GOOD STUDY FOR THE FEAST OF ATONEMENT [YOM KIPPUR]. FOR THE WORLD TO BE AT-ONE WITH GOD, SOME PAIN AND SUFFERING MUST COME FIRST.
What in the World is Going On?
Armageddon!
From the book by Dr.David Jeremiah COMMENT: Unless the Protestant prophets are full idiots at reading the Bible, they should, from the basic 4 or 5 passages of Scripture, get most of the correct understanding on the subject of the BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON - we shall see how Jeremiah does on this - Keith Hunt. ...... Arming for Armageddon ..... The Preparation for the Battle of Armageddon In the twelfth chapter of Revelation, the apostle John revealed how this conflagration will come about. "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him ... Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child" (vv. 9,13). These verses tell us that during the Tribulation, when Satan is cast out of heaven to the earth, he will begin immediately to persecute the woman who brought forth the male child. The "woman" is an obvious metaphor for Israel, through whom the child Jesus was born. COMMENT: Wrong off the bat. The woman is not "Israel" - it is the church, just about all knowledgable people who study prophecy, agree a "woman" in the Bible stands for "church." the Babylon woman of later chapters in Revelation, as all "old" Protestant commentaries attest, is the Papacy or Roman Catholic church. Here in Revelation 12, we are given an over picture of the true Church of God down through the centuries - Keith Hunt. ...... Satan's first attempt at persecution will be the battle of Gog and Magog. As we learned in the previous chapter, this battle, which precedes the Battle of Armageddon, will be a massive, Russian-led coalition of nations coming against Israel like swarms of hornets against a defenceless child. As Revelation tells us, Satan will be the motivating force behind this invasion. But before he accomplishes his intended annihilation of Israel, she will be rescued by Almighty God. COMMENT: Wrong again. As I showed you in the previous chapter and in other studies on this Website. This battle of God is AFTER the Messiah has returned and has brought captive Israel and Judah back to the Holy Land. It is a prophecy for the BEGINNING of the millennium. Jeremiah ain't getting off to a very good start. We'll see if he does better from now on out - Keith Hunt. ...... The thwarting of the battle of Gog and Magog will be a setback to Satan, but he will not give up; he is relentless in his persecution of the Jews. His purpose, beginning in the middle of the Tribulation period, is to destroy the Jewish people before Christ can set up His kingdom, thus wrecking God's prophesied rule over the earth. COMMENT: A THIRD strike out for Jeremiah! He's back to the Protestant 7 year tribulation stuff and the antichrist breaking a treaty with the Jews in the middle of those 7 years, of course the "secret rapture" has already taken place, at the beginning of the 7 years, according to fundamental Protestant prophecy; then wanting to destroy the Jews after stopping the animal sacrifices in some re- built temple in Jerusalem. They just can't get that monkey off their back - Keith Hunt. ...... According to Revelation 16, Satan will employ two fearful personalities in these plans: "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" (v.13, emphasis added). Here John tells us that Satan will empower the beast, who is the head of the reestablished Roman Empire, and the false prophet, the head of the new world religious system. (Nope ... is not new world anything, but old world Papacy church in the resurrected Holy Roman Empire - Keith Hunt). Thus Satan (the dragon), the Beast (the Antichrist), and the false prophet become the unholy trinity committed to the destruction of Israel. When the church of Jesus Christ is taken safely into heaven and the Tribulation period begins, the unrestrained satanic persecution of Israel will propel the entire world toward the Battle of Armageddon. COMMENT: Once more the monkey is on his back - Keith Hunt. ...... The Place of the Battle of Armageddon "And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon" (Revelation 16:16). As we noted previously, the word Armageddon is much bandied about these days. It has become a synonym for every kind of doomsday scenario. We hear talk of an impending financial Armageddon, an ecological Armageddon, an environmental Armageddon, and a nuclear Armageddon for which physicist Stephen Hawking tells us we should prepare by relocating ourselves "somewhere else in another solar system." Obviously the popular imagination has captured the essence of the type of event that will occur at Armageddon, but people have missed the inherent meaning of the word by a country mile. Armageddon is not actually a battle; it is a place. Given the enormous attention this word receives, it may surprise you that Armageddon is mentioned only once in the Bible - right here in the sixteenth chapter of Revelation. The Hebrew word "harmageddon" means "the mount of Megiddo." 