“On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings…”

Only in God’s Word could you find a scene like this, and it is troubling to say the least.  The time: the end.  The place: heaven and earth.  The subject: the rider on the white horse.  The event: his return.  The object: to end the global rebellion once and for all.  Name of the event: Armageddon.

Our text is Revelation 19.  That shouldn’t surprise us.  What may surprise us are the utterly graphic descriptions.  For starters, consider verse 13.  With Jesus riding a white horse, eyes blazing like fire and adorned with multiple crowns, “he is dressed in a robe dipped in blood…”  The Greek word for “dipped” is bapto, from which we get “baptism.”  In other words, his robe doesn’t just have the edges or hem slightly dipped in blood, it is immersed in it, leaving it red-stained.  Can you close your eyes and see it?  In absolute contrast, the armies of heaven were…dressed in fine linen, white and clean” (v. 14).  Keep reading: “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations… He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.”  How does the winepress work?  Several people take off their footwear and get into a large container.  Then several others dump basketfuls of grapes into that container, where those inside it begin to step on, squish and crush the wonderful bright grapes, forever changing their shape to something unrecognizable.  Its insides are spilled out and transformed.  Can you see inside that container?  Now read the angel’s announcement to the birds: “Come, gather together for he great supper of “God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great” (vs. 17-18).  Doesn’t lighten up, does it?  Hundreds of square miles of barely recognizable mangled corpses.  Blood flowing like a flooding river.  And birds, millions of them gorging on a meal better than from the largest landfill.  The scene makes Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds barely look like an appetizer by comparison.  Those not on this particular battlefield don’t fare any better: “The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh” (v. 21).

Is there a point to all this gore?  Yes, always with God’s Word.  Back in chapter 17, the only other place where King of kings describes Jesus (v. 14), we find out why the gore.  Here we have the prostitute and the beast ruling the earth together: “The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth” (v. 21).  In other words, these kings, along with their domains and subjects, fell into submission and obedience to this satanic couple.  By doing so, they acknowledged themselves, not Jesus, to be king of kings.  It was the ultimate in cosmic rebellion.  So to show what awaits those who would worship the beast and not the Best, the antichrist not the Christ, the man who would be God not the God-man, the Spirit gets graphic two chapters later.  And after that comes the lake of fire (19:14)!  Never let it be said that God doesn’t make his warnings clear or get them out.  For 1900 years pagans have been put on notice!

While Christians rejoice in the fact that the future of history is already secured and revealed, even those who love the justice of God pause when considering such total destruction.  We almost shudder at the scene.  We marvel at his sovereignty and power, and wonder at the foolishness of puny man.  We see this in 17:17, “For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose…until God’s words are fulfilled.”  We celebrate the fact that God is sovereign, that he will work in the hearts of hell-bound people at the end of time.  But why is it that while we have confidence in what God will do then, we do not have the same confidence in what he will do now?  We belie our faith in what God will do then by our fears, our worries, our anxieties and our doubts now.  Too many believers have trust issues, forgiveness issues, anger issues, issues across the board.  How can Jesus be the King of kings for us then but not the King of kings now?  How can unbelievers destined to be part of “the great supper of our God” (19:17) learn of the King of kings before it’s too late from believers who are continually invited to intimate fellowship at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:20)?  Is it possible that because our lives now don’t match our confession about the future that those around us see nothing worth investigating?  Is it possible that because the Lord’s Supper doesn’t look inviting to us now that the great supper of God is all that’s left for them?  Is it possible that there is more rebellion against the King of kings in us than we care to admit?

How closely does our walk and talk line up with the reign of the King of kings?