revelation 19 explained verse by verse revelation 19 explained verse by verse

He was the word of God in the revelation of grace; when known, by and by, it will be as the executor of God's judgments. I take it, therefore, that God intended this analogy to be noted by us; that it is not a pursuance of the prophecy, but a description of the holy city previously named, just as the other was a description of the corrupt city, whose judgment had been announced. There was not yet fairly out before men what God foresaw as that which must finally provoke His judgment. Then go into each of the twenty two chapters of the Book of Revelation one by one. This has no time element attached. the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.". If only an imperial city, what has this to do with mystery? (Hebrews 4:13). Judas returned the money to the priests saying, "I betrayed innocent blood" ( Matthew 27:4 ). Now we see the tree of life again. This too must not be viewed as if it were a loss. Link with Johns vision of Revelation 19:11-16 a meditation on the Hymn "Crown Him with many crowns" and also the stirring Hymn "Onward Christian soldiers." Isaiah sixty-three says, "Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? as the Complut. That God is holding back something good and He really isn't fair to you was the insinuation behind Satan's remarks. My righteousness is not on such a tenuous thing as my faithfulness to devotions or works or whatever. That is spiritually in chapter seventeen, that great religious system that corrupted the earth. 4. If so, they are there in the quality not of the bride, but of those invited to the marriage of the Lamb; but I do not think them the Apocalyptic saints for the simple reason that, as shown in the next chapter, the Apocalyptic saints are not raised from the dead yet. The glorified saints are to administer power in a way far beyond angels. God doesn't want you taking credit for the work that He does, receiving glory for His work. on Line But no believer comes into judgment. His blood-soaked robe signifies that his triumph has come through his death on the cross. This verse declares it, and there is no other interpretation that can stand even a moment's fair discussion. The strange thing to me, is that Jesus Every strange coded word and phrase is meant for this generation. This appears to mean the word of the Gospel, by which his enemies are confounded, and his friends supported and comforted. I do not doubt that there was a corrupt form in connection with Israel in times past. I. First, "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them." Therefore we find in connection with the book a most solemn warning. Hence arose the prominence of angels. And it was so. Isaiah 63:3. When any wrong is done, it will be dealt with. Nothing of the sort can be plainer. Verse 3. The first were such as came out of heaven after Christ, being already raised from the dead and glorified. see that it is in connection with the foregoing not merely His coming for us who will keep the sayings of it, but for those whom He will find here below "to give to each as his work is.". This is in total contrast to the harlot Babylon. There is no uncertainty whatever in the case. Now that time had come. "Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and just, for he judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and has avenged upon her the blood of his servants.". The events that are described within its pages were written for us today. For certain there are two great acts of resurrection, one when the Old Testament saints and the church are caught up to heaven, the other when Satan was bound after the beast and false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire, as well as Babylon judged. (ii) It is suggested that the name is Y-H-W-H. That was the Jewish name for God. His name: The Word of God, a name that none fully knows but himself, only this we know, that this Word was God manifest in the flesh; but his perfections are incomprehensible by any creature. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. But it fails to account for the differences. We find, accordingly, the four and twenty elders and four living creatures here brought before us for the last time. From Rome saints had suffered; and it was easy to see that the revealed persecutress is called Babylon, and identified with the governing city of Rome. So vast is this group that they are without number. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy: The central theme of both But here there is neither; and this again is an evidence of gain, not of loss. I sometimes judge without having all the facts in hand, and so my judgments are often wrong. the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath 21:1-2). Then follows the proclamation of the angel, and the invitation to the supper of the great God, to eat the flesh of all the great ones of the earth. And the LAST WORDS (22:6-21). These would appear to be (save Judas Iscariot, of course) the twelve apostles that were peculiarly associated with Christ in His suffering path on the earth. would be no salvation. is a word to him that hears. "His eyes are like a flame of fire" seeing all the secrets of our lives. Verse 7. It is no longer a question of sustaining His saints in grace, but of sovereign power for judging the earth. It is a wholly unwarranted interpolation. Let me just first emphasise again, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellow And though they are but a seed, a Revelation 19:3 "And again they said, Alleluia. