line with Old Testament apocalyptic expectations than with the gospel of Jesus Christ. When the apostle Paul wrote to the, saints at Rome, he particularly specified at that very time the duty of absolute subjection on the part of Christians to the powers which then were. Have we not all heard of the balance of power? understand the testimony of Jesus, then you must preach and prophesy so that These were simply the characters of provisional judgment that filled the interval after the church was gone, and before the reign with Christ. "And he that spoke with me had a golden reed as a measure, that he might measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. All these things have their place in Babylon the great. They begin to worship, in a sense, the instrument that God has used. When any wrong is done, it will be dealt with. Echoing an earlier rabbinic comment found in the commentary of Rashi to the Songs of Songs (4:5) Ginzberg explainedthere is also a great bond of union between the first five commandments and the last five. The As man does not believe in the resurrection of man, it is no wonder that he does not believe in the resurrection of an empire. "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them (for he is Lord of lords and King of kings), and they that are with him, called, and chosen, and faithful.". Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (This takes you to our other website), News Links, Recommended Books, News Sites, and Bibles If ancient times failed fully to meet the requirements of the chapter, it is evident that the middle ages are passed without its fulfilment as a whole. ages, which becomes clear in the remainder of the book. I find no fault in Him" ( Luke 23:14 ). So, Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:1 "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God:" In the last chapter, we saw the terrible destruction of commercial and political Babylon symbolized by its capital city of Babylon. He just said it, "Let there be light," and light existed.And in the Hebrew it is even more intensive. But first, the first five verses show heaven's response to the judgment of the Revelation 18. The person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Redeemer, is in the centre of these future events. But now there is but one throne: Christ judges the dead. At his rebuke nations shall flee before him, And he shall reprove sinners for the thoughts of their hearts, There is a Rabbinic picture of the Messiah: "How beauteous is the king Messiah, who is about to rise from the house of Judah. I do not acknowledge the language to be either difficult or ambiguous. The verse numbering in . This rider is called "FAITHFUL AND TRUE"--"faithful" because we can depend on His promises. 13:9; Rom. "Five are fallen, one is, the other hath not yet come." In Christianity you have a God that is reaching out to man. And the coming of the Lord is urged in connection with it. The fall of Babylon being fixed, finished, and declared to be irrecoverable in the foregoing chapter, this begins with a holy triumph over her, in pursuance of the order given forth: Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets,Rev. So, the great religious system, spiritual fornication is that endeavor to worship God in an unprescribed way. The elders do show us the heavenly heads of priesthood (embracing, as I believe, the Old Testament saints and those of the New); i.e., they are not limited to the church, Christ's body. He treaded the winepress As the grapes are trodden to express the juice, so his enemies shall be bruised and beaten, so that their life's blood shall be poured out. They are not part of the body of Christ. God is sovereign. Again the righteousness of His judgment attested to. and in righteousness he doth judge and make war ( Revelation 19:11 ). (ii) It can equally mean the witness which Jesus Christ gives to men. Just like, as many other places Yet to this heavenly city, after Christ comes, the kings of the earth bring their offerings and their homage; but there is no excitement of the nations, no filthiness of fornication, no abominations, no blood-guiltiness. Every day you should be spending twenty minutes on your knees in prayer. That with it he should smite the nations - The nations that were opposed to him; to wit, those especially who were represented by the beast and the false prophet, Revelation 19:18-20. [Note: E.g., M. Eugene Boring, Revelation, p. 195; and Wall, pp. As noted in the commentary on Rom. And their voice on this In the midst of the broadway of it, and of the river, on this side and on that, [the] tree of life," bearing not merely as the original one did, but now according to the fulness of the provision of God's grace for man, for man in glory first, but for man on the earth also, but for man in glory "producing twelve fruits, in each month yielding its fruit: and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations." (i) It can mean the witness which the Christian bears to Jesus Christ. This is never the case with an angel. In short, it is not tropical language, as when it is said of the prodigal son "This my son was dead, and is alive again;" or of the restoration of Israel, which is compared to a resurrection from the dead for the rest of the world. willing to be his in the day of his power. "After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great crowd in heaven, saying, Alleluia, the salvation, and the glory, and the power of our God: for true and righteous [are] his judgments: because he judged the great harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?" See note at Revelation 1:16 and note; Revelation 2:12, Revelation 2:16. goes . I speak not of anything that might be deemed exceptional or peculiar, but of two acts of raising saints. There was not yet fairly out before men what God foresaw as that which must finally provoke His judgment. After a thousand years then they will be joined by Satan and the rest of the satanic beings or the angelic beings that joined with Satan in his rebellion against God. The voice that comes from the throne is most likely to be understood as the voice of one of the cherubim. frequently (4:8, 11; 5:9-12, 14; 11:16-18). Although Hallelujah appears only here in the Bible, it occurs in a translated form frequently. THE TE DEUM OF NATURE AND THE CHURCH ( Revelation 19:3-5 ), 19:3-5 And a second time they said: "Hallelujah! Men have been beguiled here and there, and from an early date, to set aside the true bearing of this chapter. Thus eternal judgment was executed at once. 4:17; see For remark, the beast or Roman empire is described here as that which once existed, which then ceased to exist, and which assumes a final shape when it reappears from the bottomless pit. Man on the earth has his portion in the goodness of a God who is manifesting His kingdom. These