Revelation 19:11-20:10. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 4, 2025.
Last week, we looked at the promises of the a kingdom led by God’s Messiah that are in the Old Testament. This Anointed King would judge the nations and cause the righteous to inherit the earth. The kingdom of Messiah would never end. That is the promise.
Today, we are going to look at the New Testament promise that speaks of the Second Coming of Jesus, the Messiah. We want to explore how that will fit in with these Old Testament promises.
Let’s look at our passage.
Revelation 19:11-19.
The idea that the Messiah would come twice is not readily apparent in the Old Testament, but does make sense. We talked about the nature of Messiah’s Kingdom. It is operational now, but not yet fully as was promised.
There may be many reasons why this is so, but one of them has to do with God’s nature as a the ultimate Teacher. He wants us to learn how to gain victory over our flesh, before He gives us immortal bodies that are not bent towards sin. The resurrection is necessary because we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God in our flesh. However, it is not necessary that it occur immediately. God in His wisdom gives us a life of taking possession of our souls by patience, faith, and leaning on the help of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, the nations have had 2,000 years to hear the truth about who Jesus is, the reality of his kingdom, and the truth about what he is calling us to do. At a point in time determined by the Father, Jesus will return to take up a direct rule over the nations bodily upon this earth. This event will involve a judgment of those powers and people of the earth who have rejected his kingdom.
Revelation 19:11 introduces the rider of a white horse who appears before the earth as the heavens open up. This connects with several passages, but Matthew 24:30 is an important one. “All the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” Jesus uses the imagery of Daniel 7, which shows the Son of Man riding the clouds of heaven to God the Father in order to receive dominion over the earth. Yet, in Matthew 24, Jesus depicts the Son of Man coming out of heaven to the earth in order to take up that dominion.
There is no question that this rider is Jesus, though his name is not mentioned here. Jesus is presented in the New Testament as the Son of Man that Daniel 7 and Matthew 24 are talking about. John is seeing that same event that Jesus revealed would happen in Matthew 24.
On top of that, notice the descriptions of the rider. He is called Faithful and True. He represents the character of God in keeping His promises to humanity. It is not just that Jesus is faithful and true in his character, but that his very existence is the proof and actuality of God’s faithfulness and truthfulness.
We are also told that the rider will judge the earth in righteousness. Isaiah 11:3-4 mentions that Messiah would “not judge by what his eyes see…and ears hear, but with righteousness.” It may seem strange. Surely, he should look at the evidence. However, the point here is about a judge being swayed by the person who is in front of them to pervert justice. Messiah will not do that. He will give a righteous judgment (more on this in a bit).
Verse 13 says that his name is the Word of God. This ties back to John’s earlier Gospel (John 1:1-3, 14-18). There John states that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory…” John makes it clear in verse 17, for any who didn’t understand by then, that he is talking about Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God. All the words written by the prophets and collected together as Scripture point to Jesus, they reveal him. If we were to sum up everything that God wants to say to humanity and put it in one Word, one person, it would be the totality of who Jesus is.
Verse 15 speaks of him as the one who strikes the nations with a sword from his mouth and who rules them with a rod of iron. The first part is focusing on the words that he speaks. He is the Word of God speaking the word of God. This is blessing to some (those who believe) and a curse to others (those who do not). Yet, the phrase about the rod of iron comes from several places in the Old Testament, but especially Psalm 2. It points to a change in the kingdom of God. At the Second Coming of Christ, the will of God will be enforced on the earth. Jesus will not bend to the ideas and desires of the rulers of this earth. They will bend to his will. We see similar ideas in Zechariah 14, which speaks of the rule of the LORD after his coming to earth. If a nation refuses to come up to Jerusalem and worship, then they will have no rain until they do.
Finally, the rider is referred to as the King of kings and Lord of lords. We could spend a lot of time on this, but suffice it to say that it is a term that speaks of the highest authority and is connected to Jesus in 1 Timothy 6:13-14. “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”
Revelation 19:20-21.
