Commentary on the Book of Revelation; Chapters 16-19
by Dave Brown
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Appreciation - Many thoughts and references are from notes developed by Bryan Gibson. The opinions given are those of Dave Brown.
We appreciate any suggestions for improving this commentary.
Revelation 16
16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth.
[The indication in Chapter 15 is that these bowls will cause tremendously hurtful plagues upon the earth and all of those who are affected. There is to be no reluctance or partial pouring -- the bowls were to be emptied in an order that seems to be understood by the seven angels who were charged with this mission. The similarity between the plagues of the seven angels and those that God inflicted upon Egypt should be obvious to most Bible students. We encourage the reading of Exodus chapters 5-10 to obtain an understanding of these events and these plagues. The similarities will become obvious. In many of the plagues of this chapter there would seem to be a total and absolute impact, if not destruction, upon all but a very few that would be a remnant. We do not believe that this is to be viewed literally, and we appeal to Zephaniah as an example;
Zephaniah 1:1-6
1:1 The word of Jehovah which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amarah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
4 And I will stretch out my hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, (and) the name of the Chemarim with the priests;
5 and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship, that swear to Jehovah and swear by Malcam;
6 and them that are turned back from following Jehovah; and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor inquired after him.
We can surmise several possible alternatives to interpret such absolute and definitive language:
2 And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and that worshiped his image.
[As with the first trumpet (8:7) affecting the earth, the first bowl is poured out "into the earth." Recall it was the earth from which the second beast (the false prophet) arose: 13:11. So, the first judgment seems to be upon the one who is manipulating the great beast (secular power). Yet, it seems to afflict all who worship this beast or its image (alluding to the paganist nature of this worship). Thus the faithful who have refused the mark of the beast are spared.]
3 And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, (even) the things that were in the sea.
[The beast itself arose up out of the sea (13:1), and the discussion at that point established that the sea is a figurative representation for the foaming masses. What John saw was universal death to these masses, but this does not have to map to reality. It is, however, a very serious plague that would be upon those who follow the masses of mankind as opposed to their individual consciences. 'Blood as a dead man" is typically of a darker color than blood in general. Again this bowl may be correlated to the second trumpet after which a third of the living things related to the sea died (8:9). That trumpet was the warning; this is the judgment, which is far more severe being universal in this figure.]
4 And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and it became blood.
[Referencing again back to the trumpets, Rev 8:10-11: "And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." See the discussion for those verses. As indicated above, the bowls involve plagues that are much more comprehensive. God has given ample warnings, but they were not heeded. From verse 1 recognize that these plagues, like those of Egypt, were calculated to bring down the current formidable power. The universal nature of the plagues would not apply to God's people.]
5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst thus judge:
6 for they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy.
[As in Chapter 7 the angels were assigned various roles and responsibilities. The Hebrews had a stronger belief in the role of these angels than most Christians today glean from the New Testament, to the point of building superstitions upon that which was partially revealed. However, these roles are given credibility by their being mentioned in various places by the New Testament writers. It appears that their tradition included an "angel of the waters" that is consistent with these verses. The idea is that if the angel of the waters had the responsibility of guarding the waters (especially the streams and rivers) of the earth, then even this angle proclaims the righteousness of God in taking this (figurative) action. The figure is apt since if the beast and his henchmen poured out the blood of the saints (a figure within itself), then it is only just that God should see to it that their evil words are justly punished. "They are worthy" refers to those being punished in indicating that this punishment is deserving. References to the shedding of the blood of the saints will appear in 17:6; 18:24 and 19:1-2.]
7 And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
[Those versions that insert words to "help" the reader make sense out of this verse are generally presumptuous. The Greek indicates that John said that it was the altar that made this statement. To add that it was "a voice from the altar" is valid because that is exactly what it was. To add that it was another angel or the "angel of the altar" (TLB) creates a thought that is not faithful to the Greek manuscripts, and thus is presumptuous. As readers, we may well come to these conclusions, but they are our's to come to and not the translator's. Could the altar literally talk? It must have seemed that way to John. Could it be the various creatures around the throne or those beneath the altar (6:9)? Why not? These possibilities richly enhance the statement that seemingly came from the altar itself. The angel of the waters introduced this idea and it was confirmed by all that the altar represents.]
8 And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give Him glory.
[Corresponding to the fourth trumpet, Rev 8:12: "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner." The manner and effect of the sun producing intense heat is easy to fathom, especially by those who may have spent some extended time in the summer desert. But verse 8 indicates some direct scorching with fire. The effect should have been to repent and give God the glory, but instead they blasphemed -- cursed God and worshiped themselves as gods. In fact, would this hatred toward God not cause them to become worse and worse in their decline into the pits of sin?]
10 And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works.
[This is the first bowl to strike the beast directly, albeit upon his throne, which we assume would be the seat of the sea beast. Thus, the others can be viewed as preparatory to it and what will follow. Verse 11 indicates that men were struck with painful sores as a result. So bad was the pain that "they gnawed their tongues," a word and thus an expression that only appears once in the entire Bible. It might have been a Hebraism expressing a method of diversion from extreme anguish, for that is how the context uses it here. Many such idioms are based around the tongue as an instrument of speech (e.g., the Americanism, "bite your tongue" when someone says something our of line). Could it be that the ones suffering the sores were so aggravated at their own blasphemy that they are now punishing their tongues by chewing on them? It would be good for them if that were the case, but it appears that this self-abasement was more caused by insanity than repentance. Again, because of their predispositions, the punishment had a negative effect on them, causing them to decline even more deeply into sin.]
12 And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the (river) Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that (come) from the sun rising.
[This corresponds to the sixth trumpet which was used to signal the loosing of the four angels that were being held back (9:14-19). The sounding of the trumpet resulted in the angels being loosed; or perhaps it would be better to say that the result of the angels being loosed was the warning, the sixth trumpet. At that point a "third part of men" were killed. Obviously a terrible warning, but not as universal as the bowl that is being poured out at this time. The great river Euphrates (where the four angels were bound before they were loosed at the sounding of the sixth trumpet) is now dried up. This does not seem to be the plague itself, but a facilitation of it. That plague appears to be an invasion from the east by a number of kings. The drying up of the river alludes to the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea, God's power over all waters..
13 And I saw (coming) out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs:
14 for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
[While we expect the kings of the East to take advantage of this strategic development, there is an interruption in the flow of events and the dragon and the two beasts (temporal power and the false prophet) suddenly appear -- or perhaps they have been lurking in the background ever since 13:2-11. They now appear to demonstrate their evil nature by their speech, which is personified by three unclean spirits that John states appeared to be like frogs. They are further identified to be the spirits of demons that have power to work signs. The purpose of these evil signs was to influence the kings (rulers) of the world to gather themselves together for a major war against God and His people.]
15 (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.)
[The ASV and several other versions put this in parenthesis indicating that it is an interruption of the flow of the vision. Clearly it is not part of John's narrative, and so we can only conclude that while he was putting all of the things above down on parchment that Jesus made this general statement. The changing of the person being spoken to in scripture is not that uncommon, a good example being Psalm 23 where the Psalmist suddenly changes from making statements about God to talking directly to God, and then back again. However, it is peculiar when suddenly a voice of Jesus is heard without any definition or introduction. That this is Jesus speaking should not be in question; see 3:3 and the following:
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape.
2 Peter 3:10
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
[Watching for the "thief" is also the theme of Mt. 24:42-44. But in addition to watch the Lord exhorts us to keep our garments; compare Rev. 3:18; 'I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that you may see." The idea of keeping ones' garments is to stay faithful unto death.]
[Why at this point is the warning given? We cannot be sure, but perhaps it is in anticipation of the change in the direction of the visions. To this point things have been viewed can be traced to things that have been fulfilled. As we move into the remainder of the book, this past tense fulfillment is not as certain. Of course, there is no way to tell exactly when these things will happen, and the warning given by Jesus at this point may well be for us not to speculate on the particular times, but rather to establish in our minds that these things most certainly will come to pass.]
16 And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.
[Picking things up again from verse 14 -- the rulers of the nations were deceived into gathering themselves for a battle. The "they" seems to refer to the demons back to verse 14, and this would be reasonable since it says there that they were trying to influence them to collectively make war. The Greek interlinears, however, indicate that literally it was not "they" but "he." Could the demons speak as one voice and be considered a "he?" This is a quibble, and is of no consequence -- we know they were gathered together, not by God but by evil influences, and whether singular or plural makes no difference. John sees this taking place as they assemble at a place called Har-Magedon, or Armageddon in many translation. Har Meggido may be a more literal translation, meaning the mountain of Meggido (Hebrew: place of troops), which has an obvious reference back to 2 Chronicles 35:22: "Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo" just prior to the death of Josiah. But there were many other references to this place as a place of war; e.g, Joshua 12:21: 17:11; Judges 5:19-20; 1 Kings 9:15; 2 Kings 9:27; 23:29-30. To allude to it as a figurative place for this final conflict would seem reasonable. The results of this battle will be given in 19:11-21.]
17 And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done:
18 and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty.
[As though when it was poured out it evaporated into the air and never hit the earth. Alluding to the spiritual realm as it was typical for the Hebrews to believe the air was jam packed with spirit beings (we are not entertaining that idea, just bringing it up as a potential justification. This evoked a great voice out of the temple (11:19), if not the voice of God directly, one authorized to so speak, so we can say it was the voice of God with fair confidence. IT IS DONE. Not that all has already been accomplished (for we know that is not the case), but that all is fixed and there is no possible way of changing what God has willed in future events.]
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And great hail, (every stone) about the weight of a talent, comes down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.
[What John witnessed here in our opinion is not to be mapped to a particular city, although no doubt the immediate application was that of Rome. But to declare that this prophecy is limited to the fall of Rome would not be reasonable given what we now know about the many nations that have arisen and been thrown down since that time. Nor do we see much point in parsing out the particular catastrophes and trying to map them to particular events in our world. The plagues are sufficiently wide to provide a synecdoche figure of speech representing all such catastrophes, both natural and man-made, that mankind will face going forward. Recognize this when they fall, that it is the punishment of God for the evil that so characterizes those in positions of power.]
