A Unique Take on the “Fowl” of Revelation 19:17

I have argued previously that the Gog of Revelation 20:8 & Ezekiel 38-39, refers to Babylon in Ezekiel and to Mystery-Babylon (Rev 17:5, etc) in Revelation. Mystery-Babylon is the symbolic name for apostate Israel who is destroyed at the climax of the tribulation, thus fulfilling much of Ezekiel’s prophecy.

Ezekiel’s prophecy also has implications for the “heathen” which I interpret as the spread of the Gospel through the Gentile nations.

Ezek 38:23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.

Ezek 39:7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not [let them] pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Ezek 39:21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

John also describes a vision which demonstrates the victory of Christ over the nations.

Reve 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
…
Reve 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron…

Reve 19:16 And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
…
Reve 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth…

The “sword” which proceeds from Christ’s “mouth” can be none other than the gospel. The word of God is referred to as a sword in Eph 6:17 & Hebrews 4:12.

The ties between Ezekiel’s prophecy and the vision of Revelation 19 is further cemented by the references to the “fowl” which are called to the feast of the great God. Compare the following passages in Ezekiel 39 to those in Revelation 19.

Ezek 39:17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, [even] a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

(Rev 19:17 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; )

Ezek 39:18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
…
Ezek 39:20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

(Reve 19:18 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.)



Now I will admit this can be a little confusing. At one point Revelation 19 seems to be referring to the spread of the Gospel and the spiritual conquering of nations. But the references to the fowl eating the flesh of men seem to indicate a physical battle, which is better applied to the literal destruction of apostate Israel.

Could the vision be implying that through the physical destruction of Apostate Israel, the nations of the earth will come to believe (Ezek 38:23, 39:7)? Although a tempting solution, to conclude this we are forced to mix and match our symbolism, for it is the flesh of kings and mighty men that are eaten which are the same ones that are being conquered by the sword. In the old adage… ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it too.’ Either the kings and mighty men refer to the gentile nations or to apostate Israel. If they are the nations of the earth, which were conquered by the spread of the gospel, why does John use the imagery of the feasting fowls?

The answer, I believe, is found in John’s use of an interesting literary technique he employs throughout the book of Revelation. In fact it is the use of this technique that causes much confusion regarding the order of events in Revelation. I refer to John’s use of diametric opposites.

Throughout the visions of Revelation, John employs diametric pairs. For example, the rider on the white horse during the first seal is in diametric opposition to the rider on the white horse of Revelation 19. The Lamb which was slain but lived stands in contrast to the Beast which also possessed a deadly wound that was healed. The two witnesses are the mirror image of the False Prophet. The Great Harlot is diametrically opposed to the Bride of Christ. And the list goes on…

Sometimes, though, John uses a diametric pairing to a reference found in the Old Testament (for example, I argue that the treading of Jerusalem for 42 months is just such a case). The reference to the fowls of heaven being called to feed usually refer to negative image of flesh eating fowls feasting on the carnage of a battle. What could the diametric counterpart be?

First let’s take a step back and look at the use of the term fowl in the book of Revelation. It is found three times, but only once outside of the passage under consideration in Revelation 19.

Reve 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

As already noted, “Babylon” refers to apostate Israel which is also the probable identity of Ezekiel’s “Gog.” In this vision, “hateful birds” inhabit Babylon just before its destruction. The birds, though, are equated with “devils” and “foul spirits.” So just before the vision of the True and Faithful judge we see the city of Jerusalem inhabited by demonic spirits.

Turning our attention to the vision of the Faithful and True judge, we read

Reve 19:17 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;

Now, as already stated, it is suspected that John is using some kind of diametric pair to subtly make his point. It is surmised that this verse is in direct opposition to Revelation 18:2 which shows that Babylon / Gog is inhabited by demonic spirits. Moreover, these demonic spirits are to be associated with the unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13-15 which gather the nations to the battle of Armageddon.

If I am correct, then this forms a mirror with, on one side, the nations which were deceived and come and destroy Babylon -Gog which is inhabited by “hateful bird(s)”….and on the other side, the nations being conquered by the true Israel, Jesus Christ, with the sword of his mouth, the word of truth. But what of the birds???

In order to determine the true meaning of the symbolism, we again utilize our existing hermeneutic. If John uses similar phrases, it is an indication he is referring to the same event, unless it leads to obvious contradictions. Besides the use of the term “fowl,” there is one more expression which is seen twice in the book of Revelation, “fly” in the midst of “heaven.”

Reve 8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Reve 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,


Quite interestingly, some of the Greek texts have “eagle” for angel in Revelation 8:13. But the point is simple…the only other ‘being’ we see flying in the midst of heaven is an angel/eagle! Which is a diametric opposite of the demons, which are equated with “hateful birds” in Revelation 18:2. In addition, according to Revelation 14:6, one of the angels possessed the EVERLASTING GOSPEL TO PREACH UNTO…EVERY NATION!

This is exactly what we actually would expect as the culmination of the vision of the True and Faithful Judge.

In conclusion, the imagery of the “fowl” in the vision of the Faithful and True Judge in Revelation 19, is NOT the literal fowl that feasted upon the dead bodies of Gog. It is NOT demonic spirits. John is simply using another diametric opposite. The fowl of Revelation 19 are angels which facilitated the spread of the gospel to the nations (Rev 14:6). They stand in direct opposition of the demonic spirits which deceived nations, leading them into a battle with the True and Faithful Judge.