The scene of this vision is laid in heaven. John heard a great voice of much people saying, "Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God." This great song of praise doubtless came from the lips of the angelic throng; for immediately the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders reechoed the same shout of praise, saying, "Amen; Alleluia." Then came a voice from the throne calling upon the servants of God, both small and great, to unite on this occasion in one grand and sacred song of praise; and this sublime chorus fell upon the ear of the enraptured apostle "as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife [or bride] hath made herself ready." Was not here a hearty response to that call, "Rejoice over her thou heaven"? While this scene shows the interest all heaven takes in these wondrous scenes of earth, it is doubtless intended especially to represent the joy and thanksgiving of God's people who have "gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name."
The marriage of the Lamb which was about to take place was a special theme of joy on this occasion. In the Scripture the term marriage is frequently used to represent a special union between Christ and his people. Thus, the early church was represented as being free because of the death of the law, that they "should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead." Rom. 7:4. So, also, the eternal union of Christ with his people is here described under the figure of marriage. In one sense they have been married to Christ all through this dispensation; in another sense they have not. The church has had the promise of this eternal union, hence she has been betrothed to Christ; but left in the world, she has been driven into the wilderness, while a corrupt and drunken prostitute and her harlot daughters have been in the public view. Now, however, the judgments of God have descended upon Babylon, and the bride of Christ appears in all her beauty again, "arrayed in fine linen, clean and white"; and the next great event is her public marriage to Christ when he comes to claim her as his own.
The marriage scene is one of the most joyful that we witness on earth, and among Eastern nations especially was celebrated with great pomp and magnificence, the joy and splendor of the occasion being enhanced according to the rank and wealth of the parties. But earth has never witnessed such an event as this special marriage of the Lamb. Well may the inhabitants of heaven and earth, in view of this sublime spectacle, swell the song of praise—"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." The special preparations that the bride is making represents the glorious holiness reformation that is now sweeping over the world, gathering God's people together for the splendid event. "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."
"These are the true sayings of God." They are almost too glorious to be believed; still, they are no idle dreams of fancy: they are true, yea "the true sayings of God." In the contemplation of such a wonderful event, the beloved apostle was carried away, as it were, with holy enthusiasm, and he fell at the feet of the angel to worship. We do not know just what the motives or impressions were that caused him to do this. But his soul was full, full to overflowing, and he could not but adore and worship. The angel, however, refused the homage thus offered, by the declaration that he himself, also, was the servant of Christ and one of the brethren that had the testimony of Jesus; "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The idea is: "I am a fellowservant with you, and we both have his testimony. You bear witness to him now in this present generation; I bear witness to those who are to come. You witness now of his death and resurrection; I tell of his future glory and triumphs. We are both, therefore, engaged in the same good work. The testimony of Jesus and the spirit of prophecy are the same. To God, therefore, we must both bow." See remarks on chap. 1:1.
11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
That the person described in this vision is Christ is questioned by no one. He is the same one who appeared to John in the beginning. Then he stood in the midst of the seven golden candle-sticks, the sure defense of the churches, holding the seven stars in his right hand. Now, however, he appears from the opened heavens on a white horse, his mission "to judge and make war." The description of his person, his names, and his attributes, unmistakably proclaim him the Son of God. He is the "faithful and true," the name by which he made himself known to the churches of Philadelphia and Laodicea. "His eyes as a flame of fire" denotes omniscience; and as a searcher of all hearts he made himself known to the church of Thyatira. "Many crowns" are a symbol of supreme sovereignty and doubtless signify his many victories. "And he had a name written which no man knew but he himself." He had names by which he might be known to mortals; but he had one name that no created intelligence could understand: it was known only to him. What that name was, of course, is not given; it could not be. If the human mind could not conceive it, human language could not convey it. We can know him as the Faithful and true Witness, as the Word of God, and as King of kings and Lord of lords; but there is one name that we can not know. His "vesture dipped in blood" refers, not to the blood of atonement, but to the blood of his enemies sprinkled upon his raiment in treading the winepress of God's wrath, and denotes that he was going forth to the dread work of vengeance. To this I shall refer more fully hereafter. His name is also called "the Word of God," which, when used as a personal appellation in the Scriptures, always signifies Jesus Christ.
Before considering his mission further and the armies that accompanied him, I wish to call special attention to the nature and the chronology of this event. If the present series of prophetic symbols (which begin with [chap. 17]) is a narrative of continuous events reaching to the end, then the vision before us is a description of the second coming of Christ, the event which was just previously announced and for which the bride had made herself ready. The usual interpretation given it is, that it is a sublime description of the servants of Christ going forth under his direction to spread the truth everywhere among the nations—in short, that it is the triumph of gospel truth over error under the providential government of Christ. That such a meaning can be derived from the vision by taking it in a figurative sense there can be no doubt, and this is what commentators generally do. They make the whole a figurative description of the triumph of the gospel, Christ being present only by his superintending providence. It is made simply a highly poetic description of the victory of truth and righteousness. In this case, however, the principles of symbolic language are clearly abandoned and a mere ordinary figurative meaning given. If we follow strictly the laws of symbolic language, as we manifestly ought, we shall be compelled to take another view of it.
In the first place, if this does not describe the actual coming of Christ, then his second coming is nowhere described in the Revelation. That so great an event should merely be alluded to in a few places and nowhere symbolically described seems incredible. At the judgment scene brought to view in the following chapter the presence of Christ is assumed, but it is not stated. Again, there are no victories of love and mercy described at all in the vision before us; but, on the contrary, it is a scene of fearful judgment—a terrible treading of "the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God," the complete overthrow of every opposing power; while the beast and the false prophet are represented as taken and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Surely, this is not the work of the church of God. But let it be remembered especially that this last event takes place under the seventh plague, which is the "filling up" of the wrath of God, and that Christ previously announced under the sixth vial, "Behold, I come as a thief." Christ comes in reality when this seventh plague occurs. To represent the glorious triumphs of Christianity by the mission of the church, the gospel and the Holy Spirit, under the symbol of Christ, going forth to judge, to make war, and to tread the winepress of God's wrath, is at war with every principle of symbolic language.