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XVI. Three Major End Time Battles. When, Where and Why
do They Happen.
There
are volumes of Old Testament scriptures that detail gruesome wartime
battles that take place during, before, and 30 days after Daniel’s
seventieth week. The Lord
directed several of these Old Testament prophets to prophesy about
these battles, concluding with the battle of Armageddon.
Let me try to describe these battles as to their timing,
the combatants, where they take place, and put them into perspective
as to their importance in God’s end time planning.
All of the land surrounding Israel,
and in particular Jerusalem,
will be a war zone during the last few months of the first 3½ years,
and will continue through most of the last 42 months, plus an additional
30 days. (1260 days plus 30, 1290 days, Daniel 12:11
“And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken
away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there
shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.)
There will be three major battles within this approximately
four-year period of continuous war which we will look at.
These three major battles will be referred to as Battle
One, Battle Two, and Battle Three.
BATTLE ONE.
Before
we look at the battle itself, let me introduce to you Satan’s designated
leader (prophesied of and approved by God) for the seven years known
as Daniel’s 70th week.
That leader is the beast, the Antichrist.
We will look at where he comes from and how he fits into
the picture. In Ezekiel 38:2,3
we are introduced to the name Gog, or supreme one, which is a name
given to the one we will eventually know as the Antichrist. (Ezekiel
38:2-3, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of
Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against
him, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against
you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.”’)
He is of the people or nation of Magog (verse 2), prince
(might be translated “chief prince”) of Rosh (could be a territory
or division of Magog), and he is the chief prince of Meshech and
Tubal. These three nations
can be traced back to Noah. Noah had three sons (Genesis 9:18 Now the sons of Noah who went out
of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father
of Canaan.) and the third
son, Japheth, had seven sons. (Genesis 10:2 The sons of Japheth
were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.) Three of these seven sons were Magog (2nd),
Tubal (5th), and Meshech (6th), and history
tells us that after the tower of Babel, these three sons, all their
families, and their succeeding generations, over the period of a
few thousand years, eventually migrated and populated eastern Russia
(Tubal, Tobolsk), central Russia (Meshech, Moscow) and western Russia
(central Europe, Magog, Germanic). They continued on to Germany,
Italy,
and perhaps to most of Europe, and eventually
to America
(Caucasians). Ezekiel 38:2,3
(above) also gives confirmation that these three nations, Tubal,
Meshech and Magog, are part of the ten-nation confederacy, the ten
horns, described to us in Daniel 7:7,8,20-26. (Daniel 7:7-8,20-26,
7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast,
dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth;
it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue
with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that
were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering
the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among
them, before whom three of the first
horns were plucked out by the
roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the
eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.” 20 “and the
ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn
which came up, before which three fell,
namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous
words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. 21
I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints,
and prevailing against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came,
and a judgment was made in favor or the saints of
the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
23 Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on
earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms,
and shall devour the whole earth, trample
it and break it in pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings
who shall arise from this kingdom, and another shall rise after
them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall
subdue three kings. 25 He shall speak pompous
words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most
High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the
saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times
and half a time. 26 But the court shall be seated, and they shall
take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever.”)
Gog (the little horn, Antichrist) overcomes these three nations
(verse 8, “before whom three of the first ten horns were plucked
out by the roots”) and takes control over them.
Gog uses this huge three-nation confederacy, which is perhaps
most of, if not all of, Europe as his base
of strength prior to Daniel’s seventieth week. He now becomes the pre-eminent power in the
entire world.
This
alignment of the above nations very likely takes place prior to
the beginning of Daniels’ seventieth week.
Backed by his huge European power base, this ‘little horn’
(Gog, and soon to be Antichrist) exhibits his false propensity for
peace by offering Israel
something it cannot refuse. We
read in Daniel 9:27 that
He shall confirm (lit. causes to prevail) his peace covenant with
many, Israel,
and he guarantees this covenant for one week, i.e., seven years.
(Daniel 9:27 Then he shall confirm
a covenant with many for
one week; but in the middle
of the week He shall bring
an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations
shall be one who makes desolate,
even until the consummation, which
is determined, is poured out
on the desolate.”) After seeking peace for years and years, the
Israelites will be full of exultation and renewed confidence with
their new guaranteed security, but it will prove to be a false security. The world will later come to know this peacemaker
at the 3½-year mark as Antichrist when he desecrates the temple
in Jerusalem. Perhaps as part of the peace negotiations, this
negotiator will also guarantee the Israelites protection and may
give them permission to build a temple on the temple mount to sweeten
the deal, since no nation surrounding Israel
will dare to challenge his authority and power.
The previous sentence is not supported in scripture, but
I like to think of it as a possibility.
If all the facts and assumptions of these two paragraphs
prove to be correct, you can understand why there could be a strong
possibility that a long period of time, perhaps hundreds of years
or more, could still elapse before the seven years can begin.
Where does Antichrist
come from, and who chooses him?
Jesus, through an angel, dictated and vividly previewed to
the Apostle John the entire book of Revelation when He caught him
up to Heaven in approximately 95AD. (Revelation 4:1 After these
things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with
me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must
take place after this.) We
read in Revelation 17:9-11, and which is verified in historical
manuscripts, that five beast empires will have fallen prior to 95AD;
(1) Egyptian, (2) Assyrian, (3) Babylonian, (4) Medo-Persian, and
(5) Grecian. (Revelation 17:9-11, 9 “Here is the mind which has
wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen,
one is (Roman,
95AD), and the other has not
yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short
time. 11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also
the eighth, and is of the seven,
and is going to perdition.”) One exists at 95AD, the sixth beast empire,
(6) Roman, and one, the seventh beast empire, is yet to come after
95AD and last for a short time.
The seventh beast empire must be a hater and exterminator
of the Jews as were the prior six, which explains the term “beast-empire”,
and why the Antichrist is referred to as the “beast” throughout
Scripture. This seventh (7)
beast empire, obviously, must exist between 95AD and 1948, and we
are told it must last only a short time. Perhaps there were a few empires between those
years that matched this description and exterminated Jews, but none
matched or exceeded the ferocity of the Third Reich. This empire lasted a short time, and killed
approximately six million Jews.
The leader of one of these first seven (7) beast empires
just mentioned, a leader who was killed in battle with a wound to
the head, and whose deadly wound will be healed, will be given new
life (13:3) and will indwell or be Gog, the Antichrist. (Revelation
13:3 And I saw one of his heads
as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly
wound was healed. And all the world marveled
and followed the beast.) That
person will then become the leader of the eighth (8, revived Roman
Empire) and final satanic beast empire at the midpoint
of Daniels’ 70th week when he desecrates the temple.
This eighth beast empire will last 3½ years.
If there were one terrible Jew-killer from each of the first
seven beast empires, this would make seven ruthless killers from
which God will choose, or allow, one to become the Antichrist.
Most of those seven killers would not meet God’s qualifications
as set forth above. Thus,
a strong possibility exists that this leader, out of several possibilities,
could be Nero or Hitler. Sounds
very scary, doesn’t it?
So
that you might have a better understanding of what the earthly conditions
are during the first half of Daniel’s 70th week that
could provoke Battle One, let us briefly look at the first
four seals. In previous sections
of this study (Section VIII), we described Satan’s activities
during the opening of the first four seals. No matter what we may have been taught, the
opening of the seals is Satan’s time to start dealing his wrath
on earth. No less an authority than Jesus Himself dictated
to John the Apostle that the time for Jesus to begin His Day-of-the-Lord
wrath begins at Revelation 6:16,17,
after the opening of the sixth seal, and after the great worldwide
earthquake, and after the heavenly upheaval. (Revelation 6:16-17,
16 and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from
the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath
of the Lamb! 17 For the great day
of His wrath has come, and who
is able to stand?”) Jesus
opens the seals, and patiently endures and bides His time to begin
His wrath judgment, and allows the four horses to leave Heaven. It is necessary to understand what Satan and
Antichrist do after the signing of the “peace covenant” on through
the first 3½ years before you can understand the significance of
what Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet do in the second
3½ years. After the first seal is opened in Revelation 6, Satan, or one of his designees, exits Heaven on a white horse representing
unparalleled peace on earth, a false peace. Instead, he immediately begins to conquer the
remaining portions of the earth, which he doesn’t already control,
verse two. The
second seal is opened, and a red horse and its rider (these horses
and riders likely represent forces rather than specific individuals)
exits Heaven and takes peace from the earth and people all over
the earth will be killing each other, or worldwide wars, verse four. The third seal is opened,
and a black horse and its rider exits Heaven signifying worldwide
famine, likely as a result of the upheaval caused by the worldwide
wars, verse 6. The fourth seal is opened
and a pale horse exits Heaven and the rider is Death, “and power
was given to them (from our Lord) over a fourth of the earth, to
kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the
earth,” verse 8, or possibly 1½
billion souls. Seals 5, 6,
and 7 are opened in the last 3½ years.
This will not be a pleasant time to be alive any place on
earth, and especially in the area surrounding Jerusalem. But God will provide for His chosen Israelites
and the Church, His precious elect, to survive and overcome. We can be positive of this.
For
several months prior to the end of the first 3½ years of Daniel’s
seventieth week, Gog, the future Antichrist, as part of his devious
plans, and also following the commands of God Himself, starts gathering
his troops in Magog, Meshech and Tubal. (Ezekiel 38:4 I
[the Lord God] will turn you [Gog] around,
put hooks into your jaws, and
lead you out, with all your army, horses, and
horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers
and shields, all of them handling swords.)
This large army comes out of the far north. (Ezekiel
38:15 Then you will come from your place out of the far north,
you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great
company and a mighty army.) God then directs Gog and his army from Magog,
Meshech and Tubal toward the land
of Israel for his involvement
in Battle One. Ezekiel
38:5 further states that in addition to the three nations just mentioned,
troops from Persia,
Gomer and Togarmah also become a part of Gogs’ armies. (Ezekiel
38:5-6, 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them
with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house
of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people
are with you.) When Gogs’ threatening armies start approaching
the area of Israel, the king of the South (Egypt and perhaps Libya,
Ethiopia and Sudan) decides to challenge Gogs’ intrusion into what
they consider “their” territory, and they go north to make war against
Gog. (Read about this in Daniel 11:40-45, 40 “At the time
of the end the king of the South shall attack
him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind,
with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter
the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall
also enter the Glorious
Land, and
many countries shall be over thrown; but these shall escape
from his hand: Edom,
Moab,
and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand
against the countries, and the land
of Egypt
shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold
and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt;
also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.
44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore
he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.
45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and
the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no
one will help him.) Gog
and his armies overwhelm the king of the South like a whirlwind
and he takes treasures of gold, silver and precious things of Egypt. After Gogs’ great victory, verse 43 tells us
Egypt,
the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels, or, in other
words, join Gog’s fighting force.
After this major victory, Gog is given news from the east
and the north (from Jerusalem),
which troubles him greatly. With
great fury he destroys and annihilates many.
