I got a message from a friend that I felt needed to be addressed.

I received a message that read like this - ( I wanted to say "sort of" because I had to make it legible.)

“I told some people that Jesus fights two battles, one by himself, and then Armageddon.” 

 Picture yourself standing there with a sandwich in one hand and a soda in the other, and someone comes up to you and accosts you with an assertion like this, expecting an answer. It's difficult, at best, to come up with an answer, especially when they are creating their questions and assertions from multiple locations in the Bible, and they often take the scriptures out of context.

These people responded with, “Are you sure.” To which he said, “Yes, turn your bible to Isaiah 63:3,4, and then look at Revelation 19:13.”

So let's look at Isaiah 63:3,4.

Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the winepress? "I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples, there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And, their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. (Isaiah 63:2-3 NASB)

I am not clear if this next response came from his church or if this is an argument he had in his head. Knowing that we have had conversations like this, I would say it was in his head. He added that some say it's the blood of the saints, while others say it is His blood. To this, my friend responds, “Not so; it is the blood of His enemies.” To this statement, those people who asked him agreed and left. They probably staggered out bewildered. 

My acquaintance, who took this last statement to a couple of Pastors at a Calvary Chapel, agreed.

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An obvious aspect of this passage is that at least the lower half of the garment of the Messiah is soaked in blood. 

The scriptural narrator asks, “Why are your garments like the one who treads in the winepress?” 

Consider that there was a time when people actually stomped the juice out of grapes. If they were smart, they would lift up any outer garment so that it would not get covered in juice. Perhaps, in the process of making juice, some would splash up onto your clothing, but to merely allow your clothing to become completely inundated with this blood-red juice is preposterous.

What does this victor, coming from a battle soaked in the enemy's blood, say about the description we see in Isaiah 63:2-3?

It says He went into battle, prepared for battle, and that He really did not care about the outcome of His clothing. Perhaps, knowing that He would win, His clothing then becomes a symbol of victory and conquest.

Based on what the passage says, we can figure out who this is.

So, what clues are we given to identify who went into the bloody battle?

Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save." (Isaiah 63:1 NASB)

• With garments of glowing colors,
• One who is majestic in His apparel,
  Psalms 93:1 NASB He is clothed with majesty;
• Marching in the greatness of His strength.
  Psalms 93:1 The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength
• It is I who speaks in righteousness,
  Isaiah 45:23 NASB The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness..
• Mighty to save.
  Joshua 4:24 KJV  That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God forever.

All of these descriptives speak of Jesus.

Who is with Him in Isaiah 63:3-4? 

Perhaps the question is, does anyone have to be with Him? The answer to that is NO.

But for the doubter, I refer you to Exodus 12:12 NASB, where it says, “For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments--I am the LORD.”

The verse above makes it quite clear that there was NO death angel; it was Jesus, and He slaughtered all who were not covered by the blood.

So the answer to the question, who was with Him, is NO ONE else.

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Revelation 19:13 is the other reference given by my acquaintance, but I will add verse 14 for clarity.

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. (Revelation 19:13-14 NASB)

Though we can't be sure at this point, it sounds like the same blood-covered person we saw in Isaiah 63:3-4.

In Revelation 16, we see the end of the final judgments being poured out of the bowls. The preparations for the Battle of Armageddon are made because of a vial in the sixth bowl.

Revelation 16:12-16 NASB (12) The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. (13) And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; (14) for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (15) ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.") (16) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

In Revelation 16:17-21 The seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is done." While horrendous things are still happening, the central focus is Babylon, or, should I say, the Babylon system. (Keep in mind that the love of money is the root of all evil.)

Chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation focus on the downfall of the Babylon system. 

There are some very telling facts about this greed and lust.

Revelation 18:3 NASB "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."

The system collapses in one hour.

Revelation 18:9-10 NASB (9) "And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, ... For in one hour your judgment has come.'

If you have been watching the news, this should sound familiar.

The economic system completely collapses.

Revelation 18:11-17 NASB

There is an aspect of this that I find deeply troubling, as it implicates the wealthy of the earth in the death of the innocents.

Revelation 18:24 NASB "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth."

“All who have been slain on the earth.” This should be an eye-opening statement for everybody.

