The Book of Revelation: Chapters 19-22

Part 1

Tim Moore: Yeah, I’m ready too! Well, let’s jump right in. Last week we stressed the statement that God made when the seventh bowl of wrath was poured out upon the earth, “It is done.” In short order the kingdom of the Antichrist was doomed, and the nations of the kings and the merchants wailed in lament of the great cities fall. This week we open with chapter 19 and it’s fourfold “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Hallelujah! Her smoke,” speaking of the great harlot “rises up forever and ever. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns.” So, first question fellas, what does the word hallelujah mean?

Dave Bowen: Well it’s Hebrew, you’re speaking Hebrew. But it means praise Yahweh. And what’s interesting about the word hallelujah it’s only used four times in the entire New Testament. All four times right here in Revelation 19.

Tim Moore: Alright, and beautifully it’s also repeated many times in the Psalms, 24 to be exact. We know that one reason it’s spelled Hallelujah with a “j” is sadly, many Gentiles tried to remove any Jewish reference from even the words we transliterated. So instead of being hallu or praise Yah, Yahweh, they made it into Hallelujah with a “j.” But perhaps the most famous use is in Psalm 150, and I love this. We all know this psalm. “Praise the Lord! Praise Yahweh. Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet song; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Wow! Talk about a praise band, Nathan.

Nathan Jones: Oh, there should be. There’s exaltation in heaven. We just learned from the angel that the seventh bowl judgment is the end of the wrath of God. All of heaven knew that this had to happen, justice had to reign. People had to be brought low so they would repent and return to Him. But this is the time that we’ve been waiting for for thousands of years. Almost 500 prophecies in the Old Testament, and 1 in every 25 verses in the New Testament prophesied the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And that’s what we’re getting right now.

Tim Moore: You know, when that fourth Hallelujah in Revelation 19 is uttered, John records that a great multitude shouts and their collective voices sound like the sound of many waters and mighty peals of thunder, and they simply echo, “Praise the Lord, praise Yahweh!”

Dave Bowen: I can close my eyes and hear it now. I’ve spoken at churches where they have different languages. Korean church one time, a Spanish church one time, and while they worshipped I just closed my eyes, this is a picture of Heaven. This is a picture Heaven, we’re going to be worshipping, there is the holy goosebumps just saying that. We’re going to worship together. The only difference will be we will all understand each other, you know, but having a foreign language and being there and worshiping God, it’s a picture of what we’re seeing.

Nathan Jones: And it reminds us too with what’s going on, because on the earth while 21 judgments of God are ravaging the earth, up in heaven believers, those who’ve been saved from the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Tribulation Saints stand before the throne and we experience three things. We experience the Judgment of the Just, where we’re judged based on our works. And they’re not salvation judgment, it’s a judgment for basically it is report card time for our eternal rewards. And then we get into here starting in verse 11, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the great celebration with the Lord. And then we start to prepare to return with Jesus. So those are the three things we know we’ll be doing in Heaven on top of worshiping Him.

Tim Moore: So that begs the question, why aren’t we doing it now? I remember hearing about a person who watching a friend who was beset by many tragedies in life, calamities that just would wear somebody down in their natural body or their natural mind, and yet this person was still exuberant with praise for the Lord. And their friend said, “How can you praise the Lord?” And their friend, who had been beset by so many troubles, said, “How can you not? How can you not, praise the Lord because He is worthy of our praise, regardless of our external circumstances.” And I think even now, as followers of Jesus Christ, we can model that. Do we have the peace which passes all understanding? Do we testify not just through the Gospel message we share, but with our sense of joy and hope at all times? My own sister, who tragically lost a little boy shortly after he was born, shocked her neighbors when she and her husband still had a spirit of joy and hope. And their neighbors, who were Indian Hindu, said, how can you have such joy? And they said, because we know the One who has promised to receive our son, and that we will go to be with. He gives us joy. So what a testimony that is.

Dave Bowen: And as a pastor, I try to teach people that, you know, joy is not a not an emotional feeling. You know, I have an illness or I have financial problems. Yoo-hoo! You know, it’s not that. Joy is knowing God’s in complete control no matter what.

