THE GREAT SUPPER OF GOD AND THE DESTRUCTION OF ANTICHRIST AND THE FALSE PROPHET

The last post ended with the visible return of the Lord Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.  The next thing John sees is an angel that looks like he is standing in the sun.  He is inviting all the birds of prey to come to a great supper prepared for them by God.

Revelation 19:17–18 “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; 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.”

Note that this statement is made before the battle is ever fought—in fact, it is a declaration of victory before the fact.  “Supper” indicates “the chief meal (usually in the evening); feast.”  God is the one hosting/serving the meal.  This meal will include the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses, soldiers, free men and slaves, small and large.  The angel standing in the sun sounds like it could be indicating a morning announcement to an evening meal.

These verses seem to go hand in hand with the following verses from Ezekiel.  (See journal on Ezekiel 39.)

Ezekiel 39:17-20 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.  And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.  Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

Yes, these verses in Ezekiel are in the latter part of the two chapters that detail the attack against Israel by the armies of Gog.  Personally, I believe this attack will probably precede the seven-year tribulation period.  However, I believe that verse 17 marks a jump in time to the final battle of the Armageddon campaign—similar to Isaiah 61:1-2, the passage that Jesus read from in the synagogue in Nazareth.  He stopped reading at a comma that has represented almost 2000 years at this point in time.  Revelation 19:17-18 seems to be a mirror passage to this one in Ezekiel—though not as detailed.  As you can see, the next verse in Ezekiel (v21) declares that this sacrifice is followed by God “setting His glory among the heathen.” 

Ezekiel 39:21–22 “And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.”

Verse 22 adds that the house of Israel will know without a shadow of a doubt that the LORD is their God from that day forward.  I believe that is a reference to the new heart that God gives them when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom.

Ezekiel 36:26–28 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

I believe this is the truth that Paul was referencing in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 11:26–27 “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

The next thing John sees is the beast and the kings of the earth with all their armies gathered together to make war against Jesus and His armies.

Revelation 19:19–21 “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. 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. 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.”

Where have they gathered for battle?  In the Valley of Armageddon. 

Revelation 16:16 “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”

I think it is significant to note that John makes no record of actual conflict.  The first recorded act of this conflict is the capture of the beast and the false prophet immediately followed by their being thrown alive into the “lake of fire burning with brimstone.”  You would think that this would mean their total destruction, but Revelation 20:10 indicates that they will continue in a state of tormented existence for eternity.  Daniel supports the fact of the beast being cast into fire.

Daniel 7:11 “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”

It stood out to me that the torment of hell will not be to the physical body; that will be destroyed.  It will be the torment of the soul and spirit, the pure essence of our being.

The really sad part is that this pair had been able to deceive so many into receiving the mark of the beast and worshipping him.  As did all who have lived before them, they had the choice of believing the truth or the deception; and they chose the deception—just like Eve did.  

What does it take to defeat these great armies of the antichrist?   Simply for the Lord Jesus to speak the word.  It’s important to note that the victory is His alone; not one in His armies had to lift a finger.  They just accompanied Him to witness His victory.

John also makes the point that it is the false prophet that is primarily responsible for deceiving those that had taken the mark of the beast and worshipped his image with the miracles he was able to perform.  I think that this is a truth that many in the church today tend to ignore.  The prevalent school of thought today is that “seeing is believing.”  Satan and his forces are well aware of that weakness as a point of attack to deceive people and move forward their agenda.  Scripture is everywhere clear that our fight is against spiritual forces that can perform miracles and lying wonders.

Deuteronomy 13:1–3 “If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” 

Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

2 Thessalonians 2:7–10 “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Note that Paul was very clear in telling the Thessalonians that the mystery of iniquity was already at work in their day.  I believe that these works will continue to manifest themselves more openly as the time for the end approaches. 

  

No one knows the day or hour of the return of Jesus, but we are certainly expected to understand the time of its approach. 

Hebrews 10:24–25 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Personally, I think Satan has an even greater understanding than we do.

(to be continued…)

THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD’S WORD

We continue with John’s record of the victorious return of King Jesus to establish His earthly kingdom in fulfillment of His covenant promises to Abraham and David.

Revelation 19:15-16 “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 winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

What is the Lord’s weapon of choice?  His word.  The only weapon necessary to achieve victory in this battle is the spoken word of the Son of God.

