III. THE FUTURE (“THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE HEREAFTER"), PART
2b--6:1-22:21
C. The Second Half of the Tribulation, Part
7--19:1-21
7. The Climatic End--19:1-21
a. The marriage of
the Lamb--vv. 1-10
(I)
The four hallelujahs--vv. 1-6
(A) The first hallelujah--vv. 1, 2
(1) The meaning of the term
(a) A Hebrew expression
(b) Occurs very frequently
in the Palms particularly the later ones--cf. Psalms 146-150
(c) Millennial Psalms (such
as 106) sometimes has this word; in fact, one might say that it is a
millennium
word.
(d) Means "Praise to Jehovah"
(e) Only here in the New
Testament --"because the Messiah when He came to Israel, although
received by
the wise men with exceeding joy, and gladdening the hearts of the poor
shepherds,
was rejected
by Israel. and crucified; victory was postponed, and hallelujah can be
uttered
only by faith
when the church is filled with the Holy Spirit and becomes a prophetic
testimony
of
grace. Personal hallelujahs can be given to God, but the
triumph that brings the universal
hallelujah
to all holy things is yet in the future! Indeed, mercy and grace were
too soon
forgotten,
and.papal bondage entered into by the Church itself. The harlot Babylon
rises--the
woman drunken
with the blood of the saints.
"It is not
the time for hallelujahs.
"Not until
Babylon, the harlot, is completely overthrown, swallowed up in divine
indignation, as
we see in
Revelation 17; and not until literal Babylon (Chapter 18) is completely gone,
and all
Babylonian
things have disappeared forever, does hallelujah burst forth from all holy
hearts."--
Newell, 292-293;
italics are his.
(2) This hallelujah is the result of Babylon's
judgment.
(3) This hallelujah is given by "the great voice
of much people in heaven"--representing perhaps the
Old Testament saints.
(4) Praise to God for salvation, honor, glory,
and power.
(5) Praise to God for His true and righteous
judgments.
(a) Because God has judged
the great harlot
(b) Because God has avenged
the blood of His servants which they suffered at her hand
(B) The second hallelujah~-v. 3
(1) Also based on the judgment of Babylon
(2) Also declared by much people of v.
1
(3) The smoke of Babylon's burning
(a) Not of hell--since
this word is nowhere in the context
(b) Rises forever--taken
literally, this would mean that Babylon may be a burning heap into eternity.
(c) Cf. 18:18; 19:2 for the
context of this burning
(C) The third hallelujah--v. 4
(1) Now the twenty-four elders--whom this writer
says is the church--takes up the praise with the four
living beings.
(2) "Amen"--So be it Lord--precedes their hallelujah,
thus "expressing the utter consent of those most
intimately connected with
the divine throne." (Newell, 293)
(D) The fourth hallelujah--vv. 5, 6
(1) The voice from the throne
(a) It is not the voice of
the Lord Jesus, for Jesus never used the pronoun "our" in
connection-with
God; it is
always "My God and your God," "My Father and your Father."
(b) The preposition is not
ek, out from, but rather apo, off, away from. Here it
is, similar to ek
(which
may be the way the KJV understood the term), but more with the significance
of "from
the edge
of,” thus, the voice came from by the throne and therefore, was probably
one of the
angels.
(Which one is a matter of conjecture, but this writer would favor
Michael or Gabriel,
for both were
associated with Israel and this judgment against Babylon is ultimately on
account
of Israel.
)
(2) The voice commands praise to God from all
saints of God and those that fear Him.
(a) This writer makes no
distinction between the term servants and those that fear Him.
((I)) Cf.
Psalm 134:1; 135:1
((II)) If
a distinction is to be made, the former would be Israelites and the
latter Gentiles, but not
the church.
(b) By application it could
refer to saints in any age including the present church age.
(3) The response of the mighty chorus
(a) The voice of a
great multitude
((I)) Now
we may sing in parts.
((II)) Then
we shall sing in unison.
