And I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and one sitting on it, [called] Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war in righteousness.
The book has been moving toward one moment: heaven opens, and the Rider comes out. Everything hangs on who He is — His name, His horse, and the way He now deals with the world.
Heaven had opened before, and this time is the last:
The heavens had already opened at His baptism by John, when He began His public ministry as God's anointed Servant. They opened again so that the dying Stephen might see the Son of Man in the glory of God. Now they were opening for the last time. The mighty Conqueror on the white horse returns to earth, no longer as the lowly Nazarene, but to claim His right, and to "strike down the nations, and rule them with a rod of iron."
This opening is for the world to see:
But now heaven is opened for far graver facts, of immeasurable weight for man, for the universe, and for the enemy. It is Christ Himself about to be displayed in His rights as King of kings and Lord of lords, and this in the face of the world.
The horse is a picture, not a prediction about cavalry:
The horse is always the symbol of power connected with the earth, and it has the colour of prosperity: it is a white horse. I trust no one would be so foolish as to imagine that, when this scene comes, it will be about literal horses. It is the symbol that passed before the prophet's eye, used to show certain realities that will take place later on... In the next chapter he does not see a white horse, but a throne, a symbol of an altogether different character. The throne is for rule, not conquest; the horse is for conquest, not a reign.
A rider on a white horse also appears in chapter 6. Commentators keep the two apart:
This horse does not come out of heaven, as the one in Revelation 19 does. Next, nothing said about the rider in Revelation 6 has to mean Christ. In Revelation 19, though, He is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness. Of whom could this be said except One?
These names are not new titles. They describe what He had always been:
There was one seated on it called "Faithful." That is what He had always been, at any cost, to God, in the testimony of righteousness. He glorified God even to death, so that His name might be made good. He was obedient until it was given Him to rise up and take the power. He is also "true," so that the witness He gave of God was a perfect witness of all God was and all His thoughts.
Two comings, two very different errands:
Now notice the contrast with the purpose of His first coming. Then, "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17). Now, "in righteousness He judges and makes war." Grace marked His first appearing in this world. Righteousness, and therefore judgment, will mark the second... for the day of grace will have closed, and the era of righteous government will have begun.
His war is not one more war among many. It carries out the verdict:
He is called "Faithful and True," and everyone can see that this is what He is. In righteousness He judges and wars: His warring is itself a judgment. For this, His eyes pierce like a flame of fire; nothing escapes them.
The judgment here differs from the one in the next chapter:
The word mentions two kinds of judgment. One is the warrior judgment. The other is the judgment where the Judge sits as supreme and recognised authority. So Revelation 19 is the warrior judgment. In chapter 20 the judicial session begins. It is held when the power of the King has established His throne, and He sits there to judge.
The Rider does not come alone. Who rides with Him matters:
In the vision the prophet saw armies following Him out of heaven, clothed in fine linen. They are not angels. The text says that the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints... So they were in heaven before the way opened for Christ to come out in judgment. They had been caught up to meet Him earlier.
- Opened — Heaven opened at His baptism and for Stephen; here it opens a final time, and this time He comes out.
- Faithful — The names are earned, not awarded: He was faithful to God at any cost, even to death, before He ever rode out.
- Righteous — He came the first time to save, not to condemn. He comes now in righteousness, after the day of grace has closed.
- Warrior — Chapter 19 is judgment by conquest, a horse; chapter 20 is judgment from a seated throne. Conquest first, reign after.
- Followed — The armies behind Him wear the fine linen of saints. So they were in heaven before the heavens opened.
And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head many diadems, having a name written which no one knows but himself;
A rider comes out of the opened heaven, and this verse describes Him before He acts. It gives three details: burning eyes, many crowns, and a name no one else can read.
The same picture of His eyes appears at the start of the book. One writer points to a small change here.
Revelation 1:14 and Revelation 2:18 say that Christ's eyes are "as a flame of fire," but here the "as" of comparison is left out. "His eyes are a flame of fire." That is the divine omniscience which observes everything and searches out every hidden evil. In the earlier passages, that omniscience and the piercing judgments He carries out are attributes that describe Him. In our text they are in exercise. The action is here more intense.
