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In Revelation 19 John describes a supper, to which all the fowls that
fly in the midst of heaven are invited.
Verse 9 of the chapter says that those who are called unto the
marriage supper of the Lamb are blessed.
This would imply that the birds are the ones who are blessed.
Commentators have struggled with the imagery of birds devouring the
flesh of men at the supper, and so they argue that two different suppers are
depicted in Revelation 19.
Dispensationalist H. A. Ironside interpreted Revelation 19:6-21 as
“two suppers.” The birds who are invited are interpreted as vultures.
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud
voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather
yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against
his army.
“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought
miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of
the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
“These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with
brimstone.
“And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled
with their flesh.” Revelation
19:17-21
Gregory K. Beale said the sword causes a literal slaughter of God’s
enemies, and argued against an interpretation which views the prophecy as
depicting the conversion and redemption of men.
He wrote: Some have viewed Rev. 19:11-21 as a depiction of
Christ converting the nations throughout the course of history, with a
secondary emphasis on figurative judgment. But this is incompatible with the
consistent emphasis on judgment throughout the section (argued above) and the
climactic nature of the judgment described as occurring at the end of world
history … For example, to say that the “killing” of the Antichrist’s followers
“by the sword proceeding from his [Christ’s] mouth (19:21) refers to their conversion is to reverse
the meaning of 19:11-19, of the punitive OT allusions therein, and especially
of the Ps. 2:9 and Isa. 11:4 pictures, both in their original contexts and,
above all, in their prior use in Rev. 1:16 and 2:12, 14 (cf. also Isa. 49:2).
A. C. Gaebelein viewed the “supper” as a feast for literal birds. He
wrote: Verses 17-21. And what a sublime vision comes next! An angel is
beheld by the Seer standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he summons the
birds that fly in mid-heaven to gather themselves to the great supper of God to
eat the flesh of the slain. The birds of prey are summoned in anticipation of
the battle of Armageddon which is then imminent. And now the hour of judgment
has come. An angel, standing in the sun, the place of supreme authority, gives
the invitation to the birds of prey to be ready for the feast which a holy and
righteous God will have for them. The day of wrath has come. The slain of the
Lord shall be many (Isaiah 66:16).
Charles D. Alexander criticized a literal interpretation, which
claimed these birds are vultures.
The fantasies woven around this ‘battle’ by theorists both inside and
outside the evangelical testimony, have recently been brought to the last
degree of absurdity by a pamphlet emanating we believe from Canada, telling us
that there has recently appeared in the valley of Megiddo in Palestine ‘”a
new breed of vultures, a breed never seen before, multiplying at three times
the normal rate,” in supposed fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy that
ravenous birds of prey will assemble to devour the carcasses of the slain in
the great battle.
The pamphleteer informs us that these birds are buzzards, and the
buzzard (he says) usually lays only one egg at a time, whereas these
apocalyptic buzzards are laying four, so there will be enough birds to take
care of the vast number of corpses slain in the great battle.
On account of this phenomenal rate of increase of the buzzard or
vulture population, the writer naturally forecasts that the great battle must
soon take place. He should be warned. Maybe it has already begun!
How trivial are these wild guesses compared with the solemn and sober
meaning of prophecy. Had the writer of this pamphlet only looked into the
preceding chapter he would have found feathered fowl enough to expose the folly
of his guesses.
He would have read these words in chapter 18 verse 2: “Babylon
the great is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of
every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
There the unclean birds are synonymous with devils and evil spirits.
Yet another figurative use of birds denoting something very much more
sinister than feathered fowl is found in our Lord’s parable of the sower (Matthew 13) where we read of the ‘wayside’ hearers who
received not the word which was preached, and so the fowls came and devoured
the seed.
These fowls, the Lord explains as follows, “When anyone
heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the
wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.”
By what principle therefore does our Canadian friend conclude that the
birds of Revelation 19 are vultures?
He also overlooks the plain statement of the verse that not one
variety of predatory birds assembles for the feast on the battlefield,
but “all the fowls which fly in the midst of heaven”.
In several prophecies, birds are symbolic of spirits; the examples
cited by Alexander are malevolent, but there are also benevolent ones.
The spirit of God that John the Baptist saw coming down upon Jesus was like a dove. [John 1:32-33]
The spirit of God that John the Baptist saw coming down upon Jesus was like a dove. [John 1:32-33]
An angel standing in the sun
The sun represents the gospel, and in Revelation 12:1, the woman who
represents the church is clothed with the sun.
The angel in the sun has to do with the gospel, the good news that all nations will be blessed.
