A Wrap-up of Endtime Events - The Armies of Anti-Christ Gather

[0:00] Full lyrics in that old song, the wonder of it all, wonder of it all, that God loves me. Someone might ask, well, if you were God, wouldn't you love me?

[0:15] Wouldn't you love you? I'd have to think about it. I remember seeing a bumper sticker that said, God loves you and I'm trying.

[0:27] Well, I can certainly understand that too because there are times when a believer's behavior can make it a chore for somebody to love them.

[0:43] Someone has said, you know, in the body of Christ, there may be a lot of people that we don't like, but we have to love them.

[0:54] And there's a difference between liking people and loving people. Unfortunately, the love goes a whole lot deeper. Before we get into our message this morning, I do have some loose ends that I want to tidy up from a previous message because I fear that I may have given some wrong impressions and I certainly don't want to do that.

[1:15] Our intent this morning is to engage the first of the eight stages that are going to occur with the campaign of Armageddon. And they are on the flip side of the scripture portion you have that gives the map regarding the Holy Land and where this action is going to take place.

[1:35] And we will be dealing with that momentarily. But before we do, I want to just touch on something by way of misunderstanding or the possibility thereof. And it had to do with our exposition of the Romans 828 principle and the fact that God is committed, because he has committed himself to work all things for the good of those who love him, regardless of what they might be.

[2:02] And we pointed out to you that most believers do not have any difficulty with that, except with the timing. And that's the thing that really bothers us.

[2:14] Just exactly when is this painful, negative, hurtful thing that I am now going through, when is it that God is going to turn that for my good?

[2:28] And if we had our druthers, it would be almost immediate. But very often it doesn't happen that way. And the point that I made is that the verses that follow, Romans 828, are an indication that God has already worked all things together for our good, and he has done so in the process of glorification.

[3:00] And the glorification means when these bodies of ours are glorified and turned into the kind of incorruptible body that Jesus Christ had when he came forth from the grave.

[3:14] Then that will be our ultimate end. Then you will be a finished product. Until then, we are in process. We are developing.

[3:25] We are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, I don't want that to sound like some kind of a cop-out, even though it is true.

[3:38] That is the be-all, end-all of the process. It is our glorification. And that does not mean that God cannot turn negative things for our good in this lifetime.

[3:54] And sometimes rather immediate. So, I am not saying this is what we're talking about is pie in the sky by and by when we die. Well, there will be that.

[4:05] But many times, God doesn't make us wait until that glorification because he has all kinds of ways in his creativity of turning negative things that are hurtful into positive things.

[4:19] So, it is true that the questions answered by God foreknowing and predestining and calling and justification and glorified, and as we pointed out to you in those verses, they are all mentioned in the past tense.

[4:34] They are all referred to as over and done with. Because so far as God is concerned, they are. They certainly aren't for us.

[4:45] We're still situated right here in this life on planet earth. But as far as God is concerned, we're already glorified. As far as God is concerned, all of our pain and our heartaches and our setbacks and our adversities and our disappointments and everything else is already cared for and guaranteed that it is going to be realized in the glorification process.

[5:09] But until then, sometimes he reverses things here and now. And there are numerous instances where that has been realized. And I'm sure that you are aware of those.

[5:20] In fact, in volumes 22, 23, 24 of Christianity Clarified back there, we listed several individuals, including Job, Joseph, Naomi, Hannah, David, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, and earlier we cited Christ himself.

[5:45] Because he was glorified as a result of the price he paid on the cross. And Philippians 2 tells us because of all of the things that he subjected himself to, God raised him up and elevated him and gave him a position that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

[6:17] And it is also to Christ's glory. So in the glorification process, he himself went through that negative thing that led up to it.

[6:27] And that, of course, was the payoff. So in the volumes that I mentioned that are available on the table back there, if you're interested, you can check out volumes 22, 23, and 24.

[6:40] And if the supply is exhausted, more will be made available. Just let it be known that you didn't get one and you want one. And we will see to it that you get them. So sometimes God turns those reversals around, those things that are negative, and makes them reverse from what they seem to be.

