In this message we come to the war at Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-21). After His wedding feast, Christ will come as a fighting General with His Bride, the overcoming believers who are His army, to fight Antichrist, the kings under him, and their armies at Armageddon. Although the third party, the great prostitute, will have been annihilated, the Lord will still have three enemies: Satan, the dragon; Antichrist, the beast out of the sea; and the false prophet, the beast out of the land. These three will continue to oppose Him. Under the instigation of Antichrist, man will even wage war directly against the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Antichrist, the false prophet, and the ten kings and their armies will make war against the Lamb. How terrible! If this were not recorded in the Bible, I would not be able to believe that man could actually declare war on God.
In 19:11-21 we see that the Bridegroom comes to fight against His enemies with the help of His Bride. The Bridegroom is the Commander-in-chief, and the Bride is the army. What a honeymoon this will be! During His honeymoon Christ will clear up the universe. Antichrist and the false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire, and Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss. At that time Christ will be happy, and we, His Bride, shall also be happy as we enjoy a wonderful honeymoon with our Bridegroom.
Before the war at Armageddon, a number of important events will take place within a short period of time. These events will include the raptures of the firstfruit, the man-child, the late overcomers, the majority of the saints, and the gleanings; the destruction of Catholicism and the termination of Judaism; the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ in the air to determine who will be qualified to be the Bride during the millennium, to attend the wedding feast, and to fight with Christ against the enemy; the wedding in the air; and possibly the destruction of material Babylon. After all these things have been completed, one more thing will still remain — the war at Armageddon. Christ’s enemies will become all the more evil, even declaring war against Him. Therefore, Christ, the Bridegroom, will come with His Bride to fight against them.
In chapter nineteen the wedding and the war are put together. We may even entitle this chapter, “The Wedding and the War.” Immediately after the wedding, Christ will come to fight against the enemy. He will not wait even one day.
The war at Armageddon will remove all the obstacles to the coming millennial kingdom. Before we can have a feast, we must clean up the feasting room. The entire universe will be the feasting room, and Christ and His Bride will work together to sweep away the dirt, which will be put into the “trash can,” the lake of fire. God’s sweeping in the universe began in Genesis chapter one. Firstly, God swept the dirt into the sea (Gen. 1:2); for at that time the sea was the “trash can” in this universe. Eventually, all the dirt will be put in the ultimate “trash can,” the lake of fire. In Matthew 25:41 the Lord Jesus says, “Go from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.” Because the “goats” followed the Devil, they will be cast into the lake of fire prepared for him and his angels. God has prepared the lake of fire as a “trash can” to dispose of all the trash in the universe. Antichrist, the false prophet, and their armies will be swept into the “dust pan” and then dumped into the lake of fire. After the millennium, Satan himself will join them there. After the judgment at the great white throne, all the dead unbelievers will also be cast into the lake of fire. From that time onward, there will be no more dust. In the New Jerusalem, there will be no dust; there will be only gold, pearl, and precious stones. The Lord’s fighting in the war at Armageddon will actually be a sweeping of dirt into the universal “trash can.” The Lord may say to Antichrist, “What are you doing here? Have you declared war on Me? This gives Me the perfect opportunity to sweep you away. My Bride will cooperate with me in doing this.”
Praise the Lord that we are not trash — we are a treasure! Instead of being cast into the lake of fire, we shall be gathered into the New Jerusalem. In order for the Lord to enjoy a pleasant honeymoon and the thousand-year kingdom, all the trash must be swept away. I am looking forward to participating in this cleaning work. How pleasant it will be!
Verse 11 says, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sits on it called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.” Here Christ, the Bridegroom as the Commander-in-chief, appears riding on a white horse. The horse of the first seal is also white and signifies the preaching of the gospel (6:2). Thus, both Christ and the gospel ride on a white horse. In the book of Revelation, white indicates being pure, bright, justified, and approved. This is vastly different from what is indicated by the colors of the other three horses in chapter six — red, black, and pale green. Even today we are riding on this white horse. Our preaching of the gospel is pure, bright, justified, and absolutely approved by the Lord. Christ will ride on this horse as He fights against His enemy.
