On a White Horse Rev,19:11-21

We'll be turning our attention this morning to Revelation 19. And the verses that Ray read for us here start off with, this is obviously one of the most momentous times in all of history to come. Future history, can you handle that? The truth is that passages in both the Old Testament and the New Testament focus on this second coming. As a matter of fact, there is substantially more biblical prophecy about this second coming than there is about the first coming of Christ. How about that? There's even more about this second coming we're looking at this morning than the first. And that's amazing. Perhaps this is a means of, as important as the first coming was, underscoring how pivotal and momentous an event this is.

So read with me as we look again here, first three verses, 11, 12, and 13. And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

Now at last we have come to the culmination of the tribulation period. Are you glad? Well, it's been quite a time, hasn't it? Anyway, John describes this majestic and yet awesome scene that's come before him here. This is a scene with heaven opened. How many of you have seen heaven opened? I haven't come to that. I thought I had at a few points, but I didn't. The Greek here for opened is a perfect participle, and what that means is that the opening of heaven was a completed past action.

It had been done for John here as he looked. And one more thing to keep in mind as we read this passage, what John is going to use here is a lot of Jewish symbolism. And we've got to keep that in mind because remember we looked at this issue of Jewish symbolism a ways back.

In the Greek mind, and our culture is more inculcated with the Greek thinking, when you describe something, when you put the picture together in your mind, it's supposed to look good and make sense. In the Jewish mind, that doesn't matter at all. It's does what it means make sense? See the difference? And we used the example last time.

In our culture, we follow the Greek tradition of our poetry rhymes the sounds. The Jews would not rhyme the sounds, but they would rhyme the meanings. So that's why you see the Psalms frequently rhyming meanings. Similarly here, as we read through this, you're going to read some descriptions in terms of their physical appearance. You put it together and you say, oh heavens.

But what we have to look at is what is being communicated, what is meant by these words. So, with that in mind, let's look at what John sees. First, John says he sees a white horse. Now, a white horse wasn't an everyday sight in John's time. White horses were ridden by emperors and generals and high-ranking military officials. And furthermore, the generals particularly would lead their victorious soldiers into a procession. and they would lead that procession with a white horse. So this white horse has a particular significance. Unlike the white horse that we read about in chapter 6, the rider of this white horse is called Faithful and True. Now that fact alone gives us certain identification of who this rider is.

From the passage, remember back there in Revelation 3.14, to the angel of the church in Laodicea write the Amen, the faithful and true witness. And remember, each of these messages to the seven churches, and this is one of them, each of these messages to the seven churches is given from the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Therefore, this faithful and true is identified as the Lord Jesus. This is his second coming.

So Christ is qualified both prophetically and legally to testify. You see, this faithful and true wasn't just some nice name. It was a legal term in those days. Someone who was faithful and true was someone who was speaking the truth under oath. They were giving legal testimony.

And what Jesus was saying was given with that weight, with that intensity. That would explain why John would write next, in righteousness he judges and wages war. Now that's important too, isn't it? Because what Christ is doing, you've heard people say, well, are you both jury and executioner? Well, yes. In this case, yes he is.

He is qualified to judge and qualified to carry out judgment, both, because of his character, because of who he is. Our Lord does not simply have righteousness. He is the definition of righteousness by His own being. He is the definition of what is righteous. There's even more to His judging and waging war, as we'll see.

We're told in the second verse that His eyes are a flame of fire. You may recall back in October of November last year, When we first looked at the verses that describe our Lord having eyes like a flame of fire and There are these passages are in the early chapters of Revelation both of which speaking of the Lord as having these eyes like a flame of fire and again Remember, this is Jewish symbolism where the idea is not what does it look like? Because frankly that would be a rather frightening thought right? but It's what does it mean?

It means he has this judgment that is piercing. It means he has this judgment that is based on light. He sees with insight. That's what it's conveying. We see this idea reflected in Paul's writings, 1 Corinthians 3, 12-14, Romans 23, 4-2. The Lord has insight for judgment. We also saw the description of the Messiah by John as having eyes like a flame of fire. And in Daniel, Daniel 10, 5 and 6, here's Daniel describing the Messiah, and he uses the same term.

Remember what we've said all along here, the book of Revelation is about 70% straight out of the Old Testament, and this is no exception. When John was writing, it's amazing, better than two-thirds of what he writes is just things drawn straight out of the Old Testament. So the book of Revelation is an excellent weaving together of all these truths, both Old Testament and New Testament. John describes the Lord Jesus as having many diadems on his head. A diadem is a crown.

