Heaven, Home of the Soul (Revelation 21)

Heaven, Home of the Soul (Revelation 21)

The visions of the little book which John was told to take and eat began in chapter 11 where we saw a vision of the church in great distress.  In chapter 12 the scene jumped abruptly back in time to the birth of Jesus Christ.  Then we saw the efforts of the dragon to destroy Jesus and the thwarting of those plans.  Then in chapter 13 we see the beast and his false prophet rise up and try to destroy the church.  Then we see the various ways God used to try and bring the persecuting powers to repentance and then ultimately the great war between evil and good.  We then saw the destruction of the harlot city, the beast and the false prophet and then the final destruction of Satan, the judgment of mankind and then the punishment of the wicked.  What is left now is a vision of the reward for perseverance.

Throughout the Revelation, the faithful are exhorted to overcome the forces of evil.  Do not give in, do not partake with them, do not bow down to the images set up by the false prophet, do not worship the beast and do not give up.  We have seen the consequences for failure and we have seen the warnings and the visions of the punishment that awaits the wicked.  Now it’s time to see the prize.  Now it’s time to get a glimpse of the reward that awaits the stedfast souls who overcame and remained faithful despite the odds.

To Christians, chapter 21 and part of chapter 22 is portrayal of the glorious home of the faithful soul beyond the final judgment.  Throughout the Christian age this vision has comforted the hearts of countless Christians during the times of trial, persecution, tragedy and the deaths of loved ones.  Chapter 21 is a vision of what all Christians strive for.  Christians are described in scripture as being pilgrims in a foreign land with their citizenship in heaven.   Here is the reward that awaits the diligent and the faithful.  Here is their nation, their country, their destination, their hope and their home.  Revelation 21 is a vision of the Christian’s spiritual home described in terms we can identify with.  As beautiful as it is described and as glorious a place as John describes it, there is no better word for it than the word, “home”.  This is something the faithful Christian has never really had.  This is what the faithful Christian has looked ahead to and yearned for all their lives.  This is what the faithful Christian has been promised and hopes for; the final destination, the goal, the prize, the reward for a life of faith faithfully lived.  This is heaven, the home of the soul.

Revelation 21:1
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.”

Here we have the stage set for this vision in the very first line.  The earth has passed away, the sea is no more.  Isaiah wrote in 65:17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” In 2 Peter 3:13, it is written, “But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”  The idea of a new heaven and new earth is given in scripture in numerous places.  This denotes a new place to live.  A home for the soul which is better than the old one and permanent.  The old has passed away to be replaced by the new.  Some teach that this is speaking of a new physical earth.  This is not the case because Peter wrote that the earth nor the heavens we are familiar with will no longer exist (2 Peter 3:10-12).

The Hebrew writer taught that only once more will He who speaks from heaven shake the earth and the skies above and when He does, all the things which are made, meaning the creation, will be removed, leaving only what cannot be shaken in its place.  He then goes on to say that what cannot be shaken and will not be removed is the Kingdom of God.  His spiritual kingdom which is not physical (Hebrews 12:25-28).

What is left after the first earth and first heaven passes is the spiritual realm.  The text of the verse affirms this with the words “and the sea is no more“.  Proponents of the new physical earth belief are going to have to explain how this new physical earth is going to exist without the oceans which are said to be no more.  The new heaven the new earth are not physical by any means.  They are going to be the spiritual home of the soul for the overcomers.

“and the sea is no more”
The King James Version renders this “and there was no more sea“.  In Revelation 4 we read of John’s vision of the four great beasts before the throne of God.  These four great beasts represented God’s people from all over the earth.  The four great beasts were a figure for the church which in scripture is the spiritual kingdom of God.  The crystal sea, mentioned in Revelation 15:2 was a figure for the barrier between God and His people.  Christians on earth walk by faith, and not by site.  While scripture teaches that we have fellowship with God (1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 John 1:6), but this fellowship is maintained through a barrier.  Christians on earth are not allowed direct access to God the Father.  But in heaven, the home of the soul, Christians will no longer have a barrier between them and God.  The figure of “no more sea” is representative of a place where all the redeemed shall have direct access and face to face fellowship with God.  The sea being gone is the absence of the barrier between God and His people which exists in the church on earth.

Another thing to consider is that the greater beast of chapter 13 came from the sea.  With the absence of the sea, there will be no more source for danger to come from.  This is a place of absolute eternal safety and security.

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven of God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”

The old order of things had its holy city, so also does the coming one.  The old Jerusalem has long since passed and was a physical place of not only the righteous children of God, but also of tears, mourning of death.  In the new Jerusalem, there will be no more death or tears of any kind.  Coming down out of heaven means that it is of divine origin. And so it is, Jesus in John 14:2-3 was quoted as saying “I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, (there) ye may be also.”  This is a vision, described in earthly terms, of the place Jesus went to prepare for His saints.

The imagery of the bride adorned for her husband is familiar terminology from Ephesians 5:27, “that he might present the church to himself a glorious (church), not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”  This is a picture of the presenting of the body of the saved to the Lord by Himself, having previously given Himself to it similar to a groom giving himself for his bride.  There is a dual imagery here of both the church on earth and of Heaven, but the primary focus is on heaven as will be seen in verse 3 where God Himself is said to dwell with his people.  The vision here is of the church, including all the saved who lived before the cross, in her final glory beyond the judgment in her eternal home with God

Revelation 21:3
“And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, (and be) their God”

No more is God with His people in Spirit as He was before.   No more do we walk by faith and not by sight.  No longer is God invisible.  In this new Jerusalem, God Himself, in totality, will be with the saved.  This is a place where the redeemed come into the actual presence of God Himself forever.  This is Heaven, the home of the Soul.

Revelation 21:4
“and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.”

On earth, the righteous shed tears of grief, they die, they mourn and they hurt.  In the Heaven there will be no more tears, no more death, no more mourning and no more pain of any kind.  All these things have passed away and are gone forever.  The Christians who first received the Revelation were enduring horrendous hardship and persecution.  What a beautiful picture of what awaited the victorious this must have represented to them.  What a beautiful picture that awaits the victorious of all ages this is.  The Roman Empire has long since fallen but there are still plenty of enemies of Christians on earth.  There are places on earth today where the proclamation of one’s faith in Jesus Christ results in one’s immediate execution.  This vision of heaven was written for Christians living under the great persecution of the Roman Empire but it applies to every Christian that ever lived past, present and future.  “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” (Revelation 2:10-11).  The crown of life is worn in heaven, the home of the soul.

Revelation 21:5
“And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.”

From the throne of God, it is announced that the old physical existence with the pain, suffering, sorrow and death are to be replaced with something new where none of these things exist anymore.  And the readers are assured from the throne that these words are true and that they can be trusted.  People who are hurting, mourning and suffering can put their trust in these words and in Jesus Christ and find their way home.  He is telling the truth.  There is a place better than the one they are living in.  There is a home where sorrow and pain do not exist.  There is a home where there are no more tears and we can trust His word on that.  These words apply to every Christian that ever cried a tear of grief or suffered a loss.

Revelation 21:6
“And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

As is often the case in Revelation, future happenings are described in past tense terms.  So sure and inevitable are these events that they are described as already having been accomplished.  The occupant of the throne identifies Himself for us with words familiar from His introduction of Himself in the first of the Revelation.  In the beginning, Jesus Christ identified Himself as the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” (Revelation 1:8).  Jesus Christ is speaking from the throne of God.  We have here a wondrous image of the unity of God.  So united are the Father, the Son and the Spirit that from the throne, they speak as one.

Eternal life in heaven with God is offered to all mankind.  This opportunity is given freely to any who would respond to the call.  There are teachings among those who claim Christ as their savior that teach God selectively gives salvation to whosoever He will.  This is not true, salvation is offered to whosoever thirsts for it.  We see this offer repeated even more strongly at the close of the book, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17).

Jesus claimed to be the beginning and the end.  Scripture supports this as being a literal statement about Himself.  Numerous places credit Jesus Christ as the active agent directing the creation of all things.  One of the most notable is found in Colossians 1:16-17, “For by him [Jesus], were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”  Also in John’s gospel when he was introducing Jesus in the first chapter, he made this statement in verse 10, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (KJV). Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he taught that God “created all things by Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 3:9).  It is easy to conclude that Jesus was indeed the beginning of it all.

Jesus will also be the last.  He will be the last of all creation when He returns at the end. 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”  And when Jesus does come, it will be “from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, (even) eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Jesus Himself said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).  Jesus is indeed both the beginning and the end.  And when He does end things here on earth, all things will be made new and we will have another beginning which shall never end.

Revelation 21:7
“He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”

The overcomers who are faithful unto death will inherit this place of no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears.  Christians in the church today are the sons of God (1 John 3:2), but there is sorrow in the church with tears, physical death and loss.  This is not so in the place the overcomers shall inherit.  While we are the children of God now, in heaven we will be in the presence of God almighty in a way never before known.  He will be the God we can see.  We will be His children in His literal presence.  God is not saying here that we are not His children until we inherit the home of no more tears.  He’s telling the overcomers that when this place of sorrow they are enduring has passed, they are going to come into a place of protection in the Home of God where there will be no more pain.  This place we are going to inherit is going to be better than anything we have ever known and the relationship we will have with God will be unlike anything we have ever experienced.

Revelation 21:8
“But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part (shall be) in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.”

And here again is the fate of those who never come to righteousness or who did not remain faithful unto death.  Here is the opposite destination of those who do not inherit the eternal life in the home of the soul.  Revelation is a letter written to oppressed Christians as a message of hope and perseverance.  Christians are told time after time they must overcome.  The fate of those Christians who do not overcome is the primary focus of this admonition.  Time and again throughout the Revelation Christians are cautioned to persevere and warned against succumbing to temptation no matter what form it comes in.  And now after a vision of the reward for faithfulness has been given, Christians are again admonished to overcome and remain faithful.  If it were not possible for the Christian to fall and lose their inheritance in heaven, there would be no warnings to avoid it.

We have seen the second death mentioned earlier in Revelation.  It was first mentioned in the letter to Smyrna.  Following the warning to remain faithful unto death in Revelation 2:10, we see the fate of those who do not in these words, “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” (V11).

The second death is mentioned again in Revelation 20:6 in the context of the first resurrection.  The second death has no power over all those who have a part in the first resurrection.  As is often times the case, Revelation explains itself and this is yet another example of this.  The second death is defined in 20:14 as the “lake of fire” and again here as “the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone“.  We understand this to be Hell, which is the opposite destination of those who overcome, remain faithful unto death and find their way to the city of no more tears.

The second death awaits those who are “fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars”.  This list of the unrighteous includes all mankind, both Christians and non-Christians.  Paul gave instruction to the Corinthian church concerning a Christian who was guilty of fornication, (1 Corinthians 5:1).  This guilty Christian was required to repent or face the second death.  In Acts 8 we read the account of a man named Simon who was a sorcerer in his past.  He heard the gospel and converted and when he saw the miracles being performed he wanted to buy the ability to pass them on.  He wanted to go back to his old tricks of sorcery.  he was told to repent or face the second death.  In Hebrews 3:12 we read of those Christians who were guilty of unbelief in departing from the living God.  Christians can be all of the things listed in Revelation 21:8 and face the second death.  Or they can overcome and inherit a home in the city of no more tears.  The application for us today is that all must come to Christ and all Christians must persevere and overcome temptation or face the lake of fire; the second death.

Revelation 21:1-8 can be summed up as “heaven, the perfect place of fellowship”.  The crystal sea that was present in Revelation 4:6 is not seen in this vision (V1).  In this place of no more tears, this barrier has been removed so that mankind has perfect access to and fellowship with the person of God almighty.  In the spiritual kingdom of God on earth, we have fellowship with God in a spiritual way, but there is a barrier between us.  In the place of no more tears, this barrier has been removed and Christians stand in the actual presence of God almighty.

Revelation 21:9
“And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

In Revelation 17 an angel holding one of the seven vials instructed John to “come hither” and see the judgments of the great whore that sitteth on many waters.  The destruction of the Roman Empire was absolute.  Never again will the Roman Empire rise to power like it did in those times.  The judgment of the Empire is over, the beast and the false prophet have been put down and thrown into eternal torment.  Satan, the ringleader has been put down and now what’s left is a vision of what awaits those who overcame.