Translations differ at this point. The ESV keeps the comparison — "like a flame of fire" — while others drop it and read "his eyes are a flame of fire."
Those eyes reach further than deeds:
The Warrior's eyes are like a flame of fire. In burning holiness they see into the character of every work, every motive, every secret thing.
The New Testament uses two different words for "crown." One writer separates them.
The New Testament shows us two kinds of crowns. First there is the monarch's crown (Greek, diadeema). Only the Lord Himself has the right to wear it. Then there is the victor's crown (stephanos). The Lord Himself wears this one too; He earned it as a Man who depended on God. The stephanos is also given to the Christian who is faithful.
Two other figures in Revelation wear diadems, and the numbers matter.
The saints in heaven have crowns (Rev. 4:4, 10), which express their royal dignity. But on the head of Christ rest diadems, showing His absolute and supreme authority. The dragon has diadems on his seven heads (Rev. 12:3), and the beast has diadems on his ten horns (Rev. 13:1). So both the dragon and the beast lay claim to supreme authority... Seven diadems on the dragon, and ten on the beast. But the "many" on the head of the conqueror Christ show that every form and kind of government belongs to Him.
Another hand once offered Him these kingdoms. One writer tells that history.
Satan had offered Him the power and glory of the kingdoms of the world. When He refused, Satan later handed them to his servants and slaves, the beast and the antichrist. The true Heir waited until the time set by His Father. Now, after sitting a long time at the right hand of God, He comes out, crowned with the many crowns, to take His inheritance.
One writer contrasts this hidden name with the name God gave Him as a reward.
It is quite true that He has a name given to Him, as we see in Philippians 2: "God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name." But here it seems not to be that name of Lord which we all confess. It is one "that no one knows but himself." He has a glory that is His very own. It is not the glory given to Him as His reward, and it cannot be shared with others. He has it in His own right as a divine person. This name seems to express what He really is in His own nature.
The name is written down, and one writer says that is the point:
In His humiliation His divine glory was still there, in depths of His person no one could measure. Now He is revealed in glory. But there always remained what no one could search or enter into — His own Person and nature. As revealing God, in grace or power, so as to make Him known, we know Him. But His Person as Son always remains unsearchable. His name is written, so that we know it is unknowable — not unknown, but unknowable.
One writer looks at the many crowns and names the qualities they answer to.
Blessed Lord, the only perfect display of the perfection of a man, dependent on God, was seen in You... We can place the crown for each of these on Your head alone: lowliness, patience, meekness, long-suffering, self-control, goodness. Has many a poor saint in his trials displayed some measure of these? Yes; and yet You excel them all.
- Eyes — what chapter 1 described as His character is now at work, reaching every deed, every motive, every secret thing.
- Crowns — the word is diadem, the monarch's crown. Only He may wear it. The victor's wreath is a different crown, and faithful believers receive it too.
- Many — the dragon wears seven and the beast ten; "many" means every form of government belongs to Him alone.
- Waited — He refused these kingdoms from Satan's hand. He waited for His Father's time, then came out to take His inheritance.
- Unknowable — the hidden name is not a reward. It is a glory His by right, written down so we know it cannot be read.
and [he is] clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And the armies which [are] in the heaven followed him upon white horses, clad in white, pure, fine linen.
Heaven opens and the King rides out. Verse 14 pauses on the company riding behind Him. Who are these armies? And why do they carry no weapons?
Their clothing tells us who they are. Revelation uses a different word for what angels wear.
The horse is a symbol of power, and the white horse of victorious, successful power. These armies that follow Him out of heaven, clothed in fine linen, are not angels. This very chapter says that the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And here is the remarkable thing. Revelation 15 describes angels as "clothed in pure and white linen," but the word there is a different one. So the armies of heaven in Revelation 19 are the heavenly saints. I do not doubt that angels are in His train too, as other texts show, but this passage does not appear to speak of them.
An earlier verse describes those with Him as "called and chosen and faithful," and each of those three words points away from angels.
Angels are never "called," though they may be "chosen." Scripture calls them holy, but never "faithful." "Faithful" is a word that belongs to a man of God. It assumes he has faith and an object for that faith. "Called" does not fit an angel at all. Calling means that God brings a person out of one condition and raises him into a better one. This is never the case with an angel. Calling is the fruit of active grace on God's part toward man, and only toward him when fallen.
