D. The Final Victory (19:11-20:15)
D. THE FINAL VICTORY (19:11-20:15)
The great victory has been won. The power of evil has been broken. There remains only to complete the final ordering of things, by putting the wicked away permanently and introducing the righteous to heaven. The preceding section has prepared us for a vision of the Bridegroom. But, as often, John surprises us. He gives us instead a vision of a Warrior.
i. One called ‘the Word of God’ (19:11-16)
The vision of ‘the Word of God’ in all his splendour leaves no doubt as to the final dominion of the risen Lord.
11. John saw heaven standing open (cf. 4:1). And he saw vividly a white horse. The colour signifies victory (see note on 6:2). In the following description almost everything said of Christ has a parallel or a near parallel elsewhere. The one really distinctive thing is the white horse. The new thought here accordingly is that the Christ now goes to his final triumph. Some identify the rider here with the one in chapter 6, but there seems no reason for this. The only point in common is the colour of the horse, and this is not sufficient to prove the point.
John gives a detailed description. First comes the name, which is fitting, for the name expresses the person. He is called Faithful and True (cf. 3:14). In accordance with the character expressed in these terms it is ‘in righteousness’ (with justice, NIV) that he judges and makes war (cf. Is. 11:4). The present tenses of the verbs point to his habitual action rather than to any one specific occasion. There is no vindictiveness, no lust of conquest. Both verbs are important for John’s readers. That he judges mattered immensely in view of the injustices with which they were confronted. And that he makes war must have appealed to people who were persecuted by the mighty and thus looked for a strong helper.
12.
His eyes are like blazing fire (as in 1:14). He searches out all things. Nothing can be hidden from him. There is also a suggestion of majesty, which is further brought out with the many crowns (diademata, crowns of royalty) on his head. He exercised widespread dominion. He has a name written (where is not said; NIV inserts on him), known only to himself. For the significance of the name in antiquity see note on 2:17. In verses 11 and 13 the name expresses what can be known of Christ’s being. Here we are reminded that there are hidden depths; Christ’s person can never be completely understood by his creation. It is possible that there is another thought. Those who practised magic believed that to know the name gave power over him whose name it was. John may well be saying that no-one has power over Christ. He is supreme. His name is known only to himself.
13.
He is dressed (perfect tense) in a robe dipped (perfect again; perhaps both indicate permanency) in blood. This is surely a reference to Calvary; Christ overcame by shedding his blood. Most recent commentators hold that it is the blood of a defeated foe, and indeed, Charles says, ‘the idea that the blood on His Vesture is His own ... cannot be entertained’. It is not impossible that both ideas are in mind, but it is more than difficult to hold that John writes of blood without a thought of the blood shed on the cross. In this book he repeatedly makes the point that it is in his capacity as the ‘Lamb as though slain’ that Christ conquers. He overcame, not by shedding the blood of others, but by shedding his own. Besides, at this point the battle has not yet been joined (not until vv.19—20), nor the winepress trodden. Moreover his sword is the Word (v.15). John is surely saying ’In the power of suffering love, Christ rides forth conquering’ (Stoffel).
Now for the third time we have a reference to his name. He is called the Word of God (cf. Jn. 1:1). ‘The Word’ was an expression full of meaning to people of varied backgrounds. Its use by certain Greek philosophers, notably Heraclitus and the Stoics, had familiarized people with the idea that the Word was the rational principle pervading the universe, a kind of world soul. Among the Hebrews it was a reverent periphrasis for the divine name. To both Jew and Greek ’the Word of God’ pointed to what was supremely important and supremely significant. 96 This is the only place in Scripture where the full expression ‘the Word of God’ is applied to Christ (though cf. Jn. 1:1; 1 Jn. 1:1).
