Joy and Feasting

Revelation 19

Immanuel – 7/24/22

We have been considering Revelation in three parts. Part 1 (chapters 1-3) consists of Christ’s message to the seven churches of Asia Minor. Part 2 (chapters 4-11) is a vision about the Days of Vengeance, or the End Times, that come upon Apostate Israel. These end times are the times that end the old covenant: no more sacrifices, no more exclusive priesthood, no more temple, no more bondage to law.

But, gloriously, while Christ brings an end to the old, He forever establishes a new covenant. Worship erupts as part 2 concludes with the earth becoming the kingdom of Christ and the Holy of holies opened to all people.

Part 3 (chapters 12-22) is another vision of the same covenantal realities. Yet part 3 elaborates, expands, explores more deeply than the vision of part 2. This becomes especially clear as we enter into Revelation 19 and begin to see the wonders of the new covenant bursting forth from the ashes of the old.

Chapter 19 of Revelation begins to explore what this new covenant looks like, revealing incredible realities that are true right now. We will also be given a view into some realities that are yet to come; things that will happen at the close of history. Part 3 of Revelation will open, in a dramatic way, what part 2 only said in summary.

Again, chapter 19 just begins this revealing of the new covenant. More will open to us as we move through the rest of this book. No more will Revelation focus on the cataclysmic ending of the old covenant. Now we behold the many astounding glories of the new covenant.

Purpose

Look at Revelation 19 in three parts, each part giving a picture of new covenant realities.

That we would be filled with hope and kingdom advancing motivation.

Read Revelation 19

There are three distinct parts to chapter 19.

The rejoicing over Jerusalem’s fall.

The marriage supper of the Lamb.

The rider on the white horse.

Likely, your Bible has different headers for these three distinct sections. Though there is a common thread that weaves them all together, I too will take them as three distinct parts.

Part 1 - Rejoicing

It was three weeks ago that I preached on Revelation 18, a chapter devoted to the fall of Babylon: the symbolic name for Jerusalem. The chapter pulled on numerous Old Testament images of covenantal judgments. And for the churches that first read the contents of Revelation, it prophesied a massive New Testament expectation of impending wrath.

Here’s just one place we see that expectation:

[The Jews] killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last! -1 Thessalonians 2:15-16

And in symbolic form, 18:21-24 announces the destruction of the temple. God no longer dwells in buildings made by human hands. He has divorced Apostate Israel, that great idol-worshipping, blood thirsty, harlot. And all heaven erupts!

Read vs 1-2

A great multitude erupts in worship. We should take this to be the great multitude we heard worshipping in chapter 7, back in part 2, from every nation, tribe, language, and people. These are the elect worshipping Christ as He has brought judgement upon Babylon.

They shout a hallelujah! Hallelujah is a Greek spelling of a Hebrew word. It means “praise ye the Lord,” or “praise Yah” – as in Yahweh. Here in chapter 19 there are four Hallelujahs, the only place that word is used in the entire New Testament.

The first Hallelujah is for the judgement of Jerusalem. She killed the saints; or as Christ said:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” -Matthew 23:37

Back in Revelation 6, these martyrs cried out for divine vengeance.

O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the [land]? -Revelation 6:10

Jesus, prophesying about the destruction of Jerusalem, said: “For these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.” -Luke 21:22

God has answered the prayers of the martyred church. He has avenged their innocent blood. He has judged the harlot who has so corrupted covenant with God. Hallelujah!

Read vs 3

Jerusalem is not just judged, but destroyed. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, smoke will rise from her forever and ever. This is not about hell. This is about how Jerusalem has received all the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 and God has utterly rejected that city. Her fall from glory, from being the dwelling place of God, is eternal. The enemy of the church is fallen! Hallelujah.

In my last sermon I spent a lot of time discussing why the church is called to rejoice and worship over something so apparently terrible. I encourage you to listen to the sermon from July 3rd if you missed it.

Read vs 4-5

The 24 elders, themselves symbolic representatives of the church, now fall to the ground in worship. The four cherubim, embodiment of creation, do the same. And as they do so, an unidentified voice summons the entirety of the church to worship God.

Here we see an incredible Biblical pattern. Revelation’s hallelujahs are echoes of Psalm chapters 113-118. These are Psalms of praise that were sung at two of the Jewish festivals: Passover and Tabernacles. How fitting that because of the perfect Passover Lamb, and the shedding of Christ’s blood, God has come to dwell in the hearts of men. We are now the tabernacles of God, the living temples of thanksgiving.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord! -Psalm 116:15-19

We are seeing old covenant Hallelujahs fulfilled in Christ!

The fourth and final Hallelujah will come in the next section of chapter 19, but before we go there I want to show you another echoing pattern.

