Studies in Revelation: The Second Coming

As the judgments from God near their end there are pronouncements about the king and the kingdom arriving:

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15, NIV)

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. ¹¹ They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. ¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” (Revelation 12:10-12, NIV)

Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed. (Revelation 16:15, NIV)

But chapter 19 chronicles the second advent or coming of Jesus to earth. We understand from 1 Thessalonians 4 that Jesus has come to the air above the earth some seven years prior, raptured the saints, and remains there until all the judgments have been poured out on earth:

¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17, NIV)

Now that the judgments have been accomplished Jesus comes from the air to the earth to do battle with the beast (antichrist) and his armies, presumably at Jerusalem:

⁶ Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. ⁷ Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. ⁸ Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear”… ¹¹ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”^[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords… ¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. ²⁰ But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. (Revelation 19:6-8,11-16,19-20, NIV)

Jesus’ victory over the antichrist is followed by his casting the antichrist and his false prophet into the Lake of Fire, the place of final judgment, otherwise known as Hell.

The description of Jesus isn’t literal, with an actual sword coming from his mouth, blazing eyes and multiple crowns on his head. It symbolizes his power as judge as it did in his appearance to John at the beginning of this Revelation (chapter 1). The armies following him are dressed in white linen, which has just been used to describe the clothing of the saints, so that we are led to understand that his army is made up of believers, likely those who were raised and raptured (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), who have been waiting with him in the air.

Handel’s Messiah might be the best interpretation of the absolute glory and fire of this coming:

Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. And he shall reign for ever and ever.