Remember, there's two words for crown that are used in both the book of Revelation and the New Testament. One is Stephanos' crown. That is the crown that the saints will wear. They're promised that. In the second and third chapters of Revelation, and then you see the 24 elders, and the first thing you see them is having Stephano's crown. That's a victor's crown. It was the crown that was woven for those who had won an Olympic event in those days. The diadem, in contrast, is not a victor's crown, but it's a crown of royalty.

It's a crown of authority. So he has many diadems on his head. Here again, this is where we need to remember, this is Jewish symbolism. Take a half dozen diadems, assuming that's a fair representation. How are you going to wear those? Again, it's not how does it look and what's the practical consideration, it's in the Jewish mind, what does that mean? What's the significance of it? And it means he doesn't wear just one crown as if he had authority in just one respect. He has all authority. He has many authorities. He has royalty above royalty, and that description fits that perfectly. He is royal above all royalty. He has authority above all authority. And John returns to this theme again, as we'll see.

Then what's this about this name written on himself, which nobody knows but himself? That's kind of curious. First of all, we have to remember, the name in a Jewish mindset isn't just some sort of moniker that you stick on some. It has to do with the identity and accomplishments of a person.

These are things about the Lord, about His identity, that are not revealed. On the one hand, we might say, well, perhaps those are things the Lord has chosen not to reveal. It may also be, and frankly we're not told, It may also be that these are things that would just be plain hard to explain. Difficult. How would you put these in human language? Things about the Lord's identity. We do have this breakdown, however, both on His thigh and on the robe. The meaning on His thigh is on His person.

That is who He is and has been His identity from eternity past. On His robe, this is something that comes on later. and it means what he has done. The Lord Jesus has an identity and a character that is part based on who he was from eternity past and is part based on what he has done. And what he has done is substantial, isn't it? It is not an incidental part of who he is. But between who he has been from eternity past and what he has done, those define his identity here. Then we read this thing about that he has a robe dipped in blood.

Now that, at first sound, that might be a little gross, you know. But, you think about it, he is the one who has shed his own blood for the whole world. He is the one who shed his blood for the whole world, and what happens now? Those who reject the grace he offered through his blood, those who reject the mercy offered through His blood. Now we'll have their own shed. As we'll read a little bit further, these are not just all those who reject the Lord, but those who take a stance and position in direct, open opposition to who He is and His authority and His claim to the earth.

And notice finally, He is the Word of God. As the Logos, that's the Word, He is God's message. He is the full expression of who God is. He is the message that God sent. We have the written Word of God, most certainly, but the fullest expression of the message that God has sent is Jesus Christ Himself. And that's identified here very clearly. He is, by His very character, the Word of God. Let's look at verses 14-16.

And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, and he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Now notice something here. Who are the armies with him? How are they identified? These armies are clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Now that stands in contrast to the Lord himself. Remember what his robe was dipped in? Blood. So this is a contrast between the two. Though they are armies, they don't carry out any judgment. And by the way, this is something that's real interesting.

They're called armies, but they don't carry out the judgments. The Lord does that. In the heavenly scene, one of the things you'll notice is there's the 24 elders, right? And the 24 elders are in the heavenly scene throughout the entire tribulation period. They also do not carry out any judgment. Sound fitting? These armies are clothed in white linen. And one of the things we have to look at is, what does this clothed in white linen mean?

We saw in Revelation 19.8 last week, the Bride of the Lamb is clothed in white. And farther back, Revelation 3, 4, and 5, the saints in Sardis are promised to walk with Him in white, and overcomers, in that same message to the church at Sardis, will be clothed in white. See that?

Now, what this is telling us is the righteousness of the Lord. He is the one who clothes us in white, right? The righteousness of the Lord is that clothing. It's the Lord's righteousness, not our own. It's the fulfillment of these promises that brings this white robe to these saints. Now, these white robes follow the Lord Jesus, and look at the description there. They follow him on white horses as well. They ride horses just like the Lord Jesus himself. Both the angels and the glorified saints who are coming back with him.

That's us. Doesn't it make sense? We will ride on white horses like him. Because remember on the heavenly scene, what were we doing? We were seated with Christ like him. How about that? So we will also ride the white horses. And that wasn't done with the regular armies in the Roman Empire or any other army. It was only reserved for those who have the highest standing. So what does that mean? We amazingly are given the standing with the Lord as we come with him. Isn't that something? We have a standing with the Lord. He shares his glory with us. That's phenomenal. That's exceptional compared to anything that you see in ancient history.

