THE LAST GREAT BATTLE
REVELATION 19:1-21
INTRODUCTION:
WE ARE COMING TO THE CLOSE OF THIS SERIES OF MESSAGES ON THE LAST DAYS. I HOPE YOU SEE THE URGENCY, OF BEING READY SHOULD THE LORD COME TODAY. A GREAT FEAR OF MINE IS THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE CONFIDENT THAT IF THE RAPTURE WERE TO OCCUR THAT THEY WOULD BE TAKEN UP TO BE WITH THE LORD, BUT IN REALITY WILL FIND THEIR FEET FIRMLY PLANTED ON EARTH, WITH THE ONLY THING TO LOOK FORWARD TO BEING THE TRIBULATION.
THE OBJECTIVE OF A SERIES SUCH AS THIS IS NOT TO MERELY INFORM YOU OF WHAT IS TO COME. YOU CAN READ THAT FOR YOURSELVES. THE PURPOSE OF PROPHETIC PREACHING IS TO INSTILL IN YOUR HEARTS A DEEP DESIRE TO SEE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE COME INTO THE KINGDOM AND AVOID THE HORROR THAT IS TO COME.
NOW WE’VE LOOKED AT MANY THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN THE WORLD NOW THAT LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THAT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH COULD HAPPEN AT ANY TIME. WHEN THAT SHOULD OCCUR ANOTHER SERIES OF EVENTS WILL OCCUR THAT WILL LEAD US TO THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. WE LOOKED AT MANY OF THESE EVENTS AND TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT THE EVENT THAT WILL IMMEDIATELY PRECEDE CHRIST’S RETURN. THAT EVENT IS THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.
NOW THE WORD “ARMAGEDDON” HAS BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH DEVESTATION AND ANNHILIATION. IT IS A TERM THAT PEOPLE EQUATE WITH THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. WE LIVE IN A WORLD NOW WITH MODERN WEAPONRY AND GLOBAL NATIONAL TENSIONS, THAT COULD LEAD TO A WAR THE LIKES OF WHICH WE HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
IT HAS BECOME A SYNONYM FOR EVERY KIND OF DOOMSDAY SCENARIO. THERE IS FINANCIAL ARMAGEDDON, ECOLOGICAL ARMAGEDDON, ENVIRONMENTAL ARMAGEDDON, AND FINALLY NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON. PHYSICIST STEPHEN HAWKING WRITES OF NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON “WE SHOULD PREPARE FOR THIS BY LOCATING OURSELVES “SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.”
THE BIBLE DOES TELL OF A WAR YET TO BE FOUGHT AND THAT IS ARMAGEDDON. ARMAGEDDON WILL MAKE ALL FORMER WARS OF HISTORY LOOK LIKE MINOR SKIRMISHES. IT WILL DRAW THE FINAL CURTAIN ON MODERN CIVILIZATION. ARMAGEDDON WILL BE THE SECOND TO LAST ATTEMPT THAT SATAN WILL MAKE TO DEFEAT JESUS. HE WILL BE LOOSED AFTER THE MILLENNIUM TO LEAD A MINOR REBELLION BUT THAT REBELLION WILL HAVE NO TEETH. THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, THIS FIGHT IS WHERE SATAN WILL MAKE HIS FINAL ATTEMPT.
SATAN’S PURPOSE ALL THROUGHOUT THE GREAT TRIBULATION PERIOD, IS TO DESTROY THE JEWISH PEOPLE BEFORE CHRIST CAN SET UP HIS KINGDOM, THUS WRECKING GOD’S PROPHESIED RULE OVER THE EARTH.
ACCORDING TO REVELATION 16, SATAN WILL EMPLOY TWO OTHER PERSONALITIES IN THESE PLANS. VERSE 13 IDENTIFIES THEM:
REVELATION 16:13: Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
NOW THE TASKS OF THESE EVIL SPIRITS ARE NOT IMPORTANT TO OUR CONTEXT BUT WHAT IS IMPORTANT ARE THE THREE EVIL CREATURES THAT THEY COME FROM. THEY ARE THE DRAGON (SATAN), THE BEAST (THE ANTI-CHRIST), AND THE FALSE PROPHET (THE LEADER OF THE ONE WORLD RELIGION). THESE THREE WILL BE KNOWN AS THE UNHOLY TRINITY. THWE UNRESTRAINED SATANIC PERSECUTION OF ISRAEL WILL PROPEL THE ENTIRE WORLD TOWARD THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.
