Chapter nineteen begins in heaven with the church having been made ready. Then heaven is opened and Jesus, the rider on the white horse moves out for battle. He defeats the armies of the world.

The statement that Jesus "judges and makes war" must be seen in light of the injustices inflicted upon the human race by the kingdom of the beast and the violent persecution of the followers of Jesus Christ by the followers of the beast. For the Lord to do anything less than "make war" with this evil kingdom would discredit his character of righteousness, holiness and justice. The verb tenses of "judges" and "makes war" is present tense in the Greek which indicate this is the riders habitual action, and not a mere one-time event.

Once again his eyes of "blazing fire" are seeking and seeing all things for evaluation and judgment. The "many crowns" he wears on his head are diademata, the crown of royalty and rule, and not the stephanos, the crown of the victor. Jesus does wear the stephanos, but in this scene he is the rightful ruler of God's creation and of the kingdoms of this world.

This is the beginning of the "iron scepter" rule of the earth by the Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament:

"The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
    and the obedience of the nations is his." - Genesis 49:10

"He said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have become your Father.
Ask of me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
You will rule them with an iron scepter;
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth." - Psalm 2:7-11

"While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth...In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.” - Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45

"Forgiveness is me giving
up my right to hurt you
for hurting me."