Earlier in the chapter the saints appear as a bride. Here the picture changes.
Here the saints in a glorified state follow the Lord out of heaven. They are not seen now as the bride. That would not have suited such a march. The King rides out to victory in the judgment of the wicked of the world, and there the saints follow Him as armies, not as bride. No doubt they include the guests as well. All the glorified saints of the Old and New Testaments take their place in His train.
The bride's linen and the armies' linen are the same, and that answers an objection.
Without it, someone might have said to the Lord, "Produce practical righteousness in your church, your wife, before you try to establish it in the world." The fine linen will be the evidence that He has produced it in the circle nearest to Him. And these same saints, who are the wife of the Lamb, will come out in this same "fine linen, white and pure" when He comes to judge and make war in righteousness.
They ride out with Him, but the text gives them nothing to fight with.
Scripture does not present them as executors of judgment, as Christ is. God has given all judgment to Him — not necessarily to us. So no sword comes out of our mouth. Scripture does not describe the saints or the heavenly hosts as dressed the way the Lord is. It says only that the glorified follow the Lord in victorious power, and nothing more. What makes this more striking is that the rod of iron is promised to us — not the sword.
Their white clothing still speaks, even though their hands are empty.
The text does not give these armies any weapons as they ride with the Lord of glory. But their white clothing reminds the world of the testimony they gave to the truth of God. That leaves the world no excuse when judgment falls.
A company cannot follow Him out of heaven unless it is there first.
The elders represent the saints as leaders of the royal priesthood. Revelation 4 to 19 shows them on high. There they first appear as the bride at the marriage of the Lamb. Then they go with Him as armies when He comes out from heaven to judge and make war in righteousness. So Scripture rules out the idea that we will be on earth, watching Him appear as the glorious Son of Man who comes to judge the living. On the contrary, we will appear together with Him when He appears in glory.
Riding in that train is a high honour, yet one writer refuses to make it the highest.
The saints come with Him when He comes to execute judgment. They are associated with Him in the glory He brings, and in something much better — the Father's house. While He is on the Father's throne, the church has no throne, but suffers with Him. When He takes His own throne, we shall be with Him, and share His glory when He appears. It is wonderful to be associated with Him in His glory, but better to be associated with Himself.
- Called — the riders are people, not angels. God's call lifts a person out of one condition into a better one, and no angel needs that.
- Clothed — their fine linen is the bride's linen. Christ produces practical righteousness in the circle nearest to Him before He establishes it in the world.
- Carried up — they follow Him out of heaven, so they were there first. We will not watch His appearing from earth; we appear with Him.
- Constrained — the text names no weapon in their hands. The rod of iron is promised to us; the sword stays with the Rider.
- Companions — sharing His glory that day is wonderful. Sharing Himself in the Father's house is better.
And out of his mouth goes a sharp [two-edged] sword, that with it he might smite the nations; and he shall shepherd them with an iron rod; and he treads the wine-press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
This verse tells us what Christ does when He comes in judgment. Three pictures fill it — a sword, a rod, a winepress — showing how He strikes, how He rules, and how far His anger goes.
The verse is not repeating itself. Each image carries a different weight:
There are three symbols of judgment in verse 15 of our chapter. (1) A sharp sword for immediate, judicial punishment, probably death. (2) A rod of iron for righteous, inflexible government. (3) The winepress of wrath for the guiltiest of all. This last one is the expression of "the most extreme wrath." The Almighty God is roused.
Notice who acts. The saints ride with Him, yet the judgment is His alone:
Saints may accompany the Lord but it is He, Himself, who will execute judgment. It is His mouth that will speak the word that, like a sharp sword will destroy the wicked. It is His hand that will wield the rod of iron... And His feet will tread "the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty" in unsparing judgment.
The weapon comes out of His mouth, not His hand. He strikes by speech alone.
First, there is the word of power set forth by the sharp sword going out of His mouth. If any must be destroyed, it is enough for the Lord Jesus Christ to speak. "He spoke, and it came to be." The judgment was executed.