14. Heaven’s armies followed him, also on white horses. Their clothing resembles that of the bride in verse 8 (though here leukon, ‘white’, replaces lampron, ‘bright’, ‘splendid’). They are probably angels rather than the saints, for the saints are rather the bride (v.7). Swete agrees that angels are meant and comments on the fact that they are clothed in white, whereas their Leader’s robe is dipped in blood: ‘He only has had experience of mortal conflict; for them bloodshed and death are impossible.’ Though they are called armies there is no mention of weapons and neither here nor elsewhere are they said to take martial action. The victory over evil is won by their Leader alone.
15. After this brief glance at his armies we come back to the Word. There is a stern side to his nature, and John speaks of a sharp sword as going out of his mouth. His Word is powerful (cf. Gn. 1 for the power of the divine Word). It is with the Word and not with armies that he smites the nations (cf. Is. 11:4). The armies play no part except as backdrop to the Word. They are a fitting retinue, but he does not depend on them. He will rule the nations with an iron sceptre (cf. 2:27; 12:5), which shows that he has absolute authority. He cannot be resisted. There is an emphatic he (autos) with both will rule and treads. He and no other does these things. The figure of treading out the winepress of the wrath of God Almighty (cf. Is. 63:1ff.; for Almighty see the note on 1:8) points to the complete overthrow of those who resist God.
16. Now comes a fourth reference to Christ’s name, this name being written on his robe and on his thigh. Charles thinks this means that ‘as they thunder along, their garments stream behind them, and so on the thigh of the Leader is disclosed the name’. Others think that the name is on that part of the coat that falls over the thigh. But the Greek seems rather to mean that the name is written in two places. That on the clothing will mean that this is the name for all to see. That on the thigh is more difficult, but Psalm 45:3 speaks of the sword girded on the thigh and this may be a way of saying that the sword is the Word (vv.13,15,21). KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (cf. 17:14) refers to Christ in his capacity as supreme Ruler. It accords well with the preceding scenes of conquest and of power. John leaves us in no doubt as to who is supreme Lord.
ii. The overthrow of the beast and of the false prophet (19:17—21)
John devotes a small section to the final overthrow of the beast and his various helpers. They have had their little day and are now put in their rightful places.
17. John sees ‘one angel’ (cf. 18:21) standing in the sun. The position is apparently a vantage-point from which he can more easily control the birds to whom he cries in a loud voice. For mid-air cf. 8:13; 14:6. He calls them to the great supper of God, i.e. the great supper which God will provide. Or the expression may be a Semitism with the significance ’a supper great to God‘, i.e. a very great supper. Either way it is in sharp contrast with the marriage supper of verse 9.
18. The supper is explained. It is to be a feast on the corpses of a great host of earthlings (cf. Ezk. 39:4,17—20). The description emphasizes universality. It starts with kings, and goes on to officers, heroes, horses and riders, and all men (i.e. all kinds of men, for Christ’s followers are not included) free and slave, small and great. None is excluded. The overthrow of evil is total.
19. The battle is prepared. John sees the forces of evil drawn up in battle array for their last struggle with the good. The beast is at their head. With him are earth’s kings and their armies. Their object is to fight against the rider on the horse and his army.
20. John says nothing about the battle. He proceeds immediately from the drawing up of the armies to the seizing of the beast. He may mean that there was no battle. Though the forces of evil appear mighty they are completely helpless when confronted by the Christ. So the beast was forcibly captured (epiasth
), and with him the false prophet (see note on 16:13). He is still characterized by the miraculous signs by means of which he deceived those who had the mark of the beast. This was the significant work of the false prophet. But now neither he nor the beast has any power. Both were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur (mentioned again in 20:10,14,15; 21:8). Being cast into the lake of fire signifies utter destruction. All that the beast stood for is no more.
), and with him the false prophet (see note on 16:13). He is still characterized by the miraculous signs by means of which he deceived those who had the mark of the beast. This was the significant work of the false prophet. But now neither he nor the beast has any power. Both were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur (mentioned again in 20:10,14,15; 21:8). Being cast into the lake of fire signifies utter destruction. All that the beast stood for is no more.21.