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. He says: "The possession of the prophetic spirit, which makes a true prophet, shows itself in a life of witness to Jesus, which perpetuates his witness to the Father and to himself" A prophet's message lies in the personal witness of his life, even more than in the spoken witness of his words. believers lives, i.e., the outward manifestation of inward virtue. Jer. (v) It may be that we shall never know the symbolism of the unknown name but H. B. Swete has the very fine idea that in the essence of the being of Christ there must always remain something beyond man's understanding. Besides the bride thus arrayed, "He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb." And a voice came forth from the throne. Both small and great: All distinctions and ranks are to be transcended. But there is a message also for others. Figuratively, with reference to the church. The wrath of God is fierce! This disposes of many a web of comments; for we find at once what is perfectly simple, what any child of God who believes this to be the word of God must own. Indeed it must be so, because, as we read in the end of the last chapter, there the lost were cast. 4:17). Although there is such a levelling of human distinctions, and men have to do directly with God that is men raised from the dead or in their changed condition we still see the holy Jerusalem "the holy city, new Jerusalem," separate from the rest of those that fill the new heaven and earth. Here were thrones, and people sat upon them, changed 'before this into the image of Christ's glory. 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. Verse 11. In him was light; and that light was the life of man. We look at the vast universe in which we live, the material universe, and we realize that He created it. In general this has been either passed over in the chapter, or some unsatisfactory inference has been flung out, which can only embroil the prophecy. Once again John finds his inspiration in the words of Scripture. twelve disciples and twelve Old Testament prophets. THE AVENGING WRATH ( Revelation 19:14-16 ). "The woman" is the more general symbol designating her as the great imperial city; "the harlot" is her corrupt religious character, embracing papal Rome, but not ending with Popery as it is. It would have been incongruous to bring in that long description before, because this must have interrupted the flow of the prophetic stream. The reason is given at the close; not only "by thy sorcery were all the nations deceived," but above all "in her was found [the] blood of prophets and saints, and of all the slain upon the earth.". This rider is called "FAITHFUL AND TRUE"--"faithful" because we can depend on His promises. ( Rev 19:1) - 19:1 After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: This is obviously a great celebration in Heaven about a major event that took place on earth. Though they are not the bride, they still are glorified and She will despise everything really divine; she will only use whatever of God's word she can pervert for increasing her own importance, and gaining a greater ascendancy over the consciences of men, and enjoying herself more luxuriously in this world; for she will go far to obliterate all remembrance of heaven, and to make this world a kind of paradise which she embellishes, not with pure and undefiled religion, but with the arts of men and the idolatries of the world. Everything that belongs to the body of Christ is unearthly and unworldly. The woman was there seen sitting on a scarlet-coloured beast, i.e., the well-known imperial power of the Roman Empire, "full of [the] names of blasphemy" in its wicked opposition to God, and clothed with the forms we have already seen "seven heads and ten horns." We know that if He tarries, it is not that He is "slack concerning His promise," but that "His long-suffering brings salvation to many." I think, therefore, that the elders and the living creatures comprehend both the Old Testament saints and the church, the bride of Christ, that consequently, when the bride is mentioned, there were these others who had been included in the elders and the living creatures, but who are now seen as a separate body. and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.". Return [shepherd] . 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. What does the linen garment tell us about salvation? Old Testament prophecy and New Testament preaching is the gospel of the Lord It was important, just because it is the bride, the Lamb's wife, to show that angels are there, and further, that Israel is not forgotten. 11:2; Eph. For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of God's dedicated people. Scholz's note ("rec. II. Jesus found Himself at opposition with the religious forces of His day and it was the religious people who prompted the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. There is a distinct contrast between the city John describes and the ancient Babylon, in that the latter was built on the plain of Shinar, while the former is expressly said to have seven heads, and these explained to mean seven mountains. Christianity tells you that your righteousness is as filthy rags. It is to be supposed that it will far exceed anything yet seen on the face of the earth. No one can soberly deny that Babylon in some sort had a place then; but that the special, and above all, the full character of Babylon was manifested as here portrayed is another matter. So, it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is imparted to