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Daniel and Revelation
Chapter 31
Revelation 19 - Armageddon

The empire of the second beast, which is the false prophet of Islam, is destroyed.  Christ can now move onto the first beast and his global government.

Revelation 19:1-4 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God:   (2) for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."   (3) A second said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever."  (4) The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, "Amen! Hallelujah!"

John uses the imagery from Isaiah 34:8-10, “Her smoke goes up forever and ever.”  This imagery also occurs in Revelation 14:11.  This was covered in section 28.4 of this book.  For those who take the mark of the beast, “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.”

Revelation 14:10-12 He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.   (11) The smoke of their tormentgoes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.   (12) Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

Revelation 19:20 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

Revelation 20:10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

After Armageddon, the first beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire.  After the millennium, the devil is thrown into the lake of fire along with the beast and the false prophet.  This lake burns with sulfur (Revelation 14:10, 19:20, 20:10, 21:8, and Isaiah 34:9).  In Isaiah 34:8-10 we see that all of Edom becomes burning pitch and sulfur.  Could this be the lake of fire to which John was alluding?  Edom was the region along the border of Israel and Jordan, south of the Dead Sea, and north of the Gulf of Aqaba.  

Isaiah 34:8-10 ESV For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.  (9) And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch .  (10) Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.

31.1) The Bride Has Made Herself Ready

And now, back to Revelation 19.  The whole purpose of the great tribulation is for the Church to overcome sin.  Now that we have reached the time of Armageddon, the Bride has made herself ready.  This means the Church has overcome sin.

Revelation 19:5-9 A voice came forth from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!"  (6)  I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns! (7)  Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready ."  (8) It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.  (9) He said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' "He said to me, "These are true words of God."

The idea of being invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb brings us back to the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).  Five wise virgins were allowed into the wedding banquet.  The five foolish virgins were excluded.  All ten were believers because they were all waiting for the bridegroom to come.  All ten had fallen asleep while waiting.  All ten had some oil in their lamps.  But the five foolish virgins did not have enough.

Jesus says to the five foolish virgins, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”  Does this mean the five foolish virgins will go to hell?  No, it simply means they have not developed a discipleship relationship with Jesus Christ so that they overcome all the sinful habits in their lives.  You can’t get into the wedding banquet without first overcoming all your sinful habits.  If you don’t overcome all your sinful habits, then you won’t be a part of the Bride who makes herself ready for the wedding banquet.

Revelation 19:8 says, “The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”  The word “saint” means holy one.  The find linen represents righteousness.  We become holy by doing the works of the Father.  These are the “righteous acts of the saints.”  As we do the righteous acts of the saints, the Holy Spirit fills us in order to help us do the Father’s will.  The Holy Spirit changes us on the inside and we overcome all our sinful habits.  We are being changed to be like Christ.  Only those who become like Christ in this manner will be ready for the wedding banquet.

Matthew 25:1-13 "Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.  (2) Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  (3) Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them,   (4) but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.  (5) Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept.  (6) But at midnight there was a cry, 'Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!'  (7) Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.  (8) The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'   (9) But the wise answered, saying, 'What if there isn't enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'  (10) While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.  (11) Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.'  (12)  But he answered, 'Most certainly I tell you, I don't know you.'   (13) Watch therefore, for you don't know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

We should also consider the parable of the wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1‑13).  The ten virgins compared the wise with the foolish.  The foolish have not lost their salvation.  They will live in the nations.  They still have the opportunity to mature in Christ.  The wedding banquet, on the other hand, is about the wicked.

In telling the parable, Jesus is speaking to the common person.  Those who were originally invited to the wedding banquet are the rich and proud rulers of the world.  They refuse to come.  The king “destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”  These, of course are the wicked.  But there is one other person in the parable who is determined to be wicked and is destroyed.  He comes to the wedding banquet without wedding clothes.

Matthew 22:1-13 Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying,  (2)  "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son,  (3) and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come.   (4) Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "Behold, I have made ready my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast!" '  (5) But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise,   (6) and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them.  (7) When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.  (8) "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy.   (9) Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.'   (10) Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.  (11) But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn't have on wedding clothing,   (12) and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless.   (13) Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.'