The rest of the beast’s followers were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse. That is to say, his Word destroyed them (cf. Is. 11:4). The picture of destruction is completed with the statement that the birds were sated with the flesh of the slain, a common piece of imagery for final disaster.
iii. Satan bound (20:1—3)
From the beast John turns to the beast’s master. He sees Satan seized by an angel and imprisoned in the abyss for 1,000 years. This brings us to one of the most difficult parts of the entire book. There have been endless disputes, some of them very bitter, over the way to understand this chapter. Evangelicals have divided from one another and sometimes have been quite intolerant of views other than those of their own group. It is necessary to approach the chapter with humility and charity.97
Pre-millennialists hold that at Christ’s return the Christian dead will be raised, and believers still living on earth will be caught up to meet him in the air (1 Thes. 4:17). They will reign on earth with Christ for 1,000 years (the millennium). After this Satan will be released for a time. This short period will be followed by the raising of the rest of the dead. In this way there is an explanation of the two resurrections. Finally there comes the judgment of the great white throne. Post-millennialists differ in seeing the return of Christ as taking place after the millennium. Sometimes they see the millennium as standing for the triumph of the gospel in this present age, sometimes as a literal 1,000 years at the end of time. A-millennialists hold that there is no literal millennium; the 1,000 year period is symbolical. It stands for the whole time between the life of Jesus on earth and his second coming. They usually see the first resurrection as the new birth of the believer, his rising from the death of sin.
The idea of a messianic reign was congenial to Jewish thought. In 4 Ezra 7:28 the Messiah is said to be with his people for 400 years and Strack-Billerbeck draw attention to estimates varying from forty years (R. Akiba) to 7,000 years (R. Abbahu), with Rabbi Eliezer, usually dated C.AD 90, speaking of 1,000 years (S Bk, iii, p.824). Some Jews held that the world’s history would correspond to the days of creation. History would last for 6,000 years (one ’day’ of history being 1,000 years; cf. Ps. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8). After this there would be a sabbath of 1,000 years before the final state of blessedness (2 Enoch 32:2—33:2; cf. Sanh. 97a). But there is no mention of the Messiah in these speculations.
John is thus not simply repeating accepted Jewish ideas. The revelation he records is new. We must understand it on its own terms, and not press it into the mould of Jewish speculation. If he is in fact referring to current Jewish ideas of a messianic kingdom his point is probably that what some Jews hoped for would be fulfilled in Christ. But it is far from certain that this is what he is doing. In this chapter he does not speak of a reign of all the saints, but rather of a reign of the martyrs. He does not say that it takes place on the earth and in fact it may well be located in heaven (see on v.4). And, most importantly, he does not relate this reign to the second advent. He does not mention the second advent in this chapter at all. Too little attention has been given to this point.
It appears that John is simply taking us behind the scenes as he has done so often before. Despite the persecution of believers Christ is not defeated, nor are those who have died for his sake. Our peep behind the scenes shows us martyrs reigning and Satan bound. The martyrs only appear to have died. They are alive (the first resurrection). Later in the chapter John speaks of the release of Satan as the way in which the nations are gathered for the final battle. But here he is surely concerned with present realities—the apparent defeat of the martyrs and their real triumph.
1. John says nothing to place this chapter in the time sequence. He simply says that he saw an angel. Except that he came from heaven, the angel is not distinguished in any way. John does not describe his appearance. He concentrates on what he does. The final unimportance of Satan is perhaps indicated in the fact that it is not the Father who deals with him, nor the Christ, but only an unnamed angel. The angel had the key of the Abyss (see note on 9:1) and a great chain. Both are clearly symbolical for there cannot be a key to the abyss nor can a spirit be shackled with a chain. But they show that the angel had authority over the abyss and that he could restrain Satan.
2. The angel seized the evil one, who is given all four of the titles by which he is designated in this book: the dragon, the ancient serpent, the devil and the Satan (see notes on 12:3,9). The angel proceeded to tie him up for a thousand years. We should take this symbolically. One thousand is the cube of ten, the number of completeness. We have seen it used over and over again in this book to denote completeness of some sort and John is surely saying here that Satan is bound for the complete time that God has determined.