And it is not a new word. He will judge by the same message He once spoke in grace:
The Lord's testimony was of grace, expressive of all that God was in grace to sinners. And when He comes again, He will come judging by it. Having given the mind of God, He returns to heaven; and then He returns as King to judge by the word which He had spoken.
The word behind "rule" means to shepherd. The iron rod is hard, but He holds it for the sake of the flock:
"And he will rule them with a rod of iron" — "shepherd" them, to use an expression that is hardly English. This is, of course, the fulfilment of the prophecy of the second psalm... It is the shepherd's rod — this rod of iron, used on behalf of the flock.
Christ promised this same rod earlier to believers who hold out. That tells us who rides behind Him:
To the church at Thyatira, Christ had said: "The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron"... So those who overcome — real believers, as distinct from people who only claim to believe — are joined here with Christ Himself in the judgment of the nations foretold in the second psalm. The armies of heaven... are no other than these overcomers.
A harvest sorts the good from the bad. A winepress sorts nothing — it crushes. And it falls hardest on religious evil:
This is not the picture of the harvest, where the good is separated from the bad. It is the vintage — unsparing vengeance on evil, on religious evil that has grown into an open falling away from God... Again, the personal pronoun marks off the judgment as the work of the Lord alone. "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me" (Isaiah 63:3).
Some have read the treading of the winepress as a picture of the cross. One writer rejects that, and gives a simple reason:
Would you believe that some commentators have applied this to the cross, and to the Lord's own sufferings there? Yet they have. And this in spite of the iron rod, which is linked here with the treading of the winepress, and which He promises to the overcomer in Thyatira.
The verse is terrifying, but it is not an ending. It clears the ground for a kingdom.
These few short sentences hold it all: the coming of Christ in judgment, the carrying out of God's vengeance, the setting up of His throne, the submission of all kings and all nations to His rule, and His supreme exaltation in the earth. It is the complete fulfilment of the second Psalm... Because of what man is, it is through judgment that the Lord will establish His kingdom and sovereignty over the whole earth.
- Word — the sword comes out of His mouth; He has only to speak, and it is done.
- Warning — the words He spoke in grace are the very words that will judge those who refused them.
- Rod — "rule" is a shepherd's word; the iron rod is unbending government held on behalf of the flock.
- Shared — Christ pledged that same rod to the overcomers at Thyatira, so the armies riding with Him are the saints.
- Winepress — not a harvest that sorts but a vintage that crushes. He treads it alone, and it opens the way to His kingdom over all the earth.
And he has upon his garment, and upon his thigh, a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come, gather yourselves to the great supper of God,
Revelation 19 has just shown heaven opened and the rider on the white horse going out to judge. Now a single angel takes his stand in the sun and calls the birds to a meal. Why does a chapter that began with a wedding feast end with a feast of a very different kind?
Commentators read the angel's place in the sun as a picture of authority, not a detail of geography.
The angel, standing in the sun, acts in the power and supreme authority of God. He acts in judgment against the one who stands in opposition to God.
The open setting matters too:
An angel speaks, obedient to His word and the instrument of His power. He stands in the sun — the symbol of supreme authority. For it is not now a thing done in a corner. There are no terms of forbearance: all must be thoroughly open. Nor is it now a partial, but a complete and final judgment.
Older English versions read "the supper of the great God." Commentators question that wording.
We have had the joyous marriage supper of the Lamb; here we have the great supper of God. The word great is attached to the supper, not to God.
The ESV follows this reading.
Grace spread a table first. This second supper follows the refusal of the first.
God prepared a great supper before, a banquet of grace and love. He sent out His servants to call those who were invited. For nearly two thousand years the table has been spread. Still men turn a deaf ear, and go, one to his farm, and another to his business... But God will not be mocked forever. The day of judgment has now dawned... And now another supper is spread, the supper of the great God. The flesh of kings and captains, the despisers alike of grace and judgment, is the dreadful meal.
The two tables also differ in their guests:
There was an invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb. But there is another and very different supper, the great supper of God. Here it is not the blessed whom God's grace invites.
The summons comes before the fighting starts.
The supper to which he invites the ravenous birds of prey comes after the battle. But the birds are summoned in vision before the fight. The great supper is of the dead. Kings, captains, mighty men, horses and their riders, free and bond, small and great, lie in the silence of death. Their bodies are a prey to the birds of Heaven. They have been slain by the one sharp sword in the heavenly army. Christ speaks, and at once judgment overtakes the gathered opposing hosts.