This annihilation likely occurs at least in all of the Arabian
Peninsula, eastern Jordan,
Lebanon,
Syria,
and Iraq
at the minimum. All of these
battles are a part of Battle
One. However, the small territories of Edom
(southeast of the Dead Sea), Moab
(east of the Dead Sea), and Ammon (northeast
of the Dead Sea) escape his hand!
God is again working His miracles.
This is the specific area, east thru Jericho and south on
the east side of the Dead Sea, thru which perhaps millions of Jews
will likely soon flee to the caves in Petra to seek protection,
food and water for 1260 days
As
was detailed above, Battle One starts during the few months
preceding the midpoint of the 70th week and lasts perhaps
only a matter of several days or a few weeks at the most into the
last 3½ years. The main part of the battle takes place in the
land surrounding Israel,
and concludes with perhaps a speedy coup when Gog, with his overwhelming
force, captures all of Israel
and Jerusalem itself. This part of the battle is detailed in Ezekiel
38:8-16a. I find no evidence
that Jesus and the Father challenge him at this time, but the Lord
God warns Gog and his followers in Ezekiel 38:18, as we will see
in Battle
Two. (Ezekiel 38:18 “And it will come to pass at the same time,
when Gog comes against the land
of Israel,”
says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face.”) We read in Daniel 11:45 that Gog, at this midpoint,
“shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas (Mediterranean
Sea and Dead Sea) and the glorious
holy mountain,” meaning in Jerusalem.
(Daniel 11:45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between
the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his
end, and no one will help him.)
Satan and Gog will already have determined that Jerusalem
and the temple mount are going to be one of their headquarters,
one among many likely major bases of their worldwide operations,
and must therefore be captured.
At this point in time, we know from scripture that armies
will surround the City of Jerusalem.
(Luke 21:20
“But when you see Jerusalem
surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.”) Luke says that Desolation is at hand. Luke also writes that these will be Antichrist’s
days of vengeance, specifically against God’s people the Israelites,
and also the elect. Matthew
and Mark describe this same period as the beginning of the time
of the Great Tribulation, and they also write that this is the time
of abomination of desolation (or perhaps more correctly, abomination
by the desolator). In Matthew 24:21, Jesus describes this period
of time and the several or more months that follow as the worst
tribulation since the beginning of the world or ever shall be. (Matthew
24:21, For then there will be great tribulation, such
as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time,
no, nor ever shall be.)
The
Heavenly War of the Angels is also being fought in Heaven
at this midpoint of the seven years.
God and His angels defeat Satan and his angels in the Heavens,
and Satan and his angels are hurled down to earth, forbidden forever
from entering Heaven again. Satan likely goes into a killing rage after
this terrible defeat in Heaven. (Revelation 12:7-9, 7 And war
broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon;
and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail,
nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great
dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan,
who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him.) At this seven-year midpoint, Satan now directs
Antichrist to desecrate God’s Holy Temple, and Antichrist then sets
himself up as the only god to be worshiped in the Jerusalem temple
as well as in every temple or place of worship on all the earth. God the Father and Jesus give Satan and Antichrist
a short time to reign on the earth and spread their Great Tribulation
and terror, 3½ years total. (Revelation 13:5 And he was given
a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given
authority to continue for forty-two months.)
This is also the moment the true identity of Antichrist is
revealed. (II Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any
means; for that Day (the day of
RAPTURE) will not come unless the falling
away comes first, and the man of
sin is revealed, the son of perdition,)
Someone, perhaps God the Father Himself, sounds an alarm
and warns His people the Israelites, all those living in Jerusalem
and the surrounding area who would heed His call, to flee as fast
as they can. (Matthew 24:16 “then let those who are in Judea
flee to the mountains.”) God
avails to those who heed His warning, as it were, two wings of a
great eagle to fly into the wilderness, to the place God has prepared
for them, likely the caves of Petra.
(Revelation 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great
eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where
she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the
presence of the serpent.) It would seem God’s only intervention in Battle
One is to protect and fight for those who chose to flee. This escape could involve some one to two million
Israelites. Perhaps two-thirds
of the Jews living in Jerusalem
will choose to remain, accept Antichrist as ruler, and many will
even take his mark and worship him.
After all, he is the one who brought and falsely guaranteed
them their wonderful peace. The following assumption is controversial, but
this period is very likely the time of the ‘falling away first’,
one of the greatest “falling-aways” of His chosen children from
their God to a false god ever, which event must occur before the
God’s day of RAPTURE. (II Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive
you by any means; for that Day will
not come unless the falling away
comes first, and the man of sin
is revealed, the son of perdition,)
Much, if not all in this paragraph, takes place in one day.
Satan
and Antichrist will try to kill all of the Jews fleeing the area
around Jerusalem, but
Gods’ protecting hand will prevail.
As a last resort the serpent, Satan, will spew water from
his mouth (a deluge of rain), sending a killing flood to the deep
crevices of the mountains and caves of Petra
to drown the fleeing Jews. But, miraculously, God the Father will
make the earth open its mouth and swallow up the flood. (Revelation
12:15-16, 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a
flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away
by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened
its mouth and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.) Then God will protect and give food and drink
to this fleeing throng for 1260 days.
Satan proceeds to make war against the remaining Jews in
Jerusalem as well as
Jews and Christians throughout the world. (Revelation 12:17 And
the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with
the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ.)
God’s two witnesses who take up residence in Jerusalem
at this same moment of time are powerful adversaries to Antichrist’s
control. Antichrist has now captured and will now control
all of the earth through his ‘mark of the beast’ and the spirits
of the False Prophet. An
overwhelming majority of those who dwell on earth will accept this
mark and worship him. However, there will be some who will choose
to avoid taking his seal in addition to those whose names are written
in the Book of Life of the Lamb. (Revelation 13:8 All who dwell
on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written
in the Book of Life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world.) The preceding sentence implies that the Church,
the elect, is still present on earth at this moment in time, which
fact we have proved irrefutably in prior sections.
The army of the Antichrist will capture and gain control
of the Holy land, including the Temple
Mount, will take “booty,
silver, gold, livestock and goods,” and make it one of his world
capitals and one of his main bases of operations. (Ezekiel 38:12-13,
12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against
the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a
people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and
goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, Dedan, the
merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you,
‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take
booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and
goods, to take great plunder?’”)
The Antichrist will keep at least some armed force in the
area throughout much of the last 3½ years.
These moments are the terrible beginnings of Jacob’s (Israel’s)
trouble, a time of Great Tribulation. (Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! For
that day is great, so that none is like it; and it
is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall
be saved out of it.”) I would not be so bold as to say all the above
is exactly how this battle unfolds since only God knows all the
final details and timing. However,
based on all the scriptures that have been referenced, and you should
verify what they all say, it would seem reasonable that this is
how one could perceive and describe what takes place in Battle
One.
BATTLE TWO.
(
TAKE NOTE--What you are reading here about end time battles,
especially regarding Battle Two, was written in the spring
and summer of 2003. In January 2003, I listened to a 90-minute dissertation
on the end-time battles described in Ezekiel and other Old Testament
books, and afterwards I asked the speaker just when he thought these
battles would take place. The
answer I received was, “I have no idea”.
That answer sparked considerable interest on my part to study
these books in depth for myself to see if the Lord might have given
any prophecy instructions to these prophets that would give some
hint or indication as to just when and where these battles would
occur during Daniels’ 70th week. On the following pages is a description of how
I believe God enlightened my thinking regarding when and where and
why Battle Two takes place, and also a description of Gods’
apparent New Covenant relationship with the Israelites starting
with the beginning of the Day of the Lord wrath judgment [from that
day forward, Ezekiel 39:22] and continuing through all eternity.
(Ezekiel 39:22 So the house of Israel
shall know that I am the Lord their God from that
day forward.)
Many others that have studied these passages likely must
have arrived at the same conclusion, but I personally have never
read or heard of anyone taking this position. Therefore you should study it very, very carefully,
and thoroughly absorb every scripture reference to help you arrive
at a proper conclusion as to whether or not you would agree with
the facts that I will give you to back up my position.
Traditionalists will say the conclusion I arrived at does
not fit with their understanding of the writings of Isaiah 65:11-17,
or Ezekiel 39:9-12, or Daniel 9:24, or Romans 11:25-26, or Revelation
20 and 21. Most would also tell you the wartime descriptions
in Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah really refer to the Battle of Armageddon
[about which I will give you many scriptures proving that to be
wrong] and that the many promises given to the Jews will only become
effective starting with the Millennium.
I have studied all of the above references very carefully
and find no conflict with what I have written.
Gods’ end time plans will be perfect as we will see someday,
but just how He executes every minute detail is not revealed to
us. What I have written regarding
Battle Two is, in my thinking, in perfect agreement with
the above scriptures. The
conclusion I arrived at seems to fit perfectly with what God the
Father prophesied His plan would be for both the New Testament elect
and His people, His chosen remnant of Israelites.
He rescues both groups, and gives them salvation [deliverance]
from the Great Tribulation, and this happens just immediately prior
to His terrible Day of the Lord Wrath judgment.)
Of
the three battles that we will describe for you, Battle Two is
the only one to which we cannot assign a specific moment in time
at which it takes place within the seven years, or more specifically
seven years plus 30 days. The reason for this is because there are many
references as to the timing of this terrible battle, but almost
everyone makes a precise reference that it is identified with immediately
“preceding” the Day of the Lord.
So now we must try to come to an agreement as to just exactly
when the terrible Day of the Lord begins.
We described at length in Section VIII, under 6B,
just what is and when is the Day of the Lord.
It is NOT a 24-hour period, but a period of time starting
immediately after the rapture of the elect and after Battle Two,
both of which likely happen almost simultaneously. You should study my reasoning for that assumption,
which is explained in XVII. Revelation
14, and Blood Flowing 184 Miles? This period of time is referred to as Jesus’
“parousia” (Jesus’ coming and staying to carry out God the Fathers’
plan of great wrath), when He will release his pent up anger and
spread His terrible “Day of the Lord” wrath trumpet and bowl judgments
on Satan, the Antichrist, and the nations of the earth.
Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 1:10 that Jesus, God’s Son,
is going to deliver the Christians, the elect, from this wrath by
way of the rapture. (I Thessalonians 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom
He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us
from the wrath to come.)
This wrath of God the Father, directed by His Son Jesus,
starts at Revelation 6:16-17 and the opening of the seventh seal,
and lasts thru the seven trumpets, plus an extra 30 days for the
seven bowl judgments and the Battle of Armageddon. (Revelation
6:16-17, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and
hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the
wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great
day of His wrath has come, and who is
able to stand?”) The Day of the Lord is immediately preceded
by God’s gathering His elect, the born again Christians. (Matthew
24:31 And He will send His
angels with a great sound of
a trumpet, and they will gather
together His elect, from the
four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other.) The dead
in Christ will rise first. Then
those who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them (those who were dead) in the clouds, and all will meet their
Savior in the air and be taken to Heaven where those who were previously
dead will be reunited with their souls. (I Thessalonians
4:16-17, 16 For the Lord
Himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice
of an archangel, and with the
trumpet of God. And the dead
in Christ will rise
first. 17 Then we
who are alive and
remain shall be caught
up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air. And thus we
shall always be with the
Lord.) Following the rapture, the Day of the Lord is
also immediately preceded by Battle Two, as will be shown
conclusively in the following pages.