ALL OF THE ARMIES OF THE WORLD WILL BE INVOLVED IN THIS BATTLE. NO ELEMENT WILL BE LEFT OUT. IT WILL EITHER BE TOTAL VICTORY OR TOTAL DEFEAT. SATAN WOULD BRING WITH HIM NOT ONLY THE WORLD’S ARMIES, BUT ALSO THE TOTAL KNOWLEDGE OF WARFARE THAT COULD BE ACCUMMULATED ON EARTH, ALL DIRECTED AGAINST ISRAEL.
POINT ONE: THE PLACE OF THE BATTLE:
THE PLACE OF THE BATTLE IS MENTIONED IN REVELATION 16:16. ARMAGEDDON IS THE HEBREW NAME FOR THE AREA.
REVELATION 16:16: Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
ARMAGEDDON IS NOT ACTUALLY A BATTLE. IT IS THE PLACE WHERE THE BATTLE WILL BE FOUGHT. IT IS A HEBREW WORD, YET SURPRISINGLY IT IS ONLY MENTIONED ONCE IN SCRIPTURE, IN THE PASSAGE I JUST READ.
THE HEBREW WORD “HARMAGEDDON MEANS “THE MOUNT OF MEGIDDO”. “HAR” MEANS MOUNT, AND “MEGIDDO” MEANS SLAUGHTER. WHEN WE SPEAK OF ARMAGEDON THEN, WE ARE LITERALLY TALKING ABOUT THE “MOUNTAIN OF SLAUGHTER.”
MEGIDDO IS AN ACTUAL PLACE LOCATED IN NORTHERN ISRAEL. IT INCLUDES AN EXTENDED PLAIN THAT REACHES FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA TO THE NORTHERN PART OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL. MEGIDDO IS ABOUT 18 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HAIFA, 45 MILES NORTH OF JERUSALEM, AND A LITTLE MORE THAN 10 MILES FROM NAZARETH.
IT WAS AT MEGIDDO WHERE DEBORAH AND BARAK DEFEATED THE CANAANITES ( JUDGES 4-5). IT WAS HERE THAT GIDEON DEFEATED THE MIDIANITES (JUDGES 7); KING SAUL WAS SLAIN HERE DURING A WAR WITH THE PHILISTINES (1 SAMUEL 31); AHAZIAH WAS SLAIN HERE BY JEHU (2 KINGFS 9), AND JOSIAH WAS SLAIN BY THE INVADING EGYPTIANS (2 KINGS 23). ACCORDING TO SCHOLAR ALAN JOHNSON, “MORE THAN 200 BATTLES HAVE BEEN FOUGHT AT OR NEAR THERE.”
EMPEROR NAPOLEON SAID THIS ABOUT MEGIDDO IN 1799:
“ ALL THE ARMIES OF THE WORLD COULD MANEUVER THEIR FORCES IN THIS VAST PLAIN… THERE IS NO PLACE IN THE WHOLE WORLD MORE SUITED FOR WAR THAN THIS…IT IS THE MOST NATURAL BATTLEGROUND ON THE WHOLE EARTH.”
BUT THE VASTNESS OF THIS BATTLE WILL NOT BE CONTAINED EVEN IN THIS VAST BATTLEGROUND. THEY WILL GATHER THERE AND PROBABLY THE MAIN BATTLE WILL BE THERE, BUT THERE WILL BE OTHER BATTLEGROUNDS AS WELL IN THIS STRUGGLE.
JOEL SPEAKS OF THE LAST BATTLE BEING FOUGHT IN THE VALLEY OF JEHOSOPHAT, WHICH IS CLOSE BY JERUSALEM
ISAIAH SHOWS CHRIST COMING WITH BLOOD-STAINED GARMENTS COMING FROM EDOM, WHICH IS MODERN DAY JORDAN.
SO THAT TELLS US THAT THIS BATTLE WILL STRETCH FROM THE VALLEY OF MEGIDDO IN THE NORTH… THROUGH THE VALLEY OF JEHOSOPHAT NEAR JERUSALEM, AND DOWN TO JORDAN TO THE SOUTH. NOW THE PROPHET EZEKIEL PROPHECIED THAT THE ARMIES OF THIS GREAT BATTLE WOULD “COVER THE LAND”, WITH JERUSALEM BEING AT THE CENTER OF THE CONFLICT.
REVELATION 14:20: They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
NOW BY TODAYS TERMS 1600 STADIA IS ALMOST EXACTLY 200 MILES, WHICH IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE NORTHERN TO THE SOUTHERN TIP OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL.
POINT TWO: THE PURPOSE OF THE BATTLE
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE BATTLE OR ARMAGEDDON IN THE PLAN OF GOD? I’D LIKE TO SUGGEST TO YOU THREE PURPOSES FOR THE BATTLE.