'Har' means 'mount,' and 'megiddo' means 'slaughter;' so the meaning of Armageddon is "Mount of Slaughter." The mountain of Megiddo is an actual geographical feature 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 eighteen miles southeast of Haifa, fifty-five miles north of Jerusalem, and a little more than ten miles from Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up. While the word Armageddon is mentioned only once in the Bible, the mountain of Megiddo has a rich biblical history. It was at Megiddo that Deborah and Barak defeated the Canaanites (Judges 4-5). It was also there that: Gideon defeated the Midianites (Judges 7); Saul was slain during a war with the Philistines (1 Samuel 31); Ahaziah was slain by Jehu (2 Kings 9); and Josiah was slain by the invading Egyptians (2 Kings 23). These are not by any means the only battles that have been fought on this bloody ground. Last year I stood at the top of Megiddo, overlooking the plain of Armageddon. If I could have watched past centuries fast - forward before my eyes, I would have seen a long succession of waged battles as great armies marched across the field one after the other - the Crusaders, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Druze, the Greeks, the Turks, and the Arabs. During World War I, British general Edmund Allenby led his army against the Turks in a fierce battle on the plain of Armageddon. According to scholar Alan Johnson, "More than 200 battles have been fought at or near there." As you can see, Megiddo has earned its awful name: it is indeed a Mount of Slaughter. Why Megiddo? Why will this be the location of the world's final conflict? One of the world's greatest military figures gives us the answer. In 1799, Napoleon stood at Megiddo before the battle that ended his quest to conquer the East and rebuild the Roman Empire. Considering the enormous plain of Armageddon, he declared: "All the armies of the world could maneuver their forces on this vast plain ... There is no place in the whole world more suited for war than this ... [It is] the most natural battleground on the whole earth." While it is no mystery why the earth's final battle will be fought at Armageddon, it is important to understand that the battle will be centralized on that field but not contained there. All the ancient prophets agree that this war will be fought throughout the entire land of Israel. In the book he edited on Armageddon, A. Sims wrote: It appears from Scripture that this last great battle of that great day of God Almighty will reach far beyond Armageddon, or the Valley of Megiddo. Armageddon appears to be mainly the place where the troops will gather together from the four corners of the earth, and from Armageddon the Battle will spread out over the entire [country of Israel]. Joel speaks of the last battle being fought in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is close by Jerusalem and Isaiah shows Christ coming with blood-stained garments "from Edom," [present day Jordan]. So the battle of Armageddon, it seems, will stretch from the Valley of Megiddo in the north ... through the Valley of Jehoshaphat, near Jerusalem, [and down to Jordan, south of Israel]. And to this agree the words of the prophet Ezekiel that the armies of this great battle will "cover the land" . . . But Jerusalem will no doubt be the center of interest during the battle of Armageddon, for God's Word says: "I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle." COMMENT: The verse in Isaiah about "Edom" is the original Edom, which was south of Jerusalem, see old Bible Maps of Old Testament period. It has nothing today to do with Jordan. It is a prophecy that the battle or flow of blood will be from Megiddo down to south of Jerusalem, into the old land of the original Edomites - Keith Hunt ...... The words of the prophet Zechariah support Sims's view of Jerusalem as the center of conflict in the Armageddon war. "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it" (Zechariah 12:2-3). So while we use the term Armageddon and localize the war to the plain of Megiddo, Scripture teaches that the battle will literally fill the whole land of Israel with war and bloodshed. COMMENT: The Battle will start and end at Megiddo. Zechariah 14 - it's all over before it begins - Jesus will melt the skin off the enemy right where they stand. Yes there will be some West/East troops still hanging around Jerusalem, and the Jews will fight them - Zechariah chapter 12 and 13 - Keith Hunt ...... This war will be so horrific that the Bible says blood will flow in staggering torrents. "And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs" (Revelation 14:20). If you translate these ancient measurements into the terminology of today, sixteen hundred furlongs is almost exactly two hundred miles - the distance from the northern to the southern tip of the land of Israel. While that image may be hard for us to visualize, it is not unknown in human experience. Ancient historians Plutarch and Herodotus describe similar