Revelation 19:19-21

And now for the clash of the armies, verses 19, 20. "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."

The twentieth verse adds the false prophet also as one engaged in that battle. Now it is of the utmost importance to observe clearly who is fighting this battle with the rider on the white horse. We are plainly told that it is the beast, the beast of chapter 13:1, the beast having the seven heads and ten horns, and the heads identified as seven hills and also seven rulers in the Caesarian dynasty, and the ten horns as ten subsidiary kingdoms, the beast that carried that harlot woman who was said to be a "city that reigneth over the kings of the earth." There should now be no difficulty in knowing who was leading this army against the rider on the white horse. It was that same old beast. Now that beast has been always associated with another one; we saw him first in Revelation 13:11; he had some appearance of a lamb, but spoke as a dragon. He was hand-in-glove with the beast. He gave power to the beast, and led the world to worship the beast. He was afterward called the false prophet (Revelation 16:13) and so he is called here.

Now, who is making war? That same old beast, that same false prophet, and the kings subsidiary to them. But what is the result? "And the beast was taken, and the (with him) false prophet. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth." The writer is very careful to keep us in mind that that sword proceeded out of his mouth.

Now I submit the question: Is this not the conquering power of the gospel and the triumph of Christianity? The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, by preaching, and teaching, and testimony conquers the world for Christ. And for this very reason I think the writer was so particular to point out that the sword was in the rider's mouth. The world is to be conquered by the gospel. Christ said: "Go ye and make disciples of every creature baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."

It is the triumph of the gospel that we have in this nineteenth chapter. It only remains now to look at some contrary renderings of these scenes. We have already removed the Papacy from consideration in this book, not that we desire to whitewash the Papacy, but because the chronology, and the setting of the scenes do not fit the case.

But the interpretation that we are confronted with today is the premillennial, and it particularly concerns this nineteenth chapter.

According to the premillennialist, the seven churches of Asia spoken of in the second and third Chapter s, are seven periods of history from John's time, down till the time of Christ's return. The fourth chapter begins the Tribulation period at the beginning of which the righteous dead are raised and together with the pious living are caught up into the air to be with Christ while the Tribulation is on the earth.

There is not one syllable in the book that conveys such information, and we are not justified in making types out of plain, historical and didactic statements at the pleasure of the interpreter. The Scriptures do indeed contain many types. They are legitimate in their place; but the habitual type-maker is the despair of interpretive science.

Now according to the premillennialist all the Chapter s four to eighteen inclusive describe the Tribulation. No matter that Jerusalem, and the temple, and the altar are there, still unfallen; no matter that Rome is there on her seven hills, with her seven kings; no matter that the angel said: "And the harlot is that great city that reigneth (or is then reigning) over the kings of the earth." The premillennialist just disposes of all that with his usual facility. He just whips it all off into the future as something that has not yet come to pass, notwithstanding the plain indications of the book.

Now when the premillennialist comes to this nineteenth chapter he concludes that the Tribulation period, said by some to be seven years, is over. And that Christ and the church who have been in the air during these seven years, now descend to the earth, and that is what is meant by the rider on the white horse and the armies that follow him. So that the world is conquered not by the gospel, but by the second coming of Jesus Christ. And the beast is the Tribulation king, or Anti-Christ, which is to rule the world in some future age and which Christ will destroy when he comes. What are the objections to this view of the nineteenth chapter?

1st. The coming of this rider on the white horse is accompanied with a good deal of description and detail. It indicates a process rather than an event. When Christ comes it is said to be sudden, in the twinkling of an eye, like the flash of lightning from one end of heaven to another. When you read through the chapter you will see no suddenness to any of these events, but rather deliberate progress. It is unlike the Second coming in this respect.

2nd. The writer insistently holds it before us that the sword is in the rider's mouth. This sword is the weapon of conquest. Paul in describing the Christian armor says: "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." All this picture and all its related phraseology teaches us that the weapon that conquers the world is the word of God, or the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not to look for the world to be converted by some spectacular cataclysm, but by the preaching and teaching, and testimony of the church that is clothed in the fine linen of righteousness. That is the way the Roman Empire was conquered for Christ as a matter of history and that is the way it will be till the end of time.

3rd. The absolutely conclusive fact comes out in the end that John shows, yea says in so many words, that this conflict of the rider was with the beast and false prophet that same old beast that we have been dealing with through all these Chapter s, the beast of the seven hills, and the seven kings, the beast that bore the harlot woman which was "that city," and the false prophet associated with him, viz. pagan Rome. No one unbiased by a theory could drag this out of the historical past and put it into a hypothetical future to which not one of these historical references bear any allusion. The book clearly fixes who these personages are, fixes their place in geography and history, and we would have to disrupt the whole story to admit the premillennial interpretation.

4th. The revealer repeatedly declared to John that he was to see visions of things that "must shortly be done." We submit that it is straining the meaning of words too much to make shortly mean several thousands of years.

For these reasons we conclude that the premillennial interpretation is utterly out of the question.

But does the conquest of this rider on the white horse pertain only to the Roman Empire? Must we be ever dealing with things that are dead and buried centuries ago? Is there nothing in all this that touches and vitalizes the church of the present day? or are we never to get beyond the dry dust of the catacombs?

Far from such mournful pessimism, we find the greatest encouragement. The rider on that white horse is marching still. He has gone far beyond the confines of the Roman Empire. He did not go forth to lead his armies to one brief battle, but to every battle where the conflict is fought. He led his armies through the conflict with slavery and won the day. He has led his missionary contingent to all lands in the world and is still riding at the front. He is leading his church in the fight with the rum power, and scoring victories every day.

Let the church remember that this rider on the white horse is the living Jesus, that he is in the forefront of every battle, that just as he conquered the beast and the false prophet, so he will conquer every enemy. The beast and the prophet were just one episode on the way, and the triumph of the church is just as sure as the promise of him who said: "Lo I am with you alway, even, to the end of the world."

The rider on the white horse is still riding on. Let the church follow, clothed in linen, white and clean.