ISRAEL AND THE END TIMES--ARMAGEDDON

When we think of the end of the world as we know it, our minds invariably go to the Battle of Armageddon.  It will be at Armageddon that the world will experience the greatest transition of all time:  the nations will undergo universal changes in government, religion, economy, and cooperation.  The deceptive influence of satanic interference in the affairs of this world will be removed for a period of a thousand years during the Millennial Reign of Christ.  The direct influence of Armageddon upon Israel will be the reality of that for which their forebears had looked:  the rule of the Messiah upon the throne of David, and the deliverance of Israel from Gentile oppression.

The Battle of Armageddon will be one of the bloodiest, if not the bloodiest, battles of all time.  It will be marked by the death of two thirds of the Jewish people, and the destruction of all the armies that shall stand in opposition of Israel, and her Messiah.

The fact that the Jews have survived the many attempts during the previous nineteen centuries to exterminate them testifies to the power of God to fulfill His promise to Abraham. Many times in history the Jews have been slaughtered with the last major slaughter being the holocaust in Germany when one third of the world's Jews were murdered. In spite of this the Jews survive as a race and religion and many are now back in their land just as was foretold by their prophets. There will be a final attempt to exterminate the Jews by satanic forces. At that time scripture indicates that two thirds of all the Jews in the land will be killed and one third will be refined through the fire:  Zechariah 13:8-9, “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. ⁹ And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God”. Satan understands that the promised Messiah is Jewish and by exterminating the Jews he knows the promised Jewish Kingdom on earth can never take place.

Jesus gave a warning to the Jews concerning the last days in Matthew 24.  He referenced Daniel’s prophecy in Da. 9:27 wherein the Antichrist will desecrate the Temple with the abomination of desolation (verse 15).  He, then, warned them to flee in verse 16:  “then let them which be in Judæa flee into the mountains”.  This flight was first prophesied in Isaiah 16:4-5, wherein the prophet foretold a future in which the outcasts of Israel would seek refuge in Moab (present day Jordan), followed by the enthronement of the Messiah upon the throne of David (spiritually having already taken place, but literally taking place when Jesus returns and puts down all dominion at Armageddon), initiating a time of universal righteousness:  “Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. ⁵ And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.”   Daniel 11:41 says that Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from His (Antichrist’s) hand:  “He (the Antichrist) shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” Edom and Moab occupied lands that belong to Jordan today, and the leaders of Ammon are the Hashemite family, with King Abdullah II as its head.  This family has ruled Jordan, whose capital is Amman (after Ammon), since its inception. There are several references that when combined lead scholars to conclude that at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, believing Jews will flee to Petra in southern Jordan, where they’ll be supernaturally protected by the Lord. In Matt. 24:16 the Lord warned those in Judea (Israel) to flee to the mountains when they see the abomination of desolation.  The closest mountains are to the east in southern Jordan where Petra is located. Rev. 12 tells of Satan pursuing the Jews across the desert as they flee to a place prepared for them:  “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars (symbolic for the nation of Israel)… And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God (Petra?), that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days (3 ½ years)… And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time (3 ½ years), from the face of the serpent (the satanically possessed Antichrist). . . This desert lies between Israel and the mountains of southern Jordan around the northern and eastern shores of the Dead Sea. And in Isaiah 63: 1-6 there’s a description of the Lord coming from Bozrah in Edom after single handedly defeating His enemies there: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. ² Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? ³ I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. ⁴ For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. ⁵ And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. ⁶ And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth”. Bozrah is the region of Edom where Petra is located.  This indicates that when the time comes the Lord will declare Jordan off limits to the anti-Christ and give His people refuge there.

It will be in the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week that the Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel, desecrate the Temple, and pursue the fleeing Jews into the wilderness of Jordan.  For the next 42 months they will remain there while the Antichrist continues his rise to power.  During that time he will be occupied by wars of conquest (Da. 11:44, “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many”).  At the conclusion of this time he will lead the nations of the earth in an attack of Israel.  Evidently his armies will also seek to destroy the Jews that had taken refuge in Jordan; thus, the prophecy of Isaiah 63, wherein, the Messiah is seen returning from Bozrah with his garments dyed red from the blood of his adversaries.  Zechariah 12-14 describes the invasion of Israel in the last days, and the coming of Jesus to fight for Jerusalem.  Joel also prophesied of this great event:  Joel 3:9-14, “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.”  The Lord’s “mighty ones” (vs. 11) are the host of heaven consisting of the glorified saints and angels:  Revelation 19:1-21, “¹¹ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. ¹² His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. ¹³ And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 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. ¹⁶ And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.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; 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. 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. 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. 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.”  Revelation 14:19-20 describes the enormity of the destruction of the multiplied millions that shall die at Armageddon:  “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth (the unsaved that shall come against Israel at Armageddon) , and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 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 (200 miles).”  The human body holds six quarts of blood.  Millions upon millions will be crushed in the winepress of God’s wrath at Armageddon!

According to Ezekiel 38:23, after the War of Gog and Magog, God said that many nations will acknowledge that He is the Lord.  How soon they will forget.  Their delusion will become so blinding, their hatred of God so intense, and their apostasy so complete that the nations will actually think that they can prevail against God!

When the Lord Himself comes to fight for them the blinders will drop from the eyes of the remnant of Israel, leading to the conversion of Israel. 

Next week we will conclude our series ISRAEL AND THE END TIMES with THE SALVATION OF ISRAEL.