Chapter Thirty-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphs at Armageddon -The Great Evening Meal of God

 In Ezekiel's vision, after the destruction of Gog's crowd, the birds and the wild animals are invited to a feast! They rid the landscape of carcasses by eating the dead bodies of Jehovah's enemies. (Ezekiel 39:11, 17-20) John's next words bring that earlier prophecy vividly to mind: "I saw also an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice and said to all the birds that fly in the midheaven: 'Come here, be gathered together to the evening meal of God, that you may eat the fleshly parts of the kings and the fleshly parts of military commanders and the fleshly parts of strong men and the fleshly parts of  horses and of those seated upon them, and the fleshly parts of all, of freemen as well as slaves of small ones and great.' " -REVELATION 19:17, 18. 

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Chapter Thirty-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphs at Armageddon - To the Final Battle - Conclusion

That will be day of doom, indeed, for disobedient nations and   humans but a day of relief for all who have made Jehovah and his Warrior-King their refuge! (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9) The judgment that started with the house of God in 1918 will have run through to its climax, answering the question at 4:17: "What will the end be to those who are not obedient to the good news of God?" The glorious Victor will have trodden the winepress to finish, demonstrating that he is the exalted One of whom John says: "And upon his outer garment, even upon his thigh, he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords." (Revelation 19:16) He has proved to be far mightier than earthly ruler, any human king or lord. His dignity and splendor are transcendent. He had ridden "in the cause of truth and humility and righteousness" and has triumphed for all time! (Psalm 45:4) Upon his blood-sprinkled garments is written the name bestowed on him by the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, whose vindicator he is! 

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Chapter Thiry-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphs at Armageddon - To the Final Battle! -

 

This mighty Warrior-King appears again in the next scene of the vision: "He treads too the winepress of the anger of the wrath of God the Almighty." (Revelation 19:15b) In a previous vision, John had already seen the treading of the "winepress of the anger of God. (Revelation 14:18-20) Isaiah also describes an executional winepress, and other prophets tell how calamitous the day the day of God's anger will be for all the nations. - ISAIAH24:1-6; 63:1-4; JEREMIAH 25:30-33; DANIEL 2:44; ZEPHANIAH 3:8; ZECHARIAH 14:3, 12, 13; REVELATION 6:15-17. 

The prophet Joel associates a winepress with Jehovah's coming to "judge all the nations round about." And it is Jehovah who issues the command, no doubt to His associate Judge, Jesus and his heavenly armies: "Thrust in a sickle, for harvest has grown ripe. Come, descend for the winepress is full. The press vats actually overflow; for their badness has become abundant. Crowd, crowds are in the low plain of the decision, for the day of Jehovah is near in the low plain of the decision. Sun and moon themselves will certainly become dark, and the very stars will actually withdraw their brightness. And out of Zion Jehovah himself will roar, and out of Jerusalem he will give forth his voice. And heaven and earth certainly will rock; but Jehovah will a refuge for his people, ad fortress for the sons of Israel. And you people will have to know that I am Jehovah your God." - JOEL 3:12-17. 

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 The Warrior-King, as Jehovah's appointee, will make a distinction between those who 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 they hackeys, saying: "Howl,you shepherds, and cry out! And wallow about, you majestic ones of the flock, because your days for slaughtering and your scatterings have been fulfilled, and you must fall like 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 and 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 fulness of dead bodies." - PSALM2:9,12; 83:17, 18;110:1. 2. 5, 6; JEREMIAH 25:34.

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Chapter Thirty-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphs at Armageddon - The Final Battle! -Continue

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 the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing to nothing by the manifestation of is 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 the Christendom. That presence will be strikingly manifested when the ten horns of the scarlet-colored 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. 

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Chapter Thirty-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphs at Armageddon - 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 new 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 polish and arrow." (Isaiah 49:2) Here, Isaiah foreshadowed Jesus, who proclaims God's judgments and executes them, as with an unerring arrow.