scenes during vicious battles of their days. Of the siege of Athens in 405-404 BC, Plutarch wrote: About midnight Sylla entered the breach, with all terrors of trumpets and coronets sounding, with the triumphant shout and cry of an army let loose to spoil and slaughter, and scouring through the streets with sword drawn. There was no numbering the slain; the amount is to this day conjectured only from the space of ground overflowed with blood. For without mentioning the execution done in the other quarters of the city, the blood that was shed about the marketplace spread over the whole (public square) ... and passed through the gate and overflowed the suburb." Similarly, writing of the fall of Jerusalem to the Roman hordes in AD 70, Josephus wrote: When they (Romans) went in numbers into the lanes of the city, with their swords drawn, they slew those whom they overtook, without mercy, and set fire to the houses wither the Jews fled ... they ran every on through whom they met with, and obstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies, and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fire of many of the houses was quenched with these men's blood." COMMENT: How much of this is poetic licence from Josephus is hard to say, but certainly it was as we would "poetically say "a blood bath" - Keith Hunt. ...... We would actually be more accurate to refer to this conflict as the "Campaign of Armageddon." The word translated as "battle" in Revelation 16:4 is the Greek word "polemos," which signifies a war or campaign. Armageddon will involve many battles fought throughout the entire land of Israel over a three-and-one-half- year period of time. COMMENT: Wrong once more! Armageddon is SPECIFICALLY mentioned in Revelation 16. It is ONE battle fought at Megiddo, the same battle as in Zachariah 14. It is the battle to fight Christ at His return, when the 10 kings give their power to the man beast, the battle of Revelation 17:12-14. It has nothing to do with anything the Protestant prophets have to say about the last 7 years and their whole scenario of events they put forth with their "secret rapture" teaching - Keith Hunt. ...... David Jeremiah continues .... What is the purpose of this war in the plan of God? .... To Finish His Judgment upon Israel The Tribulation period is a time of divine indignation against the people of Israel, the people who rejected their Messiah and - time and time again after given the chance to return - failed to heed the corrective and punitive judgment of God. It is no accident that this future period of time is often referred to as "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). COMMENT: Another WRONG! Wow, Jeremiah is not doing as well as I thought he might on this topic of Armageddon. Jacob's trouble or Israel's trouble has nothing to do with God getting so upset that the Jews will not accept Jesus as Savior. The Jews are only PART of the total of 13 tribes of Israel. Israel and Judah will be punished because of their enormous SINS! And to bring them to their knees in humble REPENTANCE. The Great Tribulation will have this effect, to punish for sins, and to bring to repentance all the peoples of Israel, which are way more than 15 million (present time 2009) Jews worldwide - Keith Hunt. ...... To Finalize His Judgment upon the Nations that Have Persecuted Israel Those nations that have persecuted the Jewish people are finally gathered together in the Battle of Armageddon, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, giving God the perfect opportunity to deal with them finally and decisively. I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land. (Joel 3:2) COMMENT: It's not just the Jews, it is Israel, all 13 tribes, but Protestant prophets will not admit who the other tribes of Israel are (most of the Western world), yet they tell you this antichrist with his united Europe will rule the world at the end time. They are wrong on him ruling ALL the earth, but he and his Babylon/Europe Holy Roman Empire with rule the Western world. And that Western world IS ISRAEL! - Keith Hunt. ...... To Formally Judge All the Nations that Have Rejected Him "Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (Revelation 19:15). This verse gives us another of God's purposes in bringing about Armageddon. Notice particularly that last phrase: "He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." To our time-bound senses, God's activity often seems so slow and ponderous that people pursuing ungodly goals tend to dismiss His judgment as a factor to be taken seriously. Thus the nations do not believe that a time is coming when God's judgment will inevitably descend. But be assured, He is storing up judgment against a day to come. The Bible is clear: one of these days God will have had enough, and His judgment will pour down like consuming fire against the world's wicked nations. "And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory" (Revelation 16:9). This verse tells us just how incredibly wicked the nations will have