1. TO FINISH HIS JUDGMENT UPON ISRAEL:
THE TRIBULATION PERIOD IS A TIME OF DIVINE JUDGMENT AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. THEY REJECTED THEIR MESSIAH, AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN, WHEN GIVEN THE CHANCE TO RETURN TO GOD, FAILED TO HEED THE CORRECTIVE AND PUNITIVE JUDGMENT OF GOD.
2. TO FINALIZE HIS JUDGMENT UPON THE NATIONS THAT HAVE PERSECUTED ISRAEL.
THE NATIONS THAT HAVE PERSECUTED ISRAEL WILL FINALLY BE GATHERED TOGETHER AT THE SCENE OF THIS ENORMOUS BATTLE. GOD WILL HAVE THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO DEAL WITH THEM FINALLY AND DECISIVELY.
JOEL3:2: I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of
Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my
inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations
and divided up my land.
3. TO FORMALLY JUDGE ALL THE NATIONS THAT HAVE REJECTED HIM.
REVELATION 19:15-16:
Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
GOD IS STORING UP HIS JUDGMENT ON THE WORLD, ALLOWING THEM OPPORTUNITIES TO TURN TO HIM. BUT THESE OPPORTUNITIES WILL NOT LAST FOREVER. AT THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON GOD WILL UNLEASH HIS WRATH ON THOSE COUNTRIES WHO HAVE DENIED HIM AS LORD. THIS WORLD WILL BE SO FAR GONE, SO GIVEN OVER TO EVIL, THAT IN THEIR PRIDEFUL DEFIANCE THEY WILL REFUSE TO REPENT, EVEN IN THE GRIP OF FATAL JUDGMENT.
REVELATION 16:9: hey were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
POINT THREE: THE PARTICULARS OF THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON:
THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON HAS SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS ATTACHED TO IT.
1. IT WILL INVOLVE ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD (JOEL 3:2; ZACHARIAH 14:2).
2. IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, THE PURPOSE WILL BE TO ANNIHILATE THE JEWS AND TO FIGHT CHRIST AND HIS ARMY (ZECH. 12:2-3, 9; 14:2; REVELATION 19:19)
3. IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL BE THE LEADER OF THE ENEMY ARMY (REVELATION 19:19)
4. IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, THE ARMIES ARE DEFEATED BY THE WORD OF CHRIST -- A SHARP SWORD (REVELATION 19:15).
5. IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON THOSE SLAIN BY THE LORD WILL LIE WHERE THEY FALL FROM ONE OF THE EARTH TO THE OTHER (JEREMIAH 25:33).
6. IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, THE DEAD WILL NOT BE BURIED, BUT THEIR CARCASSES WILL BE TOTALLY CONSUMED BY THE BIRDS (JEREMIAH 25:33; REVELATION 19:17-18,21).
7. AFTER THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, SWORDS AND SPEARS WILL BE BEATEN INTO PLOWSHARES AND PRUNING HOOKS (ISAIAH 2:4), AND THE NATIONS WILL STUDY WAR NO MORE.
BY THE TIME OF THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL HAVE A FIRM CONTROL ON THE LEADERSHIP OF THE WORLD. BUT THIS WILL NOT LAST LONG.
DANIEL 11:40: At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.
JOHN WALVOORD BELIEVES THAT DANIEL’S PROPHECY DESCRIBES AN ARMY FROM AFRICA, INCLUDING EGYPT, PROBABLY NUMBERING IN THE MILLIONS. THEY WILL ATTACK THE ANTI-CHRIST’S ARMIES FROM THE SOUTH. RUSSIA WILL ATTACK THE ANTI-CHRIST’S ARMIES FROM THE NORTH.
NOW THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL PUT THESE REBELLIONS DOWN. BUT BEFORE HE CAN RETURN TO HIS GOAL OF DESTROYING JERUSALEM HE WILL FACE THE FURY FROM THE EAST.
DANIEL 11:44: But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many.
THE STRENGTH OF THE ARMY FROM THE EAST IS ENORMOUS. THE RIVER EUPHRATES IS DRIED UP TO ALLOW THIS ARMY THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTACK.
REVELATION 9:16: The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million.
CHINA IS THE COUNTRY TO THE EAST THAT HAS THE POWER TO HAVE SUCH AN ARMY AS THIS. WHEN THIS ARMY ATTACKS IT WILL SET IN MOTION THE GREATEST AND LAST BATTLE OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. THESE ARMIES WILL NOT ONLY BE LED BY HUMANS, BUT ALSO BY DEMONS FROM HELL.