((III)) The
voice of many waters
((A)) Speaks of many voices united as one--notice the singular
"voice"
((B)) Many waters may well mean the same as in 17:15 although not
representing the same
group of people, multitudes, nations, and
tongues.
((IV)) The
voice of mighty thunders
((A)) Again, note the unity of the voice
((B)) So great is the number included in the united voice that it sounds
as thunder, not just a
nice clap, but a tremendous boom.
(b) Their response
((I))
Hallelujah--Praise to Jehovah!
((II)) The
reason for the praise.--"The Lord God omnipotent reigns."
((III)) Cf.
Revelation 11:15
((IV)) The
Lord Jesus is about to reign here on earth; therefore, this declaration is
so
appropriate here.
(c) Although much of this
scene involves the saints of the tribulation and the great multitude
who
are redeemed
in that period, this writer for one can not help thinking that all the redeemed
of
every age
will join in united voice to say: "Hallelujah, The Lord God Omnipotent
Reigneth."
(II)
The marriage of the Lamb itself--vv. 7-10
(A) The inexpressible climax of God's redemptive program--v.
7, 8
(1) Newell, 295 --"Let us reflect that this 'marriage
of the Lamb' has been the longed-for and
looked-for event of age
upon age.
(2) Gladness and rejoicing at this event
(a) A marriage is generally
a time of gladness and rejoicing.
(b) This time is particularly
a time of gladness and rejoicing, for it is a long awaited event.
Even
those of us
who may be caught up to be with the Lord at the rapture,will wait nearly
seven
years for
this glorious event.
(3) The marriage of the Lamb is come.
(a) The time of this
event is the question here.
((I)) The
verb is in the Greek aorist tense, one of the most interesting but
difficult tenses to
interpret.
((II)) "The
fundamental significance of the aorist is to denote action simply as
occurring, without
reference to its progress."--Dana and Mantey, 193. "It presents
the action or event as a
'point.'"--op. cit., 194.
((III)) However,
the aorist may look at that point event from different points of view.
((IV)) The
best point of view here, to this writer's way of thinking, is
that this is a "Dramatic
Aorist," namely, that it is "used for stating a present reality with
the certitude of a past event."
--op. cit., 198. As Dana and Mantey point out further,
"It is commonly used of a state
which has just been realized, or a result which has just been accomplished,
or is on the point
of being accomplished."
((V)) Therefore,
this marriage has just taken place, or is just about to take place.
(b) Notice, that the bride
is ready--here she is already spoken of as "His wife." This is
in accord to
the oriental
custom (particularly Jewish) that equates our term engagement with the same
restrictions
as the marriage relation--cf. Joseph and Mary (Matthew 1:18, 20, 24; in
Luke's
account he
uses the word "espoused wife"--which word can signify the the marriage
agreement
had been made,
but the marriage was not yet consummated.)
(2) The person of the Bride
(a) Who is this one to be
the bride of Christ?
(b) John pictures her as
the "New Jerusalem."
((I)) Cf.
Revelation 21:2, 9, 10
((II)) This
writer will have more to say about this bride when he comes to that
passage.
(c) The New Testament abounds
in this marvelous figure.
((I)) Matthew
9:15
((II)) John
3:29
((III)) Romans
7:4
((IV)) 2
Corinthians 11:2
((V)) Ephesians
5:25-33--the chief passage
((VI)) The
two passages in Revelation
((A)) Chapter 21
((B)) 22:17
(d) That the bride of
Christ is the true church should be evident, particularly from the
Ephesians 5
passage.
(e) That this is the case
seems to be verified by verse 8 of this text, for this bride is arrayed
in fine
linen which
is the righteousness of the saints.
((I)) Compare
with Ephesians 5:27
((II)) This
is the verse, coupled with the Ephesians passage, that is generally cited
to suggest that
an earthly bride should wear white. However, the Greek word is
lampron which can be
rendered bright; thus, a bride is not wrong in wearing something
other than white.
(f) It may be objected that
since the tribulation is part of the context, and that Israel is spoken
of as
the Wife of
Jehovah in the Old Testament, it would be better to take this bride
as Israel.
