Vision Seven - The Consummation
Revelation 19:6 - 22:6
As I studied this final vision, I found many similarities to symphonic music in how the
vision is constructed. A symphony will have three or four movements, with the final movement borrowing and repeating material
from the earlier movements as it builds the entire symphony towards a "grand finale" climax. Likewise, John's seventh vision continues
to draw from Old Testament writings, but adds in New Testament wisdom and quotes heavily from the earlier visions in Revelation. The
imagery that John uses will be more vibrant and amazing, and rush by more quickly than before. John is more willing to mix metaphors
and present us with confusing juxtapositions, for he wants us to be caught up in the wonder of the new heaven and new earth. Here,
more so than in the earlier visions, if we stop to analyze, we will miss the great kaleidoscope that John uses to show us the final
completion of God's plan and the awe-inspiring beauty of heaven. Therefore, we must be even more careful than before about
treating these symbolic images more literally than John intended.
Even the start of this vision shares a technique with symphonies. In a symphony, the final movement is sometimes done as
an "attacca," where the music proceeds without stopping from one movement to the next one, to increase the intensity of the
final movement. Because of continuity of the "hallelujahs", it is unclear where vision six stops and vision seven begins, but that
really isn't important!
Opening scene in heaven (19:6 - 19:10)
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice ["sound"] of many waters, and as the voice ["sound"] of
mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ["has begun His reign"].
The multitude singing is the redeemed, sounding very much like the 144,000 in Revelation 14:2. Now that all
earthly powers are recognized as doomed, Christ is seen by all as King.
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.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the [implies
"symbol of"] righteousness of [better "given by God to"] saints.
The expression of praise is not for what God has done, but for what will happen.
The image of the marriage of the church and Christ is prevalent in both the Old and New Testaments. The prophets use the image of marriage in
Isaiah 54:5-6,
Ezekiel 16:8, and
Hosea 2:16. However,
the people of Israel were never faithful to God, so the prophets looked ahead to when there would be a faithful bride. See Jesus' use of
marriage in parables in
Matthew 9:15,
Mark 2:19-20, and
Luke 5:34-35. John
the Baptist uses the image to describe Jesus in
John 3:29. Paul used it in
2 Corinthians 11:2 and
Ephesians 5:25.
Notice the intentional contrast between the appearance of the Bride here and the attire of the Harlot in Revelation 17:3-6. This is
the third of the three key women in Revelation, with the first being the woman giving birth in vision three. This woman is splendidly
dressed, and her clothing is all a gift from her husband, Christ.
The last part of this scripture is often translated "for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints" -- implying that what the
believers did is worthy of white linen. This is out of character with the message of grace. The key to understanding this passage is
the Greek word dikaioma, which means an ordinance or a judgement of righteousness. Paul uses this word in
Romans 2:26 and
8:4 as the requirements
of the law, and again in
5:18, describing that
Jesus fulfilled the ordinance of righteousness for us. Therefore, the bright linens are the outward sign of our inward forgiveness,
just as Jesus healed the bodies of those as a sign of the forgiveness they received within.
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.
Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to an invitation to a marriage supper in
Matthew 22:2-10 and
Luke 14:15-24, showing
the abundant generosity of God. Now, if the church is the Bride of Christ, who are the people who would be invited to the marriage
feast? They are the same people, the redeemed, as John tries another way to describe how awesome heaven will be.
The same angel in 17:1 makes certain that John takes this down. His statement that these are true words isn't just declaring the
obvious, it is celebrating the truth of this beatitude.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant [one word in
Greek: sundouloi] and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy.
John was so excited at this image that he fell down to thank and praise the angel. Angel worship was a
problem in the first century church, as discussed in
Hebrews 1:4-14 and
Colossians 2:18. While
there are significant differences between men and angels, there are more important similarities between men and angels as servants
of God, and there is only One who is to be worshipped.
The phrase that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophesy appears to refer to the story of Jesus' baptism, where the spirit
descended like a dove on him, given in
Mark 1:9-11 and in the
other gospels. However, what it actually means is ambiguous in the Greek. It either says that the message of Jesus is the root
of our teaching, or it says that our greatest teaching is how we live in Christ. Neither of these fit well in the context of John
worshipping the angel, so I think we've lost a common saying, a first century context, or a piece of the text over the centuries
that we need to understand this sentence.
