And he hath on his vesture... — The King rides at the head of His host. On His robe, where it spreads out from the waist, His title is inscribed; it proclaims Him to be the one who is the true supreme King of all. Inscriptions on the outer garments were sometimes used by distinguished personages. The title anticipates the final victory; His power is irresistible, his Kingship is universal.
OVERTHROW OF THE WILD BEAST AND OF THE FALSE PROPHET. — The birds of prey gather beforehand (Revelation 19:17-18). The beast, and the kings of the earth hostile to the King of kings, gather for war (Revelation 19:20). Their defeat and fate (verses 21, 22).
(17, 18) And I saw an angel... — Better, And I saw an (literally, one) angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a great voice, Hither be gathered together to the great supper of God, that ye may eat flesh of kings, and flesh of captains of thousands, and flesh of mighty men, and flesh of horses, and of them that are seated on them, and flesh of all, of free and of bond, and of small and of great. The angel stands in the sun — the central spot to summon the birds, and the spot where he stands bathed in the sunlight, the symbol of the divine presence. (Comp. Revelation 1:16; Revelation 10:1; Revelation 12:1.) The birds of prey are assembled beforehand; the adversaries of the righteous King have a name to live, but the eagles and vultures are gathered together as though the carcase had already fallen (Matthew 24:28; comp. Ezekiel 39:17-20). The supper or banquet is the chief meal in the day, the meal to which guests would be invited. The banquet or supper here is in contrast with the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), and with the great supper (Luke 14:16-24) from which the invited guests turned away. All classes — the great and small, the master and slave — are mentioned. Those who follow the world-power, and array themselves in hostility to the true King, belong not to one class, but may be found among all. The war is not between class and class, but between righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and falsehood, Christ and Belial. We must remember that the vision is a great figurative representation of the defeat of the anti-Christian powers and principles in the world; this will save us from misapprehending its purpose, and from a bondaged literalism.
(19) And I saw the beast, and the kings... — Rather, I saw the wild beast. The wild beast and the kings are gathered to make or wage not merely “war,” but “the war” (the definite article is used; comp. Revelation 16:14; Revelation 17:14) against the King of kings. It has been noticed that the true King is followed by His army — one army, united by one bond, and under one King. The wild beast is supported by diverse armies, owning allegiance to diverse kings, and united only in hostility to good.
(20) And the beast was taken... — Or, And the wild beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who did the signs in his presence... Again the definite article (“the signs” or “miracles”) recalls to our minds what was before described (Revelation 13:13); the false prophet is the second wild beast of Revelation 13. He succeeded in deceiving those who received the mark. See Notes on Revelation 13, where their work of deception is described; here our thoughts are fixed upon their doom. Alive they were cast, the two, into the lake of the fire which burns with brimstone. The two — the wild beast and the false prophet — who are the anti-Christian leaders are cast into the fiery lake. These leaders are not to be, as we have seen, regarded as particular individuals. It has, indeed, often happened, and will doubtless again happen, that an individual personage places himself at the head of a great anti-Christian movement; yet, in the eye of the seer, such would be but subordinate leaders. The wild beast and the false prophet, directed by the dragon, are the true spiritual chiefs of all such movements. The world-power, whether coarse, ignorant and brutal, or cultured and intellectual, is seized, and consigned to the lake of fire. The imagery here is based upon the Old Testament: the lake, the fire, and the brimstone bring back the geography and the incidents attending the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrha. (Comp. Numbers 16:32-34; Isaiah 5:14.) The lake of fire is mentioned here for the first time; we hear of it more frequently afterwards (Revelation 20:10; Revelation 20:14-15; Revelation 21:8). The flames and brimstone, smoke, and other volcanic forces indicating the existence of subterranean fire, might well lead the ancients to place their Tartarus and Gehenna in the under-world. (See Note in Moses Stuart on Revelation 14:10.) These supplied the imagery which has become crystallised in the language of after-generations.
(21) And the remnant were slain... — Better, And the rest were slain with (literally, in) the sword of Him who is seated on the horse, which (sword) proceeded out of His mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh. The rest (i.e., the human beings, the kings and the great and small, who have been led away by the world-powers) were slain with the sword of the King. No human being is described here as being cast into the lake of fire — only the two great leaders, the ideal representatives of evil principles, receive that punishment. The sword which goes out of the King’s mouth (comp. Revelation 19:15 and Revelation 1:16) slays the human allies of evil. That word which is quick and powerful (Hebrews 4:12), that word which Christ spoke in the days of His humiliation, that word which is mighty and life-giving (James 1:18) as well as death-giving, wins at the last. The birds devour the flesh. The pride and beauty of men, their apparent strength, the confederations and systems which they have made so strong for themselves, when their heart was fat as brawn, are proved to be worthless and strengthless; all the men whose hands were mighty find nothing (Psalms 76:5-6). Thus, while all flesh is seen to be but grass, and all the goodliness and pride of it but as the flower thereof, the righteous word of the Lord stands for ever, and at the last rises up as a sword to smite down and to slay its enemies. “They were killed,” says Bengel. “with the destroying sword of Christ, which is not of steel or iron, but goes out of His mouth, and so is a spiritual weapon of resistless might.”