3. The angel threw Satan into the Abyss and proceeded to lock and seal it. Satan is completely controlled (cf. Is. 24:22). He is locked up not as a punishment, but in order that (hina introduces the purpose) he may not deceive the nations during the thousand years. Those who interpret all this of the end-time object that Satan is so obviously active that it is nonsense to talk of him as bound during the present age. They remind us that elsewhere John stresses his present activity (12:12).
But we must bear in mind John’s singular ability to concentrate on one thing at a time (in ch.4 he can describe heaven with no mention of the Lamb!). We must remember also his complete indifference to the possibility of reconciling one of his pictures with another (see note on 1:17). It is true that he can picture all the evil on earth as coming from a very active Satan. But it is also true that he never thinks of Satan as having a free hand. Again and again he uses the expression ‘is given’ when he speaks of the authority to do any evil act. Here he says specifically that Satan was restrained, not from all evil, but from deceiving the nations during the thousand years. From verse 8 we see that this means that Satan cannot gather the nations for the final cataclysm. The End is in God’s control, not Satan’s. John may also mean that, though Satan is busy, he is restrained from doing his worst. He cannot destroy the church. He cannot even destroy the martyrs, for they reign with Christ. The period of restraint will end, for Satan must (dei) be loosed, though only for a short time. This is God’s way of bringing on the End and because it is God’s plan Satan must be released. If we ask where the nations come from when all have been destroyed (19:18,21) the answer probably is that those associated with the beast and the false prophet have been defeated, now also those associated with Satan.
iv. The first resurrection (20:4—6)
Attention is concentrated now on those who have suffered for Christ’s sake. They reign with him through the thousand years. This section is thus contemporaneous with the preceding. We expect the reign of Christ but we get that of his people.
4. John saw thrones (cf. Dn. 7:9). He does not say where they were. Those who see a literal millennium usually place them on earth (cf. v.1). But John does not say this. He uses ‘throne’ forty-seven times in all, and except for Satan’s throne (2:13) and that of the beast (13:2; 16:10) all appear to be in heaven. That would fit the present passage. John does not say how many thrones there were nor who sat on them. But he goes on to speak of those slain for Jesus’ sake as reigning through the thousand years, so presumably it is these who sit on the thrones.
To them was given authority to judge, or the Greek may mean that justice was done: ‘judgment was given for them’. The passionate concern for justice throughout this book (and for that matter throughout the New Testament) is not to be missed. John saw the thrones first and then the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. In that he speaks of souls only and not of bodies (contrast 1 Cor. 15) it may be that he is thinking of a temporary state. For the thousand years the souls of the martyrs reign with Christ in bliss, but the final state awaits the general resurrection.
Beheaded (pepelekismenon) strictly means ‘killed with an axe’. In the Roman Republic public execution was by beheading with an axe, but in the Empire this had given way to the use of the sword. But here the word clearly means ‘executed’, irrespective of the method. We cannot confine it to the beheaded. Some take the following words (introduced with kai hoitines) to introduce another class (so Swete). In that case the word would probably point to those later called confessors, people who in a persecution were not executed but suffered a smaller penalty such as imprisonment. But NIV is almost certainly right in taking the words to explain the preceding (so Charles, Beasley-Murray, and others), for from 13:15-17 it appears that those who would not receive the mark of the beast were slain. John’s concern here is with the martyrs. For testimony for Jesus see note on 1:2 (where the same expression is translated ‘testimony of Jesus’). With this is linked the word of God. This will point to much the same activity, but there will be in mind also the fact that this could be used as a designation of Christ (19:13).