Verse 15 says that from his mouth comes a sharp sword. And as you remember, the Greek word for sword here is different from what you see throughout most of the New Testament, and even in some places in the Book of Revelation. This word sword is only used of the sword that comes out of his mouth. And we've got to remember, this is this five foot long barbarian battle sword. It wasn't like the Roman short sword where they'd hold a shield and wield one sword with one hand. This was a sword so big that two hands was the only way to reasonably deal with it, and it was swung typically overhead, and you'd want to get lots of momentum because the idea is you're hacking flesh. You're taking off arms and legs. This is a serious battle weapon. That's the word, this ramphaya, that's the word that is used for the sword that comes out of his mouth.

What's interesting is that it's mentioned earlier, as we've seen in Revelation, it's now mentioned twice in this chapter, never to be mentioned again. The Lord is bringing judgment here in this instance, as we're reading this passage this morning, but never again in that way. The Lord carries out this judgment, but He's not going to come again and be doing things in the same manner.

We're told that the Lord strikes down the nations. This is a fulfillment of, among other places, Psalm chapter 2. The Lord opposes those who have rejected his grace. Those nations entrenched in, as we read in Revelation 17, 18, those nations entrenched in this world system, standing opposed to the Lord, those are the ones that are being attacked here by the Lord. It says also that he will rule the nations with a rod of iron. This refers to the time from this time we're reading about forward, into the millennium, where the Lord will rule the earth. Every injustice will be immediately resolved. Everyone. Evil will not be allowed to continue. All evils will be corrected. Period.

We'll take a closer look at the millennial reign of Christ when we get into this next chapter. But this phrase about ruling with a rod of iron is again out of Psalm 2. And interestingly, this word rule here, you might think of something kind of high and exalted.

It's shepherd. It's shepherd. How about that? He will shepherd with a rod of iron. It's shepherding in the sense of he cares for those that he's ruling over. He's not just simply coming with cruelty and absolute rule. He is doing it in a sense of care. He is doing it as one who is a shepherd.

Now, there's this mention of a winepress as an expression of God's wrath. We've seen this before. The winepress is used three times in scripture as a picture of slaughter. We saw it in Joel, and we looked at it in Revelation 14, and now we're seeing it again. And here it shows up again, but also it's the last time. It's interesting how this passage we're looking at this morning is an event of last times. You see things all through Scripture, even through Revelation brought up. And it shows up here in this chapter 20 and 19 in this passage, and then that's it. No more. Not to show up again.

But the wine press was used in those days, of course, for pressing the juice out of the grapes. In some of the kinds of grapes where it was a darker juice coming out, it would look like blood coming out of the wine press. And that's why the sense of, you know, using the winepress as a symbol of this judgment. And also those who would stomp would frequently get the blood splashed up on them. So the sense of this is a great slaughter. Now, interesting too, it's the Lord who carries out this judgment. And this judgment is an expression of God's wrath. That's what this winepress is all about. this wrath.

This wrath, or geis, is the same Greek word used in 1 Thessalonians 10 and 5.9 where the church is told it will be not subject to God's wrath. It's also the same Greek word that is used in the very beginning of the tribulation period in chapter 6, the start of the tribulation period. So from the first chapter of the tribulation period, chapter 6, to the last chapter, chapter 19, what we find is that word orgase is used, and it is that specific word that we are told twice in 1 Thessalonians, the church will not be subject to that, not be subject to wrath. Now, something to keep in mind as we're looking at this thing, it doesn't come out in this passage, but as we look at there are a number of Old Testament passages and even other places in Revelation that zero in on the fact that what this second coming is focused on is, even though the Lord is coming back to rule the globe, when he comes back for this time of judgment and we see this slaughter of the armies, what is important to keep in mind, this is focused on Israel.

Here's a picture from space looking down at the Middle East, and this little tiny strip here, it's got six million or so people in it. As we looked at before, it's a chunk of land that, if you were to compare it geographically, it would be like going from Colorado Springs up to Cheyenne. That's the north and south of it. It's not that big. That's the nation. All of this battle that we're reading about in front of us here is zeroed in on that little tiny piece of land. Isn't that amazing?

Now, why that piece of land? is because the Lord made promises to Abraham. The Lord made promises to Israel through Moses. The Lord made promises to David. And God's going to keep those promises. God, not man, God is the promise keeper. Centuries come, centuries go, God didn't forget the promises he made. And those promises were unilateral. He is going to do it. Not because Israel is a country now that deserves it, not because they're so God-fearing, but because he made a promise and because he's going to keep the promise.

Now, so what we find is here's, oh, I've got to make up one point. When I say Armageddon, okay, it's not Bruce Willis. It has nothing to do with Bruce Willis, okay? All right. But what it does have to do is these three places, and we looked a few chapters back, there's these three areas.

