Tonight, we look at the vision of the great battle of Armageddon, the final battle of human history. This is where human history ends. It’s where the Lord Jesus intervenes and stops the madness of humanity. Jesus will return to earth and destroy all the ungodly and evil of this world. This is what the Bible and believers call: (different names)
• The great day of Jehovah.
• The great day of God.
• The day.
• The final battle of human history.
• The end of the devil’s rule on earth.
• The supper of the great God.
• The great battle of Armageddon.
READ 17-18. Keep in mind that this call is announcing the beginning of Armageddon. So, for the ungodly, it is a terrifying call to the supper of great God. This supper is not the Wedding Supper of the Lamb that we talked about last time, which will be for the believers. This supper, the Supper of the great God will be for unbelievers and it will be the most terrifying moment in human history.
A mighty angel cries to all the birds of the air. He calls them to gather for the Supper of the Great God. Why are the birds being called together? Because God is going to destroy the armies of the world. The birds are being called to feast upon the ungodly of this world when they have been slain.
Note who it is to be slain and who is to become a feast for the vultures of the air.
• The flesh of captains.
• The flesh of mighty men, that is, the powerful.
• The flesh of horses.
• The flesh of the riders on the horses.
• The flesh of all men, both the slaves and the free, both the small and the great.
The idea is that all the armies of the world will be destroyed. Every single army will be destroyed by Jesus Christ when He returns in glory.
READ 19. We see the mobilizing of the world’s armies. The antichrist is there. The kings or leaders of the earth are there (probably negotiating and trying to prevent the battle against each other). The armies of the nations are there.
How is it humanly possible for so many great armies to gather in one place? And if a war is going to be fought in Palestine, why bother with foot soldiers when the world has so many sophisticated weapons like missiles and atomic warheads?
The reason is simple: armies use foot soldiers when they want to preserve the land and its resources. In the end time, the antichrist will lead his alliance against Palestine to totally exterminate the Jews and to take the whole Middle East with it rich resources for himself. He will march against those who claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember, the Jews will have been saved at this time. They will have accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah. This is what is meant by the statement that the antichrist and his armies gather together to fight against Christ. Jesus and His followers are one, so to fight against the followers of Jesus is to fight against Jesus.
The antichrist cannot use atomic weapons because the weapons would not only destroy the land and its resources, but probably cause a retaliatory strike from some of the other nations of the world. So how do the armies of the world get to Palestine? The same way they would today.
For instance, if some major army began to march and to claim all the oil of the Middle East for itself, the nations of the world would go to protect their interest. We don’t exactly what will the cause will be in the end time to draw the armies of the world to Palestine. All we know is that they will be gathered there.
In the last days, al the nations of the world will join forces with two or more sides. They will be there to protect their own national interests in the Middle East and Palestine. They will be stationed within the borders of Palestine at Meggido.
Evil spirits are behind the whole thing. The evil spirits will give the two leaders supernatural power to inspire their confederation to march and conquer Palestine.
Armageddon is the mountain and valley of Megiddo that runs through the middle of Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. It’s about 200 miles long and ten miles wide.
READ 20. There will be the simple and quick capture of the antichrist and the false prophet. Paul tells what will happen to the antichrist in 2 Thes. 2:8. “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of this mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”
The Lord Jesus will slay the antichrist with the breath of His mouth. This is the breath of truth and holiness, and unlimited power. Christ will just speak the Word for the antichrist to be slain. There will be no battle. READ Isaiah 11:4.
He will destroy the antichrist with the splendor of His coming. The whole idea of splendor is radiance, glory, and light. Someone has pointed out that when Jesus Christ returns to earth, there will be such a spectacular display of glory and splendor that the explosion of every star in the universe could not match the sight of the Lord.
It appears that when Christ first appears, there will apparently be the energizing of a laser beam of glory zeroed in on the antichrist, and he will be immediately destroyed, quicker than the blink of an eye. So, simply by showing Himself, the Lord will destroy the antichrist.
Again, we must note that the word destroy does not mean annihilate, but to make inoperative; to make powerless; to end; to put a stop to the evil work of the antichrist.
In verse 20 we also see the horrifying judgment of the antichrist and the false prophet. They will both be immediately thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This lake of fire is called either Gehenna or the Fiery Lake. This is the place where all those who rebelled against God are to be cast at the end of the world. At the final judgment of unbelievers, the lake of fire is the final hell to which all the wicked shall be judged and condemned, and the judgment of Gehenna is said to be eternal.