Just as the identity of the rider is clear (Jesus), so the purpose of the Second Coming of Jesus is also clear. We’ve already seen that he is coming to judge the nations, but he is also flanked by the armies of heaven (vs. 14).
The nations have had ample time to submit to the authority and power of Jesus voluntarily. The nations of the world today are strongly rejecting the wisdom of Jesus and forging their own paths. Yet, these are proving to be unwise and destructive. Yet, the book of Revelation reveals that even worse times are to come.
Yet, at just the right time, God the Father sends Jesus to judge the earth. Isaiah 11:4 states that the Messiah will “decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth.” Whenever you are tempted to question whether or not God cares about the little guys who are being crushed under tyranny, this should put it to rest.
Judgment is not necessarily a negative word. It simply means a decision. If my car was stolen and then I saw that my neighbor down the street had it, I would call the cops, and we would end up in court. The judge would make a judgment, a decision, about the case. When he decides that the car really does belong to me and that my neighbor knowingly stole it, the judgment will be a good thing to me, but a bad thing for the thief. The Second Coming of Jesus is just like this. It is good news for those who have been living by faith in Jesus, but it will be bad news for those who have rejected Christ and are living for themselves.
The armies are no doubt heavenly angels. Matthew 24:31 pictures Christ sending forth his angels to gather his chosen ones. Matthew 13:41 speaks of angels gathering “all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire.”
However, the armies of heaven also include earthly armies. In this case, the only earthly armies that could be coming from heaven are the armies of resurrected, righteous saints. 1 Corinthians 15:23 speaks of the resurrected saints following him at his second coming.
This martial entry does not have to be a conflict, but the beast has gathered the kings of the earth with their armies in order to attack Jesus at his coming. Can you imagine attacking the very One who went to the cross for your sins and to obtain your salvation? Take note that this is the same problem that was at his first coming. The perfect one, whom the world desperately needs, is attacked by the very ones he aims to help. Jesus should be celebrated by the nations, but the nations of the world will try to kill him instead. This is what we see in verse 19.
Thus, part of the purpose of this coming is to remove the enemies of Christ. It begins in verse 20 with the beast and the false prophet being seized and thrown into the Lake of Fire. These beings have worked in league with the devil to deceive the nations and harness them against Jesus. They represent spiritual interference (interlopers) on the earth. Then, the kings and their armies are summarily dispensed in verse 21. In truth, all the great power of humanity to Jesus is but a drop of water to the universe. There is no contest. There comes a time when a military man needs to make a hard decision. Am I fighting on the right side or not? It is better to be killed by the beast and gain the inheritance of the saints, then to be safe for 42 months and then be taken out by Jesus for eternity.
There is yet another enemy that Jesus will deal with. The break from chapter 19 to chapter 20 is unfortunate. The story continues without a break. Look at chapter 20:1-3.
Revelation 20:1-3.
An angel seizes the devil and chains him in the Abyss, or the Bottomless Pit. This is a prison for fallen spiritual beings. There is a difference between the Lake of Fire and the Abyss. No one comes back from the Lake of Fire. They are walled off forever from God’s creation. We are told that the devil is only chained in the Abyss. That is where the beast came from (Revelation 11:7). The devil is held for 1,000 years and then released.
The purpose for binding him is obvious. It is so that he cannot deceive the nations any longer. This helps us to explain why the world is as bad as it is. Things would be bad enough if we were just sinning to please ourselves. Yet, it is much worse because of the interference from the devil and his cohorts. They want to destroy humanity and all that God plans with us.
The kingdom that Jesus sets up will have all of these enemies removed, spiritual and human. We will be enabled to grow in a much healthier way with a much more righteous leadership.
This begs the question. Why not put the devil in the Lake of Fire? Why plan to release him later? Let’s read on.
Revelation 20:4-6.
