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.
21. And the remnant were slain ] They are not, at least at once, consigned to the same eternal torment as their leaders: but see Rev 14:10, Rev 20:15.
with the sword of him &c.] None of His followers have need to bear part in the battle: indeed they seem to bear no arms, Rev 19:14. Compare the grand passage of St Chrysostom, in his 24th Homily on the Epistle to the Romans (on xiii. 12), already partly quoted on Rev 19:11. “What then, is there no necessity for thee to fight? Yea, needful is it to fight, yet not to be distressed and toil. For it is not in fact war, but a solemn dance and feast-day, such is the nature of the arms, such the power of the Commander.” The victory is so plainly designated as one to be gained by purely spiritual means, that it is by no means certain that the armies to be overthrown are to be understood of an actual military confederacy. More probably, the confederacy of the powers of the world, under the leadership of Antichrist, will be primarily intellectual and spiritual.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the remnant – The remainder of the assembled hosts – the army at large, in contradistinction from the leaders.
Were slain with the sword – Cut down with the sword; not rescued for protracted torment. A proper distinction is thus made between the deceived multitudes and the leaders who had deceived them.
Of him that sat upon the horse – The Messiah, Rev 19:11.
Which sword proceeded out of his mouth – notes on Rev 19:15. That is, they were cut down by a word. They fell before him as he spake, as if they were slain by the sword. Perhaps this indicates that the effect that is to be produced when these great powers shall be destroyed is a moral effect; that is, that they will be subdued by the word of the Son of God.
And all the fowls were filled with their flesh – notes on Rev 19:17. An effect was produced as if the fowls of heaven should feed upon the carcasses of the slain.
The general idea here is, that these great anti-Christian powers which had so long resisted the gospel, and prevented its being spread over the earth; which had shed so much blood in persecution, and had so long corrupted and deceived mankind, would be subdued. The true religion would be as triumphant as if the Son of God should go forth as a warrior in his own might, and secure their leaders for punishment, and give up their hosts to the birds of prey. This destruction of these great enemies – which the whole course of the interpretation leads us to suppose is still future – prepares the way for the millennial reign of the Son of God – as stated in the following chapter. The beast and the false prophet are disposed of, and there remains only the subjugation of the great dragon – the source of all this evil – to prepare the way for the long-anticipated triumph of the gospel. The subjugation of the great original source of all those evil influences is stated in Rev 20:1-3; and then follows the account of the thousand years rest of the saints, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. With the sword of him that sat upon the horse] He who sat on the white horse is Christ; and his sword is his word-the unadulterated Gospel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In all armies there are are common soldiers as well as officers. What the issue of this battle shall be, as to the leaders in it, the former verse told us: this tells us how it shall fare with those under the command of them. It seems they shall not be excused because they followed their leaders, and did only what they bade them; Christ commands that they also should be slain.
And all the fowls were filled with their flesh; and this bloody day (whenever it comes) will be a day of great slaughter, for the dead bodies will be enough to sup and fill all the fowls of heaven.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. the remnantGreek,“the rest,” that is, “the kings and their armies”(Re 19:19) classed together inone indiscriminate mass. A solemn confirmation of the warning in Ps2:10.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the remnant were slain,…. Not only the kings of the earth, and their armies, that will now be gathered together, but all the remains of Papists, Pagans, and Mahometans, in the several parts of the world, even all the enemies of Christ: these will be slain
with the sword of him that sat upon the horse; upon the white horse, as the Ethiopic version reads; the Arabic version reads, that sat upon the throne,
which sword proceedeth out of his mouth, Re 19:15 and is the word of God, or the judiciary sentence of Christ according to it; and the meaning is, either that these shall be subdued, conquered, and converted by the word; and so are fitly called a “remnant”, a remnant according to the election of grace among the antichristian party; and which sense agrees with Re 11:13 or else that they will be convicted and confounded, and not be able to stand against the light and evidence of the word of God, and will be sentenced by Christ to everlasting punishment; and it may be partly one, and partly the other.
And all the fowls were filled with their flesh; all the Christian princes and people will be satisfied with their kingdoms, riches, and wealth, and will rejoice at their destruction, and in the righteousness of God, which will be displayed in it; and now the world being clear of all Christ’s enemies, Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan, the way will be prepared for Christ’s open and glorious kingdom in it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The rest ( ). Of the enemy (the kings and their hosts of verse 19).
Were killed (). First aorist (effective) passive indicative of . Those affected by the Caesar-worship (14:9ff.) were not at once cast into the lake with the two beasts.
