The Second “Last Thing”: The Defeat of Antichrist (Rev. 19:17-21)

By David J. MacLeod

David J. MacLeod is a member of the faculty of Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa, and is associate editor of The Emmaus Journal.

This is article three in an eight-part series, “Expositional Studies of the Seven ‘Last Things’ in the Book of Revelation.”

On September 2, 1945, aboard the Battleship Missouri, the Japanese government formally surrendered to the Allied forces. After the representatives had signed the instrument of surrender, General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Pacific, announced, “Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.” He then broadcast a speech to the American people. Remarkably, on that cool day in Japan, MacArthur could say, “The entire world is quietly at peace.” But there would be very few days thereafter in which that could be said. Today, over fifty years later, at any given time as many as forty nations are at war with each other. The general continued, “Men since the beginning of time have sought peace,” but all their attempts to secure it have only led them back to war. He added this, “We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door.”

General MacArthur’s diagnosis of the problem is most significant. “The problem is basically theological. .. [and the solution] involves a spiritual. .. improvement of human character.”[1] From the vantage point of Scripture, MacArthur was absolutely correct (although it could be argued that what is needed is a radical transformation of human character). The problem is a spiritual one. People are sinners. Since the days of Cain and Abel the human heart has led people to go to war against others. Each new discovery-knives, clubs, swords, gunpowder, ships, tanks, airplanes, missiles, nuclear weapons-has been used to make war, to force one nation’s designs on another or to seize their possessions. One of the earliest of all historical records, a Sumerian bas-relief from Babylon (ca. 3000 B.C.), shows soldiers fighting in close quarters, wearing helmets and carrying shields. Wars fill the history—in fact, they are often the great defining moments-of every culture, ancient and modern.[2]

There is a sense of hopelessness in the hearts of many people. President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke of World War II as “the war to end all wars.” More recently newspaper columnist Ellen Goodman has spoken of the future war “to end all life.” Even in the relatively peaceful days of the 1950s British Prime Minister Winston Churchill asked evangelist Billy Graham, “Young man, can you give me any hope?” Theologian and medical missionary Albert Schweitzer lamented, “Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth.” Pop singer and actress Barbra Streisand is reported to have said, “I do believe the world is coming to an end. I just feel that science, technology, and the mind have surpassed the soul-the heart.”

Harvard University professor B. F. Skinner shocked the American Psychological Association Convention a number of years ago when he asked in anguish, “Why are we not acting to save the world? Is there to be much more history at all?” After his speech the seventy-eight-year-old behaviorist was asked, “Has the observer of social conditioning lost his optimism?” He replied, “I have.. .. When I wrote Beyond Freedom and Dignity, I was optimistic about the future. A decade ago there was hope, but today the world is fatally ill.. .. It is a depressing way to end one’s life.. .. The argument that we have always solved our problems in the past and shall, therefore, solve this one is like reassuring a dying man by pointing out that he has always recovered from [earlier illnesses].”[3]

How can such pessimistic remarks be biblically evaluated? First, General MacArthur’s diagnosis is correct: The problem is theological. People are estranged from God. Their alienation from God has led to alienation from others. Second, the Bible reinforces, in the short run, pessimism about the future. Humanity will not turn over a new leaf. The world will continue to be sinful and violent.

Third, there is every reason to be optimistic in the long run, however, for two reasons. (1) God has provided a cure for the hearts of people. Peter wrote, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). Paul added that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Cor. 5:19). Jesus died on the cross and bore the penalty of sins so that God might receive believing sinners into fellowship with Him. (2) Jesus Christ will return to judge all evil and establish His kingdom of peace on the earth. The return of Christ is a source of great assurance and optimism for Christians.

Rabbi Seymour N. Siegel, professor of ethics and theology at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, commented, “The central problem of Christianity is: If the Messiah has come, why is the world so evil? For Judaism, the problem is: If the world is so evil, why does the Messiah not come?”[4] Revelation 19:17–21 states that the Messiah is coming to solve both dilemmas.

