Revelation 19: The Glorious Return of the King

Bible Study Series: Revealing Jesus in Revelation

Revelation Chapter 19: The Glorious Return of the King 

by I Gordon

We come now to the most monumental dramatic event in what will be the entire history of the world. And no, I'm not being melodramatic or over-stating it. No drama-queen here! Well, not this time. As we approach the second half of Revelation 19 you get the feeling that in terms of prophetic revelation we are moving from the outer court, through the holy place and into the holy of holies! This passage speaks of the day that has been longed for since Adam and Eve fell in the garden. To give you a little background: 

• When Enoch, all those thousands of years ago, saw 'the Lord coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones' - he saw in a vision the events of this day.
• When King David heard God the Father say to the Son 'Ask of Me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance' - He was referencing this day.
• When Zechariah prophesied that God will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it... Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. - He was prophesying about this day.
• When Gabriel said to Mary that God would give Jesus the throne of his father David and his kingdom will never end - He was speaking of a reign that starts on this day.
• When Jesus said to the nation of Israel "you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' " - He was talking about this day.
• When the disciples, after His resurrection, asked Jesus "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" - they were asking about this day.
• When Peter proclaimed that Jesus 'must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.' - He was preaching about this day.
• When the martyrs in heaven asked "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" - they were looking for this day.
• When creation itself longs to be set free and see the sons of God revealed - It is longing for this day.
• When heaven tells us that the Kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our God - it is speaking of this glorious day.

I could go on but you get the picture. I told you it's dramatic! This is the day that has been spoken about from Genesis to Revelation. This is the glorious return of the King. Now, as I mentioned last time concerning the wedding of the Lamb, I am mindful that I won't be able to do this passage justice for no one can properly describe in words what this day will be like. But let's give it a go anyway! 

What will we look at today ?

This lesson is from Revelation 19:11-21 where will we explore:

• The second opening of heaven in Revelation - what did John see?
• The not-so-mystery man who is coming - who is He (duh!) and why is He described as He is?
• Why are 'armies', plural, following Him and who are they?
• What is the response of the world to the Lord's long awaited return? Will they worship or seek to kill Him... again?
• And how did we get here? Why is this world on a collision course with God Almighty? 

The second opening of Heaven

Rev 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 

In the first half of this chapter John spoke of the things that he 'heard'. He heard a great multitude in heaven rejoicing, He heard what the 24 elders and living creatures said. He heard the announcement of the wedding of the Lamb. Now, thankfully, we shift from things that John heard to that which he saw. And what he saw is something massive - the coming of the Lord Jesus in glory! It is the pinnacle event that both historical and current events are building towards. But let's not jump ahead too soon! This is the second time in Revelation that Heaven has opened. The first was in Rev 4:1-2, where heaven opened to receive John in a picture of the rapture that takes place at that time. And now it opens again to let people out. Immediately John describes One coming on a white horse for judgement and war! You may remember that the first seal opened saw a rider with a false peace coming on a white horse. That was a false Christ. This is Jesus Christ! Now can you remember the word given by angels when Jesus ascended into heaven? Here it is:

Act 1:9-11 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. (10) They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. (11) Men of Galilee, they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. (12)  Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives."

You will note that it was spoken that He will return to earth in the same way that He left. Note the following points:

1. Jesus ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:12) and will return from heaven to the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:4)
2. Jesus ascended visibly as His disciples watched on (Acts 1:9-10) and will return visibly where every eye shall see Him (Mat 24:30, Rev 1:7)
3. Jesus ascended up into a cloud (Acts 1:9) and will return on the clouds of heaven (Mat 24:30, Rev 1:7)
4. Jesus ascended in a glorified resurrected body and will return in great glory and power (Mat 24:30, Rev 19:12). 

Though it should be noted that His return will be far more dramatic than His departure! And it says that He is called Faithful and True and with justice He judges and makes war. It is fair to say this is not the 'meek and mild' Jesus of people's Christmas cards. This is the One who is taking this world by force. Isaiah spoke about this very day where faithfulness, truth and justice have fallen... until the Lord, who is all that and more, takes matters into His own hands and restores them all! 

Isa 59:14-20 Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter. (15) Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. (16) And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. (17) He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. (18) According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. (19) So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. (20) "A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob," declares the LORD.¹

Hmmm... Who is this not-so-mystery man?

