For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
14. devils ] Strictly demons: see on Rev 16:13.
miracles ] Strictly signs, as in Rev 13:14. One may notice, that this is the word always used for miracles in St John’s Gospel.
go forth unto the kings &c.] See Rev 19:19, and cf. Rev 20:3; Rev 20:8.
the battle ] Rev 17:14, Rev 19:19-21.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For they are the spirits of devils – On the meaning of the word used here, see the notes on Rev 9:20. It is used here, as it is in Rev 9:20, in a bad sense, as denoting evil spirits. Compare the notes on Mat 4:1-2, Mat 4:24.
Working miracles – Working what seemed to be miracles; that is, such wonders as to deceive the world with the belief that they were miracles. See the notes on Rev 13:13-14, where the same power is ascribed to the beast.
Which go forth unto the kings of the earth – Which particularly affect and influence kings and rulers. No class of people have been more under the influence of pagan superstition, Muhammedan delusion, or the papacy, than kings and princes. We are taught by this passage that this will continue to be so in the circumstances referred to.
And of the whole world – That is, so far that it might be represented as affecting the whole world – to wit, the pagan, the Muhammedan, and the papal portions of the earth. These still embrace so large a portion of the globe, that it might be said, that what would affect those powers now would influence the whole world.
To gather them – Not literally to assemble them all in one place, but so to unite and combine them that it might be represented as an assembling of the hosts for battle.
To the battle of that great day of God Almighty – Not the day of judgment, but the day which would determine the ascendency of true religion in the world – the final conflict with those powers which had so long opposed the gospel. It is not necessary to suppose that there would be a literal battle, in which God would be seen to contend with his foes; but there would be what might be properly represented as a battle. That is, there would be a combined struggle against the truth, and in that God would appear by his providence and Spirit on the side of the church, and would give it the victory. It accords with all that has occurred in the past, to suppose that there will be such a combined struggle before the church shall finally triumph in the world.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Which, from the influence of the devil, should solicit the kings of the earth to join together in a battle against the church. This is, undoubtedly, the battle in Armageddon, Rev 16:16.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. devilsGreek,“demons.”
working miraclesGreek,“signs.”
go forth untoor “for,”that is, to tempt them to the battle with Christ.
the kings of the earth and,c.A, B, Syriac, and ANDREASomit “of the earth and,” which clause is not in anymanuscript. Translate, “kings of the whole habitable world,”who are “of this world,” in contrast to “the kings of(from) the East” (the sun-rising), Re16:12, namely, the saints to whom Christ has appointed akingdom, and who are “children of light.” God, inpermitting Satan’s miracles, as in the case of the Egyptianmagicians who were His instruments in hardening Pharaoh’s heart,gives the reprobate up to judicial delusion preparatory to theirdestruction. As Aaron’s rod was changed into a serpent, so were thoseof the Egyptian magicians. Aaron turned the water into blood so didthe magicians. Aaron brought up frogs; so did the magicians. With thefrogs their power ceased. So this, or whatever is antitypicalto it, will be the last effort of the dragon, beast, and falseprophet.
battleGreek,“war”; the final conflict for the kingship of the worlddescribed in Re 19:17-21.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For they are the spirits of devils,…. They are of their father the devil; they are acted and influenced by him, he works effectually in them, and leads them captive at his will; they do his lusts, and are murderers and liars, and false teachers, like him:
working miracles; lying ones, to deceive men; this clearly points out who are meant, namely, the followers of antichrist, who, as they spread the doctrines of devils, endeavour to confirm them by signs and lying wonders:
which go forth unto the kings of the earth: those who have committed fornication with the Romish antichrist, such of them as will remain:
and of the whole world; as many Pagan princes as they can come at, and engage by any ways and means in their interest; they will go forth to them like the lying spirit to Ahab’s prophets, 1Ki 22:22
to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty; that is, they will persuade them to gather together, to fight against the saints, the Gentile Christians in the several parts of the world, and the Jewish Christians, now settled in their own land; and this will be the battle of the Lord, who is God Almighty, and it will be fighting against him; and therefore the attempt must be vain and fruitless, and issue in the ruin of those who are gathered to it, who will be deceived and drawn into it by these diabolical spirits: and this is called “the battle of that great day of God”; not of the day of judgment, for it will be before that time; but of that day of vengeance upon all the remains of his and his church’s enemies, both Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan, who will for this purpose be gathered together; “which”, as the Ethiopic version renders it, “God has appointed”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Spirits of devils ( ). “Spirits of demons.” Explanation of the simile . See 1Ti 4:1 about “deceiving spirits and teachings of demons.”