become when God's judgment descends. Even when these men are writhing and screaming with the excruciating pain God inflicts upon them, they will continue to curse Him to His face. They will be so far gone, so given over to evil, that in their prideful defiance they will refuse to repent, even in the grip of fatal judgment. The Particulars of the Battle Just to be sure there is no confusion about the wars in the Tribulation period, I want to make it clear that we have identified two separate battles. In the previous chapter we learned about the first battle, the one that will occur at the beginning of the Tribulation period when Gog (Russia) assembles a mass of nations against Israel that are thwarted by God's intervention. In this chapter we are learning about a second battle, one that will end the Tribulation period. It is easy to confuse the two, but the Bible presents them as two distinct events. The battle of Gog and the Battle of Armageddon are separated by several years and involve different participants. COMMENT: David Jeremiah is correct about TWO DIFFERENT battles, with time inbetween them. What he and his kind are WRONG about is the time when the battle of Gog and God takes place. The 38 and 39 chapters of Ezekiel are AFTER the Messiah has returned and the 13 tribes of Israel are back in the Holy Land, living indeed in such peace and safety they have no walled towns or bars or gates, or anything to protect them. They have learned by this time that the Lord Eternal is their protection. Jeremiah goes into a list of difference between the battle of Gog and God and the battle of Armageddon and Christ. As you read through Ezekiel 38 and 39 those differences will become very clear. Then Jeremiah once more goes into the erroneous understanding by the fundamental Protestant prophets of Daniel 9 and the 70 week prophecy. Oh they are correct that the antichrist will lead the European Union of the Beast power, just about everything else they have wrong! But on the 7 year covenant treaty Europe will sign with the Jews to "guaranteeing peace and security for seven years" it is plain crazy reasoning to believe the Jews of the Holy Land will EVER put their trust in a body of nations to secure peace for them and lay down their arms, just so Gog (Russia) can attack them as Ezekiel 38 and 39 is understood by the Protestant prophets. Jeremiah goes off again into the teaching that this antichrist will be killed and rise from the dead - Keith Hunt. ...... The Antichrist will be the epitome of the man with a compulsion to extend his dominion over everything and everyone. To achieve this end, the Antichrist will bow to no god but the "god of fortresses." That is, he will build enormous military might and engage in extensive warfare to extend his power throughout the world. COMMENT: No, he will NOT extend it throughout the world! He will spiritually lead a Holy Roman Empire to rule the Western world, but the East and North (Russia and China etc.) will NOT come under his power or control. They will have their own mighty nuclear army, with all the latest space-age technology. They will be ready, when the time comes (Revelation 13:9-21) - the hour comes - to BLAST the Holy Roman Empire of Europe to a million pieces - Keith Hunt. ...... Daniel then describes how the swollen megalomania of the Antichrist will drive him to take his next step in Daniel 11:36, quoted earlier. John expanded on Daniel's description of the Antichrist's blasphemous acts by telling us that every living person will be required to worship this man. "He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed" (Revelation 13:15). Step by step, the Antichrist will promote himself from a European leader, to a world leader, to a tyrannical global dictator, and finally to a god. COMMENT: No, not as Jeremiah gives it. The CONTEXT of Bible prophecy must be taken into account. The religious false prophet - the antichrist - will rule the Western world. The Empire under his spiritual control, will give the image of the Empire, the RC church of Europe, a voice to persecute and kill as many as will not worship as the image dictates. The power will ONLY be OVER the WESTERN world. The North and East will NOT come under his power - Keith Hunt. ...... The Decision to Fight Against the Antichrist The Antichrist's grip on global power will not last long. The world will become increasingly discontented with the leadership of this global dictator, who has gone back on every promise he made. Major segments of the world will begin to assemble their own military forces and rebel against him. The king of the south and his armies will be the first to come after the Antichrist, followed by the armies of the north. "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horseman, and with many ships" (Daniel 11:40). COMMENT: Jeremiah and others have this back-to-front and front-to-back. Daniel 11:40 is BEFORE the tribulation that is like no other, as the CONTEXT of Daniel 12 clearly shows. It is amazing how people can read backwards into the Bible. Truly