both [the two of them, the antichrist and his false prophet] were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone ( Revelation 19:20 ). In him was light; and that light was the life of man. This too must not be viewed as if it were a loss. "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city." The simple fact of conquering far and wide, and of exercising vast political power in the earth, does not constitute any title to such a name. sounds like a massive crashing of waves. He had His own self interest at heart when He told Eve not to eat of the tree. But the prophecy shows us the beast revived and the separate kings reigning for the same time, before divine judgment destroys them at the coming of Christ and His saints. But far from that he has, on the contrary, persevered in the same evil course, as badly or worse than his father. There is, however, a great deal more than this on the subject, and given with great precision in scripture, because this is merely the principle of sin in one or other form from the beginning. Take this quite simply and literally. At the end of the millennium the righteous and the wicked form two distinct arrays, though even then there would appear to be a line drawn between the surrounding camp, and the beloved city Jerusalem on earth, where the Jews were. For true and righteous are his judgments ( Revelation 19:2 ): All the way through we have had this affirmation that the judgments of God are true and righteous. This "great voice" here is He came to the world, and avenged His people on the beast and the false prophet with the kings and their armies; and after that the risen saints reign with Him over it a thousand years. It is no problem for the infinite God to reach to finite man. Worship: Only God is to be worshiped (compare 22:8-9; var _gaq = _gaq || []; Our most difficult task here is to discover the picture behind the statement that the warrior Christ has the name King of kings and Lord of lords written on his robe and on his thigh. "His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems." Revelation 12:7 "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels," "War in heaven": The tumultuous events on earth during the Tribulation find their counterpart in heaven. chapters While the term bride often refers to the church, and does so here (2 Cor. Isaiah says of the heavenly king: "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked" ( Isaiah 11:4). *The description here is simply character, not dates. The great harlot is judged because she corrupted the world. Third, he alone has the wisdom to find the right judgment and the power to apply it. Not that any of those judged (and the scene described is solely a resurrection of judgment) are said to be written there: we are shown rather that they were not found in that book. The word of God, Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 6:17 Indicates the power of Gods words, cf. Hence we have to own the divine source of government even when its holders abandon all such thoughts themselves, and maintain their rule in the world as a thing flowing from the people irrespective of God. There are always those that say, "What about the people that haven't heard? He has with him the armies of heaven. Such is the hard bondage which mere historical tradition imposes on its votaries. Then you may be very good all week long, and you put your little star behind each of the categories each evening. Thus such as were in the separate state were reunited to their bodies, and lived and reigned like those who were already on the thrones. And the [antichrist] 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 those that worshipped his image. This tells what Christ is depicted as doing in this scene. The millennial nations, "the number of whom is as the sand of the sea," fall a prey to Satan. What is the sword? You worship God. Of course they will be preserved through that crisis in some sort of way suitable to divine wisdom. stench and the potential for disease. First, then, this is the praise of the prophets and the martyrs who have witnessed for God with their voices and with their lives. According to the biblical narrative, Zerubbabel [a] was a governor of the Achaemenid Empire 's province of Yehud [3] and the grandson of Jeconiah, [4] penultimate king of Judah. "Let him that heareth say, Come." When Jews came over into Christianity, sometimes they brought this special reverence for the angels with them, forgetting that with the coming of Jesus no other intermediary between God and man can be necessary. "Faithful" is what belongs to a man. 4:13-18). Commentary on Revelation 19:11-21. The abusso or abyss is probably in the very center of the earth, because it is called and correctly translated "bottomless pit." 5:22-24), it ultimately expands to include all the redeemed of all Jesus at the Last Supper said that he would not again drink of the cup until he drank it new in his Father's kingdom ( Matthew 26:29). This passage calls God by a certain name; and says that he has entered into his kingdom. And unquestionably God has been awakening the attention of His people in a remarkable manner to the value of His word, and not least of all to the portion we are now examining. In his mind are two things. And the marriage is the eternal purified at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor. here. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, p. 381, 567-85.] 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. It is the "Word of God" that will conquor nations, not physical armies using force. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. harlot), and avenging the blood of the martyrs (7:9-17). Betrothal (often when the couple were children); Presentation (the festivities, often lasting several days, that preceded the Too bad, your unrighteousness Friday night. Righteousness of saints: Not Christs imputed righteousness granted to ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.". The battle joined. And so this is the hang-up of man as Paul said in Romans one, "They worshipped and served the creature more than the creator." (iv) There is fidelity. Only the Son of God can understand the mystery of his own being. Verse 2. to be worshiped (22:8-9; Acts 10:25-26). email us at: Here the vision was of thrones with sitters, and others caused to join them; and the inspired explanation is that it is the first resurrection the rising of the just from the dead. Revelation 19:8 "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine Hallelujah is a very common word in religious vocabulary but the only time it actually appears in Scripture is on the four occasions in this chapter. The things in the present and in the future are all designed to help God's children. (ii) A Greek came into the Church from a world of thought which made angel worship a real danger.