Revelation Chapter 19 - John Karmelich

1. This lesson is called "Understanding the "why" of Jesus Second Coming".

a) Let me summarize this chapter in a few sentences:

i) Everyone in heaven is shouting Hallelujah because Jesus is about return to earth.

ii) Then we have a few verses discussing the "bride" of Christ, which is the church.

iii) Jesus returns to earth on a white horse. Multitudes follow along.

iv) Jesus wipes out an army that wants to prevent Jesus from ruling on earth.

v) That's pretty much it. We all live happily ever after. Any questions? ☺

b) What I want to do in this lesson is understand why this is important. In other words, how does the inevitable return of Jesus affect our lives today? To put it another way, "I have enough problems in my life. Why should I think about Jesus Second Coming?"

2. To understand this, one must accept Jesus Second Coming as a fact.

a) Yes, the book is full of word-pictures as we've studied for lesson after lesson, but the key point is to accept the fact of Jesus literal return to earth one day. (Ref.: Acts 1:10-11).

b) The Book of Revelation predominately focuses on the events leading up to Jesus return.

i) In Chapter 19, we get to the actual event itself.

3. Let me explain how we are to "handle" waiting for the inevitable return of Jesus to rule on earth:

a) In the movie, "Fiddler on the Roof", there is a scene near the end of the movie after all the Jewish residents were kicked out of their hometown. One young man asked the local rabbi as they were leaving, "Wouldn't this be a good time for the Messiah to come? The rabbi wisely answered, "Perhaps we should wait for the Messiah somewhere else".

b) I consider that scene biblical, as well as good advice for the Christian. Jesus will return on His timing, not ours. Jesus said nobody knows the day or hour of His return. (Ref: Matt. 24:36, Mark 13:32). At the same time, we must as accept as fact that Jesus Second Coming is a literal event. It is considered one of the fundamental doctrines of Christian faith.

4. So why is it so important to accept this Second Coming? How does it affect our life?

a) The clues are in this chapter. The chapter opens with "everybody" in heaven praising God for judging the earth. Jesus then comes to earth to judge those who won't accept Him.

b) OK, the wicked are judged. What's your point? ☺ Personally, I can't explain all the evil in the world. Evil people appear to be getting away with stuff. Children die of cancer. Innocent people are killed due to the sins of others. I take comfort in the fact that there is an afterlife where all the "wrongs" will be made right. The only way life can be fair is if there is an afterlife and a God that judges people for their action. It isn't just a matter of punishing the guilty who happen to be around when Jesus comes back. It is a matter of setting the world straight from all the injustice in the world.

c) Let me put it this way: Chapter 20 introduces the concept of a millennial age. This is a 1,000-year period where Jesus rules as dictator. Those who survive the Great Tribulation may not like the idea of living by Jesus' rules. Christians come along with Jesus to rule with Him. (See 2nd Timothy 2:12) In other words, we're the enforcers. ☺ The 1,000-year millennium is God saying, "OK folks, I've let you humans run the world "your way" for thousands of years. Let's try it My way for one thousand years and see which is better!"

5. Let's review Revelation so far from the perspective of "Why does Jesus wait until Chapter 19 to actually come back to the earth?"

a) When my daughter was about four, I remember asking her to clean up the playroom. She said, "Oh, are we having company?" ☺ She was accustomed to the idea we clean up before company comes over. That's the way people are. When guests are coming over, it gives us a reason to clean up the place.

b) When John the Baptist was preaching that the Messiah was coming, one of the lines he was using was "Make His Path's Straight". (Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3 and Luke 3:4; a quote of Isaiah 40:3). The idea is when a king is coming to town, the road gets fixed. That is what is literally meant by "make his path straight". The idea behind the quote is to clean up one's life in terms of confession of sin.

c) The reason Jesus waits until Chapter 19 is that the earth has to be "prepared" for Jesus coming, the same way a place is "cleaned up" prior to the arrival of a king.

