The Power of the Other Voice

     The next voices John hears are the loud praises of the heavenly court. If you haven’t noticed it yet, every time we see the description of a great multitude in Heaven, it refers to the raptured Church. “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! For true and righteous are His judgments” (vs. 1-2a)       
       Notice that the 24 elders and four living creatures fall down in worship. They add the “amen and alleluia.” You may recall that the elders represent the Old Testament saints who accepted Jesus’ gospel message in Abraham’s Bosom and therefore ascended to Heaven with Jesus. Why would they rejoice at the Harlot’s fall? It is because they know evil must be dealt with, wherever it originates.
        Under the Old Covenant there were ramifications for breaking the Law. At a certain point, as lawlessness continued and God’s people chose to go their own way, the prophets warned the people of what would come. The people knew the consequences, yet chose to continue their own worldly ways. The prophet Isaiah declared, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Is. 5:20).
          Keep in mind, too, that not all of Israel has fallen. The rest of the Woman’s offspring, the faithful remnant who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ are in their protected place during the war for Jerusalem.
         “Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great’!” (Rev. 19:5). To which the great multitude of the raptured Church responds with “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” When this last Day ends and all is made new, there shall be a celebration like no other—the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But for now, the heavenly court has more pressing things to attend to, “for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (v. 10). Something astounding happens when Heaven rejoices at God’s justice and mercy.
          End-Time Lesson: What John sees next gives us more details about how the Antichrist is defeated as prophesied. We know that the Antichrist has already declared war on Israel. Now John sees the veil over the heavenly realm being pulled back again. We see the Faithful and True One, the Righteous One, the Judge who makes war against the Antichrist’s coalition.
          He has eyes like a flame of fire. He is wearing many crowns. His name is called the Word of God (see Jn. 1:1). You may recall that the Body of Christ follows Jesus wherever He goes. So of course we are seen likewise riding horses in the heavenlies. Despite what you may have been taught, notice that this vision never shows this heavenly landing on the earth to fight like mere mortals.
          It doesn’t even say we ride through the heavenlies! There is no need to now because the archangel Michael and his angelic army already went to war with the evil spirits there and defeated them. Satan and his forces were cast down to the earth. Our spiritual warfare is fought using the Word. We sit tall in the saddle like our King before us and yield the strongest, most effective weapon in all of creation: our two-edged sword. [Ps. 149:6; Heb. 4:12].
           The sword is pictured as being in the Lord’s mouth. Do we really believe that Jesus will have to literally come down to the fallen earth and ride around swishing His head back and forth to cut down the enemy? For that matter, have any of us ever seen the four horsemen of the apocalypse (tribulation) riding around in our current heavenlies? Of course not. John is using the figurative images of warfare in His time (the cavalry) to set the stage. The two edged sword is our agreement with God’s will, our declarations and praise to the Most High God, releasing His will on the earth.