From
the above paragraph it is quite evident that God did not reveal
to us exactly when God’s chosen moment of rapture occurs, which
He described in verses 30-31, since only He knows this moment in
time. (Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father
only.) Starting
on day one of the Antichrist’s and the False Prophet’s 3½-year reign
with great terror under the supervision of Satan, and which God
the Father is allowing, the Antichrist will control the world economy
thru his marking on the forehead or on the right hand, the mark
of the beast. (Revelation 13:16-17, 16 He causes all,
both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive
a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or
the name of the beast, or the number of his name,)
Satan causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free
and slave to receive this mark, all except those whose names are
written in the Lamb’s book of life and those who will stubbornly
resist this pressure. (Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth
will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book
of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.) Great pressure will be put on the Jewish people
and the Christians worldwide, and many will be killed. This is why this period is called the “Great
Tribulation”, the greatest period of horror the world will ever
know. It will become so bad that Jesus told His disciples
in Matthew 24:22 that the number of those days would have to be
shortened, cut off, amputated, or no flesh (Christian elect and
Jews) would survive. (Matthew 24:22 And unless those days were
shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the
elect’s sake those days will be shortened.)
“But for the elect’s sake,” the exact words Jesus
spoke, “those days would be shortened.”
So
how long will it be from the beginning of the second 3½ years until
God’s Day of the Lord wrath judgment begins?
Only God the Father knows, not even His Son Jesus, nor the
angels. (Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour no one knows,
not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.)
This Day of the Lord might not start for some 6 months into
the Great Tribulation portion of the last 3½ years, 12 months, or
18 months or more. However,
there is one thing I can guarantee you, and that is “that Day” of
the Lord will not come one day before or one day later than God
has already planned. Scripture
does tell us God and Jesus His Son have strong reasons to not let
too much time elapse before it begins because Jesus has massive
plans that must fit into this 1260 day window of time.
The first reason is His chosen lineage and people, Israel,
is being terrorized even worse than at any time in all previous
history. Jeremiah 30:8 tells us that they have, as it
were, a yoke around their neck, they are in bonds, and are enslaved
by foreigners. (Jeremiah 30:8 ‘For it shall come to pass in
that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘That I will break
his yoke from your neck, and
will burst your bonds; foreigners shall no more enslave them.’)
God’s reason for Battle Two is to overwhelmingly
defeat Antichrist and his armies and stop Satan from ever mistreating
His precious nation of Israel
and the Jewish people again worldwide, at least those in His chosen
remnant.
The second reason
for beginning His Day of the Lord wrath is the elect, the Christians,
who have suffered greatly throughout history and will be martyred
during this Great Tribulation period for the name of Jesus they
claim. (Matthew 24:9 Then they will deliver you up to tribulation
and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My
name’s sake.) Hundreds of millions of Christians, the elect,
have died as martyrs in the last two thousand years, but let me
assure you, any suffering we experience will be worth it all when
we see Jesus. Just before the Day of the Lord begins, Jesus,
the Son of God, is going to have His angels gather His elect together
(as described above) from the four winds, from one end of the Heaven
to the other. (Matthew 24:31 And He will
send His angels with
a great sound of a trumpet,
and they will gather
together His elect, from
the four winds, from one end
of heaven to the other.) Do not let anyone ever persuade you that the
word elect in the previous sentence refers to the Jewish people
and not to the church, which is one of the main points for Pre-tribulation
teaching. In Matthew 24:5 it says “many will
come in My name, saying,
I am the Christ (Jesus),”
and verse 9 reads “you will be hated
by all nations for My
name’s sake (Jesus),”
and we read in verse 14 “And this ‘gospel’
of the kingdom will be preached
in all the world,” and in verse 23 “Look,
here is the Christ (Jesus).”
All these references are New Testament church, elect, references. Jewish people who are not born again believers
would not be caught dead accepting any of the teaching regarding
‘Jesus’ in the previous verses, so you cannot jump ahead to verse
31 and conclude that everything is now changed and the word ‘elect’
all of a sudden refers to only the Jews.
The
third reason to start the Day of the Lord is to not prolong the
beginning of God the Father’s terrible
day of wrath and judgment against Satan, the Antichrist and the
nations of the earth, and complete the seventh trumpet judgment
exactly on the last day of the last 3½ years. At this seventh trumpet, there are heard loud
voices in Heaven saying, “The kingdoms of this
world have become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of His
Christ, and He shall reign forever
and ever!” You can read about this beautiful account in
Revelation 11:15-18. Jesus
is victorious and takes back earth, but 30 more days of the terrible
bowl judgments and defeat at Armageddon are still awaiting Satan,
the Antichrist, the false prophet, and the nations of the earth.
The
exact term “Day of the Lord” can be found in 25 places in Old Testament
scripture, and 5 places in New Testament scripture.
A similar reference to this moment in time is “in that Day”,
and there are 109 verses with that exact phrase, with at least half
referring to the Day of the Lord or the days just preceding the
Day of the Lord, and most of these are in the Old Testament.
Thus you can see that God put a great deal of emphasis on
this subject when He was giving prophecy instructions to the Old
Testament prophets. The author
of Hebrews tells us in the first two verses that God spoke in times
past through the prophets, and since the time of Christ, in these
last days, has spoken to us by His Son.
I would interpret that as meaning only through His Son, not
through men who have lived since that time who claim “God told me”.
Therefore, even though some 2,500 years or more have elapsed
since the Old Testament prophets penned these books, God must have
had a wonderfully designed plan that had to be told regarding this
pre-Day-of-the-Lord period, Battle Two, which takes place
during the last days of the Great Tribulation.
Antichrists’ Great
Tribulation is not aimed at those who follow after him, but specifically
at these two groups: one, God’s old testament and current chosen
people the Israelites, and two, the church, the new testament elect.
These are also the two groups to whom the Lord seems to give
equal concentration to in His pre-Day of the Lord plans.
The first group, the Israelites, at least those who call
upon the name of the Lord, will be granted a special, new, protected
relationship with God after the conclusion of Battle Two.
In the Old Testament books of Ezekiel, Joel and Zechariah,
God makes many unconditional promises to His chosen people and they
seem to be an affirmation of the New Covenant given to the Israelites
from the Lord in Jeremiah 30-33. These promises will become effective just before
the beginning of the Day of the Lord.
In Joel 2:31-32, He tells them “whoever calls on the name
of the Lord shall be saved”, and He gives this invitation and promise
just prior to the beginning of the Day of the Lord. (Joel 2:31-32,
31 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the coming of the great and awesome day of
the Lord.” 32 And it shall come to pass that whoever
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount
Zion and
in Jerusalem
there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has
said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.)
Many verses will be referred to in the next several pages
that reflect these new promises to the Israelites.
God the Father in His infinite wisdom knows every Jewish
person living at that time who will accept these new promises and
this special new relationship and protection, His remnant.
Those names will be written in God’s book of life.
During Battle
Two, half the city shall go into captivity, and this half could
be comprised of those who refused God’s appeal to call on His name,
some could be atheist Jews, and some could be those who took the
mark of the beast and worshipped the Antichrist. (Zechariah 14:2
For I will gather all the nations to battle
against Jerusalem;
the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant
of the people shall not be cut off from the city.)
In present day Israel,
the population is almost 50% Jewish and 50% Palestinian, approximately
six million of each. Those
taken into captivity by Antichrist’s army likely would not be Palestinians,
generally his Muslim followers, but those Israelites who rejected
God’s invitation to flee or “call on the name of the Lord.”
As a result of God’s victory in Battle Two, the other
half, the remnant (also in verse 2) will remain for some time in
Jerusalem under God’s
protection. This protection
in the Jerusalem area
will last at least through the seventh trumpet judgment.
Zechariah 14:5 seems to infer that after the seventh trumpet,
God will perhaps provide safety and protection for this remnant,
plus the 144,000, and plus those who sought refuge in the caves
at Petra, in a place called Azal, God’s place of safety for the
thirty days of the bowl judgments and the Battle of Armageddon.
(Zechariah 14:5 Then you shall flee through my mountain
valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes,
you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah.
Thus the Lord My God will come and all the saints with You.) These will be the “sheep” of the sheep-goat
judgment as Matthew recorded in Matthew 25:31-46, and will enter
the millennial kingdom alive. (Matthew 25:32-33, 32 All the nations
will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on
the left.) The second
group mentioned in sentence one of the previous paragraph, the elect,
will be gathered, raptured, and taken to Heaven forever, likely
just prior to Jesus’ victory over Antichrist in Battle Two, and
just before God commences His Day of the Lord wrath judgment as
He promised in I Thessalonians 1:10. (I Thessalonians 1:10
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.)
The reasoning for my timing of the rapture just prior to
Jesus’ victory in Battle Two can be found in section XVII Revelation 14, and Blood Flowing 184 Miles?
After the 1,000 years, Heaven, the New Jerusalem,
comes down to earth, and both groups will be with the Lord through
all eternity.
In
most Old Testament references to Day of the Lord, reference is repeatedly
made that the sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give its
light, and the stars of Heaven and the constellations thereof shall
not give their light. Some of these verses that make this solar reference,
many of which are interspersed with references to Battle Two
and/or the Day of the Lord, are Isaiah 13:10, (all
are very similar to this, Isaiah 13:9-10, 9 Behold, the day
of the Lord comes, cruel, with
both wrath and fierce anger, to lay
the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For
the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their
light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon
will not cause its light to shine.) Ezekiel 32:7,8, Joel 2:2,10,30-31,
3:15, (Joel 2:30-31, 30 And I will show wonders in the heavens
and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars
of smoke. 31 “The sun shall be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and
awesome day of the Lord.”)
Amos 5:8,20, and Zephaniah 1:15.
This exact same solar phenomena, and which appears at the
same moment of time on God’s calendar during the last 3½ years as
described above in the Old Testament, is also written about in the
New Testament. This confirms
that the conclusion of Battle Two and the time of the rapture
very likely happen almost simultaneously, and ties these two major
events together as to timing and prominence.
New Testament references are recorded in Matthew 24:29, (after
the Great Tribulation of those days but prior to the Day of the
Lord); this is an example but all are very similar and are found
in Mark 13:24-25, Luke
21:25, Acts 2:20,
and in Revelation 6:12-13
at the opening of the sixth seal. (Matthew 24:29 Immediately
after the tribulation (the
Great Tribulation) of those days the sun will be darkened, and
the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.)
All these solar references happen
just prior to the great day of God’s Wrath judgment.
In Ezekiel 38
and 39, which
were written
approximately 590BC,
it
takes a considerable
amount
of discernment
to determine just
what Battles are
being referred to
and when they
take place.
In chapter 38,
the first six
verses are an
introduction to Gog
(see Battle One), where he
comes from and
the peoples he
leads. There
is
mention made
in I Chronicles
5:4 of a father
naming his
son Gog, (I Chronicles 5:4 The sons of Joel were Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,) but
nowhere else in
the Old Testament
is there mention
of the name
Gog except in
Ezekiel 38 and
39, and in
these two chapters
the name is
mentioned ten times. Jesus
makes
the only
New Testament reference
to
Gog in
Revelation 20:8,
describing when Satan
is released
for “a
short time”
at the end
of the millennium.