6. With that said, I'd like to review all of Revelation in perspective of this chapter:

a) Chapter 1 was an overview of the whole book. It is gives an overview and outline of the book. In Chapter 1, John the writer of Revelation is told to write about things that are happening and will take place (Verse 19). It gives descriptions (word-pictures) of Jesus that are used throughout the rest of the book.

b) Chapters 2-3 focus on the Christian church. 1st Peter 4:17 states that "judgment begins at the house of God". The idea is those who are most accountable are judged first. The good news for the "saved" is that the issue is not salvation, but one's behavior as a Christian. God focuses on the church first, as they are the ones who are the most accountable. Those chapters teach us how to live as Christians prior to Jesus Second Coming.

c) In Chapter 4, we had the unveiling of a scroll. There were seven seals on that scroll. With the removal of each seal, came some sort of judgment. In a sense, that seven-scrolled seal wasn't completely opened until Chapter 19. The seventh and final seal broke into seven "subparts" called "trumpet judgments". That was Revelation 8-9. The seventh trumpet broke into "seven more subparts" called "bowl judgments". That was Revelation 15-16. My point here is that final (of seven) seals from Chapter 4, which somehow involves Jesus Second Coming, isn't finished until all the judgments of Revelation are completed.

i) OK, John, you lost me. What's going on? ☺ The point is Chapter 4 through the first part of Chapter 19 describe judgments on earth that happen prior to Jesus Second Coming. These judgments are only "partial" punishments (as opposed to a complete destruction) in order to get the world's attention for Jesus' return.

ii) Chapters 4 through 18 are essentially one big set of judgments on the world that occur prior to the event of Jesus Second Coming.

7. Let's recall why these judgments are necessary prior to Jesus Second Coming:

a) A big reason for all of this is God the Father' way of saying, "Ok folks, it's wrap up time. It's time for Jesus to come back and make an end to the damage caused by sin".

b) Let's face it, God could have just "zapped" all of the evil people instantly and set up shop with Jesus in charge. ☺ Instead, we had many chapters describing specific judgments. Part of the reason for this is a "last call". The judgments were done slowly as to see if anyone would repent and turn to God before the event of Jesus Second Coming itself.

c) Another reason for this drawn-out affair is to show that some people would never turn to God no matter what happens. It is God's way of showing us that some people will never change, even if there is overwhelming evidence of God's existence. Some people want to stick to their sinful lifestyle so bad, even blatant evidence of the return of Jesus is not enough to get people to change.

d) Finally, there is judgment itself. The judgment is to show us that God does care for us and God does harm those that harm Christians.

8. Which leads us to Chapter 19:

a) The key event is Jesus Second Coming. The main thing Jesus does is "wipe out" an organized attempt to prevent Him from ruling on earth. In this lesson, we'll talk about why this event is organized. The important thing to remember is Jesus wins. This "is" the famous battle of Armageddon. In realty, it's not a battle. It's an instantaneous wipe out.

b) With that said, let's just start the text. We'll come back to "Understanding the "why" of Jesus Second Coming" through the lesson and at the conclusion.

9. Chapter 19, Verse 1: After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, ² for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants."

a) The chapter opens with "after this". It is good to ask, "After what"?

i) This would be the events of the previous chapter.

ii) If you recall, the last two chapters focused on the destruction of Babylon.

iii) Chapter 17, Verse 16 described Babylon as being burned with fire.

iv) Chapter 18 was mainly a set of predictions about Babylon's fall from power.

v) The actual destruction of Babylon's leaders and army happens in this chapter.

b) Before we get to Babylon's destruction, Chapter 19 opens with a "Praise God" section.

i) Whatever is happening in Verse 1 and 2, it involves a lot of people and/or angels praising God. The first sentence of Verse 1 uses the term "a great multitude".

c) Remember John's location as he wrote this: "From somewhere in the wilderness".

i) The apostle John wrote Revelation. He was our eyewitness to these events.

ii) For Chapters 1 through 3, John was standing at his "home location" which at that time was an island called Patmos. (Ref. Rev. 1:9).

iii) From Chapters 4 through 16, John was in heaven describing things in both heaven and earth. I don't know if John saw could see earth from heaven or maybe he watched it on a monitor. ☺ Somehow, someway, John was shown the vision of all the judgment from heaven's perspective. (Ref. Rev. 4:1). This also tells me it is possible to see earth from heaven. We all wonder if our saved-in-heaven loved ones can see us. I don't know if they are, but this text tells me they can!

iv) In Chapter 17 Verse 1, John was "transported" to the wilderness. This, assumedly, is somewhere on earth. This is still John's location here in Chapter 19.

v) My point of this "where was John" exercise is to understand that John was on earth when he heard this "load roar" from heaven of people praising God.

