As we open this chapter, Psalm 9:19-2019Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. 20Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. (Psalm 9:19‑20) comes to mind—“Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail, let the nations be judged in Thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men.” The preceding chapter gave us a somber picture of midnight darkness—Satan, the beast, and Antichrist, and their anti-God activities. In this chapter we see that man will not prevail. Behind the scenes God is active both in judgment and in blessing. There are seven separate subjects in this chapter and brief comment on each follows:
The Song of the Jewish Overcomers—verses 1-5
Mount Zion is connected with the kingdom established in power. We read “David took the stronghold of Zion” (2 Sam. 5:77Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. (2 Samuel 5:7)). Here we see the victorious Lamb, David’s son and David’s Lord, standing upon Mount Zion, and with Him a company of victors, “having His Name and the Name of His Father written upon their foreheads.” Mark that not his Father’s Name only, as rendered in some translations, but the Lamb’s Name also—it is His Father’s Name too. His Name is not known to men as Father save in the Christian dispensation. A better translation also gives us a different sense of the meaning of the second verse. There was a voice out of heaven, which voice was of thunder, and the sound of many waters. This was the voice of the victorious harp singers “harping with their harps.” This music reverberates to every corner of heaven, and is accompanied by a new song, sung before the throne. This indicates their position as on earth, rather than heaven, where, however, the living creatures and the elders are supremely happy with the joy of the occasion. The song belongs exclusively to this company who were “bought from the earth.” These are the Jewish overcomers who refused the mark of the Beast, did not worship his image, gave no allegiance to Antichrist. They escaped the sword of their enemies, and were preserved by God to go into the millennial kingdom on the earth. They had a fiery trial but endured to the end, thereby obtaining a special place of favor, following the Lamb. Although all was of God’s preserving grace and power on their behalf, we see God’s appreciation of their faith and suffering testimony for His Name’s sake. They have the honor of being “firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” Many of their brethren had been slain for their testimony as we have already seen from Revelation 6:9-119And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:9‑11). These will receive the kingdom on its heavenly side. The victorious saints of Chapter 14 go into the kingdom on earth, and have a special place of honor there.
“The Everlasting Gospel”—Verses 6 and 7
Men would write a volume on such a theme but God gives here but two verses. At the precise time when God’s title to the earth is being challenged by his impious, blasphemous creatures, we have a loud voice—which men cannot escape—bringing before them the True God, creator of heaven, earth, sea, and waters. The opposing trinity of evil in the earth, deceiving and enslaving men, and blaspheming God, did not, and could not, create anything. The message is to fear God, and give Him the glory due unto His great Name. His judgments were impending—yea, the Lord was about to come “out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity” (Isa. 26:2121For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. (Isaiah 26:21)).
It is important to notice that this gospel is to be preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people. This is the “gospel of the kingdom” referred to by the Lord Jesus Himself, a gospel which “shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations” (Matt. 24:1414And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)). It is not to be confused with the present gospel of the grace of God. God will send strong delusion to the West, where men had refused the gospel of the grace of God, that they should believe a lie—Antichrist no doubt—“that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:10-1210And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:10‑12)). Notwithstanding, the Lord’s own words which “shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:3535Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35)) and the Scripture of Truth (Rev. 14:66And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, (Revelation 14:6)) both testify that the Everlasting Gospel will be preached to all nations. The preachers will be the godly Jews scattered abroad throughout the world in the days of the Antichrist. The Jew is known throughout the whole world as belonging to the nation whose God is the God of the heavens. This will lay upon men the responsibility of hearing their message. In the main the Everlasting Gospel will be believed by those Gentile nations, which are now in heathen darkness, superstition, and idolatry. It will be God’s time to implement His promise to Christ as given in Psalm 2:88Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psalm 2:8)—“ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.”
The preaching of the Everlasting Gospel is very greatly blest by God, and brings in “a great multitude . . . of all nations” (Rev. 7:99After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7:9)). Of this I have already written—also of the judgment of the living nations in Matthew 25:31-4631When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:31‑46). That passage gives us the Son of Man as Judge—His brethren, the Jewish messengers who preached the Everlasting Gospel—the sheep, those of the Gentiles who received the message and who, blest of His Father, inherit the earthly kingdom—the goats, alas those who, as ever, disdained God’s testimony and His witnesses also “go away into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:4646And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:46)).
Based on the death of Jesus, the Son of God, His precious blood shed whereby God is glorified in the putting away of sin, and with a veil rent, God has, in righteousness, come out in blessing to men. This blessing comes first to the church then to the nation of Israel and last of all to the Gentiles. Let us look briefly at a few illustrations of this, as found in both the Old and New Testaments.