Isaiah 11:3–4 “…and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

2 Thessalonians 2:8 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth….”

It is more powerful than any force that could ever be developed by man.  It is God’s word that upholds and sustains all of creation.

Hebrews 1:1–3 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high….”

Who is He going to smite with His sword?  The heathen nations that have allied themselves with the Antichrist.

The next phrase says He will “rule them with a rod of iron.”  The Greek for the word rule means “tend as a shepherd.”  The shepherd’s rod was used to control the entry to the sheepfold for process of counting, examining, and protecting. Only those that belong to Him will be allowed to enter His kingdom.  This means that there will be those who belong to Him caught up in this battle. 

I think this is what Jesus is referencing as recorded by Matthew.

Matthew 25:31–34 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: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world….”

“Treading the winepress” pictures complete judgment against His enemies. The winepress was used to complete pulverize the grapes in order to collect the juice from which wine was made.  This is a picture of a righteous judgment of intense and fierce passion, punishment and vengeance on the part of Almighty God—the absolute and universal sovereign, the Omnipotent. 

John completes his description of the returning King by telling us that the garment Jesus is wearing is engraved or emblazoned with His name—KING of kings and LORD of lords.   This title emphasizes that there is only one King and one Lord of heaven and earth—Jesus, our Savior, the precious Son of God.

Side note:  My husband and I went to see “God is Not Dead” on the opening weekend.  In our opinion, it was very well done, and has already served as a good tool for establishing a healthy dialogue with some friends of his in the martial arts world.  No matter what the culture tries to dictate concerning the existence of God, the truth remains—He is the one and only Eternal God, Creator and Supreme authority over that creation, and will return in the person of His Son Jesus to rule the world and judge those who reject Him.

(to be continued…)

KING JESUS RETURNS WITH THE ARMIES OF HEAVEN

In this post we see how John paints a word picture of the return of Jesus with the armies of heaven.

Revelation 19:13 “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.”

“dipped” – bapto…a primary verb; to whelm, i.e. cover wholly with a fluid…to stain (as with dye)….

I think it is significant to note that John describes Jesus when He appears as wearing a garment that is soaked and stained with blood.  I think it represents His own shed blood as well as the blood of all those who died as martyrs for their faith in Him.  The prophet Isaiah adds that it includes even more. 

Isaiah 63:1–3 “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.”

The Lord’s bloody garment represents the massive amount of bloodshed required to bring about the fulfillment of the Father’s plan and completely conquer His enemies.  Isaiah indicates that Jesus indeed goes first to Bozrah to deliver the believing remnant who have been under His protection there for the last 3.5 years of the tribulation before proceeding on to the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem to face the armies of Satan and Antichrist. 

“His name is called The Word of God” – This is Jesus, the sole source of our deliverance, God in flesh—fully God and fully man.

John 1:1&14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Jesus is not alone; the armies of heaven are with Him.

Revelation 19:14 “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”

I believe these armies include both angels and believers according to the following scriptures.

Zechariah 14:5 “And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.”

1Thessalonians 3:13 “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”

2 Thessalonians 1:7–8 “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ….”

Jude 1:14–15 “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
 

Who are the saints?  Those who comprise the church, the bride of Christ, are some of them. 

Revelation 19:7–8 “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. 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.”

Paul affirms this in his letter to Colosse.

Colossians 3:4 “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

Note the stark contrast between the garment worn by the LORD Jesus and the armies of heaven.  It is very clear that we are there as witnesses only to His victory.  The battle is His alone.  Zechariah’s prophecy was clear in declaring that the battle belongs to the LORD.

Zechariah 14:2–3 “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.”

Note that Zechariah also emphasizes that it is God who has gathered all the nations to battle.  The Antichrist just thinks he is in control.

(to be continued…)

THE VISIBLE RETURN OF KING JESUS

We have finally reached the climax of the book—the visible return of Jesus to take His throne as King of kings.

Revelation 19:11 “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.”

John now sees heaven open and a rider emerge astride a white horse.  He recognizes the rider.  It is He who is called Faithful and True (trustworthy and transparent), the One who comes in righteousness to judge and make war—for all the morally correct reasons that He embodies as God.  This can only be Jesus and is supported by the scriptures below.

John 5:22 “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.”

Acts 17:31 “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”

2Timothy 4:1 “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.”

Revelation 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness….”