Tim Moore: Amen.

Dave Bowen: No matter how this turns out, I know God has this handled.

Nathan Jones: Well here is, what a mystery to me, when we’re talking Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Tim Moore: Yeah, let’s turn our attention to that.

Nathan Jones: Because how is Jesus going to marry the church? What does that mean exactly? And as a guy too, you know, like I’m a bride? I know it’s uncomfortable. What is it? Because obviously it’s a spiritual application, not a physical marriage of Jesus Christ right. What is this celebration?

Tim Moore: All right, Pastor Dave, you take that.

Dave Bowen: I think there’s so many aspects of the Jewish wedding. I think there’s parables about this, too, telling how a bride is to get ready. Basically, once they get engaged, you know once you become saved, you’re saved. Once a Jewish couple becomes engaged, even though not married, they’re together. If they would split up, that would be considered a divorce in that culture basically. What’s the future bride to do? She is to go and prepare herself waiting for her groom, and she is to be prepared and have purity. So, what is the church supposed to do? It’s a picture of how we should be acting as the Church. And when you have the four hallelujahs here, the last one leads us into that which is the Second Coming. It’s not the Rapture, it’s Him coming back for the Bride coming back for the Church. But the church has to be ready. Are we prepared and ready?

Tim Moore: You know, beautifully it is an already and a not yet. Already we should be preparing ourselves. And yet there is no way that I can fully prepare myself, so the not yet is, I will not be fully prepared until I am clothed in the garments Jesus gives me to be clothed in.

Dave Bowen: The wedding garments.

Tim Moore: The white robes that cover up any sin that would even linger on my person. Because yes, I am to be about attempting to stay pure, to live a holy life, but ultimately, He’s the one who gives me the garments to wear. I do agree with you, Nathan, sometimes as a man you think, well, how am I a bride? We get really hung up sometimes in the metaphors, and this is a metaphor. This is a metaphor of the relationship. But just as Joseph and Mary were betrothed, they were committed to each other. They were covenanted with one another. But Scripture tells us they had not yet come together as husband and wife. Now our minds immediately recognize that is coming together in a sexual manner. But yet there’s a consummation of this relationship. I love the phrasing, even of that sexual intimacy that the Old Testament uses, where it says Abraham and other patriarchs knew their wives, and there’s this intimate knowledge. And so, let’s not go down the sexual Freudian path, but let’s recognize that there is a culmination of the relationship as we are united with Christ forever and ever. Again no sexual aspect, don’t misunderstand, but a beautiful picture of how right now we are betrothed to Jesus Christ. I am in a covenant relationship, but in the fullness of time, as I go to be with Him, then that relationship becomes united forever and ever.

Nathan Jones: That makes a lot of sense. And when you think about it too, a man and a woman form the nuclear core of a family. And with the marriage of the Jesus and the bride, it’s the return to family. We become family with Him.

Dave Bowen: And how do we stay pure? We can’t be pure, pure like you talked about. But the apostle Paul talks about this, he uses analogy when he talks about husbands die for your wives as Christ died for his bride, for His Church. And when I do weddings, I challenge men with this. You know, you get to die as men we want to get in front of the bus and save our wives or do something, but we get to die to our pride, to our lust, to our ego every day for our wives. So that’s what we get to die for it. That’s how we can be as pure as possible.

Tim Moore: Ongoing. Alright I’m going to ask another difficult question because it says that there’s this Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And it said, “blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, as opposed to those who participate as the bride. Alright, so let’s unpack this metaphor to understand if we’re the bride of Christ to be consummated, who are the invited guests?

Nathan Jones: Well, the Church Age starts at Pentecost and it ends at the Rapture. Anyone who’s saved during that time is the Bride of Christ. The only people that can be guests to that marriage would then have to be Old Testament Saints, Tribulation Martyrs, and the angelic realm.

Tim Moore: Amen. Okay.

Nathan Jones: And the Father of the Groom, right, God Himself.