(Revelation 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.) This
could
be an
indication that Gog
is not the
actual name of
a person (it could
be the ‘title’
of a person),
but a “nickname”
which would describe
a very potent,
spirit led, evil
force of power. In
Ezekiel
38:4, note
that it is
God that directs
Gog to gather
his army, horses
and horsemen, along
with other nations
to the land of
Israel, where the
Israelites have been
brought forth out
of the nations,
and now dwell
safely, verse 8. (Ezekiel
38:4 I [the Lord God] will
turn you around,
put hooks into
your jaws, and lead you out,
with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them
handling swords.) The Israelites
live in unwalled
villages, they are
at rest, they
dwell safely without
walls, having neither
bars nor gates,
and all of
this is primarily
the result of
the peace Gog
guaranteed them.
This sounds like
much of present day
Israel.
Then
from verse 7 thru
16a, Battle One
is described.
Verses 16b thru 39:7
describe Battle
Two. In verse 15, it
says Gog comes “out of the far north, you and many peoples
with you,….a great company and a mighty army.” He might also have assembled the other seven
nations (in addition to Tubal, Meshech, and Magog, being most if
not all of Europe) in the 10-nation confederacy
to fight in this battle, which we will look at a little later.
In verse 16, we again see, as we did in verse 4, that God
will bring Gog (now the Antichrist) against the land
of Israel, so that the
heathen in the entire world will see God the Father sanctified
in His victory over Gog before their eyes (television?). In verse 17, God rhetorically asks the question,
is this the Gog, the Antichrist, that God the Father spoke of thru
His servants, the prophets of Israel,
which God “in those days” would bring against Israel,
and the answer is yes. In
verse 18, when it comes to pass that Gog does come against the land
of Israel, God says,
“My fury will show in My face.” In verse 19, God the Father says that in His
jealousy (for His chosen people Israel
and His Holy name) and in the fire of His wrath has He spoken. Those are strong words. Then take note of the next sentence, that “in that day,” just before the Day of
the Lord, “there shall be
a ‘great earthquake’ in the land of Israel.” This
is the exact same “great earthquake” mentioned in Revelation 6:12,
about which we studied earlier, but with many more additional details
as to its power and destruction.
In the book of Revelation, there is mention made of five
earthquakes: (1) great earthquake 6:12, which immediately precedes
The Day of the Lord and His day of wrath judgment, [this earthquake
is also the only one to take place prior to the solar phenomena
of the sixth seal in Revelation 6:12 and Matthew 24:29]; (2) earthquake,
8:5; (3) great earthquake, 11:13; (4) earthquake, 11:19; and (5)
greatest earthquake since men were on earth, 16:18. Isaiah 2:12 also makes mention of the Day of
the Lord, (Isaiah
2:12 For the day of the Lord of hosts
shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything
lifted up—and it shall be brought low--) and further in Isaiah
2 he writes in verses 19 and 21 that the Lord “arises to shake the earth mightily,”
which is a reference to the same earthquake. This earthquake is
also mentioned in Isaiah
13:13. (Isaiah 13:13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and
the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of
the Lord of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.).
Jesus’
New Testament description of this particular great earthquake, as
he dictated it to an angel, and from the angel to John the Apostle
in Revelation 6:14-16 reads, “every mountain and island was moved
out of its place. And the
kings of the earth (all over the earth),
the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every
slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the
rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘fall
on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and
from the wrath of the Lamb’.” Even the heathen, every man on earth, knew the
wrath of God had not come before that time, but was soon to follow. It was still very fresh in the minds of the
‘kings and all the men on the earth’ in the Revelation account,
since they very likely recently saw the victory on television in
Israel by Jesus over Antichrist, and heard Him say “so that [all]
the nations may know Me, when I am hollowed in you, O Gog, before
their eyes” from Ezekiel 38:16. (Ezekiel 38:16 “You will come
up against My people Israel
like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the
latter days that I will bring
you against My land, so that the nations may
know Me, when I am hollowed in you, O Gog, before
their eyes.”)
In
Ezekiel 38:20, God, through His prophet, describes this same earthquake
as “the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts
of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all
men who ‘are on the face of the earth’ shall shake at My presence.
The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall
fall, and every wall (buildings?) shall fall to the ground.”
This is worldwide, and God now has the attention of every
inhabitant on earth, just preceding the Day of the Lord, when He
cometh with both cruel wrath and fierce anger. (Isaiah 13:9 Behold,
the day of the Lord comes, cruel,
with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the
land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it.) Ezekiel writes in verse 21, the Lord God says
“I will call for a sword against Gog, (the Antichrist)
throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God, “Every man’s sword
shall be against his brother.”
Note carefully God the Father mentioned in “all My Mountains,”
and soldiers will be killing their brothers.
To me, this again gives positive confirmation that this battle
is not the battle of Armageddon, which many claim it is,
since that battle will take place in the flat Plain of Esdraelon,
in the Valley of Jezreel, at Megiddo, and Jesus alone is going to
kill everyone there who comes to that battle, with a sharp sword
(the Word of God, Hebrews 4:12) from out of His mouth. (Revelation
19:15 Now out of His mouth goes
a sharp sword, that with it He should strike
the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He
Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God.) At Armageddon,
out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, and with it He strikes the
nations. And He Himself rules them with a rod of iron. He Himself
treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Further in Ezekiel 38, verse 22 says God will bring judgment
in Battle Two on Antichrist and his troops with pestilence
and bloodshed. And God will bring flooding rain, great hailstones,
fire and brimstone on them. Then
in verse 23, God says, “Thus will I magnify Myself and sanctify
Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations” (the
whole world). “Then shall they know that I am the
Lord.”
In
Ezekiel 39, God again reiterates He is against Gog.
Verse 2 tells us God is going to bring Gog from the far north,
all his troops and the nations that are with him, against the mountains
of Israel. In verse 3 we read, there God the Father will
knock the bow out of his left hand, and cause the arrows to fall
out of his right hand. All
of Gog’s troops and peoples will fall upon the mountains
of Israel,
and in verse 4 God says He “will give you to birds of
prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field
to be devoured.”
This
is a sidelight relative to ‘birds of prey.’
On a Monday evening, just three days before He would die
on the cross, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives with His
disciples, and could have been gazing west over the Kidron Valley
(Valley of Jehoshaphat) toward the Temple in Jerusalem in the late
afternoon sun. In response
to questions from His disciples, He was prophesying end time events
in sequence that were going to happen, and He reached that point
in His prophesying which would be immediately prior to when the
Day of the Lord would occur. In
Matthew 24:25 Jesus tells them “See, I have told you beforehand,”
many of the secrets of the future that would be taking place on
earth before, during, and after Daniel’s 70th week.
Jesus is also prophesying to us, the elect, through the writing
of Matthew. These disciples
are intently listening to every word from the King of kings and
Lord of lords, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, their
Master and our precious Savior and Redeemer.
This cannot be verified with scripture, but it could be a
likely possibility that at that moment mentioned above, as He was
looking out over the Kidron Valley, He recalled what He and the
Father had prophesied through Old Testament prophets about inviting
“birds of prey of every sort and to the
beasts of the field” to feast on the tens of millions Jesus
will kill in Battle Two (Ezekiel 39:4). Jesus almost seems to be contemplating His future
victory over Antichrist when the Kidron
Valley will be full of
blood from the dead bodies in His slaughter of the “surrounding
nations”, and then in verse 28 he changes from prophesying and says
“wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”
In Ezekiel 39:6 we are told that ‘God’, (many teach that this is a nuclear
retaliation, but I personally do not believe God will need man’s
devices) at this time, is also going to attack Gog in his homeland
and send fire on Magog (Europe) and on those who live in security
in the coastlands, and then they, the world, will know that He is
the Lord. In verses 7 and
8 the Lord God promises that He is going to make His Holy name known
in the midst of His people Israel,
and He will not let them profane His Holy name anymore. (the Third
Commandment, Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the
Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless
who takes His name in vain.) And the nations shall then know that I am the
Lord, the Holy One in Israel. In verse 8 the prophet Ezekiel prophesied that
surely these things are coming, and it shall be done, says the Lord
God. “This is ‘the day’
of which I have spoken,” and this is what God the Father had
related to several of His prophets to record regarding this spectacular
period in Daniels seventieth week.
In verses 9-20, God tells of the conditions in Israel
following this huge victory over Antichrist in Battle Two.
In
verses 17-20, the Lord God describes the feast for the birds and
beasts. In verses 21-29, just before the Day of the
Lord and from that day forward, God reveals His special new commitment
and relationship to His Jewish people, His New Covenant. As we look at these verses, try to feel and
absorb Gods’ love, His promises, and His deep desire for a like
response to His invitation from His people, the Israelites.
We read in Ezekiel 39:21-29, 21 “I will set My
glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My
judgment which I have executed, and My hand which
I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel
shall know that I am the Lord their God ‘from
that day forward’. 23 The Gentiles shall know
that the house of Israel
went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful
to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies,
and they all fell by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness
and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them,
and hidden My face from them. 25 Therefore thus says the
Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives
of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I
will be jealous for My holy name—26 after they have borne
their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful
to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one
made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the
peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I
am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, 28 then they shall
know that I am the Lord their God, Who
sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them
back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29
And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for
I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of
Israel,’
says the Lord God.”
He is the Lord their God, and He promised that ‘from
that day forward’ He will
not hide His face from them anymore, “for I shall have
poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,
says the Lord God.”
This is what Ezekiel prophesied would take place immediately
prior to and throughout the length of the Day of the Lord wrath
judgments and what the conditions would be between God and His remnant
of Israelites for this ensuing time period.
On some of the previous
pages, mention was made of the New Covenant the Lord prophesied
through Jeremiah. Let
us devote a few pages to see just what this New Covenant is and
how it fits into what we are studying regarding the promises of
God given to Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah for recording regarding
His chosen people Israel. The book of Jeremiah was written over a period
of 50 years, from about 625 BC to 575 BC, which means it was written
during the same general time period as the writings of his contemporaries
Ezekiel, Daniel, Zephaniah and Zechariah.
The above quotation from Ezekiel 39, and very similar quotations
which we will read about in pages to follow that were also prophesied
by the Lord and given to Joel and Zechariah to record in their books,
are almost identical prophecies that the Lord gave to Jeremiah in
the form of a covenant which were recorded in his chapters 30-33.
These are the chapters where we read about the ‘New Covenant’
that the Lord gave to Jeremiah with promises to His chosen people
Israel. In Hebrews 8:7-13 it is recorded that this New
Covenant, an ‘internal’ heart covenant, given from the Lord to be
recorded by Jeremiah made the first covenant, an ‘external’ response
covenant between God and the Israelites, obsolete. (Hebrews 8:7-13,
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no
place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault
with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming,
says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—9 not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I
took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because
they did not continue in My covenant and I disregarded them, says
the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws
in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his
neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all
shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins
and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 13 In that He
says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first
obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is
ready to vanish away.) The exact phrase ‘the days are coming’ is recorded sixteen times in the book of Jeremiah, and six
of those sixteen are found in chapters 30-33.
