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PrintReading 3
Revelation 19:19-20
Plumstead Conference 2000
"And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and the false prophet that was with him, who wrought the signs before him by which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and those that worship his image. Alive were both cast into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone;" (vv. 19-20)
Perhaps we should be reminded of the important statement made this morning that from 19:11 to 21:6 the events are consecutive. What we consider here has aptly been described as the greatest judgment on earth. There is no judgment quite so tremendous as this one, though Mr. Kelly points out that Matthew 25:31-45, which in time order comes after this, is very close to it. This is a tremendous event and we do well to be sobered by it. There are two important verses in Ezekiel where we read "the word that I shall speak shall be performed" (12:25) and "the days are at hand, and the accomplishment of every vision" (12:23). What we have here is laid up in God's word for faith. We can have every assurance that God will do as He has said. What is more, the time is at hand. The Devil, when he is in manifest display, is no problem to us (as with the maniac of Gadara) but when he is apparently inactive he is quite as powerful and quite as deadly.
"And I saw 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 frogs; for they are the spirits of demons, doing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole habitable world to gather them together to the war of that great day of God the Almighty. (Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that washes and keeps his garments, that he may not walk naked, and that they may not see his shame.) And he gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." (Rev.16:13-16) In these two verses, 19:19 and 16:16, we see that the trinity of evil gathers, with all energy, to this battle now before us. The mountain of Megiddo on the northern plain of Israel will be the site of this last battle. The armies of Western Europe will go perhaps to fight the Assyrian but will find that it is against our Lord.
There is a difference in the wording between verse 18 and verse 19 but the forces are the same. The forces of verse 18 are kings, chiliarchs, mighty men and men on horses, political powers marked out for destruction. They are gathered together "to make war against Him who sat upon the horse", and needless to say they accomplish nothing. The horse is the symbol of power in both cases (v18 & v19). We might think that when the Lord fights with the two-edged sword coming out of His mouth He does not need an army which, of course, is true, but in wondrous grace He associates us with Him.
In the day of the battle of Armageddon we will be on the Lord's side. This should encourage us to accept His place of rejection in the world today.
It is important to see that this is not symbolic, but an actual battle. As to those who execute judgment, 2 Thessalonians 2:8 is helpful, the Lord comes with, not only the armies of heaven but also "in a flaming fire" and with angels (2 Thess. 1:7,8). What the world cannot do, the angels can do very easily. In the Old Testament we read of one angel disposing of 185,000 men in one night (2 Kings 19:35), so it will not be difficult for the Lord to deal with any armies whatsoever.
Is there any significance in the fact that in verse 14 it is "armies" in the plural, while at the end of verse 19 it is "army" in the singular?
In verse 14 different parts e.g. saints, angels may be in mind whereas in verse 19 they are viewed as one. When the covenant is broken, and the armies of the Beast turn against Israel, it is then that they also turn against God, against the Lord Jesus. The problem today is not communism, but a new socialism and it is creeping in worldwide. President Clinton, for example, goes to church; there is a religiousness about the leaders. Man is being conditioned into a new form of morality.
Surely this is the value of what has been said in relation to chapter 16. Behind the visible events an unseen hand is at work. The devil uses other agents to accomplish this final act but "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him."
In those passages the emphasis is on the Lord. Details of the confrontation are not shown, the victory is final, by the Lord Himself, by the sword of His mouth. In chapter 13 we see the action of the second beast, the Antichrist, and the seduction of the people of the earth. Here the initiative is from the political power and the Antichrist is associated with him. These two beasts are super men, one with his centre of government in Rome, the other in Jerusalem, although the battle takes place in the valley of Megiddo. The judgment is awful. These two people are taken and thrown alive into the lake of fire.
Here we are talking about gehenna, hell, with fire burning forever, which was prepared for the Devil and his angels - not for men (Matt.25:41). There is only one other person, to my knowledge, who was 'promised' to be in hell, and that is Judas Iscariot who sold the Lord (Matt.26:24). It is difficult to understand physically what will happen. Others will be raised for judgment at the great white throne, given a body and will live forever, but in torment. This will be total final separation in the second death, but in what condition we do not know. Hell, gehenna, is derived from the word 'ge-hinnom' a small valley south of Jerusalem where the people burnt their refuse, and it is a picture of the place of judgment. Hades is different and is not a place of judgment. It is a place of transition where souls, after the first death, go until the final state of resurrection of the dead and the change of the living. Hell is a place of eternal punishment. The bottomless pit, the abyss, is another place mentioned earlier in 20:2.
In Matthew 25 "Then shall he say also unto those on the left, Go from me, cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (v. 41). This is for the judgment of the living, they will go directly into hell?
We do not know.
I have always thought that this was the sentence passed upon them. "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels". They will die immediately, and remain in hades until the time of the great white throne when their sentence is carried out.
May I refer to Zechariah 12-14. At the beginning of Zechariah 14 it is quite clear that it is the Lord Himself who defeats His enemies, yet Judah has a special place in the Lord's affections and it would seem that He graciously gives them the privilege of being associated with Him in that terrible day. Judah in particular refused Him and will suffer more than any in the tribulation, only the personal intervention of the Lord will relieve and deliver them. In Zechariah 14:14 we read "Judah also shall fight". Maybe this is the particular army referred to in the singular (v19), associated with the Lord as a special mark of His grace?
