The King Is Coming - 7

The Battle of Armageddon

Introduction - We come now to the final group of lessons in the series entitled, “The King Is Coming.”

The focus of this series has been rightly on the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the King and He is coming.

Everything concerning history, that which is known and that which will be centers on the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In our last lesson, we spoke about the Lord’s return, the Man of the White Horse. That Man is the God-Man.

When the Lord returns, He will do so, not as the Lamb, but as the Lion.

Illustration: During the eight years former President Ronald Reagan served in the White House, he kept a diary. In his May 15, 1981 entry, the president expressed his frustration and perplexity of the seemingly irresolvable tension between tiny Israel and the surrounding Arab nations. He recorded, “Sometimes I wonder if we are destined to witness Armageddon.”

To what is the former president referring?

Consider the following introductory verses:

Revelation 16:16 “16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”

The term is har-Megiddon thus “Armageddon” and means hill of Megiddo. We will touch on this later.

Revelation 19:19 “19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.”

Let’s Pray.

There is coming a terrible time and also a needful time to culminate all of History, since the creation of man and the subsequent fall of man.

God’s plan is coming to a close.

There has been, since sin entered into this world, warfare taking place.

This warfare to the carnal mind is seen only in the fightings of man against man.

And for some, peace could only be achieved for diplomacy, sizeable armies, and weapons that threaten physical life.

But I want you to understand that behind all of the turmoil and hostility on men, beyond the scenes of the physical eye, there is spiritual warfare taking place.

The lines are drawn in the sand.

There is the side of Satan, His angels, and fallen men.

And then there is the side of Almighty God, His angels and redeemed men.

There are the only two sides in this great warfare.

God freely has offered Salvation to man and has extended His arm of grace and mercy for thousands of years.

And yet in all of this many of Adam’s race are still in rebellion against God.

When we come to the study of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is a final battle that will take place that will conclude one dispensation and move us into another referred to as the Millennial reign of Christ.

It is hard to imagine the world being under the rulership of the Lord Jesus Christ and true justice and peace existing.

It is foreign to what we see around us today.

But in God’s great program of redemption and His glory, the Tribulation, the Great Tribulation and the final battle of Armageddon will come to pass and usher us into that 1000 year reign of our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spoken about in Revelation chapter 20.

Many have heard this term Armageddon and have some understanding as to what it is.

We are going to look at it a little closer in this lesson.

Perhaps for some, there knowledge of this event is tainted by the exploits of Hollywood. Others perhaps do not have a firm understanding of what and why this terrible final stand takes place.

Let us turn to the Bible and see what God reveals to us in His Word concerning this event.

The first truth I want us to understand is part of the purposes for this coming battle.

What is the purpose of this battle?

The Bible tells us in Revelation 19:15, one of His purposes for coming.

“15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

God deals with the nations in judgment because of their:

Persecution of Israel (Joel 3:2)

Persistence in sinfulness (Revelation 19:15)

Perpetual godlessness (Revelation 16:9)

“Christ is coming to make war, to smite the nations with a sword, and to rule with a rod of iron. In order to do these things it is necessary that He tread, “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” (Robertson)

What is the Battle of Armageddon?

The battle of Armageddon will be last world war.

And though here in our text the Bible speaks specifically of this major culminating event— this conflict is really the end of a longer Campaign that many believe will begin sometime around the middle part of the tribulation moving forward.

The is an uprising after the Millennial reign of Christ, when Satan is loosed, but that uprising is different then this one. And the Bible uses the language to describe its significance in

Revelation 20:7–9 “7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”

Notice what the Bible says again in verse 19 if Revelation, “19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.”

Revelation 19:19 explains that the Antichrist with the kings of the earth with their armies, will besiege the Jewish remnant in Jerusalem and ultimately attempt to war against the Lord Jesus Christ and His army.

“The Battle of Armageddon is truly direct warfare of hell against heaven, … remember that Satan gave his power unto the Antichrist and the false prophet, and now we find that the Beast and the prophet are doing the foolish thing, trying to fight against heaven itself.” (Robertson)

Where will this battle be fought?

This battle, according to the Scriptures, will be fought in the ancient hill and valley of Megiddo, west of Jordan, in the plain of Jezreel.

The hill of Megiddo, the Valley of Jezreel and the plain of Esdraelon is located West of the Jordan River. Ten miles south of Nazareth. Fifteen miles inland from the Mediterranean. Just north of the Carmel mountain range.

Many battles have been fought in this area:

- Joshua’s conquest of the promised land lists Megiddo(Joshua 12:21)

- Deborah and Barak defeated the Canaanites (Judges 4-5)

- Gideon defeated the Midianites (Judges 7)

- Saul was slain by the Philistines (1 Samuel 3:18)

- Ahazaih was slain by Jehu (2 Kings 9:27)

- Josiah was slain by the Egyptians (2 Kings 23:29-30, 2 Chronicles 35:22)

- The Crusaders fought four separate battles in the twelfth century.

- Napoleon Bonaparte crushed the Ottomans in 1799.

- General George Allenby fought the Ottoman army for control of the area in 1918.

However, with that being said, I want you to understand when we put the entire picture of prophecy together, this campaign will involve the entire region of Palestine (approx. 9000 square miles)

Joel 3:2 speaks of the Valley of Jehosaphat which is an extended are east of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 39:1 speaks of the valley of passengers, which may be the same area.

