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Study in Revelation

Study in Revelation. Presentation 13. The Final Victory Chap 19v6-20v15. Presentation 13. Marriage Of The Lamb Announced. [ 19:6-10]

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Study in Revelation

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  1. Study in Revelation Presentation 13

  2. The Final Victory Chap 19v6-20v15 Presentation 13

  3. Marriage Of The Lamb Announced [19:6-10] The praise in these verses has a new focus and direction. God’s Lordship over all of creation has been vindicated and now, with a sense of anticipation, we spring forward into the future and focus upon the marriage supper of the Lamb. The marriage metaphor describes the relationship of God to his people. It has its roots in the OT. cf. Hos. 2:19 and Isa. 54:5-7 [also Matt. 22:2 ff., Eph. 5:32]. The church, Christ’s betrothed, currently awaits the arrival of the groom to take her home to a marriage feast that will last for eternity. Presentation 13

  4. Marriage Of The Lamb Announced [19:6-10] In contrast with the harlot, the bride is dressed in fine linen, bright and pure. Her beauty is not skin deep but has a moral dimension associated with it - righteous deeds! This great feast is prefigured in Isa. 24:6-8. [also Lk.13:29. Matt. 26:29]. Those who attend the marriage supper are truly blessed. The nature of the blessedness is unpacked in chap 21-22. The wonder of the marriage supper and its significance caused John to fall down and worship before the angel. Did John mistake the speaker for our Lord? In any event the worship is redirected. Presentation 13

  5. The Warrior Messiah Appears [19:11-16] Without warning heaven opens and on a white horse appears a rider. He is dressed for battle and is set to bring about the close of this present age. This faithful and true rider is Christ. He is further identified as the ‘Word of God’ . The Word of God, is God incarnate, communicating the divine Word personally, powerfully, and actively. The unknown element of the rider’s name points to the impenetrable mystery of the Godhead. His eyes are ‘a flame of fire’ for nothing can be hidden from his gaze. Presentation 13

  6. The Warrior Messiah Appears [19:11-16] The many crowns on his head indicate unlimited sovereignty. Only the rider’s garment has been dipped in blood [cf. Isa. 63:1-6]. Apparently his army takes no part in the battle. His enemies blood, symbolises his victory in the coming conflict. He is said to smite his enemies with a sharp sword i.e. the lethal power of his word of judgement, not a literal sword cf. 2 Thes 2:8. The second description pictures him ruling the nations ‘with a rod of iron’ cf. Ps 2. To rule with a rod of iron suggests destruction, an unyielding mission of judgement. The third description that of ‘treading the wine press' thus confronting us again with the stern reality of God’s fierce anger against implacable evil. Presentation 13

  7. The Antichrist And His Allies Destroyed [19:17-21] In these verses an angel invites the birds of heaven, presumably carrion eaters like vultures, to attend a supper. In contrast with the marriage supper of the lamb, where Christ’s people feast with him, this supper is presented as one in which the enemies of God, made up of all kinds of men, ‘great and small’, are on the menu cf. Ezek. 39:17-20. To remain on the battlefield unburied and exposed to animal predators was considered an ignominious fate in the ancient world. God’s enemies are not only defeated but dishonoured. Presentation 13

  8. The Antichrist And His Allies Destroyed [19:17-21] In 16:13-14we saw that demonic spirits went out of the mouths of the beast and the false prophet to assemble the kings of the world for battle against God; v19ff. describes that conflict. We are presented here, not with the gradual overthrow of evil but with one great epochal event that destroys the Antichrist and his forces and ushers in Christ’s long awaited reign of righteousness. No description is given of the actual warfare! The beast [secular power opposed to God] and the prophet [false religion] are seized and cast into ‘the lake of fire’ - this description of the place of final torment is found only here in scripture. cf. Ghenna in Matt. 5:22, Mk. 9:43. Presentation 13

  9. Major Interpretative Disagreement A great amount of time and attention is given by many to 20:1-10. They stop being exegetes of the text and become apologists for their own millennial view. The passage is important but we should not treat it in such a way as to obscure the basic theme of the book namely; the fact of Christ’s return, the triumph of Christ over evil, the inevitability of the judgement of all wickedness and the glory of the eternal state. A. W. Tozer was approached by two Christians holding differing millennial views and asked for his opinion on the second coming. He replied, ‘I believe in it, I live in the light of it, and that settles it.’ What a refreshing corrective to time-consuming speculation. Presentation 13

  10. Satan Bound [20:1-3] The binding of Satan in v1-3 has been understood in a number of ways. Augustine, many of the Reformers and some modern scholars like Hendriksen have viewed the language symbolically and taught that the binding is the restraint that is placed upon Satan between the first and second advents [the amillennial view]. So that chap 20 does not follow in a chronological manner from chap 19 but following the parallel pattern established in the book takes us back to Christ’s first coming. Presentation 13

  11. Satan Bound [20:1-3] In support of this view see passages such as Mt. 12:29; Lk. 19:17-18; Jn. 12:31 Col. 2:15. The effect of the binding cleared the way for gospel proclamation and church growth. The heathen ideologies that had deceived the nations for centuries were successfully assailed by missionary expansion. Doors opened! At the end of the church age Satan is released i.e. his powers are no longer restrained and his deceptive influence over men is unleashed leading to a final conflict. Presentation 13