READ 21. The weapon of the Lord that He uses to slay the armies is the sword of His mouth. Jesus doesn’t have to use any physical, material, carnal, or fleshly weapons made of this earth. He doesn’t need them. He only needs the sword of His Word. The Lord will simply speak the Word of death, and every soul of the godless nations and armies present will drop dead.
Go to chapter 20. Jesus Christ is coming back to earth. The day is coming when there will be:
• No more sin, evil or unrighteousness on earth.
• No more rejection, denial or cursing of God or His Son Jesus Christ.
• No more murder or war.
• No more sickness, disease or illness.
• No more pain, suffering, or death.
The kingdom of God is coming to earth. The earth is going to be like the Garden of Eden once again, except it will be better because Jesus will be there governing the affairs of the world. This is what is known as the Millennium, which simply means 1,000 years, the one thousand year rule of Jesus Christ on earth. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Right after the battle of Armageddon, one more thing needs to be done—the spiritual power that lies behind all this ungodliness and evil, Satan himself, has to be bound. Man can never have a perfect world until the temptation to do evil is removed from the earth. Jesus Christ has to remove this temptation.
And this is what the next three verses bring about, the removal and binding of Satan. In the first 3 verses of chapter 20 we find the answers to all these questions.
1. Who is going to remove Satan?
2. Who is Satan?
3. How long will Satan be removed?
4. Where is Satan to be placed?
5. Why is Satan to be bound and removed?
6. Will Satan ever be releases again?
It is here that we get the questions concerning pre-, mid-, post-, and non- tribulation and millennial positions. But as I said that is not the direction of this study. We are only looking at what the Scripture says, and isn’t that really all we should be concerned with?
READ 1 & 2. Who is going to remove Satan from the earth? The angel of God’s power. The angel comes directly out of heave, from God’s presence. Remember that angel means messenger. So some messenger from heaven is going to remove Satan from this earth. Some believe this messenger is Jesus Christ. In Rev. 1:18 we were told that Jesus has “the keys to death and Hades.”
They believe that Jesus would never give those keys to anyone else. Whatever the case, and once again we are not clearly told, the messenger holds two things in his hands:
1. The key to the Abyss or bottomless pit. This means that he has the power to cast Satan into the Abyss, away from the earth.
2. A great chain. This means that he has the power to bind Satan and to keep him from tempting and leading people into sin and ungodliness.
Just think of it. This means that there is power great enough to remove Satan and all the evil and sin from this earth. That power is in heaven, the very power of God Himself.
In verse 2 the question “Who is Satan?” is answered. His names tell us. We have used these names of Satan throughout this study.
1. He is the dragon. The spiritual power that stirs up the fiery, cruel, and brutal passions of people and governments. The one that causes people and governments to behave like beasts and to ravage and destroy people and property.
2. He is that ancient serpent. The spiritual power that deceives and seduces people. The one that leads people into sin and evil. The one that leads people to disobey, ignore, and neglect God.
3. He is the devil. The spiritual power that slanders, lies, and murders by leading people to lie and murder.
4. He is Satan, the spiritual power that accuses, opposes, and stands as an enemy to God and His followers. He is pictured as constantly pointing out the sins and failures of believers to God. He does this in order to cut the heart of God and to arouse God’s justice against man.
This is Satan, the one who lies behind all this ungodliness and evil that we have seen so far. He is the one who has to be bound and removed from the earth before Jesus Christ can bring the perfect government and society to earth.
Verse 2 answers “How long will Satan be removed?” 1,000 years. This is the Millennium. 1,000 years with no war, or killing, or assaults, or abuse, or hunger or drug-pushing, or anything evil. All of it will be removed. Righteousness will rule the earth for 1,000 years.
READ 3. Where is Satan going to be placed for the 1,000 years? In the Abyss.
Why is Satan to be bound and removed? So that he cannot deceive people and nations any more. Right now, sin looks good, tastes good, and feels good. None of the material things of this world are wrong. It is the lust for these things that is wrong.
When Jesus comes to earth there will be no need and no lack. This is the reason Satan must be removed. So Satan will be bound and removed from earth. Think of how the earth will be in its perfect form. Scripture to be read.
1. There is going to be a change in the earth. Isaiah 35: 1-2.
2. There is going to be a change in the animal kingdom. Isaiah 11: 6-9.
3. There is going to be a change in the aging, sicknesses, and diseases of the body. Isaiah 35: 5-6.
4. There will be plenty upon earth. Joel 2: 26-27. Joel 3: 18.
5. There will be peace on earth. Isaiah 19: 23-25.
6. There will be a change in government. Zechariah 14: 8-9.
7. There will be righteousness and morality and godliness. Isaiah 2: 2-4.
Will Satan ever be released again? Unfortunately, the Scripture says yes, for a little season.