Historian Arnold Toynbee of Cambridge University said that “only a world government can save mankind from annihilation by nuclear weapons.”[5] Jonathan Schell, author of The Fate of the Earth, envisages a day when “existing institutions must give way to some sort of transcendent sovereignty and security, presumably by a government that embraces all mankind,” in fact “world government.”[6]

Revelation 6–18, which describes a yet future time of tribulation on the earth, provides the background of the events described in 19:17–21. During that time of tribulation a notable political figure will appear on the world stage for a brief time and will gain worldwide influence and dominion (13:7). He will provide the one world government that many crave today and will crave then. This man will be inspired by and empowered by Satan himself. He is called “a beast. .. out of the sea” (13:1) or the “Antichrist” (1 John 4:3). Although he himself will probably be an atheist (Dan. 11:37), his government, aided by another figure, the “beast. .. out of the earth” (Rev. 13:11) or the “false prophet” (19:20), will follow the example of previous dictatorships and deify the world dictator.

The reign of Antichrist will be a reign of terror against both messianic Judaism and Gentile Christianity. He will impose a seven-year peace treaty on the Middle East, and for three and a half years Israel will enjoy a false sense of security. Then he will break the treaty and persecute the nation (Dan. 9:27) in a time of great bloodshed and natural calamities.

Just before the events described in Revelation 19:17–21 the Antichrist will have been crushing the last pockets of rebellion in North Africa and Babylon. His armies, numbering in the millions, will gather at a great staging area called Armageddon. From there they will head south to Jerusalem. The final battle against Israel will come as the nations gather at the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the Kidron Valley, that runs on the east side of Jerusalem).[7]

The return of Christ will end the Antichrist’s opposition against the Messiah and His people.[8]

The Invitation to the Feast: The Vultures Are Summoned to the Great Supper of God (19:17-18)

The Summons by the Angel (v. 17)

In verse 11 the heavens opened to reveal Jesus Christ, the warrior King, and His armies about to engage in battle. Now John saw “an angel standing in the sun.” This suggests two things. First, the angel will stand in the highest point in the sky where all the birds can see and hear him.[9] Second, the angel will stand in the place of splendor to herald a great victory.[10] He will announce the dawn of a new day, the day of God.[11] The civitas diaboli, the city of the devil, is about to fall, and the civitas Dei, the city of God, is about to be established. With a loud voice the angel will summon “all the birds which fly in midheaven” to assemble for a feast. The fact that they will be summoned to eat corpses on the ground must mean they are carrion eaters, that is, vultures.

Modern readers are inclined to view vultures as unpleasant. Yet to ancient man they had a noble function. With incredible swiftness a vulture can discover and make its way to its prey.[12]

There was no need for a sanitary inspector in the desert to provide for the disposal of corpses; that could safely be left to the vultures.[13]

The vultures will be invited to “the great supper of God” (v. 17) “a terrible counterpart to the marriage supper of the lamb” (v. 9).[14] Jesus told a parable of a big dinner to which all were invited (Luke 14:16–24). That dinner is a picture of the kingdom of heaven. For two thousand years men and women have been invited to come. Many have accepted the invitation, but many have refused. That feast and the wedding supper of Revelation 19:9 picture the same thing. It is a supper of joy. The supper in verse 17, however, will not be one of joy; it will be a supper of judgment.

The Nightmare Feast of God (v. 18)

Verse 18 states the menu of this “nightmare feast”[15] of God. One writer calls it a “gory supper,”[16] and another refers to it as a “revolting scene.”[17] One of the older commentators puts it quaintly: “At ordinary banquets men eat the flesh of birds; here, the birds are to eat the flesh of men.”[18] John saw a battlefield strewn with the corpses of a great army that included many nations. His description is based on the prophecy of Ezekiel 39:17–20. Every rank of humanity will be represented on the field: the politically powerful and the politically powerless, the important and the unimportant. The field will be piled high with the dead, “a great repast spread by the hand of God.”[19] The text implies that all the armies that followed the beast will be destroyed.[20]