This indicates that the time this New Covenant is to become
effective is somewhere in future history, in future days that positively
‘are coming,’ but we are not told just exactly when this moment
in time will be. These four chapters in Jeremiah generally describe
God’s plans to bring back the Israelites, who God the father himself
scattered throughout the world, to the land God gave to their fathers
at some ‘coming’ future date (now being fulfilled), and also of
His ‘coming’ new relationship with His people as given in this New
Covenant of promises. (Jeremiah 32:37 Behold, I will gather them
out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My
fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place;
and I will cause them to dwell safely.)
However
the Lord, in His prophesying through Jeremiah, does give some hints
that might help us arrive at a possible conclusion as to the effective
date of this New Covenant. I
would not be so naive as to say unequivocally that this describes
without a doubt when it will happen, but strong reasoning will be
analyzed as to when it likely occurs. Jeremiah wrote what the Lord told him, and in
30:5 he recorded “We have heard a voice of trembling, Of fear
(dread), and not of peace.” In verse 7
he writes, “Alas! For that
day is great (Great
tribulation?), So that none is like it; And it is the
time of Jacob’s trouble, But he (Israel) shall be saved out of
it.” This is the
only time “Jacob’s (Israel’s)
trouble” is mentioned in scripture.
In verse 5 above the Lord tells Israel a terrible day of
trembling and fear is coming, likely during the period of the Great
Tribulation, and “not of peace” which the Antichrist guaranteed
would last seven years. In verse 7 the Lord makes reference to the Great
Tribulation and says “that day is great, so that none is like it.” In Matthew 24, Jesus told His disciples in verse
21 that after the abomination of desolation (the 3½ year midpoint
of Daniel’s 70th week) there will be a time of “Great Tribulation (Jacob’s [Israel’s]
trouble) such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time,
no, nor ever shall be.” This
‘Great Tribulation’ begins at the 3½-year mark, and lasts anywhere
from a few to as many as eighteen months or more.
It concludes when God gathers His elect, His church, and
almost simultaneously deals Satan and Antichrist and their huge
army of many millions a devastating defeat in Battle
Two. (Matthew 24:31 And He will send
His angels with a great sound
of a trumpet, and they will
gather together His elect, from
the four winds, from one end
of heaven to the other.) Immediately following these two actions, God’s
Day of the Lord wrath trumpet judgments begin. (Revelation 6:16-17,
16 and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from
the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the
Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able
to stand?”) So, what I believe the Lord is telling Jeremiah
is that Jacob (Israel) is going to be rescued, “saved out of it,”
the Great Tribulation, given a New Covenant, and His remnant will
receive protection through God’s Day of the Lord wrath judgments.
Additional
hints as to when this covenant becomes effective can be noted in
verse 8 of chapter 30. (Jeremiah 30:8 “For it shall come to pass in
that day, says the Lord of hosts, That I will break
his (apparently Antichrist’s) yoke from your neck,
And will burst your bonds; Foreigners shall no more enslave them.”)
The term ‘in that day,’
as you will note when we study Zechariah, is used 7 times in his
chapter 12. In almost every
instance it refers to that short period of time when God overwhelmingly
defeats Satan and Antichrist, at the end of the Great Tribulation
and just before the Day of the Lord, in the valley of decision,
the Kidron Valley,
or the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
(Joel 3:2 “I will also gather all nations, and bring them down
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with
them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they
have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.”)
One of the reasons for Battle Two is
that Antichrist and his ‘foreigners’ have the Israelites enslaved,
and they have a strangling yoke of bondage around their necks.
The Lord accompanies this victory over Satan and Antichrist
with many compassionate, new promises in Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah
that are given to the Israelites, of a new relationship between
them and the Lord. These
promises seem like they could very well be repetitions and affirmations
of this New Covenant we are looking at.
Let
us look at two more verses, Jeremiah 30:10-11, “10 Therefore
do not fear, O My servant Jacob, says the Lord, Nor be dismayed,
O Israel; For behold I will save you from afar, and your seed from
the land of their captivity. Jacob (Israel)
shall return, have rest and be quiet, And no one shall make him
afraid. 11 For I am with you, says the Lord, to save you; Though
I make a full end of all nations
where I have scattered you, Yet
I will not make
a complete end of you. But I will correct you
in justice, And will not let you go
altogether unpunished.” The
Lord is telling Israel that even with all their years of fears and
being dismayed, He is going to save them from afar, return them
to the land God gave to their fathers, and after Battle Two give
them rest and quiet and not let anyone make them afraid.
Then the Lord says He will save them even though, during
the Day of the Lord wrath, He is going to make an end of the nations
where the Lord had scattered them, but will not make an end to Israel and His remnant. He is going to correct them in justice, but
He is not going to let them ‘go
altogether unpunished.’ In the remainder
of chapter 30, Jeremiah reviews what the Lord said about His past
and future relations with His people.
I
know of no scripture where it is mentioned just what the Lord had
in mind as to the punishment He would impute on the Israelites to
fulfill His promise that the Lord would not let them ‘go
altogether
unpunished.’ I wonder if the Lord could have had in mind
what we write about Battle Two from Ezekiel 39:12, where
we describe in detail the tremendous burden the nation of Israel
will undertake when they will spend “seven months,” or 210
consecutive days, burying the millions of dead “in order to cleanse
the land.” I do not know
if this could be considered punishment from the Lord’s point of
view, but this task will consume every once of energy of every man,
woman, and child twenty-four hours a day with no let up.
This tremendous burden will constantly remind every Israelite,
every moment, of their debt to their Lord for rescuing them from
the surrounding armies of Antichrist and of his strangle hold around
their necks, and of the promise the Lord made to them in His New
Covenant and of their new commitment in their hearts to Him. The Lord, in His infinite wisdom, must have
kept everyone in this remnant from accepting the mark of the beast. However, this remnant of Israelites must still
live through the Day of the Lord wrath but with the Lord’s promise
of His protection. They may
still be subject to some of God’s world encompassing wrath, which
make up His trumpet judgments. This could also be what the Lord had in mind
as to some punishment.
I
believe Revelation 11:13
confirms God’s promise of “His protection” for the remnant of Israelis
mentioned in the previous paragraph and validates this teaching.
(Revelation 11:13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake,
and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people
were killed, and the rest [remnant] were afraid and gave
glory to the God of heaven.) In Revelation 11, verses 3-6 describe the two
witnesses, one of which is generally accepted as being Elijah, and
says they will witness exactly 1260 days, that God gives to them
protection to defend themselves, and what their powers will be in
the days of their prophecy while they are on earth.
Verses 7-10 tell us that the false prophet will make war
on the two witnesses after the 1260 days, and finally, after trying
to do this for 3½ years, kills them, and then leaves their dead
bodies (against all Jewish teaching) decaying on the streets of
Jerusalem for 3½ days, and would not allow their dead bodies to
be put in graves. People
all over earth likely viewed these dead bodies on television and
were rejoicing that it finally looked like Satan, Antichrist, and
the false prophet might finally be winning the war against God.
We read in verses 11-12 that after the 3½ days, “the breath
of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and
great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud
voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended
to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them,” personally
and perhaps worldwide by television.
Verse 13 tells us that in the very same hour there was a
“great earthquake” (the third in Revelation), and a tenth of the
city (Jerusalem) fell.
In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, another
exact number given to the apostle John from Jesus.
The King James Version, 21st Century King James
Version, and the Darby Translation go on to say the ‘remnant,’ those
protected Jews who had committed to following God and Jesus, were
exceedingly afraid in the earthquake and they gave glory to the
God of Heaven for His watch care.
Ten other translations say ‘the survivors’ were terrified,
and they gave Glory to the God of Heaven.
So we see an example in Revelation 11 of how this ‘remnant’
we have been writing about was protected in this portion of the
Day of the Lord judgment. The
above takes place moments before the seventh trumpet judgment when
God and Jesus take back control of earth.
Perhaps this protection and frightening experience could
be part of the “not going to let them go altogether unpunished.”
I
mentioned the ‘New Covenant’ was very similar to what Ezekiel wrote
in chapter 39 which was quoted previously.
I will now quote some of the New Covenant found in Jeremiah
31:33-34 and Jeremiah 32:37-42 so that you can compare it with what
Ezekiel wrote and see if you agree. (Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the ‘covenant’
that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord: I
will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people. 34 No more shall everyman teach his neighbor, and every
man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall
know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,
says the Lord. For
I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will
remember no more.” 32:37 “Behold I will gather them out of
all countries where I have driven them in My anger,
in My fury, and in great wrath; I
will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them
to dwell safely. 38 They shall be My people, and I
will be their God; 39 then I will give them one heart
and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good
of them and their children after them. 40 And I will make
an everlasting ‘covenant’ with them, that I will not turn
away from doing them good; but I will put fear in their hearts
so that they will not depart from Me. 41 Yes, I will
rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant
them in this land, with all My heart and with all My
soul. 42 For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought
all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on
them all the good that I have promised them.”) Many more similar promises are given in Jeremiah
33:5-9.
Now
let us get back to the description of Battle
Two. Several pages preceding
this one, it was mentioned that Gog would likely have many nations
with him in this battle, and perhaps all those in the ten-nation
confederacy. (the ten horns in Daniel 7:24
The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom,
and another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the
first ones, and shall subdue three kings.)
In Joel 3:12, where another description of Battle Two
is given, it says that God is going to sit and judge “all
the surrounding nations” when
they come to fight in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, generally accepted
to be the Kidron Valley, which lies east between Temple Mount and
the Mount of Olives. (Joel 3:12
“Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding
nations.”) In Ezekiel 38, verse 2 mentions God is going
to lead Gog to bring his army from Magog, Meshech and Tubal, which
we said are the first three nations Gog conquers, ‘takes out by
the roots.’ In verse 5 we are told Persia,
Ethiopia
and Libya
will also come to fight. And
in verse 6, Gomer (also a brother (1st) of Magog,
Meshech, and Tubal Genesis 10:2) and Togarmah (a son of Gomer)
are also mentioned as coming with many people.
So we can assume that at least these eight nations will send
troops to Israel
to do battle.
It
is questionable if any person alive knows for sure what nations
make up this 10-nation confederacy (ten horns), but the following
could be a likely possibility. (Daniel 7:24 The ten horns are
ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom, and another shall rise
after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and
shall subdue three kings.) Evidently,
after the Antichrist takes control of Israel
after Battle One, things have not been going to his liking. Perhaps the Jewish people have not been cooperating
as he expected and are uprising and causing considerable trouble.
There is also another factor causing Antichrist a great deal
of consternation, and that is the two witnesses, Elijah and another,
who are a constant thorn in his side. So another time of battle has become imminent,
and this time Antichrist is going to have an overwhelming army of
tens of millions of soldiers who cannot wait to eliminate Israel
and every Jewish person on earth.
