REJOICING AND CELEBRATION IN HEAVEN BECAUSE THE END IS NEAR (Rev 19:1-10)

Chapter 19 begins with a great celebration taking place in heaven.  A great multitude was seen celebrating several things including the fact that:

• God’s judgments on earth had been just and deserved.
• God had repaid the great prostitute for her sinful behavior and her treatment of God’s servants.
• God almighty reigned.
• It was finally time for the wedding of the Lamb and his bride was dressed in fine linen and ready for the wedding.

We also see several other proclamations being made:

• The twenty four elders cried “Amen” to the words of the great multitude meaning that they were in agreement (this confirms again that the twenty four elders were not the great multitude, the huge mass of redeemed believers). 
• A voice from the throne asks the great multitude to praise God.
• An angel tells John to write “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.”

Next John falls down to worship the angel who had been giving John all of the visions of the future.  The angel refused to accept worship, as angels always do, and instead tells John to worship God because all of the prophecies that he had been giving to John had come from Jesus.  In fact, Jesus is the author of all prophecy; he is the Word.

THE SECOND COMING OF THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev 19:11-16)
Next John sees Jesus mounted on a white horse preparing for his return to earth.  John gives several descriptions of Jesus as he prepares for his journey back to earth.  He is the one who:

• Is Faithful and True.  See John 14:6.
• Judges justly and makes war.  See Isa 11:4.
• Has eyes like blazing fire and many crowns on his horn.  See Rev 1:14.
• Has a name written on him that nobody but him knows.  See Rev 19:12, 16. 
• Is dressed in a robe dipped in blood.  See Isa 63:1-2; when Jesus returns his robe is stained red.
• His name is the Word of God.  See John 1:1-2.
• Had the armies of heaven following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  (This is obviously the bride).  See Rev 19:8.
• Had a sharp sword coming out of his mouth with which he would strike down the nations.  The sword is the Word and the words of Jesus.  Jesus simply speaks and it happens.  See Isa 11:4, 2 Thess 2:8.
• He will rule them with an iron scepter.  A accepter was a ruler’s staff and symbolized his absolute authority and power.
• Treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God.  Just as a winepress crushed the grapes being made into juice and wine, so will Jesus crush his adversaries, so completely that they cease to exist.  See Rev 14:17-20, Joel 3:12-14.
• Had the following name written on his robe and thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”  This may be the new name mentioned in Rev 3:12 and Isa 62:2, 12. 

ARMAGEDDON AND THE GREAT SUPPER OF GOD (Rev 19:17-19)

We next see a very short and graphic description of the final battle of the great tribulation, short because it does not last very long, only as long as it takes Jesus to speak it.  The defeat of the armies of the antichrist and those who follow him is called the “great supper of God” because Jesus makes a meal out of them for the birds of the air.  We read that they were consumed by birds.  Birds often represent sin in the Bible, so we can see that the followers of the antichrist were consumed by their own sins, the principal of which was the rejection of Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.  See Rev 16:13-16 for other details about this battle called Armageddon.  The army that is coming with Jesus is described in verse 14. 

THE ANTICHRIST AND FALSE PROPHET ARE THE FIRST EVER TO BE SENT TO HELL (Rev 19:20-21)

We are told that Jesus captures the antichrist and false prophet and sends them to the lake of burning sulfur, or hell.  This is the first reference in the Bible to anyone being sent to hell.  Before this time all unbelievers are sent to Hades, a temporary holding jail where they await their final judgment after the millennium.  That judgment is called the Great White Throne Judgment.  We are also told that hell was originally prepared for evil angels.  As we said previously, it appears that the antichrist and false prophet may be Nephilim, who are part angel, part human.  These two are in hell, apparently by themselves, for about 1000 years until the final judgment of evil angels and unbelievers takes place.  The fact that the antichrist or beast is thrown into the lake of fire is also prophesied in Dan 7:11-12 where Daniel says “I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.”  The fact that the beast is referred to as “it” may be telling.   Also, the fact that the antichrist and false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire (hell) over 1000 years before any human is sent there may be another indication that they are not human.  Again, if they are human they would be the only humans to be sent to hell without having to stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment.  Dan 7:12 says that the other kings of the earth were allowed to live for a period of time.  This would have been a very short period, lasting only until the sheep-goat judgment a few days or weeks later.  See sheep-goat judgment in the dictionary of symbology.