Possibly, but would it not be mentioned separately and specifically? When Israel came out of Egypt they had great trouble with three nations - Ammon, Moab and Edom. These three nations are reserved for Judah and Benjamin to deal with at the end (Dan.11:41). This ties in with Jeremiah 51:20 where we read of God's battle axe (KJV, maul JND). Benjamin shall "ravin like a wolf" (Gen.49:27) and Judah (vv. 8-12) is portrayed as a lion. Although the Lord deals with the Assyrian, these are empowered by the Lord to deal with those who had, in the earlier history of the nation, been such a problem to them.
The appearing of the Lord is presented in different ways in other Scriptures. Thus in Matt.24:30 "there shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven". Here Israel is meant and none other. Again in Rev.17:14 there are those who are "called and chosen and faithful" - again, Israel. So far as believers in the present dispensation are concerned, Col.3:4 is just one of many references "When Christ is manifest, who is our life, then shall (we) also be manifested with Him in glory". In 2 Thess.1:7 mention is made of holy angels, as in Matt.25:31. In our present Scripture only the innumerable company of believers as already mentioned. Here also prominence is given to one aspect of the judgment, namely, what concerns the Beast and the false prophet.
The two beasts who were cast alive into the lake of fire are often put alongside the two men in the Old Testament who were taken to heaven without dying, Enoch and Elijah. We will speak more about them when we come to the next chapter (D.V).
In verse 20, where it speaks of the false prophet, there is a moral lesson for us when today false prophets are teaching error and also using all kinds of signs. Saints need to be aware of these things and stand up faithfully for what is true and right.
The false prophet is the Antichrist mentioned by John in his epistles. There are many antichrists (1 John 2:18) today, many false prophets (1 John 4:1), but this is the final one, the Antichrist. He is the Wicked one who is destroyed in 2 Thessalonians 2:8.
In regard to the signs, would you suggest that perhaps some of the miracles boasted of today are a sample of the thing that you are speaking of?
Yes. The word here is "miracles", but it is the same word used for the Lord's "sign miracles" in John 2:11 for example. In the religious world today, and even beyond Christendom, there are those that profess all manner of miracles. They claim to speak in other languages but if challenged as to which language they speak it is found that it is no language at all. When effort is made to follow up some of these miracles investigation shows there is a lot of deceit in it. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), so if the thing is not real, Satan is behind it. Also we should not be ignorant of the fact that Satan is well able to imitate in some cases, and especially where the profoundest forms of spiritism occur, miracles of a kind do take place. This is solemn. I do not think that what is referred to here in verse 20 is of the character where people are merely deceived. It speaks of one who wrought miracles. There is such a power at work today, a profound activity of Satan.
In chapter 13 concerning Antichrist, we read in verse 11 "It had two horns like to a lamb, and spake as a dragon" and verse 13 "and it works great signs, that it should cause even fire to come down from heaven". It is real, actual, physical signs which are wrought by him. By these signs he "deceives those that dwell upon the earth". The second great thing he does is to make an image of the first beast "And it was given to it to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should also speak." So this is another sign, that this image of the beast is caused to speak.
We have to distinguish signs such as barking like a dog (often mere hysteria?) from fire coming down from heaven. The latter is much more serious. The aim of a false prophet is always the exaltation of man and this reaches it's climax with the Antichrist, the false prophet, and the worship of the first beast.
Should we not also consider the mark of the beast? The false prophet "causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the bondmen, that they should give them a mark upon their right hand or upon their forehead". The right hand speaks of action and the forehead thought, so that the followers of the beast are influenced in their thoughts, minds, and actions. There is a beautiful counter to this in Deuteronomy 6. In verses 6-8 we read "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart; and thou shalt impress them on thy sons, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign on thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes" (vv. 6-8). Our thoughts and affections should be under the control of the Lord and so governed by the word of God. Thus in Deuteronomy 6:5 "And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength." If the Lord really does have His place in our hearts then His words will be fulfiled. This is what we must aim at. This was always the case with the Lord Jesus. He could say these words from His heart. It characterised His life, and it should characterise ours.
The enemy deceives believers by what they see and hear. We see what Antichrist is going to do but also in Revelation 13 "He spoke as a dragon". The Lord has given the believers the ability to discern by hearing the right voice. "My sheep recognise my voice". Isaac is an illustration. He was deceived by Jacob in four out of his five senses but he recognised his voice and should have been warned. In Genesis 27 verse 1 his eyes were dim; in verse 9 and 5 his taste was perverted, he thought goats meat was venison; in verse 16 his touch mislead him, he mistook the kid's skin for the hairy flesh of Esau; in verses 15 and 27 his smell was deceived, the smell of Esau's clothes led him astray; but in verses 22 his hearing could not be deceived, the voice was the voice of Jacob. We likewise can readily be deceived if we trust to our natural senses (remember that sheep are short sighted). But hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd we shall have a sure guide and be safe.