This parable primarily focuses on the rich and proud of the world who don’t care to come to the wedding of God’s own Son.  This parable is not talking about the Bride.  It’s talking about those in the nations.  The rich and the proud are destroyed.  The man without wedding clothes is also destroyed.  To come to the wedding banquet without wedding clothes would have been a sign of great disrespect.  Those who are in contempt of the Father or his Son are considered wicked and are destroyed.  Basically they are against Christ.  To be against Christ is antichrist.

31.2) Jesus Christ Coming on a White Horse

Revelation 19:10-16 I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, "Look! Don't do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy."   (11) I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war.  (12)  His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself.   (13) He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called "The Word of God."   (14) The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen.   (15) Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.  (16) He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

The first beast will rule for 1290 days.  From the abomination of desolation is 1290 days (Daniel 12:11).  By context, I think this is 1290 days until the resurrection (Daniel 12:2).  I believe the resurrection is on the last day of these 1290 days.  Those in Christ who are still alive would receive their spiritual bodies at that time.  Then we would all wait another 45 days as the six bowls of God’s wrath are poured out.  Then comes the rapture.  We are all gathered to meet the Lord in the air.  After that comes the wedding banquet in the New Jerusalem.  After the wedding banquet, we all return with Christ, figuratively on white horses, as he fights the armies of the world at Armageddon.

In this passage Jesus figuratively sits on a white horse.  White stands for purity.  Jesus is called Faithful and True.  Jesus is called “Faithful” because no one doubts the victory of Jesus.  He will be the “King of kings and Lord of lords” when he conquers the one-world government of the antichrist.  Jesus is called “True” because he will rule in truth.  This is in comparison to the antichrist and his government which constantly lies to the people.  “In righteousness [Jesus] judges and make war” against the nations of the world.  

Verse 15 says, “He will rule them with an iron rod.”  Back in Revelation 12:5 we read about the woman (Israel) who “gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.”  Back in one of the letters to the seven churches, we read:

Revelation 2:25-29 Nevertheless, hold that which you have firmly until I come.  (26)  He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.   (27) He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father:   (28) and I will give him the morning star.   (29) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

The “rod of iron” imagery tells us something about how Jesus will be ruling the nations.  We must find the symbols of Revelation in the Old Testament to get a better idea of what’s being said.  Ruling the nations with a “rod of iron” comes from Psalm 2.  Jesus will in fact rule the nations strictly.  Today, the people of the nations are used to living in sin with no consequences from their rulers.  The rulers themselves live in sin.  But under the righteous rule of Jesus Christ, the government will in fact legislate morality.  "Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters” (Psalm 2:3 NIV).  The people of the nations will not like this legislation against sin.  But Jesus, sitting in the New Jerusalem, will just laugh.  Then he will speak to the nations in anger.  Here is the entire Psalm 2.

Psalms 2:1-12 Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?   (2) The kings of the earth take a stand , and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,  (3) "Let's break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us."   (4) He who sits in the heavens will laugh . The Lord will have them in derision.  (5)  Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath:  (6) "Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion."  (7) I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, "You are my son. Today I have become your father.  (8) Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.  (9) You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."  (10) Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.   (11) Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  (12) Give sincere homage, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled . Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

Back in that letter to the seven churches, in Revelation 2:25-29 (quoted above), we find out that we who overcome all our sinful habits will reign with Christ over the nations.  Verses 26-27 say, “He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father.”  Thus he, who overcomes, will also reign with an iron rod.  We will rule with Christ and carry out Christ’s instructions in the rule of the nations.  That rule includes the “shattering of them like clay pots.”  Back in Psalm 2:9 we read, “You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”  The harsh rules of legislating morality is like the potter remaking his vessel.  We, as rulers, will become like a father to the nations from the aspect that a father disciplines his children.  I think that’s a reflection of Psalm 2:8 which says, “Yahweh said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your father.’”  Just as Christ is the son of God in obedience to the Father, we who overcome sin will be like fathers to the nations and will help them to overcome sin.

In Revelation 19:13 we read, “His name is called ‘The Word of God.’”  Here John is giving us an allusion back to his own Gospel.  In John 1:1-3,14, we read:

John 1:1-3,14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2) The same was in the beginning with God.  (3) All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. …

(14) The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

31.3) Armageddon

Revelation 19:17-19 I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, "Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God,  (18) that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, and small and great."   (19) I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army.  