Tim Moore: Yeah, Father of the groom and bride. Yes. Alright. Well, time and space really will not allow us to do justice to the glorious return of Jesus. Because we could just sit here all day and bask in imagining how wonderful that’s going to be. Zechariah 14:3-4, 9 describe the coming of the Lord as He sets foot on the earth to do battle. It is the quickest battle in human history, because Jesus merely utters a word and the armies are defeated. But over and over again, we’re told that Jesus is coming back to the earth, that He will set foot on the Mount of Olives, and that He will then go up to the throne of His father David on Mount Zion, the Temple Mount. And verse 9 of Zechariah 14 says, “And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.” What does that say to you all as what we are looking forward to witnessing? And will we actually be there?

Nathan Jones: Well, yes. I mean, Jesus is, verse 11, the rider on the white horse. He’s the Aragorn of the Lord of the Rings. He is the king who’s coming to take His throne. And you got to remember that this is the worst part of the Tribulation. The Antichrist at Armageddon, is trying to stop Jesus from coming, a contingent of his forces is assailing Jerusalem, trying to kill whatever Jews who are left. And Jesus Christ, the sky opens up. They said it’s a day unlike any other day, the Day of Christ. And there’s a sign of His in the sky, possibly a giant cross. And the heavens open and Jesus comes leading the armies, and we will all be on white horses. Which is a crazy idea, but we ride, the angels ride. And we are like man, we want to go down and do battle. But no, Jesus lands, He hits the Mount of Olives, it splits. The Jewish people can escape through. You know He’s the Savior they’re calling “Baruch haba B’shem Adonia,” blessed is He who comes in the name of Lord. And we watch the Lord Jesus just speak and the armies of Armageddon melt. He takes the Antichrist and false prophet and He throws them into Hell, and he takes Satan and his demons, and he binds them in the pit. And so it’s like the great victory. It’s the climax of the story.

Tim Moore: Oh, sure is. And we will be there. We come behind Him to accompany Him, and we get to witness it. Every time I go to the Mount of Olives. I just envision this, seeing the Lord coming, watching Him going up onto the Temple Mount. And I get the holy goosebumps. I get the thrill in my heart.

Nathan Jones: There are little round platforms on top of the Mount of Olives, too. I was like, oh, that make a good landing pad.

Tim Moore: It would.

Dave Bowen: You know, on His First Coming, a few shepherds, wise men and people who lived in Bethlehem saw Him. When He comes back, the whole world will see Him.

Nathan Jones: And they’ll mourn, the Bible says, those who are His enemies will mourn when they see Him.

Dave Bowen: And Nathan, you say He spoke the word. I don’t want to miss that because you said that, out of His mouth comes a sharp sword. And people think the battle of Armageddon it’s a battle with weapons.

Tim Moore: Yeah clash of weapons.

Dave Bowen: It’s a bloodshed, it is. But remember He spoke and said, “Let there be light.” He spoke and said, “Blessed are the poor.” He spoke and said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” He spoke and said, “Lazarus, come forth.” He spoke and said, “The storm was calm.” He spoke and said the words to the servant, just be, just tell my servant to be healed and I will be healed. And in the garden, when He’s betrayed, I asked the question, what hurt Him more, the nails on the cross or the kiss of betrayal? And in the garden, when He was betrayed, the soldiers came down and He asked them, “Who are you looking for?” “Jesus of Nazareth?” And He says, “It is I.” And if we don’t remember when He spoke those words, it knocked them backwards to the ground. The power throughout Scripture of His spoken Word. That’s what we get to celebrate and to rejoice in.

Tim Moore: It sure is.

Dave Bowen: Hallelujah.

Tim Moore: Hallelujah. I’m ready right now.

Dave Bowen: Hallelujah.

Tim Moore: There is so much more that we look forward to even before this, but this is the culmination. We like to talk about how all the signs of the times, Nathan, are converging. Really, all the prophecies of Scripture that are woven throughout the text of Old Testament and New Testament converge here in Revelation and in the Lord’s glorious Second Coming. Well, what happens as He defeats the beast, the Antichrist, the false prophet and as he binds Satan, we’re ushered into a period that we call the—

Nathan Jones: Millennial Kingdom. Millennium, meaning thousand years.

