Description
The Triumph of Jesus and the Great White Throne: Revelation 19:11-20:15
Nothing is sufficient to express the completeness and the absoluteness of the Divine victory [of the Lord Jesus Christ over death and the Devil] except The Roman Triumph. – Sir William Ramsay, Luke the Physician, X, p.298
Revelation: The Book of Blessing, Volume 7 brings the Apocalypse to its Triumphal Conclusion. In the Republic and the Imperial periods of Roman history, the victory celebration called the Triumph was well known. Paul a citizen of Rome likely never witnessed a Triumph but knew and used the language of the Triumph. In Colossians 2:15, 2 Corinthians 2:14 and Ephesians 4:8, Paul used language associated with Roman victory celebrations to celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the Devil.
The Apostle John was not a Roman citizen, but he too understood Roman culture and the arrogance of power expressed in the Roman Triumph. The Triumph honoring Emperor Vespasian and Titus, and the Arch of Titus erected by Domitian in their honor, suitably expressed and summarized the contempt of the World in all ages for the Kingdom of God. John responded to Rome’s contempt by using terms and imagery from the Roman Triumph to express the Triumph of Jesus over sin, death and the Devil. This 7th Heptad is a parody of the greatest expressions of human pride and power.
In Revelation 20:11, Messiah judges the world from His seat upon His Great White Throne. The Throne scene alludes to the judgments of Vespasian and Titus from thrones of ivory against Gioras, the Commander of the Jewish army in 70 A.D., and Jerusalem. Rome’s temporal victory over the City of Jerusalem suggested that Rome and the Kingdom of the World were triumphant over the Kingdom of God. The ancient City of Jerusalem was called the City of God, the dwelling place of the Most High (Psalm 46:4, There is a River whose streams make glad the City of God, the holy habitation of the Most High).
The boastful and pretentious celebrations by the Kingdom of the World expressed in the Triumph of Vespasian and Titus were only temporary. In Revelation 20:11-15, the wicked from every age along with Death and the Grave personified are summoned, assembled and judged at the left hand of The Great White Throne.
In Revelation 22:1-3, The Great White Throne is further described as the Throne of God and the Lamb where the righteous of every age are summoned and assembled at the right hand of the Judge upon the Great White Throne. They are welcomed and await their glorification at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and His Bride. The details of the celebrations of those on the right hand are the subjects of Volume 7, Fascicle B.
