Bible Commentaries
Revelation 19

Verses 1-10

XVI

THE WAR OF HAR-MAGEDON (CONTINUED)

Revelation 18:1-19:10

This chapter closes up the longest section in the book, the war between the true church and the counterfeit church. In the preceding study I gave you but a little exposition of Revelation 17, because that chapter only identifies the woman in purple and scarlet, and because it is self-explanatory. The latter half tells the meaning of the first half.

We now consider, with more detail, the effect of the outpouring of the last bowl of wrath upon the woman in purple and scarlet, that is the final destruction of Romanism as the counterfeit church. Note carefully the change from a woman to a city. "I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority, and the earth was lightened with his glory, and he cried with a mighty voice, saying: Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great, and is become the habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." That is the announcement sent from heaven, in the brilliance of glory and the highest extent of authority, of the doom of the mystic Babylon. The imagery of this chapter is borrowed, even to the very words, from the following prophecies of the Old Testament: Isaiah 13:19-22, which describes the downfall of the historic Babylon on the Euphrates. Then in Isaiah 34:9-15, is described the utter destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Then Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 50-51) describes the destruction of the historic Babylon. Zephaniah, (Revelation 2:13 ff) describes the destruction of Nineveh. Ezekiel, (Ezekiel 26-28) describes the destruction of Tyre, and from these prophecies we get the very word employed in this chapter, as imagery transferred to the mystic Babylon. I have the space to recall to you but one of them, the first one cited:

And Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldean’s pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation, neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures, and ostriches shall dwell there; and wild goats [or demons] shall dance there. And wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. – Isaiah 13:19.

The same language is employed by the other prophets to whom I refer, and exactly corresponding to the language which I have Just read, "is become a habitation of demons, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird." That simply means, that as the ancient Babylon, after its destruction, was never more inhabited, and wild beasts whelped in its palaces, so when God smites the mystic Babylon, the counterfeit church of Romanism, it will be wiped off the face of the earth.

Read again, now from verse Revelation 18:3: "For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen, and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness." That is the cause or reason of the destruction of the mystic Babylon; that her influence was so corrupt with the nations of the earth that she caused its kings to join in her idolatries and blasphemies, and through the merchandise of her wantonness, that is, all that part of the commerce which relates to the things employed in her service, on that account it is to be swept away.

Read verse Revelation 18:4: "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that you have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." That is to me a very precious verse. It shows that God never destroys the righteous’; that if the righteous have been associating with the evil, before the judgment falls on the evil the righteous are called out. We saw that in the case of Sodom: the angels took hold of Lot and dragged him out of the city, saying, "We cannot destroy this city while you are in it." We saw the same thing when Korah and his family were about to be swallowed up by an earthquake on account of great sin. Everybody was required to move away from him, to get away from the dangerous place where they stood, because the ground on which their feet rested would yawn, crack open, and they would be engulfed. We find precisely these words addressed to the old Babylon. Jeremiah uses the words precisely. A great many of the Israelites and people of Judah were in captivity in Babylon, and the prophet says: "Come forth out of her, my people, that ye receive not her plagues."

We see the same language when Jerusalem was destroyed. Jesus said to his disciples: "When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, then you flee to the mountains, and share not in the doom that is coming upon Jerusalem," through the armies of Titus. You still see the same thing, on a much grander scale, at the end of the world. The earth cannot be destroyed by fire while any Christian is on it; their bodies are raised, they are caught up in the clouds, and when no living Christian and the dust of no dead Christian is left on the earth, then the earth will be wrapped in fire.

Another pertinent paragraph is found in 2 Corinthians:

Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for we are "ft temple of the living God; even as God said: I dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be to you a father, and you shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. – 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

Notwithstanding the evil of the system of Romanism, notwithstanding the heresy of its doctrines, there are multitudes of truly converted children of God on its church rolls. Some of the finest religious hymns, some of the sweetest and most precious expressions of the love of Christ, have come from the pens of individual Roman Catholics; they are God’s children. Now, before this destruction falls on that counterfeit church, God will call out from it all of his true children. Every now and then there are secessions. Millions went out in the days of the Reformation; great multitudes of the old-fashioned Catholics went out after the Council of Trent; they could not accept those decrees. All through history they have been going out. Some never were in, and I think we belong to that crowd. But I am speaking of those who were in, and I am glad when any of them come out.

