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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 19:19 - 19:21
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_19:19-21
19And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Rev_19:19 The actual battle begins. This is an allusion to Psalms 2. Does this refer to a specific, literal end-time battle, or is it symbolic of the struggle between good and evil? The genre of Revelation implies symbolic; the parallel passages in Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21; and 2 Thessalonians 2 imply literal. This ambiguity is the source of great disagreement in the interpretation of Revelation by godly people. Dogmatism is surely inappropriate!
Rev_19:20 "the false prophet who performed the signs" He is the second beast (cf. Rev_13:11-18; Rev_16:13). This goes back to Rev_13:12-13, where the false prophet's relationship to the sea beast is a parody of the Holy Spirit's relationship to Christ.
▣ "received the mark of the beast" (cf. Rev_13:16-17).
▣ "these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire" The phrase "lake of fire" is unique to the book of the Revelation, but is a synonym for the term Gehenna (see Special Topic at Rev_1:18), which Jesus used so often to denote Hell. The specific OT allusion may be to Isa_30:23-33 and Dan_7:11. There are so many prophetic passages that connect judgment with fire or burning. This theme of an eternal fire is developed in apocalyptic Judaism (cf. Enoch 27:1ff; 54:1ff; 56:3ff; 90:26; IV Ezra 7:36; Apoc. of Baruch 59:10; 85:13 [list taken from George E. Ladd, Revelation, p. 258]). This phrase is used in Revelation in Rev_20:10; Rev_20:14; Rev_21:8. It was a place prepared for Satan and his angels, but humans who rebel against God will also find this as their ultimate dwelling place. It is the final dwelling place of Satan. It is the natural result of rebellion against God and is a permanent form of the abyss (cf. Mat_25:46; Rev_9:11; Rev_11:7; Rev_17:8; Rev_20:1; Rev_20:3).
Rev_19:21 Those who received that mark of the beast (cf. Rev_13:16; Rev_14:9; Rev_14:11), the very ones who had persecuted the believers, are now killed by the word of Christ (as the sea beast will be, cf. 2Th_2:8).
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