So, the great religious system, spiritual fornication is that endeavor to worship God in an unprescribed way. All these things have their place in Babylon the great. 1. That is the way in which H. B. Swete takes it. Clearly, therefore, it is future. (This takes you to our other website) Nobody can dispute that this remarkable cluster of kingdoms in Europe was the fruit providentially of the destroyed unity of the Roman empire when the barbarians invaded it. 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. And here is John falling on his knees before the angel that is giving him all of this revelation and he is so overawed and thrilled with what is in store for him he falls at his feet to worship him. He guards his people, allowing the wicked to exercise their power only within the limits that he has set according to his eternal plan. Marriage of the Lamb: Hebrew weddings consisted of 3 phrases: (1) church (Acts 2:1ff). Our most difficult task here is to discover the picture behind the statement that the warrior Christ has the name King of kings and Lord of lords written on his robe and on his thigh. In the tabernacle in * Let us be glad and exult, and give the glory to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." The redeemed in heaven are called God's "Bond Servants", and this is the group Each page of scripture is from the King James Bible, and is immediately followed by . And it was so. Verse 3. If you preach on prophecy, you are bringing the testimony of Jesus. In the first eight verses of Revelation 21:1-27 we have the new heaven and the new earth, but besides, awful to say, the lake of fire. There stands the solemn brand graven, not on the blasphemous beast, but on the forehead of its rider, "Mystery, Babylon the great." Only God is The army which he commands (Revelation 19:14; Revelation 19:14), a very large one, made up of many armies; angels and saints followed his conduct, and resembled him in their equipage, and in their armour of purity and righteousness--chosen, and called, and faithful. Then come others in the condition of separate spirits or souls, whom the prophet saw two different classes of them those beheaded for the witness of Jesus and the word of God, and those who refused the beast in every form, The proof of the third class should have been given a little more distinctly than in our version. It is of the seven in that point of view, because it is imperialism; but it is an eighth, because it has a diabolical source when raised up again. He wrote several tracts and was instrumental in leading several Muslims from their religion to a real relationship with God in Jesus Christ. Verse 9. (ii) There is intimate communion, so intimate that man and wife become one flesh. "The tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. the end of the Great Tribulation, just before the kingdom is established is a myth. When God is so gracious, His word rich, full, and deep, it does seem sad to see His children content with just enough to save their souls, or keep them from positive starvation. 3:12-15: 2 Cor. God alone is perfect in judgment for three reasons. But far from that he has, on the contrary, persevered in the same evil course, as badly or worse than his father. There is no scriptural reason to infer that any saint dies during the thousand years, but rather the contrary. What about little babies?" He is thrown into the abyss (see 9:1; 11:7; 17:8) where he is imprisoned for a long period, symbolized by a thousand years, so that he is no longer able to tempt the human race to rebel against God. We must perforce therefore look for a still more complete development before the Lamb judges the beast after the ten horns along with it shall have destroyed Babylon. The name was in fact so holy that it was never pronounced. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? I do know that whatever He does will be absolutely fair. The church was betrothed to Christ by His sovereign choice in eternity past Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword Revelation 1:16; Revelation 1:16. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come: and let him that heareth say, Come: and let him that is athirst come: let him that will take the water of life freely." He comes to execute vengeance, and with a sign of death for rebels. It is not a syllogism that is wanted or that can satisfy here: only require, only believe, the word of God. There are always those who are ready to challenge the fairness of it. Gods victory over a rebellious humanity and its satanic leaders is now pictured in a terrifying war (cf. The description of the warrior Christ is further filled in. We read of the marriage feast ( Matthew 22:2); of the bridechamber and the wedding garment ( Matthew 22:10-11); of the sons of the bridechamber ( Mark 2:19); of the bridegroom ( Mark 2:19; Matthew 25:1); of the friends of the bridegroom ( John 3:29). But a voice issues from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 19:12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many royal crowns, and he has a name written which no one knows except himself. It is well to remember that the whole background of this picture lies in Jewish expectations of the future and has little to do with the Christ of the Gospels who was meek and lowly in heart. "And hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand": And by these judicial in the Bible, "her" does not mean just women, it is the bride. These are those saved before Pentecost, Pilate said, "I find no fault in Him. We'll study the Book of Revelation, explained in detail, and learn about every aspect of the Book of Revelation including the apocalypse, four horsemen, great tribulation, great white throne judgement, mark