November 28, 2023 | Be On Mission
The Rider on the White Horse
Scripture: Revelation 19(NIV)
1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 And again they shouted:
“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:
“Amen, Hallelujah!”
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
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.”
19 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. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
Devotional
Jesus wins! This is the overall message of the book of Revelation. Jesus wins! Hallelujah! Praise be to God!
Here in Revelation 19 two magnificent scenes are described. The first is the heavenly wedding between the Lamb and his bride, that is, Christ and his Church! It is celebrated by the twenty-four elders and four living creatures (see devotions for Week 44, Day 2 on Revelation 4). The bride (the Church) is dressed in fine linen, which verse 8 says are “the righteous acts of God’s holy people.” What a beautiful picture!
In talking about relationships between husbands and wives, Paul compared it to Christ and his bride, the church. In Ephesians 5:25-27 he wrote, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” This metaphor is repeated in Revelation 21:9, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” Jesus loves His Church, just as a groom adores his bride!
In Revelation 19:11, the scene shifts from wedding to war. Here Christ is riding on a white horse, a color symbolic of the victory He has over the beast and the kings of the earth (described earlier in chapter 17). Jesus has been united with the Church, His bride dressed in fine linen, bright and clean (v. 8). Now Christ is riding into spiritual battle, and “the armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.” The righteous acts of God’s people reign in victory over the dark forces of evil. Hallelujah!
In the wedding scene, the Bible says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (v. 9). In the battle scene, it says, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God” where all the birds of the air gorge themselves on the flesh of the worldly people who had suppressed the truth and oppressed the believers (v. 17-18, 21).
The contrast couldn’t be greater. You will either be invited to the wedding feast or you will become the funeral dinner! Your eternity will either be in heaven among the great multitude who shout, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” (v. 1). Or your eternity will be in hell, a place described as “the fiery lake of burning sulfur” (v. 20). There is no middle ground. There is no fence on which to sit. There is no lukewarmness allowed. You’re either with Jesus or you’re not.
As 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” Will you surrender your life to Jesus?
Poem
My Song Shall Ever Be Hallelujah!
As I walk this Pilgrim Way
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
As I work in harvest fields
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
As I know the valley’s shadows
As I know my Savior’s care
As I live each day rejoicing
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
When I sit with troubled soul
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
When I stand declaring bold
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
When temptation grips my heart
When at death’s door tears do fall
When the Spirit stirs my soul
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
One day I will leave this place
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
One day all blinders will fall
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
One day as I stand in awe
One day as I see my King
One day as I fully know
My song shall ever be Hallelujah!
