Introduction

In the last study, John was shown an expanded explanation of the judgment of Babylon he is now about to see the coronation and marriage of the Lamb of God in heaven as well as the beginning of the end. In this study, we will experience the joy and jubilation and praise of God by the saints over the judgment of Babylon as well as at the celebration wedding and the feast that occurs afterwards. And then step straight out of the merriment into the final battle!

Verses 1-3:

" 1  And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2  For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.3  And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up forever and ever."

A Great Voice of much people in heaven . . . true and righteous are His judgments: The outburst of praise (from verse 1) rests upon the fact that the judgments of God - specifically, his judgment of the great harlot - are true and righteous (from verse 2) Also pay attention to the contents of the call to praise the Lord: Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; ascribing to God attributes, which He alone has.

We know of coal mines that continue to burn underground for scores of years so this is not out the realm of natural possibilities. The smoke of the great whore continues to rise eternally even after the thousand years, when all that are identified with her are judged at the great white throne judgment and cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:11 - Rev 20:15).

 Verses 4-6:

"4  And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 5  And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."

Once again, we see the twenty-four elders and the four beasts that surround the throne of God worshipping Him, saying "Amen; Alleluia". (If the word amen is used prior to any discourse - in this case the word alleluia - the word amen means "truly" or "surely". If the word were used after any discourse, the word amen would mean "so be it" or "even so". The word alleluia  means "praise the Lord". Therefore, the words "Amen; Alleluia" in the context of verse 4 indicate that the twenty-four elders say, "truly, we praise you Lord".)

Verses 7-8

"7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."

These spells out the purpose of God's eternal plan - the marriage of the Lamb purposed from the foundation of the world. The bride of Christ is now a wife and she is ready to be joined with Jesus and be one forever. The wife is ready because she was adorned with gifts at the judgment.

The Linen could be referred to both the "righteousness of the saints" (that comes through the blood of Jesus) and the "righteous acts of the saints" (that comes through the Holy Spirit working in believers). It is important that we realize that both are essential. Our righteous acts mean nothing without the righteousness given by Christ. So we should do away with the erroneous belief that once this righteousness is given to us we don't have to live a righteous life anymore. Both are very important in our walk with God

Verses 9-10

"9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. 10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

 John was so awed by the angel that showed him these things that he fell down to worship him. In contrast to Satan who demands worship, the angels of God will not allow anyone to worship them. All worship is to be directed to God. The angel told John that Jesus is the fulfillment of all God given prophecy; worship Him alone. The angel links himself with John by calling himself a fellow servant with you.  There are important differences between angels and men, but the really significant thing is that they are both ?servants' of their common Lord. This Angel clearly tells us that Angels are not to be worshipped.

INTERLUDE

John saw the second coming of Jesus and what will happen to the armies that gather against the Lord at Megiddo. Chapter 16 told us all the armies of the world will be assembled at Megiddo against the Lord. Then chapter 17 gave us the mystery of the woman that rides the Beast and her destruction by the Beast. After that chapter 18 gave us the details about the destruction of the Beast kingdom called "Babylon the Great". Now we pick up again where chapter 16 left off.

The seventh vial was already poured out and destruction came on all cities of the world and Babylon was completely destroyed. However, the Beast and False Prophet were not in Babylon when it was destroyed. They probably got out of town in the plague of darkness at the fifth vial. The armies of the world that destroyed Babylon are deceived by the unclean spirits (demons) that come out of the mouth of the Dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet (Rev 16:13). The armies from the north and the east move to Megiddo in northern Israel where the Beast and False Prophet have relocated. These unclean satanic spirits convince the kings of all the nations and armies of the world to oppose Jesus when He comes.

Verses 11-16

"11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. "14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

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There is no doubt about the identity of the Person on this white horse. There had been another rider of a white horse (as we see in chapter six) but he only wears a single conquerors reef called in the Greek "stephanos", Jesus comes wearing "many" golden crowns of royalty. The Greek word for crowns used here is "diadems". The Son of God is known by many names in the scriptures but the name the Word of God (1st John 2:14 and in John 1:1) precedes verse 15 "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword". The Word of God is two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12)

These armies (plural) in verse 14 include all the hosts of heaven, the angels and all who make up the body of Christ. They all come wearing fine linen, white and clean. This indicates that all of their sins have been removed and they have on the righteousness of Christ. 

 Verses 17-19

"17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;18  That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.19  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

The so called battle of Armageddon really is not a battle at all. It is a slaughter of all of the enemies of God on earth. All the armies of the world are gathered against Jesus and His saints by Satan and by his lying spirits. The armies gathered by Satan will all end up being food for the vultures. Lying spirits come out of the mouths of the Dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet to deceive the whole world and the armies that destroy Babylon. These lying spirits somehow convince the kings of the earth to move all their armies against Jerusalem. The real question is why would the world dare to fight against the God of heaven? The answer might be that the lying spirits somehow manage to convince the kings of the earth that the God of Heaven is not almighty and can also be stopped from setting up His kingdom on earth by enough military force (like the counterfeit kingdom of god at Babylon was at least partly overthrown by worldly military force). When these armies fight against the Kingdom of the real God of creation they will all come to their destruction.

Verses 20-21

"20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."

The Antichrist Beast and his False Prophet, who worked miracles by the power of Satan and deceived all who took the mark of the Beast and those that worshipped his image, are taken captive. Just as Satan deceived and took a third of the angels in his rebellion against God, Satan in the Beast and False Prophet will deceive and take a large number of humans in this rebellion against God. Those that follow him do not want the Son of God to rule over them. Notice, there is no real resistance against the real God of creation. The armies are gathered for slaughter because all the forces of Satan and man are no match against the God of creation. I am sure Satan knows this but he hates humanity and God so much that he intends to bring humanity to total destruction. The Beast and False Prophet are judged by Jesus and they are cast alive into the Lake of Fire.

Conclusion

At this point, one will think that we have finally come to the end of all the wars and battles and killings. In the next chapter Satan himself will be bound for a thousand years. But the suspense is not entirely over; watch out for yet another twist in the tale!