Valley of Megiddo, which is that's Armageddon and then around Jerusalem in and around Jerusalem and the southern part Around the wilderness area and in the cities around Basra and Petra. Those are the three areas that show up and this Valley of Megiddo, this is the entrance. This is Haifa Bay, which is a little piece of it there that you see that's where the Mediterranean comes in and you've got a little harbor in there and that's the entrance to this Valley of Megiddo.

This valley has battleground history for centuries. David fought battles there. During the period of the Judges, battles were fought there. Even in more recent times, Napoleon fought here. And General Allenby, in more recent times, also fought here. Many battles have been fought in this valley. It will be a time of this huge last battle of the tribulation period.

Also this area around Jerusalem, this is one we brought up before, this is the Kidron Valley, this is as you look off the Jerusalem wall to the east, there's a valley that runs there across the far side is the Mount of Olives, and this valley is also called the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and that is a valley that is an area of prophecy. In and around Jerusalem will be a major area where this battle will take place. Also, this Petra and Basra in the southern wilderness area. Some of the places, as you see here, some of the places are right now just ready for somebody to come in and take shelter there. And they are heavy, solid, hard rock. As you notice, it's held up well over the centuries. This was a city in Roman times. You can still look at Roman streets that are still paved. They've held up that well for two millennia.

And this area will be a retreat area for the Jews during that time. So anyway, if we look at this, this isn't just the Lord coming and just wiping a lot of people out. It's specific to those who are opposing the Lord, who are taking the stamp, because these armies that are gathering are satanically motivated and inspired. That's the key. Armageddon has to do with These satanically motivated forces, they're attacking. And what you find is, we are accustomed to the term, Battle of Armageddon. In truth, it's a campaign.

It's a series of things that are going on, and the Lord's going to come back, and as Helmut mentioned, finish it off by coming on the Mount of Olives, and then doing the real triumphal entry. Not the one that our Lord cried about when He entered, okay? But the real triumphal entry.

Further, it's focused on the nation of Israel, those people to whom the Lord has made a promise, beginning with the promise to Abraham. Continuing on with the promise. As we looked at earlier in our study of Revelation, if you go through the book of Deuteronomy, everything that has happened to the Jews in the last roughly 3,500 years has all been spelled out in the book of Deuteronomy. Everything. Including the fact that they would be scattered as a nation, including the fact that after being scattered they'd be brought back and then that the Lord would bring them to this difficult time and place. It's all been spelled out.

The next thing is God's protection of Israel. And one of the things that is going to grab the Jews at this point in time, they're going to recognize, they're going to see that they will be powerless as potent as they are as a military force, they will be powerless to defend themselves against the magnitude of the onslaught that will be coming towards them. They will recognize that their only way of escape is God, and they will turn to the Lord at that time. A great many will turn earlier, but this will grab them. They will recognize the Lord alone will protect them.

Finally, God's wrath is revealed against those who are opposing Israel and obviously opposing Christ's reign as Messiah. They are defying His right to reign. So that's what this is all about. That's what this battle is. It's not simply a matter of slaughtering millions of people just for the sake of slaughter. It has to do with a long-standing spiritual battle and a long-standing set of promises that the Lord has made. and a long-standing opposition to those on the part of Satan.

Our Lord has on His thigh and on His robe the name King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I have already been told that He has many crowns, many diadems. This is underscoring that point. He is telling us that He has authority above all authorities. Notice again, it is written both on His person and on His robe.

It is because who He has been from eternity past as well as what he has done and therefore become. Now, the name, excuse me, the word translated written is in the perfect tense, it's permanent. Okay? It's permanent. This isn't some ephemeral thing where we put it on there and eventually it will come off. It's permanent. It's done, a completed action with ongoing results into the future. That's the meaning of that verb. It is written on him and on his robe, and that's not variable.

Hebrews 13.8 tells us Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Let's look at verse 17-19. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and 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 men and slaves, and small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army." Now John turns his attention and ours, because really a great deal of the attention has been focused on the Lord himself, right?

And that's appropriate. But now he's turning the attention here towards the description of these deluded armies. Can you imagine thinking you're going to fight some battle against some guy that's going to speak and you're done? That takes real delusion. This is delusional thinking at its ultimate. You're going to pull out your weapons and laser beams and everything else and think you're going to really take this guy on. And he comes and he talks and you're gone. That is delusional.