Working signs ( ). “Doing signs” (present active participle of ). The Egyptian magicians wrought “signs” (tricks), as did Simon Magus and later Apollonius of Tyana. Houdini claimed that he could reproduce every trick of the spiritualistic mediums.
Which go forth ( ). Singular verb with neuter plural (collective) subject.
Unto the kings ( ). The three evil spirits (dragon and the two beasts) spur on the kings of the whole world to a real world war. “There have been times when nations have been seized by a passion for war which the historian can but imperfectly explain” (Swete).
To gather them together (). Second aorist active infinitive of , to express purpose (that of the unclean spirits).
Unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty ( ). Some take this to be war between nations, like Mr 13:8, but it is more likely war against God (Ps 2:2) and probably the battle pictured in Rev 17:14; Rev 19:19. Cf. 2Pe 3:12, “the day of God,” his reckoning with the nations. See Joel 2:11; Joel 3:4. Paul uses “that day” for the day of the Lord Jesus (the Parousia) as in 1Thess 5:2; 2Thess 1:10; 2Thess 2:2; 1Cor 1:8; 2Cor 1:14; Phil 1:6; Phil 2:16; 2Tim 1:12; 2Tim 1:18; 2Tim 4:8.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Of the earth and of the whole world. Omit of the earth and.
World [] . See on Luk 2:1.
The battle [] . Rev., more literally, war. Battle is mach.
That great day [] . Omit. Read, as Rev., “the great day.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For they are the spirits of devils,” (eisin gar pneumata daimonian) “for they (these frog-like creatures) are spirits of demons,” cohorts who do the work of the devil, 1Ti 4:1-2; 1Jn 4:1-6. They have a devil directed mission of pious religious deception by which they doom souls to hell, Mat 7:22; 1Co 10:20-21.
2) “Working miracles,” (poiounta semeia) “working, continually manipulating signs,” miracles of natural phenomena, trying by deceptive powers to doom and damn her followers, as Pharaohs magicians did, and as others have done, Rev 13:13; Deu 13:1-3; Exo 7:11-12; Exo 7:22; Exo 8:7; Exo 18:19; 1Ki 22:19-23.
3) “Which go forth,” (ha ekporeuetai) “which signs or miracles go forth (are done),” and have been done by Satan and his false prophets through the ages as lying deceiving witnesses, Mat 7:22; as Simon the Sorcerer Elymas the Sorcerer, and Seven sons of Sceva, Act 8:9; Act 13:6-12; Act 19:11-20.
4) “Unto the kings of the whole earth,” (epi tous basileis tes oikoumenes holes) “upon or to influence the kings (royal rulers) of the whole inhabited earth; These attempt to counter or disclaim, disprove every claim of Christ even before kings and rulers of the whole earth, 1Ti 4:1-3; They are to be resisted by the Word and power of the Spirit, Jas 4:7.
5) “To gather them to the battle,” (sunagagein autous eis ton polemon) “to assemble them as colleagues into the war,” the Battle of Armageddon. Though this final battle begins at the great Euphrates, it appears to move 1,000 miles westward to Megiddo the valley of Jehoshaphat for its final end, Luk 21:24; Rev 16:19; Zec 12:10-11; Joe 3:2; Joe 3:12.
6) “Of that great day of God Almighty,” (tes hemeras tes megales tou theou tou pantokratoros) “of the great day of God Almighty; Psa 2:1-4; Rev 6:17; Rev 19:11-21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
XV
THE WAR OF HAR-MAGEDON
Rev 16:14-21
Ordinarily it would be out of proportion to devote a whole chapter to a few verses, but occasionally we find a single paragraph so pregnant with meaning that it cannot be unfolded in a few words. Particularly is there a call for careful and extended treatment when the imagery of the paragraph makes such an appeal to the imagination that the ignorant and unwary, without helm, chart, or compass, drift away into seas of fanciful interpretation, losing all practical benefit in the sonorous roll of words, or in the highly wrought figures of speech. Many a preacher, beguiled by the sound of words, has made shipwreck of a sermon and bewildered his congregation by attempting to expound, without understanding them, texts like these: “Garments rolled in blood,” “Blood up to the bridles of the horses,” “War of the great day of the Almighty God at Har-Magedon,” “Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision,” and certain people like to hear sermons on these blood and thunder texts. I am quite sure that none of Creasy’s Decisive Battles of the World, nor all of them put together, have taken such a hold upon the imagination of the people as the battle at Har-Magedon. Even Theodore Roosevelt, in a presidential campaign, insisted that he was fighting the battle of Har-Magedon.
