It is certain that we ought to read (not "upon" but) "and* the beast." The glory of the kingdom does not preserve when men in their natural state are exposed to the adversary. Isaiah sixty-three says, "Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? The elders do show us the heavenly heads of priesthood (embracing, as I believe, the Old Testament saints and those of the New); i.e., they are not limited to the church, Christ's body. (i) It can mean the witness which the Christian bears to Jesus Christ. We see the Lord Jesus as righteous judge in chapter 1 and as the one who will soon be coming in the last chapter. come (verse 15; 2:27; 12:5). And it was so. and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. Revelation 6 Verse By Verse Bible Study Guide With Discussion Questions Revelation 6 Bible study guide with verse by verse teaching, applications, and discussion questions to supercharge your study of the Word. If you are a believer, do not be afraid, even if you know but little; for the Lord neither forgets nor slights those who may be comparatively unintelligent. On the other, it is the first of seven final things that John saw and recorded. The son is doubly guilty, because he saw his father's nakedness and felt it enough to hide. The weapons of this warfare are described in Ephesians 6:12. The people mentioned here are distinct from the other beings in heaven, 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 those that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God; the fierce wrath of God against sinners is compared to a winepress; and the wicked antichristian party are likened to clusters of grapes; who being ripe for destruction, are cast into it, and pressed, squeezed, and trodden down by the mighty power of Christ, the Word of God, whose vesture is therefore before said to be dipped in blood; the same metaphor is used in Revelation 14:19 the allusion seems to be to Isaiah 63:3. It is called "the first resurrection." And the coming of the Lord is urged in connection with it. She said, "You've had it. In my opinion it is not absolutely so. "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God ( Revelation 19:12-13 ). there is no sword proceeding out of our mouth; nor are the saints or heavenly hosts said to be arrayed in such a sort as the Lord. While the term bride often refers to the church, and does so here (2 Cor. She followed and had inherited the spirit of all, from the days of Cain, who had lifted up their hands against their righteous brethren. (John 5:24 compared with Romans 14:1-23 and 2 Corinthians 5:1-21.). The word is alethinos ( G228) and has two meanings. Ephesians 6:17; smite the nations . There is no doubt that Rome in some form is the woman described in the chapter: the seven heads or hills clearly point to that city, which of all cities might best and indeed alone be known as ruling over the kings of the earth. "The woman" is the more general symbol designating her as the great imperial city; "the harlot" is her corrupt religious character, embracing papal Rome, but not ending with Popery as it is. sounds like a massive crashing of waves. Here the vision was of thrones with sitters, and others caused to join them; and the inspired explanation is that it is the first resurrection the rising of the just from the dead. (iii) There is joy. So for the most part in the book of Revelation, there will be the angel speaking to John and revealing to him the things that were being revealed to him by Jesus Christ. Thus nothing can be simpler or more beautiful than the way in which this verse sums up the Revelation as a whole. The Spirit of God implies that it is decidedly not the righteousness here which is by another, and we thereby imputed righteous, but righteousnesses personal and actual. I am a servant of God just like you are. But, further, we find that the saints who had suffered for Christ, during the time that the others were in heaven, are now reunited to their bodies and live, the Lord waiting for the last martyr that He might not leave out one of those who had died for His name. But now heaven is opened for yet graver facts, and of incalculable moment for man and the universe and the enemy. That is, the tabernacle of God is regarded as a separate object, no doubt associated with men, but not confounded with them. Wheat and tares grow together till the process of judgment separates. 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse, and he who is mounted on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Godly people love righteousness and hate sin, for righteousness Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for true and just are his judgments. V. An invitation given to the fowls of heaven, that they should come and see the battle, and share in the spoil and pillage of the field (Revelation 19:17; Revelation 19:18), intimating that this great decisive engagement should leave the enemies of the church a feast for the birds of prey, and that all the world should have cause to rejoice in the issue of it. Thus the second beast is no longer seen as an earthly power, but as a prophet-of course a false prophet. * Idolatry is the awful stamp