The devil is removed so that Jesus can rule over a 1,000 year kingdom on this earth upon his return. This may seem to contradict the many places in the Old Testament that talk about a kingdom that never ends. However, even this 1,000 year rule is not a beginning or end of his rule. It is merely a different phase of his rule. Presently, Jesus rules from heaven by the Spirit through those who believe in Him. During this 1,000 years, he will be physically present on the earth. He will rule over the whole planet.
Notice verse four. Thrones plural are established and those who sit on them are given power to judge (by Jesus). This is exactly what the Old Testament promises to the saints. Jesus mentioned this to his disciples when he told them that they would rule with him on 12 thrones ruling over the 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 6:3 when he reminds the Corinthian believers that we will judge angels one day. These thrones are the varying levels of authority that will be given to the resurrected saints. They will be the perfect administrators for the authority of Jesus.
Who are they to rule over? Matthew 25 makes it clear that, though many will die during this period, some will survive. Those who survive will be brought before Jesus, and he will determine who is able to enter into this 1,000-year kingdom.
Revelation 20:4 may sound like it is limiting this resurrection to only those killed in the tribulation. However, Colossians 3:4 makes it clear that all the righteous will participate in Christ’s Second Coming. Thus, this is giving particular encouragement to those who will face the beast and his short rule. Essentially, it will be worth it to hold on to faith in Jesus.
We also see that there is a sense of political and religious duties. The saints will rule and judge, but verse 6 adds that they will be priests of God and of Christ.
There is little said about what the period will look like, but the earth will have its first government that is ran by people who are 100% righteous. They will be just like Jesus. Imagine that!
This section also makes a distinction between the First Resurrection and those who are resurrected later. The wicked dead will still remain in the grave awaiting a later judgment. They will eventually be resurrected in order to be judged (Revelation 20:12).
The First Resurrection is clearly the resurrection of the righteous. Jesus and some of the Old Testament saints were the first fruits of the resurrection (a harvest picture). The Second Coming of Jesus will complete this First Resurrection. The Second Resurrection is a resurrection of the wicked. It happens at one time for all of them.
The Old Testament speaks of the earth being transformed by the presence of Messiah and his saints. There will be no war. People will live longer. The natural order will be restored so that the animals will not eat one another. Babies will be safe next to a poisonous serpent because nothing will harm others in his kingdom. The cleaning of the destruction of the previous epoch will begin, but then be replaced with a rebuilding. It will be a society that is not built upon the bodies and souls of men. The immortal believers will teach and lead mortal humans who survived and will repopulate the earth. The earth itself will bear more fruit than ever imagined as the curse is lifted by the presence of Jesus.
Why would this only last 1,000 years? Why would it ever end? Let’s read on.
Revelation 20:7-10.
The release of the devil is to show that even 1,000 years of a perfect king with perfect laws, perfect judgment, and perfect administrators will cure the heart of mortal humans. He will be able to deceive millions if not billions into rebelling against Christ.
This gives an important message to the current world. Many hold out the carrot of a Utopian age built by man. Yet, God warns that we will never be able to do it in our mortal bodies. We are too bent towards pleasing our flesh. Even when God gives us a Utopia, we end up rebelling against it and attempting to destroy it at the first opportunity.
This is why the resurrection is so important and why Paul stated: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50).” Death and resurrection is the only workable plan to fixing humanity.
So, why would God go through this if it is only going to end in rebellion again? One reason is that God is keeping His word to all the saints of every age. They will see the wicked removed from power, and the world will be ruled by the saints. Another reason is to teach us the lesson of what I just stated, the need for resurrection and the impotency of perfect governance in the face of man’s penchant towards sin.
Yet, the kingdom of Christ doesn’t end in verse 9. Rather, it will only enter into a new phase. Just as the Millennium is a new phase to the rule of Christ, so the creating of a new heavens and a new earth will be another phase to the kingdom of Christ. No mortal or wicked being will be allowed to enter the new creation.
These are the promises of God to those who will trust Him. When He fulfills them, it will be clear that He keeps His word and does all things in wisdom. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” How you live will make all the difference in the world.