Rev 19:12-13 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. (13) He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

Now the Bible doesn't actually say who this One riding the white horse leaving heaven is. I mean, who could He be? It really is quite the Agatha Christie mystery is it not? Alright, no it's not! Everything described about this One has been declared elsewhere in the Bible concerning the Lord Jesus:

So it is fair to say it is a slam-dunk and we've got our man. Jesus is coming. But note that His eyes are like flaming fire! Again, this is not Jesus meek 'n' mild. The day of vengeance is in His heart² and many crowns are upon His head. In the Greek this word for crowns speaks of diadems, 'a symbol of royal dignity' - and He has many of them! This is the royal King and ruler of the Universe coming and He is not joking or messing around. In fact His garments are dipped in blood. This is the blood of His enemies which will be described later with the mention of the winepress. We also find out two things about His name. Firstly He has a name written on Him that no one knows. Do you know what it is? No? Would you like me to tell you? Well, I can't... because when it says no one knows, what that actually means in the original Greek is that no one knows. And that's ok! There are so many depths and mysteries concerning the Lord that we are still to find out! But it will be very interesting to see what that name is when that day arrives. Now there are two other names of the Lord which are revealed in this chapter.  Firstly, it says that His name is the word of God. Everything that the word says is encapsulated in this One who is coming. When it speaks of truth, mercy, justice, righteousness, joy, faithfulness... it is all Him! He is the glorious manifestation of the Word in perfection. He is the Word made flesh! And secondly will read later that He has a name on His robe and thigh - King of Kings and Lord of Lords! You can't get any greater than that - and again, this is what the many diadems or crowns on His head points to.  

Do you see him?
King of Heaven
Champion of all creation
Eyes of fire
Voice of thunder
Tearing through the sky in wonder
Dressed in light, we see him coming
On a horse that's white like lightning
Do you see him?
Crowder, lyrics from Crushing Snakes³

More than one army follows Him

Rev 19:14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean⁴.

Now the armies of heaven follow Him and it is interesting that 'armies' here is plural - there is more than one army following Jesus. There are two armies that scripture speaks of in other prophetic passages:

1. Angels - Mat 25:31-32 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. (32) All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

   2Th 1:6-8 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you (7) and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. (8) He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

2. Saints⁵ - Jud 1:14-15 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, (15) to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
   Rev 17:14 They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

Only One fights this war

Rev 19:15-16 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. (16) On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Now if you are still scared about fighting in this battle, let me say that you won't actually have to fight. He who is the Word, simply has to say the word. His word is a sharp sword. Now I was trying to think of any examples where Jesus just said the word and people were destroyed. Obviously when He came the first time it was to save and not judge (John 3:17). So the examples of Jesus with humanity showing the power of His word were in healing and restoring. However there were two examples that came to mind of Jesus using His power in judgement... and one was against something in the plant kingdom! See if you can answer that while we look at a few other examples of the power of His word.

So He is coming as Judge because He is also the King! And scripture tells us that He will rule with an iron scepter. His rule is not a democracy. It is a theocracy. He is the King over the entire earth and will rule as such. It will not be an 'anything goes' time! It will be His will, His word, and His law that 'goes'. Can you remember how the book of Judges ends? It says 'In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.' (Jdg 21:25) Well, Jesus' Kingdom is the opposite of that. There is a King and everyone on Earth will be doing what is right in His eyes!

The second supper invitation

Rev 19:17-18 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great."

This passage gives one of the outcomes of this battle. A second invitation to a supper in this chapter is given. The first was seen earlier in Revelation 19:9 where the invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb was given. But that is not the only feast going down. This invitation for a great feast is not given to humanity but to God's fluffy feathered friends - the birds! They will feast upon the bodies of kings and generals, small and great. This shows that neither God nor the birds have any special regard for those that the world sees as important. This feast is spoken of elsewhere:

• Jesus gave a brief mention of this when speaking of His second coming:
  Mat 24:27-28 "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. (28) "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (see also Luke 17:34-37)
• Near the end of the God and Magog prophecy it gives a very similar picture. Because it says that the Lord will put His glory amongst the nations and the nation of Israel will know Him from this day forward, I believe that these verses are speaking about the events at the second coming of Christ.
  Eze 39:17-23 "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. (18) "You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan... (21) "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. (22) "And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward. (23) "The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.