[7:01] He has ways of doing that. And you don't always have to wait until glory, until you die for the pie in the sky by and by. Sometimes he does it. And God works in mysterious ways.

[7:13] There are so many instances. In fact, there are thousands upon thousands. Let me share just one with you. The parents of baby Frances Jane Crosby.

[7:29] Born March 24, 1820. Became alarmed when they noticed their tiny infant's eyes were red and inflamed.

[7:39] A doctor wasn't readily available. So when Frances was six weeks old, her parents took her to a practitioner who was later exposed as a quack.

[7:53] After his prescribed treatment, the infection gradually healed, but the damage to little Frances' eyes was permanent. She was blind. Fourteen years later, Frances traveled by stagecoach to the New York Institute for the Blind.

[8:10] She described the day as the happiest of her life. Miss Crosby spent two decades at the Institute. When her own schooling there was complete, she stayed on as a teacher.

[8:22] Nationally recognized as the Blind Poetess, she was called upon many times to write and recite a poem for visiting U.S. presidents and other dignitaries.

[8:37] In 1858, Frances, better known as Fanny, married a fellow teacher and blind musician, Alexander Van Alstine, and they left the Institute to begin a new life.

[8:53] Fascinating. Blind man, blind woman, to begin a new life. Sadly, their only child died in infancy.

[9:06] Fanny's life work was redirected in 1864 when William Bradbury encouraged her to write Sunday school hymns. Fanny Crosby perceived her blindness as a gift from God.

[9:20] She even believed the practitioner's mistake became a prelude to her writing nearly 9,000 hymns.

[9:31] Blessed Assurance and many other beloved hymns became favorites at D.L. Moody's revivals and are still being sung in congregations today.

[9:42] So God is able to take our adversities and our heartaches and turn them around, sometimes rather quickly.

[9:53] Sometimes getting dismissed from a job this week makes you available to seek another job at times when you would not have been available had you been employed at the other job and in seeking another job.

[10:09] A far better one is found with far better benefits. So we don't always have to wait until we die like some of those in Hebrews chapter 11 where the account is given about these all dying, not having received the promises.

[10:23] But they went on to that state of glorification and that is the ultimate. That's when everything comes together and whatever was lacking before is all made up.

[10:40] That's when everything that was previous, that was negative, that was hurtful is turned into something that is not merely good but incredibly good.

[10:53] And we need to understand that when God makes something good, it is as good as God can make it and how good is that. So keep that in mind if you will, please.

[11:04] And bank on it because you can. Now I want you to turn to your scripture sheet that you were given this morning and note the map, if you will, on the reverse side.

[11:17] And look at the eight stages that are listed here. You might want to keep this map. We will be issuing additional copies in the future. So if you forget yours, why, there will be more available.

[11:29] But this is the kind of thing that you might want to make a permanent part of your personal records. These are the eight stages that will take place in the campaign of Armageddon.

[11:40] And the first thing, by the way, that I want to note is that calling this the Battle of Armageddon is really a misnomer because that's not actually correct.

[11:53] The battle is not going to take place in Armageddon. That is where the armies of the world are going to mass.

[12:05] But the battle is going to take place considerably south of that in the Valley of Jezreel or the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And there is where the battle is actually going to occur.

[12:17] It is in connection with part of the great African rift that runs all the way down into the continent of Africa. So here are the eight stages. And they are numbered, if you will look to the left of your sheet, they are numbered from one to eight as exactly where these are going to transpire.

[12:34] And the only one that we are going to consider this morning is the first stage having to do with the gathering of the armies of the Antichrist. Then what will follow will be the destruction of Babylon, the fall of Jerusalem, the armies of the Antichrist at Basra.

[12:52] Now, many will look at that and say, Basra, what's that? Well, that's where the battle is going to begin. And that, too, will become apparent when we get there. Five will be the national regeneration of Israel.

[13:06] And that means the remnant of Jews existing at this time, which will number about one third of the Jewish population in the world at that time.