In Revelation 18:5 we read the reasons of this final sweeping judgment: "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." The language of the Bible on that point is very impressive. God does not strike until the measure of iniquity is full; but when it is full he strikes. The sins of the Canaanites got so rank that they smelt unto heaven, then God destroyed them root and branch; when Sodom’s sin cried unto heaven, God swept it away without pity and without mercy. We get impatient, oftentimes, at God’s patience, his long-suffering with evil, and we say: Why doesn’t he hurl his lightning; why doesn’t he strike down the wicked? God says: "Wait, I am giving everybody an opportunity for repentance. At the right time I will strike, and when I strike there will be no need to strike again. It will be complete." Whenever that time comes, God remembereth iniquities.

I preached a sermon once on this text: "When he maketh inquisition for sin, he remembereth." Men do evil because judgment is not speedily executed. But after a while God will make inquisition, that means a search like a sheriff with a search warrant The day I preached that sermon I described God’s coming to the sinner and entering into his heart and shining with the light of his truth into the most secret chambers of his soul, and unmasking, and revealing, and bringing out into the white light of infinite holiness every foul thing that man ever did: "When he maketh inquisition for sin, be remembereth." That great sermon of Jonathan Edwards that started a series of meetings in which a quarter of a million people were converted, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," from the text: "Their feet shall slide in due time," applied this thought.

Revelation 18:6: "Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works; in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double." Now, I do not think the "double" there means twice as much. It is according to the old law of retaliation: "Like for like: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; as ye judge ye shall be judged; as ye measured to others it shall be measured unto you." The punishment shall correspond to the sin. And now, as that iniquitous counterfeit church was drunk with the blood of the saints; as she filled her cup with idolatries, God gives her a cup to drink with his undiluted wrath. The punishment shall correspond to the sin. The same principle of righteousness is expressed in the next two verses.

"How much soever she glorified herself and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning; for she saith in her heart: I sit a queen and am not a widow, and shall in no wise see mourning. Therefore, in one day shall her plagues come, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her." In other words, as led by her pride, she took the high seat and spoke great swelling words of blasphemy, and put her foot on the neck of kings and oppressed the saints, and relied upon her infallibility, saying: "I am a queen, I am not subject to the law, and no mourning shall come to me," so shall be the depth of her fall. It shall be as deep as her presumption was high.

Revelation 18:9-10: "And the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying: Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city I For in one hour is thy judgment come." This is copied directly from the prophets; in fact, nearly every word in this chapter is.

They had an agreement, the kings and the Romanist church: "You buttress me in my kingly authority, and I will buttress you in your papal chair." There was a trade, a very convenient arrangement. Just like a municipal sin is committed by a grafter who offers? to support a certain man for mayor or alderman, or chief of police, or some other civil office, on the condition: "You let me put my finger into the pie and take out my plum, and I don’t care how many plums you take out." And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more; [and this is her merchandise] merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious atones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood [or sweet scented wood], and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep and merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and the souls of men. – Revelation 18:11-13.

Ezekiel 26-28, foretelling the downfall of Tyre, represents all who lived by her merchandise as bewailing her. Understand that this merchandise here is not to be considered as merchandise in general, but is that part of the merchandise past for so much; then there were fees for officiating at birth, which was used up in supporting this counterfeit church, or in its ceremonies, or vestments; there would be "Peter’s pence" enough to build a cathedral; there would be the profit from the sale of indulgences, as when Tetzel traveled over Germany and sold the privilege of sins in the future as well as in the marriage fees, and the fees to get your father or mother out of purgatory, fees for everything. Then there were the great donations given by the conscience-stricken dying, donations of lands, and large sums of money. It is related that on one occasion a Pope led a visiting friend into the treasure house of the Vatican, and showed him the silks and purple and laces and fine linen, opened the coffers and showed him the jewels diamonds, pearls and rubies, the gold and silver; and said: "There has been a great change since the first Pope, Peter, for he said: ’Silver and gold have I none,"’ and the friend re marked: "We have what Peter had not, and we have not what Peter had, for he could make the lame man walk without the silver and gold, and we cannot."