So, as we come into Revelation 19, there are no more judgments to be poured out, merely the termination of the judgments. 

Watch what happens.

Revelation 19:1-2 NASB After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; (2) BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER."

In Heaven, they are rejoicing. The Babylon system is gone; His judgments have come; And, He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants.

How can it be said, "it is done," especially since there is one more battle to be waged?

By Heaven's standards, this mess is done, for God always looks toward the future (Abraham is a good example of that.)

Revelation 19:6-9 NASB "Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. (7) "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." (8) It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (9) 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."

I have heard and sung songs about the marriage of the Lamb since I was a child. Some have conveyed that at the rapture of the church, we get to sit down to a seven-year meal. Sadly, that is not the case, and the meal does not sound so appetizing either. 

Let me demonstrate.

Revelation 19:11-13 NASB (11) "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. (12) 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. (13) He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God."

Look at that. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. Everything about Him is brightness and glory, and His name is the Word of God. Pure majesty.

But now watch this. Here, He is not alone. 

Revelation 19:14 NASB "And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean were following Him on white horses."

I cannot make absolute statements that compare what we see in Isaiah 63 and Revelation 19 and say they are the same thing. (But I will work on it.)

Watch the descriptions as they unfold.

Revelation 19:15 NASB 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.

From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so He may strike down the nations with it. The saints, clothed in white, otherwise known as the bride, are a part of the army that comes with Him, but we never see them in battle. There might be two acceptable explanations for that.

1. Since we are in Christ, then we, too, partake in this battle.
   Keep in mind that we are immortal at this point and cannot be hurt. Since Jesus is the head of the Church, all victory goes to Him. I am okay with that - like I have any room to argue.
2. The most reasonable alternative to a group battle is that sword that proceeds from His mouth.
   That sword has the potential to kill instantly. Since we understand that He was the “death angel” that killed all the firstborn of Egypt that night and needed no one to help, then he doesn't need us now. That sword is the Word of God and implies that the Word alone kills those who stand against Him, but then there is all that blood. Perhaps the blood is symbolic, although we are told that it runs as deep as the horses' bridle, and that is fairly deep.

So, if you have been waiting patiently for the marriage supper of the lamb, then enjoy this.

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."

Meat-eating birds are called to eat the flesh of mighty men, horses of war, those who sit on them, and everyone else – both great and small, who chose to fight against God that day. I have had this discussion before: He only kills the fighters that day. As always, the religious come against me with tradition and false teachings they have learned.

But here is what the Scripture says,

Revelation 19:19-21 NASB (19) And 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. (20) 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. (21) 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.

So what do we see in Revelation 19:19-21?

• The beast is the Antichrist, a Muslim leader.
• The kings of the earth. This can be Muslim kings but may include the Presidents of Venezuela or the leaders of China and North Korea.
• They are assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
• The beast was seized, along with the false prophet, and these two, very specifically, were seized and thrown alive into the lake of fire. The rest - those gathered for war, were killed with the sword that came out of Jesus' mouth.

A discussion about the marriage supper of the Lamb.

The morning bible study started out with a discussion about the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:7-8 NASB "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." (8) It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

The general opinion is that this wedding supper is a feast, much like what Isaiah describes, and that the church will be the guests at the supper.

Where do we get these crazy ideas?

What if I told you that I have never had clarity on this subject. Seeing as the leaders took us to Revelation 19 to attempt to sell their point, it was easy to grasp what the marriage supper of the lamb consisted of out of Revelation 19 and the perceived context. Considering that, in effect, we have two leaders (one seems to be the watchdog over the other) anything can happen, and it did.

One of the men, a man deemed knowledgeable, adamantly declared, “we have to eat, and Jesus had to eat; the fact that he ate fish on the beach with the disciples proves it.” Because he said this many seemed to groan in response, that must be true then.

Dig hard and you will not find anything in scripture that backs up the need for an eternal man to eat. Eating, it seems, is purely a pleasure at this point. As I thought about this, I was reminded of Adam and Eve in the garden. Edible things were pleasant to the eyes and “good” for food, but this does not prove my point either. Perhaps looking at this from the standpoint that man was first made a spiritual being. However, he did not remain a spiritual being only as God put flesh on him. Now thinking about Jesus, He voluntarily put on flesh, became a man and maintains that humanness still today, and, therefore, may have to eat. The problem I have then is not that we might have a need to eat, but the presumption that this is really some sort of fancy dinner when it is a bloody and horrific battle.

