"Mine Eyes Will See the Glory"

Revelation 19.11-16 NASU (selected verses)

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire,”

“He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven,… were following Him on white horses.” 

“From His mouth comes a sharp sword,… and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe… He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”

This past Sunday we celebrated the birth of God’s Son who appeared on a humble stage in a Bethlehem barn before an audience of simple sheep herders. He came as a helpless newborn wrapped in torn strips of cloth and lying on a bed of dirty straw.

This same Jesus will come again. His second coming will be quite different from His first one. He will mount “a white horse” flanked by hordes of heaven’s warriors also on “white horses.” His eyes will be “flames of fire” whose gaze will thaw all resistance and bore into every frozen heart like a cutting torch through cold metal. His “robe [will be soaked with the] …blood” of the sacrificial offering of His own life freely given for every living human. He is Jesus.

“Faithful and True”

“KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”

His return to earth will be nothing like His first appearance. The first Christmas was gentle and quiet. Jesus will come again, this time with “a sharp sword” treading “the wine press of the fierce wrath of God.” The first Christmas occurred in an obscure location and witnessed by almost no one. No one will miss the second Advent. Alluding to the great apocalyptic writers, Daniel and Zechariah, John described the return of Christ as a dramatic event seen all around the world:
 

“BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him,

even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.”

Revelation 1.7 NASU (from Daniel 7.13; Zechariah 12.10-14)

“Mine eyes have seen the glory

of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage

where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning

of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.” [1]

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[1] Note the similarity between this famous Civil War song and the book of Revelation. Perhaps Revelation 19.11-16 was Julia Ward Howe's inspiration for her portrayal of Christ's second coming. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was first published on the front page of The Atlantic Monthly magazine in February 1862.

Sage Boyd "expresses her soul through painting, drawing and creating artwork that soothes the soul." The wonderful paintings above is from Sage's "Horses" collection whose work you can view and purchase at http://www.artbysage.com/.