me through my faith in Jesus Christ. small and the great mean everyone which includes all human categories and Well, the folly of men today that think that they are able to fight against God and to come out victorious. understood literally. bring the climax of the Book of Revelation: the return of Christ to establish ceremony. He is coming to trample the wine vat. Hence a song of praise from the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures is a Te Deum from the whole of the Church and the whole of nature. For who knows not the horrors of Mariolatry? Clearly, therefore, it is future. In my opinion it is not absolutely so. Revelation 19 New International Version Threefold Hallelujah Over Babylon's Fall 19 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! The decem-regal division of the broken empire in the West, as all know, was long after Rome had ceased to be heathen. It was the destruction of the imperial unity of Rome that gave occasion for the well-known ten kingdoms which the barbarians set up afterwards. are no other than God's covenant people, who are given to Christ, and made "Praise our God," it said, "all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.". And there are times when the angel appears to John. all the faithful believers saved by grace through faith up to the birth of the Bad as pagan Rome was, it would be false to affirm that it ever had come out of the bottomless pit. Amen. 3:12-15: 2 Cor. They were in three distinct stages which first involved the betrothal or I do not acknowledge the language to be either difficult or ambiguous. Zerubbabel led the first group of Jews, numbering 42,360, who returned from the Babylonian . The son is doubly guilty, because he saw his father's nakedness and felt it enough to hide. Who does not see that this is precisely analogous to the verse which opened the description of Babylon? That age of visible glory is inefficacious to change the heart of man, though in the absence of the enemy and the controlling presence of the great King, they render feigned obedience for a long while. We take this phrase by itself, because it is both ambiguous and important. By and by, after our translation to heaven, He will work, and as vitally in those who bow to God, when it will be the reception of the prophetic testimony which is here owned to be none the less the testimony of Jesus. Those who are invited to the marriage supper are Israel (see article Marriage The color of crushed grapes reminded the ancients of blood, death, and battle! What is the "righteousness of the saints" that they are clothed with? He hath bound his loins and gone forth to war against those who hate him; kings and princes shall be slain; he will make red the rivers with the blood of the slainhis garments will be dipped in blood.". If my righteousness were dependent upon my keeping the Law, or keeping rules or regulations-Let's say that we said that every day you should be reading five chapters out of the Bible. Who was it; Marx, that said, "Religion is the opium of the people?" Hallelujah literally means "Praise God". And out of his mouth proceeded 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 of the wrath of God, the Almighty. I do know that whatever He does will be absolutely fair. And He is called the True witness. Revelation provided a message of hope: God is in sovereign control of all the events of human history, and though evil often seems pervasive and wicked men all powerful, their ultimate doom is certain. (1) A mighty angel comes down from heaven. They will then treat her with contempt and shameful exposure. It cannot be done till the moment comes. Here now is the rejoicing which was called for. Hence this certainly must be future. How this precisely fits in, let me say, with the state of feeling in these modern times; for "constitutionalism," as men call it, is the fruit of the Teutonic system supervening on that of the broken up Roman empire. But is there any reason why we should content ourselves with the measure enjoyed of old? In Christianity you have a God that is reaching out to man. The iron rod is showing his ability to protect them. He has with him the armies of heaven. The fine linen, clean and white, represents the ( John 1:14 ) And now again He comes as the Word of God. Jewish dreams were full of the warrior Messiah, who would lead God's people to victory and smash his enemies. For there follows another company of martyrs who suffered when the beast set up his worst and final pretensions. smite the nations . "The second coming of Christ is an absolutely essential theme in New Testament theology. Commentary on Revelation 19:11-21. The description of the great Commander, 1. Christianity teaches that God is reaching down to man; exactly the opposite of religious thoughts, man trying to reach God. There is therefore much to be said for the ]Protestant application of the chapter as compared with the Praetorist theory of pagan Rome. The voice of this great multitude was as the voice of __________ ______________. Reuchlin. (iii) He judges and makes war in righteousness. Testament (compare Psalms 104:35; 105:45; 106:1; 111:1; 112:1; 113:1; 117:1; So for the most part in the book of Revelation, there will be the angel speaking to John and revealing to him the things that were being revealed to him by Jesus Christ. Here is faith and confidence; and the whole point of this passage is that that faith and confidence are vindicated. I am the, Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. receive our inheritance, we must read the will. It means true in the sense that Jesus Christ is the one who brings the truth and who never at any time has any falsehood in anything that he says. Hence the effort of some to prop up a manifestly false reading. Then the book concludes after a solemn warning against either adding to or taking from its contents. In Judaism there was increasingly stressed the transcendence of God, because of that it was increasingly felt that man needed some intermediary. Consequently they sat upon the thrones at once; while the two latter classes, described in the rest of the verse, were still in the separate state "and the souls." The speaker isn't identified but is probably an angel and refers to God as our All believers in Accordingly these are the two main objects of judgment brought before us in the chapter. That is religion. 