Of course, the commercial spirit will always "hurrah" for anything that makes trade. They will if it be whiskey; they will if it be prostitution; they will if it be idolatry, if you can only sell the images of the great goddess Diana and make a big pile of money by it. But when all that is broken up they will stand off and wail: "Alas, Babylon is fallen, and all of our trade is broken up."

But look at that last item, will you? "And merchandise in the bodies and in the souls of men." What was Luther when he went to Rome, and on bended knees climbed the stairway to find expiation of sin, but a slave? Slaves and the souls of men! And how joyously he leaped to his feet when he saw that man is justified in the sight of God by faith and not by works from condemnation forever, without dependence on any priest’s "I absolve thee"; God does the absolving. Slaves and the souls of men! Millions and millions have been slaves, slaves to the blindest superstitions, treasuring up the cut-off toe nails of some so-called saint, or put-ting in a vial or bottle the tears of some other saint, or preserving an image that seems to wink the eye. You might as well imitate the Negro, who puts a rabbit’s foot in his pocket for luck, or nails up a horseshoe to keep off the witches; it is the same principle, exactly. It is slavery, the worst form of slavery. Mental slavery is much worse than body slavery.

Revelation 18:14: "And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and men shall find them no more at all." Now, when a man works hard and lives hard, it does not hurt if occasionally he eats short rations, but if one be pampered, feeding at a banquet every day, having every luxury in the world, then if God sweeps all of it away, and turns out that glutton barefooted and bankrupt, oh, how he feels ill Whenever that is the prop you lean on, and it breaks, then you are in a hard case. But if the spirit of happiness be in you, and not in the things about you, and you rest in the eternal joy of hope and peace and love, then the devil cannot bankrupt you; no money panic can make you a pauper. But notice the crowd that is weeping over the downfall, those who had shared in the profits of the idolatrous business.

Then look at Revelation 18:20, and see who rejoice: "Rejoice over her, thou heaven and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her." She has passed her judgment on you, she imprisoned you, burnt you at the stake; through flames your soul took its exodus to heaven. Now, up in heaven, look down and see your judgment, that they put on you, see it put on her. That is the crowd that rejoices every time an evil power is put down. The good people are glad; it is the evil people who are sad. Every nation that doeth righteousness maketh the righteous glad.

Revelation 18:21: "And a strong angel took up a stone, as it were a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all." Now, that is borrowed outright from Jeremiah. When he pronounced the doom on the ancient Babylon, he wrote it and said to one of his friends: "Go to Babylon and tie this writing to a great stone, and hurl it into the Euphrates and as it sinks out of sight you say: Thus shall Babylon disappear forever." It is a very significant correspondence.

And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. – Revelation 18:22-23.

What a description of ruin! If you were to walk amidst the ruins of Palmyra or Karnac, or stand in the ruins of Nineveh or ancient Babylon, never hearing the laughter of a child, never seeing a friendly light shine in a window, never hearing a strain of music) but all desolation, and the only voice the voice of a wild beast, or the hoot of an owl, you would get a conception of the judgment that God sends upon that counterfeit church.

Last verse of the chapter, Revelation 18:24: "And in her was found the blood of the prophets, and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth." That used to puzzle me, just like it puzzled me in Matthew 23:25 when Jerusalem was destroyed: "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar." Now, that apostate church did not kill all the people of the Old Testament days, for it did not exist. Then, what is meant by saying that upon it shall come all the righteous blood? The idea is this: That the principle of persecution is the same, and that you may pursue that principle until you have identified yourself with every persecution that ever has been, you get in you the spirit of all past persecutions. It is the solidarity of sin.