2. My second observation is that, whatever the passage means, the context limits the application to the final struggle between the true church and the counterfeit church. It has no other application.
3. Whatever the passage means, it must precede the millennium, and prepare the way for it, and consequently it has no reference to Satan’s last struggle for supremacy as set forth after the millennium in Rev 20:7-10 . Nor is it a reference to the great judgment day described in Rev 20:11-15 .
4. Particularly I would have you know that this gathering of the nations together in the war of the great day of God the Almighty, at the place called Har-Magedon, results, as expressly stated, from the three unclean spirits that went forth out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. It is a gathering under their influence; another gathering under some other influence is not to be considered.
5. You must know, if there be any truth in the interpretation given in a preceding chapter, that the general purpose of sending forth of these three unclean spirits was to rally and solidify the Romanist hosts after they were shattered by the outbreak of the Reformation, and to establish a bar to the further progress of that Reformation, and to supply means of war with which to regain for Rome absolute supremacy over all states and all religions. That was the purpose. It is not, indeed, the last battle between Satan’s kingdom and the kingdom of our Lord, as we shall see later, but it is the last war between the true church and the counterfeit church. So stated and limited, it is a fight to the finish. And when this war is over, never more will the woman in purple and scarlet reappear in the history of mankind. Satan will come again in two more wars, but that harlot, drunk with the blood of the saints, will disappear forever.
6. The next observation is that while the imagery of war supplies the symbols, we must be careful not to interpret the symbol literally. It is a spiritual conflict, figuratively set forth in the terms of war and blood, as when Paul uses the terms of the Isthmian games and conflicts in the arenas of the Greek and Roman amphitheaters to set forth spiritual conflicts. No sane expositor would interpret Paul’s language literally.
The interpretation of the preceding chapters give us the wilderness period of the church, from A.D. 250-1510, and that the outbreak of the Reformation commencing early in the sixteenth century gave a severe and lasting shock to the papal hierarchy. And the sending out of these three unclean spirits now is to recover from that shock of the Reformation. If the nations are to be gathered together for that purpose, and if you lose sight of the end in view, you fail to interpret the three unclean spirits. We found in that chapter that three expedients were adopted by the Romanists to rally and solidify their own people, to bar the further progress of the Reformation and to re-establish their former claims to absolute supremacy over civil governments and all religions, and when we look in history to find some fulfilment of the work done by these unclean spirits, we find just three things; I confess I am able to find no other things as the result of their work.
First, the declaration of the Council of Trent, with its attendant profession of faith drawn up by the Pope, and its catechism on the doctrines, drawn up under his direction. That is the first thing they did to bar the further progress of Protestantism that broke out earlier in the century. Now in 1563 the first unclean spirit, the first frog, brought out his work.
Second, the dogmatic decrees of the Vatican Council, held in A.D. 1870, setting forth the infallibility of the Pope.
Third, the ex-cathedra utterances of the so-called infallible Pope, particularly in the various utterances concerning the virgin Mary, who is declared to be free from the taint of original sin, and second, from actual sin; third, her assumption in heaven; and fourth, her being made the Queen of Heaven. As the Pope expressed in one of his encyclical letters: “Mary is the fountain of all grace, and the only hope of salvation.”
Fourth, another one of these documents, issued by the Pope in 1863, entitled the “Syllabus of Errors,” that which he called errors in the teaching of science) errors in statesmanship, errors in doctrines, enumerating them and denouncing them with anathemas. Then, again in 1885, he sent out another encylical letter concerning the Christian constitution of states, making all states and all governments subordinate to the Pope. Then another encyclical letter in 1888, in which he expressly condemns what he calls “modern Liberties”: liberty of worshiping according to the dictates of the conscience, liberty of speech, liberty of the press, the liberty of teaching by the states for instance, having a free school system the liberty of conscience that your conscience must be put under the guidance of the Pope and the confessors. These are the distinguishing characteristics of modern Romanism, commencing in that Council of Trent held in 1563 and culminating in 1888, I say, that make modern Romanism, to wit: Papal infallibility, Mariolatry, supremacy over nations.
Fifth, the worship of Mary, making her, instead of the Holy Spirit, the mediator between the sinner and the Saviour. They have drawn pictures of Christ in the background, angry, with Mary standing between him and the sinner, and softening his wrath toward the sinner. I repeat: The decrees of the Council of Trent, the dogmatic decrees of the Vatican Council, and the various papal encyclical letters whose authority rests on his own declared infallibility, these did rally the Roman forces; they did bar, in certain states, the progress of the Reformation; they did make the battle line upon which Rome seeks to regain absolute supremacy over all states, religions, and all consciences.