Let us start making up this ten-nation confederacy with the
six beast nations given to John in 95AD in Revelation 17:10-11,
10 “There are also seven kings. Five (5)
have fallen, one (6)
is (Roman
Empire, 95AD), and the other (7)
has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
11 The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth
(8), and is of the seven, and
is going to perdition.” The
number (1) beast empire of these “surrounding nations,” most of
which are Arab and/or Muslim and hate the Israelites with a passion,
and have been waiting centuries for the opportunity to join in the
battle against the Jews and do away with them completely, once and
forever, would be Egyptian. (see Psalm
83:4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being
a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”) This
empire would consist of Egypt,
Ethiopia
and Libya,
plus other north Africa Muslim nations in Ezekiel 38:5-6. (
Ezekiel 38:5-6, 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them,
all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops;
the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many
people are with you.) The number (2) beast empire is Assyrian, which
would include Syria,
Lebanon,
and all of the Arabian Peninsula. The number (3) beast empire would be Babylonian,
which would be Iraq. The number (4) beast empire would be Medo-Persian
(Persia,
Ezekiel 38:5), and this would be Iran,
plus other Muslim nations further to the east.
The number (5) beast empire would be Grecian, which would
include Greece,
Macedonia,
the Slavic nations, and the peoples west of the Black
Sea. The number (6, one is) beast
empire would be the old Roman Empire in 95AD, and which will eventually
become the revived Roman Empire, which would include (6) Magog (Western
Europe), (7) Meshech (Central Europe), and (8) Tubal (Eastern Europe). Number (9) would be Gomer, the Ukraine,
and number (10) would be Togarmah, which would include Turkey,
Armenia,
the Kurds and peoples east of the Black Sea. Both (9) and (10) are mentioned in Ezekiel 38:6.
This could make up the “surrounding nations,” the 10-nation
confederacy.
In Revelation 17:12-14,
Jesus told John the apostle to write that those ten horns, the 10-nation
confederacy, are also ten kings who have received no kingdom, but
they do receive authority for one hour (enough time for one last
major battle?) as kings with the beast (antichrist). (Revelation
17:12-14, 12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have
received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour
as kings with the beast. 13 These are
of one mind, and they will give
their power and authority to
the beast. 14 These will make war with the Lamb, and
the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of
kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen,
and faithful.”) These ten are of one mind (do away with Israel?)
and they give their power and authority to the beast (Gog, Antichrist). Then, the apostle John recorded, these 10 nations
are going to make war with the Lamb
(Jesus), and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord
of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are called,
chosen, and faithful, which could refer to His chosen Jewish people,
the Israelites and/or His army of angels.
This could very well be just what we are writing about, Battle
Two, when Jesus overcomes the massive armies of Gog, the Antichrist.
If three of the 10 nations
(Magog, Meshech, and Tubal) that make up all of Europe
were to contribute some 20 million troops, and each of the other
7 beast nations average at least 8 million each, there would be
an army of some seventy-five million total ‘Jew haters.’
God will leave one-sixth of this army and ‘drive them away
into a barren and desolate land’, (Ezekiel 39:2a And I will turn
thee back, and leave but the sixth part of
thee, KJV) and what God does with this one-sixth is described
in Joel 2:20 “But I will remove far from you the northern army,
and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his
face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea;
his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he
has done monstrous things.” Of
this army of 75 million total, perhaps 62 million (5/6ths) would
be killed, and these dead soldiers will be given to the “birds of
prey of every sort and beasts of the field” to devour. (Ezekiel
39:4 You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your
troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you
to birds of prey of every sort and to
the beasts of the field to be devoured.)
In verse 12 of Ezekiel 39 we are told that it will take the
Israelites seven months to bury their bones and cleanse the land,
and based on the previous sentence, this would be over 295,000 each
day for 210 consecutive days, a massive ‘undertaking.’ We mentioned in a previous section there are
1.3 billion Muslims on earth, and if just one in 20 could bear arms,
that would be 65,000,000, and all of Europe
could easily make an army of 20,000,000 ‘Jew haters.’
Now we are talking big numbers for the Lord to slay.
These numbers seem out of the realm of possibility, but when
you consider Antichrist was responsible for killing about 1.5 billion
in just the fourth seal, he certainly will not be bashful to sacrifice
60+ million in an effort to do away with his enemy, the Jews and
Jesus.
A further description
of this terrible time of war for supremacy of Israel,
Battle Two, which occurs just before the Day of the Lord,
is given to us in the book of Joel, chapters two and three.
The book of Joel was written about 800BC, some 210 years
before the book of Ezekiel was written.
The mysteries of the solar darkness and heavenly upheaval,
which directly ties this book to the days just before the Day of
the Lord, are mentioned in Joel 2:2, 10, and 31 and 3:15.
The same earthquake we read about in Ezekiel 38:19 and Revelation
6:12 is mentioned in Joel 2:10. It was never mentioned in Ezekiel that God was
accompanied by an army, but in Joel 2:11 we are told that “the
Lord gives voice before His army, for His camp is
very great; for strong is the One who executes
His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who
can endure it? We are not told if this army is only the Israelites
in the area, or God’s army of angels, which are always present with
Him, because they are His servants.
But the descriptions of what takes place seem to credit the
Lord alone, plus some contribution from the Israelites, for the
annihilation of the ‘surrounding nations’ and the victory over Antichrist.
In Joel 2:1 he wrote “for the Day of the Lord is coming,
for it is at hand” but will not come until after Battle Two,
and in verse 11 it is mentioned that “the Day of the Lord is
great and very terrible; Who can endure it?”
These are almost the same words Jesus gave to John in Revelation
6:17 where it is recorded “For the great day of His wrath has
come, and who is able to stand?”
Just
as we read in Ezekiel 38 and 39, The Lord again reiterates in Joel
2 and 3 that He will make a series of new promises, similar to the
New Covenant, for a special relationship with His people the Israelites,
which comes with the victory in Battle Two.
In Joel 2:12-13 we are told that the Israelites, because
of this terrible “Day of the Lord (Joel 2:1) is coming, For it is
at hand” (similar to Jeremiah 30:3), they should therefore turn
to the Lord with all their heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
(Joel 2:12-13, 12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “turn to Me
with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord
your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of
great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.) They should rend their heart and return to the
Lord their God, because He promises that He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He relents from doing
them harm. In verse 18 the Lord promises He will be zealous
for His land, and pity His people.
In verse 19 He again promises His people that He will no
longer make them a reproach among the nations.
In verse 27, the Lord God promises His people that they shall
know that He is in the midst of Israel. He is the Lord their God and there is no other.
His people shall never be put to shame again.
In verse 31 the Lord again tells us that the sun shall be
turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE the
coming of the great and awesome Day of the Lord. In verse 32 the Lord says that it shall come
to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved,
and in this case the reference is Israelites
The
description of the ensuing fighting between these “surrounding nations”
and our Lord is given in Joel 2:2b-9.
For any of the great army of the surrounding nations who
might survive or escape the battle, God tells us in verse 20 that
He is going to remove the northern army far from the Israelites,
and He will drive them away into a barren and desolate land.
In Ezekiel 39:2 (KJV) God said He is going to “leave a sixth
part of thee”, which could, on the conservative side, be more or
less than 12,000,000 based on an army of 75,000,000. This sixth part could be that portion He drives
away. This army will be driven
with its face toward the eastern sea (Dead Sea),
and its back toward the western Sea (Mediterranean Sea). The stench from this army will come up, and
the foul odor will rise, because it has done monstrous things.
In
Joel 3, we read in verse 2 that God is going to gather all these
“surrounding nations”, and He is going to bring them into the Valley
of Jehoshaphat (Kidron Valley), and the Lord will enter into judgment
with them there on account of His people, His heritage Israel.
This is because these nations have scattered the Jews among
the nations, and they have also divided up His land, and have cast
lots (decided the Israelites fate by casting lots) for My people.
Again, in verse 12 we read that God sends out His invitation
to all the surrounding heathen nations that they be wakened and come up to
the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the “surrounding
nations”. God prophesies
through Joel in 3:13
to “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe,
Come, go down; For the winepress is full, the vats overflow—For
their wickedness is great.”
These verses definitely describe Battle Two, not Armageddon. This reference to the winepress is almost
an exact description Jesus gave the beloved Apostle John to write
in Revelation 14:17-20 where the reaping sickles are described,
and in verse 20 we read “And
the winepress was trampled outside the city”,
seemingly outside Jerusalem
in the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
the Valley of Decision. Joel
3:14 tells us that there are multitudes, multitudes (millions)
in this valley of decision! For
the Day of the Lord wrath is near in the valley of decision.
What an ominous description of impending judgment to those
who will challenge the Lord in Battle Two. For a much deeper study of the ‘winepress’ and
what happens at this time period, study section XVII Revelation
14, and Blood Flowing 184 Miles?
In
verse 15 we are again given the description of the Heavenly phenomena,
which immediately precedes God’s Day of the Lord wrath.
Verse 16 again seems to reaffirm the New Covenant from the
Lord to Israel regarding His protection for the entire length of
God’s wrath (the trumpet and bowl judgments), and it reads, “The
Lord also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem
(the Lords’ monumental victory in Battle Two); The Heavens and earth will shake; But the Lord will be a shelter for His
people (His remnant, Joel 2:32), And
the strength of the children of Israel.”
This verse positively cannot be a description of the millennium
or Armageddon because the Lord prophesies He is going to shake the
earth during His Day of the Lord wrath but He will be a shelter
for His people. Verses 17-20 describe God’s blessing on His
people up to and through the millennium.
Before
we leave the prophecies God gave to His prophet Joel, let me put
into perspective the importance of this short book of 73 verses,
or about three and one-half pages.
Joel makes five references to the Day of the Lord, which
is more than all the other Day of the Lord prophesies the Lord inspired
His other prophets to write regarding the end time events, about
25 altogether. In verse one
it says, “The word of the
Lord came to Joel the son of Pethuel.”
The rest of the book is totally devoted to what the Lord
revealed to him. Obadiah, in verse 15 of his book, makes a reference
that the Day of the Lord will be upon all the nations and is near.
This reference to the Day of the lord is likely the only
one in scripture written prior to Joel’s book, preceding it by about
10 years. Joel was written
sometime between 835 and 796 B.C, perhaps hundreds of years before
some of the other prophets. Joel’s
references to the Day of the Lord can be found in 1:15,
2:1, 2:11, 2:31, and 3:14. Most of these references have three points in
common: 1, most refer to the terrible, awesome destruction and wrath
the Lord is going to deliver on the nations of earth and its peoples;
2, there will be a great worldwide earthquake when God shakes the
earth; and 3, the sun, moon and stars will not shine resulting in
thick darkness when God shakes the heavens.
Joel
associates the Day of the Lord as being cruel, with both wrath and
fierce anger. (see Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate;
and He will destroy its sinners from it.) In 1:15,
Joel writes that the day
of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty. In 2:1-2 he writes that the Day of the Lord
is coming, for it is at hand: 2 a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and thick darkness.
In 2:11 he describes this day of the Lord is
great and very terrible; who can endure it.
In 2:31 he describes
this day of the Lord as great and awesome.
In 3:14 he writes
that the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision,
which directly ties it to Battle Two.