After these things I heard, as it were, a great voice of a great multitude in heaven. [We have heard the earth voices, howling and complaining now, let us listen to heaven] "Hallelujah; salvation and glory and power belong to our God; for true and righteous are his judgments; for be has judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. – Revelation 19:1-2.

Think about that, will you? To which song is your soul attuned? Will you weep with the wicked, or rejoice with the saints? In the book of the Psalms there is a division called the "Hallelujah Psalms," and on Passover occasions what is called the "Great Hallel" is sung; Jesus and his apostles sang it at the observance of the Lord’s Supper. That is one of the most striking portions of the Psalms; it denotes the highest expression of joy and praise.

"And a second time they say, Hallelujah." Notice right after that: "And her smoke goeth up for ever and for ever." Hallelujah up yonder, smoke down here; the burning of the counterfeit church and the glory of the saints in heaven over its disappearance as a persecuting agency.

Notice who participate in the Hallel: "And the four and twenty elders," those who represent the continuous priesthood of God’s people on earth. "And the four living creatures," that is, the four Cherubim that constitute the chariot of God on his messages of mercy. "They fell down and worshiped God, saying, Hallelujah, amen." That is not all of it: "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," not only the Cherubim and the elders, but Jet everybody rejoice. Now, let us see what response was made to that:

And I heard it as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying: Hallelujah; for the Lord, our God, the Almighty, reigneth. Let us rejoice and be exceedingly 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.

Back in Revelation 12, we saw that radiant woman driven into the wilderness, the world despised her, pagan power persecuted her, papal power persecuted her. Here we have seen the purple woman go down in smoke. I told you that this whole section was a war between these two women. The radiant woman not only comes out of the wilderness, but arrays herself for marriage to the Lamb. There are two pertinent parables in Matthew: (1) the parable Of the marriage of the King’s Son, which relates to the time of the espousal (Matt. 22); (2) the wise and foolish virgins which relates to the consummation of the espousal: "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him" (Matthew 25:6).

The church, conceived of as an institution, a time institution, now becomes the glory church, wedded to the Lamb in heaven. I have explained what the righteousnesses of the saints mean, in the chapter on the promises, and I will not discuss it now.

Revelation 19:9: "And he saith unto me: Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb." Blessed are they, I give you a general question: What are the beatitudes of the book of Revelation? Everything that commences with "Blessed" is a beatitude. Compare them with the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. I will call them off to you: The first beatitude is chapter Revelation 1:3, then Revelation 14:13, then Revelation 20:6, then Revelation 22:7. You write out all of these, take each one of them into your heart, and you will see that our Lord did not get through speaking beatitudes when he delivered his Sermon on the Mount.

And he said unto me [that is, the interpreting angel]: These are the true words of God; and J fell down before his feet to worship him. And he said 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.

What a glorious thing the fellowship of the different servants of God I We do not worship the church, we do not worship any one of these ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of shining angels of God; they are servants of God; you are a servant of God. "See thou do, it not." They are working for the same cause for which you are working. Their lot, for the present, is higher than yours, but don’t forget that it is only for a little season, and then you will be higher than they. So do not worship any one that one day you will be above. The biggest preacher in the world ought to be glad to join in the fellowship of worship with the poorest ragged little street urchin that ever found peace in believing in Jesus Christ. They stand together on a plane of equality before an impartial God. And, brethren, it has been one of the joys of my life that I have not despised any one of the little ones that believe on Jesus Christ. I would not turn on my heel for the difference between the poor dying beggar that loved Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of John D. Rockefeller. They stand exactly even, the rich and the poor, for in Christ Jesus there are no rich and no poor. We are all one, and we are all one with the angels in service.

QUESTIONS

1. From what Old Testament prophecies is the imagery of Revelation 18 borrowed?

2. What is the chief sin of the counterfeit church, causing her downfall?

3. Are there true children of God among the Romanists?

4. How do they escape her doom?

5. Give historic instances of God’s people leaving the counterfeit church.

6. Show from both Old Testament and New Testament analogues that God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked.