of the beast and so much more! John was forbidding angel worship; and that was a very necessary prohibition, for in the early church there was a well-nigh inevitable tendency to worship angels, a tendency which has never wholly disappeared. His equipage: he is again described as sitting on a white horse, to show the equity of the cause, and certainty of success. The multitude in heaven praises God for judging the great whore (Babylon, the In short, it is not tropical language, as when it is said of the prodigal son "This my son was dead, and is alive again;" or of the restoration of Israel, which is compared to a resurrection from the dead for the rest of the world. The bride breathes out this word to the bridegroom; and the Holy Ghost it is that gives strength to her desire that He should come. "The Spirit of prophecy" and such it is all through the Revelation after the seven churches are done with "is the testimony of Jesus." The series of Psalms from Psalms 113:1-9; Psalms 114:1-8; Psalms 115:1-18; Psalms 116:1-19; Psalms 117:1-2; Psalms 118:1-29 were called the Hallel (compare H1984) , the Praise God, and were part of the essential education of every Jewish lad. The word of God, or the judiciary sentence of Christ according to it, and which he will fully execute, to the utter destruction of all his enemies; :- that with it he should smite the nations; the Gentiles, the Papists, the antichristian states, those that have adhered to Babylon, and have drunk of the wine of her fornication. The final verse in this chapter introduces a new thought. That is, Satan will be the spring of its final rise and power; he, and not God in any way whatever, will give it its character. Their doom was awful, but by no means after the same sort as their two leaders. For true and righteous are his judgments ( Revelation 19:2 ): All the way through we have had this affirmation that the judgments of God are true and righteous. Revelation 19 In this chapter we have, I. Revelation 19:8 "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine Just as I said, these robes have been made white by the blood of the Lamb. "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. And if you are wise and involved in any kind of ministry at all when attention and adulation and these kinds of things come your way, you will be wise as the angel and say, "Don't worship me. Why is the word "Lamb" used here to speak of Jesus? 16:16. Here we have described to us the visions of The Conquering Christ (19:11-16), the judgments of the beast and of the false prophet and of Satan (19:17-20:10), the judgment of the wicked (20:11-15), the visions of the New heaven, the New earth and the New Jerusalem (20:16-22;5). As noted in the commentary on Rom. In that it "continues" to come forth, indicates this is not literal, but symbolic. Since then the world has not seen the imperial power to which all bow. Raphael tells Tobit that he is the angel who brought his prayer before God ( Tob_13:12-15 ). What is the "righteousness of the saints" that they are clothed with? "The ten horns which thou sawest AND the beast" would give unquestionably the right form of the verse. The living creatures are, from Revelation 5:1-14 coupled with the elders, as we find them in the beginning of Revelation 19:1-21. . The "saved" is a term which, so far from belonging to the nations, is expressly applied to the Jewish remnant when it is a technical term. But when Christ and the church peacefully reign, such is the imagery that suits "a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 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. This is saying that this judgment is permanent and is like the language that God If there was any Gentile power since John's day, which did not sustain but persecute and suppress Jerusalem, it was Rome, instead of being a gaudy harlot mounted on that vast empire. There are many who are not so; but the Lord does not forget them. THE TE DEUM OF THE REDEEMED ( Revelation 19:6-8 ). We shall find that the scripture affords much light to decide the true bearing of the prophecy, and that no application to the past can possibly satisfy the conditions satisfactorily. According to the general scope of scripture, then, we may be quite sure that these saints, kept during this universal dissolution of the atmospheric heaven and the earth, will be translated to "the new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness," in a condition new and meet for the eternal state into which they are ushered. 227-28.] This also is a no less important element for understanding the chapter. "Let him that heareth," then, "say, Come." It is suggested that it is on the skirt of his general's cloak, for that is where it would be easiest to read on a horseman. Accordingly these are the two main objects of judgment brought before us in the chapter. 10:13; Jude 9). Various suggestions have been made. For who knows not the horrors of Mariolatry? Even the worst of governments is better than none. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses ( Revelation 19:14 ). "Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth--of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls. And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk at the sacrificial feast which I am preparing for you" ( Ezekiel 39:17-19). Then we look at "reigneth". earth for the celebration of the final meal (during the Millennium). The Jewish marriage consisted of three major elements: (3) The marriage feast (supper), as was discussed just before. They received their power as kings when the beast ceased to exist. (iv) It may be that here is a lingering relic of the old idea that to know the name of a divine being was to have a certain power over him.