His name is called The Word of God. Revelation 19:12-21.

 

"I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named …"

Where else have we seen a white horse?

And I saw: and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon it having a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went forth conquering and that he might conquer. (Revelation 6:2 Darby)

This rider on a white horse, which we see in Revelation 6, is the antichrist.

How do I know this?

• Primarily, I follow the context of Revelation 6. Everything we see in chapter six is the result of the first of seven seals being opened; this is important because the seals, the trumpets, and the bowl judgments are God's wrath being poured out on this earth. So this rider on the white horse is an aspect of God's wrath and helps to explain why he has a bow in his hand with no arrows. The key takeaways from this is that this man brings deception and death.

• Secondly, it is The Lamb, the Messiah, the Son of God, the firstborn from the dead opening the seals, so He is certainly not going to be the rider of chapter six. When John was looking into heaven he saw the scrolls and heard a strong angel crying out, who is worthy to open the seals? The answer came quickly.

  And I saw a powerful angel, who called in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" But there was no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth who could open the scroll or look inside it. I cried and cried because there was no one who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. But one of the elders said to me, "Don't cry! The Lion from the tribe of Judah has won the victory. He is David's descendant. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." Then I saw a Lamb standing in the center near the throne with the four living beings around it. The elders were also around the Lamb. The Lamb looked as if it had been killed. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that were sent into all the world. (Revelation 5:2-6 ERV)

• And finally, I will end this testimony on this note. The rider on the white horse, that we see in Revelation 6, has many names. Here are a few.

  • The insolent king.

  • A king of fierce countenance.

  • The one who sets forth the covenant of peace and breaks it.

  • The little horn.

  • The mouth uttering great things.

  • The Assyrian.

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."” (Revelation 19:11-16 NASB)

To give you a contrast to the rider we see in Revelation 6, here are a few of the attributes of Jesus, the rider on the white horse of Revelation 19. The differences are many and distinct.

• In Rev 19:11 He is called Faithful and True.

• Rev 19:12 “His eyes were like flames of fire.”

• Rev 19:12, on his head, were many crowns.

• Rev 19:13 “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood.”

• Rev 19:13 “His name is called The Word of God.”

• Rev 19:15 “From His mouth comes a sharp sword ,,,,”

• Rev 19:16 “And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

This makes me chuckle because the believer will look at these attributes and see the blinding glory of the Father; it is so overwhelming when I think about it that I wonder why the antichrist is not merely consumed by that light. There is no doubt that day will come but not now.

If you need convincing about God's mercy to save the nations, then look at this.

"On this mountain, he will destroy the veil which covers the face of all peoples, the veil enshrouding all the nations." (Isaiah 25:7 CJB)

At the end of the tine of wrath, the veil will be lifted from all peoples, including the Jews. It is this veil that prevents them from seeing the truth. That sounds so hopeless but it's not, for even today the veil is lifted when “they” read the Word of God and believe.

The great feast.

Few ever explain it, fewer still, explain it well – this great feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb.

The only place you will find the phrase, the marriage supper of the Lamb is here in Revelation 19.

Then he *said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he *said to me, "These are true words of God."

(Revelation 19:9 NASB)

Almost everyone pictures a great festival associated with marriage, especially one in which the groom is the Son of God. But look at what Revelation 19 seems to describe as the menu.

Revelation 19:17-18 NASB (17) “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid heaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God, (18) so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves and small and great."

I, too, struggled with this marriage supper of the Lamb; not because I did not think it would happen, I of all people, wanted it to happen, but verse 18 certainly slaps me in the face. When the bible teacher would not and could not explain when or where this supper takes place, I turned verses 17 and 18 against him. Years later I found the answer.

The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. (Isaiah 25:6 NASB)

Wine, meats, and cheese, not the flesh of kings. To add to the importance, Jesus spoke of this time with the disciples the night before His crucifixion.

"But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:29 NASB)

The seven years are finished, the time in which the marriage supper of the Lamb has come. Everyone has been invited, and that includes the nations. All fighting has come to an end. Weapons will now be burned or made into garden implements. Jesus rules over the earth as a righteous judge, and Satan and the antichrist and the false prophet (you may recognize this person as Isa ben Maryiam,) will all three be thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 19:20 NASB “And 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.

Surprise, they are the only ones there at this point.

Someone will read this and say I only see two persons, so the Bible is not true. Oh, spare me. This lake of fire is eternal and the only one who will get back out will be Satan, for at the end of the thousand years he will be allowed to deceive the nations, once again.

“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,” (Revelation 20:7 NASB)

You cannot be released from prison unless you had just served time there. Once the deception is done, guess where he returns to? Yes, back to his eternal torment.