((I)) Answer
# 1--The New Testament Scriptures given above
((II)) Answer
# 2--The scene in this passage is a heavenly scene (cf. vv. 1, 5, 6) which
would
preclude Israel which as a nation was still on earth.
((III)) This
is the marriage of the Lamb with His bride--Israel is never so pictured
either in the
Old or New Testament.
((IV)) "Israel
is both divorced and widowed." (Newell, 800) For all practical purposes,
her
relation to Jehovah is one of death. She will be the restored
wife of Jehovah God in the
millennium, but this does not make her the Bride of Christ, God's
Son.
(5) The importance of this marriage
(a) The great delight of
God and the fulfillment of our Lord's words--Matthew 22:1-14
(b) "This marriage is the
great anticipation of Christ."--cf. Ephesians 5 (particularly v. 25).
"His love
for His Bride,
the Church, is, as it must, be, and that, eternally, a peculiar, particular,
husband's
affection,
and without measure!" (Source unknown) Men, our love for our wives
should be that
way according
to Ephesians 5:25.
(c) "This heavenly wedding
is the great prospect of all holy beings"--heavenly ones, of course.
"It
is . . . the
height of holy joy to every heavenly being, this marriage of the
Lamb!" (Source
unknown)
(d) "To bring in this festal
day in heaven, Satan's earthly system was overthrown." (Newell, 299)
((I)) Certainly,
this marriage could not take place, let alone be celebrated, until the false
claimant,
i. e., the harlot Babylon--the false church--was judged
and destroyed. Her claim to be the
Bride of Christ had to be put down first. As we see the increasing
dialog between apostate
protestants and Romanism continuing at an even greater pace, Romanism--which
already
claims to be the true Bride--will swallow up the other apostates together
with various other
religious systems. Thus this great harlot, Mystery Babylon will have
to be put down before
the true Bride of Christ is manifested.
((II)) The
Heavenly wedding can not have peace and joy with all gladness when there
is present
jealousy and conflict of the false bride.
((III)) "Just
as the triumph of holiness over iniquity is necessary for public peace,
so
indignation,must give place to satisfaction of heart for such an occasion
as the heavenly
wedding." (Ibid.)
((IV)) There
must be the "participation in God's holiness and holy judgment" before there
can be
participation is the Son's marriage. (Ibid.)
(e) The four hallelujahs of vv.
1-6 are intimately connected with the celebration of the marriage of
the Lamb.
((I)) They
are part of the immediate context.
((II)) The
statement of gladness and rejoicing of verse 7 (though it was
treated separately) is
part of the hallelujah of verse 6.
((III)) "Through
age on age, the heavenly hosts have burned with ever increasing expectancy
toward this culminating day of divine joy!" (Newell, 300)
(6) The marriage bliss of the Lamb and His
Bride
(a) "The bliss of the marriage
of the Lamb is without limit. It is the PERSONAL DELIGHT of
Him who created
all things!" (Newell, 301; caps are his.)
(b) An earthly marriage can approach
this to a small degree and should so approach this bliss.
(c) Well does Newell (Ibid.)
say: "The love of bridegroom and bride is a delight each in the
person
of the
other. This is why marital love is so often so wholly unexplainable!
We say, 'what did he
see in her?'
or, 'Why did she choose him?' There is no answer but one--love."
(d) Song of Songs gives an
inspired picture of this love. But even it, as inspired as it
is, fails
because human
language fails to picture the bliss of the Lamb and His wife, the Church.
(e) Again the words of Ephesians
5:25 come to the fore: "'gave HIMSELF for it." Herein lies the
real secret
of this bliss.
(f) Again, Newell, 301; italics
are his.: "Here then is a marital love, a tenderness, an
appreciation,
and a delight,
that will grow for ever and for ever. Oh, wonder of wonders,
that such a
record can
be written! Christ will never change in His affections! What
must the ages hold for
the wife of
the Lamb!" Again this writer reminded, you husbands--as well as
himself--that this
kind of
love, according to Ephesians 5:25, is to be shown to our wives.