that she bears, and this too both in what she gives to man, and in what is written on her forehead before God. For remark, the beast or Roman empire is described here as that which once existed, which then ceased to exist, and which assumes a final shape when it reappears from the bottomless pit. The victory gained by the great and glorious head of the church: The beast and the false prophet, the leaders of the army, are taken prisoners, both he who led them by power and he who led them by policy and falsehood; these are taken and cast into the burning lake, made incapable of molesting the church of God any more; and their followers, whether officers or common soldiers, are given up to military execution, and made a feast for the fowls of heaven. ages, which becomes clear in the remainder of the book. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for night shall not be there. The fallen angels are not called, and the holy angels never need to be they are kept. The friendships of the evil are not lasting. Like a novel, the storyline builds from front to back, with the characters, themes and plot elements introduced early and developed across many chapters. On his head he has many crowns. Christ is the Bridegroom at the marriage and his Church is the 14:1-3; 1 Thess. linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.". News Links, Recommended Books, News Sites, and Bibles So, He is coming to bring an end of man's rebellion. It is the way to all, if it be not the actual entrance into and enjoyment of it. You worship God. . It is interesting to me how that God took such pains to protect the innocency of Jesus Christ at the crucifixion. The heavenly city, which is the full expression of blessedness on high, has no temple because it is all a temple. 16:16. It is partly because of this that many excellent men have endeavoured to apply the vision to Romanism; and I admit that there is found a measure of analogy. It is the judgment of the dead as such, who now rise and give account of their deeds. The thought of the relationship between God and his people as a marriage goes far back into the Old Testament. He is coming, and coming soon for us. My righteousness is not on such a tenuous thing as my faithfulness to devotions or works or whatever. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright the morning star. supper of the Lamb represents the millennial kingdom of Christ, which will take His secret name indicates his unique authority (11-12). "WHITE" is a symbol throughout the book of Revelation for PURITY and VICTORY. Once again John finds his model in the words of the Old Testament, for that is a quotation from Psalms 135:1; Psalms 135:20. Christ will strike down His enemies with a word that His long, tongue-shaped sword (Gr. What is it, seven hundred and fifty million degrees Fahrenheit or something like that? "Why are you red in your apparel, and your garments like the ones that have been treading in the wine vat?" And so the first two inhabitants of Gehenna will be the antichrist and his prophet and they will be the soul inhabitants, it would seem, for a thousand years. "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city." Let others speculate, if they will: I am persuaded that he who essays to conceive the details is merely striving to draw a bow beyond the power of man. bride doesnt get invited, she invites. The Sinai MS. has both. It is not therefore a question of virtual idols suitable to ensnare the children of God, but of that which is adapted to the earth itself, thorough-going palpable idolatry. Revelation 19:8 "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-10273872-1']); It is not a righteousness of works. What empire has existed, then sunk, and finally reappeared, with higher pretensions and power, only to perish horribly? All redeemed are told to praise God. From the manner in which resurrection is referred to in scripture, does not God leave room for this? (faithful to Jesus). "It used to be that they put the grapes in the vat and then they would crush them with their feet. It is hard to see how Roman city, or anything civil connected with it, could be called "mystery." When we come to the full application of the prophecy, we must look onward to the latter day. 2 Everything that he decides is right and fair. To a Jew a word was not merely a sound; it did things. "And the city has no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they should shine for it." 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. Victorious power put forth to subdue is the meaning of the white horse. They are joined by the twenty-four elders (Revelation 4). Who will join in acclamations of praise, and partly on account of their Second, he alone has that purity which can judge without prejudice. - Wallace. Here it would seem we have just what answers to that: this name none knew but He Himself. Besides the bride thus arrayed, "He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb." The visions of this prophetic book open, not with the rapture of saints to heaven, but the sight of saints already raptured, often before the seer in the visions, but seen always in a complete condition without addition to their number. This would not be fitting for the church nor the Christian. There is another remark to make. If they have only heard His voice, this after all is the incalculable boon; yea, it is the turning-point of all blessing. So, it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is imparted to me through my faith in Jesus Christ. 