Psalm 22
v. 21 Christ is heard “from the horns of the unicorns” —death
v. 22 Christ declares God’s Name unto “His brethren” —the church
v. 25 Christ praises God “in the great congregation” —Israel
v. 27 “All the families of the nations shall worship before Thee” (JND) —the Gentiles
The Gospel of John
Chapter 1
v. 29 “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” —Christ
v. 39 “They came and saw where He dwelt” —the church
v. 48 “When thou [Nathaniel] wast under the fig tree I saw thee” —Israel
Chapter 2
v. 1 The marriage in Cana of Galilee —Galilee of
the nations
Chapter 20
v. 17 “I ascend unto My Father and your Father” —Christ risen
from among the dead
v. 19 “The first day of the week . . . came Jesus and stood in the midst” —the church
v. 29 “Thomas, because thou hast seen Me thou hast believed” —Israel
Chapter 21
v. 6 “They were not able to draw it [the net] for the multitude of fishes” —the Gentile nations
Of interest to those who have ears to hear is the Lord’s parable of the sower, in Matthew 13:1-91The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:1‑9). The Lord Himself was the sower, and the result of His sowing of the seed was that some brought forth fruit—“some an hundred fold [the church], some sixty fold [Israel], some thirty fold [the Gentile nations].” In distant Old Testament days we see the Gentile Jethro eating bread with Moses (Exodus 18:1212And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father in law before God. (Exodus 18:12)). In the coming day of Messianic glory we learn that the nations shall “go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:1616And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16); see Note 7).
The Fall of Babylon—Verse 8
“Babylon is fallen” never to rise again! “She shall be utterly burned with fire” (Rev. 18:88Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. (Revelation 18:8)). Papal Rome, “the depths of Satan” (Rev. 2:2424But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. (Revelation 2:24))—a festering, putrid sore on the face of the earth for 1500 years, is completely obliterated! More on this subject when we come to Chapters 16 to 19.
The Wrath of God on Those who Worship or Accept the Mark of the Beast—Verses 9-11
The Judgment of God against men who accept the headship of the blasphemous beast by wearing his mark in their foreheads or in their hands, and who also worship him or his image. They are totally committed to his anti-God doctrine, and to their everlasting sorrow they will pay the penalty of striving with their Maker. We find that even while on earth God will also give them a mark—even “an evil and grievous sore” (Rev. 16:22And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. (Revelation 16:2)), but my feeling is that their special torment goes beyond time and into eternity with them.
Blessed are the Dead who Die in the Lord—Verses 12-13
The rage of the devil and his satellites the Beast and Antichrist will try the patience of the saints to the utmost. They are described for us in Psalm 119:1-21ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. 2Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (Psalm 119:1‑2)—“blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.” Like Jesus, they will resist unto blood in support of their faithful testimony. Here then is a special word of encouragement for them. Dying “in the Lord”—wondrous thought—they are accounted “blessed.” They are called to a rest of God, a faithful God, who takes full account of their works which were not in vain—they follow with them. Here one recalls the Lord’s words on earth—“fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul” (Matt. 10:2828And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)).
The First “Sickle” Judgment—Verses 14-16
The first “sickle” judgment executed by the Son of Man, no longer the despised and rejected of men, but “crowned with glory and honor.” Again we are reminded of the Lord’s words—“for the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:2222For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: (John 5:22)). The blessed One who maintained God’s glory by the suffering of death upon the cross, is also able to glorify God in the destruction of His enemies and in the subsequent administration of the kingdom. “He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne, and He shall be a priest upon His throne” (Zech. 6:1313Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. (Zechariah 6:13)). Of this time the seer had prophesied—“when Thy judgments are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:99With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)).
The Second “Sickle” Judgment—Verses 17-20
The second “sickle” judgment, also executed by the Son of Man pertains to apostate Jews of Judah and Benjamin. These are the two tribes who incurred the guilt of crucifying their Messiah. Wrath comes upon them especially here to the uttermost. They will indeed pay the last farthing for that awful sin. Israel had been a noble vine, but through the sin of idolatry and the rejection of their Messiah had turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine (see Jer. 2:2121Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? (Jeremiah 2:21)).
Some idea of the reality of its latter day judgment of the apostate nation under Antichrist, may be gathered from the last verses of the chapter—“blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” This is equivalent to two hundred miles—the length of the land of Israel.