[13:17] Two thirds will have already been eliminated by the Antichrist. They will have already been killed. This will constitute the remnant that will survive that great tribulation period. That will be item number five.

[13:29] And then the second coming of Christ occurs. The end of the fighting at the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The victory is sent upon the Mount of Olives, all of which are depicted in Scripture.

[13:42] And if you will take your Scripture sheet, we will just flip the page over. I want to note a few of the passages.

[13:53] We are not going to read all of these, but I put more in, in order that you would have the advantage of the context as well. But I should like to just reach into these passages and lift out a couple of verses and have you follow along as we read them, if you would, please.

[14:11] The top left-hand corner, this is Isaiah chapter 34. And by the way, I want to note this because this too is very, very important.

[14:21] The Old Testament very clearly depicts the arrival, the birth of the Messiah.

[14:33] And in the case of Isaiah, particularly in chapter 7 and verse 14, when it talks about a virgin conceiving and bearing a child and so on, Isaiah uttered that under inspiration 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

[14:53] And there are numerous other places where the birth of the Messiah is recorded. And Micah 5 and verse 2 even tells us that he's going to be born in Bethlehem.

[15:05] And Micah was written about 500 years before Jesus was born. But the thing that I want to dwell on for just a moment is this. As much as the Bible has to say about the first advent, the first coming of Christ to earth, it has far, far more to say about his second coming.

[15:32] In fact, if you were looking for a ratio, it's probably something like 7 to 1. In other words, I'm saying that the Old Testament, and not the New, the Old Testament refers to the second coming of Christ probably seven or eight times more than it does the first coming.

[15:54] Yet, it is the one that is so much more traumatic, so much more, what shall I say, so much more in keeping with royalty and power and glory and circumstance, that it's easy to focus on that.

[16:15] And that is precisely what many of the Jews have done. They have completely ignored or overlooked the prophecies in their own Bible that talk about his first coming, and they have focused on his second coming, which for them would be the first coming.

[16:31] For us, it's the second coming. But if you do not believe that Jesus or that the Messiah has ever come, then you're still awaiting the first coming. And that's precisely where our Jewish friends are for the most part.

[16:44] Now, these verses deal with that staging area that I was telling you about. Now, Armageddon, or the Valley of Megiddo, is an enormous expanse.

[16:59] I mean, it is just absolutely huge. It covers thousands and thousands of acres, and it is a huge flatland-like. And there aren't all that many in Israel, but this is the greatest.

[17:10] And this, by the way, is the area that produces so much of the vegetation and the grain and so on. It's outstanding farmland. In fact, when Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Israel in the early 1800s, late 1700s, he stood on the mountain that overlooked Armageddon, Megiddo, the plains of Esdralen.

[17:34] And his comment was, what a marvelous battlefield this would make, just because of its expanse. And for the most part, down through the years, it has been assumed by a great many people that this is where the battle will take place.

[17:53] And it is constantly referred to as the Battle of Armageddon. But there will not be any battle at Armageddon. There will not be any fighting there at all, if we understand the text that we'll be sharing with you correctly.

[18:07] Because it's all going to take place south. But here is where the armies of the world are going to mass. It is the staging area. Many of you are old enough to remember something about World War II.

[18:24] And you will recall that there was an enormous invasion of Europe, France in particular, in 1944.

[18:35] June 6, 1944, was referred to as D-Day. And all of the fighting took place on the beaches of Normandy and inland, then in France and Belgium and Holland and eventually Germany.

[18:50] That's where the battlefield was. But where was the staging area? Where was it that everybody and everything jumped off from? It was in England.

[19:02] It was on the other side of the English Channel. The English Channel separated the continent of Europe from the country of Great Britain.

[19:13] And Great Britain was the massing area, was the staging area. And there, 169,000 troops crossed the English Channel and spread out over 50 miles of beaches.

[19:34] And there was Omaha and Utah and Juneau and gold. And the fighting began there. There wasn't any fighting at all in England. So that's kind of like what we have with Armageddon.