In verse 11 Christ is called “Faithful and True.” Christ is faithful both to God and to those who believe in Him. In His faithfulness He defeats and destroys those who oppose God and persecute the believers. He is true in carrying out God’s economy and in caring for those who believe in Him. He is trustworthy, and with Him there is no falsehood.
Verse 11 also says, “In righteousness He judges and makes war.” Christ will judge and fight in righteousness. He judges by fighting. It is true even today that no wrongdoers would accept the judgments of our courts if the government had no police force to back up these judgments. Judgment can only be executed by police power. When Christ comes to judge Antichrist, Antichrist will be utterly rebellious. Thus, there will be the need for Christ to fight to subdue this rebellion and to judge these rebels in righteousness. His judging by fighting is not only according to righteousness; it is also to maintain righteousness.
Verse 12 says, “And His eyes are a flame of fire.” This signifies Christ’s judging eyes. He will judge according to what He sees. His flaming eyes will carry out His judgment.
As the Warrior, Christ has many diadems on His head (v. 12). Every diadem is a kind of glory. Christ is crowned and glorified. Because He has been crowned with many kinds of glories (Heb. 2:9), He wears many diadems.
As the One on the white horse, the Lord has “a name written which no one knows but Himself” (v. 12). The experience of Christ can never be exhausted. When we experience Him, we come to know a particular aspect of Him. However, there are certain aspects of Christ that will not be experienced by us. Only He Himself knows what these aspects are. This indicates that the Christ whom we experience is inexhaustible. Because we have experienced His redemption, we know Him as the Redeemer. Because we have experienced Him as light, life, manna, power, strength, holiness, and comfort, we know Him in all these aspects. We have experienced so many items of Christ’s riches. But because there are some items which we have not experienced, He still has a name known only to Himself. Therefore, we do not know this name. No matter how much we have experienced Christ, there is still something about Him unknown to us because we have not experienced it.
Verse 13 says, “And He is clothed with a garment dipped in blood.” The garment of Christ is dipped in blood and becomes red by His treading the winepress of the wine of the fury of the wrath of God (v. 15; Isa. 63:1-3) at Armageddon (16:14, 16), where the blood will rise up to the bridles of the horses (14:20).
Verse 13 also says, “His name is called The Word of God.” The Word of God is the definition, the explanation, and the expression of God. As the Word of God, Christ speaks for God not only by imparting life as grace to God’s chosen people in the Gospel of John (John 1:1, 4, 14), but also by executing God’s judgment upon the rebellious people in the Revelation of John. Even as the Lord fights, He speaks for God and expresses God. The fighting of Christ is the speaking of the Word of God. God is righteous and sovereign. He is also a God of order and He cannot tolerate disorder and rebellion. As Christ fights against the enemy, He will speak that God is sovereign, righteous, and orderly. He will declare that God is the God over everyone and that He does not tolerate rebellion against His authority. Hence, the Warrior is the Word. His fighting is the speaking of God’s Word.
Suppose I come into the meeting hall and find everything is in a mess. Without saying a word, I begin to clean up the hall. My act of cleaning says that I am a neat person and that I cannot tolerate a messy environment. There is no need for me to say anything, because my cleaning speaks for me. Likewise, the Lord’s fighting in the war at Armageddon will be a powerful speaking. It will tell Satan, Antichrist, the false prophet, and the entire universe that God is sovereign and that no one can rebel against Him. God is a God of order and He will sweep away all rebellion.
