Thy Kingdom Come, Revelation 19-20:10
CityPoint: Meta Tauta, Session 6 Notes: Thy Kingdom Come, Revelation 19-20:10
As always, be a Berean and challenge against Scripture what is written here, the words I say or anyone, for that matter, who speaks about the Bible. The church as a whole would not be so far off track if Christians who sit in church would know, study, and challenge all things against Scripture. This is incumbent on all of us. Remember, the testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). This is why prophecy is pivotal to our walk with Jesus. He made a promise, and He will fulfill it! Praise HIM!!!
As always, we will just scratch the surface….
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To start this section off, we are calling it Thy Kingdom Come as this the fulfillment of Believers praying the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as Thy kingdom has finally come to earth…
I. Rejoicing in Heaven, Revelation 19:1-10
a. Happens throughout Revelation before the next phase begins
b. We also had rejoicing in heaven in Luke 2 at the announcement of Jesus’ birth
c. Alleluia: 4 times in this passage means Praise the Lord!
d. Verse 4 reflects back to Chapter 4, same players are present: church, four living creatures
e. Marriage Supper, debate on when this is actually going to occur
f. Verse 10: prophecy points to Jesus. If it doesn’t, it is not!
Chapter 19
Verses 1-6: First, we have praise in Heaven. It is interesting to go back through Revelation and look at all the times there was praise in Heaven. Each and every time, something big followed. It is also interesting in Luke 2 the heavens are rejoicing at the announcement at the first coming of Jesus. Now, we have the same thing happening at His second coming.
The KJV commentary says this about the word Alleluia: the word occurs four times in this chapter (vss. 1, 3, 4, 6). It is a transliterated (not translated) Hebrew word, found no other place in the New Testament. In fact, even in the Old Testament, especially in the book of Psalms, it is correctly translated “Praise the Lord!” It is thus interesting that four times in the Revelation the Hebrew word (actually two words) should be found. It is indeed a beautiful word known worldwide, which needs no translation.
There is a great song that goes along with these verses and starts with Alleluia. We sing this song nearly daily in our house. Here is a video: https://youtu.be/DyzBOu_liPw
Specifically in verse 4, we have again language relating back to Chapter 4 with the church. The church is again seen in Heaven as she has been there since the rapture. Chapters 6-18 deal with the unbelieving world and those who come to faith during this soon coming time period.
Verses 7-9: Marriage Supper of the Lamb: Some believe the marriage supper is in heaven during the tribulation. Some believe heaven is making the bride ready for the supper to be had once Jesus and the host of heaven come to earth at the end of the tribulation.
Wiersbe states about the wedding: When the bride arrived in heaven at the judgement seat of Christ, she was not at all beautiful (in fact, she was covered with spots, wrinkles, and blemishes according to Paul in Ephesians 5:27), but now she is radiant in her glory. She has “made herself ready” for the public ceremony. Jewish weddings in that day were quite unlike weddings in the Western world. First, there was an engagement, usually made by the parents when the prospective bride and groom were quite young. This engagement was binding and could be broken only by a form of divorce. Any unfaithfulness during the engagement was considered adultery. When the public ceremony was to be enacted, the groom would go to the bride’s house and claim her for himself. He would take her to his home for the wedding supper, and all the guests would join the happy couple. This feast could last as long as a week. Today, the church is “engaged” to Jesus Christ, and we love Him even though we have not seen Him (I Peter 1:8). One day, He will return and take His bride to heaven (John 14:1-6; I Thessalonians 4:13-18). At the judgement seat of Christ, her works will be judged and all her spots and blemishes removed. This being completed, the church will be ready to return to earth with her Bridegroom at the close of the tribulation to reign with Him in glory (see Luke 13:29; Matt. 8:11).
At the close of verse 10, have the caption that sums up so eloquently why prophecy is so important. It is why prophecy should it be loved and ready and studied and cherished. I hope we have properly captured this through our study. “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Recall the blessings in Chapter 1 for those of us who read aloud and keep this book! Revelation 22 has similar remarks.
