Friday, 16 July 2021
that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” Revelation 19:18
The words here are part of one long thought. Taken with the previous verse, they read –
“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.’”
With the context given, this verse begins with, “that you may eat the flesh of kings.” These would be the kings previously mentioned in Revelation 16:14 –
“For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
These kings will now become the main course of a banquet for the vultures to dine on. Next is mentioned, “the flesh of captains.”
The Greek word, chiliarchos, is now used for the twenty-second and last time in the Bible. It signifies one who commands a thousand men. In modern terms, it might be equal to someone around the rank of full bird colonel. For the continued feast of the ravenous birds, these will add supplemental nutrition. But there is more to come. It next mentions “the flesh of mighty men.”
The ischuros, or “mighty,” are mentioned now for the last of twenty-nine times. It signifies those who have combative strength. Their flesh will be lean and delicious to the birds gathered for a meal. Along with them would be “the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them.”
These are the cavalry. Though modern cavalries have tanks and the like, it can be expected that there will be real animals brought to the battle as well. The horses will be fit and fighting ready, and their riders will be strong men of war. They will fall in battle though, and they will be another part of the great banquet set forth for the ever-increasing number of birds that join the feast. Finally, it mentions “the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
This includes all others who were caught up in the battle – the free and slaves, the nurses and corpsmen, civilian contractors and civilian bystanders, and so on. The numbers will be immense and the bounty for the birds will seem endless. The small and great alike will become a feast exposed to the open skies of the Middle East. The words are not unlike those of Ezekiel 39 and the great battle of Gog and Magog –
“And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field:
‘Assemble yourselves and come;
Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you,
A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel,
That you may eat flesh and drink blood.
18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty,
Drink the blood of the princes of the earth,
Of rams and lambs,
Of goats and bulls,
All of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 You shall eat fat till you are full,
And drink blood till you are drunk,
At My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you.
20 You shall be filled at My table
With horses and riders,
With mighty men
And with all the men of war,’ says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 39:17-20
Life application: Unlike the marriage supper of the Lamb where people will dine with the Lord, in this coming supper the people will be the main course.
Battles are times of death and corruption. They are a time when the hungry pit fills with the slain. And they are a time when the beasts of the earth dine on what is left of those who died in the encounter. As horrific as these end-times prophecies are, they are a self-inflicted event upon the masses who are destroyed. God has given us His word in the pages of the Bible, and He has shown us the choices we can make – life or death, Jesus or the devil, to participate in the marriage supper with the Lamb or to be the “supper of the great God.”
Because the word is already written, anyone can simply open the book and decide what they will do with Jesus Christ – enjoy Him as their Savior now and their Lord for all eternity, or live apart from Him now and be separated from His goodness forever. And the list is comprehensive. God is no respecter of persons. Status and position will mean nothing when He comes to judge in righteousness. All are alike to Him, be it captains, mighty men, horses and those who sit on them, and all other people – free and slave, and small and great.
Because this is true, the opposite is also true. No matter how lowly you are in this world, you are on an equal footing with all others in Christ. He is pleased to look upon you apart from your worldly status and call you His own. Make the right choice – choose JESUS!
Lord, when we feel down and lowly, all we need to do is to consider that You went to the cross for us. Because this is true, we can certainly know that nothing can separate us from Your love. And nothing in all the world is more important than our relationship with You. You, Jesus, are our All in all, and You are our great desire. Glory, majesty, and praises belong to You alone. Amen.