(g) Newell (Ibid.): "And
the love of that Bride, the wife of the Lamb, will correspond
to that of
her
husband--unceasing, increasing, for ever and for ever!"
(7) The Bride is "making herself ready"--v. 7b
(a) In this phrase together with
verse 8, one finds the "Preparation for this marriage." Notice that
verse 8 says:
"And to her was granted" (Greek says, "given") thus indicating that
this preparation
"is an absolute
bestowal of divine grace." This "is not, . . ., salvation" which was
given while on
earth.
(Newell, 304; italics are his.)
(b) This is a special giving of
grace from God which enables the bride, the church, to become
arrayed in
her fine linen dress.
(c) The fine linen
((I)) Righteous
acts of the saints.
((II)) Greek
is dikaionata, "which means 'righteous things' or 'acts'"
(Ibid.)
((III)) Newell
(Ibid.): "These bridal saints were declared righteous in Christ when
first they
believed. The bridal array for the wedding is something absolutely
different." "Garments are
woven little by little; and thus were woven the materials for her, the Bride
of Christ."
((IV)) These
garments represent "manifested righteousness" and are doubtless the
Spirit-led
works which we are exhorted to exhibit here.
((A)) Philippians 1:11
((B)) Ephesians 2:10
((C)) Galatians 5:22, 23
((V)) Oh, how
imperfectly do we allow those garments to be woven in our lives.
(8) What is the marriage?
(a) Certainly it is the presentation
of the Church to Himself as you can read in Ephesians 5:27.
(b) As Newell (305; italics are
his.) notes, "We constantly read in Scripture . . . of a man taking
a
wife unto himself.
We get our attention, at an earthly wedding, fixed on the
ceremony forgetting
that the real marriage is 'this man taking unto
him this woman' to be his wedded wife."
(c) The divine illustration of
Christ's taking the Church as His bride is found in Genesis 24:
when
Rebekah returned
with Abraham's servant, we read, "Isaac took Rebekah; and she became
his
wife:
and.he loved her." (Newell, 306; italics are his.)
(B) The marriage supper--vv. 9, 10
(1) The marriage and the marriage supper seem
to be distinct from each other--v. 9
(2) Obviously the guests are not the bride. "No
bride needs an invitation to her own wedding!"
(a) John the Baptist makes this
distinction--cf. John 3:29
(b) He will be at the marriage
supper as a friend of the Bridegroom--a place of singular honor,
but
he is not part
of the Bride.
(3) Psalm 45
(a) Herein is pictured the second
coming of Christ, the King, at the beginning of the millennium.
(b) Verse 9b--The queen--wife of
the King, Jesus Christ, or the Bride of Christ, the church.
(c) Verse 10--The bride will forget
her former state in the presence of her heavenly King.
(d) The King will greatly desire
her beauty--v. 11. He is the Lord and is to be worshipped.
(e) Verse 12--Notice that another
will be present as a guest, bearing a gift. This one is most
probably in
the light of v. 1l--Israel, who will forever defer to Bride of
Christ, the Church. (cf.
Revelation 21)
(f) The Bride is presented to the
King in vv. 13, 14 (the phrase "within" may refer to being in the new
Jerusalem after
and during the millennium.).
(g) The virgins, her companions,
may correspond to the five wise virgins of Matthew 25--they
appear in the
Song of Songs as the "Daughters of Jerusalem " (They are
not bride as some
would insist,
but rather are guests.).
(h) Evidently, four groups are
here presented.
((I)) The Bride
((II)) The
guests
((III)) The
virgins who apparently join the wedding feast as per Matthew 25:10 z
((IV)) Those
ready and looking for their Lord when He returns from the feast which would
be an
earthly scene--cf. Luke 12:35-40.
(4) Who the guests are may not be easy to determine;
the bride being the church, the guests can not be.
(a) Newell does not determine this,
although he raises the question.
(b) Alford fails to say.
(c) In order to decide, it is necessary
to determine the place of the supper.
((I)) Revelation
19:9 makes. a simple statement of blessing upon those called to the
supper.
Nothing is said of the place, although the context suggests heaven.