We have seen in a previous chapter that for quite a while the Inquisition, established long before this time, was a mighty factor in enforcing these decisions. And we have found that the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, was the next mightiest factor in the propagandism of this new declineation of doctrines. Now, I say that the object of all these expedients was to gather the nations in hostile array against what has been set forth as the true church and the pure gospel, and the result is a conflict, not a single battle, but a war. The Greek word is not “battle,” but is “war,” called here the war of the great day of God the Almighty, at the place called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.
The interposition of God is said here in our lesson to be a coming of the Lord: “Behold, I come as a thief in the night” (Rev 16:15 ). It is not his final advent, but it is his coming in judgment upon this counterfeit church. Now, your lesson shows that the expression of his judgment in this outpouring of this seventh bowl of wrath, and the symbols which set forth the decree of the wrath are various: Lightnings, voices, and thunders, a great earthquake such as was not since there were men upon the earth; a great hail, every hailstone weighing about a talent (a hundred pounds). Maybe some of you think that is too big for a hailstone, but I will tell you that hailstones have fallen as big as a small house) weighing many tons. Hailstones fell near Lisbon, one of which would sink a ship in the harbor. So you need not get scared at a hundred pound hailstone.
Now, the results of the wrath are said to be:
First, the utter overthrow of the mystic city of Babylon the Great. When the Reformation broke out it received a shock, that was the earthquake, and a tenth part of the city was destroyed. But here ah the parts fell away from each other; that is total destruction.
Second, the downfall of the cities of the states of the supporting nations.
Third, the falling away of every island and mountain stronghold.
I am just giving you the symbols here. The completeness of the overthrow is expressed in a voice from the throne: “It is done.” “He said: Let there be light, and there was light.” Or they recall the words of Christ on the cross: “It is finished”; the expiation is finished; nothing more to be done to it throughout eternity. So, when this last bowl of wrath is poured out on this mystic city of Babylon, it is done; that lightning never has to strike again. Our paragraph puts into compact sentence the downfall of the mystic city of Babylon, but both of the following Revelation 17-18, are employed to identify this great city, what it is, and then to give the detail of its destruction. We may look to the exposition of these chapters for many things omitted here, and content ourselves for the present with this observation:
First, the lightning, the thunders, the earthquake, the hail, are all natural phenomena used figuratively to express the overpowering spiritual forces.
Second, the weapons of warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds.
Third, the blood and carnage are symbols of spiritual results; it is a war of light against darkness, of truth against error, of a pure gospel against a false gospel.
Fourth, the inner meaning of the whole paragraph is that no millennial triumph can ever come to this earth until that great apostasy, in its persecuting union of church and state, in its persecuting idolatrous hierarchy) in its blasphemous assumption, has passed away.
The confusion among the commentators in their interpretation of the war of the great day of God the Almighty, arises largely from a disregard of the context. Our interpretation puts into one section everything from Rev 12:1-19:10 , and the theme of that entire section is the conflict between the true church of our Lord, regarded as an institution, and Satan’s counterfeit church, regarded as an institution. This conflict does not last until the end of the world, but its culmination does prepare the way for the introduction of the millennium. The wrath of God poured out on the apostate church, while complete in itself, is not the wrath which falls on Satan and his followers after the millennium (Rev 20:7-10 ), nor is it the final wrath of the general judgment (Rev 20:11-15 ).
In general terms this book discusses four wars conducted by Satan against the kingdom of God. First, he uses the pagan Roman Empire by its persecutions to drive the true church into the wilderness, culminating about A.D. 250; and he was defeated because, as you will recall, the pagan Roman Empire like a burning volcano was turned over into the sea. His second war was from the same center, the city of Rome. He constructs a so-called Holy Roman Empire, a politicoreligious persecuting empire, with a Pope instead of a Caesar as the head, and with the woman in purple and scarlet as the counterfeit church.
Now, we followed that war in the first campaign, up to the Reformation in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and the second campaign commences with our lesson here with the sending forth of the three unclean spirits to break the force of the Reformation and to gather together the nations against the true church. By looking into history as I have told you, we are unable to find but three expedients that those three unclean spirits or demons could have devised for that purpose. These three I have described to you as the so-called ecumenical Council of Trent, the dogmatic decrees of the so-called ecumenical Vatican Council, and the several papal utterances whose authority rested on the claimed papal infallibility. These are the three things in history that constitute modern Romanism; nothing else in history can be found to fulfil Rev 16:13-14 about the three unclean spirits going forth.