Tim Moore: How do you know that it is a 1,000 years?

Nathan Jones: Oh, it only says it six, seven times, in chapter 20. So, we move into chapter 20, and there’s a 1,000 year period of human history crammed into one chapter, chapter 20. But there are countless verses throughout the Old and New Testament which described the Millennial kingdom. So, it’s not the only spot. But it’s a time where Jesus Christ rules and reigns from Jerusalem. Those who survived the Tribulation and are saved in their earthly bodies go through the Sheep Goat Judgment. They’re the sheep that live on into the Millennial Kingdom. Those who took the Mark of the Beast, the goats are sent to Hades or Torment awaiting judgment. So only believers go into the Millennial Kingdom. We’ll be there in our glorified bodies, serving the Lord, ruling over the Gentile nations. The Jewish believers will be a priestly people that will bring the Gentile nations to Jesus. Lifespans will go long again. There will be endless food. There will be no homelessness. There will be no hunger. There will be all peace. The animals will be peaceful.

Tim Moore: No pestilence, no viruses, nothing.

Nathan Jones: Until the very end, right?

Tim Moore: Until the very end. So, this begs a question, and by the way, we have addressed the Millennial reign many times on Christ in Prophecy. We have many videos, many resources online for you to find a study about the Millennium. We’ll do other episodes on the Millennium in particular. But right now I want to ask, you mentioned Satan and his demons are chained up, they’re locked away for a 1,000 years, but then Scripture says that the Lord releases him after 1,000 years. Why? Why would the Lord release him if He’s bound him once just leave him bound forever.

Dave Bowen: Well those who survive the Tribulation Period they go into the Millennium with physical bodies. They can have children. As we come back we won’t have children. We won’t have that ability to. So, everybody born in that time frame, even at the end, they have to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. So, Satan will come out and unbelievably, he will deceive people who lived for a 1,000 years without Satan’s involvement, he will come out and people will just reject Jesus one last time. You know, it’s just a period. I love the picture you gave, Isaiah 11 gives that picture of how even the animal kingdom will be at peace. This might be weird, but I’m looking forward to that. I’m going to have a pet lion. His name is Abner. A just want a pet lion in the Millennial period. But at the end people are going to confess Jesus Christ.

Tim Moore: They are. You know, right now there are so many in our misguided world who say if we could only make society more utopian, then people would not misbehave. There would be no crime. There would be no lawlessness. And my only response is, well, there was a point in human history where there were two people on the earth, and it was the Garden of Eden, and they still disobeyed God and committed sin. It is not the external circumstances; it is in the human heart. And that’s exactly what God is going to demonstrate I believe when he releases Satan, even though there has been utopia on earth for a 1,000 years and immediate justice, and righteousness, and holiness flooding the earth, Satan will deceive so very many. There will be a second war of Gog and Magog, and then God will put away Satan and those who rebelled against Him. And we enter the Eternal State.

Nathan Jones: After the great White Throne Judgment.

Tim Moore: After the Great White Throne Judgment, which is what?

Nathan Jones: Well the Great White Throne Judgment is the final judgment of all those who have rejected God, they have no faith in him, they never wanted to follow Him. They are resurrected from the dead. And they’re judged based on their works. But they’re missing the only work that matters, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Their sins aren’t forgiven. And so, they could be the holiest, nicest, best person you’ve ever met, but if they rejected Jesus Christ, they’re not perfect in God’s eyes. They’re not holy. And they, unfortunately, are sent to the Lake of Fire, Hell. What’s interesting is when we get to the end here, not only does Jesus send, you know, He’s the judge, sends Satan and His demons to Hell, sends all the people who’ve been in torments to Hell, but even sends death and Hades itself are sent to Hell.

Tim Moore: You know, I often cite Neil Peart, who wrote a song, one of the lines is, “if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” Some people say, well, I never rejected Christ. You know what if you didn’t decide to embrace Him, you have in fact rejected Him. And that is the duality of either Jesus being your Blessed Hope or your holy terror. You’re either under grace or you’re under the wrath of God.

