The Second Advent Of Jesus Christ As Recorded In Revelation 19.11-20.3
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday March 1, 2009
The Day of the Lord: The Second Advent Of Jesus Christ As Recorded In Revelation 19:11-20:3
Lesson # 23
Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation 19:1.
This morning we will continue with our study of the prophetic subject known as “the Day of the Lord.”
Today we will study of the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which will complete our study of the “Tribulation” portion of this period, which is also known by students of prophecy as, “Daniel’s Seventieth Week.”
At His “Second Advent,” the Lord Jesus Christ will destroy the Tribulational armies, have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:11-19), will imprison Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) and will establish His millennial reign on planet earth (Rev. 20:4-6).
At that time, the Lord and His armies will orbit the earth before landing on the Mount of Olives, which was the site of His Ascension (Acts. 1:9-11).
There will be a great earthquake when our Lord’s foot touches the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:1-8) and will be a unique day having neither day nor night (Zech. 14:7).
The “Second Advent” of Jesus Christ is taught in both the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy 30:3; Psalm 2:1-9; 24:7-10; 96:10-13; 110; Isaiah 9:6-7; 63:1-6; Jeremiah 23:1-8; Daniel 2:44-45; 7:18-27; Zechariah 12; 14:1-9; Matthew 19:28; 24:27-31; Mark 13:24-30; Luke 12:35-40; 17:24-37; 18:8; 21:25-28; Acts 1:10-11; 15:16-18; Romans 11:25-27; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2:8; 2 Peter 3:3-4; Jude 14-15; Revelation 1:7-8; 2:25-28; 16:15; 19:11-21).
Revelation 19:11-20:3 records the “Second Advent” of Jesus Christ, which like the “First Advent” will be literally fulfilled.
None of the details given in Revelation 19:11-21 corresponds to the “Rapture” of the church.
The “Rapture” of the church is distinguished in Scripture from the “Second Advent” of Jesus Christ.
For example, the “Rapture” delivers the church from the Tribulation (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9) while the “Second Advent” delivers Israel from Satan, Antichrist and the Tribulational armies.
The “Rapture” is seen only by the church and is therefore invisible to the world while the “Second Advent” is the visible manifestation of Christ on the earth (Revelation 1:7).
The Lord meets the church in the earth’s atmosphere at the “Rapture,” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) whereas the Lord physically lands on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem at His “Second Advent” (Zechariah 14:4).
Signs do not precede the “Rapture” whereas visible signs precede the “Second Advent” (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21:10-31).
The Lord claims His Bride at the “Rapture” but He returns with her at the “Second Advent” (1 Thessalonians 3:13; 2 Thessalonians 1:10)
The “Rapture” completes God’s program for the church (1 Corinthians 15:51-58) while the “Second Advent” is related to God’s program for Israel (Matthew 24).
The “Rapture” is a mystery (1 Corinthians 15:51-57), not known to Old Testament saints whereas the “Second Advent” is prophesied throughout the Old Testament canon.
The “Rapture” leaves creation unchanged whereas the “Second Advent” entails a change in creation from corruption to perfect environment (Romans 8:18-22).
The “Rapture” does not fulfill God’s covenants to Israel whereas the “Second Advent” marks the beginning of their fulfillment through Christ’s millennial reign.
The “Rapture” precedes the Tribulation whereas the “Second Advent” follows it as indicated by the chronology presented in the book of Revelation.
The church is nowhere found during the events of the Tribulation period recorded in Revelation 6-18 but appears as Christ’s bride in heaven in Revelation 19:1-10 and comes back with Christ at His Second Advent as recorded in Revelation 19:11-21.
Revelation 19:11, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.”
The “white horse rider” is a reference to Christ and is distinguished from the white horse rider in Revelation 6:2, which refers to Antichrist coming as a peacemaker during the first half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
In the ancient world, the horse was an animal used for warfare, thus here it speaks of Christ making war against His enemies.
During His First Advent, He came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, which was an animal that symbolized peace, which He was offering to the nation of Israel, which they rejected when they crucified Him.
The fact that Christ is on a white horse is alluding to the ancient Roman Triumph with Christ as a triumphant commander with the spoils of victory following Him as He comes to destroy His remaining enemies.
Revelation 19:11-13 presents a twelve-fold description of Jesus Christ when He appears at His Second Advent.
Our Lord is described as “faithful,” which means that He can always be counted on to keep His promises unlike rulers throughout human history who made promises they could not or did not fulfill.
He is described as “true” meaning that He is the “real deal,” the perfect ruler for this world who always tells the truth because as to His divine nature, He is truth.
The second description “in righteousness He judges and wages war” means that every enemy of God on the earth is about to be judged and executed and removed from the earth and this is in accordance with His perfect righteousness.
This stands in stark contrast to Christ’s “First Advent,” when He came full of grace and truth, not to judge but to bear the penalty of sin, to be judged for our sin.
However, at His “Second Advent” He comes as Judge.
Revelation 19:12, “His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.”