7. Cite Paul’s pertinent exhortation to the Corinthians,

8. What is the meaning in Revelation 18:6 of "rendering double"?

9. Cite some of the merchandise of the counterfeit church.

10. Who will bewail the downfall of the counterfeit church? And who rejoice?

11. How do you account for the expression in the last verse of the chapter that "in her was found the blood of all that had been slain upon the earth," and what parallel expression in Matthew concerning Jerusalem?

12. What distinction do you make between the parable of the marriage of the king’s son in Matthew 22 and the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25, and on what Jewish custom are both founded?

13. Which of these parables is parallel with Revelation 19:6-9?

14. What the beatitudes in Revelation?

15. Why is angelolatry a sin?

XVII

THE TRIUMPHANT HOLY WAR, INTRODUCING THE MILLENNIUM

Revelation 19:11-20:10

This is the last synchronous view in this book. The first one was from chapter Revelation 6:1-8:1, the gospel as preached to the end of time; the second one was from Revelation 8:2-11:19, the gospel as prayed to the end of time; the third one was from Revelation 12:1-19: 10, the conflict between the true church and the counterfeit church. Now, we have the fourth and last synchronous view; that is to say, the triumphant holy war that introduces the millennium. I am going to put this study in the form of a catechism.

1. Who is the hero of this war?

ANSWER. – Our Lord himself, as the chief captain of our salvation. Your lesson says: "And I saw the heavens open, and behold! a white horse; and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." The other references to him we will note later.

2. What are his titles?

ANSWER. – With reference to his covenant-keeping with his people he is called Faithful and True. Whatever he says to his people is true, and to whatever promise he makes he is faithful: Faithful and True is his name, that refers to his people. With reference to the Father, his name is "Logos," or the word of God (see Revelation 19:13 of your lesson). With reference to the nations he is "King of kings and Lord of lords" (see Revelation 19:16 of your lesson). With reference to the angels he is Michael, the Prince. (See Revelation 12:7.) Now these are his titles in four directions: with reference to his people; with reference to the Father; with reference to the nations; with reference to the angels.

3. In the exercise of what office is he here represented?

ANSWER. – In his kingly office as a royal conqueror, judging and making war, on his head many crowns.

4. What is the distinction between his appearance on the white horse here, and his appearance on the white horse in chapter Revelation 6:2; both times there comes forth a white horse and rider?

ANSWER. – There, on the white horse (Revelation 6), his weapon was a bow, shooting arrows of conviction into individual hearts, as the gospel was preached, and that record says that a crown was given him. But here, on his head are many crowns, and his weapon is a sword of judgment, smiting nations and governments, not individuals. There the bow was used for the salvation of the hearer of the gospel. Here the sword is to make all nations bow to his supremacy as Lord.

5. Who constitute his armies, and how are they described?

ANSWER. – His armies are the saints, and they are described as clothed in fine linen, pure and white. I will ask you to recall that great war song, Psalm 110:

The Lord saith unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool; the law shall go forth from Zion, and in the day that thou leadest forth thine armies, thy young men shall be volunteers, going forth in the beauties of holiness and as multitudinous as the drops of the dew at the dawn of morning. – PSALM 110.

How aptly that applies here. I do not mean to say that Christ, in his body, is present on earth in this war; he is conducting the campaign from heaven, and his armies are to wage war here on this earth. I call your attention again to another pertinent Psalm: "The kings of the earth set themselves and take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed! Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion" (Psalms 2:2; Psalms 2:6), and Just exactly what he does here is ascribed to him in Psalm

2. The fine linen, pure and white, as I have explained to you in the lecture on the promises, expresses the righteousnesses of the saints, which they receive in justification, regeneration, and sanctification.

Now, here comes an important question: His people had a very active part in the overthrow of the counterfeit church, but

6. What part has his people in this war of judgment that we are now reading about?

ANSWER. – They have no executive part. We notice they carry no weapons; they have no part except declarative, and to be witnesses of his might.