deception has the mind so twisted up it cannot read the context of events in Bible prophecy even when a few verses later would give them the context. The "king of the south" pushes at the "king of the north" (Arab nations unity pushing at Europe nation unity) BEFORE the great tribulation comes (as chapter 12 goes on to tell you) - Keith Hunt. ...... John Walvoord pinpoints the source of this army and describes the magnitude of the initial thrust against the Antichrist: Daniel's prophecy described a great army from Africa, including not only Egypt but other countries of that continent. This army, probably numbering in the millions, will attack the Middle East from the south. At the same time Russia and other armies to the north will mobilize another powerful military force to descend on the Holy Land and challenge the world dictator. Although Russia will have had a severe setback about four years earlier in the prophetic sequence of events, she apparently will have been able to recoup her losses enough to put another army in the field. The Antichrist will put down some of these first attempts at rebellion against him. But before he can celebrate and move on toward his goal of destroying Israel and Jerusalem, something will happen. COMMENT: My oh my, the mixed up, up-side-down and inside-out teachings of the Protestant prophets just blows my mind. They cannot put it together correctly even if an angel came and told them. They are so far out I shake my head in wonderment as to their reading of the Bible - Keith Hunt. ...... The Disturbing News from the East "But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury" (Daniel 11:44). The Bible leaves no doubt as to the source of the news that so disturbs and enrages the Antichrist: "Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared" (Revelation 16:12). COMMENT: Now Jeremiah gets the battle at Armageddon mixed up with Daniel 11:44, which in context is happening BEFORE THE "time of trouble such as never was" takes place. This time of trouble takes place WHEN the antichrist and the North power comes into the glorious holy mountain (the Holy Land - Dan.11:45) and has nothing to do with Revelation 16:12 which is clearly the battle of Armageddon and the nations coming to fight Christ on His return. Yes in Daniel 11:44, after the "north" Empire defeats the "south" Empire, the kingdoms of the north and east - Russia and China, India etc. will realize this "king of the north" power is "on the war path" and will start to muster together in apprehension of the thought that the "king of the north" wants total global domain. The "king of the north" will have to quicken its pace, for indeed this Holy Roman empire does want Jerusalem and the whole world. It will be when this power marches into the Holy Land that the GREAT TROUBLE such as never was will TAKE OFF - the Western world will come under the control of the Holy Roman Babylon/Europe power. Soon Revelation 9 and the 5th trumpet will blow - Europe will, as it did in the Second World War, attack the North - Russia and the East - China and the East power added this time around - Keith Hunt. ...... The Euphrates is one of the greatest rivers in the world. It flows from the mountains of western Turkey, through Syria, and continues on right through the heart of Iraq, not far from Baghdad. It eventually unites with the Tigris to become the Shatt el Arab, and finally empties into the Persian Gulf The entirety of the Euphrates flows through Muslim territory. In Genesis 15 and Deuteronomy 11, the Lord specified that the Euphrates would be the easternmost border of the promised land. It serves both as a border and a barrier between Israel and her enemies. Is it possible that a river the size of the Euphrates could be dried up? According to author Alon Liel, it is not only possible, it has recently happened. He wrote: On one occasion recently, the Euphrates was cut off. The headwaters of both the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, on which both Syria and Iraq so heavily depend, are located in Turkish Territory, which makes Turkey's relations with those nations all the more sensitive. Tensions mounted in early 1990 when Turkey stopped the flow of the Euphrates River for an entire month during the construction of the Ataturk Dam ... Having already showed it can completely cut off this flow, Turkey has strengthened its bargaining position in its complex relationships with its southern neighbors. What is the significance of the drying up of the Euphrates River, and why will that event have such a disturbing effect on the Antichrist? For an explanation, let's turn once more to John Walvoord: The drying-up of the Euphrates is a prelude to the final act of the drama, not the act itself. We must conclude then, that the most probable interpretation of the drying-up of the Euphrates is that by an act of God its flow will be interrupted even as were the waters of the Red Sea and of Jordan. This time the way will open not for Israel but for those who are referred to as the