Read that way, the call itself settles the contest before it starts:
There is no doubt as to the issue. The call of the angel to the birds of heaven declares it in no uncertain terms. There may be kings and captains and mighty men and horses, but all of them will be but food for vultures.
The supper spares no rank, from kings down to slaves. One writer sets that end against the age it closes.
A sad and humbling end for human pride at any time. It is saddest of all after the corruption of the church and the turning away from law and gospel, when modern civilisation will have proved itself faithless and hostile to God and His Son.
One writer points to the prophet Ezekiel, where the account does not stop at slaughter.
The prophet Ezekiel refers to it. Like other prophets, he shows us that judgment comes before Israel's blessing on the earth. He first tells us that the birds and the beasts of the field will eat the flesh and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. Then he adds, "I will set my glory among the nations... and have mercy on the whole house of Israel... neither will I hide my face from them any more."
- Two tables. One chapter holds two suppers: the marriage supper of the Lamb and the great supper of God. The same word covers the highest joy and the deepest horror.
- One invitation refused. Grace spread its table first, and men made excuses. Judgment spreads the second table, because "God will not be mocked forever."
- Announced from the sun. The angel stands in the seat of supreme authority, in the open — nothing partial, nothing hidden, nothing done in a corner.
- Settled before it starts. The angel calls the birds before the battle, because one sword in the heavenly army leaves the result in no doubt.
- No rank exempt. Kings and slaves, small and great, share one end — human pride finishing as food for vultures.
that ye may eat flesh of kings, and flesh of chiliarchs, and flesh of strong men, and flesh of horses and of those that sit upon them, and flesh of all, both free and bond, and small and great.
Revelation 19 sets two feasts side by side: one where the redeemed are guests, and one where the birds are. This verse names the menu of the second: kings, commanders, riders and slaves. Why should God's final judgment on human power look like a meal?
The chapter has just described a wedding banquet in heaven. This second supper is its opposite.
Revelation 19 sets out two suppers: the supper of "the Lamb," and the supper of "the great God." The supper of the Lamb is a scene of joy in heaven. Blessed are those who are called to it. It is a marriage supper. The supper of the great God is the fruit of the solemn, terrible judgment that closes the history of the earth as it now is. It is the judgment of this present world in its revolt against God. The bodies of the Lord's allied enemies become food for the birds of the air.
The pairing is not isolated. The whole chapter is built on opposites.
This chapter is full of contrasts. Here are two women, two suppers, two armies, and two kings. The great prostitute stands in contrast with the Lamb's wife, the supper of the great God with the marriage supper of the Lamb, the armies of heaven with the armies of the beast, and the beasts and kings of the earth with the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Translations differ over one word here: does "great" describe God, or the supper?
We have had the joyous marriage supper of the Lamb; here we have the great supper of God. The word great is attached to the supper, not to God.
The invitation comes from an angel standing in the sun.
Here it is not the blessed whom God's grace invites. An angel speaks in obedience to His word, as the instrument of His power. He stands in the sun — the symbol of supreme authority. For it is not now a thing done in a corner. There are no terms of forbearance: all must be thoroughly open. Nor is it now a partial, but a complete and final judgment.
The verse runs down the social ladder deliberately, from crowns to chains, and writers read that as the collapse of human self-importance.
A sad and humbling end for human pride at any time; saddest of all after the corruption of the church and turning away from law and gospel, when modern civilisation will have proved itself faithless and hostile to God and His Son.
One word repeats through the verse, and the end of the chapter shows the result.
Five times we read of "flesh" as the food of the birds of heaven. What a humiliating end to the pride, pomp, strength, and chivalry of Europe! The vulture, eagle, and other birds of prey feed on the great and mighty. Their very names may fill the history books of that time. "All the birds were gorged with their flesh" (v. 21), filled to the full. How awful the slaughter! How immense the number of the slain!
God had sent out invitations to a very different supper long before.
God prepared a great supper before, a banquet of grace and love. He sent out His servants to call those who were invited. For nearly two thousand years the table has been spread. Still men turn a deaf ear, and go, one to his farm, and another to his business... And now another supper is spread, the supper of the great God. The flesh of kings and captains, the despisers alike of grace and judgment, is the dreadful meal.
