At the
time of the 6th Bowl judgment, Satan will send
3 demonic emissaries with miraculous powers to persuade all the
Kings of the Earth to gather their armies at Har Megiddo, known
to us as Armageddon
(Rev. 16:14,)
Mt. Megiddo overlooks the plains of Jezreel in central
Israel, where the world's armies will come together for the
battle of Jerusalem, less than 100 miles to the south.
The anti-Christ will invade Israel and set up
headquarters in Jerusalem (Daniel 11:41.45).
According to Zechariah, the city will be captured, the
houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go
into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from
the city. (Zech 14:2)
Then the Lord will go out to fight against
those nations as He fights in the day of battle (Zech
14:3). In Rev. 16:14 John called this the battle on
the great day of God Almighty, and it will all be over in less
than one day. But which day? Jesus said,
"Therefore keep watch,
because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (Matt.
24:42) Let's see
if we can piece the various scripture references together to
make some sense of the chain of events.
Lights Off
He told us that “immediately after the
distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and
the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” (Matt. 24:29)
480 years earlier He had Zechariah say,
“On that day (the day of the battle) there will be no
light, no cold or frost.
It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a
day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light.”
(Zech 14:6-7) That tells us this battle will follow on the heels
of the Great Tribulation and occur during the time when there's
no light on Earth, on a day only the Lord will know.
I think this time of darkness will be a brief one,
perhaps just a few days long.
It only has to last long enough to make the Lord's
statement that no one would know the day or hour of His return
come true.
Picture the armies of Earth gathered in
Israel knowing they're going up against the King of Kings in
the final round of the battle for control of Planet
Earth. Babylon the
Great will have just been destroyed (Rev. 18) and you'd think
they would have had enough.
But obviously they've been emboldened by Satan's demonic
emissaries. The miraculous signs these three display will
convince them they have the necessary force to prevail.
Then without warning the whole world will be plunged into
absolute darkness with no Sun, no Moon, no stars to illuminate
the endless expanse of the night sky.
Everything will come to a standstill.
Where is their enemy? Why doesn't He come out and fight?
Suddenly the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.
They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky,
with power and great glory. (Matt. 24:30)
At that moment they'll realize their mistake, their
confidence will evaporate, and they'll wish with all their heart
they hadn't listened to Satan's emissaries.
But it'll be too late for that.
John described the ensuing battle this way.
I saw heaven standing open and there
before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and
True. With justice he judges and makes war.
His eyes are like blazing fire, and
on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that
no one knows but he himself. He is
dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of
God. The armies of heaven were
following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen,
white and clean. Out of his mouth
comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
(Rev. 19:11-15)
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the
earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the
rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and
with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous
signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who
had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The
two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning
sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came
out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds
gorged themselves on their flesh. (Rev. 19:19-21)
The Armies of Earth will quickly discover
that their worst fears have become reality.
They're no match for the Lord. The sword that comes from
His mouth is obviously symbolic, standing for His Word.
Having spoken the universe into existence, defeating this
army with the word of His mouth will be no challenge.
The armies of Heaven won't even get their robes dirty.
But the Kings of the Earth will realize they've been
misled by Satan once again, and this time it will prove to be a
fatal mistake.
On that day living water will flow out
from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea (Dead Sea) and
half to the western sea, (Mediterranean) in summer and in
winter. (Zech 14:8)
From Ezekiel 47:2 we learn that the
water comes from the Temple, flowing south into a great
ravine formed by an earthquake that will occur when the
Lord's foot touches the Mt. of Olives (Zech 14:4).
This ravine will run west to east
from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, forming the bed
of the mighty River of Life (Ezek. 47:1-12, Rev. 22:1-2).
Splitting the Mt. Of Olives means it will go straight
through the current Temple Mount, eliminating all traces of it.
Since the water flows south it means the Temple built at
the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week will have been
located to the North of the current Mount.
Last time we identified its location as Shiloh, 20 miles
north of Jerusalem.
The LORD will be king over the whole
earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only
name. (Zech 14:9)
This is a long awaited fulfillment of
prophecy. Within a
few short days, everyone on Earth will stand before King Jesus
and agree that He is Lord of all the Earth.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and
gave him the name that is above every name,that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father. (Phil. 2:9-11) Tragically, many will not have
confessed Him as their Savior, and now it's too late.
As they depart to begin an eternity of torment they'll
have to admit that as Lord,
He has the right to banish them. Even worse, they'll know
that He died for their sins, but they refused the pardon His
death purchased for them, and the time for claiming it expired
with His Coming.
And I saw an angel coming down out of
heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a
great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is
the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He
threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to
keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand
years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short
time. (Rev. 20:1-3)
Lights On
The anti-Christ and false prophet will have
been cast into the Lake of Fire, and Satan will be bound.
Finally peace will come to Earth. Zechariah said that in
the evening of that day there will be light (Zech. 14:7), but
Jesus said the Sun would go dark to mark the end of the Great
Tribulation. Where
will the light come from?
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice
from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men,
and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God
himself will be with them and be their God. (Rev. 21:2-3)
The city does not need the sun or the
moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and
the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and
the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no
day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night
there. (Rev. 21:23-25)
Believers who died before the Church age
will rise from their graves (Daniel 12:2), accompanied by
Tribulation Martyrs (Rev. 20:4).
Together they'll witness the Glorious Appearing of the
Lord and join the grateful multitude in welcoming Him to Earth.
The Creation itself will have been waiting in eager
expectation of this day, when it will finally be liberated from
it's bondage to decay. (Romans 8:19-21)
The Lord's first order of business upon
returning will be to summon all the survivors of the Great
Tribulation to determine their disposition. First the Jew,
Jesus said to
them (the Disciples), "I tell you the truth, at the
renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious
throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.(Matt. 19:28)
then the Gentile.
"When the Son
of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will
sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will
separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the
sheep from the goats. (Matt. 25:31-32)
This prophecy first appeared in Joel 3:1-2. "In those
days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and
Jerusalem, 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.”
The parables of the Faithful Servant, the
Ten Virgins, and the Talents in Matt. 24-25 also describe
this time of judgment that I believe will consume the Lord's
first 30 days back on Earth.
The net result of these events is that surviving
Tribulation believers will be welcomed into the Millennial
Kingdom, while unbelievers will be taken away to begin an
eternity of torment (Matt. 24:51, 25:30, 25:41)
Next will come the business of establishing
His Kingdom. The
Temple, defiled by the abomination of desolation, will be
cleansed and made fit for service again like its predecessor of
Maccabean days. The new levitical priesthood, led by the
descendants of Zadok, will be installed (Ezekiel 44:10-16)
to officiate therein.
The promised Land will be divided and re-distributed to
the Jews (Ezekiel 48:1-29)
while believing Gentiles will be sent to re-populate the
nations.
Governmental and administrative systems will be put into place.
This will require an additional 45 days.
These two periods were hinted at in Daniel 12:11-12.
"From the time that the daily sacrifice
is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set
up, there will be 1,290 days. 12
Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the
1,335 days.
The Great Tribulation will be 1260 days
long. 30 days to
judge the survivors brings us to 1290 days and 45 more to set up
the Kingdom totals 1335.
Blessed is the one who reaches this time because he will
be counted among those who've been judged worthy to inhabit the
kingdom. Every one
will be a believer.
So as the Millennium begins there will
finally be peace on Earth, a peace so real they'll be able to
feel it. The Lord will be King of all the Earth and His name
will be the only name (Zech 14:8).
More next time.