The third description of our Lord is that His “eyes are a flame of fire,” which is symbolic language for the fact that at His Second Advent, He will come to judge those on the earth in rebellion against God and to put down all unrighteousness.
The fourth description of Christ is that “on His head are many diadems,” which symbolizes Christ’s right to rule as absolute, sole ruler of planet earth.
The fifth description of our Lord is that “He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.”
The word “name” refers to our Lord’s character.
Jesus Christ is unique as the God-Man in that He is the only member of the Trinity with a human nature and He is the only member of the human race who has a divine nature as God, thus no one knows His name except Himself.
Revelation 19:13, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”
The sixth description of Christ is that “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood,” which anticipates the defeat of His enemies (See Isaiah 63:1-6).
The seventh description of our Lord is that “His name is called the Word of God,” which refers to the fact that He is the Word of God incarnate.
Revelation 19:14, “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.”
This verse presents the eighth description of Christ at His Second Advent.
The armies following Christ are composed of two groups: (1) Elect angels (Matthew 13:41; 16:27; 24:30-31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7) (2) Overcomers from the church age (Revelation 19:1-8, 14).
These “overcomers” from the church age are “clothed in fine linen,” which Revelation 19:8 describes as “the righteous acts of the saints.”
Revelation 19:15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”
The ninth description of Christ when He comes back at His Second Advent is that “from His mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it He may strike down the nations,” which speaks of the fact that Christ will remove all His enemies from the earth.
The tenth description “He will rule them with a rod of iron” refers to Christ wielding absolute governmental authority over the entire earth during His millennial reign and will require all men to conform to His righteous and just standards and that He will not tolerate lawlessness or injustices.
This description speaks of Christ acting the part of a shepherd by destroying the enemies of the sheep.
The eleventh description of Christ at His Second Advent is that “He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty,” which speak of a harvest of judgment that is deliberate and continuous until it is complete and demonstrates how much God hates sin and is an expression of God’s holiness.
Revelation 19:16, “And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”
Revelation 19:16 records the twelfth description of Christ when He returns at His Second Advent.
This description refers to the majestic power of Christ since the robe in the ancient world was a symbol of majesty and the thigh suggested power.
Revelation 19:17-20:3 presents the conclusion of the Armageddon campaign, which began with the Russian invasion of Israel during the midway point of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
Revelation 19:17-18, “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, ‘Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.’”
The angel’s invitation to the birds of the earth anticipates how devastating and complete Christ’s victory will be over the Tribulational armies.
Revelation 19:17-18 teaches that Jesus Christ will destroy all who resist Him regardless of class and status in life.
It teaches the principle that God’s judgment upon man is no respecter of persons (See Romans 2:6-11).
Revelation 19:19, “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”
The armies of Antichrist will be fighting the Eastern Confederacy in the valley of Jezreel, which is also called “Armageddon.”
However, Revelation 19:19 teaches that they will stop pointing their weapons at each other and will point them at Christ.
“The beast” is a reference to the Antichrist who is identified by this designation in Revelation 13:1, 2, 3, 4; 14:9, 11; 11:7; 15:2; 16:2; 17:3; 19:20; and 20:10.
“The kings of the earth” would include the seven remaining kings of the ten nation European Confederacy (See Revelation 17:12-17; Daniel 7:18) as well as the kings of the East (Revelation 16:12-17).
Revelation 19:20, “And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.”
“The beast” and the “false prophet” are the first human beings that will occupy the Lake of Fire and the rest of unsaved humanity will join them at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
Notice that they are thrown “alive” into the Lake of Fire indicating a conscious existence in the place.
Satan is not sent to the Lake of Fire until after the millennium when he starts one final rebellion, which God puts down (Revelation 20:7-10).
Revelation 19:21, “And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
This passage teaches that Christ’s victory over Antichrist, the false prophet and the kings of the earth and their armies is a total and complete and absolute one.
Revelation 20:1-3 records that Satan will be captured at the Second Advent of Christ and will be incarcerated for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:1, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.”
The “abyss” is a prison for fallen or non-elect angels.
Revelation 20:2, “And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”
“The dragon” emphasizes Satan’s vicious and cruel character and emphasizes his end time activity and behavior.
“The serpent of old” draws our attention to Satan’s crafty character and reminds us of the Garden of Eden, the fall of man, his usurpation of man’s rule on earth, and his constant activity of temptation and deception.
“Devil” is the noun Diabolos, a legal term meaning “slanderer, false accuser.”
“Satan” is the noun Satanas, which is a legal term meaning “adversary.”
Revelation 20:3, “And he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”
The fact that Revelation 20:3 teaches that Satan will be incarcerated for a thousand years at Christ’s Second Advent clearly implies that he is not incarcerated at this present time in history and won’t be until the Second Advent of Christ.
In fact, 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan is the “god of this world” at the present time and also deceives the entire world as well (1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:10).
Therefore, with the Second Advent of Christ the world will be rid of Satan for a thousand years.
This leads us to the communion service and so therefore, could we have our ushers pass out the communion elements and let us take a few minutes to meditate upon the Lord and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way {He took} the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink {it} in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”