Revelation 19

Re 19:1-21.

THE

CHURCH'S

THANKSGIVING IN

HEAVEN FOR THE

JUDGMENT ON THE

HARLOT.

THE

MARRIAGE OF THE

LAMB:

THE

SUPPER:

THE

BRIDE'S

PREPARATION:

JOHN

IS

FORBIDDEN TO

WORSHIP THE

ANGEL:

THE

LORD AND

HIS

HOSTS

COME

FORTH FOR

WAR:

THE

BEAST AND THE

FALSE

PROPHET

CAST INTO THE

LAKE OF

FIRE:

THE

KINGS AND

THEIR

FOLLOWERS

SLAIN BY THE

SWORD

OUT OF

CHRIST'S

MOUTH.

1. As in the case of the opening of the prophecy,

Re 4:8; 5:9,

&c.; so now, at one of the great closing events seen in vision, the

judgment on the harlot (described in

Re 18:1-24),

there is a song of praise in heaven to God: compare

Re 7:10,

&c., toward the close of the seals, and

Re 11:15-18,

at the close of the trumpets:

Re 15:3,

at the saints' victory over the beast.

And--so ANDREAS. But A, B, C, Vulgate,

Syriac, and Coptic omit.

a great voice--A, B, C, Vulgate, Coptic, and

ANDREAS read, "as it were a great voice."

What a contrast to the lamentations

Re 18:1-24!

Compare

Jer 51:48.

The great manifestation of God's power in destroying Babylon

calls forth a great voice of praise in heaven.

people--Greek, "multitude."

Alleluia--Hebrew, "Praise ye JAH,"

or JEHOVAH: here first used in Revelation, whence

ELLICOTT infers the Jews bear a prominent

part in this thanksgiving. JAH is not a

contraction of "JEHOVAH," as it sometimes occurs

jointly with the latter. It means "He who Is": whereas Jehovah is "He

who will be, is, and was." It implies God experienced as a

PRESENT help; so that "Hallelujah," says

KIMCHI in BENGEL, is found

first in the Psalms on the destruction of the ungodly.

"Hallelu-Jah" occurs four times in this passage. Compare

Ps 149:4-9,

which is plainly parallel, and indeed identical in many of the phrases,

as well as the general idea. Israel, especially, will join in the

Hallelujah, when "her warfare is accomplished" and her foe destroyed.

Salvation, &c.--Greek, "The salvation

. . . the glory . . . the power."

and honour--so Coptic. But A, B, C, and Syriac

omit.

unto the Lord our God--so ANDREAS. But A,

B, C, and Coptic read, "(Is) of our God," that is, belongs to

Him.

2. which did corrupt the earth--Greek, "used to

corrupt" continually. "Instead of opposing and lessening, she promoted

the sinful life and decay of the world by her own earthliness, allowing

the salt to lose its savor" [AUBERLEN].

avenged--Greek, "exacted in retribution." A particular

application of the principle

(Ge 9:5).

blood of his servants--literally shed by the Old Testament

adulterous Church, and by the New Testament apostate Church; also

virtually, though not literally, by all who, though called Christians,

hate their brother, or love not the brethren of Christ, but shrink from

the reproach of the cross, and show unkindness towards those who bear

it.

3. again--Greek, "a second time."

rose up--Greek, "goeth up."

for ever and ever--Greek, "to the ages of the ages."

4. beasts--rather, "living creatures."

sat--Greek, "sitteth."

5. out of--Greek, "out from the throne" in A, B, C.

Praise our God--Compare the solemn act of praise performed by

the Levites,

1Ch 16:36; 23:5,

especially when the house of God was filled with the divine glory

(2Ch 5:13).

both--omitted in A, B, C, Vulgate, Coptic, and

Syriac. Translate as Greek, "the small and

the great."

6. many waters--Contrast the "many waters" on which the whore

sitteth

(Re 17:1).

This verse is the hearty response to the stirring call, "Alleluia!