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Chapter Thirty-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphs at Armageddon - Jesus' Fellow Warriors -Conclusion

 Does this mean that Jehovah's Witnesses are against all governments? Far from it!  They obey the apostle Paull's counsel: "Let ever soul be subjection to the superior authorities. They realize that as long as the present system lasts, those "superior authorities" exist by God's permission for maintain a measure of order in human society. Thus, Jehovah's Witnesses pay their taxes, obey the laws, respect traffic ordinances, comply with registrations, and so forth. (Romans 13:1, 6, 7) Further, they follow Bible principles in being truthful and honest; showing love of neighbor, building a strong, moral family unite; and training their children to be exemplary citizens. In this way they pay back not only "Caesar's things to Caesar and God's things to God. (Luke 20:25; 1 Peter 2:13-17) Since God's Word shows that the governmental powers of this world are temporary, Jehovah's Witnesses prepare now for the fuller life, the real life, soon to be enjoyed under Christ's Kingdom rule. (1 Timothy 6:17-19) Though they will have no part in overturning the powers of this world, the Witnesses experience reverential awe at what God's inspired Word, the Holy Bible, says regarding the judgment Jehovah is about to execute at Armageddon. - ISAIAH 26:20, 21; HEBREWS 12:28, 29.

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Chapter Thirty-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphs at Armageddon - Jesus' Fellow Warriors -

 Others too will be involved. When sending his message to the congregation in Thyatira, Jesus promised: "To him that conquers and observes my deeds down to the end I will give authority over the nations, and he shall shepherd the people with an iron rod so that they will be broken to pieces like clay vessels, the same as I have received from my Father." (Revelation 2:26, 27) Without a doubt, when the time comes, those of Christ's brothers already in heaven will have a part in shepherding people and nations with that iron rod. 

What, though, of God's servants here on earth? The John class will have no active part in the fighting at Armageddon, neither will its loyal companions, those peoples out of all nations who have been streaming to Jehovah's house of worship. These peaceable humans have already beaten swords into plowshares. (Isaiah 2:2-4) Yet, they are very much involved! As we have already noted, it is Jehovah's seemingly defenseless people that are viciously attacked by Gog and all his crowd. That is the signal for Jehovah's Warrior-King, supported by the armies in heaven, to start fighting a war of extermination against those nations. (Ezekiel 39:6, 7, 11; Compare Daniel 11:44-12:1) As spectators, God's people on earth will be most interested. Armageddon will mean their salvation, and they will live for eternity as having been eyewitnesses of Jehovah's great war of vindication. 

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Chapter Thirty-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphed at Armageddon - Jesus' Fellow Warriors

 Jesus is not alone in fighting this battle. John tells us: "Also, the armies that were in heaven were following him on white horses, and they were clothed in white, clean fine linen." (Revelation 19:14) The fact that the horses are "white" denotes righteous warfare. "Fine linen" is appropriate for the King's horsemen, and its glistening, clean whiteness indicates a pure, righteous standing before Jehovah. Who, then, make up these "armies"? Doubtless, they include the holy angels. It was early in the Lord's day that Michael and his angels hurled Satan and his demons out of heaven. (Revelation12:7-9) Further, "all the angels" now attend upon Jesus as he sits on his glorious throne and proceeds to judge the nations and people of the earth.  (Matthew 25:31, 32) Surely, in the decisive war, when God's judgments are executed to a finality, Jesus will again be accompanied by his angels. 

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Chapter Thirty-Nine/The Warrior-King Triumphs at Armageddon - The One Called "Faithful and True" --Conclusion

 Jesus' privileges are unique. Apart from Jehovah himself, only Jesus can comprehend what it means to hold such a high position. (Compare Matthew 11:27) Therefore, of all God's creatures, only Jesus can fully appreciate this name. Nevertheless, Jesus does include his bride in some of these privileges. So he makes this promise: "The one that conquers . . . I will write upon him. . . that new name of mine." - REVELATION 3:12. 

John adds: "And he is arrayed with an outer garment sprinkled with blood, and the name he is called is The Word of God." (Revelation 19:13) Whose "blood" is this? It could Jesus' lifeblood, shed for the sake of mankind. (Revelation 1:5) But, in this context, it more likely refers to the blood of his enemies that is spilled when Jehovah's judgments are executed upon them. We are reminded of the earlier vision in which the vine of the earth is reaped and trodden in the great winepress of the anger of God until the blood reaches "as high up as the bridles of the horses"-signifying a great victory over God's enemies.  (Revelation 14:18-20) likewise the blood sprinkled on Jesus' outer garments confirms that this victory is decisive and complete.  (Compare Isaiah 63:1-6) Now John again speaks of Jesus' being called by a name.  This time it is a widely known name-"The Word of God" -Identifying this Warrior-King as Jehovah's Chief Spokeman and Champion of truth. - JOHN 1:1; REVELATION 1:1. 

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