Revelation 19

CHAPTER 19THEME: Marriage of the Lamb and return of Christ in judgmentNow we come to the thrilling events that concern us. In chapter 19 we turn the page to that which marks a drastic change in the tone of Revelation. The destruction of Babylon, the capital of the Beast’s kingdom, marked the end of the Great Tribulation. The somber gives way to the song. The transfer is from darkness to light, from the inky blackness of night to a white light, from dreary days of judgment to bright days of blessing. This chapter makes a definite bifurcation in the Book of Revelation and ushers in the greatest event for this earththe second coming of Christ to the earth to establish His Kingdom.

It is the bridge between the Great Tribulation and the millennial kingdom that He will establish upon this earth. Great and significant events are recorded here. The two central features are the marriage supper of the Lamb and the return of Christ to the earth. One follows the other. The hallelujahs open this chapter and the opening of hell concludes it. Two great suppers are recorded in this chapter: the marriage supper of the Lamb and the cannibalistic feast of carrion after the last part of the War of Armageddon.

Revelation 19:1

FOUR HALLELUJAHSAs chapter 19 opens, the voices of heaven become one chorus. As usual, I will give my translation of the literal Greek text throughout this chapter. After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God. “After these things” (Gr.: meta tauta) is an expression we first bumped into when John gave the division of the Book of Revelation in chapter Rev_19:1, verse Rev_19:19literally, “the things that shall be after these things.” After what things? After the church things. Chapter 4 opened with meta tauta, and we have been meta tautaing ever since. There is a chronological progression, a sequence of events. Now we will see what will take place after the Great Tribulation. It is recorded in this chapter: the coming of Christ to the earth.

He is the only One who can end the Tribulation. And so this is the last occurrence of the expression meta tauta. “A great voice of a great multitude.” In the worship scenes of chapters 5-7 we saw the elders, the church, and the uncounted numbers of angels and created intelligences all worshiping God. Now a great number of tribulation saints has been added to the chorus, and they are going to sing. This is something quite marvelous. This is the first time they have been able to utter the great note of praise of the Old TestamentHallelujah! This word occurs four times in the first six verses. This is its only occurrence in the New Testament.

It is reserved for the final victory. It is interesting to note that hallelujah occurs frequently in the Book of Psalms. It means “praise the Lord.” It appears in frequent succession in Psalms 146-150. In fact, Psalms 150 is a mighty crescendo of praise. Hallelujah is a fitting note of praise at this juncture in the Book of Revelation. The Great Tribulation is over.

Jesus is coming. The church is to be united with Christ in marriage. Hallelujah! Let’s sing it, my friend! Every year I love to hear Handel’s Messiah being sung, but regardless of what choir sings it, they don’t even touch the rim of the great Hallelujah of this future day. Psa_104:35 puts it this way: “Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more.

Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise …the LORD"that is, Hallelujah! Hallelujah because God is coming to judge, and the wicked are going to be removed from the earth. Hallelujah is an expletive of praise as the final phase of salvation is coming to pass. This is something that Paul talked about in Rom_8:18-23: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” My friend, this is that great day which is coming. The earth will be released from the bondage of sin. In the meantime it groans. Go down to the seashore and listen to the waves. One summer I slept by the Atlantic Ocean in a place at Virginia Beach. Every night I was put to sleep by the breaking of the waves on the shore. But the waves were sobbing, as it were, sobbing out their sorrow. Go up in the mountains and listen at night to the wind going through the pine trees. There is not a soprano in all of those pine trees, nor is there a redwood that can sing soprano. Their sounds are all subdued, quiet groans as they await the coming of that great day upon the earth. And we groan. I don’t know about you, but I groan. When I was a young man and built my home in Southern California, I used to come bounding down the stairs. Now when I come down the stairs, I groan with every step. My wife says, “You ought not to groan.” I tell her that groaning is scriptural. We groan within these bodies, as the Scripture says. I’m all for groaning while we are here. But one day the groaning will be changed to hallelujahs, and that is what John is talking about here.