Praise our God"

(Re 19:4, 5).

the Lord God omnipotent--Greek, "the Omnipotent."

reigneth--literally, "reigned": hence reigneth once for

all. His reign is a fact already established. Babylon, the harlot,

was one great hindrance to His reign being recognized. Her overthrow

now clears the way for His advent to reign; therefore, not merely Rome,

but the whole of Christendom in so far as it is carnal and compromised

Christ for the world, is comprehended in the term "harlot." The beast

hardly arises when he at once "goeth into perdition": so that Christ is

prophetically considered as already reigning, so soon does His advent

follow the judgment on the harlot.

7. glad . . . rejoice--Greek, "rejoice

. . . exult."

give--so B and ANDREAS. But A reads, "we

will give."

glory--Greek, "the glory."

the marriage of the Lamb is come--The full and

final consummation is at

Re 21:2-9,

&c. Previously there must be the overthrow of the beast, &c., at the

Lord's coming, the binding of Satan, the millennial reign, the loosing

of Satan and his last overthrow, and the general judgment. The

elect-Church, the heavenly Bride, soon after the destruction of the

harlot, is transfigured at the Lord's coming, and joins with Him in His

triumph over the beast. On the emblem of the heavenly Bridegroom and

Bride, compare

Mt 22:2; 25:6, 10;

2Co 11:2.

Perfect union with Him personally, and participation in His holiness;

joy, glory, and kingdom, are included in this symbol of "marriage";

compare Song of Solomon everywhere. Besides the heavenly Bride,

the transfigured, translated, and risen Church, reigning over

the earth with Christ, there is also the earthly bride, Israel,

in the flesh, never yet divorced, though for a time separated,

from her divine husband, who shall then be reunited to the Lord, and be

the mother Church of the millennial earth, Christianized through her.

Note, we ought, as Scripture does, restrict the language drawn from

marriage-love to the Bride, the Church as a whole; not

use it as individuals in our relation to Christ, which Rome does in the

case of her nuns. Individually, believers are effectually-called

guests; collectively, they constitute the bride. The harlot

divides her affections among many lovers: the bride gives hers

exclusively to Christ.

8. granted--Though in one sense she "made herself ready,"

having by the Spirit's work in her put on "the wedding garment," yet in

the fullest sense it is not she, but her Lord, who makes her ready by

"granting to her that she be arrayed in fine linen." It is He

who, by giving Himself for her, presents her to Himself a

glorious Church, not having spot, but holy and without blemish. It

is He also who sanctifies her, naturally vile and without beauty,

with the washing of water by the word, and puts His own comeliness

on her, which thus becomes hers.

clean and white--so ANDREAS. But A and B

transpose. Translate, "bright and pure"; at once brilliantly

splendid and spotless as in the bride herself.

righteousness--Greek, "righteousnesses"; distributively

used. Each saint must have this righteousness: not merely be

justified, as if the righteousness belonged to the Church in the

aggregate; the saints together have righteousnesses; namely,

He is accounted as "the Lord our righteousness" to each saint on

his believing, their robes being made white in the blood of the

Lamb. The righteousness of the saint is not, as

ALFORD erroneously states, inherent, but is

imputed: if it were otherwise, Christ would be merely enabling

the sinner to justify himself.

Ro 5:18

is decisive on this. Compare Article XI, Church of England. The

justification already given to the saints in title and unseen

possession, is now GIVEN them in manifestation:

they openly walk with Christ in white. To this, rather than

to their primary justification on earth, the reference is here. Their

justification before the apostate world, which had persecuted them,

contrasts with the judgment and condemnation of the harlot. "Now that

the harlot has fallen, the woman triumphs" [AUBERLEN]. Contrast with the pure fine linen

(indicating the simplicity and purity) of the bride, the tawdry

ornamentation of the harlot. Babylon, the apostate Church, is the

antithesis to new Jerusalem, the transfigured Church of God. The woman

(Re 12:1-6),

the harlot

(Re 17:1-7),

the bride

(Re 19:1-10),

are the three leading aspects of the Church.

9. He--God by His angel saith unto me.

called--effectually, not merely externally. The "unto," or

into," seems to express this: not merely invited to

(Greek, "epi"), but called INTO, so

as to be partakers of (Greek, "eis"); compare

1Co 1:9.

marriage supper--Greek, "the supper of the marriage."

