He Comes!

“Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on His head. He had a name written that no one knows except Himself. He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed Him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from His mouth, so that He might strike the nations with it. He will shepherd them with an iron scepter. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation‬ ‭19‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

At the end of the Apostle John’s Gospel, we hear him describe how, if books were written about each of the things Jesus did, the world itself could not contain them. In some ways, I feel that overwhelmed as I face the daunting task of trying to convey to you the enormity of what John sees in this short vision. As we’ve worked our way through John’s incredible vision of the end of the world, we have tackled some rather long and lengthy passages. This one is rather short and to the point but, like John, I’m not sure the world could hold the volumes that could and should be written about it.

Initially, I had started writing about this passage by focusing on John’s description and the names of the rider. But I must confess, my heart and my head were not in agreement on this one. I literally just deleted about five paragraphs of text because I was struggling to get my head around this passage. So, I stopped, went back to the text, looked at the context and suddenly realized I had completely missed the focus of this passage. So, let me walk us back through the context so we can be grounded for what we find in this passage.

Last week, we were looking at the marriage feast of the Lamb. We saw the bride and how starkly she contrasted with the harlot. This week, we need to keep that context in mind because we now get to see the groom. I mentioned last week how modern American weddings seem primarily focused on the bride but ancient Jewish weddings focused on the groom. In that ancient tradition, the bride and her party would prepare themselves and then wait for the groom and his party to come and retrieve her before returning to his home for the ceremony and celebration. It is within this context that we can begin to truly understand our focal passage. The bride has prepared herself and she awaits the groom’s arrival.

Then John sees heaven opened and a white horse with a distinctive rider appears. The rider is called Faithful and True and he judges and makes war in righteousness. Wait, I thought we had been invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb. But who is this? Surprise! We expected the Lamb but we get a victorious warrior King. That was unexpected — or was it? I’ve told you before: Jesus came the first time as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, but He would come the second time as the King of kings.

John tells us that this rider is called Faithful and True and He comes to judge and make war in righteousness. At first glance, that statement might catch you off guard but let’s break it down. First, it is critically important to understand that He is called Faithful and True because that’s who He is and He is able to judge and make war in righteousness because of who He is. Simply put, He’s able to do what must be done because of who He is. Right judgment and righteous war are simply not possible for anyone who isn’t Faithful and True.

We’ve talked before about the need for things in our world to be set right. But you and I are incapable of setting them right because we are part of the problem. Remember my reference to the Pogo comic strip by Walt Kelly, last week? Pogo says, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” We need someone who isn’t like us, who is Faithful and True. Someone who can come in and rightly judge sin and make war on those who would destroy God’s kingdom. Here’s the crux of that statement: people will be judged, but that judgment will be entirely faithful and true, based on God’s Word and their response to it. Nobody will be able to say that His judgment is unfaithful to the facts or based on a lie. It will be entirely faithful and true because that is who He is and nobody will be able to say that His response is unrighteous because righteous judgment and righteous war are what He does.

Next, He has a “name written that no one knows except Himself. He wore a robe stained with blood, and His name is the Word of God.” Biblical names are often given as a means of identifying something about the person’s character, history or destiny. But here we encounter the rider of the white horse who is Faithful and True but who also has a name that no one knows except Himself. This indicates that He is so vast, so deep, so different from us that we could never fully comprehend Him or plumb His depths. When the groom comes and receives His bride, she will be joined to Him but will never fully exhaust all there is to know, experience, and discover about Him. He knows all there is to know about us—the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly—and He still loves us and binds Himself to us. But we will never, ever fully know all there is to experience in or discover about Him — the finite joined to the infinite, the redeemed creature bound to the loving Creator for all eternity. 

He is God and we will never fully know or understand everything about Him, but there are some things we can and do know about Him. He wears a robe stained with blood, and His name is the Word of God. Scholars don’t agree on the source of the bloodstain on His robe, but I believe it is the blood that He shed in order to redeem us, His bride. In this scene, He does not come as the Lamb bearing the marks of sacrifice we’ve seen in previous chapters. No, He comes as the victorious King, and His robe bears the stain of the sacrifice He has made to purchase and redeem us from our slavery to sin. We know Him because we recognize the sacrifice He made for us, what He has done to prove His love for us.

