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Introduction: Battle of Armageddon
The book of Revelation 19 verse 11 introduces us to the great day of the Lord so often spoken about in the Bible. This great day of the Lord is the time Christ executes judgements on all nation gathered to fight him at the valley of Megiddo (II Chronicles 35 verse 22). It is at this valley that God finally exercise the justices that so often eluded the world for the past 6 thousands years. It is at this point that Satan meets his fate at the hand of the creator of the world, Jesus Christ. Ever since Satan and his fallen angels were thrown out of heaven, they have always fought and repudiate everything that is of God. Many people have wondered why the devil was not thrown into hell fire or bottomless pit at the time he sinned against God shortly before the creation of life on earth. While God has allowed the devil to have his liberty in the last 6 thousands year, he will be stopped by Jesus Christ at the Battle of Armageddon where Christ defeats antichrist whose body, Satan will incarnate. The battle of Armageddon will allow Jesus Christ to curtail the activities of Satan for a thousand years. Nation after nation will also be judged at this point in time.
The book of Psalm 2 verses 1 - 12 prophetically describes event at Armageddon as follows
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him"
The judgement of Armageddon will be considered under two headings namely; Battle of Armageddon and Judgements of the Nations
Click on the links below
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Antichrist attacks Jerusalem
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Jesus Christ Appears in the Sky
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Jesus Christ judge Antichrist and False Prophets
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Jesus Christ destroys antichrist’s Forces
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A Woman’s Account of Armageddon
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“Many are called, but few is Chosen”
Antichrist attacks Jerusalem
Just before Christ appears in the sky, the antichrist and false prophet would mobilize armies from all nations of the world to annihilate the Jewish race. They would all gather against Jerusalem (Revelation 16 verses 13, 14 & 16). These armies would seize the city of Jerusalem taking half the population captives. Soldiers will break into homes and rape women (Zechariah 14 verse 2)
While all these are taking place, there will be a huge earthquake. This earthquake would affect every part of the globe. At this time, Jerusalem will suddenly split into three parts (Revelation 16 verses 18 & 19). There will be geographical change to Jerusalem. The mountain of Olives (Matthew 21 verse 1; 24 verse 3; Luke 22 verse 39; John 8 verse 1), which has always been toward the eastern part of Jerusalem, will split into two and create a big valley. One part of the mountain will move toward the East-West part of Jerusalem. The other part will move toward the direction of the North and Southern part of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14 verse 4)
The fleeing Jews in Jerusalem will flock to this valley only to be trapped by armies of antichrist. Faced with helplessness, these Jews will suddenly realize that all their tragedies and suffering throughout the seven year Great Tribulation and the present ambushment are consequences of their thousands years of rebellion against God. God will supernaturally touch their heart and they will acknowledge that the Jesus Christ they have been rejecting for two thousands year is indeed their messiah and savior. At this point Jesus Christ will rescue them from antichrist (Matthew 23 verse 37 - 39 and the entire Mathew chapter 23).
Jesus Christ Appears in the Sky
At this point, Christ suddenly appear with His saints to fight against the forces of antichrist (Zechariah 14 verse 3). Jesus Christ will touch down on that part of mount Olives which is towards the Eastern side of Jerusalem.
Revelation 19 verses 11 - 21 shows Jesus Christ on a white horse descending from heaven with hundreds of millions Saints. The books of Daniel 7 verses 9 & 10; Jude 1 verses 14 & 15; Revelation 5 verse 11 all states that Christ will appear with these number of saint from heaven. Christ appearance in the sky will be preceded by the Sun and moon unable to illuminate the earth and showers of meteors from space. In other words, the events of Armageddon will take place at a time that is suppose to appear as night (Matthew 24 verse 29 & 30). This nighttime will be different from a normal night with dark sky. Jesus and His saints will illuminate the darkness of this nighttime. Also meteor showers will illuminate the sky. (Read Zechariah 14 verses 6 & 7)
Just as a thief will normally take his victims by surprise during the night, so will Jesus take the inhabitants of earth by surprise in the night (Matthew 24 verse 43; I Thessalonians 5 verses 2 - 6; Revelation 16 verses 15 & 16). Just as people were taken by surprise and subsequently perished during the deluge of Genesis chapters 6 & 7, so will Christ appearance at Armageddon be to the inhabitants of the world (Matthew 24 verses 37 - 39)
This appearance of Christ in the sky will be witness by every single person and nation on earth. Unlike the time of rapture when only Christians sees Jesus Christ in the sky, everybody on earth after the Great Tribulation will see Him (Revelation 1 verse 7). Matthew 24 verse 27 states that just as a lightning illuminates one part of the sky to the other, so will Christ and His saints appear to different parts of the earth.