Ezekiel 39 records a similar summons. One writer notes a difference in the guest list.
If the Lord invites the creatures of prey to a great sacrifice, will He not make good His word! A similar call is made in Revelation 19:17-18, but there only to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven. It is in view of the slaughter that is to fall on the armies of the west at the end of this age. I suppose only the birds are named there, in keeping with the judgment of those who have abandoned the heavenly testimony of Christianity.
Another writer points to what comes next in Ezekiel:
He first tells us that the birds and the beasts of the field will eat the flesh and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. Then he adds, "I will set my glory among the nations, … and have mercy on the whole house of Israel … neither will I hide my face from them any more."
- Two suppers. One chapter holds both: the marriage supper of the Lamb, and the supper of the great God — joy above, judgment below.
- Two invitations. Grace called first, and men refused for centuries. Those who would not come to God's table became the food at another.
- Two lists. One list is of guests called blessed. The other is of kings, captains, mighty men, horses and riders, free and slave, small and great.
- One levelling. The roll-call from crown to chain is the humbling end of human pride. The birds are filled, and the slain rise again a thousand years later to face the throne.
- One outcome. In Ezekiel's parallel the slaughter is not the last word. God sets His glory among the nations and shows mercy to Israel.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army.
Here is the last stand of human power: earth's rulers gather their armies against the Rider on the white horse. Who are these enemies, and how do men ever come to think they can fight the King of kings?
Commentators identify the three groups from earlier chapters of the book.
Remember that the beast is the head of the revived Roman empire, as Revelation 13 and Revelation 17 have shown. The kings of the earth will include the rulers of the ten kingdoms, banded together under the beast's leadership — and other sovereigns too, if there are any. So we can see at once what a huge host the beast and his vassal kings will bring together, a host that looks unbeatable.
Walter Scott notes the order of the names:
The Beast is named first, as the centre and soul of the movement. The word Beast covers all the material strength and resources of the mighty revived empire. Then we are told of "the kings of the earth" — the very kings who wailed over the destruction of Babylon. The political and social authorities of Christendom join the Beast in this senseless war.
The verse says they were gathered. It does not say who gathered them.
Someone may suppose that human hands bring this almost worldwide gathering of powers together. But no Caesar or Napoleon could produce such a vast combination, and for such a purpose as we have here. Satan is behind the movement. Revelation 16:13-14, 16 lifts the veil and exposes its true character. Three unclean spirits, satanic in source and character and given miraculous power, "go out to the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle (war) of that great day of God Almighty." It also names the gathering place: Armageddon.
Yet Satan's plan and God's plan run in the same channel. Dennett notes that the men had aims of their own, but Scripture names the gathering by its true end:
Human thoughts, prompted by Satan, ruled the aims of this vast army. But God, working behind the scenes, had His own thoughts. So Scripture describes the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies as gathered together to make war against the King of kings and Lord of lords, and against His "called, and chosen, and faithful" followers. What daring audacity! And what a display of the corrupt depths of man's heart — matched only by what was seen in the crucifixion of Christ!
English versions of Revelation translate the Greek word here in different ways.
It would be more correct to translate it "war" in every place, while a different Greek word means the actual clash of "battle."
So the verse describes war, not a single clash. Scott presses how absurd it is:
Can history show anything like this? The nations of Europe, and of a wider area too, educated and christianised, are so deluded by Satan that they dare to take the field against "The King of kings and Lord of lords!" What madness! What folly! Who owns the earth is the real question of that day, and the coming battle settles it for ever. They aim their hatred at the Rider on the white horse, the Lamb and King. The first title speaks of sacrifice, the second of rule. Whether as the Lamb slain or as the King to reign, Christendom hates Him.
His army is a target too. Earlier verses show them on white horses in fine linen. One writer argues from the wording that they are not angels:
These armies that are seen following Him out of heaven, clothed in fine linen, are not angels. This very chapter says that the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And here is the remarkable thing. When Revelation 15 describes angels as "clothed in pure and white linen," it uses a different word. It is the heavenly saints who are thus spoken of in Revelation 19 as the armies of heaven.