  12. Satan Bound [20:1-3] A different view, which enjoys the support of Justin Martin, Irenaeus and more recently the likes of Walvoord, is the premillennial view. It builds upon Jewish apocalyptic expectation and teaches that this passage describes a time when Satan is rendered completely inactive. This will last a literal thousand years. The millennial period will follow the second advent. Satan’s confinement is not a punishment but such radical control over his activity that he is no longer able to deceive the nations as previously. At the end of Christ’s millennial rule on earth, Satan, whose influence had not merely been restrained but removed, is then set loose to continue his deceptive role and to engage in a final conflict. Presentation 13

  13. Satan Bound [20:1-3] A third view which gained great popularity in the 17th and 18th C and which helped shape world-wide missionary thinking is that of postmillennialism. Marcellus Kik would be a more recent exponent of this position. It holds that before the end of history there will be an age of the Spirit when spiritual prosperity and peace will be enjoyed upon earth. Such will be the effusion of God’s Spirit that Satan’s influence is restrained and his kingdom pushed back as never before. According to this view the millennium rule of Christ is one that is evidenced through his Spirit and precedes his second advent. Presentation 13

  14. Satan Bound [20:1-3] The variations of these views are legion and our aim here is not to engage in an exhaustive treatment of any one of them. We simply point out that there is no substantial agreement among Christians concerning the interpretation of this passage and want to flag the danger of allowing our own theological preferences to act as lenses colouring our interpretation. Presentation 13

  15. The Thousand Years [20:4-6] Who are those John sees on the thrones of v4 who have authority to judge? Are they apostles [Matt. 19:28] or the saints in general [1 Cor. 6:2-3] or those who remain faithful in time of trial [3:21] The text does not make it clear. John also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their commitment to Christ and his Word – martyr-saints. This passage encourages such to see, that in comparison with their earthly suffering, they are gloriously rewarded during the ‘thousand years’ of Christ's reign. Presentation 13

  16. The Thousand Years [20:4-6] This raises a number of questions. Is the enjoyment of ruling with Christ the exclusive reward of the martyr saint? Or are they representatives of all the redeemed and identified here to enable the church on earth to endure suffering for Jesus’ sake? Where are these thrones located during the ‘1000 years’ reign? What is the significance of the fact that John sees souls and not bodies? This 1000 year reign is described as taking place where Jesus lives so where, according to Revelation does he live, in earth or in heaven? Presentation 13

  17. The Thousand Years [20:4-6] What is the nature of this reign and is it consistent with the teaching of Revelation concerning the activity of the people of God in heaven including the martyr-saints before the second advent? Who participates in this reign?- just the martyr-saints or all believers who had been given authority to judge? What of the unbelieving dead? Unlike the believer they do not pass from death into the enjoyment of life with Christ but at the end of ‘the thousand year reign’, are raised only to enter the ‘second death’ i.e. everlasting separation from God in hell. Presentation 13

  18. The Thousand Years [20:4-6] On the other hand are those who are said to have a part in the first resurrection not believers who reign with Christ in heaven until his second advent? The second death [separation from God in hell] has no power over them. In the meantime, until they take possession of a glorified body, [the second resurrection], do they not reign with Christ in heaven? Presentation 13

  19. Satan Destroyed [20:7-10] At the end of the ‘1000 year’ period Satan is released from his prison. The most terrible period of anti church persecution is about to begin, personally directed by Satan himself. Satan musters his forces for world wide opposition to the church. The descriptions Gog and Magog have their origin in Ezekiel where they depict the power of the Selucids. We know from that period that, a Selucid ruler, AniochusEpiphanes showed himself to be the Jews’ most bitter enemy. The Selucid forces depicted the last great period of oppression which the OT. people of God had to endure before the first coming of Christ. Presentation 13

  20. Satan Destroyed [20:7-10] That well documented period of affliction is taken in the book of Revelation as a symbol of the final attack of Satan and his followers upon the church. These verses describe the same battle mentioned in Rev. 16:12 and 19:19. The new element that is introduced here is the fate of Satan after the battle. Note the sudden character of the defeat, consuming fire from heaven cf. 2 Thes. 2:8. The devil is cast into the lake of fire where, with the beast and the false prophet 19:20, he would experience his eternal punishment - described by one writer as ‘his endless end’ . Presentation 13

  21. Final Judgement [20:11-15] Then John sees Christ seated on a great white throne of judgement [Matt. 25:31 Rev. 14:14]. Before his face ‘earth and heaven fly away’. It is not the destruction but the renovation of the universe that is in view. cf. 2 Pet. 3:10 and Matt. 19:28 where it is called a ‘renewal/ regeneration’, and Acts 3:21 where it is described as a ‘restoration’, and Rom. 8:21 where it is called a ‘liberation from its bondage to decay’. Every individual who has lived both great and small stand before this throne and the records of their life will be opened cf. Rev. 3:5 13:8. Presentation 13

  22. Final Judgement [20:11-15] The dead are judged in accordance with their works cf. Mt. 25:31ff. Rom. 14:10, 2 Cor. 5:10. The sea gives up its dead, as do Death and Hades. This is the one general resurrection of the dead of which scripture speaks cf. Jn. 5:28 ff. and it takes place at the last day Jn. 6:39 ff, 44, 54. After Christ’s second coming, body and soul will no longer be separated. That which has previously separated them, Death and Hades, both now personified, are cast into the lake of fire along with all whose names are not found written in the book of life. Presentation 13

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