Christ will present Himself as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19 verse 16). In other words, while all the saints accompanying Jesus Christ will be exalted to the position of kings, Lords, priests and queens, Jesus Christ will be their leader (Revelation 5 verse 10).
Jesus Christ judge Antichrist and False Prophets
In Revelation 19 verses 19 & 20, Christ first action at Armageddon is to capture antichrist and the false prophet alive. Unlike, hundreds of millions of soldiers who will be physically slaughtered (by the powerful words of Jesus Christ riding on the white horse) and killed before ending up in hell fire, the antichrist and false prophet will be thrown alive into the lake of fire.
You might ask what does this mean? This passage of the Bible shows that antichrist and the false prophet will be the first set of beings to experience the torture of lake of fire. The devil and all his angels will not go into the lake of fire until after Christ’s millennial reign on earth. All humans who have gone into hell fire for the past 6 thousands years will also not go into the lake of fire until after Christ millennial kingdom and judgement at the Great White throne Judgement of Christ. Hell fire and Lake of fire are not the same. Hell fire will eventually be cast into the Lake of fire, a place of terrible torments. While the human soul only goes into Hell fire, a person in the Lake of fire will be tormented in his or her resurrected body, soul and spirit. When Hell fire is about to be thrown into the lake of fire, all humans’ souls in Hell will receive immortal bodies to suffer in the lake of fire forever. At the time antichrist and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire, their mortal bodies will be transformed to the immortal ones which will suffer forever in the lake of fire.
Jesus Christ destroys antichrist’s Forces
Unlike the first advent of Christ when He offered the world peace of salvation, at Armageddon, Christ will make war with the inhabitants of earth. He will judge the world at Armageddon in righteousness, faithfulness and true. He will not appear to the world as the gentle loving savior which He did during His first advent, rather He will be filled with holy anger and fury at the unrepentant sinners on earth. Revelation 19 verse 13 shows that His appearance at Armageddon is not to shed His own blood a second time, but rather to shed the blood of millions of unrepentant sinners who will try to attack Him at Armageddon. Read Revelation 14 verses 14 – 20.
The Bible symbolically describes Christ weapon of attack in Revelation 19 verses 13, 15 & 21. The sword is not to be mistaken for a literal sword of iron. This sword refers to the words of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6 verse 17). All Christ will do to defeat his enemies at Armageddon is speak words out of His mouth. As He does this, all the hundreds of millions of soldiers that attacks Jerusalem will be destroyed (Zechariah 14 verse 12)
This destruction at Armageddon will be unprecedented. All vultures and other flesh eating birds will gather from all over the world to feast on the flesh of dead soldiers (Matthew 24 verse 28; Revelation 19 verses 17 & 18).
Account of Mary Baxter
During a series of vision in 1979, Jesus Christ appeared to a beloved woman of God by the name Mary Baxter. Jesus Christ gave her a vision of how the events at Armageddon will literally take place. The following is an excerpt from this woman's account in a book titled A Divine Revelation of the Spirit Realm
"I looked toward space, and developing before my eyes was a scene I can hardly describe. Far away I could see Jesus coming in power and glory. As he got nearer, I could tell that he was riding on a massive white horse. He looked like a triumphant conqueror. Accompanying our Lord were armies of saints and angels. Every single saint and angel was dressed in a white robe...
A voice spoke to me, This is the church returning with the Lord when he appears in glory. Armies of angel, host of angels, multiplied millions of angels will return with the Lord.
Another amazing thing I saw was that this army that accompanied Jesus had no weapons. But each of them used the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God Ephesians 6 verse 17
As they neared the earth, I heard Jesus proclaim "Behold, My bride!" And I understood what the Bible means when the church is called the bride of Christ.
Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to the earth, and before me was a large section of the countryside where terrain was fairly level. I saw a scene that was almost unbelievable. Multiplied million of soldiers were coming from every direction. Foot soldiers, tanks, armored personnel carriers - people of every nationality prepared for war. Jet and bombers screamed through the air. These were modern, well equipped armies.
