Is Revelation 19:17-21 a literary allusion to Ezekiel 39:17-20 or is it the same event?

Question

(KJV) Revelation 19:17-21

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.

.(KJV) Ezekiel 39:17-20

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. 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. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 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. (kjv

Is Ezekiel 39 speaking of the battle of Armageddon is Revelation 19 simply a literary allusion to a previous occurrence in the past?

Answer 1

Yes. Much of Revelation parallels Ezekiel. They were both prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem, and the establishment of God's kingdom through His Son, Christ Jesus. Some of the prophesy in Ezekiel had an immediate application to the contemporary circumstances of the captivity under Babylon. But they were still prophetic in the ultimate fulfillment of that final destruction of the city and their temple in AD. 70.

Reading them side by side we find the throne scene in Ezek chap.1, and Rev. chap. 4; the four plagues in Ezek. c. 5 & Rev. 6:1-8; the slain under the altar in Ezek. c. 6 & Rev. c. 6:9-11; the sealing of the saints foreheads in Ezel. c. 9 & Rev. c. 7; measuring the temple in Ezek. c. 40-43 & Rev. 11:1-2; Jerusalem compared with Sodom in Ezek. c. 16 & Rev. 11:8; the great harlot identified as Jerusalem in Ezek. c. 16 & 23 and in Rev. c. 17-18; the battle with Gog and Magog in Ezek. c.38-39 & Rev. 20:7-9.

There is much more parallel between the two books. You can see a list of all of them here. I have some documented in my posts "The Signs of Revelation - Parts I - VIII" at my blog ShreddingTheVeil.

The post "Revelation's Parallel Use of the Sequence of Ezekiel..." by Duncan McKenzie documents it very well. See here.