Destruction Of Antichrist Armies Series

Intro

Our text today is from Zechariah 14:12-15. It describes the destruction of the Antichrist armies at the Battle of Armageddon. These verses fit chronologically after verse 3.i So, I want to read Zechariah 14:1-3 and then read the text.

Zechariah 14 begins with this word from God to Jerusalem: “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.”ii

During Antichrist’s assault on Jerusalem at the end of the Tribulation period, the city will be conquered. Antichrist will send half the inhabitants into exile, leaving the other half in Jerusalem under the control of the Antichrist forces. God will allow this humiliating defeat as part of the preparation of Israel to receive Christ at his Second Coming.iii

When Israel is in this desperate situation, Christ comes to rescue them. The moment his feet stand on the Mount of Olives, the mountain will split, making a way of escape for the Jewish remnant in Jerusalem. The earthquake that accompanies that event will cause major topographical changes around Jerusalem. These changes will facilitate Jerusalem’s exaltation as the millennial capital of the world.

After verse 3, Zechariah immediately provided that information because his priority was to show the impact of Christ’s return on the Jews: the rescue of the remnant in Jerusalem and the future exaltation of the city. He could have left those details out and proceeded from verse 3 to verse 12. But verses 4-11 supply details about the Second Coming that other passages do not give. We dealt with verses 4-11 in our last message.iv

So, verse 3 introduces Christ’s Second Coming to rescue Israel: “Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.” Then verses 12-15 describes how he fights at the Battle of Armageddon.

Follow with me as we read today’s text: Zechariah 14:12-15.

“And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14 Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.”

That passage identifies three weapon the Lord will use to defeat Israel’s enemies in this great battle. 1. Plague as described in verses 12 and 15 2. Panic prophesied in verse 13. 3. People, the Jewish remnant, empowered in verse 14. So, HOW will Christ defeat the Antichrist forces at the Second Coming?

I. PLAGUE: He will consume their flesh where they stand (vs 12).

Verse 12 describes the effect of this plague: “their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.”

The striking of Israel’s enemies with a plague, maggepah, is one way God has historically defended his people. In 2 Kings 18-19 the Assyrian king, Sennacherib attacked Jerusalem.v His armies were vastly superior to Israel much like the situation at the Battle of Armageddon. Israel had no chance of winning the battle. But in answer to prayer, God sent a plague on the Assyrian troops and defeated them. 2 Kings 19:35-36 says, “And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.” We are not given the details about this plague. We are simply told, “the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000.” But the result was the defeat of the enemy and the rescue of Jerusalem.

This was not the only time God used this weapon. In 1 Samuel 5 the Lord sent a plague of tumors on the Philistines when the captured the Ark of the Covenant.vi Earlier in history, he plagued Egypt when Pharaoh would not set the Israelite slaves free.vii Plagues are one means God uses to defeat his enemies.