Isaiah 63 speaks of the Lord coming from Edom in the south.

Jersualem is seen as the center of the conflict in Zechariah 12:2, 11 and Zechariah 14:2.

This helps us to make sense of the scope of this conflict when we read the description like what we find in Revelation 14:20 “20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

“This the campaign is seen as extending from the plains of Esdraelon on the north, down through Jerusalem, extending out to the valley of Jehoshaphat on the East to to Edom on the south.”

This would cover all of Palestine and confirm the words of Ezekiel that the invaders will “cover the land” according to Ezekiel 38:9, 16.

“The book of Revelation also says that the blood will flow to the bits of the horse bridle for 1600 furlongs, and it has been pointed out that 1600 furlongs covers the entire length of Palestine (some 176 miles).”

Who will be involved?

As we saw in the introduction the kings of the earth and their armies will be involved.

There will be four great world powers for sure:

1. The ten-kingdom federation under the Beast.

2. The northern federation – Russia and her allies.

3. The king of the East- the Asiatic peoples that are from beyond the river.

4. The king of the South, a North African power- perhaps Libya.

Another power must be added because of its ever-active participation. The power of the Lord and His armies from Heaven.

Ultimately, when they come against Israel and her people, they unite and go against the army of God and against Israel.

We know enough to know that this final battle will be against all the evil forces on earth stacked against the Lord and Israel.

When will this battle be fought?

This final battle will happen at the close of the tribulation period.

Oftentimes this is thought of as one final battle, but during the last 3.5 years of the the tribulation there will be much unrest and this battle spoken about will be the culmination of that terrible period referred to as the Great Tribulation.

There are two different words in the Greek that speak about battles and warfare. One is Ma-kay μάχη (Mache) - which gives more of the idea of an intense battle. The other is the word pole-le-mos πόλεμος (Polemos) which can deal with a single event or speak to a larger campaign.

“The extent of this great movement…is not an isolated battle but rather a campaign that extends over the last half of the tribulation period.” (Pentecost)

In Revelation 16:14 the word used is πόλεμος

pole-leh-mos.

The battle is referred to in a number of passages. One such is Joel 3.

Joel 3:9–14 “9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruninghooks into spears: Let the weak say, I am strong. 11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, And gather yourselves together round about: Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. 12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: Come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; For their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”

There are in fact seven different theories on how this campaign will take place.

We can say this for sure, that this battle is ultimately another attempt to do away with Christ, to rule in His place.

You will remember, the first attempt at the life of incarnate Lord through Herod.

Then Satan attempted to subvert the Lord by taking Him to the pinnacle of the Temple and tempting Him to jump off.

Thirdly, Satan used Judas, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, and ultimately the Sanhedrin to condemn the Lord and hand Him over to the Romans to be crucified.

This battle, this final warfare is the the culmination of these attempts.

What will be the result of this terrible uprising?

First of all there will be:

The Doom of the Beast and the False Prophet

Revelation 19:20 “20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

When the Lord Jesus Christ wars against the Beast and His army, there will be no delay in His victory.

Verse 21 tells of us of this instant defeating of the armies of the enemy.

Revelation 19:21 “21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

The victory will be by the Word of His mouth. And the first that will taste of the eternal torment of the lake of fire will be the Antichrist and the False Prophet.

The Bible tells us, “These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

The word used by the Word of God, “alive” means existence in body.

It is not just a state of conscious existence, but existence in a body.

You will remember the words of the Lord in Revelation 1:18, “18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

And we know from the account given to us by God that the Lord Jesus Christ arose bodily from the grave.

Those that reign with Christ are also described in this matter. Revelation 20:4 describes saints in this manner as well, they “… lived [are alive] and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

The doom of the Devil is given in Revelation 20:10 “10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

You will notice that when Satan is cast into this lake of fire, that the Beast and False Prophet are still there.

“The subject of hell is one to solemnize all our hearts. The Scriptures indicate that the Beast and the False Prophet are tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Robertson)

Even after a thousand years there will be no let up.

Not only do we have the doom of the False Prophet and the Beast, but we secondly, the Sad Supper.

The Sad Supper

Notice what we find in verse 17.

Revelation 19:17 “17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;”

Revelation 19:21 “21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

In the first part of Revelation 19, we have a glad supper, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But here we have the Sad Supper, the Supper of the Great God.

The invitation by the angel is extended to the birds that fly in the midst of heaven.

Revelation 19:18 “18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.”

This picture is not very beautiful. In fact, it is a terrible scene, one that is difficult to speak of, one that is difficult to imagine.

But yet, this event will be fulfilled to every last word.

“Thousands, perhaps millions of the birds will come to clear away the flesh of the dead…The land must be cleared of the slain carcasses before Jesus begins His reign.” (Robertson)

Every person has a choice as to what they will do with Christ.

Every person has a choice to repent and receive Christ or face the danger of eternal seperation from God.

There is a generation, that will go through the tribulation, there is a generation who will be deceived and follow the Antichrist and the False Prophet.

The time to repent —-turn from sin and to the Lord Jesus Christ for Salvation is now!

For the one that is a child of God it is surely a sobering reminder of the need to preach the Gospel to every creature.

For the one who is not saved, it is a warning of what is to come.

I want to remind you, that just as we have the entire weight of Scripture already fulfilled these words as well will come to pass.