The saved of all time, washed clean by the blood of the lamb and because of their perseverance and faithfulness gained the victory over Satan.  As clean and pure as a virgin, fit to be the wife of the king.  What a connection the saved will have with God.  There is no closer bond.  There is no greater relationship than that of bride and groom.  As children of God on earth, Christians similarly are known as the bride of Christ.  But in heaven, the bride will get to see her groom and be in His presence.

Revelation 21:10
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God”

One would expect to see a glorious vision of a bride after reading that the angel was going to show John the wife of the lamb.  This is not the case.  The wife of the lamb is introduced as the holy city Jerusalem.  Let us recall that the great harlot was symbolized as the city that reigned over the kings of the earth.  As the harlot was symbolized by a great city, so also is the wife of the lamb symbolized as a city, but this city is holy.  In Ezekiel 40:2 we read of this great prophet being shown the frame of a city from a very high mountain.  This city that Ezekiel saw was a vision of the church which was to come.  In John’s vision, he sees the church in its final glory at home with God and with Jesus.

Revelation 21:11
“having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal”

In Revelation 4:3 Jasper and Sardius stone were used to illustrate He who sat on the throne.  The Sardius stone was the color of blood which symbolized God’s Judgment.  Here there is no judgment for in heaven all that has passed.  Now there is only the perfect diamond, flawless in its beauty which represents the glorious illumination of the bride of the lamb; that holy city; the saved of all the ages.

Revelation 21:12
“having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are (the names) of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel”

Cities in those times had walls built around them for safety.  The walls here represent safety and security for the inhabitants.  The three uses of the number 12 represents perfect divine organized religion. All the saved of all ages are called the children of Israel.

Revelation 21:13
“on the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.”

There is a lot of numerical symbolism being used here.  The number 3 which represents the perfect divine is used four times.  Four represents the world.  Revelation 21 started with a vision of the new earth.  The vision John is describing here is of the new earth here represented as the holy city.  We have here the figure for the perfect divine new earth.  Perfect divine access to the holy city on all four corners for the saved of all ages is in view here.

Revelation 21:14
“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

The twelve apostles and twelve tribes of Israel mentioned in V12 make up the complete picture of all the saved of all time.  The foundation was built by the apostles, (Acts 2:42) with Jesus Christ as the head of the corner, (1 Peter 2:7).  There were more than 12 apostles, the number representing all of them.

Revelation 21:15
“And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.”

Interestingly, John was charged with the duty of measuring the temple of God in Revelation 11:1 which was a figure for the church.  An angel is measuring the holy city while John watched.  John’s measuring stick was just a plain rod, the angel’s measuring stick was described as golden.  This image of the city is one of ultimate glory.  The bride here which is a figure for the faithful children of God are no longer in an earthly assembly.  This assembly is in heaven.

Revelation 21:16
“And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal.”

There is no way this could be a literal city.  The literal size of it is staggering.  A furlong is an eighth of a mile therefore the city in the vision is about 1500 miles length by width with buildings 1500 miles tall.  Jesus said “In my Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2).  The sheer dimensions given by John in his vision certainly allows for plenty of space for these mansions.

The numbers are figurative, the number 12 which is a perfect religious number multiplied by 1000 which is a perfect or complete number multiplied by itself three times which is a symbol of the perfect divine.  What is in view here is that the city is spacious and is utterly complete and of divine origin in it’s makeup from front to back, side to side and bottom to top.  When we consider the description of John’s vision as a whole, we see a picture of a strong, spacious, perfect and beautiful city where God’s people will dwell with Him in perfect security and peace.

In looking at these descriptions of the city in John’s vision we must keep in mind that John had to describe what he saw in earthly terms which man could understand.  Man is a physical being and only relates to things of a physical nature.  No man has ever seen heaven or anything like it so cannot really comprehend the beauty, peace and tranquility that will be found there.  One thing we need to keep in mind is that heaven is the complete opposite of hell.  To the extent that hell is horrible, heaven is wondrous and vice versa.  The lost are really missing out on something wonderful.

Revelation 21:17
“And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, (according to) the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.”

The walls around this great city are a hundred and forty cubits high, or roughly 200 feet high if you use the measure of a normal man.  A cubit was the length of man’s forearm and differed somewhat from individual to individual.  The cubit here is according to “the measure of a man, that is, of an angel“.  This is a purposefully ambiguous figure.  The walls were not any specific measured height.  They were 144 cubits, or 12 times 12 which is the perfect religious number.  The walls were the perfect height.

Revelation 21:18
“And the building of the wall thereof was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass.”

Jasper is believed to be diamond.  The walls were made of diamonds, perfect, flawless and shining bright light in every direction.  The city was pure gold as shiny as glass.  These are physical descriptions of a heavenly non physical place.  It is necessary to describe such a vision in earthly physical terms.  These cannot be the descriptions of a literal place, yet there are some who try to literalize it.  In rough dimensions John visualized a city that would span a literal territory from the Atlantic Ocean to Denver, Colorado and from the southern tip of Texas to the Canadian border and of such a height that the tops of the buildings would be roughly 5 times higher than the edge of earth’s atmosphere.  It should be immediately evident to the reader of any age that this is not a literal city.  We are being given images of magnificence and splendor in terms we can identify with.

Revelation 21:19-20
“The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.”

Of significance here is not so much the identify of the precious gems in the vision but the number of them.  There are twelve different varieties of stones which again symbolizes a perfect religious number.  every dimension given; every characteristic of the holy city is expressed in numbers which have religious significance to the first readers of the Revelation.

It is not certain what the exact identify of all of these precious gems are.  Following is a list of them and what they are according to the scholarship of today.

1. Jasper was diamond
2. Sapphire was the same as a sapphire today and were various shades of blue.
3. Chalcedony was a green carbonate of copper.
4. Emeralds were the same green gems of our day.
5. Sardonyx was a white gem accentuated by layers of red and brown.
6. Sardius – a ruby red stone
7. Chrysolyte – uncertain, maybe a gold-colored jasper.
8. Beryl was a gem the color of the sea.
9. Topaz was a yellowish gem.
10. Chrysoprase – a pale green gem.
11. Jacinth -a rich blue color.
12. Amethyst – a purplish red crystal common today.

Revelation 21:21
“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”

There were twelve ways into the city, each gate constructed of a single pearl.  Pearls were highly sought after in New Testament times.  In the parable of the pearl of great price, Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a wonderful pearl found by one who was diligently searching for it.  Once found, it was a highly treasured possession.

The streets were of gold so brilliant and shiny that it appeared to be transparent glass.  Only the purest, shiniest, most magnificent gold would symbolize what John was seeing.  A gold like no other.

Revelation 21:22
“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof.”

In the church on earth, the individual members are the temple where God dwells, (1 Corinthians 3:16).  In this beautiful home of the soul, God does not just dwell in the temple, He is the temple.  He is the protection, the sanctuary, the security and the home of the righteous.

Revelation 21:23
“And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof (is) the Lamb.”

There is no need for created light in heaven.  The glory of God is all the light that is needed.  When God visited Moses on Mt Sinai he had to tuck Moses into a crack in the rock and shield him from a direct view of his face as he walked by.  The brightness of God in his pure glory is something no physical man can even look upon and live to tell of (Exodus 33:20-23).  The account goes on to reveal that the glory of God was so bright that even Moses skin glowed from being in its presence.  There will be no need for created light in heaven.  The glory of God shines brightly enough for that purpose.

Revelation 21:9-23 can be summarized as the beauty, magnificence, security and glory of Heaven and living in the presence of God Himself.  What a wonderful place Heaven must be.

Revelation 21:24
“And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.”

Salvation was offered to all nations on earth and they shall walk in the light of God’s glory.  The kings of the earth, which is a figure for all Christians, (Revelation 5:10), will bring their glory into heaven with them.

Revelation 21:25
“And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there)”

In heaven there is the absolute absence of darkness.  The gates will not need to be shut because there will be no evil anywhere to threaten the holy city.  No bars or locks on windows and doors, no security measures will need to be in place.  There will be no evil in Heaven whatsoever.  Shutting the gates will be unnecessary.  The doors into Heaven stand open for all eternity.

Revelation 21:26
“and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it”

The redeemed out of every nation are in view here.  All of the glory sought or achieved out them will be brought into the city.  The next verse explains what will never been seen or allowed into the holy city.

Revelation 21:27
“and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

The gates into the city shall never be shut.  The walls are high, the city is great and secure and peaceful.  The only citizens will be the unified Godhead on the throne and those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.  The eternal spiritual register which contains the names of all the redeemed out of the earth.

Satan brought sin and death into the garden of Eden and from that came everything unclean, that made abominations and lies.  Satan has been defeated now and can never defile anything again.  At this point he he is suffering eternal punishment for all the pain and suffering inflicted upon the inhabitants of the earth since the beginning.  He is never going to be able to influence or tempt anybody in the holy city again.  The citizens of this city are safe from all those things which were part of the world before.  This is heaven.  Eternal security, rest and peace.  The never ending home of the soul.

Chapter Twenty one Paraphrase

Now I saw a new spiritual heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first physical earth have passed away. Also there was no more barrier between God and His people. Then I, John, saw the new earth, that holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is now with men, and He will dwell with them in person, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former physical things have passed away.”

Then Jesus, who sat on the throne with the Father said,” Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts for righteousness. He who overcomes Satan’s temptations shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with eternal fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And then he carried me away in Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me a vision of the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, and having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as a diamond. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the angel who talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city was laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height were equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold that shined like clear glass.  The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold that shined like transparent glass.

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The holy city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.  And those who are redeemed out of the nations shall walk in its light, and the saints and kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.  Its gates shall not be shut at all by day and there shall be no night there. And the redeemed from out of the earth shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

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The Fall of Satan (Revelation 20)

The Fall of Satan (Revelation 20)

The Beast from the sea (Roman Emperors), the beast from the earth (Concilia) and the enemies of the Christians have fallen.  But there remains the grand instigator of the whole evil axis of power that persecuted the Christians so intensely.  The pain and suffering that Satan caused is beyond belief.  It is true the Romans were acting of their own free will in persecuting the Christians but Satan was the author of the diabolical plan that sought to exterminate Christianity from the face of the earth.  The entire chapter of Revelation 20 is a vision of the ultimate fall and destruction of Satan, the ringleader of the evil forces against Christianity.

It should be noted that Revelation 20 is one of the most misunderstood and misused chapters in all of scripture.  This is where we see a lot of the Premillennial doctrines coming from.  So many people try and literalize the thousand year time span found in Revelation 20.  Briefly, if the thousand year binding of Satan is literal then we would have an angel, carrying a figurative key and a figurative chain that he will use to bind Satan and throw him into a figurative bottomless pit for a literal thousand years.  When one obviously has a whole paragraph full of figurative objects, it is at best unwise to literalize any of the components found within the context if there is not supporting scripture for it elsewhere.

Those who advocate Premillennialism believe that Jesus will return to earth someday and rule from Jerusalem for a thousand years.   There are a host of excellent reasons why Premillennialism cannot be true.  Paul taught that Jesus would never be “known again” after the flesh. (2 Corinthians 5:16).  In old testament times, God swore that no descendant of king Jeconiah would ever sit on the throne of David ruling in Judah again, (Jeremiah 22:30).  Jesus was a direct descendant of Jeconiah through both Joseph and Mary.

Premillennialists believe there will be two resurrections from the dead, the first of the righteous only, the second of the wicked, many years later. But, biblically, there are not two future separate resurrections: there will be “a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust” (Acts 24:15), but the just will not come out of their graves 1000 years before the unjust. Instead, the just will come out of their graves on “the last day” (John 6:39,40,44,54). There can be no days after “the last day”, much less 1000 years.  Not only did Jesus specify “the last day”, but even “the hour” in that “last day” in which, not the just only, but “all those in the graves will hear his voice, and will come out: those who have done good to a resurrection of life; but those who have done evil things to a resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29).

Premillennialists teach the rapture “in the clouds” with the Lord “in the air” separates them from the wicked down on the earth. But Jesus taught that there is no separation between the “wheat” and the “tares”, between “the good” fish and “the bad” fish until “the end of the world” (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, 47-50).  Also, Jesus taught that the “sheep” and the “goats” will not be separated until they go into “life eternal” or “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:31-46).