From the positive things they stood for, John moves on to the negative. They did not worship the beast nor his image and they refused his mark. Then he says they came to life (ezsan, ‘lived’). This is not the usual word for resurrection (though cf. Jn. 11:15). It appears to mean that the martyrs, though slain in ignominy, lived on in heaven with Christ. But not only did they live, they reigned with Christ a thousand years. They have not lost everything. They have gained royalty and triumph.
san, ‘lived’). This is not the usual word for resurrection (though cf. Jn. 11:15). It appears to mean that the martyrs, though slain in ignominy, lived on in heaven with Christ. But not only did they live, they reigned with Christ a thousand years. They have not lost everything. They have gained royalty and triumph.5. The martyrs are thus differentiated from others. The rest must await the conclusion of the thousand years. Grammatically, this is the first resurrection could refer to this raising at the end of the thousand years. But the sense seems to require that it be taken to denote the raising of the martyrs to life in glory with Christ. It is a strong point of the pre-millennial view that a first resurrection implies a second. Other views make the two resurrections of different types, but the pre-millennial view does not. On the other hand John speaks only of one resurrection. He never speaks of a ‘second resurrection’ to correspond to the first. And the expression could be taken to mean ’the first group to enjoy resurrection’ (Ford).
6. For blessed, etc. see note on 1:3. To have a part in the first resurrection is a singularly blessed and holy experience. One negative blessing and two positive ones are singled out. The second death has no power over such people (see note on v.14). Positively they are to be priests of God and of Christ (cf. 5:10; Is. 61:6; note also the close connection between God and Christ). And they are to reign with him for a thousand years. The supreme joy of the blessed ones is that they are associated with Christ in priesthood and royalty.
v. Satan’s final overthrow (20:7—10)
John reverts briefly to a theme he has mentioned several times, namely the gathering together of all the forces of evil at the end-time to do battle with God. Here he deals with it very shortly. The triumph of God is speedy and certain.
7. At the end of the millennium Satan will be released. We might have expected an angel to set him free, just as an angel had confined him, but John does not say how it will be done. His when is hotan, ‘whenever’, so that the time is also uncertain (as far as it goes this supports a symbolical meaning for the thousand years).
8. Upon his release Satan will resume his deceitful activities, but on a larger scale. Like the ‘unclean spirits like frogs’ he will gather the nations for the final battle (16:13-16). The expression Gog and Magog seems to mean all people. Gog is mentioned in the Bible only in a genealogy (1 Ch. 5:4), in a prophecy (Ezk. 38—39), and here. Magog is found similarly in genealogies (Gn. 10:2; 1 Ch. 1:5), the Ezekiel passage, and here. Magog appears to be the land from which Gog came (Ezk. 38:2, though in LXX Magog seems to be a prince). In later Judaism Gog and Magog were thought of as two leaders. In apocalyptic writings, for example, they often symbolize the forces of evil. For John the combination is another way of referring to the hosts of the wicked. He has in mind the last great attack of evil on the things of God. Satan will gather all his armies. He will assemble the greatest possible number to oppose God (in number they are like the sand on the seashore). This is the decisive moment, the final battle (cf. 17:14; 19:19).
9. John changes to the past tense, they marched, but it is the same sequence. The breadth of the earth is a curious expression in this connection. It probably means that their armies were very large. They encircled ‘the camp of the saints’ (NIV, God’s people) and ’the beloved city’. Both expressions appear to mean the people of God. The ’camp’ sees them as ‘soldiers of God’, and there might also be an allusion to the encampments of God’s people during their wilderness wanderings. ‘The beloved city’ should surely be understood over against ’the great city’. This latter we have seen to mean people in organized community, organized against God. The former will then signify spiritual people, willingly under the dominion of God. John is picturing the hosts of evil as taking up a threatening position over against the servants of God. We are prepared for a great battle. But none comes. Exactly as in 19:19—21, John goes on immediately to the annihilation of the wicked. This time it is done by fire which came down from heaven (cf. Ezk. 38:22). Consistently John thinks of the power of God as so overwhelming that there cannot be even the appearance of a battle when he wills to destroy evil.