Now we encounter a name that we know, His name is the Word of God. This name is unique in Scripture, and John alone lovingly applies it to Jesus. While we can’t fully know John’s mindset when he chose to use it and apply it to Jesus, it does seem apparent that he intentionally ties it back to Genesis, where God spoke everything into existence (see John 1). But what does John mean when he calls Him the Word of God? Have you ever heard the phrase: “think before you speak”? Physiologically, it is impossible to speak without thinking. Your mouth cannot form words without your brain telling it how and what to do. What we typically mean by that phrase is that you ought to seriously consider what you’re about to say, and its consequences, before you say them. Think about what you’re going to say before you say it. As James says, “The tongue may be a small part of the body, but it sure can spark huge, destructive fires” (my paraphrase of James 3:5-6). Our thoughts, will, and words are carried out by our actions, and they are often dangerous and disastrous. 

I said all of that to say this: God NEVER speaks without intent and purpose. When He speaks, He says that His words will go forth and achieve their purpose or intent. Because of who He is, God’s intentions and purposes are always good, right and perfect. God fully knows the consequences of His thoughts, will and words before they are ever spoken. As the Word of God, Jesus is the literal fulfillment and embodiment of God’s purpose, intent, and will. He is the mind, heart, will, and Word of God acting upon our world. Whatever God wills the Word of God does. 

“For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.” (Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

Okay, so what’s the point in all of this? The Word of God is bringing the will of God to fulfillment. The marriage of the Lamb with the bride has been in the mind and heart of God for all eternity. The Lamb came and made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross of Calvary to make the will of God our reality. Now, the victorious King whose name is the Word of God has come to finish what He started by taking the redeemed bride to Himself. Jesus made this promise to His disciples one night nearly two thousand years ago, “I am going to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I WILL come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also (John 14:2b-3).” When God makes a promise, He keeps it!

Next, as the conquering King comes, the armies of heaven follow Him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. As He comes, a sharp sword comes from His mouth and the nations will be struck down with it. He will no longer be the meek Lamb, He now comes as the victorious King and He will rule them with an iron scepter as He tramples the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. Everything the world has ever doubted about Scripture will suddenly become very real and entirely true. The weapon that will be used to exact God’s judgment upon mankind will be the very Word of God they had doubted and rejected. Today, people want to judge the truthfulness of God’s Word by weighing it against their desires and experiences. But when the Word of God comes to judge men, the tables will be turned, and their desires and experiences will be weighed against the absolute truth of God’s Word.

He will also rule them with an iron scepter. The fact that it is an iron scepter is indicative of His strength, power and absolute rule. In the past, God’s Word had been given and man could choose whether he followed and obeyed it. Now, He comes with an iron scepter and there is no longer an option — God’s word and will are the rule of this kingdom. There will be no rebellion against or denial of His Word, for He will rule with absolute authority and sovereignty. The world we’ve longed for will finally become a reality, and everything will be made right. We will no longer seek justice, we will no longer desire peace, we will no longer hunger or thirst for righteousness — these things will be our reality. Sin will be judged, evil will be destroyed, and the Word of God will reign supreme over mankind. I feel like I need to point out: those of us who follow the King have already chosen to submit to the will and Word of God. We don’t need an iron scepter to rule over us; we desire and pray for His kingdom to come, for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Finally, we encounter the last of the four names given to the victorious King in this short passage, and it is written on His robe and His thigh: He is the KING of kings and LORD of lords. If there was any doubt left in the minds of the saints in Asia Minor about their future, this should remove it. No matter who the world told them they should bow before, the KING of kings and LORD of lords was ultimately who they served and answered to. They needn’t fear and obey Caesar or his local representatives or magistrates, they should fear and obey God and His victorious King.

So what does this mean for you and me? It means that if we faithfully follow the Lamb of God, we will experience His return as the victorious King. He will come as the One who is Faithful and True and He will judge and make righteous war against evil and sin. It means that we are fully known by Him, even our most deeply hidden secrets, and we are still so loved by Him that He willingly died in our place to redeem us. It means that He is so vast, so great, so glorious, so powerful, so holy, and so loving that we will never be able to fully know or understand Him. We will be able to spend all of eternity enjoying Him and getting to know Him better and better without ever exhausting His love, goodness,and holiness. It means that He proudly bears the marks of our redemption on His bloodstained robe and He calls us into eternal peace and joy through our submission to Him, the living Word of God.

Ultimately, it means that He is coming to set this world right and to bring God’s kingdom and sovereign reign to their fullness. He will strike the nations with the sword of His mouth and shepherd them with an iron scepter while He tramples disobedience and evil in the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. How is He able to do this? He’s able to do this because this time He comes as the faithful, true, and victorious King to claim His bride — all the redeemed saints who follow Him by faith. Just who is this victorious King? He is called Faithful and True! He has a name no one knows except Himself! He is the Word of God! And He IS the KING of kings and the LORD of lords — that’s who my God is! Is He yours?

Be ready. He’s Coming!