What, then, is the war of the great day of God the Almighty culminating at “the place called in Hebrew Har-Magedon”? Laying aside all figures of speech, it is the war against the declarations of the Council of Trent, against the dogmatic decrees of the Vatican Council, against the various papal utterances embodied in various encyclial letters, and in the Syllabus of Errors.
In Schaff’s “Creeds of Christendom,” partly in Vol. I, but mainly in Vol. II, you may find both the history, the exposition, and the text of all these documents, and they do define modern Romanism. They draw the line of cleavage, and statesmen of Europe and America recognize them today &a the hardest problems of statecraft. Bismarck found it so; Gladstone found it so, and wrote one of the most remarkable books of the age, to wit: “Vaticanism.” Our presidents find it so, and in my opinion our last two presidents tripped right on that point, as I think I could prove. These United States, with all their territorial possessions, are today at the place “called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.”
The war is now on, in the press, in the schools, in the municipal, county, state, and national elections, in the pulpits, in the Congress and before the courts. There can be, I repeat, no millennium until the war, on these definite lines drawn by Romanism, is fought to a finish. The preacher, the politician, the statesman, who has not these books that I have named should sell his coat, if need be, and buy them, and when he has bought them should study them profoundly, should study Vol. I of Schaff’s “Creeds of Christendom” from page 83-191, and Vol. II from page 96-271, and then from page 555-602. It would take up twenty chapters to go over and give you the details of it, and you will never understand HarMagedon, you will not even know the nature of the war, you will not know the chief obstruction in the way of the coming of the millennium, unless you study them.
The issue of that war closes up the second war of Satan. I told you that our book treated of four wars; that is the close of the second war. The third one will be found to commence with Rev 19:11 , and going on through that chapter. And in that war there will be fulfilled the remarkable prophecy of Isa 63:1-6 ; Ezekiel 36-37; Dan 11:45-12:1 ; Joe 3:1-21 ; Zec 12:1-13:1 ; Rom 11:11-31 . And we must have a chapter on that because in it is involved the conversation of the whole Jewish nation in one day, which must come before the millennium.
Now, the fourth and last war of Satan in this book is the one described in Rev 20:7-10 . Will you keep those wars distinct in your mind? First, the war using pagan Rome as a persecutor; second, the war using papal Rome as a persecutor; third, the war culminating in the salvation of the Jews; fourth, the war after the millennium. They are all in this book.
As the whole of the following chapter simply identifies and defines the scarlet woman, and the next chapter gives the details of the downfall, I will put the questions:
1. Who is the woman in purple and scarlet riding upon the beast in this chapter? That is the Roman hierarchy, the counterfeit church as an institution.
2. What is meant by the many waters upon which she sits? The last of the chapter tells you that the waters mean many nations, tongues, kindred, and people.
3. What is the meaning of this woman being found in the wilderness? We found that radiant woman in the wilderness several chapters back, and this woman was not in the wilderness. It is the scarlet woman that is in the wilderness now. That means that her power is taken away, and she is ready to receive her doom.
4. What is meant by being full of the names of blasphemy? In a previous chapter I described them: It is blasphemy for a man to assume to be infallible; it is blasphemy for a man to claim to be the head of the church; it is blasphemy for a man to claim to be Christ’s vicar on earth; it is blasphemy to say that the prayers and manipulations of the officiating priest actually create God in changing the bread and wine into the real flesh and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is blasphemy to worship the wafer as it is carried along in a procession, called the “Procession of the Host”; it is blasphemy to address a woman as the “fountain of all grace and the only hope of salvation,” and so I could go on for hours telling you the blasphemies.
5. What is meant by the cup of abomination, the unclean things of her fornication? I have told you that fornication, spiritual fornication or adultery, means idolatry. It was idolatry for the national Israel, claiming to be the wife of Jehovah, to worship idols. Now this woman mixes in her cup various abominations, and she makes the kings of the earth drink out of this cup.
6. What is the mystic name of this woman? “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and the abominations of the earth.” As there was a historic Babylon on the Euphrates, here this woman in the last verse of the chapter is expressly declared to be a city. There is a mystic Babylon, this woman in purple and scarlet, who is also a city.
7. What is meant by her being drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs? It means that from the constitution of that hierarchy to the present time she has used the thumbscrew, the rack, the dungeon, and the ax, and other forms of torture in putting to death the people who worship God according to the dictates of their consciences. The bloodiest pages in the annals of time record the martyrdoms done under the directions of this church. When on St. Bartholomew’s Eve, Admiral Coligny of France and so many thousands of other Huguenots were put to death in the city of Paris, as soon as the news got to Rome the bells of the Cathedral were set to ringing, and the whole city was full of the chimes because the streets of Paris were reeking with red blood of the martyrs. They sang a “Te Deum Laudamus” to celebrate this atrocious wholesale murder.