Revelation 17
17:1 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sits upon many waters;
2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication.
[These angels were introduced in 15:1,7, and one of them will again be referenced in this way in 21:9. "Spake with me" indicates a conversation, not just a command or specific point of information. But as part of this, John was commanded to turn his attention to another subject at hand. The degradation of the powerful rulers and its effects filtering down to the common citizen is often reference in the Old Testament as prostitution, and the city itself as becoming a prostitute. Example, Isaiah 1:21: "How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers." In this example we see the specific sin is that of murder. While fornication is obviously part of the corruption of the powerful, the sins that are referenced as harlotry should in no wise be limited to this. It is the total corruption that is in question, which generally touches on all of the vices, especially bribery, blackmail, and outright theft of public funds. The phrase "come hither" does not imply that John had to go anywhere; only that his attention was to be directed to "the judgment of the great harlot, who has the following characteristics:
3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
["In the Spirit" was discussed in 1:10 and 4:2, and will be mentioned again in 21:10. Here it indicates that John did not physically move to the wilderness, but this was the vision that he saw. The distinction between seeing something in the mind and actually physically seeing it seems to be a point of contention that John felt needed to be clarified. It seems Paul struggled with this as well in 2 Cor. 12:2-3, and was unable to resolve it from the experience itself. But as he said there "I know not," the meaning of the vision is in no way changed by whether it was seen physically or whether it was something that was just part of a trance or vision. "A woman" we will have no problem is identifying as the harlot described above. "In the wilderness" would seem to indicate a stark contrast with "sits upon many waters" of verse 1. The former may have been Rome (or whatever future power this might map to) in its golden days; clearly the desert is a contrast of opposite proportions with the waters, and so the indication is that the seemingly invincible power is to be short lived, relatively speaking.]
[The beast she was sitting upon. This appears to be the same beast describe in 13:1 that came up out of the sea (the water figure comparable to that of the woman sitting upon many waters (17:1). We identified that great beast to be temporal power, and in John's immediate application, Rome. And now we have 17:18 telling us that the harlot is the great city; "... the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth." Is it possible to have two figures representing the same thing? We propose that the woman is "the great city" in the sense of its elite rulers who are those in positions of ultimate power. The beast is "the great city" in the sense of its masses of people and political corruption. These are not two distinctly different things, and here we have them combined as the woman sits upon the beast, indicating that she is in control of the beast. That the two of these are identified by the same descriptor should not be surprising. Also, recognize that many statements of things being identical are not to be taken literally. They are telling of the nature of the entities rather than limiting what they represent. No color was given of the beast in Chapter 13; now we observe with John the scarlet color and the names of blasphemy that covers all of its appearance. Scarlet is a shade of red, and red has connoted a number of things that are opposed to God, e.g., the red horse (6:4) and the red dragon (12:3). Scarlet will be assigned to the clothing of the woman (17;4), and the dyes carried by the merchant vessels (18:12-16).]
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,
[The Bible often uses the color of a cloth to refer to it (an application of synecdoche). She was also wearing expensive jewelry of gold, precious stones and pearls. This excess is typical of harlots and is condemned by the Holy Spirit (1 Tim. 2:9; 1 Pet. 3:3-4) as gaudy and inappropriate for godly women. A golden cup -- would appeal to those who she is trying to entice to drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication. But within it is full of abominations -- perhaps evil drugs that transform a normally-thinking man into someone who is totally devoid of any sense of morality. The unclean things of her fornication should need no definition. Collectively this speaks of a city of much wealth that is being used to fund the excesses of its immoral elite rulers.]
5 and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
[This name was written so as to identify her character more fully. It seems that the word MYSTERY is not part of the descriptor, but rather would point to the fact that the descriptor is not to be taken literally, This is validated by its use in 17:7. BABYLON THE GREAT would not seem to be an appropriate descriptor for a woman, but recall that in 17:18 we will be told that this woman is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. That being the case, BABYLON THE GREAT fits quite well. Babylon had been the chief city ruling over the pagan world, and so for Rome to be called Babylon would certainly be appropriate. This is not the first we have heard of this city -- it was said to be fallen in 14:8, and to be divided apparently for destruction in 16:19. It will also be a major figure in Chapter 18. The MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS is indicative of the extent to which her spiritual harlotry, paganism and idolatry, have taken her. That is, she is not satisfied to be alone in her degradation, but has had many children who are very much like her, perhaps the rulers of the various kingdoms that were all somewhat controlled by Rome at this time. Recognize that the state of mankind has not changed, and this figure could apply to most evil nations today. She is also the mother of the ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH indicating here as well, she has spawned offspring. We have followed the typical capitalization of the translators to facilitate communication; no such capitalization is in any of the Greek manuscripts.]
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
[It was, and still is among many pagans today, a ritual to actually drink the blood of their human sacrifices or their victims killed in war. The idea being that to drink their blood will impart to the imbiber the strength of the adversary. Here the adversaries to the woman were the saints, and no greater depravity would be imagined than for her to drink the blood of the saints to the point were she was drunken. The drinking of blood in general was repugnant to Jews, and the whole idea of drinking human blood would be quite disturbing. And so it is no surprise that John wondered with a great wonder ... he was seeing this play out in these figures -- it appeared to him that what was going on was reality. Essentially, today we would say he could not believe his eyes. Recognize that we can see precisely what John saw if we study and meditate upon these passages.]
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.
[The question seems to be a rhetorical one to focus John's attention on what the angel was about to tell him. The word mystery here is fully explained by what the angel will tell John. In other words, things are not as they appear. Figures that are signified need interpretation. This is the first that we have heard that the woman is not only sitting on the beast, but that the beast carries her, indicating that the beast is subservient to the woman.]
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, (they) whose names hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come.
[While we expect clarification, it seems that the explanation creates its own difficulties. The beast we have already identified to be temporal power (e.g., Rome) that came up out of the sea (13:1). Its characteristics are the same as the beast that the woman was riding on (17:3). The beast has three aspects:
9 Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth:
[We might suggest: "the mind that hath wisdom will see that the seven heads are ..." This maps closely to the seven mountains upon which Rome was built. The woman was said to sit on the seven heads of the beast; so in this identity, the heads become the mountains.]
10 and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a little while.
[Rulers with kingly power, although not necessarily kings; this could refer to emperors or dictators, or even to dynasties. The heads of the beast map to mountains, which now map to specific powers. Five have already fallen, a sixth apparently is in control at this point, and a seventh will come in the future. The temporal nature of these worldly powers is again made clear. The totality of the empire seems to be crippled at this point. Here is the history at this time as far as the emperors are concerned:
11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes into perdition.
[This is the beast of verse 8. The entire beast (heads and all) is viewed as an eighth power center, but is "of the seven" meaning that they in some way contributed to his ascension to power. His going into perdition is indicative of his imminent destruction at the writing of Revelation, and if this was prophesied, we can easily see its fulfillment. In contrast, History has it that after his exile, John went back to serve the church at Ephesus.]
12 And the ten horns that thou saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
[The ten horns were seen by John on the scarlet colored beast 17:3. Again, these civil power centers are not necessarily restricted to specific formal kingdoms. They have not received their power yet, but they will at some point rise up and receive authority as kings to be shared with the beast. A very short period of time is mentioned here indicating considerable instability.]
13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.
[As horns they were figurative of power. They willingly subjected themselves to the domination of the beast.]
14 These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they (also shall overcome) that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.
[The persecution of Christians by Rome and the Papacy (the earth beast - 13:11) is well established in history so as not to be of controversy. There is no definitive point in time when either God or Christians rose up militarily and overcame this beast, so we can conclude that the statements of victory here were of a spiritual nature. On the other hand, it is clear that Rome at this time had reached its peak and would have a gradual deterioration in its power until its ultimate falls (roughly, 476 AD for the eastern empire and 1453 AD for the Byzantine or western empire. See Rome History and Timeline.]
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
[We have been making this figure application, although not universally, throughout our comments. The reason that John or the angel speaking to him held off in stating this is probably to keep John and the readers in suspense until the appropriate time of its revelation, which must be at this point. The use of raging, foaming water as a figure is almost intuitive, but John leaves no room for error in this regard. Recognize that John saw "the waters ... where the harlot sits" as waters, and not as this interpretation of what these waters represented.]
16 And the ten horns which thou saw upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire.
[It would be the natural result of jealousy for the lessor kings to see that the woman exercised greater power over the beast than they did. Even though this might cause their downfall, they might take steps to destroy the woman, who we will see in verse 18 is, itself, the great city; or we might think of it as being those elites who truly ruled and controlled the great city.]
17 For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.
[This is an assertion of the providence of God -- nothing was happening without his total monitoring of it, and He could take control of it at any point. They saw it was self-serving to give their kingdom to the beast while at the same time plotting its downfall. But they would not be the ones to determine when this would happen -- the words of God, indeed that which we are reading and studying right now, must be accomplished. And while we might not understand the reason for such timing, we can be sure that its reasoning and accomplishment will be perfect.]
18 And the woman whom thou saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.
[This is the confirmation of the identity of the harlot. Her riding on the beast was a metaphor for the control that she exerted of Rome and the other nations. But did we not say that the beast itself was temporal power? We should not be surprised that two figures would describe the same entity. The beast coming up out of the sea and coming forth out of the abyss are two figures describing the source of the same beast. That this same temporal power should be described at one point to be animalistic in nature, and then at another point as being totally without any sense of morality would also seem not only possible but highly likely. Like today, the citizens of Rome (or any great country) did not recognize that the ultimate power is not the recognized rulers (e.g. the emperors). By design, the true elites who rule do it without being seen. This isolates them from assassination while at the same time enables them to amass huge sums of money, which is the primary instrument by which they exercise control.]
Revelation 18
18:1 After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
["Another angel" has introduced a different message throughout the book, and this is no exception. "Coming down" would indicate that John was on the earth -- not that he had ever left the earth, but as his visions were of heaven, it is convenient to think of him being in heaven spiritually if not physically. Two further attributes are given: (1) he had great authority -- indicating that he was of the higher ranking angels; and (2) the earth was lighted with his glory -- adding to the magnificence of the scene.]