Barclay says, “This bloodthirsty picture is. .. far more in line with Old Testament apocalyptic expectations than with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”[21] This is an unfortunate effort to sever the Old Testament from the New. Many people have the false notion that Jesus Christ is completely different from the God of the Old Testament. They think that when Jesus appeared, God changed His mind and decided to forget all His thoughts of judgment. However, there is bad news for those who reject Christ. As stated in Revelation 19:18, when He comes again to the earth He will judge His enemies.[22]

Ancient soldiers considered it a great dishonor to leave their enemies unburied.[23] Yet in the middle of the Tribulation, two bold witnesses for Christ will be assassinated by the beast and their bodies will be allowed to lie in the streets of Jerusalem (11:8–10). But at the end of the Tribulation the Beast’s own followers will lie in defeat and disgrace, a meal for vultures.

The Prelude to the Feast: The Messiah Is Victorious at Armageddon (19:19-21)

The Assembling of the Armies (v. 19)

At this point John’s attention was drawn to the events that will immediately precede this terrible supper of God. He saw the beast and the kings of the earth gathered to make war on Christ and His army. He said they were “assembled” to make war against the rider on the white horse. But how could such an army be assembled to make war on Christ? Two answers may be given, one demonic and one divine. John wrote of “spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty” (16:14). No leader could single-handedly bring about such a vast combination of demons and kings for such a purpose. Clearly Satan will be behind this movement.[24] The second explanation is divine. In 2 Thessalonians 2:11 Paul spoke of a “deluding influence” sent by God to blind the followers of the Antichrist.[25]

Can it be that the modern civilized world will actually follow the Antichrist against the Lord? In answer to this, Swete wrote, “Those who take note of the tendencies of modern civilization will not find it impossible to conceive that a time may come when. .. the spirit of Antichrist will, with the support of the State, make a final stand against a Christianity which is loyal to the Person and teaching of Christ.”[26]

An awe-inspiring passage in Psalms describes this scene. “The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed” (Ps. 2:2).[27] Then the psalmist added, “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them” (v. 4). How dreadful will be this laughter of God! From the depth of His being He loved the world (John 3:16). No gift was too precious, and no sacrifice too great, to be made for redemption. His prophets came and were often rejected. His Son came and He was put to death. For two thousand years His servants have invited men and women to the great marriage feast in the kingdom of heaven. But in the end God will laugh. It will be as if His grace is exhausted, the sea of His mercy emptied, and His patience run out.[28]

The rebels will be confident because their leader, the beast, will have never failed. They will despise and blaspheme both the names and the sword of Him who rides on the white horse. They will comfort themselves in their selfishness and sin by thinking that God is too good and merciful or too weak to carry out His threats. But one day God will judge all who have rebelled against Him. Seiss captures some of the powerful images by which the prophets described the victorious Messiah.

The great Conqueror moves amid storms and darkness, from which the lightnings hurl their bolts, and hailstones mingle with the fire [Isa. 30:30; Ezek. 38:22]. He roars out of Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, till the heavens and the earth shake [Joel 3:16; Amos 1:2]. He dashes forth in the fury of his incensed greatness amid clouds, and fire, and pillars of smoke [cf. Isa. 63:3, 5; Nah. 1:4–6]. The sun frowns. The day is neither light nor dark [Rev. 6:12]. The mountains melt and cleave asunder at his presence [Mic. 1:4; Nah. 1:5; Zech. 14:4]. The hills bound from their seats and skip like lambs [Ps. 114:4, 6]. The waters are dislodged from their channels [cf. Rev. 12:16]. The sea rolls back with howling trepidation. The sky is rent [Rev. 6:14] and folds upon itself like a collapsed tent. It is a day for executing an armed world-a world in covenant with Hell to overthrow the authority and throne of God.[29]

The Destiny of the Beasts (v. 20)

The armies of the Antichrist will deploy for battle with great military pomp. One might think this will be the most prolonged, complex battle in the history of warfare. But it is not. The Antichrist and his lackey, the false prophet, will be seized and cast alive into the “lake of fire.”

