Bible Studies In The Word of God

Verse 1.    For several verses the vision will show the heavenly hosts rejoicing together over the victory that has been won over Babylon by the work of the Reformation. Alleluia means “praise ye the Lord,” and the exclamation is made in view of His great works. Salvation is to be ascribed to the Lord because no other has the power to save, and for that reason we should give all honor to Him and acknowledge that all power belongs to Him.

Verse 2.  The great voice is still speaking and acknowledging the righteousnes of God’s judgments. Those acknowledgements are general and now they will become specific. Judged the great whore refers to the overthrow of Babylon which was accomplished by the Reformation. Hath avenged the blood of his servants. This fulfilled the promise made to the souls under the altar (Rev. 6:11).

Verse 3.  Her smoke arose up for ever and ever. “Where there is smoke there is fire.” If the smoke ascends for ever the fire will be of the same continuance. Of course this is first applied figuratively to Babylon, meaning her downfall is to be permanent. It is next applied to the individuals who were leaders and supporters of the corrupt beast, who are destined to go into perdition where the fire is endless. 

 

Verse 4.  The four beasts (living creatures) felt happy over the victory of Christ because it was through His blood that they had been redeemed from sin. And the four and twenty elders had the same motive for praising God, because they represented the two organized systems of salvation that had produced the four living creatures.

 

Verse 5.  The voice thus far in these verses seems to have come from the people in general who respect the Lord. Now the voice comes out of the throne as if to acknowledge the congratulations just offered to God, and endorsing the idea that all servants of whatever degree or rank should praise Him.

 

Verse 6.  So many people of the civilized world had suffered under the oppression of Rome through the Dark Ages, that it explains why the voice of a great multitude was heard praising God. Voice of many waters is the same except it is in symbolic form, waters in figurative language being used to represent human voices in action.  Omnipotent means almighty; God can  do anything that is right. The difliculty of conquering the giant influence of the beast in Rome was regarded so great, that it brought to their attention the might of God and called forth these words of praise, and caused the declaration that He reigneth.

 

Verse 7.  Marriage of the Lamb is come. The subject of marriage is spoken of in the Bible from two different angles, and unless this is understood we may think there are some contradictions. For instance, Christians are said to be married to Christ at the present time (Rom_7:4),  and now our verse says the marriage is about to take place. In old times an engagement was regarded in the light of marriage as far as the moral obligation is concerned. That is why Genesis 19:14 speaks of the men who had “married his [Lot's] daughters”  when they were engaged to them. And in Mat_1:18 it says that Mary was espoused to Joseph, while the next verse calls him her husband. So Christians are actually only espoused (engaged) to Christ now. That is why Paul says “I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). But the actual marriage is what is meant in our verse.  His wife hath made herself ready. This remark is based on the common practice that causes a woman to prepare her garments for the important occasion.

 

Verse 8.  This verse names the kind of raiment that is to be worn by the bride, namely, clean and white linen. Since that is figurative the apostle explains that it means righteousness, so the making of herself ready mentioned in the preceding verse, means she has followed a righteous life in preparation for her marriage.  

 

Verse 9.  This will be one marriage and accompanying “refreshments” at which there will be no human guests but the bride. Hence the blessing pronounced on those who are called to the supper, means in reality the people should become a part of the espoused bride by becoming Christians. Before going further in the comments it will be well to make some explanatory remarks as t-0 the “hour of the ceremony.” Verse 7 says the marriage is come, when we know we will find that the work of the Reformation is to be gone over again by the vision. There will be no difficulty if the reader recalls that the book has more than once departed from the chronological order of events to take up some other period of the Christian Dispensation. Hence these preceding verses brought us down to the last day and announced the final marriage of Christ to his bride (the church). The vision will now take up some principles of a general character, then bring us again to the work just preceding the Reformation. 

 

Verse 10.  The pronouns his and him refer to the angel who was sent to show the vision to John (Rev. 1:1). It was natural for John to have this inclination toward worship of the angel, for the great vision shown made the apostle have a feeling of inferiority. There are some conditions when even a man may receive some form of worship from others (Luk_14:10), but under the present circumstances it would have been improper. The reader may see a complete explanation of the word worship at Mat_2:2 in the first volume of the New Testament Commentary. I am thy fellowservant reminds us of Hebrews 1:14.   Of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. This is equivalent to describing the ones for whom the angels are lent forth to minister. To have the testimony does not merely mean to have access to it (everyone has that), but it is those who hold themselves faithfully to it. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. This means that the subject of Jesus as the Saviour of mankind is the main thought running through all the prophetic writings.

Verse 11.  White horse symbolizes a war animal that is to engage in a war for purity. The rider was Christ who is described as Faithful and True.   That is because the war in which He is about to engage (the Reformation) is a righteous one. 

 

Verse 12.  Eyes of fire would signify that which is bright and penetrating. Many crowns. Actually no king wears more than one crown as far as the article as a unit is concerned, but in some Way the ornamentations on it showed that Christ had won over all others. Name no man knew does not indicate some dark or mysterious secret, for verse 16 gives a great description of His name as written on his clothing. But no mere man can appreciate the name of Christ until he becomes His disciple.

 

Verse 13.  Vesture dipped in blood is because Christ shed his blood for the sake of mankind. The Word of God is the name which all men can read and hence is not a secret, but they cannot realize what it means unless they appropriate that name to themselves by wholehearted obedience to its commandments. (See the name at John 1:1.)

 

Verse 14.  This is a symbolic picture of the war that is about to be fought against the beast that has been defying Heaven's authority for 1260 years.

 

Verse 15. The sharp sword is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). Smite the nations with this Word by the work of the Reformation. Rule with a rod of iron. Iron is both firm and severe, and it will be used in the latter sense against the wicked nations who have been supporting Babylon. Treadeth the winepress is explained at Rev. 14:10.

Verse 16.  King of kings and Lord of lords. King indicates supreme authority and lord means one who governs the conduct of others. Jesus was given these two titles because He had overcome all who opposed him. Having the title attached to his vesture (clothing) was on the principle of decorations given men who have distinguished themselves in the service of their country.

Verse 17.  When a man makes a great “killing” he often invites his friends to come and share the feast with him. The effects of the Reformation are symbolized in this and the following verse. It is especially appropriate to base the imagery on the fowls of the heaven, for they are generally thought to prefer feeding on the flesh of animals that have been slain and left on the field. (See Matthew 24:28.).   The present case is one where the beasts were not killed and dressed as would be done ordinarily. They were to be killed to get them out of the way, and the birds might as well get the benefit of it since that is the kind of food they prefer. Standing in the sun was the appropriate place for the angel to stand where he could make his invitation to the creatures that live above the earth.

Verse 18.  Of course this is symbolical of the defeat and destruction that is about to be imposed upon Babylon (church and state). Yet it is appropriate to use the symbols n.amed because the conflict is actually to be with kings and their captains and mighty men, and these made use of horses in their warfare.

Verse 19.  Beast is Babylon and the kings are the inferior rulers under her. All mustered their forces to resist the attack of Christ through the Reformation.

 

Verse 20.  The lake of fire for the present is the destruction of Babylon, but in the day of judgment it will be the lake of fire that is unquenchable. The false prophet and miracles are explained at various passages preceding this.

Verse 21.  The remnant means the straggling individuals who were left as “die-hards” after the beast of Babylon as a unit had been given a death blow by the Reformation.