Kings of the East ... The evidence points, then, to a literal interpretation of Revelation 16:12 in relation to the Euphrates. COMMENT: Jeremiah is still in the mix-up of Revelation 16 with Daniel 11:40 to 12:3. The Protestant prophets cannot get it all lined up correctly because they will not be corrected by even their own "old" Protestant Commentaries on Daniel 9 and the 70 week prophecy, and because they have then all the false teachings of a last 7 years and "secret rapture" within it all - Keith Hunt. ...... It's no wonder the world dictator is disturbed and frustrated. He has just put down rebellions by defeating armies from the south and the north, and just when it appears that he is about to gain control of everything, he gets word that the Euphrates River has dried up and massive armies of the east are crossing it to come against him. He had thought himself safe, as no army could cross this barrier and come into the Israeli arena where he fought. But now that barrier is down, and an army of unprecedented numbers is marching toward him. COMMENT: First, although there may well be a literal fulfilment to the river Euphrates drying up, the river itself is no barrier to anything militarily in the last days. With modern space-age war machines, for anyone to think the antichrist will think this river is some kind of protection, is silly and day-dreaming on another planet. And this is not a coming together of the East to fight the West, this is what is stated in Revelation 16:13 and 14 - a Satanic gathering together of armies from the West and East to FIGHT Christ on his return. The battle between the West and East has already taken place in Revelation 9. The 5th and 6th trumpet is the battle of the West striking the East and the East striking the West. Revelation 16 is BOTH East and West armies meeting at Megiddo to fight Christ - Keith Hunt. ...... Just how large is that army? Listen to what John tells us: "Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them" (Revelation 9:16). Suddenly the Antichrist must divert the major portion of his attention to defending himself against an amassed force the size of which the world has never seen. COMMENT: Now Jeremiah is back to Revelation 9. He just does not see the two evens being two different events of different times. The army of chapter 9 is when the East COUNTER ATTACKS the West's Holy Roman Empire, which has just attacked the East. All this is clearly and fully explained in easy to understand explanations of my commentary on the book of Revelation under the "New Testament Bible Story" - Keith Hunt. ...... Is an army of two hundred million soldiers really believable? Dr. Larry Wortzel, a retired US Army colonel, is a leading authority on China and served as the director of the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College. In October 1998, he filed the following report: "China's standing armed force of some 2.8 million active soldiers in uniform is the largest military force in the world. Approximately 1 million reservists and some 15 million militia back them up. With a population of over 1.2 billion people, China also has a potential manpower base of another 200 million males fit for military service available at any time." So an army of that size is not only possible, the potential for it exists even at this moment. When this unprecedented army crosses the bed of the Euphrates against the Antichrist, the greatest war of all history, involving hundreds of millions of people, will be set in motion. COMMENT: Again, he's getting Revelation 16 and Revelation 9 all mixed up. In Revelation 16 there will be no such huge army from the East. A good part of the East has been wiped out by all that the book of Revelation has given up to chapter 16. Revelation 9 and that huge army is for the setting of the 5th and 6th trumpet. Revelation 16 is the setting of the 7th trumpet and the 7 vials of the completing of the wrath of God, the 6th vial is the gathering of armies from the West and East to fight Christ at His coming - Keith Hunt. ...... The major battleground for that war will be the land of Israel. As if this news is not frightening enough, John tells us that all these events are inspired and directed by the demons of hell: "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 that great day of God Almighty" (Revelation 16:14). "No doubt demonism in every shape and form will manifest itself more and more as the end draws near, until at last it all ends in Armageddon ... But besides these hosts of human armies, there will also be present at Armageddon an innumerable host of supernatural beings ... So Armageddon will truly be a battle of heaven and earth and hell" (David Jeremiah quoting from one of his Protestant prophets friends). So just at the moment when the Antichrist is about to attack and destroy Israel and Jerusalem, a diversion occurs in the form of another massive army entering the field of conflict. Thus the stage is set for the last, stunning movement in the Battle of Armageddon. COMMENT: There