The response of the world

Rev 19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.

So... how will the world respond as they face the King of kings? Will they run? Will they fall down and humble themselves? Will they repent and ask for forgiveness? No. None of that. You may remember that earlier in Revelation it records that 'Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" (Rev 13:4) So they will think they are on the winning side. 'Who can make war against the beast?' they asked. Well, Jesus can. Easily. The beast is no match for Him! It is almost mind-boggling that we read that the kings of the earth and their armies gather to make war against the rider on the white horse and His army. Yes they are that deceived that they think they can fight God! This is the Antichrist's last stand. It is the last roll of the dice by Satan. He has nothing but hatred for the King of kings and his last play to try prevent Jesus reigning over this world is to rally the world to fight Him.⁶    

This battle is also prophesied in the book of Joel who states:

Joe 3:9-16 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. (10) Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, "I am strong!" (11) Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, O LORD! (12) Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side. (13) Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow-- so great is their wickedness!" (14) Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. (15) The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. (16) The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Very briefly, notice the following from this passage:

1. The proclamation to unite and come for war will go out to all the nations of the world
2. At that time the Lord will return and He will bring with Him His warriors!
3. The battle turns into a trap for all the nations as they will be judged in this vast valley in Jerusalem
4. The winepress is again mentioned - where Jesus' garments will be splashed with blood
5. All this happens at a time when the moon and sun will be darkened (as per Matt 24:29-30, Rev 6:12-13)
6. The Lord will protect, deliver and be a refuge for the people of Israel

So what's the outcome of all this?

The outcome of the battle

Rev 19:20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. (21) The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Well, we've already given the outcome away but let's pretend we haven't! What becomes of the most hyped battle of all time? Well, it turns out to be a no-contest. A walk over... literally! In terms of contests it's a fizzer. It is One versus the world and the One wins... easily! 2nd Thessalonians tells us

2Th 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

Those from the nations will be killed and will one day come before God at the Great White Throne of Judgment. But for the beast and the false prophet, this is judgment, sentencing and execution right here, right now. They are the only humans (albeit possessed humans) ever thrown directly into the lake of fire without seeing death. They are rendered powerless at the appearance of the Lord Jesus through His splendor and the word from His mouth, and are thrown alive into the lake of fire. 

And for the nations of the world who came for the battle, this is their undoing as He treads the winepress of His enemies. As I said, it is a literal walk over and yes, the birds love it. This is humanity dealt with but there is still the fallen spirit world left. Yet this is dealt with just as easy and will be addressed in the next chapter.  

Conclusion 

So... as we conclude, sometimes I think, how could we get to this point? How did we get to this point? How could the nations be so full of hatred and so deceived that faced with the return of Jesus in all glory, their response is to try to fight Him? They will literally want to kill the Son of God... again! How could they be so proud... so defiant... so deluded? Well, know this from our own day: 

• When you see the whole world turning justice on it's head today and truth lying fallen in the street - know that this points to this coming day spoken of here in Revelation 19.
• When you see people losing their minds, proclaiming that good is evil and evil good, understand what lies at the heart of Jesus' wrath at His second coming.
• When you see even the youngest and most vulnerable in our society being targeted for extermination, perversion or corruption, know that this satanic plan will be put down by the returning King. 
• When you see the world protesting against Israel and proclaiming that from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, realize that this is the spirit that will eventually bring the whole world against Israel... and thus against her Messiah, Jesus.
• And today, when you see the masses shaking their fist at God, declaring that they will have no King over their life and will do what is right in their own eyes, know that this day is close... it is at hand.  

God has a very specific plan for this planet that He is unfolding and fulfilling line by line. And at the very center and heart of this plan is seeing full glory given to Jesus throughout the entire world. As the prophet Zechariah declared, which I quoted also in the last study, 'The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.' (Zec 14:9) God's word will not return void and this word will be fulfilled. His is the return of all returns... the comeback of all comebacks, the climax of all climaxes! The saints will rejoice, the angels will cheer and the world will be stunned. 

As J. R. R. Tolkien writes when evil is fully put down in The Return of the King '"Now come the days of the King. May they be blessed..." 

And they will be! May they come soon. God bless!

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FOOTNOTES