They are called an army, but nothing is put in their hands:
Scripture does not say that these armies with the Lord of glory carry any weapons. But their white clothing reminds the world of the witness they gave to the truth of God, so the world has no excuse when judgment falls. Only their great Leader has a weapon, a figurative sharp sword going out of His mouth.
The verse ends with the war declared. What comes next is not a war at all.
There is no campaign here. There is no long, doubtful struggle, with victory leaning first to one side and then to the other. Isaiah says this, when he describes how the Lord's coming destroys another enemy: "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire."
Baines quotes Isaiah 9:5 in an older translation.
- Gathered — the beast heads the revived Roman empire. The kings of the earth join him, and together they look unbeatable.
- Gathered by Satan — no Caesar or Napoleon could build such a coalition. Unclean spirits go out to the kings of the world and bring them to Armageddon.
- Gathered under God's hand — the men had aims of their own. Scripture names the gathering by its true end.
- Gathered against the Lamb and King — Christendom hates Him as the sacrifice and as the ruler alike. That hour settles who owns the earth.
- Gathered to nothing — His army carries no weapons and needs none. There is no campaign, only the sword from His mouth.
And the beast was taken, and the false prophet that [was] with him, who wrought the signs before him by which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and those that worship his image. Alive were both cast into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone;
Christ appears in power at the close of Revelation 19, and He singles out two men from the whole rebel army. Who are they, why does He take them alive rather than kill them, and what does the lake of fire mean?
Commentators read the two as real men, each holding a different kind of power.
The False Prophet is the Antichrist, the embodiment of religious apostasy. His partner, the Beast, is the leading Gentile ruler, and Satan gave him almost unlimited political power. Scripture uses the title "the False Prophet" of the Antichrist three times, describing his seductive teaching in Judea and across the professing Christian world. That he was with the Beast indicates the two were acting together. The Beast supplied the strength, the False Prophet the counsel.
The name changes for a reason. By the end the second beast has lost his worldly power.
At the end this second beast appears not as a beast but as a false prophet. All his worldly power will be gone. He will no longer be a beast that seizes and devours; that side of him will be wiped out. People will see him as the false prophet, and they will recognise him as the second beast already spoken of, because his character matches it perfectly.
The verse does not merely name them; it recalls what they did. The signs were the machinery of a worship campaign.
The Beast is cast alive into the lake of fire — a man, of course, yet called "the Beast", the usual name for the empire... The False Prophet deceived those who received the mark of the Beast and those who worship his image, and he did it by the miraculous signs he worked. His great aim was to win world-wide worship for the Beast. The Beast held more worldly power than he did, but less cunning and less malicious satanic influence.
Verse 19 gathers armies for war. Verse 20 records no war at all.
Notice that there is no conflict with almighty power. Christ "takes" these two godless instruments of Satan and judges them at once, casting them alive into hell. Two men in the Old Testament, as people often note, passed alive into heaven. These two arch-enemies of God and His Christ are cast alive into the lake of fire.
Writers also explain why the two get no trial.
No trial is necessary. Where they stand and what they have done are enough to justify judging them on the spot, in righteousness. They are cast at once, alive, into the place prepared for the devil and his angels.
The word "alive" cuts out what everyone else goes through: death, and the resurrection that follows.
The Beast and the false prophet are the personal enemies of Christ. So on the day of battle the Lord meets them in person, and casts both alive into the lake. They never die the death common to man, so there is no resurrection for them. Death does not separate soul from body; they go into the lake alive. All who are in the graves shall come out... But the lake of fire never opens its gates except to receive the judged.
Their followers face a different judgment, later on.
The Lord judges their followers too, but not with so terrible a doom. They wait to be judged another day — they must stand and appear before God... But as for the two, God required, in a sense, nothing more. They were the worst leaders of the world's lawlessness, so judgment takes its course at once and for ever. I know of no judgment in Scripture so terrible: these men are thrown into hell untried, and before Satan himself!
The phrase first appears here. Writers stress that it names a place, not a state of mind.
They do not walk there, and no one drives them on to their fearful doom. They are thrown into it alive, the way you throw away something worthless. A thousand years afterwards Satan joins them in the same awful place... The lake, not of water, but of fire, is the eternal place of punishment for the devil and for lost men and fallen angels. It is a place, and not a condition. And is it not significant that the phrase... should be mentioned here for the first time?
