A 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”
B 19 [And] 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.
C 20a But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf.
D 20b With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped its image.
C` 20c The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur.
B` 21a The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse,
A` 21b and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
- A, A` (17-18, 21b) The expectation after 19:1-10 is that the wedding feast of the Lamb will follow. But instead we arrive at the "great supper of God." It is not a feast for the people of God, but a slaughter. The only people who will feast are the birds--the birds of carrion--who are gathered to feast before the battle has begun, and shortly thereafter have a banquet on which to gorge themselves.
- B, B` (19, 21a) The followers of the beast gather with him, but with no description of the battle required, the battle is won the moment it is begun.
- C, C` (20a, 20c) The description of the capture and dispatch of the beast and the prophet is similarly brief, but brutally final. No one looks forward to going down to the underworld, but even worse, it seems (at least from Num 16:33; Ps 55:15) is to be thrown down alive. This preempts the identical punishment of the dragon in the following scene (20:10).
- D (20b) At the centre of this scene is an epexegetical comment which explains that the central issue is the idolatry encouraged by the false prophet, of the beast. This central concern of the book of Revelation, that Christ alone should be given glory. From the inaugural vision of Christ in chapter 1, through the warnings to persevere in chapters 2-3, and the lion/lamb at the centre of the throne room in chapters 4-5 - not to mention the depiction of the beast as a pseudo-Christ in chapter 13 - the question of who you worship is what it is all about.
- the battle is swift - too short to describe and easily won by Christ
- the indictment is how they have misdirected worship away from Christ
- this battle is reminiscent of many battles easily won by the people of God in the Old Testament. Battles were either won with hardly a casualty, or they were lost disastrously and embarrassingly. This is the first type, and it is over before it is begun.
What then of the the second battle, where the Satan - noticeably absent from this battle - is destroyed?
At the outset, it is worth noting that the capture and imprisonment of the dragon is similarly swift and one-sided (20:1-3a). It is an angel - not even Jesus - who is able to lock Satan away in the Abyss. It could be a part of the first battle, or a consequence of it, although the introductory formula (και ειδον, and I saw) seems to suggest it might be a new scene or sequence. Nevertheless, he is imprisoned and, after a few things happening, is similarly dispatched to the fiery lake of sulphur to complete the destruction of the satanic trinity (20:10).
That is, whatever the details, and however troubling the intervening events might be, the outcome is certain, and the saints can be reassured that staying faithful to Jesus is worth it, they will be vindicated, and the very instigator of evil - the ancient serpent - will be destroyed forever.
Secondly, what is going on with the 1000 years, with the release, with the new wave of attacks, with the 1000 reign of martyrs? I'll get to that next time.
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