Many teachers say the day of the Lord is the moment Jesus
returns to earth after His victory at Armageddon, at the beginning
of His 1,000 year reign. But Joel, inspired by the Lord, definitely was
told to write that it is associated with destruction, being very
terrible, and is great and awesome, not a time of millennial peace. Joel also associates the day of the Lord with
earthquakes as we have previously described it for you. In 2:10
he says the earth quakes before them, the Heavens tremble. In 2:30
he writes the Lord will show wonders in the heavens and in the
earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
And in 3:16 he
writes the heavens and earth will shake.
Joel also associates this day with the heavenly phenomena. In 2:2 he writes it is a day of darkness
and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. In 2:10
he wrote the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their
brightness. In 2:31 he wrote the sun shall be turned into darkness, and
the moon into blood, BEFORE the coming of the great and awesome
Day of the Lord. In 3:15 he wrote the sun and moon will grow dark, and the
stars will diminish their brightness.
To help you evaluate
comparative New Testament prophecies, let us look at the book of
Matthew. When Jesus was prophesying to his disciples
on the Mount of Olives just three days before
he went to the cross to die for us, He told them in Matthew 24:29
that the following would happen immediately after the tribulation
of those days. (Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation
of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give
its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken.) Here
He is referring to the end of the Great Tribulation which started
at the midpoint of Daniel’s seventieth week and could last 6, 12,
or 18 months or more until God (it will be His decision alone) says
it is time to start the Day of the Lord wrath, after Jesus opens
the sixth seal on earths title deed.
Then Jesus told His disciples “the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from
heaven.” This is almost a
word for word description the Lord inspired His prophets to write
in at least 9 different references in the Old Testament.
Then Jesus continues in Matthew 24 that the powers of the
heavens will be shaken. This
is almost another word for word description, which Joel made in
2:10, 2:30,
and 3:16. Then Jesus describes
His rapture, His gathering together by His angels from the four
winds, from one end of heaven to the other, of His elect (His family,
the Christians), which is His next great event immediately following
His shaking of the heavens.
Jesus,
through an angel, also prophesied to the Apostle John in Revelation
6:12-13, almost another word for word description He gave to Joel
regarding this event. (Revelation 6;12-13, 12 I looked when He
opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake;
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
like blood. 13 and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig
tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.) John said he saw Jesus (He was still in heaven
and had not started His Day of the Lord wrath yet) open the sixth
seal, and behold, the first thing he described was that there was
a GREAT earthquake, which we described on previous pages.
Then “the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the
moon became like blood. And
the stars of heaven fell to the earth.”
After the previous recorded events, we read in verse 16 the
people of earth cry out “hide us from the wrath of the Lamb.”
Finally, in verse 17, we are told, “For the great day of
His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
If you have verified every scripture reference I have given
you, never let anyone tell you, in order to make their pre-tribulation
teaching assumption a viable possibility, that the Day of the Lord
wrath starts immediately following a supposed pre-tribulation rapture.
Jesus told us in His own words exactly when His wrath will
begin.
In conclusion, God’s
description in both the Old Testament and New Testament of a great
earthquake, of His shaking of the Heavens and earth, and the beginning
of His great and very terrible Day of the Lord wrath are in complete
harmony and describe the exact same future moment of history.
How perfect is His Word.
In
Zephaniah 1, verses 14-18, written about 630BC, is another brief
prophetical but colorful description of this decisive moment in
future history. In verse 14 the Lord said the great Day of
the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly, but it is
not here yet, so this description also precedes the Day of the Lord
wrath. If you still have any thoughts that the Day
of the Lord is the beginning of the millennium or a time of future
rejoicing, here is the description of this future time that Zephaniah
received from God and he recorded in chapter 1:14-18, 14 The
great day of the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; There the mighty
men shall cry out. 15 That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble
and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness
and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness. 16 A day of
trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities, And against the
high towers. 17 “I will bring distress upon men, And they shall
walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord;
Their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like
refuse.” 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to
deliver them, In the day of the Lord’s wrath; But the whole land
shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy. For He will make a speedy riddance of all
those who dwell in the land. What
a grim description. Zephaniah
makes reference to ‘Day of the Lord’ 10 times in his three chapters. We have made several references to the remnant
in Israel,
and Zephaniah also refers to the remnant in 3:13.
(Zephaniah 3:13 “The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness
and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their
mouth; for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and
no one shall make them afraid.”)
Therefore, what we have in Zephaniah is the same Battle
Two as we read about in Ezekiel and Joel.
In the last sentence of verse 18, God said He shall make
a speedy riddance (either by death or He drives them away) of all
the surrounding nations that dwell (or are encamped) in the land.
For
a final look at Battle Two, let us examine Zechariah 12 and
14, written about 520BC. In
chapter 12, the Lord, through the prophet Zechariah, describes this
battle and His involvement in it, and in verse one of chapter 14,
it says “Behold the Day of the Lord is coming.”
That statement again gives absolute confirmation that this
battle, as described by Zechariah, actually takes place before the
Day of the Lord begins, the day of God’s wrath through His Son Jesus.
In chapter 12, the phrase “in that day”, this day of battle
preceding the Day of the Lord, is used seven times.
In Zechariah 12:2, we are told that the Lord will make
Jerusalem
a cup of drunkenness to all the “surrounding peoples” when they
lay siege against Judah
and Jerusalem.
Verse 3 says that it shall happen, in that day,
that I (the Lord) will make Jerusalem
a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it (Jerusalem)
away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth
were gathered against it.
New details, not given in any of the other accounts as to how God wins
this battle, are given in Zechariah 12:4-6. The Lord through Zechariah says in verse 4,
“in that day, says the Lord, “I will strike
every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open
His eyes on the house of Judah,
and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.” Verse 6 tells us, in that day,
I will make the governors of Judah
like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves. How do you like that for a description of firebugs
or arsonists? The people
of Judah (His army?) will spread this fire and shall devour all
the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left.
We learn in verse 8 that the Lord, in that
day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and verse 9 says the Lord, It shall be in
that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations
that come against Jerusalem. And in verse 10 there is another promise, “And
I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem
the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me
whom they pierced. Yes, they
will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for
Him as one grieves for a first-born. In that day
there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem.”
In chapter 14, it starts out saying, “Behold, the day of the Lord
is coming.” Verse 2 says
God “will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But
the ‘remnant’ of the people shall not be cut off from the
city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those
nations.” Verses 2 and 3 just quoted are again positively
not a description of the Battle of Armageddon. Joel 2:32 also makes reference to this ‘remnant’
where we read that in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be
deliverance among the ‘remnant’ whom the Lord calls,
as the Lord has said. These
verses may imply that this blessing could be on the ‘remnant’, meaning
all of remaining Israel, or more likely it would mean only on the
‘remnant’ whom the Lord calls and those who call upon the name of
the Lord, only to those who commit to follow and make Him their
Lord.
Every
effort has been made to prove through Scripture that without question
this battle cannot be, or be a part of, the battle of Armageddon,
which teaching is universally generally accepted as being the truth. Battle Two is fought and won by the Lord
practically by Himself over Gog (the Antichrist) and the “surrounding
nations”. This battle is
a crushing blow to Satan and his followers.
It takes place in the closing days of the Great Tribulation
and just before the beginning of God’s Day of the Lord wrath, and
is the beginning of the end of Satan, the Antichrist, the false
prophet and their followers. The victory in this battle likely follows on
the heals of God’s pre-wrath rapture of the elect. God’s relationship with His chosen people Israel
and with His church, the elect, seem to have the same degree of
importance and relevance in His pre-wrath, pre-Day-of-the-Lord plans. This concludes Battle Two, with one more
battle to go.
BATTLE THREE.
The
third of the three battles, Battle Three, can be pinpointed
as to just when it happens in relation to the seven years of Daniels’
seventieth week. It will be shown in the next few pages that
Battle Three is the concluding victory of the Lord through
His Son Jesus at the end of the 30-day extension beyond the 3½ years. There really is no battle, since God practically
brings all the forces left on earth to the area of Armageddon and
Jesus slays them all with the Word from his mouth.
We
have made so many references throughout this writing as to the length
of this seventieth week, and you might want now to quickly refer
to the TIMELINE STUDY in section XVIII.
There it shows it is seven years, or two 3½-year periods,
or two 42-month periods, or two 1260-day periods, all four of which
time periods are mentioned numerous times in scripture.
At the exact end of the
seven years the seventh trumpet
sounds, the last of the seven
trumpets of God’s Day-of-the-Lord-wrath
trumpet judgments.
Again, in Revelation 11:15, we read that at the moment of
that seventh trumpet loud voices in Heaven were heard saying, “The
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and
of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation
11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices
in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign
forever and ever!”) Christ
is now displayed as the Victor on the 1260th day Satan
was given by Christ to reign on earth!
At
the blowing of the seventh trumpet, this 1260th day would
also be the likely day Jesus sets His feet on the Mount
of Olives as Victor.
In Acts 1:9-11, we read of the ascension of Jesus in the
presence of His followers, and after spending 40 days on earth after
His resurrection, it says “He was taken up, and a cloud received
Him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9-11, 9 Now when He had spoken
these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received
Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward
heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven,
will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.)
In verses 10 and 11, we read of two men, “angels”, telling
the men of Galilee who were gazing up into Heaven, “This same Jesus,
who was taken up from you into Heaven, will so come in like manner
as you saw Him go into Heaven.” No specific mention is made by the angels of
clouds. Bible teachers regularly
teach regarding this passage that Jesus is coming back to earth
in clouds (could be ‘clouds’ of glory) and will again touch His
feet on the Mount of Olives, but I do not recall hearing it said
just exactly where the scripture is that verifies this moment of
return in clouds. Perhaps
it is understood that clouds, or a cloud-like atmosphere, will be
present. It would seem to me that the moment that Jesus
returns to the Mount of Olives would be the
moment described in the last two sentences of the previous paragraph,
at the seventh trumpet, where it says “He shall reign forever and
ever.”
In
Revelation 11:19, at the conclusion of the seventh trumpet, the
last few words (And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings,
an earthquake, and great hail.) describe another earthquake,
the fourth one in Revelation. In Zechariah 14:4, we read, “in that
day His feet will stand on the Mount of
Olives, which faces Jerusalem
on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from
east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall
move toward the north and half of it toward the south.” but
this verse makes no mention of “clouds”.
This verse also makes mention of the results of an earthquake,
“And the Mount of Olives shall be
split in two, from east to west”, which could be the same earthquake
as number four in Revelation. Zechariah 14:4-9 likely describes the moment
when Christ returns in triumph.
In verse 9 it says, “And the Lord shall be King over all
the earth”, which is very similar to what we read in Revelation
11:15 above.
Zechariah 14:3 is apparently Zechariah’s final verse describing
Battle Two.
(Zechariah 14:3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those
nations, as He fights in the day of battle.)
Verse 4 seems to then skip to the seventh trumpet. Read Zechariah 14:4-9 and discover in these
six verses what God gave Zechariah to write regarding this moment
in time. (Zechariah 14:4-9, 4 And in that day
His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
which faces Jerusalem
on the east. And the Mount of Olives
shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley;
half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it
toward the south. 5 Then you shall flee through my mountain
valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes,
you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah.