Premillennialists teach that there will be a period of time for the earth to exist after the next coming of Christ, however scripture teaches that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). There is only one day of the Lord left to come and when He does, the earth will be burned up.  There will be no time period for earth after He returns.

Premillennialism is in no way supported by the total body of scripture. The only way one can arrive at this contrived doctrine is to selectively pick various passages from scripture and manufacture it without regard to the teachings of the entire body of scripture pertaining to the topic of the resurrection. The Premillennialist view of Revelation 20 results in numerous contradictions with other clear Biblical teachings.  Premillennialists are taking apocalyptic symbolic language and literalizing it in contradiction with clear and concise scriptural teachings elsewhere.  This type of Biblical interpretation creates confusion which God claims to not be the author of.

A more reasonable way of looking at Revelation chapter 20 is to look at it through the eyes of who it was written to.  Let us consider the circumstances under which they lived at the time of the writing.  Let us apply Revelation 20 the way the first readers would have applied it to their situations.

It was written to the early Christians and has been all about them from the beginning.  All of the earthly foes of the Christians in the Revelation have now been overthrown.  Only one remains.  It only stands to reason that the last enemy of the Christians be dealt with permanently.  Even after all the earthly enemies have been destroyed, there still remains the one who masterminded their suffering in the first place.  The story would be incomplete and offer no real hope to the oppressed Christians if the greatest enemy of all were left unscathed and in power.  Christians reading the Revelation hundreds of years later and making applications of the teachings to their lives need to know that Satan will be ultimately destroyed.  We all need to know this.  Without this information, their sufferings and the sufferings of all the Christians who lived afterward would never be completely avenged.  The wrongs which originated with Satan and trickled down through his evil agents would never be completely settled.

All of the bloodshed and needless slaughter, pain and suffering which have existed on earth since the creation is the fault of Satan.  When God created the earth, it was all good.  Everything bad throughout history had its origination in Satan.  The Revelation was written directly to the first Christians but it has within the fall of Satan elements that speak to every Christian that will ever live.  We can all read Revelation 20 and relate the overthrow and destruction of Satan with the final judgment of all the earth, however, the immediate context is of the plight of the first Christians and it is to that time period it must primarily speak and it is up to us to make the right application beyond that.  Satan is overthrown and sent to an everlasting punishment in Revelation 20.  It is obvious that we who read it today can look ahead to the final judgment of all the earth and apply that destruction finally to the greatest enemy mankind has ever known.  We see in Revelation 20 the destiny of the originator of all the pain and suffering of all mankind, of all ages since Adam and Eve tended the garden of Eden.

It is vitally important to keep in mind that the events pictured in Revelation do not always follow a linear chronological timeline. The visions of John have painted a story of victory over persecution since the beginning.  These visions have been laid out in a non-chronological fashion all along.  The opening of the seven seals and the bowls of wrath were not in chronological order.  Many of the natural disasters and events God used were overlapping and running contemporary with one another.  It should not come as any surprise to anyone at this time that the events in Revelation 20 are not laid out in Chronological fashion.  By now the reader should be well aware of this fact and should recognize immediately that there is a grand overall picture being illustrated in this vision.  Any attempt to interpret Revelation 20 in a systematic sequential fashion is immediately frustrating and should be dismissed outright.  The reader should step back and take a broad view of the vision and consider it in light of the whole story of Satan, his fall and ultimate total destruction in eternal punishment.  Focusing on the elements which we know and can identify and then harmonizing the rest into one grand vision.  Revelation 20 is a big picture of the ultimate falling of Satan and the forces of evil which draw on events from before the coming of Christ all the way to the end of the Christian age and to the final judgment.

Revelation 20:1-2
“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.  And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years”

And we now jump backwards in time to an event that took place before the coming of Jesus Christ on earth.  This is a figurative picture of Satan being bound after what He did in the garden of Eden.  Satan had restrictions placed upon his activities since that transgression.  He had to get divine permission from God in order to afflict Job and Satan followed the directives given him by God to the letter.  Satan operated only within the parameters God gave him concerning Job.  Satan was not nor has ever been unbound on the earth to do as he would without restriction.  As soon as Satan demonstrated his rebellious nature, he had restrictions placed upon him.  This is the binding we see in John’s vision here.

Here we see the first usage of the thousand year time period.  Satan was obviously bound for a much longer period of time than a thousand years so what then does this time period represent?  The number 10 symbolized completeness.  The number 3 symbolized the perfect divine.  Multiples of numbers represented in the minds of the early Christians the same things on a larger scale.  Completeness multiplied by itself 3 times which symbolized the perfect divine would therefore mean a complete period of time sufficient to accomplish God’s purpose.  The thousand years that Satan’s activities were restricted is therefore a figurative symbol for a period of time from the initial binding of Satan until the period of time where he was loosed for a short period.

Revelation 20:3
“and cast him into the abyss, and shut (it), and sealed (it) over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.”

Peter taught in 2 Peter 2:4 that “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment”  Satan was an angel that sinned.  The fact that he was the first angel that sinned and that he led all the others to sin does not in any way make him less of an angel that sinned.  Satan, along with all the other angels who sinned were bound in chains of darkness and reserved for the final judgment.  We understand this place of torment to be an area in the Hadean realm that Peter referred to as Tartarus in verse 4.  This word is typically translated as “hell”.

Is Satan literally loosed out of his prison and set to do as he pleased with the earth with no restrictions?  Certainly not.  If this were the case the earth would be immediately destroyed.  Consider the plight of Job on a worldwide scale.  Satan had to get permission from God in order to afflict Job in the manner he did.  Were Satan to be unleashed without restriction upon the earth at any time, the results would be immediate worldwide devastation, destruction and Chaos the likes of which we could not even imagine.

After this perfect period of time, Satan is allowed to operate in a more direct fashion on the earth than previously.  Not without restriction by any means.  During the temptation of Jesus by Satan, he made a statement to Jesus which has a direct bearing on this.  “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it” (Luke 4:6).  Satan was able to come face to face and tempt Jesus Christ directly.   Satan does not do that now.  And there is no record of him ever tempting anyone face to face beyond the garden of Eden.  Satan had to get special permission from God to afflict Job in the way he did and there is no indication that Job ever met Satan face to face.  In fact, it is evident from Job’s complaints that neither he nor his companions knew that Satan was directly involved in the matter.  There is no indication that Job ever knew of the meeting between God and Satan concerning him.

Evil spirits were also allowed to possess people during this period of time.  The scriptures contain many examples of evil spirits being cast from people.  This is not something that we see throughout Biblical times.  There was a period of time Biblically where the forces of evil were allowed to operate directly on mankind.  The restrictions on Satan and his allies were relaxed to a degree but only within strict parameters.  It is significant to note that when Jesus confronted the evil spirits, they obeyed him implicitly and when the disciples were given the power to cast them out of possessed people in the name of Jesus Christ, these spirits had to submit to this ability.

Satan does not normally walk around on the earth and manifest himself directly to mankind.  In order for Satan to manifest himself directly to Jesus, face to face, there had to be some kind of arrangement made to permit him to do so.  It is during this time that Satan was loosed from his prison to the extent that he could go forth and deceive the nations of the earth.  This and the presence of the evil spirits was a temporary arrangement and happened in the years directly before and after Christ’s life on earth.  The loosing of Satan has been done.  This event is in our past and has been fulfilled and today the degree of freedom that Satan and his evil followers enjoyed for a period of time is over.  Satan and the forces of evil are still in operation on earth today but not in the way they were during the time of Christ on earth.  In Zechariah 13:1-2 we read of a prophecy that explicitly states that the evil spirits, among other things will pass from the land in the days of Christ’s sacrifice on earth.  This prophecy has been fulfilled.  Satan and the evil spirits have been returned to their former state of bondage in chains of darkness awaiting the final judgment.

Revelation 20:4
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and (I saw) the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

Now we see some of the direct results of Satan being loosed for a “little time”.  Satan wasted no time in trying to exterminate Christ’s church from the earth by force.  Many Christians died for the testimony of Jesus Christ.  Mention is made of those who received not the mark of the beast.  This is a picture of those who overcame Satan while his restrictions were loosed for a little time.  These are the martyrs spoken of under the alter in Revelation 6:9 and then pictured again in Revelation 19, rejoicing that God’s judgment had at last come.

Who is this that sat upon the thrones and given judgment?  Paul answers this question in his letter to the Christians in Corinth, “Or know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:2-3).

Revelation 20:5
“The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection.”

The first resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Several people were raised from the dead during the Biblical times but Jesus Christ is the first one resurrected who would live forever, never again to die.  There are only two resurrections mentioned in scripture which will do this.  The first one has already come to pass.  The second one is yet to come (John 5:28-29).

Notice that the first resurrection is tied directly with those who were before dead until the thousand years should be finished.  Again, one cannot look at this series of visions in a systematic chronological order.  The thousand years is nothing more than a period of time sufficient for God to accomplish a purpose.

Satan was cast into a bottomless pit and then loosed for a little while after a period of time represented figuratively as a thousand years.  Revelation 20:5 pinpoints this time of the loosing with the first resurrection. Satan was loosed at the time of the first resurrection.  Verse 6 gives us further insight into this first resurrection which helps us to positively identify what it is.

Revelation 20:6
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Over these the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ.  Those who participate in the resurrection of Jesus Christ are priests of God and of Christ. How do we participate in the resurrection of Jesus Christ?  “having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).  When we are baptized we are buried in a symbolic way with Jesus Christ when He was buried.  In Romans 6:4 Paul wrote that we are buried with Him through baptism into His death and then he goes on to say, “that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with (him) in the likeness of his death, we shall be also (in the likeness) of his resurrection” (Romans 6:4-5).

Christians have a participatory part in the resurrection of Jesus Christ at baptism.  And upon these, the second death hath no power.  What is the second death?  “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  The second death is the judgment of the unrighteous who will die the spiritual death which is eternal separation from God in everlasting punishment.  This death has no power over faithful Christians who have participated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Peter wrote of Christians being priests in 1 Peter 2:5, “ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” and then again in verse 9, “But ye are a elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for (God’s) own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light”

John writes by inspiration that these Christians will reign with Jesus Christ for a thousand years. Well, if this were a literal time period then how do we explain that it has been about 2000 years since this letter was written?  Earth is still here.  There are still Christians on earth and there have been considerably more than a thousand years pass since the first resurrection.  So then what does this time period represented as a thousand years really mean?  The number 10 symbolized completeness.  The number 3 symbolized the perfect divine.  Multiples of numbers represented in the minds of the early Christians the same things on a larger scale.  Completeness multiplied by itself 3 times which symbolized the perfect divine would therefore mean a complete period of time sufficient to accomplish God’s purpose.

Revelation 20:7
“And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison”

It cannot be stated enough that to try and interpret John’s visions in Revelation in a linear step by step chronological  fashion will result in some pretty confusing results.  This is by no means the only time in the apocalypse that John’s visions revert back to an earlier period of time.  There are two periods of time represented as a thousand years.  There is the time period that Satan was bound before he is loosed and there is another time period that the priests of God who participated in the first resurrection reign with Christ.  These two are not the same time period yet both are represented as a thousand years.

We have two time periods here to deal with.  So the question now is, which one is it?  Verse 8 helps us answer this question.

Revelation 20:8
“and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

Of great significance in understanding this is in the words, “the war”.  What war?  This the age old war between good and evil that the Christians of the time were engaged in.  To them this war was an ongoing struggle that built up to the battle that was introduced in chapter 16, and that was fought in chapter 19.  Revelation was written to the first century Christians and applies directly to their plight and we must never lose sight of that fact if we are to make sense of it in any way.  But we also must recognize that it was written to them with an application for all Christians.   The war that the Christians were engaged in at the time is still going on today.  The Roman Empire has fallen and the immediate persecutors of the Christians to whom the Revelation was written have long since joined the demons in chains of darkness awaiting the final judgment.  The plight of the condemned rich man as told by Jesus and recorded by inspiration in Luke 16:24 makes it clear that this incarceration is by no means a pleasant one.