Dave Bowen: Can I add a personal picture there? When I get that, I visualize what that’s like and it’s not a good picture obviously the White Throne Judgment. No believers will be there it will unbelievers. And I think, what’s it going to be like if we’re there watching this? I can’t imagine the pain. But what would it be like, and for our audience to understand this, to have someone, you know, turn around and say, why didn’t you tell me? Now it’s up to them, but my heart is I want to make sure everybody hears it. They can reject me. They could be mad at me, but I don’t want to stand at that White Throne Judgment watching them and have them turn back with tears, saying, why didn’t you tell me?

Tim Moore: Well, we’re told that Jesus declares in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I make all things new.” An utterance by the Father, but manifest through the power of the Son. And we know He is going to create a new heaven and a new earth, a new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven and is actually referred to as the wife of Christ. So what is this new heavens and new earth? Why is Jerusalem called the wife or bride of Christ?

Nathan Jones: Well, it said it is prepared like a bride. So, I wouldn’t say it’s the bride of Christ because people get that confused. So, what God’s going to do is this earth has been so corrupted by sin for so long, He’s going to melt up this earth. Some argue that it’s a brand-new earth, some it’s a refurbished earth. We won’t get into that. But anyway, He’s going to remake the Earth, and it’s going to be so much bigger. And He’s going to take Heaven, and Heaven will come down to earth. Because what we’re trying to get to again is the Garden of Eden, where we walked and talked and had fellowship. We saw the Father face to face. We in the Church Age have the Holy Spirit. In the Millennial Kingdom will see Jesus’ face to face. But we do not have access to the Throne of God yet in Heaven. And that’s when God the Father Himself and the Trinity dwell on earth in the super city called the New Jerusalem, is prepared as a bride. In other words, it’s in all its splendid, glory and beauty. It descends on to the new earth and all the faithful that have ever wanted to live with God forever, because God wants us to choose Him, get to dwell with Him.

Tim Moore: And it says, there will be a river flowing and a light source. What is a light source? Who is the light source?

Dave Bowen: Well, Jesus is the light source.

Tim Moore: Yeah, the Son.

Dave Bowen: But the New Jerusalem comes down and dwells on earth. Correct. Well, we’re told the New Jerusalem is 1,400 miles square.

Nathan Jones: Cubed.

Dave Bowen: Yeah, so that’s like going from Phoenix to Chicago as far as how wide it is. And when you think about being that tall with it, this is just the capital city. This is not the earth. So how big is the earth going to be when He does this? But the space station, I believe was 236 miles, 238 miles? This is 1,400 miles. Just to kind of give a picture what Jerusalem where the whole world will go up during that time and just be worshiping. And it will just be a time of—

Tim Moore: All the redeemed.

Nathan Jones: I was reading one commentary that says that the earth would have to be the size of Jupiter to hold a city that size or it would wobble too much.

Dave Bowen: Which is 20 times size bigger than earth.

Tim Moore: Well, as Ezekiel said, Lord, you know and He does know. Obviously, John’s response to all these wonders is he begins to worship. He starts to worship an angel, the angel says, no worship God.

Nathan Jones: Isn’t that interesting? I think we shouldn’t drop that point, because John is just seeing Jesus Christ and all His glory descend, and God and the New Jerusalem and all. And there’s an angel standing next to him, and he’s so awe inspiring he falls down and starts worship. He knows better. He just can’t seem to help himself.

Tim Moore: He can’t help himself.

Nathan Jones: Like, after all that, maybe he was just overloaded? But it seemed like such an odd thing for John to put in the book of Revelation.

Tim Moore: Well, the other thing is the angel tells him, “Do not seal up these words because the time is near.” In other words, it goes to Jesus promise that He’s coming soon. Really quick. I’m so eager for Him to come now. Why is God waiting right now before all this comes to pass?

Dave Bowen: Because there’s still people who need to understand the truth of this. I have that on my own pity party sometimes saying, Lord, just call it game over. Come back. Do it now. And then I get that vision of how many people don’t know the Lord yet, and God’s waiting for that.

Tim Moore: So just as we’re told in 2 Peter 3:9, the Lord is not slow, but He does not wish any to perish. And in His mercy, that’s from 1 Peter 1:3 He is demonstrating mercy even in His patience and even in His delay.

