19:17
An angel calls
the birds
"And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
t fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 
Come
and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye
may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of
mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and
the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." (Rev.
19:17:18)
We have seen Christ on the white horse ready to slay the wicked with the sword of His mouth 1915. Now an angel appears calling the birds to feast on the flesh of kings and even horses. The kings then join the beast to fight the one on the horse. Then beast and false prophet are cast into the fire and the birds filled themselves with flesh.
| But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments . . . that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. . . . And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. (Deut. 28:15, 16, 26) |
| "Folk have chosen the sun (either as an object of worship, or the day of the sun for the same purpose. Now, here is an angel - obviously much larger and more powerful than the sun even." From my friend, Stanley. |
We have seen this
angel before (or one like him)
"And . . . I saw four angels
standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the
earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, not
on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the
seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels,
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the
earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants
of our God in their foreheads." (7:1-3).
The other angel ascends from
the east. The Hebrew for "East," is literally, "rising of the sun." Here
in chapter 19, the angel stands in the full, bright sun. The breeze of
the early four winds is to become a hurricane. The four angels and the
angel in the sun are standing — an indication that they are ready for action
(See Dan. 11:2-4).
Let's compare the scene when the sixth trumpet sounds.
"And the sixth angel sounded,
and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before
God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels
which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were
loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a
year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of
the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: . . ." (9;14-16).
We may take these horsemen
to be the same ones who ride their white horses with Christ. They are the
angels of heaven 1915.
Where else do
we see the birds?
Here is the passage: "And
he [a mighty angel from heaven] cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean
and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of
her fornication. . . ." (18:2, 3)
The major source
for the imagery comes from Ezekiel. See ez3917.
We saw the caged birds
as deceptive religious doctrines of the massive end-time religious power
1802bi.
After Christ on the white horse slays the wicked by the sword of truth
of His mouth, the deceptive teachings will devour those who taught these
things, removing the end-time wicked from further sympathy. These leaders
and the horses (or people who supported them 1601ch)
do not receive an honorable burial. (Compare to the death of the two witnesses
1109.)
The birds flying in
mid-heaven (the atmosphere) is in contrast to the three angels who flew
there 1406d. In fact, this comparison
is included in the table matching concepts between chapters 14 and 19 —
r19t.
The birds could also represent the evil angels.
Eagles are pictured
in the fate of those left behind in Luke's account of the coming of Christ
lu1737.
19:18
Come eat kings,
mighty men, horses and all
"Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." (Rev. 19:18)
A picture of the universal nature of the wicked. Compare the group that calls for the rocks and mountains to fall on them 0615.
Horse meat
The
horses were seen in chapter 6 as the people who follow their leader as
a horse follows the direction of its rider. Perhaps the same pertains here
0601ch.
19:19
War declared
against the rider and his army
"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Rev. 19:19-21)
This critical time of the
final battle against the Lamb is seen several times in the book of Revelation.
| 12:17
1217 |
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. |
| 13:15 | And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. |
| 16:16-18
1616su |
And he [God] gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. |
| 17:14
1714 |
These [ten kings, supporting the beast] shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. |
19:20
Beast and prophet
tossed into the fire
"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." (Rev. 19:19-21)
I included verse 19 in the
text above to show the "battle." They gather and then are taken. Of course
their "capture" has some action, but the text doesn't describe it. This
is also the picture seen in the description of the battle of Armageddon
of chapter 16 and with the ten kings of chapter 17. See texts above.
The slaying of the false
prophet is drawn from the experience of Elijah after Mt. Carmel re1616fp.
We see this also in the book of Daniel da0711.
Casting the beast into the fire may have been drawn from the experience
of the golden calf de0921.
Why now?
Why
would beast and false prophet be sent to the flames now to wait through
the thousand years? They apparently don't. We look at this question and
more, in connection with the lake of fire in chapter 20. r20o.
These two are false religious systems. God acts in total fairness. I believe
that he brings these two systems down at a time when the people involved
will understand His justice. Leaders and followers of the systems are punished
at this time. Let's look back at the plagues. The three-part alliance breaks
up at the time of the seventh plague apparently when the people involved
see that they have been deceived re1508al.
The remnant slain
by the sword
"And
the remnant [of the wicked] were slain with the sword of him that sat upon
the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh." (Rev. 19:21)
The kings and armies
are left to be slain apart from those systems that had been their shelter
— their chosen structure of deception. Many will have given all their energies
and resources to make the systems work for their salvation. Now they stand
with their sand-based house washed away — alone to experience the fury
of the storm. The Scriptures, as a sword, condemns them. They are without
excuse and are slain to lie dead over the surface of the earth.
We discussed the punishment
of burning when studying about the smoke of torment of the beast worshippersre1411d.
Surprise
"They did eat, they drank,
they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise
also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought,
they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out
of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." (Luke
17:27-30)
How can we avoid being swept
into the end-time false religious movement? Only by staying close to the
Lord and by depending on His word. Listen to the prayer of Jesus: "They
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through
thy truth: thy word is truth." (John 17:17) Grapes image
© Correl.
Today is the time to make our calling and election sure. Today is the time to renew our covenant with our Redeemer and to cling to Him.
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