Typified by the Lord's Supper.

true--Greek, "genuine"; veritable sayings which shall

surely be fulfilled, namely, all the previous revelations.

10. at--Greek, "before." John's intending to worship the

angel here, as in

Re 22:8,

on having revealed to him the glory of the new Jerusalem, is the

involuntary impulse of adoring joy at so blessed a prospect. It forms a

marked contrast to the sorrowful wonder with which he had looked

on the Church in her apostasy as the harlot

(Re 17:6).

It exemplifies the corrupt tendencies of our fallen nature that even

John, an apostle, should have all but fallen into "voluntary humility

and worshipping of angels," which Paul warns us against.

and of thy brethren--that is, a fellow servant of thy

brethren.

have the testimony of Jesus--(See on

Re 12:17).

the testimony of--that is, respecting Jesus.

is the spirit of prophecy--is the result of the same spirit of

prophecy in you as in myself. We angels, and you apostles, all alike

have the testimony of (bear testimony concerning) Jesus by the

operation of one and the same Spirit, who enables me to show you these

revelations and enables you to record them: wherefore we are fellow

servants, not I your lord to be worshipped by you. Compare

Re 22:9,

"I am fellow servant of thee and of thy brethren the prophets";

whence the "FOR the testimony," &c., here, may be

explained as giving the reason for his adding "and (fellow servant) of

thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus." I mean, of the

prophets; "for it is of Jesus that thy brethren, the

prophets, testify by the Spirit in them." A clear condemnation of

Romish invocation of saints as if they were our superiors to be

adored.

11. behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him--identical

with

Re 6:2.

Here as there he comes forth "conquering and to conquer." Compare the

ass-colt on which He rode into Jerusalem

(Mt 21:1-7).

The horse was used for war: and here He is going forth to war

with the beast. The ass is for peace. His riding on it into

Jerusalem is an earnest of His reign in Jerusalem over the earth, as

the Prince of peace, after all hostile powers have been

overthrown. When the security of the world power, and the distress of

the people of God, have reached the highest point, the Lord Jesus shall

appear visibly from heaven to put an end to the whole course of the

world, and establish His kingdom of glory. He comes to judge with

vengeance the world power, and to bring to the Church redemption,

transfiguration, and power over the world. Distinguish between this

coming

(Mt 24:27, 29, 37, 39;

Greek, "parousia") and the end, or final judgment

(Mt 25:31;

1Co 15:23).

Powerful natural phenomena shall accompany His advent

[AUBERLEN].

12. Identifying Him with the Son of man similarly described,

Re 1:14.

many crowns--Greek, "diadems": not merely (Greek,

"stephanoi") garlands of victory, but royal crowns, as

KING OF KINGS. Christ's diadem comprises all the

diadems of the earth and of heavenly powers too. Contrast the papal

tiara composed of three diadems. Compare also the little horn

(Antichrist) that overcomes the three horns or kingdoms,

Da 7:8, 24

(Quære, the Papacy? or some three kingdoms that

succeed the papacy, which itself, as a temporal kingdom, was made up at

first of three kingdoms, the exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom

of the Lombards, and the state of Rome, obtained by Pope Zachary and

Stephen II from Pepin, the usurper of the French dominion). Also, the

seven crowns (diadems) on the seven heads of the dragon

(Re 12:3),

and ten diadems on the ten heads of the beast. These usurpers

claim the diadems which belong to Christ alone.

he had a name written--B and Syriac insert, "He had

names written, and a name written," &c., meaning that the

names of the dominion which each diadem indicated were

written on them severally. But A, Vulgate,

ORIGEN, and CYPRIAN omits the

words, as English Version.

name . . . that no man knew but . . .

himself--

(Jud 13:18;

1Co 2:9, 11;

1Jo 3:2).

The same is said of the "new name" of believers. In this, as in all

other respects, the disciple is made like his Lord. The Lord's own "new

name" is to be theirs, and to be "in their foreheads"; whence we may

infer that His as yet unknown name also is written on His

forehead; as the high priest had "Holiness to the Lord" inscribed on

the miter on his brow. John saw it as "written," but knew not

its meaning. It is, therefore, a name which in all its glorious

significancy can be only understood when the union of His saints with

Him, and His and their joint triumph and reign, shall be perfectly

manifested at the final consummation.