8. What is the beast upon which she sits? I told you that beast was the new government that Satan caused to rise up to take the place of Pagan Rome, the Holy Empire. That is the beast.
9. What is meant by saying that the beast had seven heads? The explanation is this, as you will see lower down, that five of these heads have fallen, one is, and another is to be, and the eighth will be of the seventh. Now, what are these seven heads? I have already given them to you, Egypt and Assyria, that had passed away before Daniel’s time, and then four, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. As he saw them, that makes six. Five of them had passed away, but in John’s time the sixth had not passed away. When it did soon pass away came the seventh, the union of church and state in the Holy Roman Empire, and the eighth was of the seventh, that was the papal head, which was part of the seventh.
10. What is meant by the ten horns? The chapter tells you that the ten horns are ten kingdoms that had not yet risen in John’s time. Pagan Rome was not yet disintegrated, but it will be disintegrated in a few centuries, and out of its ruins will come up the ten kingdoms. And these kingdoms for quite a while will support the woman in purple and scarlet and then these kingdoms will turn and rend the woman in purple and scarlet.
All the latter half of this chapter tells exactly what the first half means and in the next discussion we will take up the details of the fall of Babylon.
QUESTIONS
1. Why devote a chapter to the paragraph Rev 16:14-21
2. Does the paragraph describe a war or a battle?
3. What is the name of the war?
4. What was the cause of the war? (Read Rev 16:13-14 .)
5. What was the date and occasion of the beginning of the war?
6. What the expedients devised by the three unclean spirits to restore Romanist supremacy, and in what books do you find the history, exposition, and text of these documents, giving volume and pages?
7. What, then, is this war?
8. How do you account for the confusion of commentators in interpreting the paragraph?
9. What the symbolic name of the place of the conflict, and why that name chosen as a symbol?
10. Is it on in this country, and if so in what arenas?
12. What, then, the real place of conflict symbolized by Har-Magedon? Answer: Anywhere in the world where the battle rages.
13. Are the weapons carnal or spiritual?
14. Between what two institutions the war, and to what must the interpretation of the paragraph, whatever its meaning, be strictly limited?
15. How is the divine interposition represented, and does that refer to our Lord’s final advent? (See Rev 16:15 .)
16. What symbol represents the divine wrath?
17. What is meant by “the air” on which the wrath is poured? Answer: The air represents general public opinion and thought concerning the expedients devised by the unclean spirits, and implies that the judgment of the world condemns and rejects them.
18. What symbols express results of pouring out the bowl of wrath on the air? Answer: (1) Lightnings, voices and thunders; (2) a great earthquake such as the men of earth never saw before; (3) a great hail-storm.
19. What one symbol expresses the wrath on the mystic Babylon, or counterfeit church? Answer: “The cup of the wine of God’s wrath.”
20. In the first campaign of the war between the two ecclesiastical institutions, what the result of the earthquake to the counterfeit church occasioned by the Reformation, and the result of this earthquake? Answer: (For answer compare Rev 11:13 and Rev 14:13 , first clause Rev 14:20 .)
21. Concerning the hailstones, how much avoirdupois weight each hailstone?
22. What the largest hailstones known to history?
23. Where the true church when the counterfeit church commences the war on it, and where the counterfeit church at the close of the war, just before the final judgment falls? And what does this imply? (For answer consult Rev 12:6 and Rev 17:3 , which imply a complete reversal of public opinion concerning the two institutions.)
24. Describe the counterfeit church. Answer: A great harlot (Rev 17:1 and all of Rev 17:4-6 ).
25. What the meaning of the symbol “a harlot”? Answer: One claiming to be the spouse of the Lamb, who turns to the worship of idols.
26. What the meaning of “mother of harlots”? Answer: Her children also worship idols.
27. What the meaning of “abominations”? Answer: Another name for the perversions of the true worship of God.
28. What the meaning of the “golden cup in her hand”?
29. What the meaning of her gorgeous array in Rev 17:4 ? Answer: This implies the great wealth occurred from the world, by Peter’s pence, gifts of the states, bequests of the dying, sale of indulgences, charges exacted for services at birth, marriage, death, and purgatorial intercession, etc., and her pompous state and imposing ritual.
30. Relate a pertinent and illustrative incident. Answer: It is related that one of the popes, after exhibiting his treasures to a friend, remarked: “Great change this from Peter’s day, who said, ‘Silver and gold have I none’ “; to whom the friend replied: “We have the gold which Peter had not, but have we Peter’s power to make the lame walk?” (See Act 3:6-7 .)