The Word of God is mentioned both in the Gospel of John (1:1) and in the Revelation of John. In the Gospel of John the Word of God does not speak anything related to fighting; rather, He speaks redemption, light, life, and building. In the Gospel of John the Word of God speaks life and building. In the Revelation of John the Word of God speaks not only life and building, but also fighting. Before God can have the building He desires, He must first clean up His universe. In this book Christ’s fighting is also His speaking for God. As the Word of God, His fighting proclaims to the whole universe what kind of God He is. God is not a God of confusion — He is the sovereign God, a God of order who does not tolerate rebellion. By His fighting Christ declares this to the universe.
Verse 15 says, “And out of His mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations.” The sword, which proceeds out of the mouth of Christ, who is the Word of God, is the word which will judge the rebellious (John 12:48). When the Lord Jesus comes to fight against Antichrist, He will not need nuclear weapons. He will simply need to speak a word. If He were to say, “Antichrist, go to the lake of fire,” Antichrist would immediately be cast there. The Lord’s word is more powerful than a nuclear weapon. As the Lord is speaking, we who follow Him shall say “Amen.” When the Lord says, “Antichrist, go to the lake of fire,” we all shall say “Amen,” and Antichrist will immediately be cast into the lake of fire. This is the Lord’s way of fighting. Undoubtedly, Antichrist will use the most modern weapons, but Christ will defeat him with the sharp sword, the almighty word that proceeds out of His mouth.
The Lord will not only smite the nations; He will also shepherd them with an iron rod (v. 15). To shepherd here means to rule, and the iron rod signifies strong power. Christ will firstly smite the nations with His judging word; then He will shepherd those who remain with His strong power. His ruling with strong power is His shepherding. He will rule over the nations by shepherding them. Today, the elders shepherd the church with love, not with a rod of iron. However, because the nations will still have the rebellious human nature, the Lord will shepherd them during the millennium with an iron rod. That the nations will still have a rebellious nature is proved by the fact that they will follow Satan to make war against Christ at the end of the millennium (20:7-9).
Verse 15 also says, “And He treads the winepress of the wine of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” The Lord’s fighting in the war at Armageddon will be the treading of the great winepress. All the grapes, the Gentile military forces, will be gathered into the winepress and will be trodden by the Lord Jesus.
Verse 16 says, “And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.” The fact that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords will no longer be hidden or mysterious. This name will be written upon His garment and upon His thigh; hence, it will be openly revealed and known by all. The garment signifies Christ’s attributes, especially His righteousness in His humanity. And the thigh signifies Christ’s standing strength, His stability. His title King of kings and Lord of lords is exhibited in His righteousness and stability.
Verse 14 says, “And the armies which are in heaven followed Him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and pure.” The armies here are the called and chosen believers in 17:14. They are also both the Bride and the guests invited to the marriage dinner of the Lamb (vv. 7-9). The guests invited to the wedding feast and the Bride are the same. The Bride consists of the invited guests, and the invited guests make up the Bride. After the wedding, all the guests will become the army.
Verse 14 says that the armies are dressed in fine linen, white and pure. In the previous message we saw that the overcoming saints have two garments, the one for salvation and the other for reward. The fine linen here is the second garment. This second garment of the overcomers qualifies them both to attend the marriage dinner of the Lamb (vv. 8-9) and to fight with the Lord against His enemy. Thus, the wedding garment becomes the fighting garment. The second garment qualifies us not only to attend the wedding, but also to join the army. As we have seen, this garment is Christ lived out of us to be our daily righteousness. Even today, we are fighting by Christ as our garment. Ephesians 6 indicates that the whole armor of God is Christ. Furthermore, the Lord’s army will be on white horses. We shall not be guerrillas; we shall be a properly formed heavenly army. Hallelujah!
According to verses 17 and 18, an angel will cry out with a loud voice and say to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, “Come, gather yourselves to the great dinner of God,” and the birds will eat the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses, those who sit on the horses, and the flesh of all, both free and slaves, small and great. The Lord’s fighting in the war at Armageddon will prepare a great dinner for all the birds. The great dinner of God is in contrast to the marriage dinner of the Lamb. The latter is for the invited overcomers; the former is for the invited birds. Although the birds will feast on the flesh of kings, they will not eat Antichrist and the false prophet, because they will be cast into the lake of fire.
