Revelation 19:11-21

The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast

11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.

12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.

13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.

14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”^[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.

16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,

18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army.

20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Revelation 19:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 19

This chapter contains the triumph of the saints over Babylon, and their thanksgiving to God because of his judgments on her; the marriage of Christ and his church, and a battle between him and his and her enemies, with the success of it. The congratulations are first of a promiscuous multitude in the church, ascribing salvation, praise, honour, glory, and power to God, because of the righteousness of his judgments, and because of the perpetuity of them, Re 19:1-3 and then of the four and twenty elders and four living creatures, who worship God, assent to what had been before said, and join in praising the Lord, Re 19:4 and then another voice out of the throne is heard, calling upon all the servants of the Lord, and those that fear him, whether small or great, to praise our God, Re 19:5 after which is heard the voice of a great multitude, stirring up one another to praise, because of the reign of the Lord God Almighty, and to rejoice and be glad because the time of the Lamb's marriage with his bride was come; who is described by her dress, the righteousness of the saints, comparable to fine linen, clean and white, Re 19:6-8 upon which an angel bids John write those persons happy who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and affirms these to be the true sayings of God; wherefore John, in a transport of joy, was just going to worship the angel, had he not been forbidden by him; from which he dissuades him, by observing that he was his fellow servant, that God only is the object of worship, and that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, Re 19:9,10 next follows a vision of a battle between Christ and his enemies; and first he the General is described, by the horse he sat upon, a white one; by the characters he bears, faithful and true; by what he did, judging and making war in righteousness; by his eyes, which were as a flame of fire; by his having many crowns on his head; by having a name, or names unknown, and particularly one, which is the Word of God; by his habit, a vesture dipped in blood; by the armies he was at the head of, riding on white horses, and clothed in fine linen; by a sharp sword coming out of his mouth, with which he should utterly destroy the nations; and by having a name on his vesture and thigh, King of kings, and Lord of lords, Re 19:11-16 upon which an angel is seen standing in the sun, and calling to all the fowls of the heaven to come to the supper of the great God, and to eat the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses and horsemen, of all ranks, and degrees, Re 19:17,18 and next an account is given of the armies of the beast, and of the kings of the earth, that came to make war with the above warrior, Re 19:19 the issue and success of which follow; the beast and false prophet are taken, and cast alive into a lake of fire and brimstone; and the rest are killed by the sword of the above General, and the fowls have a feast of their flesh, Re 19:20,21.

Cross References

• 1. S Matthew 3:16
• 2. ver 19,21; Revelation 6:2
• 3. Revelation 3:14
• 4. Exodus 15:3; Psalms 96:13; Isaiah 11:4
• 5. S Revelation 1:14
• 6. Revelation 6:2; Revelation 12:3
• 7. ver 16
• 8. S Revelation 2:17
• 9. Isaiah 63:2,3
• 10. John 1:1
• 11. ver 8
• 12. S Revelation 3:4
• 13. ver 21; S Revelation 1:16
• 14. Isaiah 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8
• 15. Psalms 2:9; Revelation 2:27; Revelation 12:5
• 16. S Revelation 14:20
• 17. ver 12
• 18. S 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14
• 19. ver 21
• 20. Revelation 8:13; Revelation 14:6
• 21. Jeremiah 12:9; Ezekiel 39:17
• 22. Isaiah 34:6; Jeremiah 46:10
• 23. Ezekiel 39:18-20
• 24. Revelation 6:15
• 25. S ver 5
• 26. S Revelation 13:1
• 27. Revelation 16:14,16
• 28. ver 11,21
• 29. Revelation 16:13
• 30. S Matthew 24:24
• 31. Revelation 13:12
• 32. Revelation 13:14
• 33. Revelation 13:16
• 34. Revelation 13:15
• 35. Daniel 7:11; Rev 20:10,14,15; Revelation 21:8
• 36. S Revelation 9:17; Revelation 14:10
• 37. ver 15; S Revelation 1:16
• 38. ver 11,19
• 39. ver 17

Footnotes

• [a] Psalm 2:9