II. Return of the King, Revelation 19:11-21
a. Jesus on a white horse and called Faithful and True (Revelation 3:14)
b. Eyes like a flame of fire (Revelation 1:14)
c. Many crowns: (Greek diadema), contrasts to White Rider of Revelation 6
d. Robe dipped in blood (Isaiah 63:2)
e. His name is the Word of God (John 1:1)with many royal crowns
f. Armies of Heaven clothed in fine linen, white, clean: New Testament Saints
g. Sharp sword (Revelation 1:16, 2:12), contrasts to Red Rider of Revelation 6
h. Birds are called to eat the flesh of those slain, contrasts to Matthew 13:31-32
i. Anti-christ and False Prophet thrown into Lake of Fire
Verses 11-16: Here, we have the references to Jesus. Amir states this: Who is the rider? There can be no doubt that it is Jesus Christ returning to usher in His kingdom. In fact, every one of John’s descriptions can be found elsewhere in Scripture referring to the conquering Savior. He is called Faithful and True (Revelation 3:14); His eyes are like a flame of fire (Revelation 1:14); His robe has been dipped in blood (Isaiah 63:2); His name is the Word of God (John 1:1); a sharp sword proceeds from His mouth (Revelation 1:16, 2:12); He will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Psalm 2:8-9; Revelation 12:5); and He is called King of kings and Lord of lords (I Timothy 6:15).
Remember the stark contrast we reviewed in Chapter 6 with the first rider’s crown and Jesus crowns noted here. For one, the first rider’s crown is singular and is a victor’s crown as in winning a game (Greek word stephanas). Here in describing Jesus, it is plural and is a kingly crown (Greek word diadema).
At the close of this period (70th Week/Tribulation), we have Jesus returning to start his reign on earth. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus describes this judgement or separation really. The first resurrection also takes place as the 1000 years starts. This will be described under Chapter 20.
I like how both Ron Rhodes and Amir Tsarfati closed out their chapters on Revelation 19:
1. Rhodes says this: C.S. Lewis once said that in the end, there are two groups of people. One group of people says to God, “Thy will be done.” These are people who recognize they are sinners, and they trust in Christ for salvation. The other group of people are those to whom God says, “Thy will be done.” These are the people who have refused to turn to Christ for salvation, thus ensuring their own destiny in hell forever.
2. Tsarfati says this: there will be two options on the day of Christ’s return - you will either see Jesus’ face or His back. In that day of His judgement, it will be much better to be riding behind Him than fleeing from in front of Him.
III. Millennial Reign, Revelation 20:1-10
a. Psalm 110:1 among many other passages
b. 1000 years: Greek chilioi meaning a thousand. Used 6 times in Revelation 20 as well as 11:3, 12:6, 14:20 and II Peter 3:8
c. Jesus reigns on earth for 1000 years
d. Satan is bound for this 1000 years in the bottomless pit
e. Verse 4 has the judgement as described in Matthew 25. This also has proof of a pre-tribulation rapture as John is only seeing the martyred souls of this time period: only those who did not receive the mark and worship the beast.
f. First Resurrection: difficult topic but seems most fitting to say the martyred of tribulation are resurrected here to enjoy the Millennial Reign of Jesus as well as some scholars place the Old Testament Saints being resurrected here as well: Daniel 12:2
g. Second death or resurrection: final judgement then eternal death when all is thrown into the Lake of Fire
h. Gog and Magog: Satan is loosed after Jesus’ reign, contrasts to Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38-39
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Chapter 20
Amir quotes Psalm 110:1 as being fulfilled in this chapter with Jesus’ 1000 year reign: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’” He further states the Hebrew is a much better translation than the English which we have discussed many times over through our study of prophecy, right? The Hebrew text says, “Yahweh said to my Adonai.” Here, I will quote from Amir, “This is the Father speaking to the Son. He is saying there will come a time when You will rule with Me and all those who have fought against You will be vanquished. It is the time when the Father hands over the nations to Jesus the Messiah as His inheritance, along with the ends of the earth for His possession. The rightful King will come to take up residency on this planet and restore that which was lost in the Garden of Eden. Genesis is the book of “Paradise Lost” and Revelation is the book of “Paradise Found.””