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. They are not seen here as the bride. Gates of hell can never Gainst that Church prevail. There was judicial discernment with the distinct possession of all titles to sovereignty. Return to Home Page The absence of a temple is therefore no loss but a gain for this city. But according to His principle of government it is not merely personal guilt, but that which, from despising the testimony of God, is thus morally accumulating from age to age in the ratio of the testimony of God and the wickedness that has been indulged by men in spite of it. "True and righteous are thy judgments, O Lord.". There are always those who are ready to challenge the fairness of it. _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); Again the righteousness of His judgment attested to. And he saith unto me, These are the The church goes on according to the will of the Lord, who might according to His own purpose lengthen or abridge the space. When the beast dares to fight with the Lamb He shall overcome the beast; and they that are with Him, "called and chosen and faithful" terms, as a whole, entirely inapplicable to the angels. Centuries after came in, not only the division into east and west, but the broken up state of the west, when there ceased to be an imperial chief. We can fairly trust God that He will not give a worse place to Paul; yet I do not think that this is his place. This chapter explains how it was that Babylon was so offensive to God, and wherefore He judged her thus sternly. "He has a name inscribed which no one knows but Himself." We shall find, on the contrary, its aspect is toward the universe, yet is there the special place of Israel; and quite right it is that it should be so. this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?" rather than differing reality. And so the first two inhabitants of Gehenna will be the antichrist and his prophet and they will be the soul inhabitants, it would seem, for a thousand years. here. ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.". The person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Redeemer, is in the centre of these future events. He equally expresses what God is. instead of one of the other names of Jesus, to show that we have been cleansed 19:9-10a And he said to me: "Write! Now the scene totally changes to heaven. In the former verse God invited all the ravenous fowls to a supper, he here showeth their cheer. With that love of freedom which they carried from their German forests, they would not allow the one iron rule of the ancient empire to subsist longer, but set up each their own kingdom in the different fragments of the dismembered empire. Let us bear this in mind. And here is John falling on his knees before the angel that is giving him all of this revelation and he is so overawed and thrilled with what is in store for him he falls at his feet to worship him. 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? And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword by which these rebellious armies are destroyed. And as for the twelve tribes of Israel, they are merely written there, nothing more. He comes to execute vengeance, and with a sign of death for rebels. ", 2. Revelation 2:27; Revelation 12:5; Psalms 2:9; Psalms 45). The word of God, or the judiciary sentence of Christ according to it, and which he will fully execute, to the utter destruction of all his enemies; :- that with it he should smite the nations; the Gentiles, the Papists, the antichristian states, those that have adhered to Babylon, and have drunk of the wine of her fornication. Such is the hard bondage which mere historical tradition imposes on its votaries. Revelation 19:4 "And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down Four beasts: The four beasts are the cherubim as described (in Rev. The "saved" is a term which, so far from belonging to the nations, is expressly applied to the Jewish remnant when it is a technical term. And Jesus sits on the great white throne. This very naturally filled him with intense wonder. * Even the Complutensian editors give the right text here; and it would seem that Erasmus failed to use his MS. aright. judgment. This is just a statement telling us it will never be built And her smoke rose up for ever Revelation 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. (iv) There is fidelity. The voice that came out of the throne said what? faith during the Tribulation (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Zech. Marriage of the Lamb: Hebrew weddings consisted of 3 phrases: (1) We find that Jesus is called the faithful witness. The individual has his own fruit too. I do not, of course, complain of particular persons, but of the general