2 And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.
[Since the literal Babylon had fallen long ago, it is being used metaphorically here. Refer to the discussion in 14:8 where effectively the same statement is made. Babylon's fall would illustrate that no kingdom is invincible, and thus, it is used effectively here to prophecy the fall of Rome, which to the Christians seemed to be invincible. But it just did not cease to exist -- its fate was much worse than that. "It has now become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and every unclean and hateful bird." These figures reinforce each other and show how utterly uninhabitable the city would become. Prophecies are often spoken of in the past tense indicating the certainty of the thing foretold.]
3 For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.
[All the nations are fallen -- as indicated by the Icarus Paradox, i.e., "that which causes success in organizations most often leads to their ultimate failure." The lust for power is never satisfied, and it ultimately leads to the destruction of those who are subject to it, as is true of most political leaders. They are fallen "by the wine of the wrath of her fornication" -- the city once again portrayed as a harlot with which the kings of the earth committed sexual atrocities (17:2). Not just the kings but others who corrupted the kings and themselves were corrupted in their quest for wealth and power. The power of her wantonness can be contrasted with the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:
[God is jealous for His people and urges them to escape Babylon for two reasons: (1) so that they will not partake of those sins, something that is inevitable if they remain -- 1 Corinthians 15:33; and (2) that they not receive of her plagues, which are certain to come to those who have fellowship with her sins. A similar exhortation is given in 2 Corinthians 6:17: "Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, ..."
5 for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
[Sometimes we forget the infinite intellect of God when we see the unrighteous not only getting away with sin but benefiting from it. "Reached even unto heaven" is a phrase that indicates God's knowledge of sin. God does not take any sin lightly and he will not forget or forgive sins unless the sinner repents and turns from them. This is what he is urging them to do if they are currently caught up with the sins of the beast.]
6 Render unto her even as she rendered, and double (unto her) the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double.
[The calling for the judgment of God is a comfort, but only to the righteous.]
7 How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning.
[Pride. Why is it when God gives it to a country to be great that the leadership wants to take the credit for it and fails to give the credit to God. This pride leads them to precipitate their own destruction by thinking that there is no way that their world leadership role could possibly ever be diminished ("shall in no wise see mourning"). And yet, this arrogance will ultimately cause their demise.]
8 Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her.
[The calamity will not be gradual but will come in one day. Plagues, death, mourning, famine and fire are all symbols of this day of destruction, albeit some of them might be literal. For example, the destruction by fire may well portend to a decisive military defeat of the city itself. The reason that these things will come so swiftly: "for strong is the Lord God who judged her."]
9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning,
[While they were certainly parties to the sin of the beast, they share neither her pride nor the depth of her punishment. They weep and wail but they are not themselves being burned up.]
10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
[They mourn over her, and they do not want to be part of her torment. In the sense that their promise of wealth is now gone, much of the woe to which they are resigned applies to themselves.]
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buys their merchandise any more;
12 merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
13 and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and (merchandise) of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men.
[This is an enumeration for emphasis of the various merchandise that the rich had used their relationship with the great city to enrich themselves. Let us not just think "everything" and glaze over the list. We should meditate over each of these items individually. It is rare or impossible that a city that is so utterly destroyed would not suffer economic downfall in almost everything, including the necessities of life illustrated by the livestock and crops listed. We forget these things and turn our minds to other things when we are so physically blessed. See the results of such indifference.]
14 And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and (men) shall find them no more at all.
[This gives us an idea of the luxurious lifestyles enjoyed by the rulers and the rich. These too are gone.]
15 The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning;
16 saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!
17 for in an hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that sails any wither, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off,
18 and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What (city) is like the great city?
[While this might seem repetitious, it is further evidence of their prior belief of the city's invincibility. The details of those things lost is not as important as the overall theme of this chapter, and that is the utter grief and mourning of those who in any way profited from the corruption of the great city.]
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
[The destruction is to come without warning; it is to be definitive and complete. There is nothing left except to grieve over it; unlike previous setbacks, there is no way to benefit from this total destruction. So is it over? was it? No, it seems as though there is always another Babylon to take its place. Let us give heed to the dream that God gave to Daniel.
Daniel 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
38 and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee to rule over them all: thou art the head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (ASV)]
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
[The only ones who can be comforted by these events are the ones who knew of its coming and who may have then made some preparation for it. But these were the oppressed, and thus they have lost little. On the contrary, they have been given the assurance from God that He will judge righteously, and thus his faithful will be taken care of. "God hath judged your judgment on her" -- because they had the same mind of God, they see the righteousness and justice in His judgments. Essentially their judgments are in total agreement with those of God. This would be the case if they were following Jesus. This verse shows that the righteous should have a sense of what God's judgment will be, and that they are perfectly entitled to rejoice over it when they observe it come to pass.
21 And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all.
[The image is to send the beast back to where it came. But in a dramatic show of power it would not only cause a great splash, but would also cause the disappearance of the stone so as to indicate that it was totally destroyed and would never appear again.
Jeremiah 51:63-64
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:
64 and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.]
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22 And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee;
23 and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.
[The major part of this list is easy to understand -- it is a personification of the city to show that what was once upheld as the pinnacle of their culture is now gone. Even the craftsmen are gone. Gone is marriage and all of the celebrations that go with it. "For with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived" -- that sorcery was a tool of the ruling class is well established for Rome as it would be for any pagan culture. Effectively this sorcery became a substitute for true religion, and the sorcerers themselves were often the focal point of worship. We cite the following as an example:
Acts 8:9-10
9 But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime in the city used sorcery, and amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is called Great.
While this was in Samaria and not Rome, pagan magic influences were common throughout the known world -- as it says above in Verse 23 "for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived." The false teaching of the Papacy, while not explicitly mentioned in this context no doubt played a major role in swaying the Roman leaders in the direction of sorcery.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.
[It is well known that Rome persecuted many Christians to the point of death. But we have some problem with direct substitution -- "in the city of Rome was found the blood ..." This would seem better to mean that during the destruction of Rome there was a large body of evidence to attest to the fact that Rome and its governance had played a major role in the shedding of the blood of the saints. As you review this chapter and contemplate the fate of the corrupt political powers as represented by Babylon and especially the harlot, contrast this city with the bride of Christ and the New Jerusalem that John will observe shortly coming down out of heaven.]
Revelation 19
19:1 After these things I heard a great voice of a large multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God:
[After having the fate of figurative Babylon revealed to him, John hears "a great voice of a large multitude in heaven -- this would seem to be the voice of the worshipers before the throne (5:13). Hallelujah might be translated praise Jehovah, praise Yahweh, or praise the LORD. This praise is fitting at this time in that God has rendered judgment unto His enemies essentially sealing their future and their condemnation. No one else could accomplish such a marvelous victory, and thus His glory and power are exalted. But also (and first) His Salvation. The salvation of mankind from sins essentially guarantees those who are saved victory over the evils of this world.
2 for true and righteous are His judgments; for He hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.
[The glorification of God is in the recognition that God's judgments are altogether true (richly deserved), perfect and righteous. This should be obvious to most people with any sense of righteousness when considering the corruption and havoc that the harlot (17:1) has brought into this world. We are commanded to allow God and God alone to exercise vengeance; Romans 12:19: "Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath (of God): for it is written, Vengeance belongs unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord." The statement (Verse 2 above) "He hath avenged ..." is in retrospect; He has made His judgment and it is an accomplished fact that cannot be reversed. But are the children of the harlot still riding on the beasts of political power today. It is difficult to believe that the corruption that we see in government, much of it legalized by them or "under the radar" if not under the table, could not be as evil as that of Rome. In that time it was known that the political leaders had absolute power and exercised it, often slaughtering those who they perceived opposed them. Today corruption is usually (but not always) exercised in a more deceptive way, calling evil good and good evil, and she who "sits upon the many waters" continues to deceive the masses offering immorality as a way of life. Yes, Rome was the personification of the harlot that at the time seemingly sat on top of all of the other nations leading them into her immorality. But it is really no large stretch to see the harlot as being immorality and corruption per se, in that she really does not need to have a single city to propagate her vile, degenerate ways.]
3 And a second time they say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goes up for ever and ever.
[The praise is not at all limited; a second time (or again) indicates a continuous praise to God for His great accomplishment doing what otherwise could not be done. The idea of the smoke going up forever is that all in the future who are faithful to God will see this figurative smoke and will praise Him, the small and the great.
The source of the voices are the same as given in verse 1, those who are faithful.]
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah.
5 And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great.
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 thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
[This would seem to be in response to the command of verse 5, and the figures of the great multitude, the many waters, and mighty thunders all serve to reinforce the universal praise to God throughout the heavenly realm. God has always reigned and been in complete control in the sense that those things that were going on contrary to His will were only done so with His agreement to temporarily allow them. At any time He could step in as he did in the previous chapters and render judgment. Some ask why God allows any evil at all; but mankind could hardly have free will if God prevented all sinful acts. The assertion that God now reigns is a statement of assurance now that God has demonstrated both His ability and His desire to obtain vengeance for the persecuted and murdered saints. The reign of God with all saints on earth and in heaven will be the subject of the first part of Chapter 20.]
7 Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
[This is a continuation of the voice of verse 6, but it goes on to indicate the reason for the rejoicing and being exceedingly glad: an impending wedding. The lamb has been identified in 5:6 to be Jesus Christ. His wife, we know to be the church from the following:
2 Corinthians 11:2
For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you (as) a pure virgin to Christ.
Ephesians 5:23-32
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the church, (being) himself the saviour of the body.
24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so (let) the wives also (be) to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;
26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
27 that he might present the church to himself a glorious (church), not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loves his own wife loves himself:
29 for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also the church;
30 because we are members of his body.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.
32 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church.
Paul's last statement here seems to focus the entire passage not on what most preachers make it into: the relationship between husbands and wives. But Paul seem to be saying that this whole passage relates to Christ and the church. In other words, while reviewing the human relationship between husbands and wives, he assumes that they have a basic understand of their heart-felt love for each other, and he wants to convey this to our understanding over to the relationship between Christ and the church.]