The angel in the sun has to do with the gospel, the good news that all nations will be blessed.
Fowls that fly in the midst of heaven
The fowl flying in the midst of heaven may represent the saints who
are raised up to immortality at the coming of Christ.
David longed for wings like a dove, so he could fly away to his “rest.” [Psalm 55:6]
He remarked on the presence of birds within the temple, and in the
altars there. [Psalm 84:1-3]
Isaiah wrote: “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to
their windows?” Isaiah 60:8
In several scriptures, birds seem to represent the saints. Jesus told
his disciples to be “harmless as doves.” [Matthew 10:16]
He said they were more valuable than many sparrows. [Matthew 10:31]
He described the kingdom of God as a great tree, in which the fowls of
the air would dwell. [Luke 13:18-19]
He used the figure of eagles gathered together around a carcass, to
represent the church. [Luke 17:33-37]
The supper of the great God
The supper of the great God is clearly the royal wedding between
Christ and the saints. Those invited to it are blessed.
“And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto
the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true
sayings of God.” Revelation
19:9
John incorporated the prophecy of Ezekiel, about the judgment of the
hordes of Gog and Magog, which involves a great sacrifice, and a feast for the
birds and beasts, in his prophecy.
“And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every
feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come;
gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you,
even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and
drink blood.
Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.” Ezekiel 39:17-22
Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.” Ezekiel 39:17-22
Animals and men, even horses and chariots, are on the menu. But, men
and horses are unclean, and so are unfit for sacrifices. Drinking of blood was
forbidden. [Acts 15:29]
Horses represent people who lack understanding. [Psalm 32:9]
And chariots, of course, are inedible.
A literal interpretation of this scene is thwarted, because the
sacrifice occurs after the burial of the remains of the army of Gog and Magog
for seven months.
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, captains, mighty
men, horses
The invitation to eat flesh alludes to the cleansing of men, in the
judgment. The metaphor is somewhat similar to the idea underlying Peter’s
vision when the first Gentiles were brought into the church.
“Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.” Acts 10:9-16
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.” Acts 10:9-16
In Peter’s vision the various creatures represented Gentiles, who had
been made clean.
In John’s prophecy the kings, captains, mighty men, and horses also
represent people who have been cleansed by God.
Just as Peter was invited to eat, the fowl that fly in the midst of
heaven represent the saints, who like Peter, are invited to eat at a great
supper.
Obviously, Peter did not literally eat any of the creatures offered to
him. He understood that the creatures in the vision were symbolic of Gentile
converts, who Christ had cleansed, and who were then accepted into the
fellowship of the church as brethren.
This suggests how John’s prophecy may be interpreted. The invitation
to the birds to feast upon the flesh of men does not mean that men are to be
literally eaten.
In John’s prophecy, as well as Ezekiel’s, Peter’s vision has been
turned around; instead of the saints being invited to eat creatures of all
kinds, the saints are represented by birds, who are then invited to eat the
flesh of men.
As in Peter’s vision of the great sheet, the meaning is that men of
all kinds are to be included in the church, as they will be cleansed by God.
The expression “…all the fowls were filled with their flesh” implies
they are included in the church, which is “the mother of us all.” [Galatians 4:26]
The heavenly Jerusalem will become the spiritual mother of men. [Revelation 21:24-25]
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that
sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth
The sword refers to the scriptures. To be slain by
the word of God is a metaphor; the old nature is slain, and men become new
creations.
This figurative sword of holy scripture is used in warfare against the
false teachings, and flawed interpretations.
A hidden Psalm
In Revelation 7:4-8, John listed the names of the 12 tribes of Israel
in an order unlike that used elsewhere in the Bible.
The meanings of the names provided in Genesis, and the order in which
the names are listed by John suggests a Psalm, which applies to the church.
It confirms the interpretation of the supper of Revelation 19:17
suggested above.
Judah:
|
I
will praise the LORD
|
Reuben:
|
Surely
the LORD hath looked upon my affliction
|
Gad:
|
He
has granted me good fortune
|
Asher:
|
Happy
am I
|
Naphtali:
|
With
great wrestlings have I wrestled
|
Manasseh:
|
God
will make me forget all my toil
|
Simeon:
|
The
LORD hath heard me
|
Levi:
|
He
has joined Himself to me
|
Issachar:
|
He
has purchased me
|
Zebulun:
|
He
will dwell with me always
|
Joseph:
|
The
LORD shall add more children to me
|
Benjamin:
|
By
the son of His right hand.
|
Creation Concept - Doug Cox’s
blog on interpreting Bible prophecy.
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