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Introduction to the 19^th Chapter:

In the previous chapter God destroys mystery Babylon, the harlot. When he does, God encourages everyone in heaven to rejoice. This is where we pickup with the 19^th Chapter. During this chapter we will get a hint of the marriage supper of the Lamb.

After the supper the saints will follow Christ to help in defeating the Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon.

This chapter ends with the Antichrist and the false prophet along with all of those that had taken the mark of the beast and had worshipped his image being cast alive into the lake of fire.

1: And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
"After these things," meaning the destruction of the Babylon the Harlot, John hears a great voice in heaven. The great voice is the sound of a multitude of people praising and worshipping God at one time. The sound would be like the sound of a crowd at a pro-football game. They are saying salvation, glory, honor and power to the Lord our God. ‘Our God," showing possession because they are his and he is theirs.

2: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
They know that they should rejoice because God is always right in his judgments. He has avenged his people by destroying the harlot who is the city of Rome and its Religion. She deserves destruction because she has led so many others into destruction.

3: And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
Then they began to worship God again by saying Hallelujah. And the smoke from the destruction of Babylon rose up from the earth forever and ever. This means that this will never be forgotten, but will always be remembered.

4: And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
The twelve Disciples, the twelve Patriarchs and the four beast who symbolize all of Israel all fall down together and worship God saying, Amen and Hallelujah. This shows Israel in heaven.

5: And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
Since the voice came out of the throne, it is obvious that it is the Father who is speaking and asking everyone to praise his Son. Whether we are famous or no one has ever heard our name as long as we fear him and are servants to his will we should praise him. Of course everyone in heaven fits this description or they wouldn’t be there.

6: And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Then all of heaven men and angels alike began to worship the Son declaring that it is he that is all-powerful and now will reign. The great multitude praising the Lord Jesus Christ together sounds like many waters, such as a water fall or river running very swiftly, this is the way large crowds sound when assembled together.

7: Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Let us give honor to the Son for it is time for the wedding to His bride has come. His wife or bride has made herself ready. This is the wedding, the gathering of the bride has already happened. This praise and worship from the bride along with the celebration in heaven is the marriage ceremony.

The bride has made herself ready by coming to him. It is Christ who provides the wedding garment just as it was customary in Israel for the groom to purchase the wedding garment for his bride.

8: And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
The fine linen is described here as being the righteousness of saints. Of course we know that this the robe of righteousness that Christ gives to all of those who believe in him and have come to him for salvation. This is the wedding garment, it is his imputed righteousness, since our righteousness is as filthy rags.

Isaiah 61: 10: I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

9: And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Many commentaries do not believe in an actual marriage supper of the Lamb, one in which all the saints will set down with Jesus in heaven to celebrate the wedding. I personally do believe in an actual marriage supper in which Christ will serve us himself just because he loves us. I base my belief on the following scripture. This feast is to follow his return.

Lk:12:37: Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.

10: And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
At this moment John was overcome by all the wonderful things that he was seeing and emotionally fell down at the feet of this being ready to worship him. It was an angel the same kind of angel that John was to mistakenly worship in Revelation 22:8-9. He was not saying that he was a man, but a fellow servant for Christ just like John and his brothers in Christ.

"And of thy brethren," that is, a fellow servant of thy brethren.
"Have the testimony of."
The testimony of--that is, respecting Jesus.
"Is the spirit of prophecy," is the result of the same spirit of prophecy in you as in myself. Angels, and apostles as John were all alike having the testimony of (bear testimony concerning) Jesus. The operation of one and the same Spirit, who enabled the angel to show John these revelations and enabled him to record them: wherefore we are fellow servants, not I your lord to be worshipped by you. Compare Revelation 22:9, "I am fellow servant of thee and of thy brethren the prophets"; whence the "FOR the testimony," &c. here, may be explained as giving the reason for his adding "and (fellow servant) of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus." I mean, of the prophets; "for it is of Jesus that thy brethren, the prophets, testify by the Spirit in them." This is a clear condemnation of the type of worship that the Catholic Church promotes and practices.

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.
When Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey it was the symbol of peace, but now we see him riding a white horse. This is almost confusing because the horse itself was a symbol of war. But a white horse such as the one the Antichrist rides in Revelation 6: 1 is a white horse of peace. This tells us much, because Christ is coming back on a horse of war to bring peace to the earth. This is only a spiritual illustration because the scriptures declare that Christ will come again the same way that he left. He was not on a horse when he went away.

He is called faithful and true because he is faithful and true. In righteousness he makes his judgments and in the same righteousness he will make war. The word righteous means to do the right thing. He will only do what is right and just.

