In Revelation
19:1-21, John recorded a vision of celebration and a vision of judgment in
order to hold out the hope of vindication for God’s people. Hope of vindication should be a major
motivator in a Christian’s life. As
followers of Jesus, we too must keep the hope of our vindication before us in
order to properly persevere. My prayer
today is that God would use this passage to teach us to hope in His faithfulness
to vindicate His people in His time.
[19:1] After
this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven,
crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, [2] for
his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who
corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of
his servants.” [3] Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from
her goes up forever and ever.” [4] And the twenty-four elders and the four
living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne,
saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” [5] And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise
our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”
[6] Then
I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many
waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For
the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. [7] Let us rejoice and exult and
give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has
made herself ready; [8] it was granted her to clothe herself with fine
linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the
saints. [9] And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who
are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are
the true words of God.” [10] Then I fell down at his feet to worship him,
but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and
your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
[11] Then
I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. [12] His
eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a
name written that no one knows but himself. [13] He is clothed in a robe
dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
[14] And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were
following him on white horses. [15] From his mouth comes a sharp sword
with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of
iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
[16] On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and
Lord of lords.
[17] Then
I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the
birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,
[18] to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty
men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free
and slave, both small and great.” [19] And I saw the beast and the kings
of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting
on the horse and against his army. [20] And the beast was captured, and
with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he
deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped
its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with
sulfur. [21] And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth
of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
(Revelation 19:1-21 ESV) How
does this passage hold out truth of God’s vindication of His people?
I.
Contemplating the Joy to Come (19:1-10)
In Revelation
18, we saw the response of the world
to the destruction of Babylon, and here we see the response of heaven (see
18:20). The vindication of God’s people is celebrated with five “hallelujah” songs. In these songs, we first see celebration over God’s righteous judgments
(19:1-5). A “great multitude” (probably the same great multitude from 7:9-17) praises God for the fact that
His “judgments” are “true and just,” citing as an example of
the truth and justice of God’s judgments the judgment of “the great prostitute,” Babylon the great. These praises are affirmed by “the twenty-four elders and the four living
creatures” and “a voice” from the
throne (4-5). In judging her, God has
(1) judged someone who “corrupted the
earth with her immorality” (2) avenged
the “blood of his servants.” We must never forget that these are serious
crimes. Otherwise we may be somewhat
taken back by the strange notion of celebrating another’s destruction. Babylon has enslaved God’s image bearers, ensuring their destruction and she
has slaughtered God’s people.
In this section, we also see celebration over the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (19:6-10). John again hears the voice of “a great multitude,” praising God for two things: (1) the truth of His Sovereignty: “the Lord our God the Almighty reigns,” and (2) the fact that the “marriage of the Lamb” has come: “Let us rejoice and exult and give him
glory, FOR the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself
ready.” God’s people are called His
bride in both the Old and New Testament (Is.
54:4-5, 61:10, 2 Cor. 11:2). Notice
however, that God’s people here are both the
bride and guests at this wedding feast: “Blessed
are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (9). Isaiah
25:6-9 speaks of a messianic banquet that will take place when God swallows
up death forever.
Notice that it says that it was “granted” to the Bride to clothe herself
in “fine linen, bright and pure,” WHICH
IS “the righteous deeds of the saints.” If we compare this statement with Revelation 7:14 and 12:11, a tension is resolved. The saint’s garments are white in Revelation 7:14 because they have been
washed in the blood of the Lamb. In Revelation 12:11, however, we learn
that believers “conquer” the dragon by
both the blood of the Lamb and the
word of their testimony (that they endured
to the death). So here is the tension
that leaves: how can we say we are saved by grace if believers are said to
conquer through the Lamb’s blood and their
faithful endurance? Doesn’t that sound
like Jesus’ blood and our enduring to the end save us? As I said, this passage resolves that tension:
these “righteous deeds,” which are
white garments of the saints, are “granted”
to the Lamb’s bride. In other words, “Her gown of righteous deeds is her groom’s
gift of grace.”[1]
We’ll see this again before we finish Revelation,
but it is important to see that the strongest
metaphors possible are used to describe the joy that God’s people will
experience in the world to come. It will
be like the joy of a wedding feast. Just
as the absence of a wedding portrayed the utter desolation of Babylon (18:23),
the presence of a wedding feast now portrays the indescribable joy of those who
will dwell in New Jerusalem as the Lamb’s bride.
Contemplation of this joy can serve as potent
motivation to persevere in the face of persecution and temptation to sin. It holds out the hope of the indescribable reward to come and the
prospect of what will be lost if we
do not persevere. This joy is offered to
all who fear God, both “small and great,”
without distinction.
II.
Contemplating the Judgment to Come (19:11-21)
We now see the vindication of God’s people executed as we move from a scene of
joyous celebration to one of gruesome judgment in Revelation 19:11-21. First, the King appears (19:11-16). John sees “heaven
opened” and Jesus sitting on a white horse.