Revelation 19:2

For true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot who (formerly) corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And the second time they said, Hallelujah. And her smoke goeth up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. It is interesting to note that at the conclusion of all these judgments, those in heaven, who have more perfect knowledge than you and I have, are able to say that God’s judgments are true and right. If you don’t think what God is doing is right, it is because you, not God, are wrong.

Your thinking is incomplete, of course, as mine is. God will be righteous in judging the great harlot. This is interesting because when we read about the judgment of the great harlot, representing the apostate church which went into the Tribulation, it says that the kings of the earth and the Antichrist destroyed the harlot. Yet here we are told that it was God who judged it. You see, God uses different instruments, and He will even use the Devil to accomplish His purpose. Those in heaven are saying, “True and righteous are his judgments,” because the apostate church deserved to be destroyed; it had made martyrs of many of God’s children. In these verses we find a picture of the church in heaven saying, “Hallelujah.” They say it twice. Why? As long as the imposter of the true church, the great harlot, is on the earth, the marriage of the Lamb will not take place in heaven. The anti-church is disposed of first, which makes way for the marriage of the Lamb. I assume that the marriage of the Lamb takes place in heaven sometime during the midst of the Tribulation which is going on upon the earth. “He hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” You see, believers are forbidden to avenge themselves. It is true that some of us try to do it, but the moment we do so, we forsake the walk of faith. In Rom_12:19 God says to us: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” God will take care of vengeance for you. If we have been injured, and many of us have been, we want to hit back. That is natural; it is the old nature striking out. However, we are to turn that department over to God. He doesn’t intend to let anyone get away with wrong. Vengeance is His. And He will bring judgment on this apostate system. The twenty-four elders for the first time sing Hallelujah. The elders we believe to be the church (see Rev. 4). This is the last time the elders appear as such, for the figure changes now, and the church is to become the bride of Christ. The word church means “called out.” Here on the earth we are the church, the called-out ones, but after we leave the earth we are the bride.

Revelation 19:5

And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as it were the voice of many waters, and as it were the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah; for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigneth. “A voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God.” Notice that the call to praise comes directly from the throne of God, because the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing to take control of this world. This is truly the Hallelujah Chorus and the most profound paean of praise in the entire Word of God. It takes us all the way back to that covenant which God made with David in which He promised that He would raise One upon David’s throne who would rule the world. In 2Sa_7:16 we read: “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” But before Christ returns to the earth, there is going to be a wedding, and you and I, as believers, will be part of it.

Revelation 19:7

BRIDE OF THE LAMB AND MARRIAGE SUPPER Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. This will be the most thrilling experience that believers will ever have. The churchthat is, the body of believers all the way from Pentecost to the Rapturewill be presented now to Christ as a bride for a marriage. The marriage takes place in heaven, and this is a heavenly scene throughout. In Ephesians 5 the apostle Paul speaks about the husband and wife relationship when both are believers. By the way, he is speaking of those who are filled with the Spirit and of the relationships that flow from it. You cannot have a Christian home without a Spirit-filled husband and a Spirit-filled wife. In fact, I do not believe you can know what real love is until both marriage partners are believers. Notice Paul’s instructions: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph_5:25-27). This is the picture of the relationship of Christ and the church. We are living in a day of “new” morality. Our contemporary society is drenched with sex. This generation knows a great deal about sex. I watched a young couple in Palm Springs one day, and I felt sorry for the boy and the girl. They were necking like nobody’s business, right in public. I thought to myself.

What do they really know about love? Why, they know nothing about what it means for a man to love a woman and a woman to love a man. I am afraid there are many Christians who don’t know much about love either. Husbands, do you remember the first time you looked at your wife? Do you remember when you were joined in marriage and she became yours? Wasn’t that a thrilling moment for you?

Wives, do you remember when you first looked at that ugly old boy you married and thought he was so handsome? When he put his arms around you, wasn’t that a thrilling moment? Well, Eph_5:25-27 is a picture of that day when Christ is going to draw us to Himself, cleansed and purified. Young lady and young man, that is the reason in this day of “new” morality that you should bring purity to your marriage. God have mercy on some of you fellows who are married to second-hand girls. Don’t get them at the second-hand store; get them brand new.