The immediate context of verse 8 speaks to Satan’s deception of the nations of the first century and soon thereafter and the rising of them all in opposition to Christianity.  All of this came to head in the battle of Armageddon which saw the destruction of their earthly enemies.  But Satan has not been completely destroyed.  He and his evil forces lost that battle and Christianity prevailed, but they are still fighting the war.   The broader application is that we must recognize that while Satan’s plans to exterminate the church in the early years of its existence failed, he is still at work today.

The battle in Revelation for the first century has been fought.  The Roman Empire fell.  The war which all Christians are engaged in with the forces of evil still rages today and will continue for as long as earth remains. John’s vision here has a dual purpose.  It provides comfort for the afflicted Christians who first read it and lived during the described events and it also provides a prophetic picture of the ultimate downfall and destruction of Satan yet to come and will happen at the end of the second time period represented in this context as a thousand years.

In the Old Testament, Gog was the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:2; 39:1-16). His territory was known as the land of Magog, and he was the chief of those northern hordes who were to make a final onslaught upon Israel.  According to Ezekiel’s account Gog’s army included in its numbers Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer or the Cimmerians, and Togarmah, from the extreme North. They are represented as a vast mixed horde from the far-off parts of the North, the limits of the horizon, completely armed and equipped for war. They were to come upon the mountains of Israel and cover the land like a cloud. Their purpose is plunder, for the people of Israel are rich and dwell in towns and villages without walls. Gog’s coming, which had been prophesied by the prophets of Israel, shall be accompanied by a manifestation of the person of God and great convulsions in Nature. A panic shall seize the hosts of Gog, rain, hailstones, pestilence, fire and brimstone shall consume them. Their bodies shall be food for the birds (Ezekiel 39:4), their weapons shall serve as firewood for seven years (Ezekiel 39:9), and their bones shall be buried East of the sea in a place called Hamon-gog and thus not defile the holy land with their corpses (Ezekiel 39:11-12).

The fulfillment of this prophecy can be seen in the language of the Revelation concerning the downfall of the enemies of the Christians.  Israel in the prophecy of Ezekiel can be correlated with the church which is spiritual Israel after Christ’s resurrection.  The war that Gog was said to be amassing against Israel is very similar in nature to the war against the Christians perpetuated by Satan and carried out by the enemies of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

In Revelation 20:7 Satan is loosed in some fashion and goes to the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to muster his hosts for the final struggle against God and the Christians. In Ezekiel the invasion of Gog occurs during the Messianic age which fits perfectly with the account in Revelation.  In Ezekiel, Gog and Magog are gathered under the direction of God for their destruction while in Revelation they are gathered by Satan whose abilities and actions are governed by God.  In both cases the number is vast, the destruction is by divine direction, and is complete and final. I see the prophecy of Gog and Magog as realizing it’s fulfillment in the destruction of the enemies of Christianity in Revelation.  If not, there are certainly enough similarities that the Christians living under the persecution of the Roman Empire would recognize in the language the prophecy of Ezekiel and make the application to themselves.

Another thing of great significance here is that the prophecy surrounding Gog and Magog finding its fulfillment in Revelation tie the loosing of Satan inseparably with the Messianic age.  Of this there can be no question.  The advocates of Premillennial doctrine are here dealt a death blow to their beliefs.

Revelation 20:9-10
“And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

The beast and the false prophet are directly mentioned here.  This vision is primarily focused on the Christians living during the great persecution of Rome.  But notice that the beast and false prophet were already in torment and Satan was cast into the lake with them.  That is where Satan and the beast and the false prophet are to this day.  And they are being tormented day and night and this torment is never going to end.  It will go on for ever and ever.

Satan and his earthly allies covered the breadth of the earth and had the saints, and the beloved city completely surrounded.  It looked like there was no hope for them when God intervened. Divine fire did not literally come down from heaven and devour Satan and his allies.  The vision here is one of a swift and terrible overthrow of the enemies of righteousness.  The enemies of the Christians were directly overthrown by other conquering nations as they destroyed and plundered the Roman Empire, but God makes it plain here that this was all done under His supervision and by His intervention under His authority.

The camp of the saints and the beloved city mentioned in the vision is Christ’s people who collectively make up His church.  There are many congregations of the Lord’s church as evidenced in His address to seven of them in the beginning of the Revelation.  But collectively there is only one camp, one city.  This vision speaks to the unity of God’s people in Christ.  There are many groups of Christians but only one body; one camp; one city.  Today, we call this one body, this one camp, this one city the church of Christ.  It may bear other similar names on the surface but this does not change the fact that it is the body which belongs to Christ; the church of Christ and there is only one, (Ephesians 4:4).

Revelation 20:11
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.”

They can run but they cannot hide.  When God’s judgment comes, nobody who rejected Him in life will be able to flee.  There will be no place left for them to hide.  The earth and all that is in it will be destroyed.

Revelation 20:12
“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is (the book) of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

And now John’s vision takes yet another leap in the timeline to great day of the Lord and the end of all things and the final judgment.  The doors of Hades, also known as the realm of the dead shall be opened up and all the dead shall come forth to the final judgment.  Everyone who dies, like the rich man and Lazarus are judged in some fashion at that time.  There is a separation in the Hadean realm between the saved and the lost.  Those who are in the Hadean realm know what their eternal destiny is going to be.  The great day of the Lord where the final judgment will take place is to be a time of universal recognition of the glory and majesty of God by all who lived at one time.  The saved will be separated from the lost and the lost will receive their final sentence while the saved will be take their place at the right hand of Jesus on High and will be glorified in the sight of all along with God in His throne.  The lost will then be cast into the eternal punishment of Hell and the redeemed shall go to their reward in Heaven with God the Father.

Revelation 20:13
“And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.”

Everyone who has died and are in Hades will be at the judgment.  The first resurrection was mentioned earlier and represented the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This is the second and final resurrection of all the rest, both the just and the unjust mentioned in Acts 24:15.  And everyone of them shall be judged according to their works.  This is reminiscent of Jesus’ words in John 5:28-29 where he taught, “Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.”

Revelation 20:14
“And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, (even) the lake of fire.”

Earlier, those who were said to have a part in the first resurrection would not suffer from the second death.  Here the second death is identified for the readers.  It is the death which results in the total and eternal separation from God into torment and punishment which will never end.  The second death is the permanent one for which there will be no relief, no resurrection and no end.  Those who would inherit eternal life must be a participant in the first resurrection in order to be protected from the horrors of the second death.

The lake of fire here is representative of Hell, the final and eternal destination of all the unjust.

Revelation 20:15
“And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”

The book of life mentioned here was mentioned previously in verse 12.  This is a book of great significance in the coming judgment.  Those who are not written in this book of life will suffer the lake of fire.  This book directly mentioned eight times in the King James Version of the New Testament with seven of them being in Revelation alone.  In the Old Testament God said to Moses that whosever sinned against Him would be blotted out of His book (Exodus 32:32).  Paul mentioned the book of life directly in his letter to the Philippians when he said that his “fellowlaborers” were written therein, (Philippians 4:3).

We should not look at this as a literal book that God keeps in His possession.  Let us recall that God lives in a spiritual realm where nothing of the physical as we perceive it exists.  The figure of this book is merely a way for us to realize that there is a means of record keeping in place of which we are all a part of.  Either we are found within the register of life or we are not.  There are no in betweens or degrees of inclusion or exclusion from this spiritual register.  One is either included or they are not.  Those who are included will have life, those who are not will be cast into the lake of fire.

Christians can have our names blotted out of this book, (Exodus 32:32, Revelation 3:5), and God told Moses who would be blotted out in Exodus 32:33, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” and Jesus in Revelation 3:5 is quoted as saying that those who overcome the persecution of the Roman Empire will not be blotted out of the book of Life.  The inference here is that those Christians who do not overcome will be blotted from this book.  And Revelation 20:15 gives us the fate of those who find their names blotted from this spiritual register represented as a “book”.

In the closing statements of the book of Revelation we see the final image of the book of life in scripture:

Revelation 22:19
“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
KJV

The warnings here are grim and the consequences of failure are severe.  We must keep in mind that not only is Revelation a book of comfort for the oppressed Christians of the time with application for all Christians of all times, it is also a reminder of the consequences of sin and of failing to overcome whatever temptation may be set before us in life.  It has been said in a summary of the New Testament that the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John reveal Jesus Christ.  The book of Acts teaches us how to get “into Christ” and the general epistles teach us how to live “in Christ”.  Revelation is a book of instruction on how to overcome and die “in Christ”.  Revelation chapter 20 closes with a pretty sobering picture of those who fail to overcome.  This is necessary in order for the complete picture to be painted.  We must know the whole council of God and one of the primary purposes of the book of Revelation was to teach Christians how to overcome and not have their names blotted out of God’s book of life.  Revelation was not written to lost people.  It was written to Christians living under the Roman persecution and we must realize that if any Christians ever had to overcome and remain faithful, then all Christians do for all the remaining time left on earth.  God is no respect of persons.

Revelation 20 is a vision of the ultimate fall of Satan.  Now all of the enemies of the Christians have been dealt with and we are given a vision of the end where Satan who is still at work influencing and deceiving will be finally put down forever and will receive the just punishment for his massive crimes against God and against humanity.  Those who do not wish to share in his fate are given a word of warning in the closing elements of the vision.  We do not want to spend our eternity in the lake of fire with Satan and sharing in his punishment.  While the readers are given this grim picture, it is not for long because chapter 21 is a picture of the rewards for those who do overcome.  It is a vision of hope for those who’s names are written in the book of life and have not been blotted out.

In closing, I would like to state that interpretations of this chapter are diverse among the able scholars.  In my efforts to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of this chapter, I disagreed with some of the views of the scholars I have depended the most on for the duration of this study.  It is not my intention to take away from their scholarship in any way.  I fully realize that this vision of Revelation is difficult and that I in no way can assume that my understanding of this vision can be the only right one.  My approach has been to look at this through the eyes of the first readers and to identify those elements of the vision which have a direct correlation with things taught elsewhere in scripture and how they would relate to and apply to their circumstances.

As for the order of the scenes, I have taken a non-chronological view of this vision, choosing to look at it as if John were describing a whole picture, like a painting, to his readers without regard to the order in which the various elements of this painting were placed in the picture by the artist.  One does not describe a painting to an individual in the order that everything within it was painted.  I have taken those elements of the picture which I feel are positively identified and molded the rest of the picture around those events to complete the overall vision.

I would like to call attention to the fact that I am not a Bible scholar, rather I am but an humble servant of Christ who desires to understand his will and obey it however I am able.  Readers of this study are encouraged to review all of the works of the recognized scholars and arrive at their own conclusions in regards to Revelation.  My understanding of this book and in particular Revelation 20 is my best guess based on a study of history and the works of other scholars and my template for this is to look at it through the eyes of the first readers, applying it to their lives and circumstances, and to let scripture be it’s own best commentary in every instance where it can be applied.

Revelation 20 Paraphrase

And I saw an angel come down from heaven and his hands was a key to the abyss and he had a great chain in his hand.  And he captured the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil, who is also called Satan and bound him for a period of time according to God’s purpose.  And then he threw Satan alive into the abyss and shut him in and put a seal on him so that he could not deceive the nations until God’s purpose for man required it and then Satan was loosed for a short period of time.

And looking back, I saw thrones, and the ones who sat upon them, and I saw that judgment was given unto them.  And I also saw the souls of them that were slain for their witnessing of Jesus Christ, and for their proclaiming of the word of God.  These are they who had not worshipped the beast, neither his  graven images and had not received his mark upon their foreheads, or held it in their hands.  And they lived and reigned with Jesus Christ for all of time.

Those who lived on the earth but were unsaved were condemned already and had no hope for life without the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   Blessed and holy are they who have participated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the condemnation of the lost has no power over them.  They are the priests of God and rule with Christ according to God’s eternal purpose.

But according to God’s purpose, Satan was permitted a measure of freedom for a period of time.  And he went out to deceive all the nations of the earth and gather his innumerable host of allies together in opposition of the righteous.  And Satan and his allies went the breadth of the earth and surrounded the saints of God and the church to destroy them but God overthrew and defeated them.  And Satan who deceived the whole earth was taken and thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and he will be punished continually for ever and ever.