Now, the one speaking these things in verse 17-18 is perhaps surprising. He's standing on the sun. I don't know about you, but I haven't done very much of that. He's painting a picture with words of this great slaughter, this tribulation period. These men of great authority and those of little authority will give their lives for nothing. Nothing. We talk about giving our lives for a good cause. This isn't even that. Giving their lives for nothing.

The angel is essentially, as you see the description, he's calling in the natural clean-up crew. That's what these birds are. These terry-eating birds are an ecological clean-up crew. We've got a mess here, guys. Eat it up. And interestingly, too, here's these angels And they seem to be able to go anywhere, and here's one on the sun.

Doesn't even seem to bother them at all. The things that we would feel vulnerable to here on planet Earth, not a concern. Not a concern. That should underscore all the more how invulnerable the Lord is to everything that these satanic forces can bring against them.

Right? Among those captured we find the beast, the Antichrist, the servant of Satan. Let's read verse 20. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who had worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. Now you recall a few chapters back we looked at this picture here. Matter of fact, the beast is brought up from chapters 11 all the way into chapter 20.

We're not through hearing about him. But what had happened is Satan had set up this satanic trinity. A counter to, but simulation of, the real trinity, the holy trinity. The holy trinity, of course, is eternal. This is one that only works for three and a half years. This is terminal, not eternal.

See that? And this Antichrist is the Beast, as referenced here in this passage. And look at, there's some attention given here to the false prophet. I think we should look at that. One, he's performed signs in the presence of the Beast. This makes them associated with the Beast. Secondly, the signs were used to deceive people. Deceive people.

It's interesting. I went some years ago to see a magic show with David Copperfield, and it's amazing. And of course, he doesn't claim that it's true. I talked to him a little bit afterwards, briefly, and he made no qualms. This is a simulation, obviously, it's not happening. But it's amazing how true it looked.

It deceives you. The only thing is, he's not got a spiritual message in it. The false prophet does. The false prophet is being deceptive, but he has a very definite spiritual intent, and it's not good. But notice here what happens. The people who received the mark were also the ones who worshipped the image of the beast. These are the ones who were deceived. They were pulled into this worship. They were pulled into being identified with the beast.

So, we'll have more on this verse here in our introduction to the Lake of Fire here. So let's take a look at that. Here's the Lake of Fire. It's the first time that phrase is mentioned. We're going to see it again in chapter 20 and of course delve into the issues some more then.

But what is not typical of the usual in this verse is that these two beings, the beast and the false prophet, go directly into the Lake of Fire. All other beings, there'll be time for judgment and deliberation and not these. These two go directly to the lake of fire. Judgment has already been made. Execution is carried out instantly. No delay, no judgment deliberations, no white throne judgment, just direct delivery to the lake of fire. Look at verse 21.

And the rest were killed with a sword which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh. the wrath, that is, all those others than the beast and the false prophet, were killed by the spoken word of the Lord. That's all it took.

These will end up in the lake of fire as well after a time of judgment that we'll read about. But only the beast and the false prophet go in directly. Now these ghastly events in the last chapter that we've just read here, the last part of chapter 19, they don't reflect cruelty and severity and heartless slaughter on God's part.

Instead, these gruesome events, we'll have to call them that, reflect God's wrath poured out on a willful refusal on the part of the mass of humanity of the offer of grace and mercy and blessing to those who believe. These masses would rather spit in the face of the Lord who willingly died on their behalf. These masses shake their fists at the Lord and attack the people with whom he has made a promise. Those people with whom he has covenanted are the ones that they focus their attack upon. We, however, can be in contrast to them.

Isn't that good? By God's grace. In contrast to these, we can receive God's grace and the mercy of the Lord, and what's amazing is that we find that that grace and that mercy is so vast and so deep, it will take eternity for us to fathom the depths of it. So let us, in contrast to these, be ever more absorbed with the wonder of our Lord and the glory that He is so incredibly, unfathomably shared with us. Let us, in contrast to these, look forward to His coming, and not stand ready to oppose it, but look forward to it, to love His appearing. There's a promised crown for that, for those who love His appearing.

Maranatha, our Lord come. Let's pray. Lord, as we read through this passage here this morning and this week, We think through all its messages. Lord, certainly it's distressing to read of this slaughter. And Lord, yet how much waste all these could have enjoyed for eternity. One exception.

All these, Lord, could have enjoyed for eternity a place seated with you, coming with you instead of opposing you. And Lord, as we look at these, we also think of the fact that we will come with you. We will be with you for eternity. Wherever you are, we will be as well. And Lord, as we think of these who also have the white horses, we think of the position that we have in you that is untouchable. The position that cannot be attacked by this world. And we just thank you that Like here is your power that does the defeating and not our own. We give you thanks and praise in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.