8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright (and) pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
[These are clothing figures that all relate to righteousness, in stark contrast (almost on a one-to one antithetical basis) to that of the harlot (18:4). "The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." The preparation of the bride (the church) involves our showing evidence of our faithfulness.]
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God.
[Still the angel talking to John -- further discussed in verse 10 below. Marriage feasts were great occasions in the Jewish culture. See Luke 14:15-16; 16:22; 22:16; and Matthew 22:2. This marriage supper would be of the greatest marvelous proportions. The last sentence would apply to all that this angel said, i.e., the words of the angel were the true words of God, and they should be given the very same respect and authority as if they were heard from the mouth of God. Truth is a sub-theme of this chapter, the thought initiated with the true judgments of God in verse 2. The marriage feast will be described in more detail in Chapter 21.]
10 And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
[It would be natural for John to give reverence to this great angel who is bearing the word of God. But we know from other passages (e.g., Acts 10:25; 14:11-18) that neither men nor angels are fit objects of worship. This is strong evidence of the divinity of Jesus in that He never refused being worshiped, which He surely would have had he not be a fit object of worship, deity. The reason: I am a fellow-servant with you and with your brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus. All who hold this testimony are on the same plane, whether they be men or angels. "Worship God" -- some might think that they are worshiping God when they fall down before men, but such should never be allowed either by men or by angels. Then the reason is given that they should only worship God: "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The thing that gives prophecy its life -- its spiritual life -- is the testimony of Jesus. This comes from God (and His son Jesus Christ) and not from men or angels, and thus, only God should be worshiped.]
11 And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
[To this point in the chapter John's visions had been of heaven; apparently now he was given a new window into heaven to consider -- this portends of something new and different. The white horse as a figure was discussed in 6:2 where the white horse and its rider, Jesus, proclaimed the gospel of truth, seemingly prior to the persecution and the ordeals that Christians would have to endure (symbolized by the other horses). Now the figure is used to show the final victory of the faithful in Christ. The Faithful and True can be a description of none other than Jesus -- all that he is is truth (John 14:6), and he will remain faithful regardless of any changing circumstances in heaven or on earth (2 Timothy 2:13). He is perfectly righteous, and in that righteousness He will do two things: judge, and make war. These will be described in detail in the following verses.]
12 And his eyes (are) a flame of fire, and upon his head (are) many diadems; and he hath a name written which no man knew but he himself.
[This is what John saw with regard to the rider of the white horse. The words inserted by the translators can be omitted without changing the meanings -- in fact, they might further emphasize these attributes. Visualize eyes that are flames of fire and many diadem's on his head. The first would symbolize his ability to look into the heart of men in making his judgments; the second his total authority of all rulers and pretenders of this world (e.g., Satan). He hath a name written -- in all probability on one or more of the diadems -- and if this is the case, then John could read it and know it, as we will see in the next verse. So how can it say that no one can know it? This must be talking about knowledge in a deeper sense than just reading and pronouncing the words. Some pretend to know what the name of Jesus is in an occult type of way; i.e., that they know a secret not known by others and thus they have some magical power that comes from this knowledge and their use of it. This verse voids even the possibility of any such foolishness. Let us not think that we can know something that God has not revealed. While we might know the words (and if they are revealed to one they are revealed to all), along with the understanding of their ramifications. But the depth of their meanings is, and will always be, beyond our understanding unless God's grace should grant that to us in the future.]
13 And he (is) arrayed in a garment dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
[Dipped in blood -- so, apparently red in color as opposed to the faithful heavenly soldiers that will follow (19:14). Perhaps the figure comes from
Isaiah 63:2-4
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treads in the wine vat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.]
[Here John tells us what the name was that was written. The words we can understand, but the underlying meaning seems a paradox.]
John 1:1-4, 14
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.
... 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.
The paradox would seem to be the question of how the Word could be both with God and be God. Apparently a higher level of spiritual understanding is needed to answer this question. But that is not the only question. We cannot understand the full meaning and significance of Jesus Christ being the Word of God -- a similar idea being when Jesus stated "I am the truth ..." Recognize that these identity metaphors are not intended to limit but to describe, and thus any one of them is probably insufficient to provide a complete description of Jesus. It has been said that one is not fully educated in a subject until he comes to that point at which he can conceptualize (not just know) that which is still unknown. This brings us to the brink of the unknown, and we know what we cannot know because it has not be revealed to us at this point.]
14 And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white (and) pure.
[These are the heavenly armies that are under Jesus' control now that he has been granted all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18-20). Reflective of Isaiah 63:3 quoted above, Jesus has trodden the winepress alone, and thus those that followed, which could be both redeemed men and faithful angels, still have their fine linen white and pure. Jesus blood is of sufficient power to accomplish victory over all sin. The color of the attire of those who are faithful is universally white throughout the book of Revelation.]
15 And out of his mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
[See 1:16 and put together the meanings of the metaphors. In the first chapter it seemed to be representative of the truth and the power of the truth to overcome all sin; here is seems to refer to a weapon with which he will smite the nations (19:18-20). Once victorious, his rule will be absolute, with a rod of iron. And the figure of the winepress applying once again to judgment is again appealed to (from 14:19-20). God, the Almighty should refer to all that are God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but here the primary role is being played by the Son.]
16 And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
[Perhaps on the thigh of the garment; or alternatively in two places. It does not matter since the idea is one of it being conspicuous and obvious to all. This is yet another "name" but not a unique designation, which is the role that a name usually plays. Instead this name is a descriptor as was the case in 19:12-13. This tells us that at this time Jesus was the ruler over all of the kings and other rulers of the earth, and he was further the lord of all those who might regard themselves as being lords.]
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come (and) be gathered together unto the great supper of God;
[This is again a different angel. John has been exposed to a great number of them and each conveys obedience to the great and wonderful God that rules the total universe. Standing in the sun -- not as opposed to the shade, but "in the sun" itself, and yet still visible to John, thus having a brightness even greater than that of the sun. The voice must have been tumultuous; it was certainly impressive to John for its volume. Why announce this to the birds? Those who have experienced the slaughter of battle in which the bodies are left on the battlefield, the animals, but especially the scavenging birds that seem to be summoned from the distant points of the countryside to enjoy their respective feasts.]
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 thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.
[Just as salvation makes no distinction, and God is no respecter of persons in this regard (Acts 10:34), so it is when judgment and the consequences of sin are to be doled out, and this verse enumerates the various positions and stations of men to confirm that.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army.
[The beast is clearly temporal power, and for the first century Christians this would be Rome (13:1,11; 17:13). The kings of the earth, etc. -- this cannot be any different occurrence that that already described in 16:13-16, but here not in nearly the figurative language, leaving little left to speculation. With perhaps only a very few exceptions, the powers and political forces of this earth are corrupt, being victims of their own lust for power. Thus, their fate is sealed. That power that seems to be the one of world domination is singled out and represented by the beast. The other powers may either be viewed as part of the beast or as those who worshiped the beast.]
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshiped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone:
[Just who accomplished this is not stated. The God that created the world with the breath of His mouth does not need the agency of man or of angels to accomplish his ends. The false prophet for them would be those from the eldership who had already corrupted the church, as prophesied by Paul:
Acts 20:29-31
29 I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
30 and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31 Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.
The major apostasy was indeed created by the leadership who were not satisfied with their rulership over the local congregations, but determined to organize and rule the church much like the Roman empire. This ultimately led to the creation of the Papacy and all of the havoc that it has wreaked with the true followers of Jesus throughout the years. This is clearly a prophecy of something that is still in prospect since neither Satan nor the false prophet has ceased their evil works.]
21 and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, (even the sword) which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
[The rest here would be the lesser followers -- the army as opposed to their leaders. "Killed with the sword ... which came forth out of his mouth..." In looking at this as a metaphor we might tend to grossly underestimate the power of the word of God. No physical force was necessary to defeat all of the temporal powers that Satan had aligned against God's people, nor the false teachers that are now legion in addition to the Papacy, and all of the physical might of the armies assembled by the corrupt worldly powers. In the beginning God made the worlds with nothing more than his words, and his words are sufficient today to defeat any and all enemies of the church and God's people. When Paul proclaimed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), he was saying much more than the fact that words are the mechanism by which the gospel is preached and people are saved. While that is true, there is much more power in these words than we might tend to believe. The shear simplicity and ease with which Jesus dispenses of his enemies make it clear that the word is more powerful than any forces of physical power that mankind can devise.]
Go to Revelation 20-22
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Revelation 16
16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth.
[The indication in Chapter 15 is that these bowls will cause tremendously hurtful plagues upon the earth and all of those who are affected. There is to be no reluctance or partial pouring -- the bowls were to be emptied in an order that seems to be understood by the seven angels who were charged with this mission. The similarity between the plagues of the seven angels and those that God inflicted upon Egypt should be obvious to most Bible students. We encourage the reading of Exodus chapters 5-10 to obtain an understanding of these events and these plagues. The similarities will become obvious. In many of the plagues of this chapter there would seem to be a total and absolute impact, if not destruction, upon all but a very few that would be a remnant. We do not believe that this is to be viewed literally, and we appeal to Zephaniah as an example;
Zephaniah 1:1-6
1:1 The word of Jehovah which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amarah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.
4 And I will stretch out my hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, (and) the name of the Chemarim with the priests;
5 and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship, that swear to Jehovah and swear by Malcam;
6 and them that are turned back from following Jehovah; and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor inquired after him.
We can surmise several possible alternatives to interpret such absolute and definitive language:
- It is hyperbole to demonstrate what God could do, and what, at some point in time in the future he surely will do. But the immediate goal is to impress upon the hearers the attitude of God toward them for their disobedience.
- It is speaking of that point in time when "the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10), and John will surely get to a point of seeing and discussing this, but that is not what this chapter is about.
- It is speaking of localized absolute judgments that will accomplish the objectives of God for that judgment.
2 And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and that worshiped his image.
[As with the first trumpet (8:7) affecting the earth, the first bowl is poured out "into the earth." Recall it was the earth from which the second beast (the false prophet) arose: 13:11. So, the first judgment seems to be upon the one who is manipulating the great beast (secular power). Yet, it seems to afflict all who worship this beast or its image (alluding to the paganist nature of this worship). Thus the faithful who have refused the mark of the beast are spared.]