And then I saw in my vision a great white throne and He who sat upon it.  And all who the unrighteous in league with Satan on earth and in heaven were unable to escape could find no place of refuge.  And then I saw all of the dead who ever lived standing before God and his books were opened and revealed.  And with them was the book of life and all were judged out of the things recorded in those books according to their righteous deeds.  Everybody who had ever lived and died from the sea and to the four corners of the earth were resurrected from Hades and they were judged according to their deeds.  Those who were found dead outside Christ were cast into the lake of fire which is the second and final death.  Whosever was not written in God’s book of life were cast into the lake of fire forever.

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King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19)

King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19)

The enemies of the Christians have refused to repent.  The whole purpose of God’s retribution was to try and bring the Roman Empire to repentance.  They have refused to leave their idolatrous and lascivious lifestyle.  History records that the Roman Empire was one of the most decadent societies ever to inhabit a place on the earth.  Homosexuality, fornication and adultery were the earmarks of their society.  And to cap that off they worshipped every manmade God imaginable including men on earth as Gods.  In an effort to foster public approval for the emperors, the Roman Empire forced the populace to worship them as Gods on earth.  The nations making up the empire were eager for the money and support of Rome and gladly went along with it.

From the viewpoint of the Romans this seemed like quite a tidy little arrangement and it was successful for a great many years.  However the fly in the ointment for them was that the Christians refused to have anything to do with worshipping their emperors and for good reason.  The Christians serve a jealous God who demands He be the only object of worship.  So offended by idolatry is our God that He compares it to fornication.  Christians are regarded by inspiration as the bride of Christ.  An idolatrous Christian is no different in the eyes of God than an unfaithful spouse and this is well known to all Christians.  Therefore worshipping a false God is absolutely forbidden and carries with it the consequence of spiritual separation from God.  The Christian is expected to die if necessary to keep from bowing down and worshipping an idol and the Revelation makes this crystal clear.

Of course the Roman Empire cared little for this.  To them the God of the Christians was nothing more than a silly superstition.  After all, they were well practiced in inventing Gods, why would they think the God of the Christians was any different than the manmade Gods they invented and pushed down the people’s throats?  All they knew was that the majority of the Roman citizenry went along with it and the Christians who were by far the minority refused at all cost.  Christianity was outlawed.  It was considered treason against the empire if one refused to bow down to the emperor.  The ability to buy food, work and live within the empire was made next to impossible for anyone refusing to worship the emperor.

Unfortunately for the empire, the enigmatic, invisible God of the Christians was a lot different than all of the many pagan Gods they served.  The God of the Christians was the one true and living God out of all of them.  None of the God’s of the Romans existed.  They were figments of the imagination oftentimes contrived for the purpose of controlling the population or bleeding money out of them.  The God of the Christians does exist and He is absolutely holy, just, loving and all powerful just to name a few of His attributes.  He gave mankind freewill in the Garden of Eden and not once has He ever revoked that privilege.  He gave the Roman Empire and its citizens every chance in the world to repent of all the time suffering the persecution and death of His faithful children.  One can only imagine the wrath of a Father who for the sake of His righteous nature watched the suffering of His children in order to maintain all of mankind’s freewill and give every lost soul the chance to repent and come to the truth.

Chapter 18 saw the point at which God has declared enough is enough.  Rome has not fallen yet but it is so sure to fall that it’s destruction is mentioned in the past tense.  The actual destruction of the empire begins later on in chapter 19 when we see the battle of Armageddon fought.  But before we see the final destruction of Rome we will see a picture of the champion of the Christians as He prepares for the judgment.

Revelation 19:1
“After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God”

This multitude envisioned here is the collective souls of those we saw beneath the alter in Revelation 6:9-10 who were asking God how long it would be before their blood was avenged against their oppressors, mentioned again later in Revelation 7:9 worshipping God on His throne.

Revelation 19:2
“for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”

Once again we see the judgment of the Empire spoken of in the past tense.  Their judgment had been ongoing for some time now pictured in the bowls of wrath but the final judgment was yet to come.  The final judgment would see the Empire destroyed from the earth for all time.

Revelation 19:3
“And a second time they say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goeth up for ever and ever.”

The saved dead in Christ are rejoicing now that God’s righteous judgment has come.  The imagery leading up to this supports that these rejoicing are the souls of the slain who overcame to the end.  They were stedfast till their death and now their murderers are going to get their just rewards.  Those who died for Christ have every right to expect the judgment of their oppressors.  They gave their lives so that their enemies could have a chance to repent and be saved.  They loved their enemies to their own graves.  And for those who refused to repent, they got what they had coming to them.

We are starting to see now the picture of the final judgment yet to come.  The enemies of the Christians died physical deaths to be sure but that is not the end of their suffering by any means.  It was only the beginning.  In the account of the rich man and Lazarus we learn that the rich man went straight to a place called Tartarus in the Hadean realm which is the abode of the dead.  Tartarus is a place of torment for the lost when they die.  There they await the day of the Lord where they will receive their final sentencing and be cast into the lake of eternal fire and darkness.  The rich man cried out to Abraham that he was tormented in flame.  When the enemies of the Christians died, they went to the same place the rich man went and are suffering in the same fire he is suffering in.  Truly it can be said that their smoke goeth up for ever and ever.

The words “smoke goeth up for ever and ever” are reminiscent of the fate of those who worshipped the beast in Revelation 14:9-11.

Revelation 19:4 “And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah.”

The vision here switches back to the beginning of the throne scene in Revelation 4.  We see here the same twenty four elders and the same living creatures around the same throne.  This serves to tie both series of visions in Revelation to a common event.  Keeping in mind that the visions John is recounting now are the contents of the little book given to him in Revelation 10.  We now see here and in the following elements of the vision things which tie everything together into one grand vision with one grand purpose.

Revelation 19:5
“And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great.”

To try and assign this voice coming from the throne to a particular source is fraught with frustration and difficulties.  The fact that it comes from the throne indicates that it is a directive from God.  It is easier to think of this as a singular voice of authority coming from the throne of God.  This directive from the throne is applicable to those on the earth in particular.  The saved who died in Christ are represented in the next verse making the picture complete.

Revelation 19:6
“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 thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigneth.”

And here we have a picture of the whole of righteous creation praising God who reigns perpetually.

Revelation 19:7
“Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”

The redeemed have every reason to be glad and to rejoice.  If not for the sacrifice made on our behalf our fate would be eternal destruction.  For that we should all be grateful, giving all the glory to God who had no obligation whatsoever to save us.  The saved here are pictured as the bride of Christ, chaste, pure and Holy.  The relationship between Christ and the saved is comparable to the relationship between a husband and a wife.  This is certainly a picture seen elsewhere in scripture and there is not a better commentary on this than what is written in Ephesians 5:22-32.

Worth mentioning here is that the bride has made herself ready.  This means that the redeemed have taken those steps and done the things necessary in order to prepare themselves for this relationship.  The words of Peter speak succinctly to this fact, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth…” (1 Peter 1:22).  The redeemed prepare themselves as brides by being obedient to the word of truth.

Revelation 19:8
“And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright (and) pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

The words of John in 1 John 3:7 come to mine when reading this verse.  “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.”  The bride of Christ adorns herself in fine linen and John goes on to explain exactly what the fine linen is.  It is the righteous acts of the saints.  Those who act righteously adorn themselves in white linen which is the same thing as righteousness.

Revelation 19:9
“And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God.”

This is one of seven beatitudes found in Revelation.

1.Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand (Revelation1:3).
2.Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them (Revelation 14:13).
3.Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame (Revelation 16:15).
4.Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).
5.Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years (Revelation 20:6).
6.Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book (Revelation 22:7).
7.Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city (Revelation 22:14).

It is quite obvious from a reading of these seven beatitudes that those who are bidden to the marriage supper of the lamb are only blessed if they

1.  Heed and keep the commandments written within Revelation.
2.  Die in Christ
3.  Keep their garments clean.
4.  Participate in the first resurrection. (Baptism)
5.  Keep God’s commandments.

Jesus taught, “Many are called, few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).  All people are called by the gospel to Christ.  But in comparison of all who are called, only a few will be bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.  Only a few will become the bride of Christ.  Only those who adorn themselves in righteous acts of obedience to the will of God will be bidden.  Righteous acts being represented as fine linen in verse 8.

Revelation 19:10
“And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

There is some discussion about who this is who told John not to worship Him.  This individual is a servant with John and his brethren.  Jesus is mentioned in the third person.  If this person were Jesus, he would have said “my testimony” instead of “testimony of Jesus”.  This could only be an angel speaking to John in His vision.  And this is consistent with the rest of the visions.  Angels were doing most of the communicating with John.

Revelation 19:11
“And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.”

White is the color of purity.  A horse is figurative for war or for riding out to battle.  Notice the words “and make war” at the end of the verse.  In John 5:27 we see that God the Father has given Jesus the authority to “execute judgment“.  The war that Jesus makes is described later on in this vision.  It is a war against the beast and the false prophet.  Identified in chapter 13 as the Roman empire personified in the emperors and the religious cult known as the Concilia who enforced the worship of the emperors.

The time for the judgment of Rome is at hand.  The champion of the Christians is mounted on His war horse and is about to carry out God’s righteous judgment on the enemies of the Christians.  Following is a vision of Jesus Christ which only those familiar with scriptures would be able to understand.  Identifying the following characteristics of the Son of God is easy for someone familiar with scripture.

Revelation 19:12
“And his eyes (are) a flame of fire, and upon his head (are) many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself.”

In Daniel’s vision of of the pre-incarnate form of Jesus Christ we see these familiar words, “His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire , and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude” (Daniel 10:6).  And then again in Revelation 1:14-15, we previously saw these words, “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

The name that no man knoweth is the name of God.  The tetragrammaton YHWH is unpronounceable.  Man has given the pronunciation “Jehovah” to this but no one knows for sure this is correct.  The pronunciation of “Jehovah” is at best the educated guess of scholars.  By inspiration John writes that His name is unknown.  The status of Christ as God in the New Testament makes it altogether reasonable and logical that His name is “YHWH” however it is pronounced in our language.

Two things of significance come to mind  First, we must recognize the unity and oneness of the Godhead.  Jesus as the word of God shares the name of the Father.  It can be reasonably inferred that all three persons of the Godhead share the same name.  We have God the Father as the head, we have God the Son, the Word, and we have God the Holy Spirit.  All three sharing the same name.

God has purposefully been enigmatic when the topic of His name arises, choosing language such as “I AM” or “YHWH”.  God’s name is most holy.  worldly mankind has a tendency to profane the name of God to the ability they can.  All kinds of slanderous profane expletives have been contrived and applied to “God” through the centuries.  It is little wonder that our most Holy Creator would not want His name associated with such things.  We have been given enough of Him to know that He exists.  We do not need to know exactly what His name is in order to follow Him.  Some day when the saved come into His presence, His true name will doubtless be then revealed.  Until then, we serve God, the great “I Am”.

Notice in the language that the angels are excluded from knowing the true name of God as well.

Revelation 19:13
“And he (is) arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and his name is called The Word of God.”

Blood is the sign of the covenant.  The blood on the garment in this vision is Christ’s own.  Jesus Christ is known in scripture by a number of different names.  In John’s gospel account, Jesus Christ was introduced as God and as the word of God.

Revelation 19:14
“And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white (and) pure.”

The armies in heaven is figurative for all the saved who follow and serve Jesus Christ.  They are described in the vision as being clothes in fine line, white and pure, which means without spot and without sin.

Revelation 19:15
“And out of his mouth proceedeth 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 of the wrath of God, the Almighty.”

We have new testament scripture which speaks to the word of God being like a sword,

Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Earlier in the introduction of Jesus in the Revelation, we see these words describing John’s vision, “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” (Revelation 1:16).

Jesus rules the nations with the word of God.  It is unchangeable, it is eternal and it will not fail.  This is the rod of iron.  The worldly people of the nations may not submit to His authority but they are governed by it and will be judged by it nonetheless.  In this context it is the immediate enemies of the Christians which are about to be treaded out in the winepress of God’s wrath.  But the application is for all living past, present and future.

