Revelation 19:19: And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
The battle of Armageddon. When is it, and how will it play out? Gill believes Armageddon is the final act before Christ’s glorious and public return. The pressure mounts during the victorious latter day glory era when the kingdoms of the world, now become Christian, defend themselves against wars waged—spiritual, ideological, and even physical—by the beast, the false prophet, and their followers. The gospel conquers the wicked, and Christ pronounces an eternal death sentence upon them: to the everlasting fire.
The gospel conquers the wicked, and Christ pronounces an eternal death sentence upon them: to the everlasting fire.
To understand it, let’s track how Gill moves from the OT prophecies to the major end-times players.
The OT Prophecies
Gill’s prophetic calendar begins with God’s revelations to the OT prophets.
First, the latter day glory prepares the way. Numbers 24:17b predicts, “A star shall come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of Israel; and it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.” This prophecy goes on to describe the subduing of the nations by Israel’s king (see also Ps 2:9). Gill believes this rule will begin, most visibly, with “the further breakings forth of the glory of the latter day, and the ensuing victory of Christ over all his enemies.”1See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:17.
Second, the beast and the false prophet (i.e., the antichrist) are destroyed. Daniel 7:11 predicts, “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.” Gill states:
The severe punishment of antichrist, considered in both his capacities, civil [i.e., the beast] and ecclesiastical [i.e., the false prophet], is expressed in being cast into the lake of fire.
John Gill, comments on Revelation 19:20 (brackets added)
Third, it is Christians who feast upon the antichristian nations. Ezekiel 39:17b, 21 state, “Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, ‘Assemble and come gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you’ . . . And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them” (see also, Zeph 1). Gill describes Revelation 19 this way:
[T]he whole denotes the entire slaughter and utter ruin of the whole antichristian army, and the certainty of Christ’s victory over it before-hand; and also the destruction of all that are followers of antichrist, throughout his dominions, which will now wholly fall into the hands of the saints, and be enjoyed by them.
John Gill, comments on Revelation 19:18
Fourth, all remaining wicked are destroyed. Zephaniah 1:18b states, “In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.” Gill describes it this way:
They will be convicted and confounded, and not be able to stand against the light and evidence of the word of God, and will be sentenced by Christ to everlasting punishment.
John Gill, comments on Revelation 19:21
You can almost feel Gill smiling as he wrote these words, “[A]nd now the world being clear of all Christ’s enemies, Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan [Islam], the way will be prepared for Christ’s open and glorious kingdom in it.”2See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:21, brackets added.
The Major End-Times Players
We were given a glimpse into Armageddon back in Revelation 11:13–17. To Gill, the good guys are as follows. The white horse = the Gospel; the white horse rider = Christ who “rides forth in the Gospel;”3See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:11. the armies of heaven = the faithful Christian saints on earth at the time, “the church militant,” as he calls them;4See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:14. the angel standing in the sun = Gospel ministers in the latter days;5See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:17. and, the birds of the air = the same as those in Revelation 17:16: namely, the Christian princes and saints who will share in the spoils of the antichristian nations.6See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:17.
The bad guys are as follows. The beast = the antichristian civil powers (or, the state); the false prophet = the pope in his ecclesiastical capacity (or, the false church); together they are the church-run state government(s) of the world;7See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:20. the earth’s armies = the remains of the Papists, along with the pagans and the Muslims.8See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:20.
Reflections
Once again, I appreciate how Gill reads the Bible forward, not backward. He begins with the OT prophets and casts a line into subsequent revelation. Too often, Bible students do the opposite with prophetic material and otherwise. This should never be.
I’ll never forget our family driving to a friend’s house. A deer carcass laid on the roadside. Several hours later, we passed by the deer carcass again. Birds were devouring it. One crow had its beak deep in the eye socket of the deer. It was a striking image.
I had always envisioned Armageddon as a victorious battle in which the wicked of the earth were killed and the literal birds of the air descended on the carnage. Yet, Gill makes an interesting point. He cites the prophets who, throughout the OT, poetically refer to humans devouring the flesh of others.9In Gill’s comments on Rev. 17:16, he cites as examples: Ps. 27:2; Mic. 3:3; and, Zech. 11:9, 16; see also Zeph. 1:7. Almost always, it is the wicked devouring the flesh of the righteous. Here, it’s the reverse. As Gill says, “[T]he Christian princes and people will be satisfied with their kingdoms, riches, and wealth, and will rejoice at their destruction, and in the righteousness of God, which will be displayed in it.”10See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:21.
In other words, if that image of the crow feasting upon the deer carcass represents Christian saints feasting upon the bounty of the antichristian nations (as Israel did when they plundered the Egyptians, Ex 12:36), . . . I can live with that: so long as the King of Glory is present and approving!
References
| 1, 5, 6 | See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:17. |
|---|---|
| 2 | See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:21, brackets added. |
| 3 | See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:11. |
| 4 | See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:14. |
| 7, 8 | See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:20. |
| 9 | In Gill’s comments on Rev. 17:16, he cites as examples: Ps. 27:2; Mic. 3:3; and, Zech. 11:9, 16; see also Zeph. 1:7. |
| 10 | See Gill’s comments on Rev. 19:21. |
