Revelation: Chapter 19
July 10, 2011Rev 19:1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
Rev 19:2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
Rev 19:3 And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
Rev 19:4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”
The wrath of God had been poured out upon the two beasts and the prostitute. The Roman Empire, and its capitol city Rome, stood condemned. The great persecutors of the church were about to be destroyed. Celebration ensued! The saints could now look forward to the wedding feast. As the angel said, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb! These are the true words of God.”
Rev 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
The Faithful and True rider was King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He vanquished the armies of the beast with the sword in his mouth, the Word of God. Destruction was complete. The beast and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire, and the vultures fed on the bodies of the armies.
So when did this happen? It depends on your definition of terms. Some might say 395 AD, at the death of Theodosius I, which marked the last time the empire was politically unified. Others might name 405 or 406 AD when the Goth’s invaded across the Rhine, or perhaps 410 when the Visigoths sacked Rome. Or perhaps it was at the second sacking of Rome, this time by the Vandals in 455 AD. By any definition, once the final Roman emperor had been deposed in 480 AD, the Roman empire had come to an end. The Roman Empire would never again threaten the church.
Christian Unity 
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