To The Final Battle!

By what authority does Jesus complete his conquest? John informs us: "And out of his mouth there protrudes a sharp long sword, that he may strike the nation with it, and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron." (Revelation 19:15a) That "sharp long sword" represents Jesus' God-given authority to issue orders for the execution of all who refuse to support God's Kingdom. (Revelation 1:16; 2:16) This vivid symbolism parallels Isaiah's words: "He [Jehovah] proceeded to make my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand he has hidden me. And he gradually made me a polished arrow." (Isaiah 49:2) Here Isaiah foreshadowed Jesus, who proclaims God's judgments and executes them, as with an unerring arrow.

At this point in time, Jesus will already have acted in fulfillment of Paul's words: " Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence." Yes, Jesus' presence (Greek, pa-rou-si'a) has been demonstrated from 1914 onward by the exposing and judging of the man of lawlessness, the clergy of Christendom. That presence will be strikingly manifested when the ten horns of the scarlet-colored wild beast execute that judgment and ravage Christendom, along with the rest of Babylon the Great. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 8) That will be the start of the great tribulation! After that, Jesus turns his attention to what remains of Satan's organization, in line with the prophecy: "He must strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the spirit of his lips he will put the wicked one to death." -Isaiah 11:4.

The Warrior-King, as Jehovah's appointee, will make a distinction between those who will survive and those who will die. Jehovah speaking prophetically to this Son of God, says: " You will break them [earth's rulers] with an iron scepter, as though a potter's vessel you will dash them to pieces." And Jeremiah addresses such corrupt governmental leaders and their lackeys, saying: "Howl, you shepherds, and cry out! And wallow about, you majestic ones of the flock, because your days for slaughtering and for your scatterings have been fulfilled, and you must fall like a desirable vessel!" However desirable those rulers may have appeared to a wicked world, one blow from the King's iron scepter will shatter them, as if smashing an attractive vessel. It will be just as David prophesied concerning the Lord Jesus: "The rod of your strength Jehovah will send out of Zion, saying: 'Go subduing in the midst of your enemies.' Jehovah himself at your right hand will certainly break kings to pieces on the day of his anger. He will execute judgment among the nations; he will cause a fullness of dead bodies." -Psalm 2:9, 12; 83:17, 18; 110:1, 2, 5, 6; Jeremiah 25:34.

Next time: Continue with To The Final Battle!

Revelation Its Grand Climax At Hand! Watchtower Bible And Tract Society, 1988.