10.
The devil is now characterized as him who deceived (cf. v.8). Them will refer to the nations (v.8). The devil is now finally thrown into the lake of burning sulphur to join the beast and the false prophet (19:20) in torment day and night for ever and ever. There is no intermission and no end.
vi. The last judgment (20:11-15)
John speaks now of an awe-inspiring judgment. All the dead are judged. This is the final overthrow of the wicked and even of death and Hades. Beasley-Murray points out that in chapters 6 to 19 we have the judgment of God in history, here his judgment on history.
11. John depicts a scene of infinite majesty. He saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. He does not tell us whether this was God or Christ but ‘he that sits on the throne’ usually means God (e.g. 5:1,7,13), so it is probably the Father who is meant here. Sometimes we are told that Christ is to be the Judge of all (Mt. 25:31—46; Jn. 5:22), while Paul can refer to both the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) and that of God (Rom. 14:10). We should understand that the Father is the Judge, but that he judges through the Son (he ’has entrusted all judgment to the Son‘, Jn. 5:22).
Of this scene Kiddle says, ‘every irrelevance is cast aside, until the theme is stated in stark simplicity; nothing is allowed to distract our eyes from the spectacle of the Judge, and the judged. It is John’s rare power of laying bare an essential truth, without swerving aside into unnecessary qualification and expansion, that is responsible for the omission of Christ’s figure in the last Assize.’ John invests the scene with the greatest solemnity. There was something so terrible in the demeanour of him on the throne that earth and heaven themselves fled away from him. There was no place for them, i.e. they were completely destroyed.
12.
The dead stood before the throne, great and small. None was excepted. Books were opened (cf. Dn. 7:10). John does not say what books these were, but the context shows that they were books in which were recorded the deeds of all people. Another book sets this one off from the rest. As it is called the book of life, it is that in which are inscribed the names of those to whom God gives eternal life. Sweet points out that NEB, ‘the roll of the living’, misses the truth that the book ‘embodies the redemptive intention of (the Lamb’s) sacrifice; cf. those “written for life” in Jerusalem in Isa. 43’. The dead were judged according to what was written, according to what they had done. It is the common New Testament teaching that judgment is on the basis of works.98
13. The separate mention of the sea and death and Hades as giving up the dead in them is a way of indicating that all the dead are included. None is overlooked. It is carping criticism to complain that the sea was destroyed in verse 11 and is in existence here. We have seen many times that John does not try to keep his visions consistent (see on 1:17). Earlier his thought was that in the end the universe will pass away. Here it is that all the dead, wherever they have died, are included in the judgment.
He expresses both ideas vividly as befits a seer relating visions.
Some have said that only the wicked are in mind here, affirming that in Revelation Hades is never neutral but that it always refers to the abode of the departed wicked. This is sharply criticized by Kiddle: ‘If “Hades” is so evil that the righteous may not dwell there, “Death” also is so evil that the righteous may not die; the two are wedded in one phrase. We must set ourselves against such absurdities: “Death” is the common fate of men, Christian and pagan together: and “Hades” is their common destination, until the Judgment day brings release.’ Some, again, think that the mention of the dead in the sea separate from those in Hades means that those who perish at sea do not go to Hades. But John is not concerned with the minutiae of the disposal of the dead. He is affirming strongly that all the dead, wherever they are, are included in the judgment. And he repeats that all were judged according to whqt they had done.
14. Just as the beast and the false prophet and the devil had all been thrown into the lake of fire (19:20; 20:10), so now death and Hades were thrown into the same lake. This is not an easy idea, but John appears to mean that death and Hades are ultimately as powerless as the other forces of evil. Finally there is no power but that of God. All else is completely impotent. The end of the verse explains that being cast into this lake is the second death.
15. The chapter ends with the affirmation that anyone whose name did not appear in the book of life ... was thrown into this lake. John sees a sharp division into the saved and the lost. In the end people will either share in the bliss of heaven or find their place in the lake of fire.