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.
The image of a white horse recalls the first horseman in Revelation 6:2, but here the emphasis is not on war but
on the victory. Jesus is the one named Faithful and True, just as he was called the Faithful Witness in Revelation 1:5 and similarly
through the rest of Revelation.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns ["diadems"]; 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.
Many of these descriptions, like the eyes as a flame, refer back to the first chapter of Revelation. Jesus wears
many diadems, just as the Dragon did, but even moreso. It was common in the first century for emperors to wear all the crowns of
the countries which they ruled. The name inscribed that no one knows was a symbol of power, similar to the promise to the church
in Pergamum in Revelation 2:17. Jacob wrestled at night with what turned out to be God in
Genesis 32:24-29,
asking for the name of his opponent to receive a blessing. The emphasis of the hidden name is that no one can ever know all about
Christ or have control over Christ.
The robe dipped in blood is open for interpretation. The common first century idea would be dipped in the blood of his enemies,
and that is the image in
Isaiah 63:1-3 about
the defeat of Edom, but that implies a vindictiveness missing in the description of the Righteous Judge. The better interpretation
is that the blood is his own, given for us on the Cross, in keeping with the image of the Lamb in Revelation 5:5-6 that had already been slain.
The title of Word of God is for the most important mission of Jesus, to send God's message in the most intense way possible to
humanity. This same thought is expressed in the opening to the Gospel of John. In
Hebrews 4:12, the Word
of God is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
The angelic armies of heaven are dressed in the same fine linen and riding on the same white horses as Jesus. Recall
that when Judas betrayed Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told Peter in
Matthew 26:53 that
he could call legions of angels from heaven in his defense -- these are those legions. Even though this host is described as an
army, there are no weapons and no armor mentioned. They clearly aren't expecting to fight, as they did in Revelation 12:7 when Michael
led the army to cast Satan out of heaven. This time, Christ is the only warrior required.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule [literally, "shepherd"] 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 ["robe"] and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Here again is a reference to the first chapter of Revelation, with the meaning that Jesus' word is his
weapon, and that it is his only weapon. In
Isaiah 11:4, judgement
comes as "he will strike the earth with his mouth." In
Psalm 2:9, "you shall
break them with a rod of iron." In one sentence are three roles that Christ performs towards humanity, that of conqueror, shepherd,
and judge. John leaves no doubt with the final mention of a name inscribed that Jesus, not Caesar, is King of kings and Lord of lords.
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;
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 angel was in the sun so all the birds, flying in mid-heaven, could see. The connotation for birds is the
same negative disgust as we reviewed in Revelation 18:2.
John draws a sobering parallel by using the same Greek word for "supper" in 19:9 and in 19:17. One is a celebration feast, the other,
emphatically linked, is of total physical defeat. This image of vultures recalls the great defeat of the enemies of God, called Gog
and Magog, in
Ezekiel 39:17-20. Note that
all men, from kings to slaves, are to be killed -- war is no respecter of persons, and all people, no matter how powerful, are
weak before God.
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.
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. ...
There are three different battles alluded to in Revelation: 16:16 with the Beast and the ten kings, this one, and 20:8
against Satan after his 1000-year imprisonment. Are these all the same battle? I believe so. Just as John shows us visions of heaven
again and again in his earlier visions, he shows us several times the total defeat of evil.
So here we have all the evil of the world arrayed in huge numbers against God's people. Just as they are ready to do battle, the battle
is finished. God's power is so overwhelming that the hordes of evil are helpless. I remember playing my brother-in-law in tennis
once, me a novice amateur, and him having lettered on his college tennis squad. All I can say for my effort is that I enjoyed the sunshine...
... These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
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.
This lake of fire, puros limnen, describes the same scene as
Matthew 5:22's
puros Gehenna, the hell of fire. This destination is not the same as the Abyss of Revelation 9:1 and coming in Revelation 20:1,
where the demons are housed. Notice that the rest of the defeated from verse 19 are not yet thrown into Gehenna, they are "merely"
killed, but later in the book they will face judgement with the rest of the unbelievers.
|
