Revelation 19:11-17

Verse eleven opens a new scene, but not an entirely new subject. John sees in heaven the vision of a white horse, the rider was called Faithful and True, his eyes a flame of fire, on his head many crowns, his vesture dipped in blood and his name is called "The Word of God." Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword and on his vesture and on his thigh a name written KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean.

There can be no doubt who the rider is on this white horse. There is only one who can be called KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

He is going forth at the head of an army and this implies a battle and a warfare. This is the other side of the picture which hitherto has not been put in concrete form. Now we are getting in vision and symbol the other side of the conflict. There are always two sides in a war. We saw the dragon going forth to make war upon the woman (the church) and her seed Revelation 12:17. We saw the beast and the false prophet bring all the powers at their disposal to crush the church of God. But that was only on one side of the lines. The battle was not so one-sided as that. Here is a better leader with his army. The foe will be met with a better army and a better weapon than his own, and we will see presently what the outcome of the conflict will be.

Observe that this rider on the white horse had no sword in his hand, but he had a sword in his mouth. He had no sword that could cut off people's heads, but the "sword of the Spirit which is the word of God."

Observe too that the armies that followed him had no swords or weapons of any kind; but they had something much better and more effective. They were clothed in fine linen, white and clean, which, we were just told, is the righteousness of saints, and righteousness is more effective in the battle of the Lord than all the swords in the world. Here then is the army and here are their weapons, and the battle is about to be joined. We can observe unmistakably what sort of battle it is, the battle between good and evil, between Christ and Satan; between the gospel and its enemies; between the church and her opposers.

The narrator pauses a moment before the battle begins. He shows us an angel in the sun who calls with a loud voice to the fowls that fly in the heavens, and bids them gather for a feast on the flesh of the fallen enemy. This looks to me like irony or an expression of strong contempt for the enemy, that all the vultures and buzzards and birds of prey that feed on carrion should be invited to the feast before the battle was even begun. At least it expresses absolute confidence on which side the victory would lie.