7. How does this appear?

ANSWER. – From the Old Testament analogues and prototypes; for example: Israel bore no active part in the plagues of judgment sent upon Egypt; no part in the overthrow of Pharaoh’s host at the Red Sea. They were witnesses and the Lord fought the battle. They had no part in the overthrow of Sennacherib as set forth in 2 Kings 19:35. Now, in order that you may understand this war, and what part God’s people have in it, I will read you a description by George Noel Gordon, Lord Byron: The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when the Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset was seen: Like leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still.

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there roli’d not the breath of his pride: And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail; And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord I

– BYRON, "The Destruction of Sennacherib"

We are now studying one of the most important lessons in the book, a day in which God himself intervenes by extraordinary judgment. It appears also from the description of this very battle given in Isaiah 63; listen at this:

Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from. Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness. Mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me; yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath, and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. For the days of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help. And I wondered that there was none to uphold; therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my wrath it upheld me. And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood upon the earth. – Isaiah 63:1-6.

Now, this is an exact prophetic description of the hero in this war as set forth in this chapter; the references are to precisely the same event. We notice that he is just as much alone in the sending of the judgment in this terrible war as he was alone when he sent the angel of death to pass over the hosts of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.

8. What, then, the supreme lesson of our passage?

ANSWER. – God’s government of the nations and judgments on them to enforce their acknowledgment of his supremacy.

9. How did he once enforce this lesson on Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar?

ANSWER. – 1 think I had better quote that for you; it is an old lesson that he is giving. I will quote from Daniel 5 (Daniel is interpreting to Belshazzar the handwriting on the wall) :

O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, the kingdom and greatness and glory and majesty; and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations and languages trembled and feared before him; whom he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him; and he wag driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beast, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that the most high God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he setteth up over it whomsoever he will, and thou, Belshazzar, hast seen that lesson and hast not regarded it, and thou hast despised the God of heaven and of law. This handwriting comes out over thy wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. It means that thy kingdom is divided; it is measured to the Medes and Persians; thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. – Daniel 5:18-27.

Now, what he did in that case to Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar he is about to assert in this great battle of the nations.

10. Under whose leadership have human governments denied the supremacy of God?

ANSWER. – Under the leadership of the devil, who usurped the kingdom of this world, and who shapes the policies of worldly governments and municipalities.

11. Since the preceding chapter disposes of the counterfeit church forever, why do the beast and the false prophet appear in this lesson? This is a very important question.

ANSWER. – The beast is that upon which the counterfeit church rode, and it was the false prophet that made the people worship the image of the beast. Now, as the counterfeit church is disposed of before this event here, how is it that the beast and the false prophet appear here, and are taken and are cast into the lake of fire?

My answer is that, as was explained to you repeatedly, the beast is a politico-religious government, a union of church and state, and as such was not confined to Romanism; many Protestant kingdoms are just that way. Germany is that way now, Austria is that way now, England is that way now. There is a union of church and state, and that is the beast here. The woman in purple and scarlet is not riding him, but some other ecclesiasticism is riding him. Now, the one thing that goes down in this war, that never re-appears again in human history, is the union of church and state, and the consequent persecution of the saints. That kind of government God does not favor, unless it is his own theocracy, with him as the king, and the sole judge of what is religion.

It is impossible for me to make you understand, in so brief a space, what a tremendous impediment to the progress of the kingdom of Jesus Christ has been the union of church and state. We had it even here in this country in Colonial times. Within a few miles of where the battle of Lexington was fought, and near the time of that battle, the sheriff came and sold the choice acres out of the garden, or the fields of the Baptists in that community, put it up at auction at forced sale, in order to obtain funds to build a church for another denomination, that had few members in the community. And even John Adams said to Isaac Backus, the great Baptist historian, when he went to him and asked him to urge Massachusetts to allow freedom of conscience: "You might as well expect to see the sun rise in the west and set in the east, as to expect Massachusetts to tolerate anything but state religion."

We had it in Virginia: Some of the most distinguished Baptists were imprisoned, their property confiscated, and Patrick Henry, when defending one of them, read the indictment: "Indicted for preaching the glorious gospel of the blessed God." The way he said that shook the union of church and state in Virginia.

