"I saw the heaven opened," says John; "and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteous he doth judge and make war. And his eyes are as a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems. . . . And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Rev. 19:11-16.)

      This is the Great Event, the climax of all prophecy. To this goal not only all the book of Revelation but the whole Book of God looks forward. And in this lies all the final issue and the consummation of God's plans and covenants. Here merge the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah's royal glory with the New Testament vision of Christ's glorious appearing to judge and to reign. All through the centuries thus far there was never a time when it was not true that

But here we see Him arise to exercise His royal right and authority. Because He is the Son of man, His is the authority to execute judgment. (John 5:27.) So he comes to break in pieces the oppressor, to set the captive free, to destroy the wicked, and to deliver the earth from the tyranny of Satan's misgovernment.

      Upon His head are many diadems. He comes to add yet one, the crown of all the earth, His by ancient heritage, bought and overpaid with His precious blood.

      But though this is the Man Christ Jesus, He is infinitely more. He has a Name too wonderful for creature-mind to know and comprehend--a "name written which no one knoweth but he himself." "No one knoweth the Son save the Father." (Matt. 11:27.)

      "And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood." It has been taken that this is His atoning blood, sprinkled upon His priestly garments. But rather (for He is not on a mission of atonement now, but of Judgment), this is the blood of the winepress of the wrath of God the Almighty--here seen symbolically upon His robes, in token of His dreadful but most necessary work of vengeance and retribution. (See Rev. 14:17-20 with Isa. 63:1-6.)

      With Him are armies--"the armies which are in heaven." "Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones to [59] execute judgment upon all," prophesied Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who in times before the Flood rejoiced to see this Day (Jude 14). But who are these "holy ones" (i. e., saints) and who are these armies of heaven that follow in His train "upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure"? The answer is indicated to us a few verses above (19:1-9). In heaven the saints, previously taken up, have been joined to their Lord in eternal wedlock. "The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready"--the event long before celebrated in the prophetic 45th Psalm. "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." It is in this "fine linen, white and pure," that we see the armies of heaven arrayed, who follow Him as he comes forth. These "armies" are not angels; they are His saints, composing His Bride, "the Lamb's wife." Henceforth He and she are inseparable. ("So shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17). Whithersoever He goes, follows His Bride. Whatever He is, she shares with Him. If He judges, she is associated with Him in judgment. (1 Cor. 6:1-3; Rev. 2:27.) If He sits down in His throne as King, she is the Queen sitting down with Him to reign. (3:21.) If He goes forth as the Captain and Leader, she follows in His train as His army. These, then, are the saints of Christ who are with Him, the "called, chosen, and faithful." (17:14.)

      The weapon wherewith He shall smite the nations and execute judgment upon the wicked is the sharp sword that proceedeth out of His mouth; whereas, the "rod of iron" wherewith He shall rule (Ps. 2:9) is the iron scepter, a shepherd's-rod, betokening His administration of unyielding justice and righteousness.

      Now the stage is set for the Great War, "the war of the Great Day of God the Almighty." (16:14.) The enemy are gathered together--having been summoned through demon-activity. "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: 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. . . . And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, Har-magedon." (16:13-16.) To speak of the "battle of Armageddon" is perhaps not strictly correct; but Armageddon (or Har Magedon, the mountain of Megiddo) is the mustering place of the forces of the Beast. This is the world-call to arms, foreseen by Joel the prophet. It issues in judgment upon the nations by the personal interference of Jehovah, and in the redemption of Jerusalem, and in the salvation and restoration of Israel (Joel 3:9-21); after which, as the O. T. prophets predict, Jehovah is King over all the earth. (Zech. 14:1-9.)

      The "battle of Armageddon" is not a conflict between nations. During the first world-war (and of course again during the new outbreak which began Sept. 1939), there was much questioning [60] whether perhaps this might be "Armageddon." But any student of prophecy might have known better. In the war of "the Great Day" it will not be a case of nations arrayed against each other in conflict among themselves; but the hosts of the great last universal world-power, united under the leadership of the Dragon (Satan), the Beast, and the False Prophet, will gather themselves together to fight against Jehovah and His Christ.

      That so mad a campaign could be conceived of--that human beings would in seriousness undertake a warfare against the Almighty seems at first incredible. But here we must take in account two facts.

