REVELATION SIMPLIFIED

 

CHAPTER 19.13

Gleanings from the Book of Revelation:

A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series

 

The

REVELATION TO JOHN

 

Chapter Nineteen

The Second Coming

(Part Two)

 

 

Preface

Continuing his description of Christ’s Second Coming, as Heaven opens John sees a white horse Rider named Faithful and True. The description of the Horseman’s appearance is as follows:

1. His eyes were fiery-like (v. 12)

2. His head had many crowns (v. 12)

3. His name was known to Him alone (vs 12)

4. His robe was dipped in blood (v. 13)

5. His mouth projected a sharp sword (v. 15)

6. His vesture read KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS

7. His thigh read KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS (v.15)

 

Prophetic Events Surrounding Christ’s Second Coming

1. The sun and moon are darkened, heaven is shaken, and the sky is rolled back as the stars fall:

Matthew 24:29 - Immediately after the Tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

 

2. The men have faint hearts as the sea and waves roar:

Luke 21:25-26 - And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity (fear, confusion, anxiety, bewilderment); the sea and the waves roaring.

 

3. The Son of Man appears in the clouds with great glory:

Matthew 24:30 – And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.

 

4. The mighty angels of God follow in flaming fire:

2 Thessalonians 1:7 - And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels.

 

5. The armies of saints also follow:

Jude 1:14 - And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints. To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

 

6. The eyes of everyone shall witness:

Revelation 1:7 - Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.

 

7. The great earthquake is caused by Christ touching down on the Mount of Olives:

Zechariah 14:4, 8 - And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south…And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

 

 

(Verse 13)

 

And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.

 

Christ’s Apparel

Two additional characteristics of Jesus Christ are identifiable at His Second Arrival:

A. His apparel

Christ’s clothing consisted of a vesture (Greek: himation, a robe, cloak, raiment, or long-flowing outer garment) having unusual bloodstains. The blood on his clothing is attributed to some speculation:

1. Some argue it is the bloodstains of redemption from the scourging and the Cross

 

2. Some theorize it is the stains of the not yet conquered

 

 

3. Most concur it is not from Christ’s battle here, since He has engaged in many previous Old Testament conflicts [e.g., fighting Joshua’s battles] and in Revelation as well

 

Contrariwise, the blood-splattered garment depicts divine judgment upon the wicked.

 

And His name is called The Word of God

B. His Name

Jesus is called the Word of God, a favorite title of Jesus. The Word is (logos), a person. Thayers Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament “denotes the essential Word of God is Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God.” Hence, the Second Person of the Godhead is the revelation of God from Genesis to Revelation. Evidenced in John’s Gospel:

John 1:1, 14 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of The Only Begotten of The Father,) full of grace and truth.

 

 

(Verse 14)

 

And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

 

After witnessing Christ returning on a great white charger with His vesture dipped in blood, John awesomely sees not an army, but armies following Him from Heaven. Their military dress consists of fine clean white linen.

 

Question:

Who makes up these armies returning with Christ for conflict?

 

Answer:

Not specifically documented, but it is almost as if the heavenly hosts of armies appear with Jesus, rank after rank, from four different corners of the heavens:

A. The readied Bride of the Lamb (the Church):

Colossians 3:4 - If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.

 

Revelation 19:7-8 – 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. 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.

 

Note: The Church comes back, not to fight in bridal character, but in the character of righteousness to reign with Him.

 

B. The redeemed Tribulation believers:

Revelation 7:9 – After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the Throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.

 

C. The resurrected saints at the end of the Tribulation of former dispensations:

Daniel 12:1-2 - And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of Thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the Book And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

D. The regimental multitudes of Heaven’s angels:

Matthew 25:31 - When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the Holy Angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the Throne of His glory.

 

Commentary

For all suffering and anxious for His return, Scripture instructs and encourages everyone to wait patiently:

James 5:7-9 - Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the Coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish (strengthen) your hearts: for the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge (grumble, groan, complain) not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the Judge standeth before the door.

