Revelation 19:5-16 – 5Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!” 6Then 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. 7Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 9Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” 10At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” 11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
We have been given a reliable promise: Jesus is coming again. He is coming one time to the earth but will appear twice. His first appearance is referred to as the rapture – the other occasion is when He sets foot on the Mount of Olives. The church will be involved in both events.
The Bible states after the trumpet sound “we will always be with the Lord.” Upon the rapture the church meets Him in the air. When properly adorned at the Judgment seat of Christ, the Bride celebrates the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. United with her Lord, the church becomes His mighty host. The church departs as a bride and returns as an army.
The book of Revelation reveals Jesus will come to render His supreme judgment and His white-clothed army will be following Him. The white-robed army refers to a cleansed and submissive church. The church does not come with Him to rage war but to witness “the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.” The Lord who fights our battles today is the same God who fights the final battle. No one fights His battles for Him; only He can defeat His enemies.
Here are three future events about to occur.
Extreme trouble will occur on earth between the rapture and His return.
The world will go through seven years of Great Tribulation, foretold by the prophet Daniel. The Bible is very graphic about this period of time, a world overcome with wickedness.
A key word during this interlude is senseless. The season will be defined with overwhelming amounts of desecration, destruction and devastation.
Similar things are seen today. In some cities, after a sport’s team wins a championship, neighborhoods encounter senseless looting. Sometimes when a jury’s verdict is disliked there is senseless rioting. Regrettably when people are starving, some leaders senselessly hoard supplies sent by relief agencies. Tragically murder is senselessly done in the name of “ethnic cleansing.” If this happens now, what will happen when every restraint is gone?
During the Great Tribulation a lawless one will reign and blaspheme God. “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Timothy 2:1-12)
The lawless one is sometimes referred to as the anti-christ and will be the exact opposite of the Lord. Instead of conveying faith, hope and love, he will capitalize on doubt, despair and fear. Instead of being the author of truth, he will be the provider of lies. He will destroy society morally, socially, politically and religiously.
Everything God is for, the wicked opponent will be against. The world will be caught up in falsehood and live in a state of panic; defiant and rebellious.
After the Great Tribulation, Jesus will come with His army and take action.
Jesus and His own will be gloriously revealed. (Revelation 1:7) The world will be given testimony that living for Jesus brings life. The world will discover, even though the church often stood alone, the majority was not always right and popular opinion was not always correct.
The anti-christ and the false prophet will be judged. “20But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.” (Revelation 19:20)
Satan will be bound and cast into an abyss for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:2-3) Regardless his efforts, the enemy of God and your soul will lose.
The earth will be free of rebellion for a thousand years.
As your life changed, when Jesus became your Lord, so the world will change when Jesus comes back to the earth. What happened to you, the moment you became a follower of Jesus, will be witnessed upon the whole earth; namely, peace.
One author wrote, “It is necessary that Jesus comes to this earth again. Man in his rejection of God has made a mess of things. He cannot stop making war on his fellowman, for wars are born out of the lusts of his degenerate heart.”
The peace on earth during His reign has not been witnessed since the Garden of Eden. The Prince of Peace will come with His universal government. Out of His very presence will come a special peace! The animal kingdom and all of creation will end their conflict. Weapons will be changed into work tools. The travail of the ages will enter into a period of rest.
“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19-22)
Creation, encumbered by man’s sin, will rest. The wolf and the lamb will stand beside each other. The lion and the kid will sleep side-by-side. The sands of deserts will turn into rivers of water. Thorns and thistles will cease growing in the fertile soil.
A universal peace involving all creation will come from the Supreme Ruler; an incomprehensible peace that lacks comparison to anything known today. The peace will be God’s testimony to a rejecting world of how life could have been if man had not rebelled. The peace will be greater than any current sedative, tranquilizer or calm producer.
The church will reign with Jesus when He comes.
He will save the people of Israel. “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:28-29)
God has not forsaken the people of the covenant but has allowed their disobedience to be a time when God shows mercy to every people group. When “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in… all Israel will be saved.” (Romans 11:25-26) After the trumpet sound announces the church’s rapture, the timetable reverts back to Israel’s redemption.
He will judge the nations. Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, He will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)
The judgment of nations will be a division between those who governed themselves after God and those who did not. The mingling of sheep and goats will be separated in the establishment of His rule for the millennium.
He will set up His kingdom. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)
“Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6)
The church will govern as a queen sitting beside her king. The Bride of Christ will sit with the greatest King in millennial reign. The church experiences the rapture, is properly adorned and united with Christ, and returns with the liberating King to reign with Him for a thousand years.
How does this impact the church today?
First, “encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) His coming is a promise of comfort. You might be experiencing turmoil but it cannot last forever. You might be troubled with fear but He is Peace personified, both now and forever.
Second, get ready to reign with Jesus. Is your life giving a statement of readiness to serve in His government? Do you possess the character to be a world leader?
Today is your time to prepare for tomorrow – empowered by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. A life refined and responsive to the presence of the Holy Spirit is able to administer His justice upon the earth.
A study of end time events requires four questions to be answered: Do you know Him? Are you serving Him? Are you looking for Him? Are you preparing to reign with Him?
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