Were filled (). First aorist (effective) passive of . As they had been invited to do in verse 17.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Were filled [] . See on Mt 5:6.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
4) DOOM OF THE KINGS
1) “And the remnant were slain,” (kai hoi loipoi apektanthesan) “And the remainder (of their followers) were killed; Those who had made a covenant with death and hell, to resist, reject Jesus Christ. Death does not end all, though the wicked would cry for it to do so, but too late, Heb 9:27; Rev 6:14-17.
2) “With the sword of him that sat upon the horse,” (en te hromphaia tou kathemenou epi tou hippou) “By means or instrument of the sword of him who was sitting upon the (white) horse; with the sword of power that proceeded out of his mouth, not from his hand Rev 19:15; Rev 1:16.
3) “Which sword proceeded out of his mouth,” (te ekselthouse ek tou stomatos autou) “By the sword which was proceeding out of his mouth,” Rev 19:15; Isa 11:4; Heb 4:12. He who is omnipotent, could and may, bring the blood from man and beast, as described herein, by the breath or word of His power,” Isa 11:4; Job 41:21.
4) “And all the fowls,” (kai panta ta ornea) “And all the fowls (birds of heaven that had been invited to a flesh feast),” Rev 19:17-18; of the type described by Job 39:27-30.
5) “Were filled with their flesh,” (echortasthesan ekton sarkon auton) “Were gorged out of (from) their fleshes,” of men and horses, Rev 19:18; Luk 17:37; Rev 17:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
21. The remnant The non-military adherents of antichrist.
Slain And so not cast into the lake of fire until after the day of judgment, Rev 20:11-15.
With the sword One divine weapon does the whole work.
Fowls flesh The great supper is served; the very substance of the enemies of truth and righteousness is borne to the four points of the compass by God’s aerial servitors. Of the triad of leaders the last and greatest remains to be disposed of. That part is, unhappily, severed from this by the wrong division of chapters.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the remainder were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, even the sword which came out of his mouth, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.’
Those who are human die a shameful death, pictured in terms of being eaten by birds. They do not share the fate of the beast and the false prophet. We are told that they are slain by the sword that came out of the mouth of Him Who sat on the horse. But that sword is spiritual and connected with His words of power. Thus the actual method of their deaths is unknown to us. They are slain by His judgments.
In the Old Testament the last battle is always between earthly forces, and it may well be that even to the end, in the face of God’s judgments, men behave as they have always done and attack each other and do battle, and it may be that their deaths to a large extent result from those battles. But that is not this ‘battle’, for this was no battle at all. It was a vivid description of Jesus Christ arriving to judge the earth and deal finally with Satan and his emissaries. We are to gather the ultimate ideas and not concentrate on the literal descriptions.
It is significant in all this that there is no mention of Satan, even though we might have expected it. Indeed, there has only been one mention of him since chapter 12 (in Rev 16:13 where he was making his last attempt to deceive mankind). Unlike in Rev 12:7-9 he is not directly involved in this ‘battle’. It is left to his minions. The foes of the people of God since Rev 13:1 have been the Beasts representing empires, and Babylon the Great representing idolatry and commercialism The description of Satan’s end will now follow in a new vision, and in it we learn why Satan has been kept out of the way. He has been under close guard.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
REFLECTIONS
Oh! the raptures, the joy, the unspeakable felicity, which will break out in heaven, when, like John in vision, the Church of God will hear in reality, that great voice, of much people, saying Allelujah, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God! The imagination of the human mind cannot conceive the triumphs of the Church, when the Lord shall bring home the re deemed of his people; and the Lord shall have avenged the blood of his servants at the hands of the great whore, who, for so many ages and generations, hath corrupted the earth with the multitude of her fornications!
Oh! ye Church of my God, ye followers of God, and the Lamb! who shall number up your mercies, or speak the endless felicity of your happy state, when safely brought home from all the exercises of sin and sorrow, and are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! Ye servants of the Lord! see that ye are arrayed with the fine linen, clean and white, even the righteousness of saints, which is Jesus’s robe of salvation! See that God, who provides it for you, puts it on. No other can gain admission to the table of the Lord, either here in grace, or hereafter in glory! Oh! for the being so clad, that all the redeemed of the Lord may exult in the language of the Church of old, and say: / will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels!
But, Oh! for grace to behold my God and Savior as John saw him, riding on his white horse, in his glorious characters of faithful and true, and in righteousness judging, and making war. Lord! give me to see thee, with thy many crowns. And, oh! for that very one, which thou hast enabled me to put upon thy sacred head, when in the day thou madest me willing to be saved in thine own way, and the knee of my heart bowed before thee; and I cried out, Jesus hath redeemed me, and saved me, and washed me from all my sins, in his blood! Lord! let me daily behold thee, in thy vesture dipped in blood! let me daily read, and know thy name, the Word of God. Let me, to the last moment of my life upon earth, till I fall before thy throne in glory, hail thee, my King, and my God yea, King of kings, and Lord of lords! Oh! the day, the blissful, happy wedding day, when Jesus will take me home, and while the beast, and the false prophet fall to rise no more, but sink in the lake of fire; I shall, through sovereign grace, behold my God and Savior as he is, and dwell with him forever. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21 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.
