In Revelation 19:11 we have the first of eight visions of the Apostle John beginning with the words, “And I saw.”
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him.” In Esther 6:6 we read, “What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor?” Haman, the man of the flesh, thinking to honor himself, suggests that the man ride on the king’s horse. God gave that honor to Mordecai the Jew, the object of Haman’s hatred and enmity. It is a figure of Jesus here riding on a white horse, completely victorious. God is never defeated. A white horse suggests victory and peace.
Further we read, “He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True.” Jesus was the Faithful and True, the complete opposite of Adam who was unfaithful and untrue. “And in righteousness He doth judge and make war.” In John 5 it says that God “hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.” God has determined that His Son shall be supreme and rule over everything, put all iniquity out of this earth, and bring in a scene in which God can have His eternal rest.
We get the second “I saw” in verse 17. “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God.” It’s sad to read this, which is pure judgment. In Luke’s Gospel there is what is called “the gospel supper.” It is the invitation of the gospel in this age to come and sup at that gospel supper and be saved. If you do that you are invited to the Lord’s supper as a saved one, to bear witness that you are livingly linked up with Christ, responding to His request to remember Him in His death, and announcing to this world that Jesus lives. But there are people who are rejecting the gospel supper. They are going to have part in that awful supper of the great God where the fowls of the heavens feed upon the dead carcasses.
The third is in Revelation 19:19-21: “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” What a sight this is! It brings before us the Conqueror catching those two great men that Satan raises up to try to take the highest place on earth the Roman imperial beast and the antichrist. This is prophecy. Satan will once again try to take over the earth in these two great men, but it doesn’t work. Instead, they are caught and cast alive into the lake of fire.
The fourth and fifth visions are connected in Revelation 20:1-3: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”
Then Revelation 20:4: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them.” These two passages give us different views of what is included in the first resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:23 it says, “Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.” All these are included here. These visions are consecutive and bring us to the wonderful time on the earth when Satan is bound. He cannot get at man to deceive him like he did in the garden of Eden. Besides that, the King of kings and Lord of lords is on the throne for those thousand years to test man in the most favorable conditions in which he has ever been.
We have a very favorable condition in which to live as Christians in this day, even though the world is so wicked and Satan active. The reason is that we have the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. There is power to live here in this wicked world. Are you doing that? I say again that there is power. You have no excuse to sin; I have no excuse to sin. We have every incentive to live for Him and His glory. “The love of Christ constraineth us.”
Now we have the final three, beginning with Revelation 20:11: “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.” There is no standing for anyone that appears at the great white throne. Jesus had said in the first chapter, “I am He that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” They cannot hide from God any more.
The seventh is in Revelation 20:12: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life.” This is to prove whose name is in the book of life and whose name is not. This banishment from God forever is called the second death. “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Is your name written in the book of life? You will never appear here if it is.
Now we come to the eighth instance in Revelation 21:1-3: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them.” This takes us past time into the eternal day God’s day. Today is man’s day, with man doing more or less as he pleases. In the millennium it will be the day of the Lord with righteousness reigning for one thousand years. But this is the eternal scene the day of God.
This is complete repose, for evil is fully put out by the Man who reigned in the millennium. We come past time into the eternal state. “He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” It would be wonderful if we never cried again, wouldn’t it? That is what is going to happen.
“And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” We are into the new day of God, the eternal state. “And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” They correspond to One who was the true and faithful witness.
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.”
C. Buchanan