e has already prepared herself for
his coming, and now the eternal union takes place. "Blessed are they
which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb."

17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a
loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of
heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of
the great God;

18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses;
and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both
free and bond, both small and great.

19. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their
armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on
the horse, and against his army.

20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that
wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that
had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his
image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning
with brimstone.

21. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat
upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all
the fowls were filled with their flesh.

The foregoing explanation so nearly covers this ground that little
remains to be said. The symbol is that of vast slaughter on a
battle-field, which gathers all the birds of heaven and the beasts of
the forest to the prey. The enemies gathered for this battle were "the
beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies," together with the
false prophet. This is the grand confederacy of wickedness formed under
the mission of the three unclean spirits that went forth, not only unto
the kings of the earth, but also into the whole world. This is not a
literal collecting of armies, hence not a literal slaughter upon a
battlefield, nor a literal assembling of carrion birds; but it is a
symbolic representation of the final and eternal destruction of the
allied powers of sin. As will be further described in the following
chapter, they were gathered together for the purpose of overthrowing the
church of God and anticipated a complete victory in the battle of
Armageddon; but the sudden appearance of Jesus Christ to rescue his
bride results in their complete overthrow. The special theme of this
series of prophecy has been the history of apostate Christendom; hence
the beast and the false