Ver. 21. Slain with the sword ] Not so deeply damned, and yet so slain as to be made a prey to the infernal vultures; and then the fattest carcase shall be the finest prey, the greatest sinners the sorest sufferers.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the remnant = the rest. App-124.
proceeded. The texts read “came forth”.
with App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 19:21. , the remnant) even the kings, Rev 19:18-19. They are mingled with the crowd, as Pharaoh, Zaerach, Gog. See Ord. Temp. pp. 161, 162, 182, 183 [Ed. II. pp. 142, 143, 160].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the remnant: Rev 19:11-15, Rev 1:16
and all: Rev 19:17, Rev 19:18, Rev 17:16
Reciprocal: Deu 33:29 – the sword Jdg 9:56 – God rendered 1Ki 19:17 – Elisha slay Psa 45:3 – Gird Isa 25:5 – shalt bring Isa 27:1 – with his Isa 30:25 – in the day Eze 39:18 – eat Zec 9:13 – made Mat 18:7 – but 2Th 2:8 – the spirit Heb 4:12 – sharper Rev 2:12 – which hath Rev 2:16 – will fight Rev 11:18 – shouldest Rev 19:15 – out Rev 20:5 – the rest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 19:21. And the rest were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword that went out of his month, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. By the rest here spoken of it seems probable that we are to understand all who have imbibed the principles of the beast and the false prophet, as distinguished from these two great enemies of Christ themselves. In like manner we read in chap. Rev 12:17 of the rest of the womans seed, as distinguished from the body of the professing Church. This rest might have partaken of the supper of the Lamb, but they rejected the light because they loved the darkness; and the evil which they chose now brings with it swift and irresistible destruction.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
All of their allied forces are slain.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Verse 21
The remnant; that is, of those that had worshipped the beast.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The rest of Jesus Christ’s enemies, the 10 kings and their armies, will die in a moment by His word and will go to Hades. There they will await resurrection and final judgment at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:11-15). "The rest" probably also includes all earth-dwellers. They had plenty of opportunity to repent but did not do so. How they will die is not clear, but their death proceeds from the mouth of Jesus Christ. Probably the sword proceeding from His mouth represents a word of judgment that He utters. The means that He uses are obscure, as is true of how He created the universe with a word. So many people will die that the birds will have plenty to eat (Eze 39:17-20). [Note: For another exposition of this passage, see David J. MacLeod, "The Second ’Last Thing’: The Defeat of Antichrist," Bibliotheca Sacra 156:623 (July-September 1999):325-35.]
Some interpreters have seen the Rapture occurring at the same time as the Second Coming (i.e., posttribulationists). However none of the events John recorded in Rev 19:11-21 correspond to the events predicted to take place at the Rapture (Joh 14:1-3; 1Co 15:50-58; 1Th 4:15-18). The differences in the descriptions of these two events argue for a pretribulation Rapture.
What is the relationship of the Tribulation to the dispensation of grace? Dispensational writers have suggested several answers. Three of these are the major views. Some have seen the Tribulation as a revival of the dispensation of the law. They believe the dispensation of grace ends at the Rapture. [Note: E.g., Lewis S. Chafer, Major Bible Themes, p. 100.] The major problem with this view is that no other dispensation begins again once it has ended. A second explanation is that the Tribulation is a dispensation itself occurring after the dispensation of grace. Advocates of this view say the dispensation of grace ends with the Rapture and the dispensation of the kingdom begins with Christ’s second coming. [Note: E.g., William Evans, Outline Study of the Bible, pp. 30-37.] Critics of this view point out that the Tribulation does not bear the marks of a full-fledged dispensation. The marks of a dispensation include a change in God’s basic governmental relationship with humankind and a consequent change in people’s responsibility to God. A third view is that the Tribulation occurs within and at the end of the dispensation of grace. [Note: E.g., Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today, pp. 56-57; idem, Dispensationalism, p. 56.] Every other dispensation also ends with human failure and divine judgment. The Tribulation is the period of divine judgment following believers’ failure to fulfill God’s will during the inter-advent era (i.e., the dispensation of grace). The church age is only a part of this inter-advent era, since it began on the day of Pentecost and will end with the Rapture. This view seems to me to be the best explanation. It views the dispensation of grace as identical with the inter-advent era rather than with the church age.