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. This tells us something about our approach to (ii) A Greek came into the Church from a world of thought which made angel worship a real danger. If so, they are there in the quality not of the bride, but of those invited to the marriage of the Lamb; but I do not think them the Apocalyptic saints for the simple reason that, as shown in the next chapter, the Apocalyptic saints are not raised from the dead yet. I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. "And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, Come, gather yourselves together unto the great supper of God; that ye may eat flesh of kings, and flesh of chiliarchs, and flesh of strong [men], and flesh of horses, and of those that sit on them, and flesh of all, both free and bond, both small and great." Literally "fierceness of the wrath". Angels we know from other scriptures will be there, but of this we hear nothing here. the church. In the Revelation two kinds of people are specially called the servants of God; the prophets ( Revelation 10:7; Revelation 11:18; Revelation 22:6), and the martyrs ( Revelation 7:3; Revelation 19:2). "Alive the two were cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone." And he shall rule them with a rod of iron - See the notes on Revelation 2:27; Revelation 12:5. Christ to earth. And this is entirely confirmed byRevelation 17:1-18; Revelation 17:1-18, where it was told us that they are with Him when He comes. "Having a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names inscribed, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel." Man on the earth has his portion in the goodness of a God who is manifesting His kingdom. On the one hand, the return of Jesus Christ to the earth is the climax of all that has gone before in Revelation. He hath bound his loins and gone forth to war against those who hate him; kings and princes shall be slain; he will make red the rivers with the blood of the slainhis garments will be dipped in blood.". And her smoke rose up for ever There was never a time in history in which such forces were drawn up against the Church as when the Revelation was written. And I have to apologize sometimes for my judgments. If alive before the thousand years, he will live after the thousand years; in fact, literally he will never die, though I do not doubt, on general principles, that the saints of the millennial earth will be changed at the very time when the heavens and earth disappear. Though they are not the bride, they still are glorified and When Christ at God's right hand was announced, even from the very beginning, He was ready to judge the quick and the dead. He has saved us! To us, as His soldiers, Christ says "As My Father has sent Me so send I you." When the apostle Paul wrote to the, saints at Rome, he particularly specified at that very time the duty of absolute subjection on the part of Christians to the powers which then were. "For the glory of God enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof." So we are obliged to translate the single word, e.g. Again John finds his picture in the prophetic words of the Old Testament, where it is said of the chosen king of God: "With righteousness he shall judge the poor" ( Isaiah 11:4). After so many sorrows, trials, difficulties, dangers, how sweet to have such a word, and to know that He who speaks is the holy and the true, and surely about to come in the faithfulness of His love! And when God does judge, it is not merely for the evil of those then judged, but of all from the first budding of it till that day. Thus (without speaking of the resurrection of the wicked at the close) there were certainly more acts than one, not to speak of the two witnesses put to death and caused to rise after three days and a half, when the spirit of life entered them, and they not only arose, but went up to heaven, as we know. It is impossible to refer it to the past with any show even of reasonable probability, I will not say of reality or truth. These things were Christs return, Satans capture, Satans binding, the Millennium, Satans final end, the last judgment, and the new heavens and earth, including the New Jerusalem. There is the basis for my righteousness. Hence He must have come back previously to both. At the same time the attempt to apply Babylon to ancient Rome is almost as unhappy; and for a plain reason. 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 and wrath of Almighty God. Indeed it must be so, because, as we read in the end of the last chapter, there the lost were cast. I believe that religion is man's endeavor to reach God. The marriage feast will take place on earth following Christ's return with the Accordingly the resuscitated Roman empire will carry men away by a storm of wonder at its revival.