      1. Their intention is not to strike at God directly and personally, but to counter Him and foil all His plans and purposes in reference to the earth by extirpating from the earth the people in whom all God's plans and covenants for world-rule and the earth's redemption are bound up--the people of Israel. "Come," say they, "and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance."¹

      But whoever undertakes that encounters God and breaks himself against the thick bosses of the buckler of the Almighty. Of old has He sworn and pledged Himself that while the earth remained Israel should not cease to be a nation for ever. (Jer. 31:35, 36.) The ancient word to their fathers--"cursed be everyone that curseth thee"--operates still, and He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep. Now this concerted assault of Satan and the world-power to exterminate the remnant of Israel both marks the climax and limit of their Great Tribulation (the "day of Jacob's trouble," Jer. 30:7) and constitutes the final challenge to God which He cannot, and will not, ignore.² So from heaven, riding forth for Israel's help, comes their Messiah at the head of the heavenly host. Then will they greet Him with joy and shout: "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." (Matt. 23:39.)

      2. This marks the extreme limit of man's delusion. These hordes have believed with one heart in the Beast as supreme God. For he is none other than the one of whom Paul tells us who opposeth and exalteth himself over all that is called God and that is worshipped, and sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. (2 Thess. 2:1-12.) This is the Beast whom the whole world worships and marvels after, saying, "Who is like unto the beast? and who is able to war with him?" (13:4.) This is the one who came in Satanic power, with signs and powers and lying wonders. They seem at first undismayed at the tokens of Christ's [61] appearing. Do they think, perhaps, that this monstrous deity of theirs would enable them to triumph against Him? Such will be the blind infatuation, such the unspeakable madness of the world in that day! And if anyone should doubt that human hearts could be deluded to such an extent, let him observe how terribly some hearts are hardened even here and now!

      An angel, heralding the impending judgment, now summons all vultures to the feast of the flesh of the slain.

      The clash is but an instant. There is no conflict, no fighting, no struggle. Paralyzed by the flashing forth of Christ's glory, the Beast is taken³ and with him the "False Prophet" (the "other beast" of Rev. 13). And at the word of His judgment which proceedeth out of His mouth, the hosts of rebellion sink into death. (2 Thess. 2:8; Isa. 11:4; 34:1-4; Ps. 110:5, 6.) The "sword of his mouth" does it. No other weapon comes into play. The "armies of heaven" are wholly unarmed. It is not a case of Christ leading forth His followers in "carnal warfare" (as some critics would make it appear), but the Lord going forth to execute judgment. But the Beast and the False Prophet are cast alive into "the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone"--the first, so far as the Book shows, to be cast into that awful place from where no one ever returns.

      That the chain wherewith Satan is to be bound is not one of iron or steel, but is of a sort perfectly designed by God to the task of binding such a being as Satan is self-evident. But the point is not to be overlooked, that Satan is really bound, himself, in person, absolutely, not relatively. Not only is he bound but he is also imprisoned in the abyss, which is shut and sealed over him so as to prevent escape.⁴ This is important. It does not mean, then, that the people will become so enlightened that Satan, though left free, can no longer succeed in his business of deception and thus is "virtually bound." It is by such exegetical wriggles that the statements of God's word are robbed of their force and meaning. It is not the population of the earth that is acted upon here, but Satan: Satan is bound and incarcerated. It is not said or implied that humanity is so fortified against the Devil's attacks as to [62] render them immune, while the Devil himself is left free to continue his attempts. No--Satan himself is fettered and imprisoned. That means that. The locking and guarding of all houses in a town would not be the same thing as the arresting and imprisonment of the thief. Satan is not said to be forestalled against, but he himself is to be bound and confined in prison (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6) for the period of a thousand years.

      The idea held by some that the "Millennium" is already present and Satan bound, or being bound, was first advanced by Augustine, who, elated over the apparent "triumph of the church" when Constantine, the Roman Emperor, became a convert to Christianity (alas, what a fatal triumph that was!) adjusted his interpretation of the Word to that notion. However, whether then or since, Satan was neither bound nor being bound, by any "chain of evidence" or any other sort of chain; much less was he imprisoned. Unto this day, as all along, and now perhaps more fiercely than ever, he goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; or as a serpent to deceive. He does a good bit of execution even among those who profess to follow Christ, and no man is immune from his attacks--least of all they who fancy themselves so.⁵

      Neither is it implied in the record that the nations (for after all the sweeping judgments there are nations left on the earth) are no longer susceptible to Satan's approaches or deceits; but rather the opposite. For Satan is bound and imprisoned a thousand years for the very purpose of preventing him from deceiving the nations any more. When after the thousand years he is loosed for a little season, he goes forth again upon his old business, finds fertile soil and considerable success. But of this we shall hear more in the following chapter.

      Satan has now been fairly vanquished--not by arbitrary omnipotence, for God does not do things that way--but he has played his game to the finish and has played out. He is now forcibly removed from the arena because he has had his full inning, and his turn is over. An angel seizes, binds, and imprisons him. (Henceforth no angel takes any more active part in the drama.) With every obstacle removed, Christ and His saints now assume full control to administrate the government of the earth. Of the character and glory of this reign we shall see in our next. [63]

[TR3A 59-64]