31. What the meaning of “many waters” on which the harlot of Rev 17:1 , sitteth? (For answer see Rev 17:15 .)
32. What the meaning of the beast on which the woman rides in Rev 17:3 ? Answer: The governmental union of church and state, with the church on top.
33. Cite historical proof of the blasphemies of the names of which this beast (Rev 17:3 ) is full.
34. Explain the historical seven heads of the beast (Rev 17:3 ), why Daniel mentions only four, how five had fallen before John’s time, what the seventh and what the eighth, and how the eighth is one of the seventh.
35. Explain the first clause of Rev 17:8 . Answer: Pagan Rome, the sixth, was but will soon cease with its Caesar head, but will re-appear as the Holy Roman Empire with a Papal head, and it too will go into perdition.
36. Explain the “ten horns,” Rev 17:3 . (See Rev 17:12 .) Answer: These are the ten kingdoms formed out of the disintegrated elements of Pagan Rome, but all united in supporting the union of church and state.
37. How do you account for the change of attitude in these kingdoms toward the counterfeit church as set forth in Rev 17:3 ; Rev 17:13 ; Rev 17:16 ? Answer: Kings are willing to support the beast, i.e., the union of church and state with the king on top as head of church and state in his own realm, but will resist a Papal head of state and church in his realm.
38. What the mystic name of the harlot?
39. What the real meaning of the woman? (See Rev 17:18 .)
40. What classic authors refer to Rome as the “seven-hilled city”?
41. These historic seven hills on which Rome is built symbolize, according to the interpretation, seven world-empires: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Pagan Rome, Papal Rome. Why connect so far back in interpretation? Answer: Because all fought the kingdom of God and the underlying principles were the same in every case; because our lesson tells us that in John’s time five had fallen.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Ver. 14. The spirits of devils ] Or breathing devils.
Working miracles ] Lying wonders, 2Th 2:9 .
Unto the kings of the earth ] The pope’s nuncios, legates a latere, and other emissaries, stir up the spirits of princes to embroil the world with wars, for the upholding of his tottering greatness; but all in vain. The greatest impostors have ever been the greatest courtiers. The Arians in their age, and from them the Jesuits learned it. As Pharaoh’s frogs, they get into kings’ bedchambers.
And of the whole world ] Papists shall call in the help of foreign princes out of Asia, Africa, America, to suppress the heretics, as they call them. But with poor success; for they shall associate themselves only to be broken in pieces, Isa 8:9 . Exorientur, sed exurentur, It will spring up but it will be destroyed. Rev 19:18 . The mountain of the Lord shall be lifted up above all mountians. These auxiliaries shall speed no better than those subsidiary Syrians, 2Sa 10:18-19 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 16:14 . “They are (not, these are) spirits of daemons”. These devilish imps muster God’s opponents to the final conflict. The fierce invasion of the kings of the east seems to give an impetus to the kings of the world . Antichrist’s power extends to these ( cf. Rev 11:10 ). “As the Lord sent his apostles to all the nations, so shall he ( i.e. , Antichrist) send false apostles” (Hippol. vi. cf. A. C. 188 f.). The sources of the tradition lie in Addit. Esther , 11:6 f., where the two dragons cry, and at their summons all nations gather to do battle against the righteous nation; also in the belief that Israel’s foes muster against her in the latter days (Rev 17:14 , Rev 19:17-20 . Rev 20:7-10 ; after Ezekiel 38-39.; Zec 14:2 f.; En. lvi. 90.; Sib. Or. iii. 310 322, 663 674). In Asc. Isa. iv. Beliar, in the guise of Nero, comes “and with him all the powers of this world, and they will hearken to him in all that he desires” ( cf. below on Rev 17:13 ; Rev 17:17 ). These demonic spirits are not crushed till the day of judgment (En. Rev 16:1 , Jub. x., Mat 8:29 ). The three locusts which issne from the month of the Beast in Hermas, Vis. iv. 1. 6, belong to the conception of Rev 9:1 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the. Omit.
devils = demons.
miracles. App-176.
unto. Greek. epi. App-104.
of the earth and. The texts omit.
world. App-129.
that = the.