d) The key word in this section of Revelation is "Hallelujah".

i) It is used four times Revelation 19. It is not used anywhere else in Revelation.

ii) In fact, it is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. I'll come back to that.

iii) This is a compound word that means "Praise God". The English spelling varies from translation to translation. The grammar of the word is designed to be one of encouragement. The idea is "come on and join me to praise God!"

e) In Verse 2, we read why this great multitude is praising God:

i) Because God has judged "the great prostitute". In Revelation 17:18, we learn that the prostitute is a nickname for the city of Babylon. Whatever this city is, was or will be, there is a great praise in heaven for its final destruction.

f) Every now and then, I mention that a nickname for the entire bible is "A tale of two cities". Those two cities are Jerusalem and Babylon. That is relevant to this chapter.

i) Jerusalem is symbolic as "God's headquarters" on earth. This is the city where God's temple stood for centuries. This is the city where Jesus will rule the earth at His second coming. An angel told Mary that Jesus would rule one day from King David's throne (Ref: Luke 1:32). That would be in Jerusalem.

ii) Babylon is a symbol of everything opposed to the God of the Bible. Although the bible is full of predictions of its fall, there is relatively little text describing what goes on there. The impression I get is that just as Jerusalem represents God's headquarters, Babylon represents the headquarters of all opposition to God.

iii) Over the past two chapters, we dealt with spiritual opposition to God and the temptation of power and wealth. Babylon represents Satan's substitutional system to draw people away from God.

iv) Do I believe Babylon is a literal city? Of course. It was at one time and I believe the Great Tribulation is a literal event. This world-empire, which is demonic lead and demonically influenced has to have a headquarters "somewhere", and that headquarters will be Babylon, wherever that is.

v) In the end, "Jerusalem" and all it represents will win. We will read in Chapter 21 of a "New Jerusalem" coming from heaven to earth. Before we get to that, we need to read of the final destruction of Babylon, which is here in Chapter 19.

g) Now we can get back to why this multitude is praising God:

i) God has condemned the "great prostitute". In other words, the demonic influence that gets people to turn from God is going to be destroyed. At this moment, I believe the event itself is still future, but it about to happen. There is a multitude of people praising God for what is about to happen.

ii) The second, and related aspect, is this multitude is praising God because of all the Christian martyrs who were killed by Babylon are now being avenged.

h) Let me point out another key word in Verse 1: It is the word "roar".

i) Whatever John heard, it was loud. Whoever was praising God in heaven, you get the impression it was a large group and they were loud. I'm guessing Pentecostal churches like this verse. ☺ My application here is that if we are going to praise God, here's an argument for doing it enthusiastically. It's not a matter of standing out from the crowd. It's a matter of putting one's heart into it. The sound of a congregation praising God should "naturally" come out loud.

i) Finally, let's personalize these verses.

i) Until I studied this passage, I have to admit it never occurred to me to praise God for the future destruction of whatever "Babylon" is. This actually gets back to the title for this lesson, "Understanding the "why" of Jesus Second Coming".

ii) The idea is to praise God for the destruction and judgment of the demonic and evil influences of the world. We need to praise God for this as if it is a done deal.

iii) When the world around us is falling apart, it is important to understand that one day Jesus will come back and right the wrongs. We live for that hope. This is why Jesus Second Coming is such an essential part of Christian's faith. It is the idea that there is a hope for this world. There is coming a day when the world will exist without demonic influence.

iv) In the meantime, let's get back to the "Hallelujah Choir" in Verse 3! ☺

10. Verse 3: And again they shouted: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever."

a) Revelation does not give a lot of details on how Babylon is specifically judged. Again, Revelation 17:18 said Babylon is burned with fire.

b) When we think of a fire, it goes out when the fire's source is burnt up. What is unusual about this fire is "the smoke from her (Babylon) goes up for ever and ever".

i) My personal view is during the entire time Jesus rules on earth, there is going to be a pile of smoke from where this fire took place. I picture some place on earth with black smoke. It is surrounded by "yellow-caution" tape and fencing. ☺

c) Again, the "how" and the "where" question are not as important as the "why" question:

i) Why does this smoke go up forever? What's the application of this verse?

a) Most of us know the expression, "out of sight, out of mind". It means that once somebody or something is not in visual sight, we don't think about it. Here God is setting up this "eternal smoke signal" to remind people of what Babylon was and its influence over mankind.

ii) Remember that when we are tempted to turn from God, we are to see such temptation as God sees it: A future pile of smoke. As I stated in the last lesson, the danger of "anything" is if it gets us to compromise our faith in God.

iii) As I've stated before, we need to understand that Satan's desire is to make Christians ineffective witnesses for God. We are to avoid the temptations that compromise our faith. We also need to praise God (and thus remind ourselves) that one day all those temptations will be burnt up.