“And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10 NASB)

That idea of only three persons being in hell is hard to receive for many religious folks because of false teachings. Some of those false teachings include the incorrect teaching that no Jews will enter the kingdom, nor will the nations. If you have bought into those beliefs my heart grieves for you, as you need to be freed by reading the Word of God. My suggestion for you is to read it as though you have never read it before and your life depended upon what it says.

Pardon the pun, but I have a burning question – this is a fairly common subject brought up in Bible studies.

Revelation 19:21 NASB “And 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.”

Who is Jesus fighting with?

"For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south." (Zechariah 14:2-4 NASB)

The nations have always been those outside of Judaism; this includes the Christian community to the Jew mindset. Believers, although we came out of the nations, are NOT the nations, we are the body of Christ, as is any believing Jew.

So those, called the nations, are non-believers. You might think the term non-believer automatically qualifies them to go straight to hell. Sorry, but NO. How quickly we forget that ALL SIN was forgiven on the cross. That should have been a game-changer, possibly to the point that all would gain entrance into heaven, but it had a stipulation, you must believe in God's Son, Jesus Christ, and the fact that He did all that for you.

Alright, let's assume that in theory they are forgiven, but it still does not tell me where they go.

Where do all these dead folk go?

King Solomon tells us,

For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. (Ecclesiastes 9:5 NASB)

Well, it is quite obvious that it is NOT straight to hell. The soul, though still alive, lies in inactivity until God calls them back for judgment. The entirety of this statement can only be defined as God's mercy and truly beyond my ability to explain the process, but I will try.

“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. ...” (Revelation 20:5 TLV)

You cannot simply say the “rest” of the dead unless there was a previous awakening of the dead, and there was – the martyred saints, which we see in Revelation 20:4. That verse goes to tell us that they reign as judges during the millennial kingdom. How appropriate, the “nations,” and that includes a wide variety of people, and dictators will now be subject to those they brutalized and murdered.

Who is this being called before the Great White Throne?

I must first remind you that ALL judgment was given over to the Son, so this is Jesus sitting here, but pay attention to what He is being called.

“Then I saw a great white throne, and the One seated on it. The earth and heaven fled from His presence, but no place was found for them.”
(Revelation 20:11 TLV)

Yes, this is that feared throne, where allegedly no one obtains mercy.

“And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne. The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds.”
(Revelation 20:12 TLV)

As I have talked about this with my friends, I have pointed out the futility of the judge bringing the book of Life, especially if the assumption is that no one obtains mercy. An action like this only makes the punishment crueler as you taunt those being flung toward hell. We don't know how many books there are as there is only one that is important, the Book of Life. But verse 12 tells us that the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS.

“The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Sheol gave up the dead in them. Then they were each judged, each one of them, according to their deeds.”
(Revelation 20:13 TLV)

When the gathering of the church happens, the dead in Christ will rise first, and then those that remain will be caught up together with them. Notice that it says the dead. Now the assumption is that the dead in Christ are written in the book of Life. Ah, and yet in verse twelve above we see God continuing to scour the Book of Life to see if any of those now standing before Him can be shown mercy.

What is the distinction here?

This may seem pretentious, but obviously, I am still here, writing. I am a part of the body of Christ and it is the Apostle Paul's words in the New Testament that have promoted that understanding. Paul put forth that the Law of God is written upon our hearts, and this is true for everyone, but does everyone follow that law. Speaking for myself, it is often a daily struggle. Having the law merely conveys the truth that we all have the same moral standard to live by.

I get it, you are an atheist and are willing to scream loudly to prove it, but your words do not change the truth. The law of God is that moral standard that allows God to be the righteous judge, and everyone will be judged upon the same value system; but, not for sin, as that was destroyed on the cross.

“Then death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire”
(Revelation 20:14 TLV)

It seems as if this should have been the last statement made as punishment has fear and torment attached to it, and with the last person thrown into the lake of fire, having chosen to ignore the inset moral standard and follow after Satan, there is no longer any need of death and Sheol. Where they go I do not know, nor do I care as we, in the loving arms of the Father, never have to concern ourselves with any aspect of that again.

“And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
(Revelation 20:15 TLV)

The end. Are you kidding me, I know less about what happens next than I do about the millennial kingdom. One preacher said we will all have jobs there. Great, more corporate leadership, gestapo-like managers, and deadly pollution. Get real, that is NOT happening. Those who are a part of the body of Christ might just be hanging around with Jesus all the time. Honestly, I don't know. I just know that finally, my head will have peace and I will know love as I have never known it.
God is Love and heaven is beyond our wildest imaginations – and I have seen the movie Avatar, so I get to be dazzled.