 

 

(Verse 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.

 

A mighty sharp sword protrudes out of Christ's mouth as He returns with His armies to fatally smite or inflict the nations at Armageddon. The Greek word for sword is not a small two-edged cutting knife (machaira) for close combat, but a giant long and broad sword (rhomphaia) to seal His victory. This is the exact sword mentioned in earlier visions:

Revelation 1:16 – And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.

 

Revelation 2:12 - And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges.

 

Weaponless War

This is a significant verse in Scripture. There will be no weapons needed. He alone will wield His sword of the Spirit to slay the wicked. The same God who spoke creation into existence (cf. Gen 1) shall defeat His enemies like a stone without hands and a hammer. Prophesied multiple times in Scripture:

Daniel 2:34 - Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

 

1 Samuel 3:12b - In that day…when I begin, I will also make an end.

 

Nahum 1:9 - What do ye imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.

 

So as Jesus speaks, what remains of the ten nations will surely perish, fall to the ground (cf. John 18:5-6), and be wiped clean with divine judgment.

 

That with it (the sharp sword) 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

With the breath of His mouth, three major calamities occur:

1. The nations will be smitten

Jeremiah 23:25 - Is not My Word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

 

2 Thessalonians 2:8b - …the Lord shall consume with the Spirit (breath) of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His Coming.

 

Isaiah 11:4c - …and He shall smite the earth…With the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked.

 

2. The nations will be ruled with a rod of iron

Rod (rhabdos) of iron is defined as an iron shepherd's staff or royal scepter. For example:

Psalm 2:9 – Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

 

Isaiah 11:4a-b - But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth.

 

Revelation 2:27 - And He shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father.

 

3. The nations will be fiercely treadeth upon like a winepress

A graphic representation of the anger of God is that of a winepress. As people in antiquity stomped grapes with their feet, the grapes would be squished and squashed, and their juice thereof would splatter everywhere. Such is likened to the holocaust of rebellious sinful men. They are trampled upon and shall drink unsparing judgment to their doom. Consequently, this will happen instantaneously.

[At this point, the reader is encouraged to read Isaiah’s judgment on the nations Isaiah 34 – 36 and 63:1-6 as a comparative point of reference].

 

 

(Verse 16)

 

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

 

Riding on a white warhorse and having a sharp sword extending from His mouth, the greatest title given to anyone in the universe now becomes visible to John. Reading it from his robe and thigh, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (all capitalized), His new title appears visible to all.

 

On an equestrian figure, as the robe drops, part of his thigh is exposed, sometimes was the custom to engrave names on statues of famous general’s thighs. So His name is most likely engraved partly on the skirt of His vesture and partly on His thigh, thus indicating His humanity as having come victoriously.

 

His Name

KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS

Leaving no doubt, three names identify Christ at His Second Coming:

1. He is called Faithful and True (v. 11)

The fulfillment of God's promises starts with Genesis 3:15.

 

2. He is called the Word of God (v. 13)

Reiterating what He is called in the Gospel of John, He is the revelation of God (John 1:1-5; Hebrews 1:3), the incarnate deity.

 

3. He is called KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (V. 16)

Revelation 19:16 is the only place in the Bible this name occurs. King (basileus), is defined as a sovereign or supreme foundation of power, and Lord (kurios) designates an owner or master. This combined name is only given to God the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the sovereign deity. No one in the universe holds this most glorious and honorable form of address.

 

 

The following study discusses the battle at Armageddon.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

1.   What are some features of Christ at His Second Coming?

2.   What are some prophetic events that will transpire?

3.   Name three titles for Jesus Christ.

4.   Why is Christ’s robe dipped in blood?

5.   The armies following Christ consist of whom?

6.   How will the battle against His enemies be fought?

7.   What is the significance of Christ’s compound new name?

 

 

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