It is much better that way. “The marriage of the Lamb is come.” Marriage is a marvelous picture of the joining together of Christ and the church. Notice that the Old Testament saints are not includedonly the believers during the church age are included. Even John the Baptist designated himself as only a friend of the Bridegroom. He said, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom …” (Joh_3:29). The bride occupies a unique relationship with Christ. You see, Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.

Remember what He said in His High Priestly Prayer: “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (Joh_17:23-26). The thing that is so wonderful is that we are going to know Christreally know Himfor the first time. “The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” The wedding gown of the church is the righteous acts of the saints. This is a difficult concept to accept, because it is impossible for us to stand before Christ in our own righteousness. Paul wrote of this: “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Php_3:9). You see, by faith we can trust Christnot only for the forgiveness of sins but for the impartation to us of His own righteousness. Then why does John say that the wedding garment is the righteous acts of the saints? Well, the wedding gown will be used only once, but we will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ throughout eternity.

We as believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, not to be judged for our sins in reference to salvation, but for rewards. Through the ages believers have been performing righteous acts which have been accumulating to adorn the wedding gown. By the way, what are you doing to adorn that wedding gown? What are you doing for the Lord today? Again let me quote Paul: “Now if any man build upon this foundation [which is Christ] gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward” (1Co_3:12-14). Gold, silver, and precious stones will survive the fire; wood, hay, and stubble will go up in smoke. Therefore the good works are the wedding garment of the church. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph_2:10). After the wedding, the wedding dress is laid aside. We have already seen that the elders placed their crowns at the feet of the Lamb, proclaiming that He alone is worthy. The church will reveal His glory: “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph_2:7). We will be on displaysinners saved from hell, if you please, in heaven now. We have no right to heaven and would not go there except for the righteousness of Christ and the fact that we belong to Him. The relationship of Christ and the church is intimate, it is different, and it is delightful. No other creatures will enjoy such sweetness.

Revelation 19:9

And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden (invited) to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true words of God. And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not; I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Hear me carefully now: the marriage of the Lamb will take place in heaven, but the marriage supper will take place upon the earth. The picture of this is in Mat_25:1-13, which is the parable of the ten virgins.

You see, the virgins were not the bride. Christ has only one bride, and that is the church. The Bridegroom will return to the earth for the marriage supper. He will return not only to judge the earth but to have the marriage supper, which the ten virgins are expecting to attend. Another picture of this same scene is given in Psalms 45. In this psalm Christ is seen coming as king. We are not told who she is, but the queen is there: “Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir” (Psa_45:9). I believe this is a symbol or a type of the church. Guests are present: “And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour” (Psa_45:12). The marriage supper will take place on earth. Both Israelites and Gentiles who enter the Millennium are the invited guests. The marriage supper is evidently the Millennium. You talk about a long supperthis is going to be a long one! At the end of the Millennium the church is still seen as the bride. Imagine a honeymoon which lasts one thousand years! Yet that is only the beginning. What joy! What ecstasy! The angel puts God’s seal on this scene: “These are the true words of God.” After acting as a scribe for this scene, John feels compelled to worship the angelic messenger. However, he is restrained from doing so. The angel is but a creature. Only God is to be worshiped. What a rebuke to Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet who wanted to be worshiped. And there are many folk in our day who have that same desire. After the marriage of the Lamb in heaven, the next great event is the return of Christ to the earth. My friend, the King is coming! But He will not come until after the church has been raptured and after the earth has undergone the Great Tribulation. Now when He comes to the earth, His bride will be with Him, and their marriage supper will be here upon the earth, as we have seen. Oh, my friend, what a glorious day is ahead of us! If we could only get our eyes off the muck and mire of this earth and onto that which is eternal!

