Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 19:17

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come [and] be gathered together unto the great supper of God;" — Revelation 19:17 (ASV)

This section brings us to the anticipated confrontation between the beast and his soldiers and the Lamb (vv.17–21; cf. 16:12–16; 17:14). First, there is the summons to the vultures to come to God’s great supper and gorge themselves on the slain corpses of the battlefield—a horrible picture of human carnage. The language is borrowed from Eze 39:17ff., which describes the eschatological overthrow of Gog. It may be unnecessary to press the literalness of the description. This battlefield language is designed to indicate that a great victory is about to occur.