Revelation 19:13 His robe will be sprinkled in blood. This symbolizes the blood of His enemies, not His own redemptive blood. John takes his picture from the Old Testament and is thinking of the terrible picture in Isaiah 63:1-3. His name is the Word of God. This brings us back to John 1 which uses the same Greek work Logos. In Jewish thinking a word was not just a sound; It was an energy charged with power. We see this illustrated in the incident with Jacob and Esau when Isaac uttered the blessing though thinking it was going to Esau, the blessing given could not be taken back (Genesis 27). The Name “the Word of God” speaks of His power, all He has to do is speak the Word and the power and energy and force of His Word will slaughter the ungodly and evil of the world (Isaiah 11:4; Hebrews 1:3; 4:12).
Revelation 19:14-16 The armies of heaven are wearing the very same clothing worn by the believers at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:8). This would give us the idea that the armies will include the believers who have followed the Messiah through the centuries. The armies will include all the redeemed. In addition, the armies will include the multitude of angels that Jesus Christ said He was going to bring with Him when He returned to earth (Matthew 25:31). From his mouth goes forth a sharp two-edged sword (Revelation 1:16; Psalm 2:9; Isaiah 11:4).
He will tread the wine-press of the anger of the wrath of God. The picture is of the trampling of grapes so as to produce the wine of the wrath of God, which his enemies must drink to their doom. Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the sovereign King and Sovereign Lord of the universe. No one exists except by His will and no one will be allowed to be a citizen of His kingdom unless they have His approval. When He comes as conqueror, He is going to exile all who have not acknowledged and subjected themselves to His sovereignty.
Revelation 19:17-18 As the battle is joined there will be the call to the supper to all the birds of the air. These are the birds of prey, created to feast on the armies that will be slain in the battle of Armageddon (Ezekiel 39:4; 39:17-20; Matthew 24:27-28). Even after the birds have eaten, it will still take seven months to bury the remaining corpses (Ezekiel 39:12). Every year millions of birds fly over Israel as they migrate south from Europe to Africa.
Revelation 19:19 The world’s armies will be mobilized for battle. The Antichrist is there. The kings of the earth are there. The armies of the nations are there. One might ask why bother with foot soldiers when the world has so many sophisticated weapons such as missiles and atomic warheads? The reason is armies use foot soldiers when they want to preserve the land and its resources.
The Antichrist will lead his armies against Israel to rid the world of the Jewish problem, once and for all and to take the Middle East with its rich resources for himself. He will march against those who claim to be followers of Jesus. Many Jewish people have come to faith through the testimony of the 144,000 in Revelation 7:4. This is what is meant by the statement that the Antichrist and his armies gather together to fight against Christ.
Jesus and His people are one; therefore, to fight against the followers of Jesus is to fight against Messiah. The armies of the world will gather in Israel as we have already considered in Revelation 16:12-16. But we should consider Ezekiel 38-39 to get a more vivid picture of the gathering armies along with Zechariah 13-14 & Joel 3:12-14. This verse says that all the nations and alliances of the earth are going to be involved in the great battle of Armageddon. The kings of the east: all the nations east of Israel, apparently involving the Arabs, China, and all the other eastern nations. These will probably be headed up by the Antichrist.
The kings of the north: all the nations north of Israel including Russia. The kings of the south: all nations south of Israel including the nations of Africa. The kings of the west: all the nations west of Israel including a western alliance and involving some of the European nations and probably including America and other powerful nations of the Americas and Canada.
Enemies will gather from every nation with each taking sides to protect its own interest. As stated, the point of conflict may be oil or the phosphates and minerals in the Dead Sea. Behind all these forces are the demonic spirits aligned against God and His Kingdom. The Lord will slay the Antichrist with the spirit of His mouth which is the spirit of truth, holiness, and unlimited power. When Jesus speaks there will be no battle, He will just speak the Word and the Antichrist and all the forces aligned with him will be slain.