This is the battle of Armageddon.  Notice that the battle of Armageddon is not a world war, like World War I and World War II, where the armies of the world are attacking each other.  The false Armageddon was back in Revelation 9:13-21.  It was the sixth trumpet-plague.  The sixth trumpet is World War III and the people of world will think it is Armageddon.  World War III will help propel the world into a one-world government, thinking that World War III is the last war and equating it with Armageddon.  Revelation 19:17-19 is the real Armageddon.  This is when the nations of the world gather against Jerusalem to fight against Jesus Christ and his army from the New Jerusalem (heaven).

The imagery that John describes about Armageddon comes from Ezekiel 39.

Ezekiel 39:1-8 ESV "And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.   (2) And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel.  (3) Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.  (4) You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.  (5) You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.   (6) I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the LORD.   (7) "And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore . And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.   (8) Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord GOD.  That is the day of which I have spoken.

Notice that after this battle the holy name of the Lord will never be profaned again.  Thus, this battle in Ezekiel has to be the last battle.  This has to be the time when Christ sets up his earthly reign.  This battle in Ezekiel has to be the time when both the beast and the false prophet are finally defeated.  Ezekiel 38, however, can be an entirely different battle.  Both battles in Ezekiel are against Gog, from the land of Magog.  Ezekiel 38 is pre-tribulation.  It’s against the Islamic nations that surround Jerusalem.  Gog, from the land of Magog, would be the false prophet, which is the second beast.  Ezekiel 39, on the other hand, would be post-tribulation.  It would be against both antichrists, where both the beast and the false prophet are defeated.

Let’s skip down a few verses in Ezekiel 39 and read more about the birds who feast on the armies of the world who attack Jesus Christ at Armageddon.  Again, compare these verses to Revelation 19:17-19 (quoted above).

Ezekiel 39:17-21 You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal 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 on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.   (18) You 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 bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.   (19) You shall eat fat until you be full, and drink blood until you be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.  (20) You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war , says the Lord Yahweh.  (21) I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.

We know the outcome of this final battle.  The beast and the false prophet are thrown alive into the lake of fire.  The rest of the armies who attack Jesus Christ are killed.  “All the birds are filled with their flesh.”

Revelation 19:20-21 The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.  (21)  The rest were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, the sword which came forth out of his mouth. All the birds were filled with their flesh.

After Armageddon, the first beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire.  After the millennium, the devil is thrown into the lake of fire along with the beast and the false prophet.  This lake burns with sulfur (Revelation 14:10, 19:20, 20:10, 21:8, and Isaiah 34:9).  In Isaiah 34:8-10 we see that all of Edom becomes burning pitch and sulfur.  (Isaiah 34:8-10 was quoted at the start of this chapter and is quoted again below.)  Could this be the lake of fire to which John was alluding?  Edom was the region along the border of Israel and Jordan, south of the Dead Sea, and north of the Gulf of Aqaba.  

Isaiah 34:8-10 ESV For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.  (9) And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch .  (10) Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever.

The two beasts (antichrists) are thrown alive into the lake of fire.  This suggests that the lake is literal, perhaps as described of Edom in Isaiah.  Back at the beginning of this chapter of Revelation, we read about the destruction of the prostitute, which is Islam.  Let’s read those verses again.

Revelation 19:1-4 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God:   (2) for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."   (3) A second said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever."  (4) The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, "Amen! Hallelujah!"

Again, the fact that “her smoke goes up forever and ever” comes from Isaiah 34:8‑10.  The false prophet (leader of Islam) is destroyed alongside the destruction of the antichrist after Armageddon.

The rapture, it would seem, happens after the six bowls of wrath.  Then Babylon (Islam) is destroyed (Revelation 16:19).  The “Great City” of Jeddah and Mecca is destroyed in “one hour.”  “The kings of the earth ...will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning” (Revelation 18:9).  “Her smoke goes up forever and ever” (Revelation 19:3).  After the destruction of Babylon, it would seem, comes the wedding banquet, followed by Armageddon.  Finally, the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire.

Philip Brown
www.newwine.org


If you find this book to be of interest, please send an email with a link to this website to all your Christian family and friends.  You could even include one to your pastor.

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Philip Brown     Click to email me.

If you find this book to be of interest, please send an email with a link to this website to all your Christian family and friends.  You could even include one to your pastor.

Thanks,www.newwine.org
Philip Brown     Click to email me.

If you find this book to be of interest, please send an email with a link to this website to all your Christian family and friends.  You could even include one to your pastor.

Thanks,www.newwine.org
Philip Brown     Click to email me.