Revelation Chapter 19 Verses 14-15

14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. 15 From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

The armies of heaven are the armies that are allied with Christ. They are the ones who conquer with Christ. They are the ones who overcome Rome with their faithful endurance. They are not the armies of those who dwell on earth — they are the armies of Heaven.

Who are the soldiers in this army of heaven? They are arrayed in fine linen, and they are white and pure. Who else could this possibly be but the church? Christians are conquerors!

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Revelation 2:26 He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations,

Revelation 3:5 He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 3:21 He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Who stood with Christ when he conquered Rome? Who was allied with Christ in that great battle? Who overcame the Roman empire through Christ’s power? The church!

So is this the battle at the end of time? What battle at the end of time? Where in the Bible are we told that there will be a battle at the end of time? Where is there a battle in 1 Corinthians 15:52? —

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Where is there a battle in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17? —

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

On that last great day we will rise to meet Jesus in the air. There will be no great battle on earth because there will be no one here to fight it, including Jesus. We will meet Jesus in the air; Jesus will not return to this earth. That day will be a day of judgment and sentencing, not a day of fighting. We are at war now. On that last great day we will lay our weapons down; we won’t pick them up.

So what battle is being described here? It is the same battle at Armageddon that was introduced but not described in Chapter 16. It is the great battle that depicts the warfare between Jesus and Rome over the fate of the church.

The sword out of Jesus’ mouth reminds us of 2:16 — “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” The weapon used against faithless compromisers in the church would also be used against the godless Romans.   

The rod of iron reminds us of the Messianic Psalm 2, verse 9 — “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” And it also reminds us of Isaiah 11:4 — “He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

And Jesus treads the wine press. We have discussed this symbol of judgment before. Jesus is preparing the wine of wrath that Rome must drink. He will tread Rome as one treads grapes, and Rome’s blood will flow as does wine from the press.

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