Armageddon - Could it impact on you?

Armageddon the very word strikes fear into the hearts of men and women worldwide! It is a symbol of God pouring out His fury on a sinful world. It is a time when the armies of the world will gather into the land of Israel for a great battle. All nations will be represented. It is a time when God intervenes directly in the affairs of men.

How does it come about? Daniel 11:36-45 give us details of events leading up to Armageddon. In verses 36 to 38 the character of the Ruler of Israel is given to us. He exalts and magnifies himself above every god. He blasphemes against the God of gods. He has no regard for the God of Israel and His Messiah. Verse 40 reveals that the king of the South (Egypt) will attack him. The king of the North (Syria and her allies) also attacks him and conquers the land; then passes on to Egypt and conquers Egypt. But, the king of the North hears bad news from the east and from the north which troubles him and he returns to Israel in great fury.

Zechariah 13:8 tells us, “And it shall come to pass in all the land.” Says the Lord, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third will be left in it.” This gives us the state of the nation of Israel just prior to Armageddon.

In Daniel 9:24-27, Daniel is given a time line by the angel Gabriel for God’s judgement on the nation of Israel. Seventy weeks of seven years (490 years) are determined by God. In verse 26 we read, “...And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and sanctuary...”  This refers to the ancient Roman Empire. Take note, it refers to the people of the prince who is to come. Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Roman General Titus in 70 AD. There will be a revived Roman Empire, led by the ‘the prince who is to come’. Verse 27, (the prince who is to come) “...He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week.” (Seven years). But he breaks conditions of the covenant in the middle of the week (3 ½ years).

Europe will be brought into the conflict at Armageddon by its covenant (treaty) with Israel; via ‘the prince who is to come’. It is easy to see how treaties among nations will bring the armies of the world to Israel for the battle of Armageddon. The whole thing will be energised by Satan, in his endeavour to completely destroy Israel.

Revelation 16:13, 14, 16, tell us, “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty...And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.”

Note the symbolic language used – The dragon, the beast and the false prophet. The dragon is a symbol of Satan – the Devil. The beast is the Ruler of the revived Roman Empire. The false prophet is the Anti-Christ, the son of perdition who rules Israel. It is a satanic trinity in complete opposition to the Triune God.

Joel 3:12-14 state, “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations... for their wickedness is great...Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!”

Zechariah 14:12 gives us their end. “And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths...”

 Verse 12 is almost a repetition of what happened to the victims of the atomic bomb blasts at Nagasaki and Hiroshima; at the end of World War 2. Men want to play with nuclear weapons of mass destruction. God will pay them back in kind.

Revelation 19:20, “Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.”  

Revelation 20:1, 2, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and cast him into the bottomless pit...”

Let’s get back to our blog heading. Armageddon – Could it impact on you?

 

We live in troubled global financial times. Natural disasters are on the increase. The Israelis are hated by the neighbouring nations. The world is looking for a leader to lead them out of the global financial morass. The USA once a mighty super power is now the world’s largest debtor nation; and was responsible for the global financial crisis in 2008.

European nations have for decades banded together to form the European Economic Union with its own Parliament. It doesn’t take much brain power to see Europe could provide a super power based on the old Roman Empire. It doesn’t take much brain power to see how a strong leader could arise from the troubled global financial situation. The world is crying out for such a man.

While we can see conditions are ripe for this to take place, it can’t take place until another event on God’s time line takes place. What is this event? It is what Christians’ refer to as ‘The Rapture’. It is the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ into the air; and all the born again believers in Himself transformed with new spiritual bodies meeting Him in the air. All the true Christians will be gone forever. Those left behind could very well be involved in the events leading up to Armageddon, or involved in Armageddon.

When the true Christians are gone; God will focus His attention back on the nation of Israel. Christianity as such will be over.

 But what about you?  Will you be one of those who meet the Lord in the air? The Philippian prison keeper in Acts 16 asked this question of Paul and Silas. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” These three men will meet the Lord in the air. Will you?

Jon Peasey

[All Scripture quotations are from the New King James version.]