13. vesture dipped in blood--

Isa 63:2

is alluded to here, and in

Re 19:15,

end. There the blood is not His own, but that of His foes. So

here the blood on His "vesture," reminding us of His own blood

shed for even the ungodly who trample on it, is a premonition of the

shedding of their blood in righteous retribution. He sheds the

blood, not of the godly, as the harlot and beast did, but of the

blood-stained ungodly, including them both.

The Word of God--who made the world, is He also who under the

same character and attributes shall make it anew. His title, Son of

God, is applicable in a lower sense, also to His people; but "the

Word of God" indicates His incommunicable Godhead, joined to His

manhood, which He shall then manifest in glory. "The Bride does not

fear the Bridegroom; her love casteth out fear. She welcomes Him; she

cannot be happy but at His side. The Lamb

[Re 19:9,

the aspect of Christ to His people at His coming] is the symbol of

Christ in His gentleness. Who would be afraid of a lamb? Even a little

child, instead of being scared, desires to caress it. There is nothing

to make us afraid of God but sin, and Jesus is the Lamb of God that

taketh away the sin of the world. What a fearful contrast is the

aspect which He will wear towards His enemies! Not as the Bridegroom

and the Lamb, but as the [avenging] judge and warrior stained in the

blood of His enemies."

14. the armies . . . in heaven--Compare "the horse

bridles,"

Re 14:20.

The glorified saints whom God "will bring with" Christ at His advent;

compare

Re 17:14,

"they that are with Him, called, chosen, faithful"; as also "His mighty

angels."

white and clean--Greek, "pure." A, B, Vulgate,

Syriac, and CYPRIAN omit "and," which

ORIGEN and ANDREAS retain, as

English Version.

15. out of his mouth . . . sword--

(Re 1:16; 2:12, 16).

Here in its avenging power,

2Th 2:8,

"consume with the Spirit of His mouth"

(Isa 11:4,

to which there is allusion here); not in its convicting and converting

efficacy

(Eph 6:17;

Heb 4:12, 13,

where also the judicial keenness of the sword-like word is included).

The Father commits the judgment to the Son.

he shall rule--The HE is emphatic, He and none other, in

contrast to the usurpers who have misruled on earth. "Rule," literally,

"tend as a shepherd"; but here in a punitive sense. He, who would have

shepherded them with pastoral rod and with the golden scepter of

His love, shall dash them in pieces, as refractory rebels, with "a rod

of iron."

treadeth . . . wine-press--

(Isa 63:3).

of the fierceness and wrath--So ANDREAS

reads. But A, B, Vulgate, Coptic, and

ORIGEN read, "of the fierceness (or boiling

indignation) of the wrath," omitting "and."

Almighty--The fierceness of Christ's wrath against His foes will

be executed with the resources of omnipotence.

16. "His name written on His vesture and on His thigh," was

written partly on the vesture, partly on the thigh itself, at the part

where in an equestrian figure the robe drops from the thigh. The

thigh symbolizes Christ's humanity as having come, after the

flesh, from the loins of David, and now appearing as the

glorified "Son of man." On the other hand, His incommunicable divine

name, "which no man knew," is on His head

(Re 19:12),

[MENOCHIUS].

KING OF KINGS--Compare

Re 17:14,

in contrast with

Re 19:17,

the beast being in attempted usurpation a king of kings, the ten

kings delivering their kingdom to him.

17. an--Greek, "one."

in the sun--so as to be conspicuous in sight of the whole world.

to all the fowls--

(Eze 39:17-20).

and gather yourselves--A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and

ANDREAS read, "be gathered," omitting "and."

of the great God--A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and

ANDREAS read, "the great supper (that is, banquet)

of God."