One of the alumnae of Emmaus Bible College is Luci Shaw, a well-known Christian poet. Her father was Northcote Deck, an outstanding missionary pioneer to the Solomon Islands. The people to whom he ministered spoke a kind of “pidgin English.” They had an expression for the Lord God. They called Him “Big Fella, Master Too Much, Who Boss both Heaven and Ground.” It is a magnificent title.[30] That is the God who will exercise judgment one day, as portrayed in Revelation 19.

In this demon-obsessed world people often forget who it is they are to fear. As Stephen Travis once said, “In the New Testament it is not believers who tremble at the power of Satan, but demons who tremble at the power of God.”[31] In Martin Luther’s great hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” a line says that when the Lord meets the devil, “one little word shall fell him.”[32] And the Antichrist will be felled, just as people fell a tree for firewood.[33]

John mentioned the “false prophet,” who will deceive people into receiving the mark of the beast and following him. None of the false prophet’s miraculous powers will be able to save him.[34]

Both the beast and the false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire. The present participle “alive” (ζῶντες) stands in an emphatic position in the Greek to add horror to the picture: “Alive the two were cast.”

The fate of the beast and the false prophet contrasts dramatically and miserably with the fate of two great Old Testament heroes. Both Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven without dying (Gen. 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11). The beast and his lackey will be cast into hell without physically dying first. As God interposed and showed mercy to Enoch and Elijah in bringing them alive to heaven, so He will interpose in judgment in casting these two evil ones into hell.[35]

Their destination is described as “the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.” This description of hell occurs only in the Book of Revelation. Brimstone (θεῖον) is combustible sulfur known to most Near Eastern peoples. No doubt the inhabitants of Palestine had experienced the terrors of burning sulfur. Once a sulfur deposit caught on fire, it would melt and run in burning streams down the ravines, spreading its suffocating fumes.[36] A lake of burning sulfur would be very hot and offensive in smell. It is a terrible picture of the destiny of all that is sinful and wicked in the world.[37]

The beast and the false prophet will be the first inhabitants of the lake of fire, which is also known as Gehenna (γέεννα, Matt. 5:22; Mark 9:43). Gehenna was the name of the valley also called Hinnom southwest of Jerusalem. In Old Testament times it was the site of a shrine where human sacrifices were offered (2 Kings 16:3; 23:10). Because of prophetic denunciations (Jer. 7:32; 19:6–13), Gehenna came to be viewed as a place of terrible wickedness. The Jews began to use it as a picture of the hell of final judgment, the final abode of the wicked dead.[38] In any case the beast and the false prophet will be its first inhabitants.

Hell is not in fashion today. “Hell disappeared,” says University of Chicago church historian Martin Marty, “and no one noticed.”[39] University of Virginia sociologist James Hunter says that even evangelical Christians “have a difficult time conceiving of people, especially virtuous nonbelievers going to hell.”[40] Within liberal religious circles hell has slipped from polite conversation. “There’s not much hell and not much heaven either,” says United Church of Christ theologian Max Stackhouse. “The prevailing opinion,” he says, “is that when you die you’re dead but God still cares.”[41] Unfortunately many clergy do not believe in the afterlife. However, Jesus Christ and His apostles believed in heaven and hell. They were compassionate, yet they warned men and women of hell.