In verse 19 we see the Lord’s enemies. This verse says, “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with Him who sits on the horse and with His army.” According to this verse, Christ’s enemies are the beast, Antichrist (undoubtedly including his associate, the false prophet), and the kings of the earth and their armies. The kings of the earth (16:12-16) especially include the ten kings under Antichrist (17:12-14), and the armies include the two hundred million cavalry troops from “the rising of the sun” (9:16; 16:12).
In verses 20 and 21 we see the defeat of Antichrist and his armies. Verse 20 says, “And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who in his presence had done the signs, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worship his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.” Antichrist and the false prophet will be the first to perish in the lake of fire. All the rest will be killed “with the sword which proceeds out of the mouth of Him who sits on the horse” (v. 21), and all the birds will be gorged with their flesh, devouring a great meal.
The war mentioned in this chapter is the war at the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:9-12; Zech. 14:2-3, 12-15). This will be very close to Jerusalem (message forty-eight, p. 560).
The fighting of Christ in the war at Armageddon will be the treading of the great winepress. That will be the judgment on all the evil forces of the world, the death blow to all of them.
We need to view today’s world situation in the light of the prophecy concerning the coming war at Armageddon. When I first studied these prophecies fifty years ago, the world situation was much different from today. At that time the nation of Israel had not been formed again, Jerusalem had not been returned to the Jews, and hardly anyone paid attention to the Middle East. After World War II, the nation of Israel was formed again in 1948, and people’s attention began to focus on the Middle East. As I read about the re-forming of Israel in the newspapers, I was surprised and thrilled. In 1967, I was excited to hear the news that Jerusalem had been returned to the Jews. Today the Middle East is the center of the world situation.
The Soviet Union is secretly doing everything possible to defeat Israel. As we shall see in another message, this is according to the prophecies in Ezekiel 38 and 39. These chapters reveal that the Soviet Union will take the lead to destroy Israel. All the Arab countries surrounding Israel are plotting against her. Not one nation in the Middle East is for Israel. Almost everything is ready for the war at Armageddon. The European situation, however, is still ambiguous. But sooner or later something will take place there; for both in Europe and in the Middle East people are seeking a strong leader.
The Jews are also seeking the opportunity to rebuild the temple. Presently, the site of the temple is occupied by a Moslem mosque, their second most important religious shrine. The temple site is the exact spot where Abraham offered Isaac. Not very far from this mosque is the wailing wall, the only portion of the temple that still remains. We are eagerly expecting the return of the site of the temple so that the temple may be rebuilt. I believe that in not too long a time the site will be returned.
Today’s world situation is without precedent. Even the problem over oil may be used by the Lord for the fulfillment of prophecy related to the war of Armageddon. Near the time of the war at Armageddon, two thirds of the Jews will be slaughtered. The one third that survives will be tested by fire and preserved (Zech. 13:8-9). At that juncture, the Lord will come down from heaven and put His feet on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4). The Mount of Olives will split in two, and a valley will be produced into which the persecuted Jews will flee. Perhaps a great earthquake will occur at that time. According to Zechariah 14, the armies of Antichrist will be destroyed. “Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth” (Zech. 14:12).
The Bible reveals the destiny of the nation of Israel. Because so many Israelites are still in unbelief, before the Lord comes back Jerusalem will be like Sodom in the eyes of God (11:18). Therefore, God will use Antichrist and the ten kings with their armies to purge and to purify the nation of Israel. Those who remain will be preserved by God for the millennial kingdom. As Isaiah 2:2-3 and Zechariah 8:20-23 clearly reveal, in the kingdom the saved and preserved Jews will be priests teaching the nations to know God and to serve Him.
