“Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!’ And I heard, as it were the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’ And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” Revelation 19:5-10.
The above has been included to maintain context.
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11-16.
To those of you who like horses, or wonder if there are animals in heaven, this is an indication that there are.
These various names, Faithful and True, The Word of God, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, are names for Jesus Christ.
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness…” Revelation 3:14a.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.
“I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:13-16.
“These [the beast and the ten kings] will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Revelation 17:14.
It is stated that “His eyes were like a flame of fire… He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood…” Revelation 19:12 and 13.
The flame of fire represents the fire of judgment and the robe is covered with the blood of those who hate Him (see Revelation 17:14 above again).
“I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes.” Isaiah 63:3.
“So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs [about 4 ½ feet deep and 200 miles long].” Revelation 14:19-20.
“Now out of His mouth goes a sharp [two edged] sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Revelation 19:15.
The sharp sword mentioned here represents the word of God, Jesus Christ speaks and things happen.
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist [are held together].” Colossians 1:16-17.
Christ speaks and things come into existence, Christ speaks and things disassemble.
As you can see from the verses quoted in the above paragraphs, “He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God”. Since only God can express the wrath of Almighty God, this is another confirmation of the deity of Christ.
You may have noticed too that it is Christ that does all the fighting; the armies with Him only look on.
“He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Revelation 19:13-15.
When one thinks of an army it is usually in the sense of a fighting group such as the U.S. Army the Russian Army or the German Army. These groups work for the good of the nation either in an offensive or defensive manner.
However, the armies mentioned in the above verse, “And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean…” have a different meaning altogether.
The dictionary defines this as, “a great number, a vast multitude”. This could be described as: an army of shoppers descended on the stores on Black Friday!
Not trying to be silly here, but most of you may have a good visual image of what I am trying to express.
A quick look at Revelation 19:13-15 above and one tends to visualize the Lord descending from heaven with a huge army of angels dressed in white.
This, however, is incorrect. Angels might be described as being dressed in fine white linen, but here they are described as being “clothed in fine linen, white and clean…” heavenly angels are not fallen angels so their garments could be seen as white, but they were never soiled by sin so the word clean is unnecessary.
So who wears linen, white and clean?
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him [Christ Jesus] glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Revelation 19:7-8.
Will there be angels? No doubt, but those dressed in fine linen, white and clean will be believers, all who have accepted Jesus as their Savior.
All these will be part of a great cloud of witnesses riding out of the sky, accompanying Christ Jesus as He takes control of the world away from sinful and reprobate men.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us with endurance the race that is set before us…” Hebrews 12:1.
“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Mark13:24-26.
“And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:16.
“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” Revelation 6:15-17.
Revelation 19:11-16 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 3-10-17, updated on 11-9-22.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.