Revelation 19 - Christmas, Part II
- Chad Werkhoven
- Nov 10, 2022
- 2 min read
We celebrate the gift of a humble baby at Christmas. Wait till you see the sequel!
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Revelation 19 (ESV)
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.
Previous DIG DEEPER posts on Revelation
Revelation 19 Summary
We begin here the sixth perspective of Christ's victory. Although these different perspectives unfold parallel to one another in time, each perspective progressively contains more detail. What an amazing picture is painted by John's words here: a great multitude in heaven singing, the 24 elders falling down in worship, and angelic announcements of Christ's wedding to His bride, the Church.
We get a tremendous view of Christ's return in chapter 19. This second coming will be far different than His first, in which He humbly took on flesh in the form of a helpless baby and grew up to offer grace, mercy and peace to all who would receive Him. When He returns, the Word of God will be seen not as the gospel, offering good news, but only as judgment; a sharp sword mowing down all who've stood against Him.
In the previous couple of perspectives in which the the dragon and its associated beasts seemed so terrible and powerful, but from the viewpoint in heaven given in this chapter we see them for what they truly are: a puny force, hopelessly gathered to make war against against Him who was sitting on the white horse. This great battle of Armageddon, which is feared by so many, will be over before it even begins (v20-21).
Dig Deeper
You need to make sure that you have a full, comprehensive understanding of who Christ is. Yes, He is the one who came in all humility, walking alongside sinners and offering rest to the weary. It's important to always remember His love and selflessness He demonstrated on the cross where He gave His life to pay for our sin. But don't leave Jesus humbly hanging on the cross in your life. You must also come to know Him in all the splendid glory of His majesty, power and triumph. Know that He rules all things, and that when the time is right He will effortlessly swat away all that is evil.
Hang on to this theological tension in your life. Be humble, gracious and forgiving, as your Savior was. But at the same time, stand unswervingly on the Word of God, who will righteously judge and make war against all that is evil.
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Salvation and glory and power belong (v1) to the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (v16)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that the Spirit of prophecy (v10) will help you understand and align with 'the true Words of God (v9).'
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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