Some say the fire ends existence. One writer answers from those thousand years.
If the lake of fire means extinction, how do two men stay in it a thousand years without being destroyed? And why are we then told that they face still more torment, for eternity?... For if a man could live there a thousand years, why not many thousand more?
- Deceived — the false prophet's signs pushed the world into taking the mark and worshipping the image.
- Taken — the armies gather for war, but there is no fight; Christ seizes the two leaders.
- Untried — what they have done needs no trial; they are sentenced before Satan is.
- Alive — they never die and never rise; body and soul go in whole, and the lake never releases what it receives.
- Still there — a thousand years later they are still not consumed, so the fire does not end existence.
and the rest were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which goes out of his mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Revelation 19:21 closes the battle in one sentence. The leaders are gone, and the armies that followed them fall where they stand. Two questions remain: what sword kills them, and is death the end for them?
The verse ends a clash that has been building for chapters. One writer sets the two sides side by side:
The King of kings comes to earth followed by the armies of heaven. In answer, the devil gathers "the kings of the earth and their armies" to make war against Him who sits on the horse and His armies.
The weapon comes out of His mouth, and commentators take this to mean the sword is not a physical one at all.
The pride and armies of Europe lie in the silence of death, killed, but not by a literal sword. The angry voice of the King of kings will strike through the packed ranks. In a moment it strips them of their two great chiefs. Then comes death on the spot — the awful portion of a host that has rebelled and turned away from God. It is a terrible story, told in few words.
Heaven's armies ride with Him, yet the verse gives them nothing to do:
The great host of the armies of the Beast will meet the judgment of death by the sword of the Lord, the Word of His mouth (v. 21). While the armies of heaven accompany Him, He alone strikes down His enemies. The birds of prey eat their fill.
"The rest" means the followers who are left once their two leaders are gone:
In chapter 19, "the rest" is what remains of the beast's armies. The beast himself and the false prophet have already been cast alive into the lake of fire. What remains is a living remnant, and it is then slain.
The followers die. The two leaders never do. One writer links that difference to who these two are:
The Beast and the false prophet are the personal enemies of Christ. So on the day of battle the Lord meets them in person, and both are cast alive into the lake. They never died the death other people die, so there is no resurrection for them. Death never parted their soul from their body. They went into the lake alive.
No one reads charges over these armies. One writer explains why, and what still lies ahead of them:
Taken with weapons in their hands, in open rebellion, there is no need of judicial inquiry in such a case. But with the "rest of the dead" (Rev. 20:5) they certainly await the judgment of the "great white throne" and the award measured out to them. That judgment goes by their works, so the whole record of their lives comes into account. They have no part in the "first resurrection," the "resurrection of life," so the company they belong to is already settled. The only question left for them is how heavy the punishment will be.
Another writer gives the length of the wait:
These slain rise again to meet their Lord once more. This time He is not on the horse of victorious conquering power, but on the throne, where condemnation follows judgment at once (Rev. 20:11-15). Their resurrection takes place one thousand years after their punishment on earth.
The verse ends with birds feeding. The order that called them came before the fighting began.
The beast and the kings of the earth are still gathering their armies. They do not know that heaven has already sent out the command to gather the birds to feast on their flesh.
The chapter holds two meals, and this is the darker one:
Rev. 19 sets two suppers before us — the supper of "the Lamb," and the supper of "the great God." The supper of the Lamb is a scene of joy in heaven. Blessed are those who are called to it. It is a marriage supper. The supper of the great God is the fruit of the solemn, terrible judgment that ends the history of the earth as it now is.
- Gathered — the devil pulls the kings of the earth and their armies together to make war on the Rider.
- Spoken — the sword comes out of His mouth. His word alone kills. Heaven's armies ride with Him, but they strike nothing.
- Slain — the followers die on the spot. The two leaders never die at all. They go into the lake of fire alive.
- Served — the birds' feast is the second of the chapter's two suppers. Heaven sent out its invitations before the battle began.
- Summoned — death here is a sentence, not an ending. These same slain rise a thousand years later before the great white throne, judged by their works.