Revelation 19:11-21: Total Victory.

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 sceptre.’[a] 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 mid-air, ‘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 worshipped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur. 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.” NIV

There may be a lot of picture language employed here, but it is clearly pointing to the final and complete victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over all evil. Nothing devilish or demonic can possibly win in the end. So even before the ‘final whistle’ we know the result.

This passage takes us back to Psalm 2. Consider particularly these words:

‘’Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him’’ (verses 10-12).

Another important Old Testament passage for understanding today’s reading Isaiah 63:1-6. When we read that Jesus’ is ‘’dressed in a robe dipped in blood’’ (13), that this is probably not His own, but that of His enemies. God’s judgment is real, and He is to be feared. Let us make sure we ‘’take refuge in’’ God in Christ. He is the only safe place (House) in the universe.