Judgement by Messiah
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Brief Background
Brief Background
We have worked our way through the book of Revelation and are now almost to the end. John the son of Zebedee was in exile on the isle of Patmos, and Yeshua revealed Himself to John there. John was commanded to write to seven communities in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).
Last week we began to cover the climax of Yeshua’s Return in Revelation 19. We looked at the significance of coming on a white horse, the many crowns on Yeshua’s head, Yeshua’s robe drenched in the blood of His enemies and how He will rule the nations with an Iron Sceptre.
Today we will continue from 19:17 and look into the judgement of the leaders of the final world empire, the Beast and the False Prophet.
Judgement by Messiah
Judgement by Messiah
Let’s read Rev. 19:17-21
Then I saw a single angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he cried out to all the birds flying high in the sky, “Come, gather for the great banquet of God— to eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of generals and the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and those riding on them, the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great!” Also I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the One who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs before him by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, as well as those who had worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the One riding on the horse. And all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.
We start this passage with the call of an angel to the birds of the sky. In the beginning of the chapter John is told by an angel to write down Rev. 19:9a “How fortunate are those who have been invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb!” Now we are introduced to a second banquet. However, this is a banquet that we do not want to attend. Craig Keener writes:
The image of carrion birds feasting on the flesh of corpses killed in battle was a familiar one to ancient readers (1 Sam. 17:44-46; Jer. 16:4; Ezek. 29:5). Given common Greek views of one’s image enduring in the realm of departed spirits, the only fate worse than death itself was death followed by lack of burial, in which one’s remains are devoured by animals. Jewish literature also anticipated the wicked lying unburied in the end time, devoured by vultures and other animals (Sib.Or. 3.643-45).
I was just reading the story of David and Goliath in 1 Sam. 17:44-46 where the young man David boldly responded to the giant.
The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, so I may give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I am coming to you in the Name of Adonai-Tzva’ot, God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day Adonai will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and take your head off you, and I will give the carcasses of the Philistines’ camp today to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth. Then all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel,
Another passage that is very similar is Eze. 39:17-20 . This is the story of the ultimate destruction of Gog of Magog which we will cover in more detail in Rev. 20. However, for the moment we shall read part of the judgement against this end time army.
“You, son of man”—thus says Adonai Elohim—“say to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to My sacrificial feast that I have prepared for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. You will eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—as rams, lambs, goats, bulls—all of them fatlings of Bashan. So you will eat fat until you are gorged and you will drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrificial feast that I have prepared for you. You will be filled at My table with horses and horsemen, with mighty men and all the warriors.’ ” It is a declaration of Adonai.
In both of these examples, it is Adonai who is bringing about the judgement against a wicked nation that has set itself up against Beni-Yisrael. The context is exactly the same as in Rev. 19. Except this time it is revealed that the full and complete representative of Adonai is One who is called “the Word of God”, Yeshua the Messiah!
After spending the seven or so chapters discussing the Beast and the False Prophet, I am amazed how succinct is their demise and judgement. We are told that the rulers of the earth, presidents, prime ministers and kings, align themselves with the final world empire, the Beast and against Yeshua and His army. But it is way too late. Yeshua captures the leaders of the final empire and throws them “alive into the lake of fire burring with brimstone.” This lake of fire is a place of eternal judgement as we will find out in the next chapter.
Then without any fanfare, Rev. 19:21 simply states that, “The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the One riding on the horse. And all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.”
Application for Today
Application for Today
How do we apply this to us today? As I was reading through one of the commentaries, I found myself putting them down, and saying, “That’s not what it means!” and “That’s not how it happens!.” The primary reason for this is that the first commentator could not get their head around the concept of Yeshua being a might warrior and bringing actual war. I mentioned this last week, but this is exactly opposite of what the disciples felt. Remember when a Samaritan village rejected Yeshua, James and John said, Luke 9:54 “Master, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”” Now Yeshua rebuked them at that time, but does that mean that he will never come to judge?
On the contrary, Yeshua specifically states in John 5:22-23
The Father does not judge anyone, but has handed over all judgment to the Son so that all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
So, we know that Yeshua will judge the living and the dead one day. But we also know that He has commanded us to love our enemies in Matt. 5:43-44
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Now I will admit that this is one of the hardest passages to put into practice. I have wrestled with this when I have been seriously wronged. It is hard to pray for people that spitefully use you and abuse you. When my motorcycle was stolen I started out by praying something like this, “God you commanded me to love my enemies, but you did not say I had to like them. Please pour firey coals on their head because of what they have done to me!”
Then a little later I prayed, “Well I don’t really want them to go to hell over this. Instead could you hound them down with your angels and drag them into a congregation and convict them.”
And eventually my emotions realigned with my words, and I was actually able to pray for their salvation, and that they would come into the Kingdom of God. Eventually I was able to pray, “Father, do not hold this theft against them on judgement day.”
You see Yeshua did this when He was hanging on the cross. He said, Luke 23:34
But Yeshua was saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Then they cast lots, dividing up His clothing.
I bring this all up because there is something in the last verse that really stands out to me. The verse says, Rev. 19:21a “The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the One riding on the horse.” You see, none of those who were following Yeshua did any of the fighting. Yeshua speaks the word, i.e. uses the sword of His mouth, and all of His enemies die.
When we attempt to exact our judgement, we often go too far, or not far enough. Our ability to judge between good and evil was twisted in the Garden of Eden. Yeshua is the only one who is worthy and able to measure out the correct balance of justice and mercy.
Rav. Sha’ul says it this way in his letter to the Romans 12:14-21
Bless those who persecute you—bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Repay no one evil for evil; give thought to what is good in the eyes of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in shalom with all people. Never take your own revenge, loved ones, but give room for God’s wrath—for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” says Adonai. Rather, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For by doing so you will heap coals of fire upon his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.