A Study of The Book of Revelation, Part #69

Earl Gillespie

THE CONQUEROR AND HIS ARMY 
Continued from part 68

Revelation 19:11-16:

The downside of doing a verse by verse study of the Bible is that a picture emerges that is completely alien to the one that we are presented with on a day to day base.  We are often presented with a picture of God smiling and lending a helping hand to his creation as we struggle from day to day.  The Bible presents a picture of an angry God who has been storing up vials of wrath, waiting to pour it out upon a sinful world.  The focus of Christianity has shifted from salvation to that of a business designed to make money and promote the well-being of society.   Many preachers and prophets have devised a scheme to fleece the follower of God out of money by promising that if you give them money God will bless you.  The Bible speaks of a prophet that wanted to get paid to deliver the word of God. Those that have been indoctrinated into this non-scriptural approach to Christianity is embedded with a certain fear that will not allow them to question this unrealistic approach to serving a spiritual God.  

The entertainment aspect of Christianity has overshadow the true worship of God as the congregation is entertained by paid performers who encourages the hearers to get up and move to the beat.  Jesus letters to the churches are considered to be irreverent and overlooked. As the condition of the world deteriorate, we ought to envision the handiwork of an angry God.  

The Bible often speaks of God's angry and when God is angry his blessing are withheld.  The blessings that were promised to the children of Israel were withheld when they sinned against God,  many times blessing given were retracted.  Religious enities love to glory in the blessings of God to show his approval of their deeds, yet many times these so-called blessings are nothing more than the nominal care that He exibits to all of his creation. Matthew 5:45 ... for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.  While we glory in the creation and the seeking out of blessing, we need to be reminded that the final conclusion of things is the judgement of God.

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.

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.

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

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

15. 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.

16. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

The first thing John saw was “a white horse.” This signifies victorious power. The name of the rider was “Faithful and True.” No one but the Lord Jesus Christ could bear that title. He was faithful to the Father in every minute detail and He is the Truth. He judges, and in righteousness makes war. He is coming to settle the destinies of the world and its inhabitants. The rider of the white horse is not only a mighty warrior and conqueror; He is also a righteous Judge. He is coming to judge in righteousness, as well as to destroy in blood. God “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” (Acts 17:31).

Here the appointed day is about to dawn. The Man ordained to judge in righteousness is the Commander-in-Chief of the armies of Heaven approaching the earth. This is a war like no war that has ever been fought up to this hour. It is not a war for the love of conquest or to enlarge a king’s territory. It is a war to put down evil and enthrone righteousness on earth, in order that there may be peace on earth, good will toward men, and the knowledge of the Lord cover the earth as the waters now cover the sea. Jesus is about to prepare the earth for the reign of righteousness promised - but up to this point never fulfilled. The night Jesus was born the angels announced the birth of a King, and added, “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” That has never been, but it will be when King Jesus puts down the armies of Antichrist, sits on the throne of His father David, and reigns in righteousness.

 In verse 12 we read, “His eyes were as a flame of fire.” He is approaching earth to observe all, to search out every hidden evil, and to execute righteous judgment. His eyes “a flame of fire” denote omniscience - nothing shall escape the all-seeing eye of the One who sits on the white charger.   On His head were many crowns [diadems].” The word used here for “crowns” is not the same word used referring to the crowns of the saints in chapter 4:4, 10. The word here translated “crowns” expresses royal dignity and denotes absolute and supreme authority.

In chapter 12:3 the dragon has seven diadems on his head the same Greek word used here. In Revelation 13:1 the Beast has on his horns ten diadems. Thus, the Beast and the dragon will exercise great and Supreme power during their reign; but note that there is only One who can be entrusted to exercise absolute authority and dominion. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. (Read Psalm 8). Seven diadems the dragon wore. Ten diadems the Beast wore. But “ON HIS (Christ’s) HEAD WERE MANY DIADEMS!” This signifies that He is supreme over all governments, and in the end all world authority and power will crumble under His mighty hand.

Verse 12: “. . . He had a name written that no man knew, but He Himself.” There are divine names such as God, JEHOVAH, Christ, Jesus, Lord, Saviour, which express the relationship between Jehovah God and His creatures; but here is a name not revealed to man. Christ the Son, in the fulness of His divine nature and eternal existence, can alone be known by the Father (Matthew 11:27).  Christ has been forever. He was, and ever will be. There is no name to express such eternal existence - past, present and future. Christ alone can understand the fullness of who and what He was in the eternity behind us, of what He is in the present, and of what He will be throughout the eternity ahead of us. The finite mind of man cannot comprehend the fullness of the eternal Godhead.

Verse 13: “And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.” the blood on the garments of the rider of the white horse is not His own blood, but the blood of His enemies. He has come to deal with the opposing armies of Antichrist who have gathered themselves together in war against the Lamb.

