Revelation 19:17 – 21

The Beast and His Armies Defeated

17 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.”

19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

When a person has a great accomplishment he celebrates by having friends share in his glory. In this case Christ has a great victory over the Roman-Catholic church-state. It was a battle, a battle generally leaves many carcasses scattered on the battlefield, mostly it is a variety of birds who are scavengers who feed on the bodies of the slain. Usually the ones left on the battlefield are of the losing side, as the winners have control of the battlefield. Because the Lord won the birds are invited to feast on the carcasses of the evil.

This is symbolical of the defeat and destruction of the Roman-Catholic church-state. It is appropriate in that the battle of God's will was against the kings, captains, and the armies of the empire and horses were used by their armies.

The beast represents the Great Babylon, the Roman-Catholic church-state, the kings are the rulers of the various countries who bow down to the false doctrines of the church-state, they all mustered all of their forces to resist the attack of Christ throughout the Reformation.

The lake of fire in this verse is the destruction of the church-state, not the final destination of the evil.

The false prophet is not one individual but the entire group of evil workers who used their deceptive teachings to mislead the people of the Roman-Catholic empire.

The rest are the diehards of the Roman-Catholic church-state who continued to struggle against the word of God which was now in the hands of the people.