3 And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, (even) the things that were in the sea.
[The beast itself arose up out of the sea (13:1), and the discussion at that point established that the sea is a figurative representation for the foaming masses. What John saw was universal death to these masses, but this does not have to map to reality. It is, however, a very serious plague that would be upon those who follow the masses of mankind as opposed to their individual consciences. 'Blood as a dead man" is typically of a darker color than blood in general. Again this bowl may be correlated to the second trumpet after which a third of the living things related to the sea died (8:9). That trumpet was the warning; this is the judgment, which is far more severe being universal in this figure.]
4 And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and it became blood.
[Referencing again back to the trumpets, Rev 8:10-11: "And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." See the discussion for those verses. As indicated above, the bowls involve plagues that are much more comprehensive. God has given ample warnings, but they were not heeded. From verse 1 recognize that these plagues, like those of Egypt, were calculated to bring down the current formidable power. The universal nature of the plagues would not apply to God's people.]
5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst thus judge:
6 for they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy.
[As in Chapter 7 the angels were assigned various roles and responsibilities. The Hebrews had a stronger belief in the role of these angels than most Christians today glean from the New Testament, to the point of building superstitions upon that which was partially revealed. However, these roles are given credibility by their being mentioned in various places by the New Testament writers. It appears that their tradition included an "angel of the waters" that is consistent with these verses. The idea is that if the angel of the waters had the responsibility of guarding the waters (especially the streams and rivers) of the earth, then even this angle proclaims the righteousness of God in taking this (figurative) action. The figure is apt since if the beast and his henchmen poured out the blood of the saints (a figure within itself), then it is only just that God should see to it that their evil words are justly punished. "They are worthy" refers to those being punished in indicating that this punishment is deserving. References to the shedding of the blood of the saints will appear in 17:6; 18:24 and 19:1-2.]
7 And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
[Those versions that insert words to "help" the reader make sense out of this verse are generally presumptuous. The Greek indicates that John said that it was the altar that made this statement. To add that it was "a voice from the altar" is valid because that is exactly what it was. To add that it was another angel or the "angel of the altar" (TLB) creates a thought that is not faithful to the Greek manuscripts, and thus is presumptuous. As readers, we may well come to these conclusions, but they are our's to come to and not the translator's. Could the altar literally talk? It must have seemed that way to John. Could it be the various creatures around the throne or those beneath the altar (6:9)? Why not? These possibilities richly enhance the statement that seemingly came from the altar itself. The angel of the waters introduced this idea and it was confirmed by all that the altar represents.]
8 And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give Him glory.
[Corresponding to the fourth trumpet, Rev 8:12: "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner." The manner and effect of the sun producing intense heat is easy to fathom, especially by those who may have spent some extended time in the summer desert. But verse 8 indicates some direct scorching with fire. The effect should have been to repent and give God the glory, but instead they blasphemed -- cursed God and worshiped themselves as gods. In fact, would this hatred toward God not cause them to become worse and worse in their decline into the pits of sin?]
10 And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works.
[This is the first bowl to strike the beast directly, albeit upon his throne, which we assume would be the seat of the sea beast. Thus, the others can be viewed as preparatory to it and what will follow. Verse 11 indicates that men were struck with painful sores as a result. So bad was the pain that "they gnawed their tongues," a word and thus an expression that only appears once in the entire Bible. It might have been a Hebraism expressing a method of diversion from extreme anguish, for that is how the context uses it here. Many such idioms are based around the tongue as an instrument of speech (e.g., the Americanism, "bite your tongue" when someone says something our of line). Could it be that the ones suffering the sores were so aggravated at their own blasphemy that they are now punishing their tongues by chewing on them? It would be good for them if that were the case, but it appears that this self-abasement was more caused by insanity than repentance. Again, because of their predispositions, the punishment had a negative effect on them, causing them to decline even more deeply into sin.]
12 And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the (river) Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that (come) from the sun rising.
[This corresponds to the sixth trumpet which was used to signal the loosing of the four angels that were being held back (9:14-19). The sounding of the trumpet resulted in the angels being loosed; or perhaps it would be better to say that the result of the angels being loosed was the warning, the sixth trumpet. At that point a "third part of men" were killed. Obviously a terrible warning, but not as universal as the bowl that is being poured out at this time. The great river Euphrates (where the four angels were bound before they were loosed at the sounding of the sixth trumpet) is now dried up. This does not seem to be the plague itself, but a facilitation of it. That plague appears to be an invasion from the east by a number of kings. The drying up of the river alludes to the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea, God's power over all waters..
13 And I saw (coming) out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs:
14 for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
[While we expect the kings of the East to take advantage of this strategic development, there is an interruption in the flow of events and the dragon and the two beasts (temporal power and the false prophet) suddenly appear -- or perhaps they have been lurking in the background ever since 13:2-11. They now appear to demonstrate their evil nature by their speech, which is personified by three unclean spirits that John states appeared to be like frogs. They are further identified to be the spirits of demons that have power to work signs. The purpose of these evil signs was to influence the kings (rulers) of the world to gather themselves together for a major war against God and His people.]
15 (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.)
[The ASV and several other versions put this in parenthesis indicating that it is an interruption of the flow of the vision. Clearly it is not part of John's narrative, and so we can only conclude that while he was putting all of the things above down on parchment that Jesus made this general statement. The changing of the person being spoken to in scripture is not that uncommon, a good example being Psalm 23 where the Psalmist suddenly changes from making statements about God to talking directly to God, and then back again. However, it is peculiar when suddenly a voice of Jesus is heard without any definition or introduction. That this is Jesus speaking should not be in question; see 3:3 and the following:
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape.
2 Peter 3:10
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
[Watching for the "thief" is also the theme of Mt. 24:42-44. But in addition to watch the Lord exhorts us to keep our garments; compare Rev. 3:18; 'I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that you may see." The idea of keeping ones' garments is to stay faithful unto death.]
[Why at this point is the warning given? We cannot be sure, but perhaps it is in anticipation of the change in the direction of the visions. To this point things have been viewed can be traced to things that have been fulfilled. As we move into the remainder of the book, this past tense fulfillment is not as certain. Of course, there is no way to tell exactly when these things will happen, and the warning given by Jesus at this point may well be for us not to speculate on the particular times, but rather to establish in our minds that these things most certainly will come to pass.]
16 And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.
[Picking things up again from verse 14 -- the rulers of the nations were deceived into gathering themselves for a battle. The "they" seems to refer to the demons back to verse 14, and this would be reasonable since it says there that they were trying to influence them to collectively make war. The Greek interlinears, however, indicate that literally it was not "they" but "he." Could the demons speak as one voice and be considered a "he?" This is a quibble, and is of no consequence -- we know they were gathered together, not by God but by evil influences, and whether singular or plural makes no difference. John sees this taking place as they assemble at a place called Har-Magedon, or Armageddon in many translation. Har Meggido may be a more literal translation, meaning the mountain of Meggido (Hebrew: place of troops), which has an obvious reference back to 2 Chronicles 35:22: "Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo" just prior to the death of Josiah. But there were many other references to this place as a place of war; e.g, Joshua 12:21: 17:11; Judges 5:19-20; 1 Kings 9:15; 2 Kings 9:27; 23:29-30. To allude to it as a figurative place for this final conflict would seem reasonable. The results of this battle will be given in 19:11-21.]
17 And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done:
18 and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty.
[As though when it was poured out it evaporated into the air and never hit the earth. Alluding to the spiritual realm as it was typical for the Hebrews to believe the air was jam packed with spirit beings (we are not entertaining that idea, just bringing it up as a potential justification. This evoked a great voice out of the temple (11:19), if not the voice of God directly, one authorized to so speak, so we can say it was the voice of God with fair confidence. IT IS DONE. Not that all has already been accomplished (for we know that is not the case), but that all is fixed and there is no possible way of changing what God has willed in future events.]
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And great hail, (every stone) about the weight of a talent, comes down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.
[What John witnessed here in our opinion is not to be mapped to a particular city, although no doubt the immediate application was that of Rome. But to declare that this prophecy is limited to the fall of Rome would not be reasonable given what we now know about the many nations that have arisen and been thrown down since that time. Nor do we see much point in parsing out the particular catastrophes and trying to map them to particular events in our world. The plagues are sufficiently wide to provide a synecdoche figure of speech representing all such catastrophes, both natural and man-made, that mankind will face going forward. Recognize this when they fall, that it is the punishment of God for the evil that so characterizes those in positions of power.]
Revelation 17
17:1 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sits upon many waters;
2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication.
[These angels were introduced in 15:1,7, and one of them will again be referenced in this way in 21:9. "Spake with me" indicates a conversation, not just a command or specific point of information. But as part of this, John was commanded to turn his attention to another subject at hand. The degradation of the powerful rulers and its effects filtering down to the common citizen is often reference in the Old Testament as prostitution, and the city itself as becoming a prostitute. Example, Isaiah 1:21: "How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers." In this example we see the specific sin is that of murder. While fornication is obviously part of the corruption of the powerful, the sins that are referenced as harlotry should in no wise be limited to this. It is the total corruption that is in question, which generally touches on all of the vices, especially bribery, blackmail, and outright theft of public funds. The phrase "come hither" does not imply that John had to go anywhere; only that his attention was to be directed to "the judgment of the great harlot, who has the following characteristics:
- Sits upon many waters -- while water was an essential resource to Rome and Babylon, the use of the word "waters" figuratively has already been established; but to review, Rev. 17:15: "And he saith unto me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" -- a verse that we will get to shortly. So this figure is one of the masses of humanity over which the woman rules, not by military or political power, but by the immorality that they readily submit themselves to be led into, and by which they will be dominated.
- Committed fornication with the kings of the earth -- as indicated above, fornication is representative of all of the corruption that those in power perpetrated in order to keep and enlarge their power.