In Isaiah 63:1-4 we read concerning the victorious return from the land of Edom, from the capital city Bozrah. With vengeance in His heart, and His righteous garments stained with the Blood of His enemies,the Lord is seen in this battle; but here in Revelation, His garment dipped in blood is witnessed even before He enters into the great conflict. This is a certain guarantee that righteous vengeance shall be meted out to the fullest extent upon the millions gathered against the Lamb of God, led by the Beast and the false prophet. There is no doubt concerning the victory of this battle. The Lamb came the first time in humility, riding upon an ass; but He will come this second time riding a great white charger, to drain the blood of His enemies. He must reign until all enemies have become His footstool - and He will! This does not sound like the “grandfather-God” the liberals and modernists love to preach about, does it? Oh, yes, God is love, God is longsuffering, tender, good and kind; but God is a consuming fire, He is angry with the wicked every day.

Verse 13 closes with “His name is called the Word of God.” From the pen of eight sacred writers, God gives us the New Testament. John is the only one of the eight who applies this title to the Lord Jesus Christ. As The Word, Christ represents the Lord God in His being, in His character and in His righteous and holy works. In John 1:1 we read, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Therefore, in the beginning we see “The Word of Life.” In John 1:14 we read, “And the Word was made flesh.” The Word was in the beginning. More than two thousand years ago the Word took a body. As the Word, Jesus has personal, independent, eternal existence (John 1:1, 2). As the Word, He is maker of all things, and without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:1-3).  As the Word, He is the revealer of God.  He is the One who makes God known to man (John 1:14). Our words should be the expression of what we are. The words of Christ were the absolute expression of what He ever is (John 8:25). As the Word, Jesus reveals God in His essential nature as the Light of the World, as Love, and as the only begotten Son. As the Word, Jesus declares the Father. The first without the second would leave a great blank. The finite mind cannot take in or understand a God who has no beginning and no ending, by whom all things were made, and in whom all life consists. The finite mind of man simply cannot conceive the magnitude of an eternal spirit (God is a Spirit); but Jesus (the Word) took a body and brought God to man. God was in Christ (II Corinthians 5:19) reconciling the world unto Himself.

The title used here in Revelation 19:13 (“His name is called the Word of God”) has singular significance, It is God who is here seen moved into action – the Lord God, Almighty God! The very nature of God demands the judgment of those on earth who attempt to frustrate His purpose to place His Son as King on Mount Zion and to place into His hands the government of earth: In Isaiah 9:6-7 God promised a King upon whose shoulders the government would rest. In Luke 1, Jesus was promised the throne of David, and He must occupy that throne. When the armies of Antichrist attempts to stop the King of kings, God goes into action as “THE WORD OF God.”

Christ, the Word of God, is the absolute and final expression of God in righteous judgment about to take place just before the beginning of the Millennium, the one thousand years of perfect peace on earth (Isaiah 11; Revelation 20:4-6).  Verse 14: “And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” The riders of the white horses were clothed in fine linen, white and clean. This is the heavenly attire of the saints that make up the Bride. It is clear that the Bride will accompany Christ when He returns to the earth.

We have here the fulfillment of the prophecy of Enoch: In Jude 14 and 15 we read, “ . . . 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.”

What a sight! What a sight!! What a tremendous sight!!! If you can, let your imagination picture this: Look toward the sky, and there is the appearance of what seems to be a giant white thunderhead.  But it is moving swiftly, and as it comes nearer the shapes of horses and riders come into view. Out in front we see a great white charger, a tremendous animal, and the rider is most unusual.  His eyes are a flame of fire. A great host is riding toward the earth.

Verse 15: “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.” This verse points out a very significant thing: The only weapon the heavenly host has is “a sharp sword.” The armies have no weapons, they will need no weapons.

The battle is THE LORD’S! “Out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations.” The reference here points back to Isaiah 11:4. When Judas led the soldiers to arrest Jesus, Jesus simply spoke - and His enemies fell to the ground (John 18:5,6).  The Word of God smites, slays, destroys. The power of the Word is irresistible. God needs no hydrogen warheads, guided missiles, atomic submarines nor supersonic bombers! All God need do is utter the Word, and creatures disintegrate. God needs no weapons made with hands.

It is very interesting to note, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). But those who refuse to hear the Word will be destroyed by the very Word that could have brought them life. The Word brings life to all who believe; the same Word metes out death to all who refuse to hear it. No wonder the devil has attempted to destroy the Word of God and discredit the Bible and twists the Word to fit an apostate religion.

Verse 15: “. . . and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” HE SHALL RULE! He shall govern (chapter 12:5). (Read Psalm 2 and Psalm 149:6-9).  The term “with a rod of iron” denotes that the ungodly, determined will of the nations must be broken and their power put down. Jesus Christ, the King of kings, is the only One who can do that. The fact that He (the Lamb, the humble One who has now become King of kings, the mighty One) treads the winepress of His fury and the winepress of the wrath of God denotes His utmost wrath. Almighty God is moved to fury. “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.” We see three symbols of judgment in verse 15. First, a sharp sword. Second, a rod of iron. Third, the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God. “I HAVE TRODDEN THE WINEPRESS ALONE, AND OF THE PEOPLE THERE WAS NONE WITH ME” (Isaiah 63:3).

Verse 16: “And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS!” His garment, the outward character of the Lord Jesus as beheld by others, bears a title of complete universal dominion. Instead of the sword on His thigh as recorded in Psalm 45:3, the name is written on His thigh and the sharp sword is in His mouth. One would naturally look for the sword on His thigh; instead, it is in His mouth, and on His thigh they read His name. 

Continued tomorrow part 70