Revelation 19:11

RETURN OF CHRIST AS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS And I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness doth he judge and make war. Now his eyes a flame of fire, and upon his head many diadems; having a name written which none knew but himself. What a thrilling scene this is! Just to read it makes goose pimples come out all over me. This is the great climactic event toward which all things in this world are moving today. It is the coming of Christ to the earth. Let me take a moment to remind you where this fits into the picture. From chapters 4-18 we were in the midst of the Great Tribulation period, a frightful period. It ends by the coming of Christ to this earth to establish His Kingdom. In the past there has been a very naive notion relative to the future, which is still held by some folk who are not students of the Bible. It is this: One of these days Jesus is going to come, and all the dead will be raised. The good guys will be on one side and the bad guys on the other. Christ will make the division so that one will enter heaven, the other hell, and eternity begins. May I say again that this is a very naive notion. You cannot read the Word of God without being conscious of the fact that He has a plan and program for this earth and that He is following it very carefully. The program, as we have outlined it, reveals that Christ’s return to the earth takes place at the end of the Great Tribulation period, right before the establishment of His Kingdom. The contrast to His first coming is stupendous. It is absolutely remarkable. At the time of Christ’s first coming, as George Macdonald put it: They all were looking for a King To slay their foes and lift them high; Thou cam’st, a little baby thing That made a woman cry. That is the way He entered the world the first time. He was meek and lowly. He was the Savior who died for sinners. Now in the verses before us we see Him coming in His great glory. His coming will be the final manifestation of the wrath of God upon a sinful world. The rebellion of Satan, demons, and men is contained, put down, and judged. He puts down all unrighteousness before He establishes His Kingdom in righteousness. Heaven is opened in chapter 4, verse Revelation 4:1, to let John, as a representative of the church, enter heaven where he sees the elders, that is, the church, already there. And here in chapter 19 heaven opens to let Christ exit. The white horse on which He rides is the animal of warfare. When Jesus was on earth, He rode into Jerusalem upon a little donkey which, though an animal of kings, denoted peace, not war. He is called “Faithful” because He has come to execute the long-time program of God. Remember that the scoffer said, “Where is the sign of His coming?” There is no sign at this pointHe is here. He has made good. He is Faithful. He is the only One you and I can trust and rest upon. He is called “True” for He is inherently true. He is not one who just tells the truth, although He does that; He is the bureau of standards of truth. He is the yardstick of truth. He is the Truth. How wonderful it is to have Someone in whom to trust in this day when everything we hear is slanted and used as propaganda. He has come to “judge and make war"not to die on a cross again. “Now his eyes a flame of fire.” Back in chapter 1, verse Rev_1:14, His eyes were as a flame, as He walked among the churches, judging them. But now there is a difference"his eyes a flame of fire” because He has come to judge the earth and put down its unrighteousness. “Upon his head many diadems” indicates that He will be the sole ruler of this earth. And His rulership is going to be a dictatorship, I can assure you of that. My friend, if you don’t love Jesus Christif He is not your Saviorand you live to enter this period of His return to the earth, it is going to be a most uncomfortable period for you because Christ is going to be a dictator. A chicken won’t peep, a rooster won’t crow, and a man will not move without His permission. He is the King of Kings and He is the Lord of Lords. “And he had a name written, that no man knew.” What is this name that no one knew but Himself? He is given four names here which correspond to the Gospels:

1. “King of kings” corresponds to the Gospel of Matthew, since Matthew presents Christ as the King.
2. “Faithful and True” corresponds to the Gospel of Mark where He is presented as the Servant of God. The important thing about a servant is not his genealogy but his trustworthiness. Is he faithful and truthful? Those are the qualities that are important.
3. “Word of God” repeats what He is called in the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word…. And the Word was made flesh …” (Joh_1:1, Joh_1:14).
4. What is the name that no one knows? Well, I have a suggestion. Perhaps it corresponds to Luke’s Gospel in which He is presented as Jesus, the Son of Man. In our day there is a great familiarity with that name, both in swearing and in blaspheming and in being overly free and presumptuous with Him. But, my friend, that is a name which you and I are going to probe throughout eternity. He is Jesus, the Son of Man. Do you really know Jesus? Well, no man knoweth the Son but the Father, and here we learn that when He comes, He has a name that no man really knows but Himself. The apostle Paul, not at the beginning but at the end of his ministry, before his execution, said, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Php_3:10, italics mine). No one knows the Son but the Father. My friend, learning to know Him is one of the things that is going to make heaven heaven. He is so wonderful that it is going to take the rest of eternity to really know Him. The folk we meet down here are not very exciting folk when we get to know them, are they? But the more we know Jesus, the more exciting He will be. In Joh_14:7, Joh_14:9, we read: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him [that is, in the Person of the Son]…. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” Then again in that High Priestly Prayer that Christ prayed: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Joh_17:3). When we come to Christ and receive Him as our Savior from sin, we have started to school. When we begin to know Him, we are in kindergarten. Let me make more or less of a confession. Since I have retired from the pastorate, I have set before me a goal: I want to know Jesus better than I do now. I get up every morning and look out the windowI did this morning and in Southern California it is foggybut I say, “Lord, thank You for bringing me to another day.