Nathan Jones: And I find it extremely encouraging when you read the book of Revelation, bear in mind it was written almost 1,900 years ago. God knows how it ends. He’s showing John how it ends. So, we here in the timeline now are like, oh man, this is awful. But we know what the future is because for God, it’s already happened. This is past tense.

Dave Bowen: There is no time.

Tim Moore: It is past tense. And that’s why too often we have to think, okay, what is the tense? But He’s telling us sometimes in past tense. Chapter 22 Jesus tells us three times, you know if he said a 1,000 years, 6 times, he tells us 3 times in chapter 22 “I am coming quickly.” We like to say Jesus is coming soon. What do we mean when we say soon? What does He mean when he says quickly?

Dave Bowen: Well, this all starts, we started back in chapter four, when this all starts, it will come together soon. So, it’s not that it has been 2,000 years as soon, or a day as soon, but when all begins to come together like that, we’re close to seeing that, it’s going to come together soon. And we know these words are trustworthy and true.

Tim Moore: Amen. Well, we know when Jesus does come, it will be like lightning flashing from east to west. I say this, I hope the Lord comes so soon that it’s within my lifetime. In the scheme of all eternity it will be so quick and so soon, even in the 2,000 year delay, it’ll be like the blink of an eye relative to our eternal life. But whether He comes in my lifetime or whether He comes for me before He comes for y’all, He’s going to come quickly and I’m ready to go. I’m ready to go right now. And we’re told to be alert because we don’t know the day or the hour, but we are promised that He is coming. And that is the glorious promise that we proclaim. That is the reason we exist as a ministry, and we will be faithful to that proclamation.

Closing

Tim Moore: We’ve come to the end of this series on the book of Revelation. Our goal was to offer an overview of this tremendous unveiling of what Jesus shared with his bondservant through John the Apostle. We’ve only scratched the surface but hope we have sparked a hunger in your heart to study God’s prophetic Word for yourself.

Nathan Jones: The last chapter of Revelation repeats a wonderful promise that was first given in chapter one, there is a blessing for anyone who reads or hears the words of this prophecy, and heeds the things which are written in it. Understanding Revelation does not require an advanced seminary degree, but it does require three things believing faith, faithful study, and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. All things that should be a given for followers of Christ.

Dave Bowen: Some may wonder how you heed a book of prophecy, you heed by believing and then letting the truth revealed in Revelation inform your life. People who do that are motivated towards urgent evangelism, holy living, and keeping their eyes on Jesus. They also long for the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus, when He will receive all the glory and honor He is due.

Tim Moore: If our conversations have whet your appetite to read, study and heed Bible prophecy, please know that we offer a wealth of resources, just visit our website at ChristinProphecy.org to find past articles, podcasts, Deep Dives with Pastor Dave, and commentaries tied to this series. And if you want to expand your study of Revelation, you can also purchase our updated Overview of Revelation Study Guide. It is designed to accompany a verse-by-verse audio series recorded by Dr. David Reagan. Again, just visit our online store or call the number on the screen.

Nathan Jones: We also have a link where you can purchase Dave Bowen’s expansive study of Revelation and other Lamb & Lion resources related to Revelation, from books to DVDs.

Dave Bowen: Nathan, don’t forget you own Mighty Angels books, which talks about the angelic being and the prophetic messages of Revelation.

Tim Moore: Well, speaking of Revelations prophetic message, the bottom line is this: the world wallowing in sin will soon face the wrath and judgment of God. Every person who rejects God’s offer of salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, is doomed to an eternity far more horrible than we can fathom. But for those who put their trust in Jesus Christ an eternal life of blessing and joy await. That’s why we are eager for Jesus to come for us. That is why Revelation 22:17 says, “The Spirit and the bride, the church say, come.” And that’s why those who have ears to hear and have heard the message we’ve been sharing say, come. And that is why John’s response to Jesus’ promise that He is coming quickly is simply, Amen, come, Lord Jesus. All of us here echo that same longing prayer. Amen, come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen and Godspeed.

End of Program