PT-2 The Victory of the Conqueror (Revelation 19:17-21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/5/2015 11:49 AM

My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 The Victory of the Conqueror

Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation 19:17-21

Message of the verses: "17 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, 18 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." 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. 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. 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."

We pick up in today’s SD by answering the question "Why will the birds be feasting on?" The answer is in verse eighteen "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." I can’t imagine who would want to have their dead body eaten by birds, especially the kings and high ranking officials of the worlds military, but that is what is going to happen as the carnage will be so much that no burials will be happening to these people. John MacArthur quotes Commentator Joseph Seiss as he writes the following. "This tells already an awful story. It tells of the greatest of men made food for the vultures;--of dings and leaders, strong and confident, devoured on the field, with no one to bury them;--of those who thought to conquer Heaven’s anointed Kings rendered helpless even against the timid birds;--of vaunting gods of nature turned into its cast off and most dishonoured dregs. And what is thus for intimated soon becomes reality. The Great Conqueror blows the heavens and comes down. He rides upon the cherub horse and flies upon the wings of the wind. Smoke goes up from his nostrils, and devouring fire out of his mouth. He moves amid storms and darkness, from which the lightnings hurl their bolts, and hailstones mingled with the fire. He roars out of Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, till the heavens and the earth shake. He dashes forth in the fury of his incensed greatness amid clouds, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun frowns. The day is neither light nor dark. The mountains melt and cleave asunder at his presence. The hills bound from their seats and skip like lambs. The waters are dislodged from their channels. The sea rolls back with howling trepidation. The shy is rent and folds upon itself like a collapsed tent. It is the day for executing an armed world,-- world in covenant with Hell to overthrow the authority and throne of God,--and everything in terrified Nature joins to signalize the deserved vengeance." This quote came from The Apocalypse.

We now want to look from the Minor Prophet Zephaniah chapter one and verses fourteen through eighteen to see similar writings on this subject.

"14 Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. 15 A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the LORD; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD’S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth."

Next we want to look at the next stage in this incredible vision that John saw and that comes from "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." We certainly know who the beast is from our previous studies in Revelation as this is another name for the Antichrist. Antichrist rules the greatest world empire ever seen on planet earth, but it is an evil empire headed up by Satan, Antichrist and the false prophet, and he has control over a great army. We see this verse speaking of the kings of the earth and they are the ten kings who rue the ten sectors into which Antichrist’s worldwide empire is divided as seen in Revelation 17:12-14. The armies, as mentioned in our last SD are in Israel to fight the last battle, and they came their through the urging of demons, but it was the Lord who called them there to fight against the Messiah who is coming back to earth to take over the earth.

This will not be much of a battle as far as when the Lord returns for He will conqueror them in a very short time and then we see "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." It is these two demonically empowered political and religious leaders who have wrecked havoc on the earth for the past three and a half years. Now we see in this verse the first mention of "the lake of fire," and we look at this as being the final hell, but I have something to say, that may or may not have great meaning, but we will have to see. Upon reading the book "One Minute After You Die" by Erwin Lutzer he stated that hell is at this time not actually occupied and will not be occupied until after the great white throne judgment when all who are in the place where the unsaved people are will then go into the final hell. Not sure that this is of great meaning, but thought I would bring it up.

One thing for sure and that is hell is a real place and it will eventually have all those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and will have a special place for Satan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet.

The following is a quote from November 11, 2005 on verse twenty of Revelation nineteen: "As I have written earlier about these two men concerning that there have always been antichrists and false prophets alive upon this earth, as was written about in John’s first letter, and when these two men are thrown alive into the lake of fire this will be the end of antichrists and false prophets forever, for Jesus Christ will set up His Throne in Jerusalem and rule there for 1000 years and He will rule with a rod of iron, and sin will be dealt with swiftly. The verse goes on to say that it was these two men who have deceived all those who received the mark of the beast and who worshiped the image of the beast, and for all of these sins they were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. (Brimstone has something to do with sulphur and when used in this way in the Scriptures denote judgment).

Next we look at "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."

John MacArthur quotes John Phillips on what he wrote on this verse: "Then suddenly it will all be over. In fact, there will be no war at all, in the sense that we think of war. There will be just a word spoken from Him who sits astride the great white horse. Once He spoke a word to a fig tree, and it withered away. Once He spoke a word to howling winds and heaving waves, and the storm clouds vanished and the waves fell still. Once He spoke to a legion of demons bursting at the seams of a poor man’s soul, and instantly they fled. Now He speaks a word, and the war is over. The blasphemous, loud-mouthed Beast is stricken where he stands. The false prophet, the miracle-working windbag from the pit is punctured and still. The pair of them are bundled up and hurled headlong into the everlasting flames. Another word, and the panic-stricken armies reel and stagger and fall down dead. Field marshals and generals, admirals and air commanders, soldiers and sailors, rank and file, one and all—they fall. And the vultures descend and cover the scene."

Now we will look at the Minor Prophet Zechariah who wrote the following in Zech. 14:1-13.

"1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. 4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! 6 In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 7 For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. 9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. 10 All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security. 12 Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13 It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another."

John MacArthur concludes: "Those sobering truths serve as a warning to unbelievers to repent (2 Peter. 3:9), and also to stimulate believers to godly living (2 Peter 3:11). ‘The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealously. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts’ (Romans 12:12-14)."

Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I finish this main section in the book of Revelation my prayer is that all who read the Spiritual Diaries that I write will remember this last paragraph that was quoted and be ready to tell others what will soon happen on planet earth.

My Steps of Faith for Today: Seek the Lord to help me to understand the material that I have been asked to teach on Wednesday morning. Trust the Lord to guide me through this process.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: "Thomas" (John 14:5).

Today’s Bible question: "Samaria was the capital city of what kingdom?"

Answer in our next SD.

10/5/2015 12:49 PM