I love You. I love You, Lord Jesus, but, oh, You seem to be so far away at times. I want to know You. May the Spirit of God make You real to me.” The name Jesusoh, what it means, and what a person He is! One more thing I would like to say about this subject: not only will we come to know the Lord better throughout eternity, we are also going to get to know one another better. I really don’t think we know each other as we should. I find, at times, that I am greatly misunderstood. I make certain statements on the radio, and then I receive letters that almost shock me. It is difficult to understand how I could have been that misunderstood. But in heaven we are going to know as we are known.

I think that will be good. Also, we will know ourselves. And we are going to know our loved ones. One summer when I tried to recuperate from an illness by resting, it enabled me to sit on my patio with my wife and get acquainted with her. It was quite wonderful. I discovered the sacrifices that she has made and her faithfulness down through the years.

And I think I am really going to get acquainted with her in heaven. My friend, how glorious heaven is going to be! Even in this earthly life down here we find that when we grow in our love for Christ, we also grow in our love for each other. Now notice the further description of Christ at His coming:

Revelation 19:13

And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God the All-ruler. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Notice that His garment is sprinkled with blood and that He is treading the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God. This picture takes us back to Isa_63:1-6, which we have quoted previously. Obviously, this refers not to Christ’s first coming but to His second coming as described here in chapter 19. “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron” takes us back to Psalm 2: “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee [from the dead]. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. [He didn’t get them at His first coming; how will He get them now?] Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psa_2:6-9). The fury of His wrath at His second coming is in sharp contrast to His gentleness at His first coming. However, in both is revealed the “wrath of the Lamb.” “The armies …in heaven” are evidently the legions of angels that do His bidding.

Revelation 19:17

THE WAR OF ARMAGEDDONNow we come to the end of the War of Armageddon, and this concludes the final battle: If there is one passage of Scripture which is revolting to read, this is it. You will notice that God included it at the end of His Word to remind us how revolting and nauseating to Him are the deeds of the flesh. Men who live in the flesh will have their flesh destroyed. This is an invitation at the end of the Battle of Armageddon to the carrion-eating fowl to a banquet on earth where they will have A-1, blue-ribbon flesh to eatkings and the mighty men of the earth. My friend, it is frightful to rebel against God because He is going to judge you someday. This scene reveals the heart of man and how dreadful that heart really is.

Revelation 19:19

HELL OPENEDNow for the very first time hell is completely opened up: And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army. And the beast (Antichrist) was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshiped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone; and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh. What a frightful picture this is. The Beast and the False Prophet defy God right up to the very last. They dare to make war with the Son of God! Surely “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh” at the utter futility of their efforts.

It is preposterous that there is such a rebellion of man against God. The outcome is inevitable. The two arch-rebels and tyrants, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, have the questionable distinction of being the first two who are cast into hell. Even the Devil hasn’t been put there yet. The question arises: Is the “lake of fire” literal? Well, let me give you something to think about because I am going to come back to this subject when we get to chapter 20. If hell is not literal, it depicts that which is worse than a literal fire of brimstone. “The sword which came forth out of his mouth.” What is that sword? An amillennial friend of mine asked me laughingly, “You don’t believe that there is going to be a literal sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus, do you?” I told him that I would consider it to be literal if the Word of God had not made it clear that His Word is like a sword: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb_4:12). “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph_6:17). “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked” (Isa_11:4). Do you notice how clearly this symbol is explained by Scripture? The “sword” that comes from the mouth of Jesus is His Word. It was His Word that created this universe. It is the Word of God which will save you. And it will be the Word of God that will destroy the wicked at the end of the age.