Now, in this war, the war that we are now studying, that beast of the union of church and state is taken and cast into hell forever never to reappear. In the same way the false prophet is taken, and false prophets are not limited to Papacy. The Archbishop of Canterbury may be a false prophet just as well as the Pope. When he was over here some months ago, visiting the United States, a number of distinguished ladies and gentlemen called upon him and asked him when he got back home to let the people alone to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences; he gave slight heed to their petitions. The Greek church, in Russia and the Balkan States, is also a national religion. They fill the world with protest against the Turk for oppressing their religion, but show no toleration to people more evangelical than themselves. Now, that is why the beast and the false prophet appear here.

12. What is the occasion of this gathering of the nations to battle with the Lamb, and distinguish between this conflict and the war of Har-Magedon, which we have recently diseased?

ANSWER. – In the war of Har-Magedon the Romanist church, as an institution, was destroyed, many kings and governments assisting in her destruction; but the prelude of this war is the return of the Jews into the Holy Land from every nation where they have been dispersed, and the nations are just as jealous of their restoration to and possession of that land, as they were jealous of the Romanist supremacy, and they gather their armies together for the destruction of the Jews and the retaking of the Holy Land.

That man is blind who cannot see the march of modern events: the railroad that Germany is building into the Holy Land; the eye of England and every other nation is fixed upon that most strategic position in all the East, to wit: The eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Those thundering Bulgarian guns that are today shaking the foundations of Constantinople are but a step toward Jerusalem, and the time will come when God’s many ancient prophecies will be fulfilled: He will gather his people out of all the nations whither they have been dispersed; he will assemble them in their own land; and when assembled there, with their unprecedented wealth, holding the strategical position of the East, the nations will remember their enmity to the Jews. This is the only country in the world that has not persecuted the Jew, this United States. And there will be a gathering of the powers to destroy the Jew and recapture that land. The Jews are unable to withstand the armies of the nations, then comes the rider on the white horse. Then comes Jehovah where these nations are assembled in the valley of Jehoshaphat, and by divine interposition two things happen: The Jews are converted in one day, the whole nation is born in a day, and the judgment of God, just as it fell upon the hosts of Sennacherib, falls upon the gathered armies of the nations, and destroys them.

13. Why, in a previous chapter, were certain Old Testament and New Testament prophecies grouped with the HarMagedon war, and here applied differently?

ANSWER. – I thought some of you understood me by this time; frequently I put in a catch question. I designedly mixed up the grouping of those passages to provoke independent investigation. You have only to turn back to Revelation 14 for that mixed grouping of Har-Magedon. I wanted you to see for yourselves the difference on the issues between the conflict of the counterfeit church with the true church at Har-Magedon, and this great battle for the salvation of the Jews.

14. What passages, then, in both Testaments, are now grouped as belonging to the holy war of this lesson?

ANSWER. – There is no catch in the question this time. I will give you the passages that bear upon your lesson: Isaiah 63:1-6: "Who is this that cometh out of Edom with dyed garments?" etc. I will quote the other passage from Isaiah, a continuation of the same subject all through the rest of the book of Isaiah. I quote from Isaiah 66, following that war (I preached on this at the Convention in Houston): "Whoever heard of such a thing; who hath ever seen such a thing: shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children." That connects with this battle, in which the hero has the dyed garments sprinkled with blood.

Then, in Ezekiel 36:22-25; Ezekiel 36:37, I will quote, substantially, the pertinent part:

Not for your sakes will I do this, but for my own name sake will I do it, which name you have profaned among nations where you have been dispersed; I will gather you out of all the nations where you have profaned my name, into your own land, and then I will sprinkle the water of purification upon you, and you shall be clean, from all your idols and all your filthiness will I cleanse you; and I will take away your stony heart and give you a heart of flesh, I will put my spirit within you, and then you will keep my commandments and do them.

Ezekiel 37 shows a great valley full of dry bones, representing all the dispersed fragments of Israel, and the question is propounded: "Can these dry bones live?" And the prophet says: "Thou knowest"; and God says: "Prophecy over these dry bones." "What shall I prophesy?" "Prophesy this: Come, Oh Spirit, from the four ends of the earth, and breathe upon these slain," and the Spirit came, and they lived and stood up, a mighty army. And this, says the prophet, is the restoration of the whole house of Israel.

