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Introduction
In Revelation 19:11-20 there is
recorded some of the most soul
searching and terrifying passages in
all the scriptures. When the flood
came on the message rejectors of
Noah’s day, that must have been
frightening. When the fire of
divine anger was vented on Sodom and
Gomorrah, that was not just a
foretoken, but perhaps somewhat like
a volcano eruption, with ash falling
on everything making it hard to
breathe. It must have been
horrific, but nothing this world has
ever known can compare with that
which is called, “The great day of
His wrath” (Rev. 6:17). The very
preciseness without elaboration of
that day indicates the inability of
any wording in English or any
combination of languages to convey
its horror.
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In Revelation 19:11 John
wrote, “And I saw the
Heaven opened”. I am aware
that in the KJV the word
“the” is not in it, but from
the research I have done it
ought to read as I have
printed it. It is a
terrifying statement for in
Revelation we read of things
opened in Heaven, but this
is the climax of all the
other openings. In
Revelation the references
indicate something in heaven
is opened, hence: |
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a) |
“A door was opened in
Heaven” (Rev. 4:1) |
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b) |
“The temple of God was
opened in Heaven” (Rev.
11:19) |
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c) |
“The temple of the
tabernacle of the testimony
in heaven was opened” (Rev.
15:5) |
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i) |
But for the only time,
chapter 19:11 states, “I saw
the heaven opened”. This
was not something opened in
Heaven, but heaven itself
being opened. |
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ii) |
What is exactly happening
here? There are several
contexts in which the word
“opened” is used in the
scriptures, some of which
are: |
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1. |
To give understanding as the
Lord did with the two in the
road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:45) |
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2. |
It can open to comfort
(Acts 7:56) |
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3. |
It can mean to physically
remove blindness and give
sight (Matt. 20:33-34) |
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4. |
It can mean to provide the
way of liberation (Acts
5:19) |
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iii) |
It is my understanding that
heaven opened, possibly
unfolding as a scroll
forcing humanity to see the
foreboding of something
menacing about to happen, to
give a sight of “the Son of
Man sitting on the right
hand of power” (Mk. 14:62).
No longer a weakened
crucified man (2 Cor. 13:4),
but sitting in terrifying
authority on the right hand
of God. |
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d) |
The unfolding of the skies
alone would be terrifying
but then it is recorded,
“and every mountain and
island were moved out of
their places” (Rev. 6:14).
That indicates an earthquake
the like of which this world
has never seen. To consider
that the imagined
immovability of the
mountains suddenly moved, an
event so catastrophic men
fear. Humanity is made to
realize that this is not
“Mother Nature” but the
Living God acting in
justified anger. When it
says every island, that
means the islands of the
South Pacific, the New
Hebrides, Samoa, from the
North Atlantic, Iceland and
the Faroe Islands, Ireland,
the islands of the
Philippines etc., moved.
All avenues of travel
connecting seaports and
airports will need to be
reconfigured. No wonder man
will be terrified, then the
ungodly kings of earth, the
multibillionaires, the
statesmen of earth will be
grovelling, whimpering and
trying to escape the
unescapable (Rev. 6:14-17).
Humanity will be aware that
the Lord is coming as a
“Man of war”. |
The Lord is referred to as “Man of
War” twice in the scriptures (Ex.
15:3; Isa. 42:13). How foolish man
is thinking he is in control and
that he can fix the economic,
nutritional, pollution's and
pandemics of the earth without God.
God declares, “It is better to trust
in the LORD than to put confidence
in man. It is better to trust in
the LORD than to put confidence in
princes” (Psa. 118:12, 13).
Man is trying to go to Mars. Some
of the intelligentsia of the world
tell us the population of the world
will not be able to sustain 11
million people, therefore, man must
look to other places to dwell. How
utterly foolish of man to think they
can live in defiance of God without
any repercussions. Sadly such is
the darkness of humanities thinking
that all the
armament
and nuclear weapons of earth have
any power against the Lord. Poor
darkened man does not realize that
the very molecules which hold atoms
etc. together are held by Him (Col.
1:17). The
word
“consist”
means to be held together. Just as
Adam and Eve hid themselves among
the trees, so man will cry (pray) to
the rocks to cover them (Rev. 6:16).
Who Is Coming?