The Fate of Their Followers (v. 21)

When the beast and the false prophet are gone, their followers will soon be judged. Just as the Lord spoke and created the world, so He will speak a word of divine retribution, and His opponents will be slain.[42] Their physical lives will be destroyed by the sword, that is, at the command of Christ, and their souls will be consigned to hades to await the final judgment.[43] Contrary to those who teach universalism, that every human being will eventually be saved, this passage shows that masses of people will remain unrepentant to the very end, and they can expect nothing but the wrath of the returning Christ.[44]

Conclusion

Vernon Grounds, president emeritus of Denver Seminary, tells the story of some seminary students who played basketball in a nearby public school. The elderly janitor waited patiently until the seminarians finished playing. Invariably he sat there reading his Bible. One day one of the students asked him what he was reading. The man answered, “The Book of Revelation.” Surprised, the young man asked if he understood it. “Oh, yes,” the man assured him. “I understand it.” “What does it mean?” Very quietly the janitor answered, “It means that Jesus is gonna win.”[45] That is a wonderful summary of this passage. Jesus will be the Victor. These two verses present five important truths. First, Jesus will win over the Antichrist. To again quote from Luther’s great hymn, “And He must win the battle.”

Second, these verses point up the power of deceit and delusion in the world. The spirit of Antichrist is already at work in the world (1 John 4:3). It is often at work not only in what appears outwardly bad, but also in what is religious.[46] It is seen, for example, in the modern philosophy of pluralism, wherein Jesus is demoted to the position of being just one of many doorways to God.

Third, evil has a unifying power. At the end the entire world will unite-to fight the King of kings.[47]

Fourth, this passage underscores the reality of divine judgment in hell. The Bible warns people that rebellion against God is death-that no weapon raised against God can prosper, that those who will not have Christ rule over them will perish.[48]

Fifth, the Rider on the white horse is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The good news of the gospel is that no one need fear facing Christ in judgment or being cast into the lake of fire. Christ has paid the price for the sins of all who believe in Him as their Savior. Unbelievers need to be warned not to refuse the forgiveness He freely offers them.[49]