18. Contrast with this "supper,"

Re 19:17, 18,

the marriage supper of the Lamb,

Re 19:9.

captains--Greek, "captains of thousands," that is,

chief captains. The "kings" are "the ten" who "give their power

unto the beast."

free and bond--specified in

Re 13:16,

as "receiving the mark of the beast." The repetition of flesh

(in the Greek it is plural: masses of flesh) five times

in this verse, marks the gross carnality of the followers of the

beast. Again, the giving of their flesh to the fowls to eat, is a

righteous retribution for their not suffering the dead bodies of

Christ's witnesses to be put in graves.

19. gathered together--at Armageddon, under the sixth vial. For

"their armies" in B and ANDREAS, there is

found "His armies" in A.

war--so ANDREAS. But A and B read,

"the war," namely, that foretold,

Re 16:14; 17:4.

20. and with him the false prophet--A reads, "and those with

him." B reads, "and he who was with him, the false prophet."

miracles--Greek, "the miracles" (literally,

"signs") recorded already

(Re 13:14)

as wrought by the second beast before (literally, 'in sight of')

the first beast. Hence it follows the second beast is

identical with the false prophet. Many expositors represent the

first beast to be the secular, the second beast to be the

ecclesiastical power of Rome; and account for the change of title for

the latter from the "other beast" to the "false prophet," is because by

the judgment on the harlot, the ecclesiastical power will then retain

nothing of its former character save the power to deceive. I think it

not unlikely that the false prophet will be the successor of the

spiritual pretensions of the papacy; while the beast in its last form

as the fully revealed Antichrist will be the secular representative and

embodiment of the fourth world kingdom, Rome, in its last form of

intensified opposition to God. Compare with this prophecy,

Eze 38:1-39:29;

Da 2:34, 35, 44; 11:44, 45; 12:1;

Joe 3:9-17;

Zec 12:1-14:21.

Daniel

(Da 7:8)

makes no mention of the second beast, or false prophet, but mentions

that "the little horn" has "the eyes of a man," that is, cunning and

intellectual culture; this is not a feature of the first beast in the

thirteenth chapter, but is expressed by the Apocalyptic "false

prophet," the embodiment of man's unsanctified knowledge, and the

subtlety of the old serpent. The first beast is a political power; the

second is a spiritual power--the power of ideas. But both are

beasts, the worldly Antichristian wisdom serving the worldly

Antichristian power. The dragon is both lion and serpent. As the first

law in God's moral government is that "judgment should begin at the

house of God," and be executed on the harlot, the faithless Church, by

the world power with which she had committed spiritual adultery, so it

is a second law that the world power, after having served as God's

instrument of punishment, is itself punished. As the harlot is judged

Himself coming in person. So

Zep 1:1-18

compared with

Zep 2:1-15.

And Jeremiah, after denouncing Jerusalem's judgment by Babylon, ends

with denouncing Babylon's own doom. Between the judgment on the harlot

and the Lord's destruction of the beast, will intervene that season in

which earthly-mindedness will reach its culmination, and

Antichristianity triumph for its short three and a half days during

which the two witnesses lie dead. Then shall the Church be ripe for her

glorification, the Antichristian world for destruction. The world at

the highest development of its material and spiritual power is but a

decorated carcass round which the eagles gather. It is characteristic

that Antichrist and his kings, in their blindness, imagine that they

can wage war against the King of heaven with earthly hosts; herein is

shown the extreme folly of Babylonian confusion. The Lord's mere

appearance, without any actual encounter, shows Antichrist his

nothingness; compare the effect of Jesus' appearance even in His

humiliation,

Joh 18:6

[AUBERLEN].

had received--rather as Greek, "received," once for

all.

them; that worshipped--literally, "them worshipping" not an act

once for all done, as the "received" implies, but those

in the habit of "worshipping."

These both were cast . . . into a lake--Greek,

". . . the lake of fire," Gehenna. Satan is subsequently cast

into it, at the close of the outbreak which succeeds the millennium

(Re 20:10).

Then Death and Hell, as well those not found at the general judgment

"written in the book of life"; this constitutes "the second death."

alive--a living death; not mere annihilation. "Their worm dieth

not, their fire is not quenched."

21. the remnant--Greek, "the rest," that is, "the kings

and their armies"

(Re 19:19)

classed together in one indiscriminate mass. A solemn confirmation of

the warning in

Ps 2:10.