“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh”
Now we come to the destruction of the armies of the world at the last great battle. This is the war to end all wars. This war will end civilization as we know it. The battle of Armageddon follows the Second Coming of Christ. The battle begins before He comes. When He comes, He will end the war by military prowess.
19:17
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God,
An angel calls for vultures to come to have a great feast of soldiers supplied by God. This is a slaughter of the armies of the world, the Battle of Armageddon in the land of Palestine (Ezekiel 38,39; Joel 2; Daniel 11; Isaiah 24).
The “supper of the great God” is very different from the marriage supper of the Lamb (19:9). The supper of God is the destruction of the armies of the world on earth. The marriage supper of the Lamb is a celebration of the saints in heaven.
19:18
“that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great”
The plentiful menu for vultures consists of the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses and their riders, and finally, all sorts of people.
19:19
And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
The ruler of the Revived Roman Empire will build up his troops to fight against Christ’s army. This is “the battle on the great day of God Almighty” (19:14, 19-21). Two million soldiers gather together to make war with the Lamb.
19:20
Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.
In the battle, Christ captures the ruler of the Revived Roman Empire and his false prophet. This signals the final defeat of Satan and his program for the earth.
These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Jesus throws both the ruler of the Revived Roman Empire and the false prophet alive into the fiery lake of burning brimstone (sulfur). Up to this time in history, no one is in the lake of fire. They were in Sheol (Hades). This fiery lake is a place prepared for the Devil and his demons (Matthew 25:41). Homo sapiens will not occupy that lake until later (20:14-15).
19:21
And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh
Jesus kills the remaining armies with His sword. This is a picture of Jesus as a Mighty Warrior, not the normal depiction of Him by the media or even evangelicals themselves.
Principle:
God consistently holds in tension His justice and His love.
Application:
The same Bible that depicts God as love also demonstrates His righteousness, justice, and truth. God is a God of grace, but that grace has run its course for world history. At this point in history [chapter 19], there is no more grace. God gave abundant opportunities for mankind to accept His grace. Human beings in obstinacy refused God’s grace. God’s longsuffering finally comes to an end. “Payday someday” has finally come. God now enters the final judicial phrase of His sovereignty over the earth.
The book of Revelation presents the plain, bald facts of the Bible. To keep these things from people is to be unfaithful to reality and God’s Word.
So the Ruler of the Revised Roman Empire which is the beast is the AntiChrist, or may I say the Czar of the New World Order. Than the false prophet Must be an outspoken Islamic prophet that is in the position similar to the pope was in Vatican city. The false prophet can not be the pope since the "Scarlet Harlot" is the entirety of the Papel empire !!!
Frank, the Bible does not give the kind of detail you present in your blog. Thanks for commenting.
Why are the followers of the beast not also cast into the lake. Does this actually marks the end of Satan’s reign I’m earth.
Afolabi, Satan will be bound for most of Christ’s millennial kingdom but will be loosed for a short period of time toward the end of the 1000 years. Christ will reign sovereignly during the kingdom.
Many Evangelicals think of the Roman Catholic Church as the Anti-Christ organization, and they do have many faults. They worship statutes made by man, tens of Virgins (Lourdes, Gradalupe, Santander, Fatima,etc.) They pray to the earthly Mother of Jesus. Yet she didn’t die on the cross for mankind, it was our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. In fact at one time Mary tells her friends and children,”Do what He says.” Therefore, no one really knows who that Anti-Christ organization is or will be for the Anti-Christ has been around since Satan was cast down from heaven.
There are many religions that are Anti-Christ. Look at the record of the majority of Jews in the past and today. They even have programs (Goyim’s) that teach children to be Anti-Christ and Anti-Christians. Yet many Hebrews accepted Jesus when He was on earth, and today there is a group of Jews .Messianic’s, who belief and trust in Christ Jesus.
What the Lord has in mind for those who hate Christians is in His book-Revelations. There have been volumes of articles and book written on Revelation, and there will be more with many points of view. So, just follow Jesus’s commands to Love the Lord Almighty with all your soul,mind, and strength, and to love your fellow human beings as you love yourself and you will do fine. King Solomon tells us that the reading of countless books tires the person, and he has and will be the wisest person ever born on this earth.
Charles, thanks for your blog. There is not enough information in the book of Revelation to draw a parallel between the Revived Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic church.
I believe the reason why it says the “revived Roman empire”, is cause the Roman Empire was so large and it scattered and eventually was divided. So i was looking at it like this: all the nations of the world will look like the Roman empire in the sense of how large it will be, and all the different people it will involve. And where it was once scattered and divided will come together and will be revived and will come against our Lord Jesus. Not sure, but this is what came to my mind.
Also, I believe the false prophet and the antichrist will come in a way that’s completely unexpected.
It seems to me that the war in Revelations in chapter in19 where the beast in the false prophet are finally thrown into the lake of fire is the same war spoken in revelations 27 where Satan is released and finally thrown in the lake of fire. My question is if that is true or not? To me it seems as it is the same battle spoken of in two different places of revelations.
Ron, I am not quite sure to what you reference. There is no Revelation 27. However, if you are referring to chapter 20, the book of Revelation was written chronologically.