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The Book of Revelation is
God’s unveiling of Christ
regarding the offices and
works God has given Him
responsibility for. He is
the one who takes the book
out of the right hand of the
Moral Absolute of the
universe (Rev. 5:7) and He
is able to take it because
of His worthiness (Rev. 5:5,
6). It is recorded in
John’s gospel that the Lord
told his disciples that God
not only has committed all
judgment into His hand (Jn.
5:22), but also the right to
execute the judgment (Jn.
5:27). John also adds
another expression which
deals with why God gives Him
such responsibility and it
is, “Because he is the son
of Man” (Jn. 5:27).
However, at His coming to
reign there are other titles
or names given with the
emphasis on His humanity,
character, and royal
authority. These are not
just casually picked by John
or Paul, but are the Holy
Spirit’s
manifestation of the Lord.
We also know that the
descriptive terms given to
the Lord regarding His
coming to reign all indicate
some aspect of His person or
work. He is spoken of as: |
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a) |
The Son of Man, relative to
His coming to reign
(Matt. 24:30, 37, 39, 44;
25:31; Mk.
13:26; Lk. 12:40; 17:24, 26,
30; 18:8; Rev. 14:14) |
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b) |
Lord Jesus (2 Thess. 1:7) |
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c) |
The Lamb (Rev. 6:16) |
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d) |
Seen as the Reaper (Rev.
14:14-20) |
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e) |
Faithful and True (Rev.
19:11) |
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f) |
The unknown Name (Rev.
19:12) |
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g) |
The Word of God (Rev. 19:13) |
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h) |
King of Kings (Rev. 19:16) |
The first
observation is there is selection in
the descriptions of the Lord. Luke,
when writing the book of the Acts,
records how the angelic messenger
spoke saying, “This same Jesus . .
. shall so come in like manner as
ye have seen him go” (Acts 1:11).
It is Jesus who went in power for He
had risen from the dead; a cloud
received Him (Acts 1:9) which I
understand it as a cloud of
angelic beings and He will come
again in the clouds; He left from
the mount of Olives (Acts 1:12) and
will stand there once again (Zech.
14:4). (While the scriptures do not
say specifically the Lord left from
the mount of Olives, yet the
intimation from Acts 1:12 certainly
indicates that).
The Descriptive Names Used of The
Lord
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Son of man
(Matt. 24:30, 37, 39, 44;
25:31; Mk.
13:26; Lk. 12:40; 17:24, 26,
30; 18:8; Rev. 14:14). |
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a) |
I have
one son and even though he
is now a man, if anyone
belittled him or hurt him I
would be very angry. When I
think of God sending His Son
to become the Son of Man, of
David and of Abraham (Matt.
1:1), it fills the heart
with wonder. God loves His
son, for it is recorded
Christ is “His dear Son”, or
better “the Son of His love”
(Col. 1:13), yet He sent Him
to be the Saviour of the
world (Jn. 4:42). What a
manifestation of love has
been shown in that, “while
we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us”; “when we were
yet without strength, in due
time Christ died for the
ungodly”; “For if, when we
were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the
death of His Son” (Rom. 5:6,
8, 10). Surely it is most
wonderful that such is His
love for each of us that we
could not care about His
voluntarily substitutionary
sacrifice to save
each
from the wrath of Almighty
God. Surely the delight God
the Father had in Him is
not
only being willing to become
human, but also readiness to
be forsaken to bring
humanity back to Himself. I
cannot comprehend the
intensity of His wrath but I
can, in a little degree,
understand His righteous
judgment when man rejects,
belittles, counterfeits,
mocks, spits on Him, and in
heart kill Him. This is in
part what the significance
is when the Lord is spoken
of as the Son of man. As
the despised Nazarene He
lived, as the accused
blasphemer He died, but God
raised Him from the dead.
In that day He will come,
glorified with the regalia
of a Conquerer
to break to chaff the
empires of earth (Dan.
2:35); to banish into the
Lake of fire the leading men
of anarchy and blasphemy
(Rev. 19:20); to dispose of
Satan for one thousand years
(Rev. 20:1); and to greatly,
though not completely,
restore the creation to
Edenic conditions. The Man
despised will be the Son of
man dignified, though no
longer the Son of man
scoffed at, but now the Son
of man
sovereign. |
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