The rebellious lose
What if a friend or an acquaintance asks you where the Bible says Jesus fights and wins the battle over those who hate him? Revelation 19:20 and 21 would be a good answer. In verse 19 we see that there is a force arrayed against the rider standing in the open heaven. It must be large for the ringleaders of the earth the beast and his false prophet are there. Around him are the kings of the earth and around them are the human armies. The beast and the false prophet had gathered their armies. Jesus sent an angel to gather the birds. Then verse 20 tells the outcome. So there is the answer.
In regard to this war we don’t get a play by play. There are no frills just facts. We are just told the outcome. We are reminded that the false prophet was a sorcerer of sorts giving deceptive signs. Deceptive or not they produced an effect, and many died as a result.
In the Bible there were a couple of saints taken alive into heaven: Enoch was one and Elijah was the other. They were taken alive into heaven and the world knew them not. Satan wants his similarities, well here the Beast and his False Prophet are thrown alive into the lake of fire.
Then the rest of the armies are destroyed by God. Verse 21 says the sword from the mouth of Jesus slew the rest of the armies. Then came the feast of the scavenging birds.
Don’t fight a prophecy war
Would you spend hours studying prophecy? Some do while others discard it as far too unpredictable. If you read history you will see great collisions among Christian men and women over prophetic and end-times issues. Those collisions are harmful to those inside the church and out all too frequently taking on un-christian proportions.
Maybe you have watched people use their opinions of how they propose the end of the world will go down almost like swords. After watching these collisions and reading the Bible it is my conclusion that in the arena of prophecy too much is unknowable. As the scripture is God’s word and we are to be studying it many have spent large tracts of time in the mental gymnastics of prophetic interpretation. Some students of the Bible can become captured by their own opinion. Oftentimes such people become married to their ideas and getting a divorce can be messy.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian1 and Philippian2 churches about agreeing with each other in the Lord. It is both possible and crucial to find safe territory in considering what is being taught in verses 17-21. Things can be drawn from these 5 verses that are non-confrontational and helpful. There is a sword of truth in the mouth of Jesus.
We do not do well to fight over or ignore certain scriptural passages.
End notes:
Are you a Dickens fan? Maybe you recognized these birds? Well in Martin Chuzzlewit there is the titular character referred to as the “Chuzzle, the bird with fewer wits.” There is also Pecksniff. The books revolves around the lives of these characters. Dickens has good names. I found them fitting. Todgers, too, is from that book.
Leave a Reply