The Last Great Battle Series

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.”