Revelation 19:16
“And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

To the first readers of John’s Revelation, the mighty Roman emperors looked like the most powerful kings on earth.  But unknowingly, they were living under the rule of a king far more powerful than they ever imagined.  They demanded the worship of the nations as gods on earth while in their ignorance they were but vassals to the King of Kings themselves.

God gave mankind freewill in the Garden of Eden.  This freedom has never been revoked.  All mankind is given freewill to choose whether or not they will follow righteousness.  In the execution of this freedom, it is often perceived that our King of Kings is not in charge and is not ruling.  However this is not the case.  In the course of mankind’s freewill, God will not interfere.  Our King of King and Lord of Lords is indeed ruling and His rule is a reign of iron.  One of the most significant lessons we can take from the Revelation is that God will not usurp man’s free will choice.  It is so important to God and so much a part of His rule that even when His saints are being slain for their righteousness, He will not violate man’s free will choice.

But those who choose to reject God will be judged in the end.  And this is what the Christians living under the great persecution needed to know and this is what they were told.  Yes, they were going to suffer, yes many of them would be slain.  Yes there will be great tribulation, pain and suffering.  But God is in charge and He will not violate the gift of free will to man.  In the end, all will be judged in righteousness and receive their just rewards.  The people of the first century and beyond in the Roman Empire had a horrible cross to bear and God insisted they bear it.  The application for us today is that there is no cross given to us that we are not expected to bear.  God has not changed and neither have the terms of the new covenant.  We today are as bound to the terms of righteousness as the Christians who lived through the great Roman persecution were.

Revelation 19:17-18
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come (and) be gathered together unto the great supper of God; 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 thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.”

An angel sends forth an invitation for all the birds of prey to come and eat of the carnage and destruction of the kings, military captains, mighty men, horses, and of all men both free and slaves.  The devastation is going to be absolute.  Nothing will remain but vultures and buzzards eating what is left.  The vision is one of grim imagery.  One can almost picture the smoking battlefield littered with the bodies of horses and men with nothing left alive except the scavengers eating the flesh of the dead.

Revelation 19:19
“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army.”

In Revelation 16:16 John left the vision of the evil allies about to do battle with God’s forces at Har-Magedon.  Recall to mind that the ensuing war was not between the Christians and the Romans, rather contextually, the actual battle was going to be between the enemies of the Christians and their external enemies from without the empire.

Revelation 19:20-21
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, (even the sword) which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”

And here is the battle of Armageddon fought.  The sea beast, which was the Roman Empire, and the false prophet which was the land beast in Revelation 13, identified as the Roman Concilia are defeated and thrown into the lake of Fire.  History records that the Roman Empire was attacked and defeated from a number of external forces.  They were weakened from within by natural disasters and the consequences of their decadent lifestyle.  This left them a vulnerable target for the Parthians from the east and Germanic Goths from the North.  The Roman Empire was broken and destroyed from within and from without by numerous forces over a period of time, all of which were used by God to achieve His purpose.

The Christians never fought against their enemies directly.  They never picked up physical weapons as an organized force and engaged in any holy war or battle against the forces of evil.  God used the enemies of the Roman empire to exact His judgment on it and bring it to destruction in a similar way that He brought Babylon down by the Persians under the rule of Cyrus.

When the battle of Armageddon was over, the enemies of the Christians were defeated.  Christianity prevailed in the end.  And it will continue to prevail until the end of time on earth.  For as long as earth stands, there will be Christians and the weapons of their warfare will always be the word of God.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh
4(for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds),

Revelation 19 Paraphrase

And after these things I heard what sounded like a mighty shout of a great crowd in heaven, exclaiming, Hallelujah, praise the Lord! Salvation and splendor and majesty and dominion and authority belong to our God! Because His condemnation and sentences of destruction are true and sound and just. He has convicted and pronounced sentence on the great idolatress nation who corrupted and poisoned the earth with her lewdness and fornication. And He has avenged on her the penalty for the blood of His servants at her hand.  And again they shouted, Hallelujah and praised the Lord.  The smoke of her burning torment shall continue to ascend forever and ever throughout all eternity.

Then the twenty-four elders of the Israelites and the Christians and all the creation from the four corners of the earth fell prostrate and worshiped God who sits on the throne, proclaiming, “Amen, Let it be so! Hallelujah, praise the Lord our God!” Then from the throne there came a voice, saying, “Praise our God, all you servants of His, you who reverence Him, both small and great”! And after that I heard what sounded like the shout of a vast multitude that sounded like the roar of many pounding waves and like the sound of thunder, praising God saying, “Hallelujah, For the Lord our almighty and all powerful God reigns now! Let us rejoice and shout for joy! Let us celebrate and credit to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.  She has been granted that she may dress in fine linen, for the fine linen signifies the righteousness of God’s holy people.” Then the angel said to me, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb”. And then he said to me, “These are the true words of God”.

Then I fell prostrate at his feet to worship he who spoke to me, but he restrained me and said, “Stop! You must not do that for I am only another servant with you and your brethren who follow the testimony borne by Jesus. Worship only God! For the truth revealed by Jesus is the breath of all prophecy”.

After that I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse appeared. And the One who was riding on it is called faithful, trustworthy, loyal, incorruptible, steady and true.  And He executes judgment and wages war in righteousness, holiness, justice, and uprightness. His eyes blaze like a flame of fire, and on His head are many kingly crowns and He has a name which He alone knows or can understand.

He is dressed in a robe sprinkled with the blood of His sacrifice. And one of the names by which He is called is written on His robes and on His thigh.  This name by which He is called is the Word of God.  And the armies of the saints, clothed in fine linen, dazzling and clean, followed Him on white horses.  From His mouth goes forth the will of God as sharp as a sword with which He can strike the nations. And He will reign over them with a scepter of iron. He is all powerful and will tread the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath in His indignation.  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Then I saw an angel stationed in the light of the sun, and with a mighty voice he shouted to all the birds that fly across the sky, Come, gather yourselves together for the great supper of God.  That you may feast on the flesh of the slain rulers, the flesh of dead generals and captains, the flesh of powerful and mighty men fallen, the flesh of horses and their riders killed in the destruction, and the flesh of all humanity, both free and slave, both small and great!

Then I saw the beast and the rulers and leaders of the earth with their troops assembled to go into battle and make war against Him Who is mounted on the horse and against His troops.  And the beast was defeated and captured, and with him the false prophet who by his authority  had worked lying wonders and performed fake miracles by which he led astray those who wore the mark of the beast and by those who paid homage and gave divine honors to his statue. Both of them were defeated and thrown alive into the fiery lake that burns and blazes with brimstone.  And the rest were killed with the sword that issues from the mouth of Him Who is mounted on the white horse, and all the birds filled themselves with their dead flesh on the battlefield.

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Fallen is Babylon (Revelation 18)

Fallen is Babylon (Revelation 18)

The scarlet woman, otherwise known as the mother of the harlots has been positively identified as that great city that reigneth over the kings of the earth.  Revelation chapter 18 contains numerous characteristics of the harlot which help reinforce the belief that the Babylon of Revelation is the nation-city of Rome.  To someone living in the first century, there is no other city but Rome which could have fit these characteristics.  As with the first series of visions before the introduction of the little book, we are seeing the imminent downfall of the oppressors of Christianity.  Much more information with much more detail has been given in the second series of visions.  Through the activities of the beasts portrayed in chapter 13 we have seen many of the ways the Christians were persecuted.  They were denied the ability to participate in free trade, they were forced to receive a certificate claiming they had bowed down to emperor worship under witnesses.  The bowls of wrath were similar to the opening of the seals where they pertained to the divine retribution God unleashed on the earth and on its inhabitants in the effort to bring the ungodly to repentance.

In the first series of visions, Rome was brought to her knees and then destroyed.  In the second series of visions which are a culmination of what was found in the “little book” that John received, Rome is brought to her knees and now we have reached the point where we will see her downfall again but this time with much more detail.  The entire chapter of Revelation 18 illustrates in vivid picturesque fashion the destruction and downfall of the Roman Empire.

Revelation 18:1-2
1 After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.

Babylon here is a picture of Rome.  Peter referred to Rome as Babylon in 1 Peter 5:13.  It is obvious that Babylon was a common term among Christians of the day when referring to Rome.  It was dangerous indeed to name Rome in a bad light publicly.  Rome’s downfall is described in the past tense which represents to the original readership the surety of her fate.  To the first readers of John’s visions, their enemy is as good as dead.

Revelation 18:3
For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.
All of the emperor worship, all of the pagan gods, all of of the decadence, promiscuity, homosexuality, decadence, infanticide, gluttony, excess and lascivious living has not gone unnoticed by God.  And because of this and their stubborn refusal to repent, not only did Rome herself fall, but all of the nations who made up the Empire fell with her and were conquered.

This verse is strong internal evidence in support of the Roman empire being the evil object of the Christian persecution.  No other city in this timeframe of the writing saw any of the surrounding nations fall with her.  It is significant here to note that the Babylon of this vision did not go down alone.  Several nations shared in her fate.  It is a historical fact that when the Roman Empire declined and eventually fell, several nations shared in that fate.

Revelation 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:
It is not at all difficult to identify the owner of this voice.  He referred to his listeners as “my people“.  This exhortation from heaven’s throne is a restatement of what inspiration has said elsewhere.

Ephesians 5:11
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

2 Corinthians 6:17
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.“

It is no secret that God does not want His children associating with the deeds of worldly people.  He knows that when they do, they are subject to be overcome by temptation.  Nobody likes to see their children tempted to do evil and God is certainly no different.  Christians are called to be separate from the world, pilgrims traveling in a foreign land, with their nationality in heaven.  This is how Christians set themselves apart from the people of the world.  One can observe them and their actions and see that they are not the same as those who live in the world.

The warning within Revelation 18:4 does not go unnoticed.  God does not want His children to suffer the plagues that will be inflicted upon the unrighteous.  Those who do not come out and separate themselves from the sins of the Roman Empire will suffer in her plagues.  The Application for us today is no different.  Christians living today are to be separate from worldly activities just like the Christians living under the Roman persecution did.  We can become partakers of the sins of others by joining in with their activities and in so doing will share in the consequences.

Revelation 18:5
“for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”

Babylon, here used to illustrate Rome, has persecuted Christians and has gone down as one of the most decadent and immoral societies that ever existed on earth.  Her sins were so egregious that they were said by John to have reached even unto heaven.  They had piled up and piled up until they are illustrated here as being a heap of unrighteousness set before the throne of God in His sight.

Revelation 18:6
“Render unto her even as she rendered, and double (unto her) the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double.”

The persecution, pain and suffering she inflicted upon the saints is going to be payed back double and indeed it was.  Her refusal to repent from Christian persecution and idolatry cost Rome her very existence on earth and those who never repented indeed will suffer the fate of the lost on top of the misery that befell them during the fall of Rome.

Revelation 18:7
“How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning.”

In addition to doubling the misery and pain she dealt on the Christians, Rome is also going to be shamed to the level she glorified herself.  Rome thought she was so mighty and so powerful that it would never end.  She thought she was invincible and would never fall.  How wrong she was.

These words are reminiscent of the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the real Babylon: Isaiah 47:7-9
“And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.  Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:  But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.”

Revelation 18:8
“Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her.”

When judgment comes it’s going to be swift, severe and sure.  John is not telling his readers that these plagues will be accomplished collectively in a single day.  Rather, when they do come, they will be swift and devastating.

Revelation 18:9
“And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning,”

And the vassal kingdoms who were part of the Roman Empire who bowed to the emperors and joined in with the pagan idolatrous practices of Rome who thought they were so safe and secure under her protection are going to realize their benefactor and protector is no longer there.  Their rich lifestyles are torn away as nation after nation falls to invading conquerors of the Roman Empire.

Revelation 18:10
“standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.”

Not wanting to share in the fate of Rome, her vassal kingdoms kept their distance as best they could.  They hated to see her fall but not badly enough to go share in her fate.

Revelation 18:11
“And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more”

Many merchants the world over enjoyed great trade opportunities with Rome.  Her many roads paved the way for trade routes all over the empire.  People who lived in and did business with the Roman Empire enjoyed great benefits from Roman commerce.  But when Rome fell, so also fell the trade opportunities enjoyed by the merchants of the world.

Revelation 18:12-14
“merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and (merchandise) of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men. And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and (men) shall find them no more at all.”