Part 2 of Revelation ended with the destruction of the old covenant and the unleashing of the new. We see the same pattern in part 3 of Revelation. Chapter 19 is the pivot chapter, moving from destruction to unleashing. Listen to all the parallels between chapter 11 of part 2 (when the seventh trumpet is blown) and chapter 19 of part 3.

Both begin with loud voices in heaven. (11:15, 19:1)

Both ascribe power and dominion to God. (11:15,17; 19:1,6)

In both the 24 elders fall on the ground in worship. (11:16, 19:4)

In both God issues judgements on those who raged against Him. (11:18, 19:2)

In both the martyrs are vindicated/avenged. (11:18, 19:2)

Both use strikingly similar phrasing: your servants, you who fear Him, small and great. (11:18, 19:5)

Both conclude with the sounding of thunder. (11:19, 19:6)

I highlight this to further prove that part 2 and part 3 of Revelation regard the same events. They are two different visions of the same reality. And that reality is the end of the old covenant and the unleashing of the new.

So much of the New Testament speaks of this pivot/transition. Here is just one small example:

In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. -Hebrews 8:13

And as the old covenant vanishes away, and a new covenant is unleashed in Christ, let the church cry, Hallelujah! Thanks be to Yahweh!

And with Revelation’s final hallelujah we will really begin to see what this new covenant looks like.

Read vs 6-8

Part 2 – The Marriage Feast

We need to understand this clearly, the marriage supper of the Lamb is what happens immediately following the fall of Babylon, the destruction of Jerusalem.

In chapter 18 John heard about the fall of Babylon. Chapter 19 begins with after this I heard, and John hears the church worshipping. Now John hears about the marriage supper of the Lamb. We are meant to understand these things which John heard as coming in quick succession, in a package of hearing.

See the theme? God divorces apostate Jerusalem, that adulterous bride, and immediately marries the bride that is faithful, the church.

Again, the marriage supper of the Lamb immediately follows the destruction of Jerusalem. Or more precisely put, the marriage supper of the Lamb is a symbolic picture of the new covenant. Which means, if Jesus is your Savior, your Mediator, your Lord; then you presently enjoy the marriage supper of the Lamb!

“Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you.” -John 15:3-4

For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. -2 Corinthians 11:2

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husband. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish…This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. -Ephesians 5:24-27,32

All of these verses apply to today. They are not future realities, they are present realities. When the Holy Spirit indwells the hearts of men, and faith in Jesus springs to life, it is a union so close, so intimate, that the very best earthly picture is that of marriage.

In fact, God created marriage to be a symbol of this glorious new covenant reality. Therefore, your marriages are meant to reflect the union between Christ and the church: holy, self-sacrificial, abounding in love and grace, filled with patience and eagerness to serve. In short, marriage is a holy union, just as Christ and the church abide in a holy union.

And notice the mingling of voices in verse 6. The Old Testament often describes the voice of God as sounding like thunder or rushing waters. In Revelation 1:15 it was Jesus whose voice was like the roar of many waters. But verse 6 says these sounds come from the great multitude – the church. The voice of God and the voice of the church have become one, indistinguishable, having the same sound.

But to be sure, none of us have the mouth of God. It is God who has our mouths.

Indeed, a holy union has happened. The new covenant is about the glorious and eternal union of Christ and the church. We are given the mark of Christ, as we saw earlier in Revelation; just as Jesus has taken our mark upon His nail torn hands and feet.

Now He lives forever as the Lamb who was slain, when it was us who deserved to be slain. And though we deserved darkness, Christ has given us His clothing: righteousness.

For our sake he made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. -2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus has given us His own righteousness, just as He took upon Himself our own sin. How the glories of the gospel of grace soar with joy! Is there anything better than union with Christ?

But do not miss the critical detail of verse 8. Though Christ has given us garments of righteousness, we are to clothe ourselves in righteousness. In other words, Jesus died to give you robes of righteousness, now put them on!

Isn’t that what Jesus said to the church of Laodicea?

“I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.” -Revelation 3:18

Brothers and sisters, it is by faithful obedience that we clothe ourselves. We know Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, so we love others and give ourselves to them. He is patient with us, so we are patient with others. He has forgiven us, so we forgive others. He works for our joy, so we work for the joy of others. Yes, this is what union to Christ looks like. It looks like we are clothed in His righteousness. It looks like the image of Christ brilliant in the face of the church.

Hallelujah! This is the final and greatest of the four hallelujahs: our union with Christ.

But there is one more element to observe that brings this marriage supper of the Lamb into our lives today: the Lord’s Supper, communion. Every time the church takes the bread and drinks the wine, we remember our union with Christ; we remember that we are the Bride of Christ.