REVELATION 16:14: hey are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
JUST WHEN THE ANTICHRIST FEELS THAT HE HAS ALL UNDER CONTROL, THEN ANOTHER ARMY WILL ATTACK HIM. WHEN I WAS YOUNGER I USED TO LIKE WATCHING WESTERNS. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS I STILL DO. I USED TO ALWAYS BE IMPRESSED AT HOW THE CALVARY WOULD ARRIVE AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME. MY PROBLEM WAS I COULDN’T SAY CAVALRY. I ALWAYS SAID THE CALVARY ARRIVED JUST IN TIME.
NOW I CAN SAY THAT AND BE RIGHT. FOR THE ARMY THAT WILL NOW FACE THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL BE NONE OTHER THAN JESUS LEADING THE ARMIES OF HEAVEN. THE GREAT LORD JESUS, THE CAPTAIN OF THE LORD’S HOSTS, THE KING OVER ALL KINGS WILL DESCEND AND PROTECT HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE AND PUT A ONCE AND FOR ALL END TO THE EVIL OF THE ANTI-CHRIST.
ZECHARIAH 14:5: You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
1 THESSALONIANS 3:13: May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
2 THESSALONIANS 1:10: on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.
JUDE 14-15:
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DIED IN THE LORD, ALONG WITH THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN RAPTURED BEFORE THE YEARS OF TRIBULATION, WILL JOIN WITH THE LORD AND PARTICIPATE IN THE BATTLE TO RECLAIM THE WORLD FOR THE RULE OF CHRIST.
JESUS WILL DESCEND WITH ARMIES OF ANGELS. NOW LISTEN TO MATTHEW 26:52-53:
MATTHEW 26:52-53:
Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
NOW A LEGION IS 6000 ROMAN SOLDIERS. THIS MEANS THAT THE SONG WE SING “HE COULD HAVE CALLED 10,000 ANGELS IS WRONG, DESPARATELY WRONG. THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF ANGELS HE COULD HAVE CALLED WAS OVER 72,000 ANGELIC SOLDIERS. THE REST OF THE SONG THOUGH IS SPOT ON. “BUT HE DIED ALONE, FOR YOU AND ME.”
REV. 5:11: Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
IN THE GREEK LANGUAGE THIS THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS AND TEN THOUSANDS UPON TEN THOUSANDS, LITERALLY MEANS “THOUSANDS AND MILLIONS OF ANGELS.”
CONCLUSION:
THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON WILL BE THE LAST WARFARE THAT THIS WORLD WILL EVER KNOW. WITH IT THE KING OF THE AGES WILL EXPLODE THROUGH THE HEAVENS TO CLAIM THAT WHICH IS RIGHTFULLY HIS.
THAT GLORIOUS DAY WE WILL SEE SATAN DEFEATED AND CAST INTO THE ABYSS FOR 1000 YEARS.
THAT GLORIOUS DAY WILL BE THE END OF ALL WARFARE.
THAT GLROIOUS DAY WE WILL BEGIN OUR EARTHLY REIGN WITH CHRIST.
ONE THING THOUGH IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE CLEAR.
WITH THE TENSIONS THAT ARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THE PROBABLY OF THIS MAJOR BATTLE BEING FOUGHT THERE IN THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE INCREASES.
ISRAEL STANDS AS A NATION NOW, WITH IMMENSE HATRED SURROUNDING HER BORDERS.
OUR MILITARY IS AN OIL DEPENDANT MILITARY. ALL THE MILITARY OF THE WORLD RUNS ON FUEL. A BATTLE OF THIS MAGNITUDE CAN ONLY OCCUR IN A LAND THAT HAS MASSIVE OIL RESERVES TO FUEL THAT ARMY. SUCH A LAND IS THE MIDDLE EAST.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS FACT. OIL IS NOT AN INFINITE SUPPLY. THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN THE OIL RUNS OUT. UNLESS THE ARMIES OF THE WORLD DEVISE NEW WAYS TO POWER THEIR EQUIPMENT, IF THIS IS THE EQUIPMENT TO BE USED IN THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON, THEN ARMAGEDDON WILL HAVE TO HAPPEN BEFORE THE OIL RUNS OUT.
THIS MEANS THAT THE RAPTURE AND THE TRIBULATION AND ALL THE EVENTS THAT ARE CONNECTED TO THEM, WILL HAVE TO OCCUR BEFORE THE OIL RUNS OUT. THIS IS IF THE EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY TO BE USED DURING THIS BATTLE IS THE EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE NOW.
NEXT WEEK, WE’LL TALK ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THIS WAR, AND THE COMING OF THE KING.