Almighty. Add “the”. See Rev 16:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 16:14. ) Many varieties of reading occur here, and among them, [183] is a specious one: but if this were the original reading, it would not have been altered in such a variety of ways, as the infinitive, , which was not equally comprehended by the copyists on account of the parenthesis. But the sentence would be abrupt without the infinitive, . For the mode of expression is not the beast out of the sea, out of the earth, out of the bottomless pit, but ascending out of the sea, etc. Nor does the other infinitive, , subjoined without any con junction, cause any difficulty, as alleged by Wolf. For there is often an accumulation of infinitives: Luk 1:74-79; Eph 3:16-17; 1Th 4:3-4; 1Th 4:6 : and the sense is plain in this passage: I saw them go forth, that they might gather. There is a Simultaneum [See Append. Techn. Terms], concerning which see Erkl. Offenb. p. 84. Moreover two events are marked as occurring at the same time, either by a repetition of the same words, 2Ki 2:14, or by an interruption of the construction, as here.
[183] Stephens Rec. Text has : A has : B, Vulg. has precedent, or, as other MSS. read, procedunt.-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
kings Times of the Gentiles Rev 16:19; Luk 21:24.
world “oikoumene” = inhabited earth. (See Scofield “Luk 2:1”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the spirits: Rev 12:9, 1Ki 22:19-23, 2Ch 18:18-22, Eze 14:9, Joh 8:44, 2Co 11:13-15, 1Ti 4:1, Jam 3:15
working: Rev 13:13, Rev 13:14, Rev 19:20, Deu 13:1, Deu 13:2, Mat 24:24, Mar 13:22, 2Th 2:9
which: 1Ki 22:6, 1Ki 22:10, 1Ki 22:11, 1Ki 22:19-22, Act 13:8-10
the whole: Rev 3:10, Rev 12:9, Rev 13:3, Luk 2:1, Rom 1:8, 1Jo 5:19
to gather: Rev 16:16, Rev 17:14, Rev 19:19, Rev 20:8, Isa 34:1-8, Isa 63:1-6, Eze 38:8-12, Joe 3:11-14
God Almighty: Rev 16:7
Reciprocal: Exo 8:2 – frogs Jos 8:16 – drawn away Jos 9:2 – gathered Jos 10:4 – and help Jos 11:5 – all these 1Ki 22:22 – a lying spirit 2Ch 11:15 – for the devils 2Ch 14:9 – Zerah 2Ch 18:11 – all the prophets Job 24:22 – draweth Job 26:4 – whose spirit Psa 56:2 – many Psa 105:30 – brought Isa 54:15 – they shall Eze 13:5 – to stand Eze 38:15 – and many Joe 3:2 – also Joe 3:14 – multitudes Mic 2:11 – a man Zep 3:8 – to gather Zec 12:3 – though Zec 13:2 – unclean Zec 14:1 – General 1Ti 4:2 – lies Rev 1:8 – the Almighty Rev 4:8 – Lord God Almighty Rev 6:17 – the great Rev 11:17 – Lord God Almighty Rev 16:13 – three Rev 20:3 – should deceive Rev 21:22 – the Lord
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 16:14. For they are spirits of demons working signs. They thus show at once their hellish origin, and the power lent them in order that they may be the better enabled to effect their end.
Which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. We have now the purpose for which mention of these unclean spirits is introduced. It is that Satanic might and deception may be exerted to their utmost, so that the enemies of God from all parts of the world may be led to go up to the war in which they shall be destroyed. The representation may rest upon 1Ki 22:20-22, when a lying spirit goes forth to persuade Ahab to rush upon his late. These lying spirits in like manner persuade the kings of the whole godless world to rush upon the fate prepared for them in the last great judgment of GodHis day.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here John identified the spirits as demons. The demons go out to the kings of the earth deceiving them to assemble their armies in Palestine for the battle of Armageddon. A deceiving spirit earlier lured King Ahab into battle (1Ki 22:21-23). They will do this under the influence of Satan, the beast, and the false prophet. The demons persuade them, but their decision is something that God, the ultimate cause, puts in their hearts (Rev 17:17).
It may also be the advancing army from the east that moves these kings to assemble for war. [Note: Moffatt, 5:447.] These kings from all over the world will gather to destroy Israel (cf. Psa 2:1-3; Joe 2:11; Joe 3:2; Zec 14:2-3). Satan’s purpose in bringing all these soldiers into Palestine in the first place appears to be to annihilate the Jews. When Jesus Christ returns to earth, specifically to the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:1-4), they will unite in opposing Him. However God’s sovereign hand will be regulating Satan’s activities (Zec 14:2). This will not be the day of Satan’s triumph but that of the Lord God Almighty. He will show Himself supreme in this climactic battle (cf. Joe 2:31). The description of this battle follows in Rev 19:11-16.
Gundry believed that the day of the Lord includes the battle of Armageddon but not the Tribulation. [Note: Gundry, p. 92.] Most premillennial interpreters believe this distinction lacks convincing support, and I agree with them.