1 John 5:20 “…that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”

Revelation 3:14 “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God

Jesus is returning to judge those on planet earth and to “make war” with Satan and his armies.  I really liked a quote I found attributed to Merrill Tenney:  “Because He is faithful He must discharge His office as judge, not shrinking from the administration of discipline or punishment where it is needed. Because He is true He cannot alter the standards of God which condemn sin. Favoritism and laxity cannot be found in Him, for He is the perfect administrator of justice in a world where injustice has long since reigned. . . . The meekness of Calvary and the sternness of Armageddon may seem inconsistent, but wherever sin exists, they may both be found.”

Revelation 19:12 “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.”

As John continues to describe the returning King, He compares His eyes to a flame of fire and describes Him as angry with righteous anger and intense with purpose.  I loved the comments Tony Garland made in his commentary regarding the eyes of Jesus.

“His eyes are singled out as being like a flame of fire. This evokes the image of a gaze which instantly pierces the deepest darkness to lay bear all sin. It is a reference to His omniscience, omnipresence, and judgment. There is no evil activity of men which Jesus does not see. There is no den of iniquity so dark that Jesus is not there. There is no work of man which will go unjudged by His piercing gaze. Truly, God is an all-consuming fire.”

Psalms 90:8 “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.”

Job 34:21–22 “For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”

Hebrews 12:28–29 “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.”

John also notes that Jesus is wearing a wreath of many crowns and displays a name that only He knows—a special name between Father and Son.  The Greek indicates that this name is a descriptive title concerning His authority and character that is gratifying and joyous. 

Philippians 2:9 “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name….”

What a contrast to the man that was mocked with a crown of thorns, beaten to a pulp and murdered on a cross.  He will return on a magnificent horse as a mighty conqueror wearing a royal circlet of crowns proclaiming His power and authority.

(to be continued…)

RESURRECTION OF OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS & PROPER WORSHIP

In the last post the Lamb has taken His bride in marriage and it is time to celebrate the marriage supper.

Revelation 19:9–10 “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. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

“He” saith unto me seems to take us back to the angel that showed John the destruction of Babylon because when John fell down to worship Him “he” identified himself as a fellowservant and a fellow prophet.  In the first verse of chapter 17 this angel is identified as one of the angels that had poured out one of the vial judgments.  We learned early on in our study that angels are defined in the Greek as “messengers” of God, those who do His bidding.   This implies to me that some of the angels serving God during the tribulation period include His prophets of old.  Maybe this is one of their rewards for faithful commitment to proclaim what they did not always understand.

1 Peter 1:10–11 “Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.”

Daniel 12:8–9 “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”

I remember being surprised to discover during my study of Hebrews that the Old Testament saints were part of the resurrection of the dead that takes place at the rapture.  I had always been taught that they would be resurrected at the end of the tribulation period.

Hebrews 11:39–40 “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

The Complete Jewish Bible makes it even clearer:  “Nevertheless, they did not receive what had been promised, because God had planned something better that would involve us, so that only with us would they be brought to the goal..” 

In context, the writer of the Hebrews has been extolling great people of faith, most of which are identified from the Old Testament scriptures.  I believe that we become perfect at the resurrection; therefore, all people of faith—Old Testament saints and church age saints—will be resurrected together.  I believe the Old Testament saints and any tribulation saints in heaven at this time are the guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb while saints that are part of the church are His Bride (as noted in the previous post). 

Note that the servant talking to John makes a point of declaring the truth of all that is being told to John.  It’s also significant to note that this servant refuses to accept worship from John.  I refuse to get off on a tangent regarding professing Christian leaders today who promote such worship of themselves.  The only One worthy of man’s worship is God. 

I liked the insight from Chuck Smith’s commentary: 

“You see it is a apart of man to need and want to worship something, and man seems to find it easier to worship an object that he can see rather than an object that he cannot see. 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." Man gets hung up and he stops short. 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. I am a servant of God just like you are. You worship God. And if you are wise and involved in any kind of ministry at all when attention and adulation and these kinds of things come your way, you will be wise as the angel and say, ‘Don't worship me. Worship God.’  God doesn't want you taking credit for the work that He does, receiving glory for His work.”

John Walvoord expressed it well as he commented on the last part of verse 10:  “This means that prophecy at its very heart is designed to unfold the beauty and loveliness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

(to be continued…)