Revelation
19:10 John falls down to worship the angel, but the angel tells him to worship
Jesus and gives a profound insight. Prophecy is not, at its core, about future
events. The spirit (pneuma) of (this and all) prophecy is the witness (marturia)
of Jesus. The book of Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 1:1)
What of the Old Testament prophets, or the gift of prophecy in the New
Testament? It is sometimes said that there are four themes of the writing
prophets in the Old Testament: warnings about the situation and actions of the
immediate hearers; ultimate judgment on Israel and Judah; the coming of
Messiah; and the end times and establishment of God's kingdom in power on the
earth. But all of these point to Jesus. The spirit of prophetic utterance about
the immediate actions of the Old Testament Jews expresses the grief of Jesus
over their unnecessary pain and separation from God. The spirit of prophecy
when the captivity of Israel and Judah was discussed reflects the sorrow of
Jesus over the necessity that God had to take such extreme measures to
eliminate gross immorality from the lives and culture of His people. And this
prophecy about the end times is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Worship Him.
Revelation
19:11-16 Jesus the conqueror is now revealed. Although He is mostly spoken of
as the Lamb earlier, we now see several attributes that are a little different,
He does not appear particularly lamblike now. This unveiling of Christ shows
the full spectrum of His worthiness.
• He rides a white horse. (The true
conqueror, not the usurper shown in Rev. 6:1-2) who conquered sin. (1
Corinthians 15:57)
• He is called faithful and true. (The
witness to Laodicea, Rev. 3:14, who has the true nature corresponding to His
names)
• He judges in righteousness. (In John
16:8 the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and
judgment; in Rev. 16:5&7 Jesus is worshiped for the bowls of judgment that
the angels pour out on rebellious mankind, because his judgments are
righteous.)
• He battles in righteousness. (Just
war theories aside, before this battle recorded in Revelation, the only war in
which God intervened in righteousness was recorded in Joshua, when Israel was
fully submitted to God and the Canaanites were fully devoted to evil. And it
wasn't really a war, but the annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah emphasized the
total depravity of those cultures. Genesis 18:20)
• His eyes are a flame of fire. (Rev.
1:14, 2:18)
• He wears many diadems on His head.
(Contrast Rev 12:3, 13:1 - Jesus rightfully wears these crowns).
• He has a name that only He knows
written on Him. (This remains a mystery.)
• He wears a robe dipped in blood.
(Rev. 7:14 the saints washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, but the
blood of Jesus will be forever that which binds His people to Him in love.
Hebrews 9:11-12)
• His name is called the Word of
God. (John 1:1)
• A sharp sword comes from His mouth.
(Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12, Rev. 1:16, 2:16)
• Another name, written on His robe and
thigh, is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (At least three Old Testament
pretenders to this title are mentioned in Ezra 7:12, Daniel 2:37, and Ezekiel
26:7; but the title is properly reserved for Jesus, who rules over all earthly
kings, c.f. 1 Timothy 6:15, Rev. 17:14, because He not only rules over
all rulers, but also is the Master over all other masters in His role as the
chief shepherd. 1 Peter 4:5)
The white
clothing of the armies of Christ was mentioned above in Rev. 19:8. They are
also on white horses as they have conquered sin in their own lives. But they do
not tread the wine press of God's wrath. Jesus is the vintner who will also
rule with a rod of iron.
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