HERE COMES THE GROOM
Opening Prayer
Lord, Your people await Your arrival.
Read REVELATION 19:11–21
The Heavenly Warrior Defeats the Beast
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His 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. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
king of kings and lord of lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
Footnotes
a Revelation 19:15 Psalm 2:9
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Lord Jesus, help us to see You in ways we have never seen You before and to respond appropriately to our conquering King and righteous Judge.
Think Further
The focus now falls on a rider on a white horse, who stands center stage. Here is Jesus as we have never seen him before: Christ the Warrior King battling against evil, or Christ the Judge executing judgment. He has been there all along, but now he emerges clearly into view. His three titles settle his identity, “Faithful and True,” the “Word of God,” “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (11, 13, 16); the climax of the Hallelujah chorus in Handel’s Messiah). One more title re-mains hidden, for there are always limits to our knowledge. He is crowned, regal, authoritative, with blazing eyes that miss nothing and a commanding voice, bearing his battle scars in a blood-stained robe. Every eye shall see the Captain of the armies of heaven who has now come not to save but to judge.
The armies of the world gather in opposition but there is no battle, for the outcome is already settled. Rather, they stand awaiting judgment and sentence. This is the great supper of God, on which the carrion birds of the air will feast. The forces of evil are now disposed of in opposite order to their introduction. Babylon has gone, and now the two beasts are to be destroyed. The people see the beast of the sea and the false prophet being dispatched into the lake of fire where they are destroyed. They are judged by the rider on the white horse, using the sword in his mouth, for he will overcome evil by his Word. Then the birds swoop down and all evil is completely and irrevocably destroyed. History has been moving toward this climax since sin entered the Garden of Eden.
That is why throughout history God has called on people to repent while there is yet time. The message needs to be heard before it is too late. Seize the moment now!
Apply
What a difference between the marriage feast of the Lamb and the great supper of God! Read the menu carefully.
Closing prayer
Lord, nobody else but You can bear the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Book and Author Intros
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