is no "diversion" - at the 6th vial, Satan and the armies of earth KNOW EXACTLY WHY they are gathering at Megiddo. It is to fight Christ coming from the clouds of heaven. It is to fight what they now consider a mutual enemy - probably they have been deceived into thinking this is an invasion from out-space, or this is the antichrist coming, when in reality it is THEY who are the antichrist - ones against Christ - Keith Hunt. ...... The Descending Lord from the Heavens If you are a follower of Christ, what happens next may instill an urge to stand up and shout like a football fan watching the star quarterback come onto the field. "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING of KINGS AND LORD of LORDS. (Revelation 19:11-16) The great Lord Jesus, the captain of the Lord's hosts, the King over all kings will descend to defend and protect His chosen people and put a once-and-for-all end to the evil of the Antichrist. Descending with His Saints But the Lord Jesus, captain of the Lord's hosts, will not descend alone, as the following scriptures make abundantly clear: Thus the LORD my God will come; and all the saints with You. (Zechariah 14:5) The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints . . . (1 Thessalonians 3:13) When he comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe. (2 Thessalonians 1:10) Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints. (Jude 14) All those who have died in the Lord, along with those who were raptured before the years of the Tribulation, will join with the Lord and participate in the battle to reclaim the world for the rule of Christ. COMMENT: Jeremiah does well when he sticks to these basic Scriptures, but did you notice his last paragraph? We are back to the "raptured" saints that were "raptured" away in some secret rapture, as they teach it, before the Tribulation. Descending with His Angels The saints are not the only ones who will comprise the army of the Lord. Both Matthew and Paul tell us that the angels will also descend with Christ. "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory" (Matthew 25:31); "and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels" (2 Thessalonians 1.7). How many angels are available for conscription into this army? The Bible shows their numbers to be staggering. In Matthew 26:52-53, Jesus told Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Put your sword in its place ... Do you think that I cannot call on My Father, and He will provide Me more than twelve legions of angels?" A Roman legion numbered about six thousand soldiers, so Jesus claimed instant access to the protection of seventy-two thousand angelic soldiers who would have rushed to His rescue had He but said the word. Revelation 5:11, at the very least, supports that number, saying, "I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands:" The Greek says literally, "numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands." The New Living Translation renders the passage as "thousands and millions of angels." Hebrews 12:22 sums it up by talking about innumerable angels in "joyful assembly" (NIV). Angels as far as the eye can see and the mind an imagine." This admixture of saints and angels calls to mind scenes from great fantasies such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings, where humans fight alongside other-worldly creatures to defeat the forces of evil. It's a thrilling picture to think of human saints side-by-side with God's angels doing battle. The inception of the Battle of Armageddon has something of a historical precedent in miniature. Author Randall Price recounts the event: The Yom Kippur War began at 2 P.M. on October 6, 1973. It was a surprise attack on Israel from the Arab nations of Egypt and Syria, which were intent on the destruction of the Jewish State. Overwhelming evidence of large-scale Arab military preparations on the morning of October 6 had compelled Chief of Staff David Elazar to ask the United States to help restrain the Arabs. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger urged Prime Minister Golda Meir to not issue a preemptive strike, but to trust international guarantees for Israel's security. To which Mrs. Meir, in her characteristic up-front manner, retorted, "By the time they come to save Israel, there won't be an Israel!" When international intervention finally came in calling for cease-fire negotiations, Israel's casualties had mounted to 2,552 dead and over 3000 wounded. And it would have been much worse if Israel hadn't realized that if nobody was going to fight for them, they were going to have to fight for themselves. For that reason, Israel has come to rely upon their own defenses for their security. That attack is just a foretaste of what Israel can expect in the future, when the worst attack in its history will come and will be centered on Jerusalem. In that day there will be no allies, not even reluctant ones ... But Scripture has prophesied otherwise. At the right time, Jerusalem's Savior will return." COMMENT: In this