With eyes wide open let us continue.

Revelation 19:9 ESV And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."

Thinking as a Jew might what would be the association I could make? Isaiah 25:6 ESV “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” At least, we have the imagery of a dinner. However, we quickly find ourselves turning our heads away.

Look up the word supper and you get the Greek word deipnon/dipe'-non. It is from the same as G1160; dinner, that is, the chief meal (usually in the evening): - feast, supper. If I pursue the reference to the Strong's number G1160 I get this: dapane/dap-an'-ay. From dapto (to devour); expense (as consuming): - cost.

This idea of supper now carries the connotation of the bride acting savagely, for the word devour by definition means to ruin or destroy. While that may not at first make sense, it will when I consider who else is called to this supper given by the lamb.

Here is what Isaiah describes:

Isaiah 25:6 ESV On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

It is all about context.

It is not a lavish dinner where you get to sit and fulfill your selfish, glutenous desires, and the context of Revelation 19 reveals that.

Revelation 19:17 KJV 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;

So, even though Isaiah 25:6 describes a lavish feast, that is not what the context suggests here. In human comprehension this is disgusting:

Revelation 19:18 KJV That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

What is clear is that this is the result of a horrendous battle.

Revelation 19:19 KJV "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."

So, who is invited to this feast?

Revelation 19:9 KJV And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

“Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb”

Since we already comprehend that the bride has made herself ready, you would assume the bride is one of the called. Revelation 19:7 tells us, “his Bride has made herself ready.”

Some of the guests include:

• Flesh eating birds.

Revelation 19:17 ESV Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God,

• Jesus himself, of course.

Revelation 19:11 ESV Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

• The armies of heaven.

Since we have this declaration from Paul's second letter to the church in Thessalonica, we know that this army includes followers of Christ who are already in heaven with him.

1 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV (13) so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

• The nations.

I try to tell people, as much as possible, that there are only three people groups in scripture: The Jews/Israel; the nations; and, the church/the body of Christ. What does that make the nations in this instance? All those not belonging to either of the other two.

Revelation 19:15 ESV From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

What is on the menu?

“The flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

(17)Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, (18) to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great." (19) And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. Revelation 19:17-19 ESV

This “feast” is nowhere close to what Isaiah described and must then be taken to be symbolic.

The church is not the bride.

I challenged one of the men with this idea and he immediately went back to Revelation 19:7 to try and make his point.

Revelation 19:7 ESV “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;”

As a stand alone sentence, this does not define who the bride is. As a matter of fact, nowhere in the New Testament will you find the church referred to as the bride. All references to the bride come out of the Revelation with one exception and that is in John's gospel where John the Baptist is speaking.

John 3:29 NASB "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.

Because John the baptist speaks in the present tense, he reveals that the coming for the bride has happened with the appearance of the Messiah. There is a problem here because the bride rejected the groom, the Messiah, and still does. (By the way - Jesus had already been baptized by John and was already actively ministering when John said this.)

All other references to the bride are found in the Revelation, and two of the most revealing are found in chapter 21.

Revelation 21:2 ESV And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

That in itself does not convince me but leads my mind to rethink this concept of a bride. What does convince me is this.

Revelation 21:9-11 ESV Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." (10) And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, (11) having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

Here, in Revelation 21:9-11, is the bride and without question it is the holy city Jerusalem.

Certainly Isaiah speaks of a time, at the end of wrath, when God will establish peace once again. And, though we can apply almost everything to the church as well, it is rather specific in dealing with the restoration of Israel, his people. We know this because of two declarations made within the paragraph - "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

Isaiah 25:7-9 ESV And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. (8) He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. (9) It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."

The bride is Israel, who still to this day awaits the Messiah.

Related articles

• Sermon: The Marriage of the Lamb, Revelation 19.1 - 10
• Rapture Ready - Reasons to Believe in the Rapture in Revelation
• Now war arose in heaven.