Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight will be study #14 of Revelation chapter 19 and we are going to be reading Revelation 19:11-15:
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. 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. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 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.
Last time we looked at verse 11. We saw that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one seated upon a white horse and that is because His judgment is righteous. He is holy and pure and without sin and, therefore, He is in His very being just and righteous. There is no unrighteousness with God of any kind, so God emphasizes His own character and the fact that He maintains the perfect standard of His own Law. This qualifies Him to be the righteous Judge.
It also says He that sat upon the white horse is called “Faithful” and “True.” God is emphasizing these characteristics during Judgment Day. He wants mankind to know He is “Faithful and True.” Throughout Biblical history, God has said there will be a Day of Judgment and a day of reckoning. There is an appointed time and now He is bringing it to pass, which does show forth His faithfulness to uphold His Word. He is true and everything God says is honest, correct, just, holy, pure and true. There is no lie in Him. There is no deception and no exaggeration. Since He is true, we can be sure that His judgment is a true judgment. It is a proper judgment and God is not going to find fault where there is no fault, but He will find fault in the sinner.
At the end of the verse, it says in Revelation 19:11:
… and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
This has a dual meaning because Christ Himself is “righteousness.” We read in 1Corinthians 1:30:
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
Christ is the essence of “righteousness” and God says in our verse: “and in righteousness he doth judge and make war,” or we could say, “and in Christ He doth judge and make war” in the Day of Judgment. We do know that God has set up the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Judge of all the earth. For instance, it says in John 5:27-30:
And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
God set up the Son to be the Judge of all the earth. Notice that Christ makes the point: “as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just.” God points this out in numerous places in the Bible. It is an important truth that He wants to be made known – He is a just Judge.
Of course, in the world we have judges and they are themselves, men. They can be unjust and, from time to time, we see a judge that takes bribes or perverts judgment. They do wrong in the matter of judging another, but that is not the case with God. God is always a just Judge.
We read in Acts 17:30-31:
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
We know this is speaking of Christ. God says He has “appointed a day” and we know what that “day” is because the Bible revealed it as May 21, 2011, the beginning of a prolonged period of judgment called Judgment Day. It very likely will continue for 1,600 actual days and this is the “day” that God has determined to “judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.” We know that in this statement, “righteousness” can refer to Christ, but it can also refer to the Word of God that lays out the Law and the perimeters of God’s “righteous judgment.”
For instance, the Law of God says in Deuteronomy 25 that a judge passing judgment may only give punishment of “forty stripes and no more.” A just judge must obey the Law. That is what a just judge does, but unjust judges go beyond the Law because they do not feel they are bound by the law and, therefore, they will “skirt” it. God does not go “around” His Law or beyond His Law. He would certainly not break any aspect of His Law. God has placed Himself under His own Law. Therefore, the law established in Deuteronomy 25 concerning the limitation of punishment a judge must be adhered to and God is under that Law and must limit punishment. This means it is the just Law of God that punishment cannot be meted out without limitation; there cannot be eternal punishment without end because it would violate the Law of God given in the first few verses of Deuteronomy, chapter 25. There must be a set limitation to punishment and, therefore, God has “appointed a day” in which He will punish the world in righteousness by Christ. The punishment of the Law of God is performed in the Day of Judgment and it continues in “time” for a period of time which the Bible gives strong evidence may be a total of 1,600 days. That is the “Day of Judgment” and the time God allots for administering the punishment and at the end of that time, He will destroy the sinner for evermore through annihilation and they will cease to exist – they will not go on suffering under His wrath. They will not suffer “stripes” without end.
Again, we can see why it is so important for God to let it be known that when it comes to judgment, He is most just. In the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis, we see God coming to Abraham to reveal that He is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain.
Abraham began to discuss this with God in Genesis 18:23-26:
And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And JEHOVAH said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
Do you see how Abraham approached God and asked God, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Yes, of course, God is most just and must perform judgment in righteousness. He cannot be unrighteous in judgment. This means, according to God, that He will not destroy the righteous with the wicked and that tells us that when God destroyed the world with a flood, no one outside of the ark was righteous. As the Bible says, “There is none righteous, no not one.” Unless God saves someone, no one can be counted as righteous. Therefore, only Noah and his family had been made righteous through salvation.
Likewise, when God was about to destroy Sodom, He first went into Sodom and called Lot out of the city. In 2Peter, chapter 2, God refers to Lot as “righteous Lot,” because Lot was a saved man, so God did forewarn him, drew him out of the city and then God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities of the plain. It is far from the Lord to destroy the righteous with the wicked. Therefore, before God could bring Judgment Day to pass and shut the door to heaven on May 21, 2011, He first had to save all the “righteous,” all His elect people. Then He brought Judgment Day to pass, shutting the door to heaven and ending His salvation program.
God is a just and righteous Judge and it is far from Him to do wickedly in judgment and, therefore, He followed the Law in this as well. And we can know that all to become saved were saved before Day of Judgment coming to pass. According to the Bible, when Judgment Day comes, there must also be a limitation to the punishment; it must be completed and the “stripes” administered justly or else the Law of God would be broken. The idea of eternal Hell as a place of unlimited “stripes” breaks the Law of God and, therefore, that idea is not possible. God is always concerned with performing “righteous judgment.” It says in Psalm 9:7-9:
But JEHOVAH shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. JEHOVAH also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
JEHOVAH God will judge the world in righteousness. There is another place I want to look at in the New Testament in Romans, chapter 2. We have discussed this before, but after reading these other Scriptures we can see a little bit better why God says this, in Romans 2:5-6:
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Here, God speaks of the day of wrath, which would be Judgment Day. Notice He uses the conjunction “and” to tie the two ideas together:
This tells us that it is God’s plan in the time of Judgment Day to reveal more and more information concerning his “righteous judgment.” That is exactly what has been happening. God has revealed the spiritual nature of judgment. He has revealed there is a limitation on this judgment – there is no “hell” but there is annihilation. He has revealed the likely duration of the judgment. He has revealed that the elect will be alive and living on the earth throughout the time of Judgment Day, and so forth. There has been all kinds of information opened up to us since May 21, 2011 and it has fulfilled what we read here in Romans 2:5 regarding “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” We have been finding these things out, repeatedly, as God reveals His just judgment. The righteous judgment of God is to shut the door of heaven. It is righteous and just to end His salvation program and to set a limited period of time in which He will punish the unsaved people of the world. There is nothing unjust about it. There is nothing “off” and there is nothing that violates the Law of God. It is according to the Law and it is a very proper and right thing to do in the matter of judgment.