What is this? I wondered. And the answer seemed to burn itself into my mind. These armies are gathered for Armageddon! Revelation 19 verses 14 - 21
Jesus and His army made a complete circuit of the whole world, and every person on earth saw Him. When the entourage arrive at Armageddon, 200 million soldiers had gathered from every nation to do battle with the Lord
Revelation 17 verses 13 - 14
Incredibly, when Jesus revealed Himself to the whole world, the leaders of the world's nations actually attempted to assault and attack the Lord. But it was no contest! Two hideous beings were first captured by the angels and thrown into the lake of fire
"That is the Antichrist and false prophet" a voice told me.
Then - and I can hardly describe it!- Jesus, astride His massive, handsome, powerful white horse, began to speak.
As He spoke, it looked like laser beams shooting out of His mouth in the direction He faced. He turned around, and as He did, the armies began to fall.
Soldiers fell dead in their tracts. Jets tumbled out of the sky as their pilots died. The battlefield was a scene of utter chaos
Without lifting a weapon, using only the words of His mouth, Jesus defeated all the armies of the earth. Then I saw a mighty warrior angel flying swiftly toward the battlefield that was littered with slain bodies and wrecked war machines. The warrior angel seized the devil and his angels and cast them into a huge abyss.
The angel used a large key that was hanging at his side to unlock the abyss and to lock it again when the devils and demons were safely sealed inside Revelation 20 verses 1 - 3
After Jesus Christ destroys all rebels at Armageddon, He will command His angels to gather all the remnant Jews who fled from the presence of antichrist midway through the seven year Great Tribulation (Matthew 24 verse 31).
Angels will also pick up or gather all rebels (or those with the mark of the beast) from all nations on earth and treat them as the "goat nations" in order to be judged by Jesus Christ (Mathew 24 verse 40 & 41)
“Sheep” and “Goat” Nations
The book of Matthew 25 verses 31 – 46 gives us an understanding of how this judgement will take place. The Bible reveals that shortly after taking vengeance on soldiers at Armageddon, Jesus Christ will assemble all nations before him. Because of the horrors of the great tribulation, less than half the population of the world prior to the great tribulation would survive to witness this judgement of the nations. This judgement is not the same as the great white throne judgement. The judgement of the nations takes place one thousand years before the great white judgement. While the judgement at the Great White Throne is meant for both the dead and living that ever lived on earth (with the exception of believers in Christ and those who will be sent into condemnation at the judgement of the nations), the judgement of the nations is for human beings who will be alive at the time Jesus Christ establishes His millennial kingdom on earth.
During this judgement, Christ will classify nations according to their treatment of God’s people during the great tribulation. On the right hand side of Jesus Christ will be a class of people who feared God, refused the mark of the beast, protected and provided for the persecuted Jews and Gentiles throughout the period of the Great Tribulation.
On the left hand side of Christ will be people who accepted the mark of the beast and encouraged persecution of God’s people. Like antichrist and the false prophet, this set of people will be thrown alive into the lake of fire. Just as living believers in Christ at the time of rapture will not see death, so will these condemned souls not physically die before going into the lake of fire. Jesus Christ specifically warned about the judgement to be meted out to this condemned human beings. He said they would have no rest day or night in the lake of fire if they accept the mark of the beast or worship his image (Revelation 14 verses 9 – 11). Click here to go to the top bullet point.
“Many are called, but few is Chosen”
Sadly, majority of people who appears before Jesus Christ at this judgement will fall into the second category of people that will suffer forever in the lake of fire.
You might ask. How can we know?
The answer lies in a principle given in the Bible concerning Man’s response to God’s mercy. The Bible reveals in (Matthew 7 verses 13 & 14; Proverbs 14 verse 12; 16 verse 25) that in any given era, majority of people will choose the way of destruction. Matthew 22 verse 14 let us understand that while many in any given age will be called to the mercy and grace of God, few will be chosen because many will not wilfully accept that grace.
During the time of Noah, many were called to escape the flood through the mouth of Noah (II Peter 2 verse 5; I Peter 3 verse 20; Matthew 24 verses 37 - 39), but only eight people accepted this warning. At the time of Lot, only three out many people escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17 verses 28 – 30). At the time of rapture, less than 500 million believers out of the whole lot of more than six billion people will make rapture. During the Great Tribulation only couple of tens or hundreds of million will choose martyrdom out of the whole lot of billions of people who will worship antichrist.
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