Notes

1. Douglas MacArthur, Reminiscences (New York: MacGraw-Hill, 1964), 272–76.
2. James Montgomery Boice, The Last and Future World (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974), 98–99.
3. Quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer, September 25, 1982. For the quotes from Franklin Roosevelt, Ellen Goodman, Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, Barbra Streisand, and B. F. Skinner, the writer is indebted to Billy Graham, Approaching Hoofbeats: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Waco, TX: Word, 1983), 222–24.
4. Seymour N. Siegel, quoted in Graham, Approaching Hoofbeats, 236.
5. Arnold Toynbee, quoted in ibid., 227.
6. Jonathan Schell, quoted in Time, April 1982.
7. For a reconstruction of the events leading up to Antichrist’s fall, see Charles H. Dyer, World News and Bible Prophecy (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1993), 227–39.
8. Martin Kiddle, The Revelation of St. John, Moffatt New Testament Commentary (New York: Harper, 1940), 388.
9. G. R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation, New Century Bible (London: Oliphants, 1974), 282.
10. Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, New International Commentary on the New Testament, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 357.
11. Robert Wallace Orr, Victory Pageant: A Commentary on the Book of Revelation (London: Pickering & Inglis, 1972), 150.
12. T. W. Manson, The Sayings of Jesus (London: SCM, 1949), 147.
13. G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine, Harper New Testament Commentary (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), 247.
14. Beasley-Murray, Revelation, 282. The word δεῖπον is used for both suppers.
15. Ibid.
16. Gerhard A. Krodel, Revelation, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1989), 324.
17. John Sweet, Revelation, Trinity Press International New Testament Commentaries (London: SCM, 1990), 285.
18. Robert Govett, The Apocalypse: Expounded by Scripture (London, 1861; reprint, Miami Springs, FL: Conley & Schoettle, 1981), 4:190.
19. Henry Barclay Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John (London: Macmillan, 1906), 252.
20. Cf. Mathias Rissi, The Future of the World (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1966), 33. Rissi concludes that when Christ comes all unbelievers will die. Others reject this notion, pointing to Revelation 20:3 which refers to the nations that survive Armageddon (Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation, 282–83). Three observations are in order: (1) It is unlikely that John conceived of any unregenerate people entering the millennium (John 3:5). Therefore the nations of Revelation 20:3 cannot include the unregenerate. (2) Jesus described a judgment that will take place before the millennium, in which the Gentiles will be gathered before Messiah the Judge (Matt. 25:31–41). Only believers (sheep) will be admitted into the kingdom (v. 34); the goats (unbelievers) will be excluded. (3) Revelation 20:5 clearly suggests that the unsaved dead will not be raised at the beginning of the millennium. This, coupled with Matthew 25, would seem to imply that unbelievers will be alive at the coming of Christ and will face Him at the judgment of Matthew 25:41 and be cast into hell.
21. William Barclay, The Revelation of John, rev. ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976), 2:184.
22. Tenney writes, “The book of Revelation was not given to the church to terrorize it nor to inculcate hatred and brutality. It does, however, expose the nature of human sinfulness and rebellion against deity. A revolt deliberately organized for the purpose of banishing God and Christ from the world would have seemed almost unthinkable a century ago, but through the rising secularism of our age it is fast becoming a live option even in America. Faithful witnessing and a keen understanding of God’s plans for the consummation of the age are imperative in this situation” (Merrill C. Tenney, The Book of Revelation, Proclaiming the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1963], 96).
23. Cf. Kiddle, The Revelation of St. John, 388; and Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 358.
24. Walter Scott, Exposition of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, 4th ed. (London: Pickering & Inglis, n.d.), 392.
25. Joseph Seiss, Lectures on the Apocalypse (New York: Charles C. Cook, 1906), 3:253.
26. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, 253.
27. Psalm 2:1–2 finds partial fulfillment at the Lord’s crucifixion and ascension, as well as at His second advent.
28. Seiss, Lectures on the Apocalypse, 3:256.
29. Ibid., 257-58.
30. As told by S. Lewis Johnson Jr. See Alison Griffiths, Fire in the Islands! (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw, 1977).
31. Stephen Travis, quoted in John Blanchard, More Gathered Gold (Welwyn, OK: Evangelical, 1986), 117.
32. Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” trans. Frederick H. Hedge, in Hymns of Truth and Praise (Fort Dodge, KS: Gospel Perpetuating Publishers, 1971), 588.
33. Ray C. Stedman, God’s Final Word: Understanding Revelation (Grand Rapids: Discovery, 1991), 316.
34. Seiss, Lectures on the Apocalypse, 3:259.
35. William Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Revelation (London: Morrish, 1874), 405–6; cf. Govett, The Apocalypse: Expounded by Scripture, 4:195, and Scott, Exposition of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, 394.
36. J. A. Patch, “Brimstone,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1 (1979), 547.
37. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 359.
38. The lake of fire and Gehenna, referring to the same place, describe hell. This is to be distinguished from hades, although the King James Version does not make this distinction clear. Hades is the intermediate state between death and the resurrection (Matt. 16:18; Luke 16:23; Acts 2:27) and is sometimes used synonymously with the grave (Rev. 1:18; 6:8; 20:13). See George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972), 258.
39. Martin Marty, quoted in Kenneth L. Woodward, “Heaven,” Newsweek, March 27, 1989, 52.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid., 54.
42. In light of Hebrews 4:12 and Ephesians 2:16, some interpreters say verse 21 means Christ will defeat His enemies by converting them and reconciling them (e.g., Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, 255; and David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance [Fort Worth: Dominion, 1987], 491–92). This is an impossible view, because the context is one of judgment, not conversion of the rebellious. This is made clear by the summons of the vultures to feed not on the flesh of the beast and the false prophet but on the flesh of their followers. In short, the very people Swete and Chilton say will be converted will, in fact, be destroyed and eaten by the vultures. To say the least, this would be a unique metaphor for conversion and reconciliation (Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation, 284).
43. Charles, The Revelation of St. John, 2:140.
44. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 258.
45. Vernon C. Grounds, “Getting into Shape Spiritually,” Christianity Today, February 2, 1979, 27.
46. Kelly, Lectures on the Book of Revelation, 407.
47. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, 254.
48. Seiss, Lectures on the Apocalypse, 3:261.
49. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 357.