example given, did you catch the drift of the Jews realizing they themselves must ALWAYS have the army and war machines to defend themselves, not relying on "friends" to save them from the enemy. And then these Protestant prophets want you to believe the Jews will at the end time, give up their weapons, sit in unwalled villages, sign some treaty with Europe to defend them, put their trust in some false prophet and beast man from a Holy Roman Empire, and be sitting ducks to be attacked by Russia and others from the East. You talk about silly double talk and simplistic reasonings - there you have it - Keith Hunt. ...... As Price tells us, Israel in this last war will be forced to rely on herself and not depend on assistance from allies. That is the similarity between the inception of the Battle of Armageddon and the Yom Kippur War, its miniature historical precedent. COMMENT: Did you get that? Read it again friends! Yes, that is what Jeremiah has written! Did you remember what he said before? Now he's done a full about turn. You read how he tells you the Jews will put their trust in Europe to defend them, sit back, in unwalled villages, and let the Russians and company invade them. Now he tells you in the last war the Jews will be forced to rely on themselves and not allies. I tell you the Jews will NEVER give up their arms, their war machines, at ANY time, and sign some kind of "I'll trust you to protect us" treaty with a "church" run Europe. It will NEVER HAPPEN! Logic and common sense should tell you that - Keith Hunt. ...... But what about the outcome? Will the end of the final war be anything like the end of Israel's Yom Kippur War? We will answer that question by telling the full story of the event in the next chapter. We will close this chapter on a high note, (or perhaps on an acoustic guitar chord) by giving you the lyrics of an old country music song written by Roy Acuff and Odell McLeod and recorded by Hank Williams. The title is "The Battle of Armageddon": Turn the pages of your Bible, in St. Matthew you will see, Start with chapter twenty-four and read from one to thirty-three. In our Savior's blessed words he said on earth, he prophesied, For he spoke of this great battle that is coming by and by. There's a mighty battle coming and it's well now on its way. It'll be fought at Armageddon, it shall be a sad, sad day. In the book of Revelation, words in chapter sixteen say: There'll be gathered there great armies for that battle on that day. Refrain: All the way from the gates of Eden to the battle of Armageddon There's been troubles and tribulation, there'll be sorrow and despair. He has said "ye not be troubled for these things shall come to pass." Then your life will be eternal when you dwell with him at last. Refrain There'll be nation against nation, there'll be war and rumor of war. There'll be great signs in heaven, in the sun, the moon, the stars. Oh, the hearts of men shall fail them, there'll be gnashing of the teeth. Those who seek it will receive it, mercy at the Savior's feet. Terrible and terrifying as the events we've discussed in this chapter may be, the last line of this old country song gives us the good news. We may be disturbed by the signs we see of coming catastrophic events. We may feel uneasy due to the continual reports of wars and wanton terrorism. We may quail at reports of nature turning against us. But the last line of this song is our bottom line: we who trust the Lord as our Savior need have no fear. He loves and protects His own, and whatever comes, if we seek Him and His will for our lives, we will be among those whom He saves from the wrath to come. COMMENT: Well ....... it's the carrot dangling, put before your eyes. Some of the Churches of God put forth the carrot of "the place of safety" - that one special place on earth that only that one special group would go to for the last 42 months of this age. The Protestant prophets put the carrot of the "secret rapture" before your eyes, that they tell you will happen before the last 7 years of this age. The truth of the matter is that SOME will be protected in the "wilderness" but some of the true children of God will be persecuted and even have to die for THE faith once delivered to the saints. I cannot give YOU personally the absolute promise that YOU will have protection in the wilderness come the Great Tribulation time (if you are alive at that time). I do not know, who will find protection and who God will want to stand up and take the heat, even dying for Him. But I can guarantee YOU, that if YOU remain faithful to the truths of the Lord, you WILL be in the resurrection at the coming of Christ, to meet Him in the air, in the clouds of heaven, as immortal sons of God. And YOU will be part of Jesus' army to win the battle at Armageddon. Well to my somewhat surprise the Protestant prophets have made a mess of teaching you the subject of Armageddon ... as Solomon said, there's nothing new under the sun. ....................... |
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