vagueness in which the passage has been taken unless, indeed, the more common course be not to ignore it. I agree one hundred percent. . The marriage supper of the Lamb represents the millennial kingdom of Christ, "And the nations shall walk in the light of it." Thus the only use that seems made of the book is negative and exclusive. Consequently Christianity, as being directly aggressive on the falsehood of heathenism, was of all things the most offensive to Rome. John here was so awed by all of this that he fell at this angel's feet to If not blessing it judges. I am accounted righteous by God because I believe and trust in Jesus Christ. A single verse dispels clouds of arguments. We desire that He should come quickly, but we leave this to Him, because we know His love, and can trust Him. "Yet is" is a most unfortunate expression. ", This chapter is one of the most dramatic in all the Bible. . that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. The unrenewed of the nations are now compassing them with their countless hosts, as if to eat them up like grasshoppers. That is, there was first the literal Babylon, of course; but here it is symbolical. "[48] No "battle" of any kind takes place here. He sees the glorious creation of God and he worships the creation, rather than the creator.And so John is making the same mistake and the angel corrects him and says don't do that. A mysterious lawlessness inherits the well-known name of Babylon when Rome is brought forward; and it does not merely embrace Christian times, but the end of the age after the church has gone, when the course of divine judgment comes. Here we have the purely Jewish idea of the Word of God. THE KING rides at the head of His armies. They begin to worship, in a sense, the instrument that God has used. The horns and the beast join in hating the whore. saints. Here it is the positive worship of the creature besides the Creator, yea, and notoriously more than He. Justly does she gather her title from the old fountain of idols and of combined power without God: confusion being here the characteristic element, the designation is taken from the renowned city of the Chaldeans, the first spot notorious in both respects. The marriage between Christ and the church proclaimed and perfected, ver 5-10. Babylon is the parent of the "abominations of the earth." In the last chapter, we saw the terrible destruction of commercial and political 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. First, then, this is the praise of the prophets and the martyrs who have witnessed for God with their voices and with their lives. So we are obliged to translate the single word, e.g. It will help to show us that, whatever may have been the past conditions of Babylon, there is a future one; and it is in that future one that Babylon is to perish. 25:1-13; Luke 14:15-24). Omnipotent means 1 Thessalonians 3:1-3 Commentary. I expect to be there in that heavenly scene declaring, "Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God.". Then again the character of it, as derived from Christianity having already taken its place, is asserted. After that Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.". But then while there is such a call to Christ, while the believer is not to be afraid, but to call on the Lord to come, the church does not forget those that are poor sinners, let them be deeply conscious of it, or let them be those that are only made willing by the grace of God (which is the feeblest expression of the sinner's need, just as you have the feeblest expression of the saint in the previous call). Yet religion, be it ever so corrupt, acts as a restraint on human will, as a government does, however evil. Just like, as many other places In short, it is as we saw in Revelation 17:1-18, after Babylon had been brought before us in the course of the prophecy. by His sacrificial blood. "And fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them. He has condemned the great prostitute The fact is, in the very best authorities it does not exist at all. Choose a verse from 'Revelation 1' to begin your 'Verse-by-Verse' study of God's Word using the more than 100 commentaries available on StudyLight.org . In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. And God said, "Let the waters above the firmament be separated from the waters below the firmament." When you couple that with "Lord", which means Moral unfitness has its just censure; but sovereign grace must be asserted also. It means And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." They would have a big dance and party, as they would crush all of the grapes, they would get the juice out of them. For I am not aware that any scripture treats of the subject, beyond laying down principles such as we have sought to apply to the case. 2 Everything that he decides is right and fair. the 144,000 seen with the Lamb on Mount Zion (Revelation 14:1), and with those on You can't start with a finite base and reach to infinity. Then, as we have seen, comes the final test of the nations of the earth after that kingdom has run its course, and the devil let loose once more deceives flesh and blood after the analogy of all other dispensations. Their doom was awful, but by no means after the same sort as their two leaders. And it is pretty well ascertained that there was a discussion among them, even to the suggestion by one of the most wicked of their emperors, whether Christ should not be owned and worshipped in the Pantheon, hundreds of years before Constantine, indeed from the earliest epoch of the gospel.