((II)) The
gospel records, however, seem to indicate that the supper takes place on
earth. and
would have reference to Israel.
((A)) Matthew 22:1-14
((B)) Matthew 25:1-13
((C)) Luke 14:16-24
((III)) If
statement ((II)) is correct, and there is much to prove it, then clearly
the guests are
Israelites and Gentiles who accept.
((A)) The invitation would occur during the tribulation, many rejecting it,
some accepting it.
((B)) Then Revelation 19:9 would be an anticipatory announcement of the
supper that will
follow on earth; "the announcement is being made in heaven
prior to the return to earth for
that event."--Pentecost [Things to Come?]
((C)) Pentecost suggests: "The wedding supper, then, becomes the parabolic
picture of the
entire millennial age."
((D)) This interpretation, then, makes the virgins Israel, part of which
is wise and part which
is foolish.
(5) God to be worshipped, not His servants--v.
10
(a) Herein we have one of those
incidental occurrences that has vital doctrinal import.
(b) John,so overwhelmed by these
revelations, naturally fell down to worship the revealer.
(c) But the revealing angel, the
Roman church notwithstanding, tells John not to worship him, for "I
am thy
fellowservant."
(d) He is also the servant of
John's brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. This
statement has a
dual
character.
((I)) John,
as a believer, represents us of the church age who are saved.
((II)) John,
as an Israelite, represents the tribulation saint.
((III)) Both
aspects are true, for angels minister to both believers now (cf'. Hebrews
1:7, 14) and
to saints.during the tribulation (several passages in Revelation)
(e) The worship of God paramount.
((I)) WORSHIP
GOD
((II)) Reminds
one of the first and great commandment
((A)) Exodus 20:3-6
((B)) Matthew 22:37
((III)) The
Greek has this phrase emphatically as if to say: "Let worship
be reserved for Him."
(f) The reason for not worshipping
angels, but worshipping God alone
((I)) One reason
has been stated: "I am thy fellowservant."
((II)) "The
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
((A)) The Greek here is marturia, literally, martyr, or witness.
((B)) The idea, then, is "The way in which we bear this witness, the substance
and essence of
this testimony, is, the spirit of prophecy."--Alford,
IV:726
((III)) The
Word spirit is not capitalized in the Authorized Version, but it very
well could be;
therefore, it would refer to the Holy Spirit Who alone is the spirit of
prophecy. As Alford
(Ibid.) suggests "every one of those" having the witness of
Jesus does not have, "in the same
distinguished degree, the Spirit of prophecy; but every such one has
the same Spirit, and that
one Spirit, and no other, is the Spirit of prophecy."
b. The second coming
of Jesus Christ --vv. 11-21
(I)
Can be subtitled, "The Great Day of Wrath"
(II)
The conquering Christ--vv. 11-16
(A) The Rider on the white horse described--vv. 11-13
(1) Not the same white horse as in Revelation
6.
(a) The second through fourth
horses in Revelation 6 are associated with the earth, and therefore, is
the first
one.
(b) This white horse with
its rider is associated with heaven.
(c) The rider of the
white horse in chapter 6 has a bow and a crown given to him and goes forth
to
conquer, but
nothing is said about him being faithful or true.
(d) The Rider on the white
horse here in chapter 19 not only makes war, but He also judges (v.
11); nothing
is said about the rider of the white horse in chapter 6 doing any judging.
(e) The rider in chapter
6 has a crown; The Rider in chapter 19 has many crowns (v. 12).
(f) The rider of chapter
6 appears at the beginning of the tribulation; this One of chapter
19 comes
forth at the
end of the tribulation.
(g) In chapter 19, the Rider
is very carefully and clearly identified; no such clear cut identification
is
given concerning
the rider of chapter 6.
(h) The trouble lies in the
fact that interpreters see the similarities and jump to their preconceived
conclusions
rather than carefully examining the differences as well as the similarities
and letting
the Scripture
speak their own conclusion.
(2) The Rider of the white horse identified
(a) He is Faithful and
True.
