This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
In the previous column, we examined key features of the returning Christ that John reveals in Revelation 19:11-16. Now, we complete our review.
7. His name is called the Word of God.
In his Gospel account, John tells us of the person and work of Jesus as the Incarnate Word (John 1:1-18). He is eternal, divine, distinct from the Father and yet equal with him. He is the creator of everything. He added sinless humanity to his deity in the Incarnation and thus pitched his tent with sinful and fallen people. Though rejected by his own, he is the true source of light and life. And to those who trust in him, he grants the right to be God’s adopted children. He is God revealed in human flesh.
And now, in Revelation 19, the Word of God again appears – not to create, suffer, or die, but to gloriously claim the prize he won through his sinless life and sacrificial death on the cross. He comes for us – the redeemed he has purchased with his own blood. He reverses the curse that Adam’s sin wrought on mankind and his environment. He judges the wicked, casts them out, purges the physical realm of sin and its stain, and creates new heavens and a new earth. Put simply, the Word restores Eden.
8. The armies in heaven follow Jesus on white horses, wearing pure white linen.
John sees more than one army; he sees armies in heaven. This indicates that both angels and saints accompany Jesus in his return.
Angels in Scripture sometimes are depicted wearing white (John 20:12). The saints also are clothed in white robes, signifying both the righteousness of Christ and their good deeds (Rev. 6:11; 7:13-14; 19:8; cf. Phil. 3:9). Their robes remain spotless, for it is the Word of God, wearing a blood-stained robe and wielding a sword, who wages war against the enemies of God and God’s people.
What a spectacular turn of events we see in the return of Jesus. The despised one now leads armies of angels and saints in his triumphant reentry of earth’s atmosphere. The deserted one now leads enthusiastic hordes riding in his wake on white horses. The denied one is surrounded by hosts of heavenly and earthly creatures who acclaim him as worthy of all praise. The malicious betrayal of the Son of God since the days of Eden is now eclipsed by the unified armies of heaven riding victoriously behind their glorious king.
9. Jesus strikes the nations with a sharp sword and rules them with an iron rod.
This is the same double-edged sword John sees in the opening vision on Patmos (Rev. 1:16) and revealed in Christ’s letter to Pergamum (Rev. 2:12, 16). It should be clear this is figurative language describing the powerful spoken word of our Savior.
The word translated “sword” in Revelation 19:15 is rhomphaia and is used of an unusually long sword, or even a spear, indicating a piercing action. John may be referring to Isaiah 11:4, where a future Davidic king will “strike the land with a scepter from his mouth, and he will kill the wicked with a command from his lips.” John also may have Hebrews 4:12 in mind. There, the “word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword.” No doubt, the spoken word of Christ, which has the power to create (see Gen. 1:3 ff; John 1:3; Col. 1:16), also has the power to judge.
As for ruling with an iron rod, John draws from previous Scriptures to symbolize Christ’s justice as he rules the earth. In Revelation 2:26-27, John quotes the messianic prophecy of Psalm 2:9: “You will break them [the nations] with an iron scepter; you will shatter them like pottery.” And in Revelation 12:5, John sees the Son “who is going to rule all nations with an iron rod.”
10. Jesus tramples the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty.
This reference is rooted deeply in Old Testament imagery. We see it in Isaiah 63:2-3, as a future Davidic king judges the nations; in Jeremiah 51:33, as God punishes Babylon; in Lamentations 1:15, as God judges Judah; and in Joel 3:13, as the Lord judges the nations. We also see the imagery in Revelation 14:14-20, where Christ, or a delegated angel, harvests the earth’s wicked. Perhaps Revelation 14 and 19 are two descriptions of the same event.
The color of crushed grapes vividly depicts the blood Christ shed on Calvary for our sins, as well as the blood about to be shed when the victorious king returns to take vengeance on those who reject him and revile his people. The treading of the winepress points to the complete overthrow of those who resist Christ at his second coming.
11. Jesus has a name written on his robe and on his thigh.
Unlike the written name known only to Jesus in Revelation 19:12, the name John now sees written on Jesus’ robe and thigh are clear for everyone to see: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Rev. 19:16). These are in fact two titles. In the only other place they appear together in Revelation, the order is reversed (Rev. 17:14). Elsewhere in the Bible, these titles often are ascribed separately to God. But now they appear together, etched indelibly on the God-Man as he returns victoriously to earth.
All those who assign derisive names to Jesus, and all those who ascribe good but inadequate names to the last Adam, now see him clearly as he is. Citizens of his kingdom wear white robes and ride triumphantly behind him. Meanwhile, those who reject the last Adam as King of kings find themselves at the wrong end of his sword.
Next: Behold, the bridegroom comes