- Common people were made drunken with her immorality -- wine of her fornication
3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
["In the Spirit" was discussed in 1:10 and 4:2, and will be mentioned again in 21:10. Here it indicates that John did not physically move to the wilderness, but this was the vision that he saw. The distinction between seeing something in the mind and actually physically seeing it seems to be a point of contention that John felt needed to be clarified. It seems Paul struggled with this as well in 2 Cor. 12:2-3, and was unable to resolve it from the experience itself. But as he said there "I know not," the meaning of the vision is in no way changed by whether it was seen physically or whether it was something that was just part of a trance or vision. "A woman" we will have no problem is identifying as the harlot described above. "In the wilderness" would seem to indicate a stark contrast with "sits upon many waters" of verse 1. The former may have been Rome (or whatever future power this might map to) in its golden days; clearly the desert is a contrast of opposite proportions with the waters, and so the indication is that the seemingly invincible power is to be short lived, relatively speaking.]
[The beast she was sitting upon. This appears to be the same beast describe in 13:1 that came up out of the sea (the water figure comparable to that of the woman sitting upon many waters (17:1). We identified that great beast to be temporal power, and in John's immediate application, Rome. And now we have 17:18 telling us that the harlot is the great city; "... the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth." Is it possible to have two figures representing the same thing? We propose that the woman is "the great city" in the sense of its elite rulers who are those in positions of ultimate power. The beast is "the great city" in the sense of its masses of people and political corruption. These are not two distinctly different things, and here we have them combined as the woman sits upon the beast, indicating that she is in control of the beast. That the two of these are identified by the same descriptor should not be surprising. Also, recognize that many statements of things being identical are not to be taken literally. They are telling of the nature of the entities rather than limiting what they represent. No color was given of the beast in Chapter 13; now we observe with John the scarlet color and the names of blasphemy that covers all of its appearance. Scarlet is a shade of red, and red has connoted a number of things that are opposed to God, e.g., the red horse (6:4) and the red dragon (12:3). Scarlet will be assigned to the clothing of the woman (17;4), and the dyes carried by the merchant vessels (18:12-16).]
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,
[The Bible often uses the color of a cloth to refer to it (an application of synecdoche). She was also wearing expensive jewelry of gold, precious stones and pearls. This excess is typical of harlots and is condemned by the Holy Spirit (1 Tim. 2:9; 1 Pet. 3:3-4) as gaudy and inappropriate for godly women. A golden cup -- would appeal to those who she is trying to entice to drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication. But within it is full of abominations -- perhaps evil drugs that transform a normally-thinking man into someone who is totally devoid of any sense of morality. The unclean things of her fornication should need no definition. Collectively this speaks of a city of much wealth that is being used to fund the excesses of its immoral elite rulers.]
5 and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
[This name was written so as to identify her character more fully. It seems that the word MYSTERY is not part of the descriptor, but rather would point to the fact that the descriptor is not to be taken literally, This is validated by its use in 17:7. BABYLON THE GREAT would not seem to be an appropriate descriptor for a woman, but recall that in 17:18 we will be told that this woman is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. That being the case, BABYLON THE GREAT fits quite well. Babylon had been the chief city ruling over the pagan world, and so for Rome to be called Babylon would certainly be appropriate. This is not the first we have heard of this city -- it was said to be fallen in 14:8, and to be divided apparently for destruction in 16:19. It will also be a major figure in Chapter 18. The MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS is indicative of the extent to which her spiritual harlotry, paganism and idolatry, have taken her. That is, she is not satisfied to be alone in her degradation, but has had many children who are very much like her, perhaps the rulers of the various kingdoms that were all somewhat controlled by Rome at this time. Recognize that the state of mankind has not changed, and this figure could apply to most evil nations today. She is also the mother of the ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH indicating here as well, she has spawned offspring. We have followed the typical capitalization of the translators to facilitate communication; no such capitalization is in any of the Greek manuscripts.]
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
[It was, and still is among many pagans today, a ritual to actually drink the blood of their human sacrifices or their victims killed in war. The idea being that to drink their blood will impart to the imbiber the strength of the adversary. Here the adversaries to the woman were the saints, and no greater depravity would be imagined than for her to drink the blood of the saints to the point were she was drunken. The drinking of blood in general was repugnant to Jews, and the whole idea of drinking human blood would be quite disturbing. And so it is no surprise that John wondered with a great wonder ... he was seeing this play out in these figures -- it appeared to him that what was going on was reality. Essentially, today we would say he could not believe his eyes. Recognize that we can see precisely what John saw if we study and meditate upon these passages.]
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.
[The question seems to be a rhetorical one to focus John's attention on what the angel was about to tell him. The word mystery here is fully explained by what the angel will tell John. In other words, things are not as they appear. Figures that are signified need interpretation. This is the first that we have heard that the woman is not only sitting on the beast, but that the beast carries her, indicating that the beast is subservient to the woman.]
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, (they) whose names hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come.
[While we expect clarification, it seems that the explanation creates its own difficulties. The beast we have already identified to be temporal power (e.g., Rome) that came up out of the sea (13:1). Its characteristics are the same as the beast that the woman was riding on (17:3). The beast has three aspects:
- It was -- perhaps in its former form, as Babylon, Medo-Persia or Greece;
- It is not -- these forerunners would no longer be recognized powers;
- It is about to come up out of the abyss (bottomless pit) -- this well could be representative of Rome for the first century Christians. The principle, however, is that these bastions of power are all temporary, which would give the persecuted Christians hope that their plight was not to be forever. John had already seen the beast coming up out of the many waters, here called the abyss (or hell), which portends to reveal its ultimate destiny as well as its basic character, as opposed to the waters (masses) which indicated its physical origination.
- ... and go into perdition -- the indication is that the beast will have a relatively short reign over the nations of the world, and then it would be destined to destruction of a nature not specified here.
- See below for an alternative explanation in terms of the emperors of Rome at this time. This is probably more apt to be the interpretation of Christians at this time as opposed to that given above (which tends to appeal to those with a broader perspective).
9 Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth:
[We might suggest: "the mind that hath wisdom will see that the seven heads are ..." This maps closely to the seven mountains upon which Rome was built. The woman was said to sit on the seven heads of the beast; so in this identity, the heads become the mountains.]
10 and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a little while.
[Rulers with kingly power, although not necessarily kings; this could refer to emperors or dictators, or even to dynasties. The heads of the beast map to mountains, which now map to specific powers. Five have already fallen, a sixth apparently is in control at this point, and a seventh will come in the future. The temporal nature of these worldly powers is again made clear. The totality of the empire seems to be crippled at this point. Here is the history at this time as far as the emperors are concerned:
- Augustus 27 BC-14 AD. Attempted to destroy Jesus as an infant, but there were no Christians at this time; Jews were tolerated as long as they did not participate in insurrection.
- Tiberius 14-37 AD. A good emperor who enabled the church to grow in its infancy (it being established on the day of Pentecost, AD 33. See Acts 2).
- Caligula 37-41 AD. The first emperor to mandate emperor worship (i.e., of himself). It was generally conceded that he was insane, killing some of his own family, and as a result he did not last long (was assassinated). The fact that he is not mentioned in the book of Acts is probably that his edicts never really reached to impact Judea.
- Claudius 41-54 AD. Reversed Caligula's insanity and led to 13 years of continued growth of the church.
- Nero 54-68 AD. Paul was incarcerated in Rome at about 62 AD. However, Nero did not initiate his mischief of burning Rome until 64, when it seems he rationalized that he could only rebuild it more glorious if he destroyed it first. His attempt at distracting blame from himself was to blame the fire on the Christians, and the tortures that he inflicted at this time were quite cruel and intense (e.g., burning Christians to light their night-time celebrations). Paul seems to have escaped this however and history tells us he was released at some point later to resume his missionary journey activity, only to be arrested after that, brought back to Rome and executed.
- Between, two years of total chaos: Galba, Otho, Vitellius that are not included in the 7 heads. They are possibly included in the 10 horns. It seems clear that Rome was "coming apart" at this time and needed some skilled leadership. This was provided by Vespasian and Titus over the next 12 years, only to see insanity once again prevail in the form of Domitian.
- Vespasian 69-79 AD.
- Titus 79-81 AD.
- Domitian 81-96 AD. See verse 11. A very evil emperor who ruled in the days leading up to John's writing Revelation in the 95-96 time frame.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes into perdition.
[This is the beast of verse 8. The entire beast (heads and all) is viewed as an eighth power center, but is "of the seven" meaning that they in some way contributed to his ascension to power. His going into perdition is indicative of his imminent destruction at the writing of Revelation, and if this was prophesied, we can easily see its fulfillment. In contrast, History has it that after his exile, John went back to serve the church at Ephesus.]
12 And the ten horns that thou saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
[The ten horns were seen by John on the scarlet colored beast 17:3. Again, these civil power centers are not necessarily restricted to specific formal kingdoms. They have not received their power yet, but they will at some point rise up and receive authority as kings to be shared with the beast. A very short period of time is mentioned here indicating considerable instability.]
13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.
[As horns they were figurative of power. They willingly subjected themselves to the domination of the beast.]
14 These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they (also shall overcome) that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.
[The persecution of Christians by Rome and the Papacy (the earth beast - 13:11) is well established in history so as not to be of controversy. There is no definitive point in time when either God or Christians rose up militarily and overcame this beast, so we can conclude that the statements of victory here were of a spiritual nature. On the other hand, it is clear that Rome at this time had reached its peak and would have a gradual deterioration in its power until its ultimate falls (roughly, 476 AD for the eastern empire and 1453 AD for the Byzantine or western empire. See Rome History and Timeline.]
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
[We have been making this figure application, although not universally, throughout our comments. The reason that John or the angel speaking to him held off in stating this is probably to keep John and the readers in suspense until the appropriate time of its revelation, which must be at this point. The use of raging, foaming water as a figure is almost intuitive, but John leaves no room for error in this regard. Recognize that John saw "the waters ... where the harlot sits" as waters, and not as this interpretation of what these waters represented.]
16 And the ten horns which thou saw upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire.
[It would be the natural result of jealousy for the lessor kings to see that the woman exercised greater power over the beast than they did. Even though this might cause their downfall, they might take steps to destroy the woman, who we will see in verse 18 is, itself, the great city; or we might think of it as being those elites who truly ruled and controlled the great city.]
