Revelation 19 Study Notes

19:1-4 The vast multitude pictured as a choir singing the heavenly “Hallelujah Chorus” (vv. 1,3,4,6) was taken to heaven in 7:9 and are identified as the “heaven dwellers” by comparing 7:15 and 13:6. They now praise God for: (1) their salvation, and (2) his righteous judgments upon Babylon, the notorious prostitute (17:1), thus avenging the blood of his servants, the martyrs (see note at 6:9-11). On the twenty-four elders, see note at 4:3-4. On the four living creatures, see note at 4:6-7.

19:6-8 The praise of the vast multitude (see note at vv. 1-4) as a heavenly choir now heralds: (1) the coming reign of the Lord, and (2) the joyful marriage of the Lamb. The wife of the Lamb (Christ) is the church (Eph 5:31-32), those redeemed from all nations (Rv 5:9-10; 7:9) by his blood (1:5-6; 5:9-10). Since these descriptions are equally true of the vast multitude (7:9; 19:1,6) and the “heaven dwellers” (12:12; 13:6), it appears that there is a shift in imagery from the same group of people being portrayed as a choir to being the wife of the Lamb.

19:9 The fourth beatitude of the Apocalypse has a twist: If a person accepts the “invitation” and goes to the marriage feast of the Lamb, his faith will make him part of the wife (the church). It is called a “feast” because it endures, beginning on the evening of the wedding and continuing for days.

19:10 God’s people are prohibited from the worship of any being other than God (Ex 20:3-6). Nevertheless, overcome with awe, John fell at the feet of the angel to worship him. The angel immediately corrected him. The phrase the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy apparently means that all biblical prophecy either directly or indirectly testifies about Jesus, the Messiah (Lk 24:27,44-48; 1Pt 1:11-12).

19:11-13 John had previously seen heaven opened in 4:1. This rider on a white horse is not the same as the one in 6:2 (see note there). He judges and makes war with justice, not in the boastful and blasphemous way that the beast does (13:5-7). This is why he is called Faithful and True. On eyes . . . like a fiery flame, see note at 1:14. Many crowns shows that Christ has more power to rule than Satan (12:3) or the beast (13:1). A name . . . that no one knows except himself reminds readers that the Lord has not revealed everything about himself and his plan (Dt 29:29; see note at Rv 10:3-4). A robe dipped in blood looks back to Jesus’s redemptive death (7:9) and forward to his treading the winepress of God’s wrath (19:15; Is 63:1-6). In the Gospel of John (1:1,14), John began by referring to Jesus as the Word (Gk logos).

19:14 Since the armies accompanying the Lord are wearing pure white linen, as did the Lamb’s wife (v. 8), this is another image for the same group elsewhere called the “vast multitude” (vv. 1,6; 7:9) and the “heaven dwellers” (12:12; 13:6). On why these are not angels, see note at 17:14. White horses implies that Christ allows his people to participate in the climactic victory, as they later reign with him (20:6).

19:15-16 God’s word pictured as a sharp sword looks back to the description of the Son of Man in 1:13-16. Strike the nations is reminiscent of Ps 2:9. Rule . . . with an iron rod is the end-time fulfillment of what was predicted of the newborn Son in 12:5. On the winepress of the fierce anger of God, see note at 14:14-20.

19:17-19,21 The great armies of the earth, led by the beast and the kings of the earth, assemble to make war against the Lamb (apparently at Armageddon; see notes at 16:12-14,16). But they end up being killed by the sword that comes out of the mouth of the rider on the white horse (Christ) and fed to the birds at the great supper of God.

19:20 The beast (see note at 13:1-3) and the false prophet (see note at 13:11) are captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire, apparently the first to be sentenced there (Mt 25:41). They are not destroyed, but will suffer torment forever (Rv 20:10).