We eat the bread: a symbol that His body is our body and our body is His body. The wine, or juice in our case, reminds us that He shed His blood for us and we will shed ours for Him. Yes, this is the feast of the new covenant, a feast of joy, a feast that satisfies, a feast that brings life forevermore!

We do not await for some future, heavenly marriage. It is now through faith in Jesus Christ. It is now! So put on Christ’s own righteousness and rejoice in your present communion with Him. The darkest of earth’s days will quickly be illuminated with faith in such a truth!

Read vs 9-10

This final hallelujah is too glorious for John. He is so overwhelmed by the blessing of the marriage supper of the Lamb that he falls on his face and begins to worship the angel. John has lost his senses, and the angel redirects them: Worship God!

The angel says something else filled with new covenant power. He groups John together with all those who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Of course, all those who hold to the testimony of Jesus make up the church. Then he says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. It seems like a random thing to say. But when you overlay parts 2 and 3 of Revelation it makes complete sense.

Back in chapter 10, John was given the scroll of the new covenant to eat. It was sweet in his mouth but it turned his stomach. Then he writes:

I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” -Revelation 10:11

John’s commission is the commission of the church, to go to the ends of the earth, to all peoples, and prophesy. And what is the prophetic word that the church carries? As Revelation 19:10 says, it is the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, because every Christian carries the testimony of Jesus Christ, the church is filled with the prophets of God. It is the fulfillment of Moses’ prayer.

Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit on them! -Numbers 11:29

Just as Christ has made us a kingdom of priests, we are also a kingdom of prophets. We are to go to all nations and prophesy, or proclaim, the gospel of Jesus Christ, making disciples, teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded. You, Christian, are one of these prophets. You carry the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophesy. Such a spirit cannot remain silent!

And this leads us beautifully into the next symbol of the new covenant within chapter 19.

Read vs 11-16

Part 3 - The Conqueror Rides

Notice how John goes from hearing to seeing. He is now seeing what he has just been hearing about.

One thing every Biblical interpreter agrees on – at least that I am aware of – is that the rider of the white horse is Jesus. That’s because we are given three names that, taken together, can only be attributed to Christ Jesus. He is the One named Faithful and True. He is the living Word of God. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords!

And verse 12 says that Jesus possesses a name that no one knows but Himself. Though we do not know the name, our not-knowing reveals much. This unknown name reveals the transcendent divinity of Jesus.

There is a name, a self-understanding, that only the Infinite One can comprehend. No created being knows the unsearchable things of God; only God Himself. This name reminds us that there are secret things of God to which our minds will never ascend, heights beyond our imagining. Yes, the rider of Revelation 19 can be no one else but God the Son.

But beyond the identity of this figure, interpreters quickly diverge. In this passage many see the second coming of Christ and the end of history; where Christ physically defeats all of His enemies through a great battle – often called Armageddon. They say it makes the most sense to understand this section literally. Indeed, it does sound like a great battle, where Christ has returned to defeat all His enemies through military means.

I believe it is a mistake to interpret these verses in such a way. Didn’t the Jews expect the Messiah to appear and defeat Israel’s enemies through military might? Jesus sorely disappointed them. That’s because Jesus is not about conquest through war. Rather, His is a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; as Romans 14:17 says. Why would Jesus’ second coming be suddenly so militaristic?

In reality, no one takes this section of Revelation 19 literally. No one believes Jesus is shooting swords out of His mouth. No one believes Jesus will collect His enemies in a literal winepress and step on them with enormous feet. Interpreters universally agree that these are symbols, though they might disagree on what those symbols point towards.

And I would say that symbolism is not switching on and off in this chapter, but that the whole thing is bathed in symbolism. Just as we are not, nor will we every be, literally married to Jesus. It is a symbol, just as this great battle is a symbol.

So, what does this great battle and the triumph of Christ symbolize? Just like the marriage supper of the Lamb, it is a symbol of the new covenant. It is a symbol of the advance of the gospel throughout the world. For as the gospel, or the testimony of Jesus, goes out into all the earth, the wild chaos of the earth will be subdued and ruled by the effects of the gospel.

Consider, what does Scripture continually use to symbolize a sharp sword? Scripture itself.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

-Hebrews 4:12-13

The Word of God divides. It first divides the soul, like living sacrifices, burning away sin, leaving only faith refined. Through the consistent application of the Word, the wise become holy and acceptable before God. But if fools do not receive the Word of God, then it will divide people – dividing them one from another and dividing them, or separating them, from God.

Such is the sword that extends from the mouth of Christ. Is He not the living Word of God? Is not all Scripture fulfilled in Him? Is the sword coming from the mouth of Christ not the testimony of God become flesh, dwelling among us, dying in place of sinners, defeating sin and death through resurrection, and ascending to the right hand of the Father where He receives all power and authority?

