“His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS“
19:12
His eyes were like a flame of fire,
Jesus judges with piercing, penetrating insight into the reality of the situation (1:14). People cannot hide from Jesus’ examination of their souls. They cannot camouflage themselves behind some facade. Jesus looks right through the facades into the truth of the matter. He will see through the sham, hypocrisy, make-believe, and phoniness. No one will fool Him.
and on His head were many crowns.
Jesus wears “many crowns.” The Greek word here is not the term for the victor’s crown but the diadem, the crown of sovereignty. This is the crown of a king. Jesus will win this war and become the universal sovereign over the world. He wears a crown for every nation in the world. He has full authority to do what He pleases.
He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
Jesus’ greatness is inexpressible and begs description.
19:13
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
The robe (outer garment) dipped in blood here is the blood of His enemies. He will defeat His enemies once for all. This is not the palaver of “peace and brotherhood for all” that some people preach today. Jesus will shed more blood than anyone before Him.
Jesus’ name in this context is “The Word of God.” A “word” expresses a thought in the mind. The definite article “the” points to the Word as noteworthy from other words. Jesus manifests God. He is the revealer in the Trinity (John 1:1-18).
19:14
And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
Jesus will come with His “armies in heaven.” These armies are armies of angels (Mark 8:38; 13:27; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8) and the church (2 Thessalonians 1:7, 10). Jesus will come with His angels.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory” (Matthew 25:31).
“…and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels…” (2 Thessalonians 1:7).
Jesus will come with His saints.
“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4).
“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’” (Jude 14-15).
19:15
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations.
The word “sword” in this verse is the long sword (sometimes used as a spear). Roman soldiers used this sword to pierce their foes. This sword comes out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus. Jesus uses the Word of God to defeat His enemies. Most of us have experienced the cutting edge of the Word of God in our lives (Hebrews 4:12,13). Jesus’ words of judgment will kill the soldiers gathered at Armageddon.
And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron.
Jesus will rule the world in the Millennium (chapter 20). Jesus will rule the world with an iron scepter (Psalm 2:9; Revelation 2:27). He will abide by no anarchy or unfairness.
The word “rule” means to shepherd. The nature of Jesus’ rule will be like a shepherd. A shepherd leads His sheep to water and green fields. A shepherd also uses his crook to discipline sheep and retrieve sheep from trouble.
The phrase “rod of iron” indicates that His rule will be unyielding. Normally, shepherds worked with a wooden crook. The power of this crook will be poles apart from that of a shepherd in a field.
He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
When Jesus comes, He will come with “the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” His judgment is a dreadful judgment. His judgment is like someone in a winepress vat crushing grapes with his feet, so the crushed grapes produce juice.
19:16
And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
Jesus openly displays His title (Philippians 2:9-11). The Greek definite article [the] does not occur before either title, emphasizing His qualities of authority and deity. These titles were partly on His robe and partly on His thigh and extended from His robe down to His thigh. No one will break His rule because He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Principle:
God’s Word powerfully penetrates our souls.
Application:
The Word of God can quicken our consciences. God makes us aware that He can see into our souls. The Word of God convicts us of our sin. The Word of God “cuts to the heart.”
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12).
Went to your site to find out why Rev. 19:12, 13, 16 all talke about His name. First in v. 12 no one knows but himself, then His names are given. Your explanation is brief but understandable.
Thanks for the references about the armies (plural). It will be a wonderful time when God with us and angels fight, with finality, the rebellious of this world.
Blessings,
I was wondering about Revelation 9:16 and tattoo's. Someone is interested(not me) in getting a tattoo, and someone else presented this verse in a pro sense of getting tattoo's. Please help me understand if this is biblical or not for in order to being able to get a tattoo. Thanks
Blessings,
Correction: Revelation 19:16
Dom, there is nothing in this passage about a tattoo. It is not even clear whether the title on His thigh was on pants or His body. It would not be normal to expose the thigh in the days of the New Testament.
The verse in question here is the only verse in the New Testament that appears to suggest that Jesus had something “inscribed” on his body. However, such a suggestion is in direct contradiction of a law in Leviticus 19:28 “You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you.” Not only would the idea of a Jewish man having a tattoo be shocking, even more so is the suggestion that his thigh would be exposed, something basically equated with public nudity in Jesus’ time and religious culture.
A theory that easily explains such a contradiction is that the book of Revelation was originally written in Hebrew, not Greek as previously assumed. If that is the case, a miniscule copying error by an early scribe would easily render the Hebrew word for “banner” as “thigh” instead. The first Hebrew letter for the word “banner”, dagel, looks almost exactly like the first Hebrew letter for “thigh”, ragel. So it is posited that the correct reading of Rev 19:16 is “On his robe and on his banner he has a name inscribed, ‘King of Kings and Lord of lords.’”
Cole, note my comment to Dom. Also, there is no evidence that Revelation was originally written in Hebrew. Note these manuscripts:
The Apocalypse is contained wholly or in part in CODEX SINAITICUS (א, 4th cent.), CODEX ALEXANDRINUS (A, 5th cent.), CODEX EPHRAEMI RESCRIPTUS (C, 5th cent.), and several other uncials (e.g., P 046 051 052 0207 0229). Two papyrus MSS, P18 (Oxyrhynchus 1079, 3rd/4th cent.) and P47 (Chester Beatty, 3rd cent.), also contain sizable fragments. Numerous cursive MSS contain significant readings that vary from the TR, but since none of these is earlier than the 11th cent., the chief weight of textual evidence lies with the uncial and papyrus MSS. As might be expected, the bulk of the cursives contain the Byzantine type of text. The two papyrus MSS mentioned agree strongly with א A C P 0207, while 046 together with 1 and some other cursives constitute a third group. [Silva & Tenney, Zondervan Ency of the Bible]
The reference Corinthians 3:4 under 19:14 should be Colossians 3:4.
The reference Mark 8:23 under 19:14 should be Mark 8:38
Thanks for the well researched explanations, principles and applications. I often consult them when doing exegesis.
George, thank you very much for noting these errors. I must have been half-asleep when I did this study! 🙂