One of the most important things to notice about this description is how
it parallels the description of the
Son of Man vision in Revelation 1:9-20. The description of Jesus there was more priestly; this one is more kingly. Jesus is portrayed here as a
great warrior King.
We don’t have time fore every detail, but let me
point out a few. Notice first the
Warrior King’s titles. He is called “Faithful and True” (11). Jesus was the “faithful and true witness” earlier
in Revelation (1:5,3:14), now He is
seen as the faithful and true Judge. He
also has “a name…no one knows but
Himself” (12). Thirdly, Jesus is
called “The Word of God” (13). This echoes the prologue to John’s gospel (John 1:1-18) and reminds us that Jesus
is God’s ultimate revelation (Heb.
1:1-2). Finally, Jesus is called the
“King of kings and Lord of lords”
(16). As we said in Revelation 17:14, this is an Old Testament title for Yahweh (Deut. 10:17, Ps. 136:2-3, Dan. 2:47, 4:37 LXX) being given to Jesus.
Next, notice the Warrior King’s triumph.
He “judges and makes war” in “righteousness” (11). In other words, He always does what is right.
His clothing has been soaked in “blood,” but remember that we learned in
Revelation 14:20 that this blood is
the blood of Jesus’ enemies, not His own.
“The armies of heaven” follow
this bloody king and they too arrayed
in “fine linen, white and pure,” indicating
that His bride is also His army. This
army, however, never lifts a finger because their King destroys the enemy
forces with a word! Three portraits of
how this warrior King will execute justice wrap up this description. First, He will “strike down the nations” with the sharp sword that come out of His
mouth. This is an allusion to Isaiah 11:4 and Isaiah 49:2. Second, He will
rule, or shepherd, the nations “with a
rod of iron.” This is an allusion to
Psalm 2:8-9. Thirdly, He will “tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” This allusion is to Isaiah 63:1-6.
After the King appears, the King executes judgment (19:17-21). What we read about here is what was described
as the battle of “Armageddon” in the
sixth and seventh bowl judgments (16:12-21),
and the irony here is
unmistakable. This great and final war
begins with a dinner invitation to
the birds of the air to attend the “great
supper” of God’s wrath. While the
world marches to the drums of war, God rings the dinner bell! This invitation to the birds is an allusion
to God’s judgment upon Gog and Magog in Ezekiel
38-39.
Notice that God’s enemies are the ones on the menu
of this great supper. The birds are
invited to eat “the flesh of kings, the
flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their
riders, and the flesh of all men, both slave and free, both small and great” (18).
The great supper itself begins with “the
beast” and the “false prophet” being
“captured” and “thrown alive into the lake that burns with fire and sulfur” (20). The rest of their followers are “slain by the sword that came from the
mouth” of the warrior King. Note the
power of God’s word here. He doesn’t
need to fight, He only needs to speak!
God’s Word creates, redeems, and brings judgment. Finally, dinner is served and “all the birds were gorged with their flesh”
(21).
Contemplating the justice and the severity of
the judgment to come also helps us to persevere in the face of persecution and
temptation in two ways. First, it calls
us to trust God and leave vengeance to
Him (Rom. 12:19). The justice highlighted here reminds us that
one day justice will be served against every crime committed in God’s
universe. His judgments are “just and true.” In the end, every lie will be exposed and
every wrong will be made right. There
will be an absolute fairness about God’s judgment. This should comfort any believer who has ever
been concerned about injustice in the world or been a victim of injustice. It should also remind believers that God
considers the suffering of His people to be a very big deal in which He is
keeping score. The severity highlighted here reminds us that His judgment will be
sufficient. When we take it upon
ourselves to avenge ourselves, we are playing God and attempting to add to either what may be coming for
someone or what Christ has already paid for on behalf of someone.
Second, the severity
of God’s coming judgment also should serve as an ample reason to repent of sin in our lives. The choice before every person who reads this
text is between eating at the
marriage supper of the Lamb and being
eaten by birds at the great supper of God’s wrath. You can either enjoy the feast or you can be
on the menu! Notice that there will be
no distinction in the judgment to come either.
All who defy the Lamb, both “small
and great,” will face His wrath.
One argument leveled against Christianity is how
God seems to be overly harsh in the Old Testament and then becomes soft in the
New Testament. Anyone who makes such an
objection has obviously never read this text!
Anyone who makes such an argument has also obviously never seriously
considered the cross of Jesus Christ.
God is not softer on sin in the New Testament. He pours out the fullness of His wrath upon
it by having His own Son crucified and those who will not repent pay for it
forever. Every sin gets paid for in
God’s universe. This is an aspect of the
gospel that believers must never forget: our sins were not swept under the rug
when we came to faith in Jesus; they were nailed to His cross. I think that’s why one preacher called the
cross of Jesus Christ the “blazing center
of God’s glory,”[2]
because there we see perfect love displayed and perfect justice served.
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