During the height of the Roman Empire the citizens lived one of the most luxurious opulent lifestyles imaginable.  They had slaves for nearly everything.  Wealthy Roman citizens believed it was beneath them to even lift a finger to take care of themselves.  They had slaves for doctors, cooking, house keeping, working, gardening, etc, etc.  They heaped up for themselves gold and precious jewels of every kind available.  Every substance and object which was characteristic of great wealth was brought in and sold to them.  And now they are gone.
Revelation 18:15-16
“The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning; saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!”

Those who attained great wealth from Rome mourn her downfall but they won’t come near to the city for fear of getting caught up in her destruction.  It is significant to look at the description of the wealth and the riches and degree of prosperity that this city once enjoyed.  The city illustrated in this vision was a shining, wealthy beyond description city who rose up before the entire world in her splendor and power.  In the timeframe of this writing there is only one city that demonstrated the possession of worldly goods and fortune that is illustrated here.  It can be only Rome.  “That great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth”, (Revelation 17:18).

Revelation 18:17
“for in an hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any wither, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off”

In an hour suggests the suddenness and unexpectedness for which this all happened.  And again we see those who traded with the great and powerful nation-city of Rome standing afar off and watching her destruction from a distance, not wanting to get too close lest they get caught up in her destruction and perish as well.

Revelation 17:18
“and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What (city) is like the great city?”

There was no other city on earth that could compare to the great nation-city of Rome.  There can be little doubt here that the most powerful city on the earth was in view here.  The greatest, the richest, the one that nobody thought would ever fall, the great and mighty city of splendor, wealth and power, the most brilliant, glorious city to ever rule upon the earth at that time; who else is like this great city?

Revelation 17:19
“And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.”

Scattered throughout the Revelation like raisins in raisin bread are little clues that we use to positively identify Rome as the great harlot of Babylon.  Here is just such a clue.  The harlot was a port city where trade ships sailed in with goods.  Again the one hour speaks of the abruptness and surety of the event and not to an actual time frame.

Revelation 17:20
“Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.”

During the opening of the seals the souls of slain martyrs cried out asking when their blood would be avenged on their murderers, (Revelation 6:9-11).  They were given white robes and told they must wait until God’s purpose was finished.  They had to wait until their fellow saints fulfilled their roles and duties and all the souls who would convert had done so.

The saints, apostles and prophets who had been slain by the Roman Empire finally saw judgment handed out for the atrocities, the pain, the suffering and the persecution wrought on them by an evil empire who glutted herself in their blood.

Revelation 18:21-22
“And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee”

These words are reminiscent of Jeremiah’s prophecy to Seriah of the real Babylon in Jeremiah 51:61-64
“And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.  And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary…”

We see here in these words not only the suddenness and unexpectedness of Rome’s downfall but we see now the finality of it.  Neither Babylon nor Rome will ever rise to power again.  God’s judgment is thorough and final.

Revelation 18:23
“and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.”

Rome’s merchants were indeed wealthy.  Compared to the princes of the earth.  The power and splendor of the Roman Empire deceived all the peoples and nations into believing she could never fall.  With her power seeming so absolute it was easy for them to be deceived into joining in with her and partaking of the idolatrous worship, the pagan ceremonies and the lascivious lifestyles.  What need had anybody for the God of the Christians when they had the magnificent Rome to embrace?

Revelation 18:24
“And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.”

It wasn’t enough that Rome partook of the evils of idolatry and lasciviousness.  They would not tolerate the Christians who opposed these practices.  The faithful Christians refused to bow down to the emperors and the other false Gods.  The faithful Christians refused to participate in their wild drunken feasts and celebrations, choosing the way of righteousness and goodness.  They became the objects of ridicule, discrimination and persecution to the point that they were rounded up and slaughtered.  It would be an impossible task to quantify the number of Christians killed by those of the Roman Empire.  Satan is a truly heartless, vicious and cruel enemy of all that is good.

“And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Revelation 17:6)

Revelation 18 Paraphrase

Then I saw another angel descending from heaven, possessing great authority, and the whole earth was illuminated with his radiance and splendor.  And he shouted with a mighty voice, “The Mighty Empire is fallen! She has allowed herself to become a home and dwelling place for demons, a dark habitation of every loathsome spirit, a prison for every filthy and detestable bird. For all nations have partaken of the filth of her fornication and will share in the wrath to come.  Their rulers and leaders have joined with her in committing idolatry and the businessmen of the earth have become rich with the wealth of her excessive luxury and wantonness.”

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out from her, my children, so that you will not share in her sins, neither suffer in her plagues. For her crimes and transgressions against me are piled up as high as heaven, and God sees her wickedness and her crimes.  She will be repaid what she herself has paid to others and her punishment shall be doubled in accordance with what she has done. She will received a double portion for herself of the sufferings she mixed for others.  To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled in her wantonness, to that measure shall be imposed her torment and anguish and tears and mourning. Since in her heart she boasts, I am not destitute; as a queen on a throne I sit, and I shall never see suffering or experience sorrow.  So shall her afflictions and calamities come upon her suddenly and unexpectedly. Pestilence and anguish and sorrow and famine will befall her and she shall be utterly destroyed for mighty is the Lord God Who judges her.”

And the rulers and leaders of the earth who joined with her in her immorality and idolatry, and luxuriated with her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her destruction.   But they will stand a long way off, in terror of her torment, and they will cry, Woe and alas, the great city, the mighty city, Babylon! How suddenly your doom has overtaken you!  And earth’s merchants will weep and grieve over her because no one is there to buy their merchandise anymore.

Their merchandise is of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet clothes; all kinds of scented wood, all sorts of articles of ivory, all varieties of objects of costly woods, bronze, iron, and marble; Of cinnamon, spices, incense, ointment and perfume, and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, fine flour and wheat; of cattle and sheep, horses and conveyances; and of slaves and souls of men!  So now the ripe fruits and delicacies for which you soul longed have gone from you and all your luxuries and dainties, your elegance and splendor are lost to you forever.

The merchants who sold these articles, who grew wealthy through their business with her, will stand a long way off, in terror of her doom and torment, weeping and grieving aloud, and saying, “Alas, alas for the great city that was robed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, bedecked and glittering with gold, with precious stones, and with pearls! Because in no time at all the vast wealth has been wiped out.”

And all ship captains and pilots, navigators and all who live by seafaring, the crews and all who ply their trade on the sea, stood a long way off watching.  And they cried as they watched the smoke of her destruction, saying, “What city could be compared to the great city?” And they wept and grieved, exclaiming, “Woe and alas, for the great city, where all who had ships on the sea grew rich through trade with her from her great wealth!  So unexpected and suddenly she has been destroyed and has become destitute.”

Rejoice over her Oh Heaven.  Rejoice children of God and apostles and prophets for at long last God has executed vengeance upon her for your sakes. Then a single powerful angel took up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, crying, “With such violence shall Babylon the great city be hurled down to destruction and shall never again be seen.”

The music of harpists and minstrels and flute players and trumpeters shall never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft shall ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone shall never again be heard in you. Never again shall the light of a lamp shine in you, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall never be heard in you ever again. For your merchants were great and prominent men of the earth, and by your deception of security and power all nations were deceived into joining in with your wantonness and idolatry.

And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all those who have been slain by her on the earth.

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The Scarlet Woman (Revelation 17)

The Scarlet Woman (Revelation 17)

Revelation 17:1-3
“And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication.“

Chapter 17 opens with one of the angels bearing God’s bowls of wrath coming near to John with the intention of showing him the “judgment of the great harlot that sitteth on many waters.”  The King James version refers to this woman as a “whore.”  There is some dispute in the religious world today as to who is to be the recipient of God’s wrath as pictured in the Revelation.  When looking at the characteristics of this woman and comparing her to what we know of the Roman Empire, there can be little doubt as to who this infamous woman represents.  The angel goes to great lengths to identify her throughout the chapter.  In verse 18, the angel removes all doubt as to who this woman is. 

Revelation 17:18
“And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”

There was only one city on earth in the time of John’s letter that fit that description.  The woman can only be the city of Rome.  So with this in mind, we will look at the characteristics of this woman and examine just how closely she really resembles the imperial city. 

She is introduced as a “harlot” in verse 1.  In verse 5 she is labeled on her forehead as the “Mother of the harlots.”  Being the mother of harlots means being responsible for the procreation of harlots.  Harlotry in this case being descriptive of spiritual fornication or unfaithfulness to the Lord (Ezekiel 16, Jeremiah 2:1, Hosea 1:1). Imperial Rome compelled the conquered kings to enter into fornication with her in the form of emperor worship and she tried to force it upon her citizenry.  Thus we have the imagery of a woman who by her actions spawned spiritual harlots who worshipped the emperor instead of Jehovah. 

The “many waters” upon which the scarlet woman sits is explained in verse 15: “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”  This leads right into verse 2 where the angel says “with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.”  The key words being “with whom.”  The imagery here is that the rulers of the people represented by the “many waters” were guilty of fornication with the “mother of harlots” and they were specifically mentioned by the angel, signifying this was coming from the highest levels of government.  The spiritual fornication in view here was mandated from the leadership of the people down to the citizenry. 

Revelation 17:3
“And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

In the vision, the angel removes John from where he was and takes him into a wilderness where he sees “a woman.”  The question immediately arises, is this the same woman previously mentioned?  A closer examination of her characteristics reveals that she is bedecked with those items signifying royalty.  Verse 4 describes her in terms of being “arrayed in purple (meaning royalty) and scarlet (meaning deadly), and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls.”  This is most certainly an image of the top of the hierarchy of Roman authority.  The woman in view here is representative of none other than the Roman emperor himself.

“…[S]itting upon a scarlet colored beast….” This beast bears a striking resemblance to the beast mentioned in Revelation 13:1.  The scarlet color would indicate that the beast was deadly and wicked. Like the previous beast, this one has seven heads and ten horns.  The seven heads are later described in Revelation 17:9-10, “Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth: and they are seven kings….”  We don’t need to speculate any on what this means.  It obviously refers to the emperors of the Roman Empire. 

The “ten horns” are explained in verse 12: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings.” The Roman Empire as a republic was organized as a provincial government.  Each province was ruled by a governor appointed by the Emperor.  There were many more than just ten provinces in the Roman Empire, and there were not exactly seven emperors at the time of John’s letter.  A figurative view of the imagery would be that the beast had 7 (perfect) heads and 10 (complete) horns (authority).  The imagery will be something that is easily pictured in the imaginations the first readers.  It is likely the complete sum of all the Roman provinces were represented by the number ten with the seven mountains which were also kings being the Emperors reigning over the kings of the provinces.  The discussion of the ten horns is taken up in more detail later in this study.   

“Full of the names of blasphemy” would be a reference to the names the beast called himself.  Domitian, during his reign issued his decrees as “Lord God Domitianus” and such.  Therefore it would have been unmistakable in the minds of the first readers of John’s letter that he was referring to the emperor.  

Revelation 17:4
“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,”

The woman sitting on the beast is arrayed in royal trappings. This imagery is descriptive of the Roman leadership.  She is carrying a “golden cup full of abominations“.  In verse 6 we see that this woman is “drunken in the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” signifying some of the contents of the golden cup.  The “unclean things of her fornication” would represent all the evils which have come from her idolatry and persecution.

Revelation 17:5-6
“And upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.“

God is giving this description as an identification of the scarlet woman.  She is the main harlot of John’s Revelation, she is the main one responsible for idolatry, referred to as the “mother of the harlots.”  In Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon made a statue roughly 90 feet tall and 9 feet wide.  He set this huge statue up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.  Everybody is familiar with the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.  They refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue and worship it and were thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3).  The scarlet woman, this mother of harlots, was named Babylon the great.  What did real Babylon and the great harlot named Babylon in Revelation 17 share in common?  They both imposed forced worship of an idol of the king of their country on their citizenry.  Looking back on the lesser land beast described in Revelation 13, we see in verse 14 that the lesser beast, which has been identified as the Roman Imperial cult known as the Concilia, made images, or statues to the greater beast and required these statues to be worshipped.  They had the power to cause those who refused to worship the images to be killed (Revelation 13:15).  This is identical to what happened in Babylon under the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar.   Thus the great whore is identified with Babylon who forced her people to worship idols.