11. Verse 4: The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: "Amen, Hallelujah!"

a) We're being reintroduced to some characters described in Chapters 4-7 of Revelation. That is, "twenty-four elders and the four living creatures". They give a final encore appearance here in Chapter 19. ☺

b) To recall from the early lessons on Revelation, the "twenty four elders" are probably the church or the leadership of the Christian church. Others argue it represents all believers in heaven. Others argue it is some sort of angelic beings. My personal view is that it represents believers because they "cast their crowns" before God. The idea of crowns is that they were rewarded for their faith in God. As to the "four living creatures", these were some sort of high-ranking angelic beings guarding the throne.

i) The point is, whoever they are, they join in the praises of God.

c) As I stated in earlier lessons, whenever someone starts praising God in heaven, it becomes contagious! Others always join in. I always like to say to Christians in church, "You better get used to praising God. We're going to be doing a lot of this for eternity!"

d) The point of this verse is that everyone in heaven is "chiming in" to praise God for the destruction and judgment of Babylon.

12. Verse 5: Then a voice came from the throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!"

a) My personal view is that "this voice" is the Holy Spirit. (Again, it is just my guess.) Even though the Holy Spirit is God and part of the Trinity, part of His function is get people to draw closer to God. A method of drawing us closer is to get us to praise God.

b) The point of this verse is not "everyone" at this point is praising God. Remember the word "Hallelujah" is an encouragement to join in the praise of God.

c) Suppose you say, "OK, God judges Babylon. I get that. Thank You God for doing that. ☺ Why make such a big deal out of this? Why can't I just give God a sincere thank you and then get back to my life? Why is this such a big deal?"

i) Well for starters, imagine going through all of this as a Christian. Imagine having to be killed solely for your faith in Jesus. To love God is also to love those who are fellow believes. To love God is to share in other Christian's grief. To love God is to comfort others in times of suffering. To love God is to remind others that Jesus will come back and make things right.

ii) Let me put it this way: In times when life is falling apart, a source of comfort is to praise God. Praise Him that He will fix the wrongs of the world. Praise God that we will live forever and this suffering is temporary. Praise God that all the demonic influences of the world will be destroyed one day. Praise God that He has the ultimate victory. There, I feel better already! ☺

13. Verse 6: Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. ⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

a) In Verse 6, we have a "multitude". This multitude is praising God and giving God glory. They are also saying a wedding is about to happen and the "Lamb's bride is ready."

b) Let's see this from John the writer of Revelation's perspective:

i) Wherever John was, he is in the "wilderness" seeing this vision.

ii) John could comprehend what they were saying. (My view is whatever language is spoken in heaven, we can all understand it and speak it.)

iii) John recognized what the "24 elders and four living creatures" looked like.

iv) The point is we may not understand all the "who" details, but John did.

v) The other point is to focus on what the text does say as opposed to worrying about "who is who" in this group.

c) It's time to talk a little about a Jewish wedding ritual. It is relevant to this text.

i) Historically, a Jewish marriage was arranged by parents. Speaking as a father of two girls, I'm all in favor of bringing back this tradition. ☺ This arrangement may happen years prior to the actual wedding.

ii) The actual wedding event was like a surprise party. The bride has a "general idea" when the wedding was about to take place, but not the exact date and time. The wedding party, including the groom would show up at the bride's house like a surprise party. The wedding feast would often go on for a few days.

iii) In many ways, the traditional Jewish wedding is symbolic of Jesus Second Coming. Since God knows all things, He knows who will be saved. In that sense, it is an "arranged marriage". We as Christians are "engaged" to Jesus.

iv) The actual marriage ceremony can be compared to Jesus Second Coming. We know it will happen one day, but not when. It will be a surprise as to the actual day, but not a surprise as we know the event will happen.