((I)) John
14:6
((II)) Revelation
3:14
(b) The Word of God--John
1:1, 14
(c) King of kings and
Lord of lords--v. 16
(d) Therefore, He is none
other than the Bridegroom, the Lamb, even our blessed Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
(3) His description--v.12, 13.
(a) Eyes as of a flame
of fire
((I)) Cf.
Revelation 1:14
((II)) Recall
that these speak of His searching, judging quality.
(b) Head crowned with many
crowns
((I)) As noted
before, these distinguish Him from the rider of chapter 6
((II)) Here
He is seen as the conquering King of kings.
(c) The Name that no man
knows, but Himself
((I)) Revelation
2:17
((II)) Revelation
3:12
((III))
Philippians 2:9-11
((IV)) What
this name is is idle speculation; but in the light of the verses just
stated, we who are
born-again will in some way be associated with
that Name.
((V)) The
word "knew" in the Authorized Version suggests a past tense; the Greek
apparently
has the present tense, "knows."
(d) His clothing
((I)) Dipped
in blood
((II)) This
speaks of two things.
((A)) His redemptive work when He shed His own blood for our sins
((B)) His judicial work when He walked the winepress alone
((1)) Verse 15
((2)) Cf. Revelation 14:19, 20
(e) His name is "THE WORD
OF GOD."
((I)) This
leaves no doubt as to Who this One is.
((II)) He
is the very expression of God.
(B) The armies of the Lord--v. 14
(1) They follow Him on white horses--it would
seem that this too would preclude the rider of chapter
6 being the same as The One
here.
(2) Clothed in fine linen white and clean
(a) Where has this
phrase before? Verse 8, of course.
(b) Revelation 14:20 suggests
that more than one white horse is involved.
(c) Cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:1.3
.
(d) Jude 14
(e) Revelation 17:14
(f) In the light of these
passages, the armies must be the saints--the believers of this age
in
particular.
(g) The only difficulty with
this interpretation is reconciling it with the bridal idea in this chapter.
However, this
difficulty is not insurmountable, for it pictures the church in two different
aspects.
(C) The conquering King--v. 15, 16
(1) The sharp sword out of His mouth
(a) For the smiting of the
nations
(b) His word--He speaks;
it occurs--just as in the days of creation.
(c) Cf. Hebrews 4:12
(d) This war is the "pent
up divine outburst of indignation, of outraged holiness,
majesty, love
and truth!"--cf.
Isaiah 34:1-5, 8 (Newell, 309; italics are his.)
(2) He shall rule with a rod of iron.
(a) This looks forward to
the millennium.
(b) This iron rule is predicted
in Old Testament.
((I)). Psalm
2:7-9
((II)) Psalm
29--note the use of the words "voice of the Lord" and the millennial
character of
this Psalm.
((III)) Isaiah
11:1-5
(3) He treads the winepress of the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty God.
(a) Rightly called "The great
day of Wrath."
(b) Old Testament prophecies
concerning it
((I)) Already
mentioned a few
((II)) Isaiah
2:12-21
((III)) Isaiah
8:6-10
((IV)) Isaiah
24:1-23
((V)) Isaiah
30:27-30
((VI)) Isaiah
34:1-10, 16
((VII)) Isaiah
63:1-6
((VIII)) Amos
5:18-20
((IX)) Obadiah
15, 16
((X)) Micah
5:15
((XI)) Nahum
1:2, 3, .5, 6, 8-12
((XII)) Zephaniah
1:7, 14-17
((XIII)) Haggai
2:6, 7
((XIV)) Zechariah
14:1-5
((XV)) Malachi
4:1
(c) God's patience is coming
to an end, and He.is going to pour out His wrath on this sin-cursed
earth.
Jesus Christ, Who is for the most part despised and rejected even today,
will lead the
way in this
judging of the earth.--cf. Psalm 110:5, 6 (notice v. 1)
(4) The glorious Name--v.16
(a) KING OF KINGS
(b) LORD OF LORDS
(c) Appropriate in the light
of the coming millennium
(d) Occurs three times, and
always in connection with the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ to
reign.