Yes it is! Listen to what Jesus, the Prince of Peace, said about His divisive gospel.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.” -Matthew 10:34-36

I wonder if you have tasted this in your own family: the separation caused by the gospel, the judgements that just seem to bubble up. I know I have.

That’s the sad reality. As the gospel goes out, it will set people against one another. But we must remember, it is not flesh and blood that we war against, but against those spiritual forces that constantly work to keep people bound in sin and darkness.

Even still, our great hope is that eventually, on this earth, the gospel will win. Like Habakkuk 2:14 says, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord is perfectly seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ life is so powerful that just the proclamation of it will conquer the world!

This is what the Old Testament was always pointing towards!

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed…I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron…Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. -Psalm 2:1-2,7-9,10-12

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” -Jeremiah 23:5-6

Jesus conquers not by war, but by bringing the peoples into His righteousness.

“Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother He named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword.” -Isaiah 49:1-2

“Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth.” -Hosea 6:5

Can you see it? Revelation is embedded with Old Testament symbolism. In the new covenant age, during the prophethood of all believers, the enemies of God are slain by the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The enemies of God are subdued either by their submission to the gospel, just as we were; or they are ruined by their rejection of the gospel, and will face an eternity apart from God. The more the gospel gains ground, the more the kingdom of God advances, the more righteousness, peace, and joy, will abound on earth. Christ will conquer the world not with war, but with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Then comes the end, when [Jesus] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority, and every power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under His feet. -1 Corinthians 15:24-26

We live in the age – the new covenant age – where Christ is subduing His enemies. We know this because we were His enemies and we have been subdued; and because death has not yet been defeated. We live in an age of conquest, for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, as priests and prophets proclaiming the testimony of Jesus, leading the nations to the living temple of God.

This is why Jesus is surrounded by the church in Revelation 19. He is the one who conquers, for He is the Living Word. But we participate by presenting Him to the world. We speak Christ crucified, and as we do so, He conquers His enemies.

The Word of God, Jesus, accomplishes all that He does by His word. His word goes forth in the gospel. Therefore, Jesus conquers the world with good news, not with literal swords.

Read vs 17-21

The is the second feast in our passage today. The first was a joyful feast celebrating a marriage. Now the birds of the air feast upon those that have rejected Christ. This passage draws heavily from Ezekiel 39, where the birds are also called to feast upon the defeated foes of God.

We have not yet come to final judgment in Revelation. This is still about new covenant realities. To reject Jesus, and His word, is to receive eternal condemnation, regardless of your station in life – free or slave, small or great, king or peasant.

See how the beast and the false prophet were defeated by the word of Christ? As we have seen, the beast is a symbol of Rome and the false prophet is a symbol of the Jewish religious establishment. Look at history; both have been defeated.

The Jewish religious establishment could not exist past the fall of Jerusalem. Rome’s identity was thoroughly pagan, filled with violence and sexual immorality and countless injustices. But in a few hundred years Rome would adopt Christianity as its own. Never will these two rise again. Just like part 1 of chapter 19 symbolized Jerusalem eternal fall in images from Sodom and Gomorrah; the lake of fire is a symbol the eternal fall of Rome and Jerusalem.

This is the story of our age – the age of the new covenant. The world changed at the incarnation, when God became flesh. Since then the gospel has defeated empires and spread across the planet and outlasted millennia. And the practical effects of gospel influence so permeate our world that we have trouble seeing them: hospitals, modern science, orphanages, explosions of art and culture, universities, doing good to people outside of your tribe; all of these are inseparable from the gospel and its effects on the globe.

There is a great book called “Dominion” written by a best-selling author and non-Christian named Tom Holland. It traces the incredible effects of Christianity through history. The subtitle of the book is “How the Christian Revolution Remade the World.”

The world has not yet been perfected, but the fact remains that Jesus Christ, and His gospel, have already transformed this planet in ways that would never have been imagined 2,000 years ago. How obvious is it, though, that the work is not yet complete. When you look around and see bad things happen, we have been given the two most effective weapons for bring all of that under submission to Jesus: the testimony of Jesus and the Spirit of prophesy who dwells within us.

For we have entered into a union with Christ. We are His bride and body. We go where He goes. He goes where we go.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself…Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

-2 Corinthians 5:18-19,20

[God made] known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. -Ephesians 1:9-10

This is the new covenant age, where Christ reigns at the right hand of the Father, and where we, He ambassadors, are given the work of uniting all things in Jesus, the things of heaven – righteousness, peace, and joy – with the things on earth.

As we, the Bride of Christ, prophesy about the testimony of Jesus, the sword of the white rider will conquer!

Next week I will spend the entire sermon looking more deeply at the effects of this conquest as we consider the millennium – another picture of the new covenant.