Several times in this passage, the 1000 years is mentioned. So much so, that it really lays to rest any argument against this not being a literal 1000 year reign. During this 1000 years, Satan is bound. Currently, he is able to roam. Look up the references for Satan. He roams the earth and still has access to heaven. He will have access to heaven until the mid-point of the 70th Week. You can go back through those notes from Revelation 12. The bottomless pit or abyssos in the Greek is where the fallen angels who mated with woman to produce a hybrid offspring were also bound. We saw this bottomless pit opened up in Revelation 9.
Verse 4: I find this to be a verse that supports a pre-tribulation rapture. John is only seeing the martyrs who meet the following criteria: were beheaded, didn’t worship the beast or his image, and didn’t receive the mark. Why wouldn’t John see all martyrs? The answer: because they have already been judged or rewarded rather at the Bema Seat of Christ after the Rapture prior to the Tribulation. Verse 5 continues to support this as the dead will remain dead until the end of the 1000 years then be raised for judgement, see Verses 12 and 13. Remember, the dead in Christ are raptured.
First Resurrection: This is a difficult topic that I am not going to try and pretend to know everything about. I think Ron Rhodes puts it in the best terms: Scripture mentions two types of resurrections. The first is appropriately called the “first resurrection,” as in this verse. This is called the “resurrection of life” (John 5:29), the “resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14), and the “better life” (Hebrews 11:35). The second resurrection is the last resurrection (Revelation 20:5a,11-15). It is appropriately called the resurrection of judgement (John 5:29; see also Daniel 12:2; Acts 24:15). To be even more specific, the term “the first resurrection” refers to all the resurrections of the righteous even though they are widely separated in time. There is one resurrection of the righteous at the rapture (before the tribulation - I Thessalonians 4:13-17), another during the tribulation (the two witnesses - Revelation 11:3,11), another at the end of the tribulation (the martyred dead - Revelation 20:4-5), and apparently another at the end of the 1000 year millennial kingdom (not recorded [elsewhere] in Scripture). They all are “first” in the sense of being before the second (final) resurrection, in which the wicked dead are raised. Accordingly, the term “first resurrection” applies to all the resurrections of the saints regardless of when they occur, including the resurrection of Christ Himself (the “firstfruits” - see I Corinthians 15:23).
The 1000 year reign follows the first resurrection. At the end of the 1000 year reign, Satan will be loosed for a time (verses 7-10). He will gather a rebellion of the offspring of the saints entering the 1000 years who did not die during the tribulation. Mankind will always reject (not everyone) Jesus without being fully redeemed. We have a final Gog and Magog war here. There is a contrast with the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38. The KJV Commentary provides a good list of how they are different:
1. Chronological factor: The events of Ezekiel 38-39 take place before the Millennium in Israel’s latter days. The rebellion of Revelation 20 occurs after the Millennium.
2. Geographical factor: More than once Ezekiel states that Gog and Magog come from the uttermost north of the land of Promise. Here, John explicitly locates the nations involved as coming from the four corners of the earth.
3. Actuating factor: It is true Satan can be faulted for much of the ungodliness in the world, but there are also elements of the flesh and the world. It cannot be denied that Satan is behind the invasion of Ezekiel 38-39, but not in so clearly a stated manner as here.
4. Interpretive factor: The reader of the Apocalypse [Revelation] will certainly assent by this time that John uses common nouns, even proper nouns, in a symbolic manner…Thus, the student of the Revelation need not be surprised to find the names Gog and Magog used symbolically here.
5. I am adding this 5th one myself as the spiritual factor: This will take a deeper dive of Ezekiel 38-39, but there was strong evidence Biblically that there is great demonic deception and manipulation that coincides with that passage. The same will be true with the Gog and Magog of our study here in Revelation. Dr. Chuck Missler points out that Gog is the demonic being assigned to Magog which is a people group. This is how you can have the same Gog or leader of a people group show up in two different time frames. The same demonic forces used in one war can be used in another, or Satan’s demons couldn’t get the job done in the first Gog and Magog so Satan does it himself here with a greater force. The end is the same. Also keep in mind the prophecy rule of what was will be. This is an example of that.
MARANATHA!!!!!!