((I)) 1 Timothy
6:14-16
((II)) Revelation
17:14
((III)) This
text
(D) The supper of God--vv. 17, 18
(1) What a terrible carnage this is.
(a) Five times "flesh" is
mentioned in verse 18.
((I)) Kings
((II)) Captains
((III)) Mighty
men
((IV)) Horses
and their riders
((V)) All
men (obviously unsaved ones)
((A)) Free and slave
((B)) Small and great
(b) Newell, 312--"They chose
to walk after the flesh spiritually and now their flesh must be
devoured
literally!"
(c) Whether taken
literally--which this writer does--or not, it shows the "greatness and
universality
of the
coming slaughter.
(2) What a contrast to the marriage supper of
the Lamb!
(a) These have rejected the
invitation to the marriage supper.
(b) God is, therefore, completely
justified in having their flesh devoured.
(c) Cf. Luke 17:20-37 (NOTE:
a correct rendering of verse 37 would have the word "vultures"
in
place of
"eagles." Both, however, are birds of prey.)
(E) The final end of the Antichrist and His host--vv.
19-21
(1) The war against the Lamb
(a) Event-wise, this verse
and 17:14 are the same.
((I)) 17:14
is the pre-announcement of the event; still future.
((II)) This
text is the actualization of the event; past tense.
(b) The beast and the kings
of the earth array themselves against Christ; this will be a visible
warfare with
Satan throwing all his forces visibly against Jesus Christ; this is not to
be taken in
any other
sense than literal.
(c) Cf. Psalm 2
(d) How foolish will be the
Satan-energized kings of earth to think they could defeat the Lord.
(e) Newell well says, "This
is the incurable insanity of sin, which wars were away in spite
of
defeat after
defeat, against a holy God!" (314; italics are his.)
(2) The defeat of Satan's crowd
(a) The beast and false prophet
are taken.
((I)) Does
not tell us how
((II))
The King of kings will only have to speak the word, and immediately
these two satanic
leaders will be arrested.
(b) The beast and false prophet
cast alive into the lake of fire.
((I)) The
word alive
((A)) Speak of bodily existence
((B)) Scripture
((1)) Acts 1:3
((2)) Acts 9:41
((3)) Acts 10:42
((4)) Acts 20:12
((5)) Acts 25:19
((6)) 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 17
((7)) Revelation 1:18
((8)) Revelation 20:4
((II)) This
is the same place that Jesus spoke of (used the word
gehenna).
((A)) Matthew 5:22, 29, 30
((B)) Matthew 10:28
((C)) Matthew 18:9
((D)) Matthew 23:15, 33
((E)) Mark 9:43
((F)) Luke 12:5
((G)) James 3:6
((III)) These
two are not annihilated as Jehovah Witnesses teach; rather after a thousand
years
they are still there.
((A)) Cf. this passage with Revelation 20:10
((B)) "It is of immeasurable importance just now, that believers should
become established
concerning the nature and eternity of future
punishment; . . . and the literal character of "
this lake of fire. (Newell, 315)
((C)) After a thousand years the beast and false prophet are still
being tormented and will be
ceaselessly.
(3) The end of the beast's army and the
great feast stated
(a) "Note that the 'rest'
of this vast horde of millions gathered against Jerusalem are
slain directly
by Christ."
(Ibid.)
((I)) This
text says, "with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse."
((II)) Revelation
19:15
((III)) Isaiah
11:4
(b) The feast is here completed.
((I)) Strictly
speaking verse 17 is the invitation to the supper given to the fowls.
((II))Here
in verse 21, the actual eating takes place.
((III))
Newell’s comment (315-316) is very appropriate: "And now, as the
closing scene of the
present order, behold the millions upon millions of flesh-eating
birds clearing away the
carcasses of the rebels against God and against Christ! One
vulture or two feeding on some
fallen creature is a hideous sight to our eyes. What then, will
be this awful line of corpses, of
two hundred miles covered with countless hosts of scavengers!
Reflect anew on what sin
brings! This scene will come to pass!" And it might be added,
literally.