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.
His eyes were as a flame of fire
Which denotes the perspicuity and penetration of them, the omniscience of Christ to look into and discover the secret machinations, schemes, and devices of his enemies against his people, and his exercise of it in favour of them, his eyes, like a flame of fire, running to and fro on their behalf; and also this may signify the fierceness of his anger against the enemies of his people, the eyes of his glory being provoked by their cruelty and wickedness; and likewise the suddenness of their destruction, and the inevitableness of it. [Gill]

On his head are many crowns which is symbolic of his being Lord of Lords and King of Kings. It symbolizes his authority over every thing in creation, whether it be man or planet, he is Lord. I also believe that the reason there are so many crowns is that it reveals a more personal thing. When we receive Christ as our savior and we surrender to his will, we are spiritually crowning him as Lord over our lives. This is why I believe that there are many crowns shown on the head of our Lord in these scriptures. Each crown is from a believers subjection to him.

It also says that he has a name written that no man knows. This is a secret name that will be revealed to us at his appearing the same as our new names that are written in white stones and given to us at that time. This is a wonderful mystery.

13: And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
His name is called "The Word of God." Jesus is commonly called "The Word of God," among his people. He is "The Word of God,’ who became flesh to dwell among us.

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood…
Either in his own, by which he became the Saviour of his church and people; or else in the blood of his saints, he now comes to avenge; or rather in the blood of his enemies, with which he appears as stained, before the battle is fought, the victory being sure, and their slaughter unavoidable: the metaphor is taken from persons treading in a winepress, whose garments are stained with blood of grapes; see (Revelation 19:15) (Genesis 49:11) (Isaiah 63:1-3). [Gill]

14: And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Since the fine linen, white and clean is the righteousness of the Saints it stands to reason that the armies that are in heaven following Christ at this point is all the believers in Christ who have been redeemed by his blood. They are apparently following him to either participate in the battle of Armageddon or to simply watch as Christ destroys his enemies.

It is at this moment that the seventh seal is opened which is only one verse long Revelation 8:

1: And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Christ and the armies in heaven have gone down to the earth to fight against the enemies of God. They will win the battle, but heaven will be watching and is silent for only thirty minutes, because that is how long it will take to defeat the enemy. Heaven is empty at this point. Only the Father and a number of angels are left in heaven because Christ and the armies from heaven are gone to fight this battle.

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.
Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword which symbolizes the sword of the spirit or the word of God. It is his word that is going to smite the nations. He told the wicked in the word of God that they would be judged and condemned by it. So all things happen according to the promises of God whether they be for blessing or cursing. Here we see the cursing that comes from the word of God.

He will rule the nations with a rod of Iron, which does not mean cruelty but through his great love that will not bend, nor will his commandments. According to his promise in Revelation 2:26-27 the over-comers will also rule with him with a rod of iron.

16: And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
On his garments and on his thigh is written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Because now is the time that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father. God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. It is time for him to reign upon the earth. Revelation 11: at the sounding of the seventh trumpet we see the same event.

15: And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

17: And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
An angel standing in the sun calls to the fowls of heaven, this heaven is the earthly heaven that we know as the sky. He calls for the vultures on the earth to gather together to eat the carrion of the dead in the valley of Megiddo.

18: That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
The valley of Megiddo is the place that the scriptures call the great wine press of the wrath of all mighty God. This is found in Revelation chapter 14.

19: And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

20: And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

The angel thrusting in his sickle is symbolic of the harvest of the wicked by the sword of the spirit that comes from the mouth of Jesus to destroy the wicked that have come to make war with him. It is doubtful to me that these people realize that they have been brought to the valley of Megiddo to go to war against Jesus Christ. They have been warring against the children of God and to God they are waging war against him. Who ever is trying to destroy God’s children is out to destroy him.

19: And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
The beast and the kings of the earth are speaking of the Antichrist and his ten nations along with those who come down against Jerusalem to support the Antichrist in his invasion to re-take Israel. He will succeed in taking a third part of the city captive, but Christ will return and defeat him and destroy his armies in the battle of Armageddon.

20: And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Now we see the beast who is the Antichrist and the false prophet who is the Pope being taken alive by an angel of God and hurling them both into the lake of fire. Here we see it being mentioned that the false prophet caused many to worship the beast and to receive the mark of the beast.

21: And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Those that were left of his armies were killed by the words of Jesus, which is all it will take for them to be brought to their deaths. All Jesus has to do is speak it and it will be so. In the 14^th chapter of Revelation we see this described as blood up to the horses bridles for over two hundred miles in the valley of Megiddo.

This is the time that the Isaiah spoke of when he said this in Isaiah 66: 24: And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

This scripture is further described in Matthew 24: 28: For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

The view here is all of these nations being viewed as the beast and his armies being destroyed together like one animal, the beast that they are called. Picture the beast in Revelation 13: 1 lying on his back in the valley of Megiddo with all of the nations who have returned with Christ standing around the rim of this valley looking at the destruction of the enemies of God.

God Bless You
Tommie Spurgeon

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