In Peter’s epistle, he made a reference to Babylon in 1 Peter 5:13.   Although questioned by some who would see this verse as a reference to Peter’s wife, the best view is almost certainly that the church in Babylon is meant.  At the time of this writing Babylon had been destroyed never to be rebuilt and was nothing more than an isolated military outpost at best.  There is no evidence anywhere that Peter was literally in Babylon at any time.  There is evidence that Peter did travel to Rome and this evidence predates the apostate church.  Tradition places the death of Peter in Rome by the order of Nero.  At the time Peter wrote this epistle it was necessary to speak in guarded terms about the city of Rome in view of the persecution of Nero.  

There are a number of reasons why Peter would refer to Rome as Babylon.  Ancient Babylon was a center of enmity and oppression of God’s people, so Rome had become in the times of the apostles.  Peter referred to his readers as “strangers and pilgrims” in a foreign land (1 Peter 2:11) as were the Israelites in Babylon.  Babylon was well known to the Jews as being a nation who worshipped many false gods as was Rome.  All these considerations taken together have great weight in indicating that the Peter’s meaning was the city of Rome.  It is most significant here in this examination to recognize the fact that Jerusalem was never referred to as Babylon in scripture.  Peter almost certainly had Rome in mind when he spoke allegorically of Babylon.   His readership would have known this which strongly indicates that it was a well known and commonly understood reference to the city of Rome among the Jewish Christians which the Romans would be unable to understand.  This well known reference to the city of Rome certainly carried over to John’s Jewish readership and there is every reason to believe that when the name of Babylon was given to the harlot, the city of Rome came to the minds of the Christians.  We must keep in mind that what Revelation meant to them is what it must mean to us.  It was written specifically to them, with applications for us. 

In addition to being named “BABYLON THE GREAT“, the scarlet woman is called “THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS“.  A mother is responsible for producing offspring.  She forms a mental image of someone from whom others come forth.  Nebuchadnezzar’s forced idol worship proliferated and produced idol worshippers out of her citizenry.  The scarlet woman, who is identified by name with Babylon, was said to have made the inhabitants of the earth “drunk with the wine of her fornication”  Fornication in this context is representative of idol worship or the worship of a false god.  The Scarlet Woman, the great harlot, was guilty of forced idolatry. 

Moreover, this woman delights to drink or partake of the blood of God’s saints.  This certainly fits the city of Rome and her severe oppression of the 1st century Christians.  She has spilled so much blood and partaken of so much bloodshed that she is intoxicated by it.  The blood of the saints is all over her.   The scarlet woman’s identity is further determined by the explanation given to John by the angel beginning in verse 7. 

Revelation 17:7-8
“And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, (they) whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come. “

“and of the beast that carrieth her”
This imagery is of the scarlet woman being born upon or supported by the beast.  This certainly fits the relationship between the city of Rome and the empire.

“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition.”
The beast that was and is not and is about to come and then go is probably a reference to the changing leadership of the Empire.  Emperors came and emperors went.  It is obvious that the imagery here is one of the changing nature of the beast.  The line of evil Roman emperors certainly fits this description.  History records that there was some controversy around the death of Nero.  Many people doubted that he was really dead from suicide.  It was suspected that he actually fled to Parthia where he was gathering an army from among them to return to Rome and unseat whatever emperor was in control and rule over the Roman Empire again.  Domitian claimed in his early years as emperor to be Nero returned so it was a common superstition among the people of the time that Domitian was thought to be Nero either returned or reincarnated.  The allusion to the “was, and is not; and is about to come” certainly appears to fit the text.  We must keep in mind the writer is appealing to the imaginations of his first readers and they would certainly be familiar with the general superstitions and be able to understand what was being illustrated here.   

“And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, (they) whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world“

Obviously those who never had their names written in the book of life is a reference to the infidels.  Their “wonder” may be an expression of amazement at the beast’s vitality and ability to die or disappear and then return in another form to continue his deadly designs on the Christians.  Those who do have their names written in the book of life (the faithful) understand that as terrible and tenacious as the beast appears to be, his end is going to be perdition.  The Greek word for perdition here means destruction, utter ruin and loss of well being.  This also fits well with the superstitions of a returning Nero as Domitian who would rule again and then disappear into ruin. 

Revelation 17:9-11
“Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth: 10 and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition.“

The seven heads of the beast were seven heads of the Roman empire.  The first emperor who was emperor under constitutional law was Augustus.  He was the first one that was elected by the senate and approved by the military.  Election and military approval were necessary by Roman law.  Julius Caesar was a dictator before Rome was a republic and was only in office because of popular demand.  He was never legally appointed to his position under constitutional law.  So with this in mind, we start our counting with the first legally elected head of the Roman Empire, as a republic, under the government in force at the time of the writing of John’s revelation. 

The first five emperors are Augustus (26BC-13AD), Tiberius (14AD-37AD), Caligula (37AD-41AD), Claudius (41AD-64AD)  and Nero (64AD-68AD).  Verse 10 says these five are fallen thus out of the picture.  “The one is” in verse 10 would be Vespasian, the sixth king/emperor, who ruled from 69AD-79AD.  The “other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while” would be Titus who only reigned from 79AD-81.  His reign was short, only a “little while”, and he was the seventh king.  Now we come to the king in verse 11 who is the “eighth”.  This is the first mention of this king, who would have been Domitian.  He is the one that “was and is not” which refers back to Domitian’s claim that he was the reincarnation of Nero. Also the eighth king was “of the seven”  which means that he was related to them.  Domitian was the brother of Titus and the son of Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty. 

Clearly the text appears by all points to date the writing of the Revelation during the reign of Vespasian.  This creates a difficulty in that tradition places John on the island of Patmos when the letter was written, having been exiled there by Domitian himself.  The Revelation is believed by the majority of scholars to have been written toward the end of Domitian’s reign based largely on secular writings. There are some difficulties with John writing the revelation at that time, chiefly that one must ask what good it would do to write the book in 95-96AD, when the fiercest persecutions were almost over?  Additionally, how much time would it take to copy and distribute this letter to the churches in Asia to which the letter was addressed?   

Here is a possible explanation.  Secular writing states that “Revelation was written in the days of Domitian.” It’s hard to tell in the original Greek if that means it was WRITTEN then or SEEN then.  John could have been sent to Patmos by the local authorities there in Ephesus rather than by Vespasian himself sometime during his reign.  The Gnostics in Ephesus felt John was causing problems as he was exposing the error of their thinking.  John being on Patmos during Vespasian’s reign would make the writing of the book in the late 70’s very possible.  John may have still been there during the reign of Titus and then allowed back to the mainland around 81 AD. The book at that point could have been copied and dispersed to the churches in Asia to be “SEEN in the days of Domitian.” Domitian’s worst persecutions started later into his reign, so that would have given the Christians time to read the book and know what was coming “shortly” and help them get ready for the intense persecutions to come. 

Revelation 17:12-13
“And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.  13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.“

This is an explanation of the of the ten horns of the beast mentioned back in verse 3.  The ten horns represent the power of the empire which was concentrated in the provinces and not in the city of Rome herself.  The ten kings who had not yet received a kingdom were the vassal kings/leaders who ruled over the provinces and received authority from Rome, basking in this authority for a short period of time (one hour).  These vassal kings realizing their power and authority came directly from Rome were eager to please those in power in the imperial city.  This would explain why they were so zealous to persecute Christians.  When recruited by Rome to respond to insurrection they viewed the Christians as easy targets, thus being able to curry the favor of the Emperor easily.  Leaders of Provinces ruled longer with the favor of the emperor.

Daniel prophecies of a great beast in Daniel 7:23, “Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.”  The “beast” of Daniel is the same as the “beast” of Revelation.  This is an unmistakable reference to the Roman Empire.  No other empire fitting this description devoured the whole earth.  Daniel goes on to say that out of this 4th kingdom will arise one who will “speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws” (Daniel 7:25). This can be no other person but an emperor of the 4th kingdom; The beast of Daniel; the beast of Revelation.  No other imagery would come to mind in the imaginations of the first readers of Revelation.

Revelation 17:14
“These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they (also shall overcome) that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.”

The leaders of these provinces rose up against the Christians to the call of the Imperial city.  However, the faithful Christians, against all odds will prevail against them and win in the end.  The lamb in this verse is obviously Jesus who was portrayed in other New Testament as a lamb (John 1:29; 1:36). 

Revelation 17:15
“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

This was the explanation of the waters upon which the harlot sat, given to John by the angel in verse 1.  Commentaries on Revelation are a lot easier when it explains itself from within.  There is little room for error in such instances. 

Revelation 17:16
“And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire.”

The kings of the provinces will ultimately turn against Rome.  One of Rome’s greatest fears was insurrection and turmoil in the provinces.  History records that is precisely what happened to the Roman Empire.  She was defeated from within by her own subjects. 

Revelation 17:17
“For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.”

This was John’s way of saying, “God’s will be done.”  To ask how God did this is but an exercise in futility.  Throughout history God used men and nations to carry out His purpose.  He could turn a nation to fighting within itself, as in the case of Midian during the time of Gideon (Judges 7:22), and of the Philistines in the days of Saul (1 Samuel 14:20).  In the battle of Moab and Ammon against Mount Sier, God gave victory to king Jehoshaphat without the army of Judah lifting a sword (2 Chronicles 20:23).  God’s objective of putting in the hearts of the kings in Revelation 17 to do his mind is merely an example of His divine guidance in everything.  God is in charge and His will shall be accomplished.  Not one word shall fail, all will come to pass.

Revelation 17:18
“And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”

If one shred of doubt remains as to the identity of this woman, it should here be solved once and for all.  This verse was mentioned at the onset of the study on chapter 17 in order to give a positive identification to her identity for the purpose of firmly establishing who she was in our minds as we work through the text.  The woman is here identified for us as the “city that reigneth over the kings of the earth.”  Rome ruled her empire through a government system made up of several geographic territories called provinces. Each province fell under the control of a provincial governor. The governors of these provinces were completely at the whim of the Emperor and could serve from 1 to 5 years.  There were about 28 imperial provinces at the height of the empire.  All of these provinces were subject to Roman rule.

There is some thinking in the brotherhood that names the Jewish nation as the identity of the great whore and the recipients of God’s wrath in the revelation pertains to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70.  Jerusalem did not reign over the kings of the earth.  Jerusalem was not forcing anybody to worship a false god.  They were worshipping the one true and living God falsely.   The Jews were in God’s disfavor from their rejection of Christ and His Gospel message and found themselves under Roman authority.  They were not ruling over the kings of the earth, rather they were vassal nation within and under the subjection of the Roman Empire and they were crushed because of their revolt against Roman authority. 

In addition to this, the Revelation was written in symbolic language which Jews would have been able to understand.  God always expressed His will in this manner when His people were in distress.  This was the way God used to communicate to His people without placing them in danger from their enemies.  God’s will was revealed to His faithful children in ways only they would be able to understand while keeping it concealed from their enemies.  The immediate problem with Jerusalem being the Harlot is that the Jews still worshipping under the Mosaic Law would have been perfectly well able to understand all the symbols used in the Revelation.  God’s purpose for using Apocalyptic language would have been self defeating if the Harlot was the city of Jerusalem. 

God’s judgment was coming on the “great harlot that sitteth on many waters” (Revelation 17:1); “BABYLON THE GREAT” who forced idol worship on her citizens on pain of death, just like the real Babylon did.  There can be no doubt this is referring to the Imperial City of Rome.  She with “whom the kings of the earth committed fornication” (17:2); She who was “drunken with the blood of the saints” (17:6); and who sits “upon a scarlet colored beast” (17:3); She who was the “Mother of the Harlots” (17:5); and she who is “the city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18).

The Downfall of Imperial Rome

Such great significance has been attached to Imperial Rome as the center of the persecuting power toward Christianity in the latter half of the first century, that three chapters of the Revelation are given to portray her downfall.  Chapter 17 appears to be intent on identifying Rome as the recipient of God’s judgment and portraying just how evil an adversary she is to the saints.  Verse 14 reassures the Christians that God will be victorious in the end.  Those who are “called and chosen and faithful” will overcome and emerge victorious.

 

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