Thus the Lord My God will come and all the saints with You.
6 It shall come to pass in that day that there
will be no light; the lights will diminish. 7 It shall be one day
which is known to the Lord—neither day nor night. But at evening
time it shall happen that it will be light. 8 And in that
day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem,
half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the
western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur. 9 And the
Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day
it shall be—The Lord is one,” and His name one.)
Returning
again to the timeline of Battle Three, in Daniel 12:7 it
says that the time Antichrist rules will be for a time (one year),
times (two years), and half a time (one-half year), or a total of
3½ years, or 1260 days. (Daniel 12:7 Then I heard the man clothed
in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he
held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by
Him who lives forever, that it shall be for
a time, times, and half a time [three and one-half
years]; and when the power of the holy people has been completely
shattered, all those things shall be finished.)
However, in Daniel 12:11 we read that from the time that
the daily sacrifice is taken away, when Antichrist desecrates God’s
temple in Jerusalem at the midpoint of the seven years, and the
time that the abomination of desolation is ‘set up’ (or perhaps
more preferably, the life
of the desecrator of abomination is ‘delivered’), there shall be
1290 days. (Daniel 12:11
“And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken
away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there
shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.)
These extra 30 days will be the period of time when Jesus
(He now has taken back complete control of the happenings on earth
as the Victor, as seen above) will have His special seven angels
pour out the terrible seven bowls of judgment on Satan, Antichrist,
the False Prophet, and the nations of earth. Read and thoroughly understand Revelation 16
and how terrible each bowl judgment is. These bowls will be poured
out in rapid succession. This
‘pouring out’ could take anywhere from several days to perhaps 25
days.
At
the end of this extra 30-day period, the Antichrist and the
False Prophet will be ‘delivered’, or captured (1290th
day), and cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
(Revelation 19:20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the
false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived
those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped
his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning
with brimstone.) Another
historic event takes place on likely the same day.
In Revelation 20:1-3, John the apostle said he saw an angel
coming down from Heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and
a great chain in his hand. (Revelation 20:1-3, 1 Then I saw an
angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless
pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon,
that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound
him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless
pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he would deceive
the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after
these things he must be released for a little while.)
This angel laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old,
who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a
seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till
the thousand years were finished.
These
previous few sentences where we read “an angel” and “was captured”
might lead you to think perhaps Jesus is going to accomplish all
this with just a few angels, and of course He could.
We read in Revelation 19:14 And the armies in heaven,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses
and verse 19 says that Jesus is going to be accompanied by “the
armies in Heaven.” (Revelation 19:19 And I saw the beast, the
kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to
make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.) I believe the make-up of this “army” is described
in Matthew 25:31 after Jesus victoriously returns to earth once
Battle Three is over. (Matthew 25:31 When the Son of Man
comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then
He will sit on the throne of His glory.)
Thus we are told that “the Son of Man comes in His glory
and all the holy angels with Him.” To put this into perspective, Revelation 5:11 tells us the number of the angles that are
always ready to serve Jesus are 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
of thousands, or upwards of 100,000,000.
Jesus will have plenty of back-up help to accomplish His
goals. (Revelation 5:11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice
of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the
elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands,)
However, before the Antichrist, the False Prophet and Satan are captured,
they are involved in Battle
Three. In Revelation
16:8-9, the fourth bowl is described as an angel pouring out his
bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men
with fire, and with great heat. (Revelation 16:8-9, 8 Then the
fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given
to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great
heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these
plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.)
The dictionary definition of scorch is: to burn the surface
of, and/or to dry or shrivel with heat.
After all these terrible bowl judgments, we read at the end
of verses 9 and 11 that men on earth still did not repent of their
deeds. We often hear talk
about global warming! This
scorching heat could immediately have raised earth’s mean temperature
40-60 degrees or more over the whole earth. The Euphrates
River has its headwaters
on the snow-capped slopes of Mt.
Ararat in far northeast
Turkey,
where Noah’s ark came to rest. Some
200 miles downriver from its beginning point, and about 25-50 miles
east of the Euphrates, are the headwaters
of the Tigris River
at another snow-capped mountain range.
Because of this great increase in heat, the snow-capped mountains
and glaciers could melt very rapidly and the Euphrates, with this
tremendous increase in volume of water, could be like a wild torrent
as it wends its way south through the dam systems, across Turkey,
northeast Syria, and through Iraq.
All of its tributaries will add many billions of gallons
of additional water. The
Tigris River,
which flows southeast from its source through the heart of Baghdad,
will be a duplicate of the Euphrates as it
floods south. These two rivers
merge about 100 miles north of the Persian Gulf,
and these merged rivers of wildly rushing water could be many miles
wide over this last 100 miles as they rush toward the Persian
Gulf.
If
the above description is reasonably correct, this gives clear reason
for the sixth bowl judgment where we read that “the sixth angel
poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,
and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the
east might be prepared.” (Revelation 16:12 Then the sixth angel
poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water
was dried up, so that the way of the Kings
from the east might be prepared.) Jesus does not want any impediments to stand
in the way of getting His adversaries in place for the coming battle. Then we are told in Revelation 16:13-14 that
at some moment in time prior to this, spirits came out of the mouths
of the dragon (the devil, Satan), the beast (Antichrist), and the
false prophet. (Revelation 16:13-14, 13 And I saw three unclean
spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon,
out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs,
which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to
gather them to the battle of that great day
of God Almighty.) This gathering is in anticipation of one more
gigantic battle to finally defeat God Almighty and His Son Jesus. Verse 16 says, “and they gathered
them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon,”
for Battle
Three. In the first sentence
of this paragraph, the ‘kings from the east’ was mentioned. I know of no scriptural backing for this, but
these ‘kings’ could be bringing massive eastern armies, following
Satan’s, Antichrist’s, and the False Prophet’s demand, to Armageddon
from Japan, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Australia, the eastern
countries of the old Soviet Union, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Afghanistan, and all the other “east” nations you can think of.
These could easily make up a three to five hundred million-soldier
army (if there are that many men still alive on earth) to once-and-for-evermore
try to defeat God Almighty, and Jesus who is prosecuting the Day
of the Lord wrath. You can add to this all the “surrounding nations”
(whatever forces they might still have), Europe,
Africa, and North and South America. Now we are talking BIG numbers. I do not know the timing of or how all these
armies arrive at Armageddon at the same time so quickly, but you
can be sure God the Father has arranged for all His enemies to be
present and accounted for and be ready for Battle Three at
His precise moment of retribution.
Now
that the participants opposing God the Father and His Son Jesus
are pretty much in place, the seventh bowl is poured out and described
in Revelation 16:17-21. (Revelation 16:17-21, 17 Then the seventh
angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out
of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there
was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had
not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city
was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.
And great Babylon
was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled
away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone
about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the
plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.)
Part of this seventh bowl is 18 “a great earthquake, such
a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were
on the earth.” Revelation
earthquake number five, which we wrote about in Battle Two.
Some of the noteworthy descriptions of this greatest earthquake
are: 1, the great city (Jerusalem)
was divided into three parts; 2, the cities of the nations all over
earth fell; 3, every island, presumably all over earth, fled away;
and 4, the mountains, presumably all over earth, were not found.
Perhaps the most noteworthy part of the earthquake is that
it was accompanied with great hail from Heaven that fell upon men
(likely including the assembled armies),
and each hailstone weighed about
a talent, or approximately 75
pounds each. 21
“Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since
that plague was exceedingly great”, and which could have obliterated
much of the gathered armies.
The
Revelation account of Battle
Three, Armageddon, is given to us in chapter 19:11-21. In verse 11 it is written by John that he, as
he saw the picture unfolding before him, saw “a white horse,
and He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
He judges and makes war.” White
horses were what the victorious generals rode in Roman victory processions
in 95 AD when John wrote this. Verse
12 tells us 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and
on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that
no one knew except Himself,
again describing the majesty of Jesus, and it is very similar
to what John wrote in his description of Jesus as He approached
him in Revelation 1:14, when the two met on the Isle of Patmos.
(Revelation 1:14 His head and hair were white like wool,
as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;) In 19:13
we are told “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood,”
the blood of His enemies, symbolizing previous bloody victories
over Satan and Antichrist, as in Battle Two and
the trumpet wrath judgments.
In verse 15 we read that,
as opposed to Jesus’ garments dipped in blood,
“the armies in Heaven, (Angels), clothed in fine linen, white
and clean, followed Him on white horses.” In the last part of verse 13, John said Jesus’
“name is called The Word of God,” which is how John described
Jesus when he started writing his Gospel in John 1:1. Verse 15 describes that His victory will come
from a sharp sword that proceeds out of His mouth. This would seem to be symbolic, in that since
it comes out of His mouth, He wins Battle Three with the
power of His Word.
Jesus
Himself is going to rule the earthly armies with a rod of iron,
and He Himself, symbolically, will tread the winepress, trample
the blood from their bodies, with the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God. Then we are told in
verse 16 that Jesus “has on His robe and on His thigh
a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” In verse 17, John saw an angel that cries out
and invites “all the birds
that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather together for the
supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the
flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses
and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people,
free and slave, both small and great.”
Verse 21 tells us that total victory was achieved just that
quick, and all “the rest
were killed with the sword (Word) which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
Victory is accomplished.
Verse 20 gives us the description of the 1290th
day, which we alluded to earlier, of the capture, or the deliverance,
of the beast (Antichrist), and the false prophet, and that they
“were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
That’s the story, very quick and simple, and it all ends
in a hurry. And if you are sure you know Jesus as the Lord and Savior
and Master of your life, you will view all this from Heaven as Christ’s
bride, and will be praising God Almighty that indeed we were on
the winning side, and our Bridegroom was victorious. With the conclusive victory by Jesus and His
armies, the Day of the Lord period is also concluded.
There
is not a great deal of additional scripture describing Battle
Three. In 2 Thessalonians
2:8, we read that God revealed to Paul that the lawless one, Satan
and Antichrist, who will be revealed at the midpoint of the seven
years, will eventually be consumed with the ‘breath’ from the Lord’s
mouth and will be destroyed with the brightness of His coming. (II
Thessalonians 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom
the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with
the brightness of His coming.)
Additional details can be found in Zechariah 14:12,15-17. In verse 12 we read, “And this shall be the
plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought
against Jerusalem:
their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their
eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve
in their mouths.” This is not a very pleasant picture, but the
Day of the Lord wrath will be swift and decisive. In verse 15 we read, “Such also shall be
the plague, On the horse and the mule, On the camel and the donkey,
And on all the cattle that will be in those camps.
So shall this plague be.”
Then in verses 16 and 17 we are told that “it shall come
to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which
came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship
the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.”
which verifies that the previous verses were describing the Battle
of Armageddon. For your reference,
you may want to study Isaiah 2:2-4 for a picture of Israel’s
new relationship with God after Armageddon. (Isaiah 2:2-4, 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that
the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top
of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all
nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, “Come,
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the
God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His
paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and
rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.)
And so ends the study of Battle
Three.
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