All of Joel 3 refers to this war. He says:

I will gather all the nations together against you, when I have assembled you in my own land, I will gather them in the valley of Jehoshaphat; multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. And I will say: Put in the sickle and reap the vintage; and fill up the winevat, and I will tread out the winevat until all my garments are stained with blood.

Then in Zechariah 12 it is said:

I will gather my people in the last day out of all the nations, and in that day I will pour out upon them the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall look upon him whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his firstborn son; it shall be a great mourning, every family apart. And in that day a fountain shall be opened for sin, and for uncleanness, in Jerusalem.

And then in chapter 14 he goes on to describe the battle of the nations gathered against the Jews restored and converted, and all at once the lights go out. "Never was there such a day," says the prophet. "The sun is darkened, the moon is darkened, but at even time there shall be light, and there shall be an earthquake such as the earth never felt before, and Mount Olivet shall split wide open, and half shall go to the west and half to the east," and then he goes on to describe the millennium that follows.

And then (Rom. 11) Paul says that the Jews did not stumble that they might fall forever. You Gentiles were saved by their fall. Their coming back will be as the life from the dead, and so all Israel shall be saved when they look to their Saviour.

15. Now comes this question: Why are the vintage of Revelation 14:19, and the war of Revelation 19 classed with the prophecies promising the restoration of the Jews to their land, the war of the nations on them and the conversion of the Jews in one day?

ANSWER. – Because the prophet Joel predicts in express words that very vintage that we described in Revelation 14 of this book. And the prophet Isaiah draws the very picture of this hero conquering with his garments stained with blood, and commences it with the battle against the nations and tells of the salvation of the Jews; and because Peter says, speaking to the Jews: "Repent ye, so that your sins may be blotted out, and so that refreshings may come from his presence, and so that he may send Jesus whom the heavens must receive until the time of the restitution of all things." That shows that Peter makes the repentance and conversion of the Jews a condition precedent to the final advent of our Lord and his restoration of all things. I told you that there never could be a millennium until the Romanist church had passed away; and I now tell you that there never can be a millennium until the Jews are converted, and it will be the quickest, widest entrance into the gate of salvation that this world has ever seen, a whole nation in a day. Three thousand on the day of Pentecost were converted; that was only the offering of the first sheaf, the firstfruits, and if three thousand be one sheaf, what will the harvest be? Therefore, I say that the Christian ought not to long for Pentecostal times; keep your back turned on Pentecost, and look to the harvest ten thousand times bigger than Pentecost that is ahead of you.

16. What is meant by the binding of Satan?

ANSWER. – God’s power is exercised over this usurper that has held the earth six thousand years, or nearly all of that time, and he is determined that the earth shall have a sabbath, a thousand-year sabbath. As Satan has held it six thousand years, there shall be a thousand years of peace and salvation; the devil shall not cast a shadow over any man’s soul, nor press his cloven foot on any breaking heart, nor come with terrors to any dying man or woman, and shall not weave his spells of enchantment, and shall not beguile the nations, but he shall be chained and cast into the pit, and a rock placed over the mouth and sealed up for a thousand years. I will be glad when it comes. I want to tell you about the millennium; I want you to understand; you will be able to understand a great many strange scriptures when you comprehend the millennium.

What, then, is this war? It is a war of Jesus Christ against human governments, based on Satan’s power. Governments coming to thwart the promises of God by the destruction of the Jewish nation, in which the beast government goes down forever, and the false prophet forever, and Satan is bound for a thousand years, and all the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. And it is not so very far off. The world was four thousand years old when Christ came, and it is nearly two thousand years since he came. The devil’s time is nearly out; events are moving rapidly, ocean and air are navigated, telegraph wires long rusted with commercial and political lies shall shine with the transmission of messages of mercy and salvation.

The questions on this chapter are embodied in the text, as it was prepared in the form of a catechism.