17 For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.
[This is an assertion of the providence of God -- nothing was happening without his total monitoring of it, and He could take control of it at any point. They saw it was self-serving to give their kingdom to the beast while at the same time plotting its downfall. But they would not be the ones to determine when this would happen -- the words of God, indeed that which we are reading and studying right now, must be accomplished. And while we might not understand the reason for such timing, we can be sure that its reasoning and accomplishment will be perfect.]
18 And the woman whom thou saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.
[This is the confirmation of the identity of the harlot. Her riding on the beast was a metaphor for the control that she exerted of Rome and the other nations. But did we not say that the beast itself was temporal power? We should not be surprised that two figures would describe the same entity. The beast coming up out of the sea and coming forth out of the abyss are two figures describing the source of the same beast. That this same temporal power should be described at one point to be animalistic in nature, and then at another point as being totally without any sense of morality would also seem not only possible but highly likely. Like today, the citizens of Rome (or any great country) did not recognize that the ultimate power is not the recognized rulers (e.g. the emperors). By design, the true elites who rule do it without being seen. This isolates them from assassination while at the same time enables them to amass huge sums of money, which is the primary instrument by which they exercise control.]
Revelation 18
18:1 After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
["Another angel" has introduced a different message throughout the book, and this is no exception. "Coming down" would indicate that John was on the earth -- not that he had ever left the earth, but as his visions were of heaven, it is convenient to think of him being in heaven spiritually if not physically. Two further attributes are given: (1) he had great authority -- indicating that he was of the higher ranking angels; and (2) the earth was lighted with his glory -- adding to the magnificence of the scene.]
2 And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.
[Since the literal Babylon had fallen long ago, it is being used metaphorically here. Refer to the discussion in 14:8 where effectively the same statement is made. Babylon's fall would illustrate that no kingdom is invincible, and thus, it is used effectively here to prophecy the fall of Rome, which to the Christians seemed to be invincible. But it just did not cease to exist -- its fate was much worse than that. "It has now become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and every unclean and hateful bird." These figures reinforce each other and show how utterly uninhabitable the city would become. Prophecies are often spoken of in the past tense indicating the certainty of the thing foretold.]
3 For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.
[All the nations are fallen -- as indicated by the Icarus Paradox, i.e., "that which causes success in organizations most often leads to their ultimate failure." The lust for power is never satisfied, and it ultimately leads to the destruction of those who are subject to it, as is true of most political leaders. They are fallen "by the wine of the wrath of her fornication" -- the city once again portrayed as a harlot with which the kings of the earth committed sexual atrocities (17:2). Not just the kings but others who corrupted the kings and themselves were corrupted in their quest for wealth and power. The power of her wantonness can be contrasted with the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:
[God is jealous for His people and urges them to escape Babylon for two reasons: (1) so that they will not partake of those sins, something that is inevitable if they remain -- 1 Corinthians 15:33; and (2) that they not receive of her plagues, which are certain to come to those who have fellowship with her sins. A similar exhortation is given in 2 Corinthians 6:17: "Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, ..."
5 for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
[Sometimes we forget the infinite intellect of God when we see the unrighteous not only getting away with sin but benefiting from it. "Reached even unto heaven" is a phrase that indicates God's knowledge of sin. God does not take any sin lightly and he will not forget or forgive sins unless the sinner repents and turns from them. This is what he is urging them to do if they are currently caught up with the sins of the beast.]
6 Render unto her even as she rendered, and double (unto her) the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double.
[The calling for the judgment of God is a comfort, but only to the righteous.]
7 How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning.
[Pride. Why is it when God gives it to a country to be great that the leadership wants to take the credit for it and fails to give the credit to God. This pride leads them to precipitate their own destruction by thinking that there is no way that their world leadership role could possibly ever be diminished ("shall in no wise see mourning"). And yet, this arrogance will ultimately cause their demise.]
8 Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her.
[The calamity will not be gradual but will come in one day. Plagues, death, mourning, famine and fire are all symbols of this day of destruction, albeit some of them might be literal. For example, the destruction by fire may well portend to a decisive military defeat of the city itself. The reason that these things will come so swiftly: "for strong is the Lord God who judged her."]
9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning,
[While they were certainly parties to the sin of the beast, they share neither her pride nor the depth of her punishment. They weep and wail but they are not themselves being burned up.]
10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
[They mourn over her, and they do not want to be part of her torment. In the sense that their promise of wealth is now gone, much of the woe to which they are resigned applies to themselves.]
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buys their merchandise any more;
12 merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
13 and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and (merchandise) of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men.
[This is an enumeration for emphasis of the various merchandise that the rich had used their relationship with the great city to enrich themselves. Let us not just think "everything" and glaze over the list. We should meditate over each of these items individually. It is rare or impossible that a city that is so utterly destroyed would not suffer economic downfall in almost everything, including the necessities of life illustrated by the livestock and crops listed. We forget these things and turn our minds to other things when we are so physically blessed. See the results of such indifference.]
14 And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and (men) shall find them no more at all.
[This gives us an idea of the luxurious lifestyles enjoyed by the rulers and the rich. These too are gone.]
15 The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning;
16 saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!
17 for in an hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that sails any wither, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off,
18 and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What (city) is like the great city?
[While this might seem repetitious, it is further evidence of their prior belief of the city's invincibility. The details of those things lost is not as important as the overall theme of this chapter, and that is the utter grief and mourning of those who in any way profited from the corruption of the great city.]
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
[The destruction is to come without warning; it is to be definitive and complete. There is nothing left except to grieve over it; unlike previous setbacks, there is no way to benefit from this total destruction. So is it over? was it? No, it seems as though there is always another Babylon to take its place. Let us give heed to the dream that God gave to Daniel.
Daniel 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the glory;
38 and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee to rule over them all: thou art the head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (ASV)]
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
[The only ones who can be comforted by these events are the ones who knew of its coming and who may have then made some preparation for it. But these were the oppressed, and thus they have lost little. On the contrary, they have been given the assurance from God that He will judge righteously, and thus his faithful will be taken care of. "God hath judged your judgment on her" -- because they had the same mind of God, they see the righteousness and justice in His judgments. Essentially their judgments are in total agreement with those of God. This would be the case if they were following Jesus. This verse shows that the righteous should have a sense of what God's judgment will be, and that they are perfectly entitled to rejoice over it when they observe it come to pass.
21 And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all.
[The image is to send the beast back to where it came. But in a dramatic show of power it would not only cause a great splash, but would also cause the disappearance of the stone so as to indicate that it was totally destroyed and would never appear again.
Jeremiah 51:63-64
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates:
64 and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.]
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22 And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee;
23 and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.
[The major part of this list is easy to understand -- it is a personification of the city to show that what was once upheld as the pinnacle of their culture is now gone. Even the craftsmen are gone. Gone is marriage and all of the celebrations that go with it. "For with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived" -- that sorcery was a tool of the ruling class is well established for Rome as it would be for any pagan culture. Effectively this sorcery became a substitute for true religion, and the sorcerers themselves were often the focal point of worship. We cite the following as an example:
Acts 8:9-10
9 But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime in the city used sorcery, and amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is called Great.
While this was in Samaria and not Rome, pagan magic influences were common throughout the known world -- as it says above in Verse 23 "for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived." The false teaching of the Papacy, while not explicitly mentioned in this context no doubt played a major role in swaying the Roman leaders in the direction of sorcery.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.
[It is well known that Rome persecuted many Christians to the point of death. But we have some problem with direct substitution -- "in the city of Rome was found the blood ..." This would seem better to mean that during the destruction of Rome there was a large body of evidence to attest to the fact that Rome and its governance had played a major role in the shedding of the blood of the saints. As you review this chapter and contemplate the fate of the corrupt political powers as represented by Babylon and especially the harlot, contrast this city with the bride of Christ and the New Jerusalem that John will observe shortly coming down out of heaven.]
Revelation 19
19:1 After these things I heard a great voice of a large multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God:
[After having the fate of figurative Babylon revealed to him, John hears "a great voice of a large multitude in heaven -- this would seem to be the voice of the worshipers before the throne (5:13). Hallelujah might be translated praise Jehovah, praise Yahweh, or praise the LORD. This praise is fitting at this time in that God has rendered judgment unto His enemies essentially sealing their future and their condemnation. No one else could accomplish such a marvelous victory, and thus His glory and power are exalted. But also (and first) His Salvation. The salvation of mankind from sins essentially guarantees those who are saved victory over the evils of this world.
2 for true and righteous are His judgments; for He hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.
[The glorification of God is in the recognition that God's judgments are altogether true (richly deserved), perfect and righteous. This should be obvious to most people with any sense of righteousness when considering the corruption and havoc that the harlot (17:1) has brought into this world. We are commanded to allow God and God alone to exercise vengeance; Romans 12:19: "Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath (of God): for it is written, Vengeance belongs unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord." The statement (Verse 2 above) "He hath avenged ..." is in retrospect; He has made His judgment and it is an accomplished fact that cannot be reversed. But are the children of the harlot still riding on the beasts of political power today. It is difficult to believe that the corruption that we see in government, much of it legalized by them or "under the radar" if not under the table, could not be as evil as that of Rome. In that time it was known that the political leaders had absolute power and exercised it, often slaughtering those who they perceived opposed them. Today corruption is usually (but not always) exercised in a more deceptive way, calling evil good and good evil, and she who "sits upon the many waters" continues to deceive the masses offering immorality as a way of life. Yes, Rome was the personification of the harlot that at the time seemingly sat on top of all of the other nations leading them into her immorality. But it is really no large stretch to see the harlot as being immorality and corruption per se, in that she really does not need to have a single city to propagate her vile, degenerate ways.]
3 And a second time they say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goes up for ever and ever.
[The praise is not at all limited; a second time (or again) indicates a continuous praise to God for His great accomplishment doing what otherwise could not be done. The idea of the smoke going up forever is that all in the future who are faithful to God will see this figurative smoke and will praise Him, the small and the great.
