Revelation 19

He’s Jesus, most Bible experts seem to agree. Some say that Jesus riding in on a white horse is a dramatic metaphor of what scholars call the Parousia (pa-ROO-see-uh), the Second Coming, which is the final coming of Jesus before what the Bible seems to teach is the end of physical life as we know it. In Bible times, parousia, Greek for “coming” or “returning,” is the word people used to describe a visit by a high public official, such as a king or the emperor.

The dragon had seven crowns, one for each head (Revelation 12:3). The beast had 10 crowns, one for each horn (Revelation 13:1). Jesus is the King of all kings and wannabe kings.

God’s people also get secret names. Theirs are etched into white stones (Revelation 2:17). And those people are the only ones who understand what their names mean.

This probably is not a reference to Jesus shedding his blood by dying on the cross, some scholars say. It’s more likely a reference to Jesus defeating his enemies. This is an idea reflected throughout the Bible. For example: Isaiah 26:21; 63:2-3; Zechariah 14.

“Word of God” is one of several titles John uses to describe this divine warrior. A more literal translation of the original Greek language identifies him as “Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11), “King of Kings,” and “Lord of Lords” (19:16). In the Gospel of John, Jesus is “the living Word of God” (John 1:1), the message of God delivered in person.

The sword of the mouth, many say, refers to words spoken—not to some bizarre military accessory, like a stainless-steel tongue sharpened on both sides and dangerous to dentists. Yet, some students of the Bible say they read this and much of the other imagery in Revelation as literal.

Apparently a reference to Isaiah 63:2-3.

“King of Kings” and “Lord of Lords” are only two of the titles John uses to describe this divine warrior. He is also called “Word of God” (Revelation 19:13) and identified as “Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11). In the Gospel of John, Jesus is “the living Word of God” (John 1:1), the message of God delivered in person.

This is the beast from the sea, introduced in Revelation 13:1. Some students of the Bible identify this beast as the Antichrist. And they ID the beast from the land as the false prophet, both of whom, with Satan, form the Evil Trinity (see footnote for Revelation 13:5 about the Antichrist). Other scholars link the sea beast to the Roman Empire and the land beast to the emperor, beginning with Nero, the first to persecute Christians. The Evil Trinity is a counterpoint to the divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Daniel 7:3 describes a vision of four beasts coming up out of the sea. They, too, had 10 horns and seven heads. Jews may have considered the sea as the mysterious abyss. John’s beast is one that some Jews of his day may have associated with the scary Leviathan, a female creature that Jewish legend says God created on day five of creation. It lived in the sea. Its counterpart, the Behemoth, lived on land. Monsters like these could represent invaders, like the Roman Empire, which occupied most of the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Some scholars identify this false prophet as the beast from the land, introduced in Revelation 13:11.

The mark of the beast was a number the beast’s followers had to wear on their right hands or foreheads. Some ancient copies put the number at 616. Letters had number values. The name of Nero works with both numbers, 616 and 666. He ruled AD 37-68 and was the first emperor on record to persecute Christians. His name engraved onto coins in Latin, the official language of the Romans, is “Nero Caesar.” The six letters Jews used to translate that into their language of Hebrew add up to 616. But that same name and title in Greek, the international language of the day, is “Neron Caesar.” Jews used seven letters to translate that version of the name. Those seven letters add up to 666. Another contender is Emperor Domitian (ruled AD 81-96), another aggressive persecutor of Christians. His name and title occasionally show up abbreviated on Roman coins with Greek letters that add up to 666.

Talking statues was a trick of magicians. A Syrian writer named Lucian, who lived in the AD 100s, wrote about a Greek mystic, Alexander of Abonoteichus, who rigged the image of a snake god with a moving jaw and a hidden speaking tube.

“Lake of fire” is a place of eternal punishment. Some say it’s eternal because souls burn there in pain forever. Others say it’s eternal because they are burned up and annihilated, gone forever. Some students of the Bible say they see this as a literal place. Others say it’s a metaphor about people getting punished for sin. The Jewish Bible, which Christians call the Old Testament, talks about the earth swallowing a group of sinners who rebelled against Moses (Numbers 16:32). But none of the Bible writers talks about a lake of fire until John. Some scholars say he borrowed the metaphor from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. That book was written at least by about 1800 BC, several hundred years before Moses. John also wrote about “the second death,” another idea that surfaced first in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Greek philosopher Plato (about 428-348 BC), wrote in Gorgias about a lake of fire where souls are tortured forever or until they get another chance and are reborn.

This doesn’t seem to support the popular idea of a Battle of Armageddon, with God’s people fighting the armies of the Antichrist (who’s not even mentioned in Revelation). Instead, it’s about heaven’s armies defeating earthly enemies by the sword of the mouth of the lead rider, presumably Jesus. So some students of the Bible say this sounds like the teachings of Jesus eventually overpowering evil, one way or another—peacefully perhaps. Rome, once hostile to Christianity, embraced it 300 years later as the empire’s preferred religion.