The source of the voices are the same as given in verse 1, those who are faithful.]
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah.
5 And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great.
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 thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
[This would seem to be in response to the command of verse 5, and the figures of the great multitude, the many waters, and mighty thunders all serve to reinforce the universal praise to God throughout the heavenly realm. God has always reigned and been in complete control in the sense that those things that were going on contrary to His will were only done so with His agreement to temporarily allow them. At any time He could step in as he did in the previous chapters and render judgment. Some ask why God allows any evil at all; but mankind could hardly have free will if God prevented all sinful acts. The assertion that God now reigns is a statement of assurance now that God has demonstrated both His ability and His desire to obtain vengeance for the persecuted and murdered saints. The reign of God with all saints on earth and in heaven will be the subject of the first part of Chapter 20.]
7 Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
[This is a continuation of the voice of verse 6, but it goes on to indicate the reason for the rejoicing and being exceedingly glad: an impending wedding. The lamb has been identified in 5:6 to be Jesus Christ. His wife, we know to be the church from the following:
2 Corinthians 11:2
For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you (as) a pure virgin to Christ.
Ephesians 5:23-32
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the church, (being) himself the saviour of the body.
24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so (let) the wives also (be) to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;
26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
27 that he might present the church to himself a glorious (church), not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loves his own wife loves himself:
29 for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ also the church;
30 because we are members of his body.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.
32 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church.
Paul's last statement here seems to focus the entire passage not on what most preachers make it into: the relationship between husbands and wives. But Paul seem to be saying that this whole passage relates to Christ and the church. In other words, while reviewing the human relationship between husbands and wives, he assumes that they have a basic understand of their heart-felt love for each other, and he wants to convey this to our understanding over to the relationship between Christ and the church.]
8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright (and) pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
[These are clothing figures that all relate to righteousness, in stark contrast (almost on a one-to one antithetical basis) to that of the harlot (18:4). "The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." The preparation of the bride (the church) involves our showing evidence of our faithfulness.]
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God.
[Still the angel talking to John -- further discussed in verse 10 below. Marriage feasts were great occasions in the Jewish culture. See Luke 14:15-16; 16:22; 22:16; and Matthew 22:2. This marriage supper would be of the greatest marvelous proportions. The last sentence would apply to all that this angel said, i.e., the words of the angel were the true words of God, and they should be given the very same respect and authority as if they were heard from the mouth of God. Truth is a sub-theme of this chapter, the thought initiated with the true judgments of God in verse 2. The marriage feast will be described in more detail in Chapter 21.]
10 And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
[It would be natural for John to give reverence to this great angel who is bearing the word of God. But we know from other passages (e.g., Acts 10:25; 14:11-18) that neither men nor angels are fit objects of worship. This is strong evidence of the divinity of Jesus in that He never refused being worshiped, which He surely would have had he not be a fit object of worship, deity. The reason: I am a fellow-servant with you and with your brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus. All who hold this testimony are on the same plane, whether they be men or angels. "Worship God" -- some might think that they are worshiping God when they fall down before men, but such should never be allowed either by men or by angels. Then the reason is given that they should only worship God: "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The thing that gives prophecy its life -- its spiritual life -- is the testimony of Jesus. This comes from God (and His son Jesus Christ) and not from men or angels, and thus, only God should be worshiped.]
11 And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
[To this point in the chapter John's visions had been of heaven; apparently now he was given a new window into heaven to consider -- this portends of something new and different. The white horse as a figure was discussed in 6:2 where the white horse and its rider, Jesus, proclaimed the gospel of truth, seemingly prior to the persecution and the ordeals that Christians would have to endure (symbolized by the other horses). Now the figure is used to show the final victory of the faithful in Christ. The Faithful and True can be a description of none other than Jesus -- all that he is is truth (John 14:6), and he will remain faithful regardless of any changing circumstances in heaven or on earth (2 Timothy 2:13). He is perfectly righteous, and in that righteousness He will do two things: judge, and make war. These will be described in detail in the following verses.]
12 And his eyes (are) a flame of fire, and upon his head (are) many diadems; and he hath a name written which no man knew but he himself.
[This is what John saw with regard to the rider of the white horse. The words inserted by the translators can be omitted without changing the meanings -- in fact, they might further emphasize these attributes. Visualize eyes that are flames of fire and many diadem's on his head. The first would symbolize his ability to look into the heart of men in making his judgments; the second his total authority of all rulers and pretenders of this world (e.g., Satan). He hath a name written -- in all probability on one or more of the diadems -- and if this is the case, then John could read it and know it, as we will see in the next verse. So how can it say that no one can know it? This must be talking about knowledge in a deeper sense than just reading and pronouncing the words. Some pretend to know what the name of Jesus is in an occult type of way; i.e., that they know a secret not known by others and thus they have some magical power that comes from this knowledge and their use of it. This verse voids even the possibility of any such foolishness. Let us not think that we can know something that God has not revealed. While we might know the words (and if they are revealed to one they are revealed to all), along with the understanding of their ramifications. But the depth of their meanings is, and will always be, beyond our understanding unless God's grace should grant that to us in the future.]
13 And he (is) arrayed in a garment dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
[Dipped in blood -- so, apparently red in color as opposed to the faithful heavenly soldiers that will follow (19:14). Perhaps the figure comes from
Isaiah 63:2-4
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treads in the wine vat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.]
[Here John tells us what the name was that was written. The words we can understand, but the underlying meaning seems a paradox.]
John 1:1-4, 14
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.
... 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.
The paradox would seem to be the question of how the Word could be both with God and be God. Apparently a higher level of spiritual understanding is needed to answer this question. But that is not the only question. We cannot understand the full meaning and significance of Jesus Christ being the Word of God -- a similar idea being when Jesus stated "I am the truth ..." Recognize that these identity metaphors are not intended to limit but to describe, and thus any one of them is probably insufficient to provide a complete description of Jesus. It has been said that one is not fully educated in a subject until he comes to that point at which he can conceptualize (not just know) that which is still unknown. This brings us to the brink of the unknown, and we know what we cannot know because it has not be revealed to us at this point.]
14 And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white (and) pure.
[These are the heavenly armies that are under Jesus' control now that he has been granted all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18-20). Reflective of Isaiah 63:3 quoted above, Jesus has trodden the winepress alone, and thus those that followed, which could be both redeemed men and faithful angels, still have their fine linen white and pure. Jesus blood is of sufficient power to accomplish victory over all sin. The color of the attire of those who are faithful is universally white throughout the book of Revelation.]
15 And out of his mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
[See 1:16 and put together the meanings of the metaphors. In the first chapter it seemed to be representative of the truth and the power of the truth to overcome all sin; here is seems to refer to a weapon with which he will smite the nations (19:18-20). Once victorious, his rule will be absolute, with a rod of iron. And the figure of the winepress applying once again to judgment is again appealed to (from 14:19-20). God, the Almighty should refer to all that are God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but here the primary role is being played by the Son.]
16 And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
[Perhaps on the thigh of the garment; or alternatively in two places. It does not matter since the idea is one of it being conspicuous and obvious to all. This is yet another "name" but not a unique designation, which is the role that a name usually plays. Instead this name is a descriptor as was the case in 19:12-13. This tells us that at this time Jesus was the ruler over all of the kings and other rulers of the earth, and he was further the lord of all those who might regard themselves as being lords.]
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come (and) be gathered together unto the great supper of God;
[This is again a different angel. John has been exposed to a great number of them and each conveys obedience to the great and wonderful God that rules the total universe. Standing in the sun -- not as opposed to the shade, but "in the sun" itself, and yet still visible to John, thus having a brightness even greater than that of the sun. The voice must have been tumultuous; it was certainly impressive to John for its volume. Why announce this to the birds? Those who have experienced the slaughter of battle in which the bodies are left on the battlefield, the animals, but especially the scavenging birds that seem to be summoned from the distant points of the countryside to enjoy their respective feasts.]
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 thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.
[Just as salvation makes no distinction, and God is no respecter of persons in this regard (Acts 10:34), so it is when judgment and the consequences of sin are to be doled out, and this verse enumerates the various positions and stations of men to confirm that.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army.
[The beast is clearly temporal power, and for the first century Christians this would be Rome (13:1,11; 17:13). The kings of the earth, etc. -- this cannot be any different occurrence that that already described in 16:13-16, but here not in nearly the figurative language, leaving little left to speculation. With perhaps only a very few exceptions, the powers and political forces of this earth are corrupt, being victims of their own lust for power. Thus, their fate is sealed. That power that seems to be the one of world domination is singled out and represented by the beast. The other powers may either be viewed as part of the beast or as those who worshiped the beast.]
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshiped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone:
[Just who accomplished this is not stated. The God that created the world with the breath of His mouth does not need the agency of man or of angels to accomplish his ends. The false prophet for them would be those from the eldership who had already corrupted the church, as prophesied by Paul:
Acts 20:29-31
29 I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
30 and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31 Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears.
The major apostasy was indeed created by the leadership who were not satisfied with their rulership over the local congregations, but determined to organize and rule the church much like the Roman empire. This ultimately led to the creation of the Papacy and all of the havoc that it has wreaked with the true followers of Jesus throughout the years. This is clearly a prophecy of something that is still in prospect since neither Satan nor the false prophet has ceased their evil works.]
21 and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, (even the sword) which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
[The rest here would be the lesser followers -- the army as opposed to their leaders. "Killed with the sword ... which came forth out of his mouth..." In looking at this as a metaphor we might tend to grossly underestimate the power of the word of God. No physical force was necessary to defeat all of the temporal powers that Satan had aligned against God's people, nor the false teachers that are now legion in addition to the Papacy, and all of the physical might of the armies assembled by the corrupt worldly powers. In the beginning God made the worlds with nothing more than his words, and his words are sufficient today to defeat any and all enemies of the church and God's people. When Paul proclaimed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), he was saying much more than the fact that words are the mechanism by which the gospel is preached and people are saved. While that is true, there is much more power in these words than we might tend to believe. The shear simplicity and ease with which Jesus dispenses of his enemies make it clear that the word is more powerful than any forces of physical power that mankind can devise.]
Go to Revelation 20-22