[19:47] There will not be any fighting there. There will be just the massing of the troops. And then once they are marshaled, they are going to march southward. And guess who is coming northward from the south?

[20:01] It is Christ himself in his second coming. So let's read about that. Beginning with Isaiah chapter 34.

[20:13] And we'll just read the first two verses. You can read later the other verses if you wish. Well, one thing I would care to mention. Verse 7. Why in the world the translators rendered that unicorns?

[20:24] I don't know. A unicorn is a mythological animal. You know, that's the horse with the point, with the cone out of its forehead. Actually, the rendering ought to be, and the better translations render it, wild oxen.

[20:40] That's what they were, unicorns. So let's just look at the first two verses, if we may. Come there, you nations. Now remember, Isaiah said this, under inspiration, 700 years before Jesus was born, first time.

[20:56] Add another 2,000 to that, to accommodate the second coming. That would make this prophecy about 2,700 years old. Come there, you nations, to hear and hearken, you people.

[21:07] Let the earth hear, and all that is therein, the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies.

[21:31] He hath utterly destroyed them. He hath delivered them to the slaughter. How can Isaiah say that? This has never been fulfilled.

[21:43] There isn't anything in history, secular or religious, that would answer to this. And he is uttering this 700 years before even the first coming.

[21:56] So how do we account for this? Well, we account for it in the fact that Isaiah is speaking, just like we read a few moments ago from Romans chapter 8.

[22:11] How the glorification and the calling and the sanctification and the predestination and everything is spoken of in the past tense. That's exactly what we have here.

[22:22] Because so far as God is concerned, who inspired Isaiah to write this, this is over and done with. It's a done deal. It's finished. It's complete. The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies.

[22:37] He hath utterly destroyed them. Wait a minute. They haven't even met yet. How could it be destroyed? Again, I make my point. This is spoken of as if it is already accomplished.

[22:52] He hath utterly destroyed them. He hath delivered them to the slaughter. And that's precisely what it's going to be. And verse 8 at the bottom of the passage.

[23:04] For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.

[23:14] And then immediately following in Joel chapter 3. For behold, in those days and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land.

[23:54] Now, when this massive congregation of troops takes place, by the way, this is a staggering number to consider.

[24:06] When these troops mass from nations all over the world, they are going to congregate under the orders of the world dictator, who will be in power at the time.

[24:23] His name is the Antichrist. He will be the world dictator at that time. He will summon these troops from all of these nations over all the world.

[24:37] And they will gather there for one reason and one reason only. And that is to utterly annihilate the Jewish people.

[24:51] That will be their only objective. And I cannot prove this, but I strongly suspect that it is in conjunction with the Russian invasion of Israel, which is described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 that we've considered in the past, that I am confident is going to take place before the 70th week of Daniel and the time of Jacob's trouble.

[25:20] And that this will be largely a response to that. Because when the Russian army and their ally invade Israel, and we are told that it is to take a spoil.

[25:35] We don't know what it is. We don't know if it's oil, if it's natural gas, if it's the minerals of the Dead Sea or what. But they are going to come against Israel. And we've already noted this in Ezekiel.

[25:48] And they are going to be utterly destroyed. But it is not going to be by the Israeli army. It is going to be by the forces of nature that God will unleash at that time upon the Russian army.

[26:03] And there will be zero survivors. We are not told how many there will be. But all that are there are going to perish. All that invade are going to perish.

[26:16] And it will telegraph even back to Russia. And there will be a massive devastation in the country of Russia. Ezekiel tells us that it is going to take the Jewish people seven months to bury the dead.

[26:36] And there is every indication that nuclear activity is going to be involved. Because we are told, and without going to the passage in Ezekiel, we are told that when someone discovers the remains of a corpse or a bone sticking out of the ground, they will not even be permitted to touch it.

[27:00] All they can do is flag it and put a note that this is something that needs to be properly disposed of, suggesting radioactivity, and it could be a dangerous thing.

[27:13] So if my theory is correct, these armies are going to mass for the express purpose of completely eliminating the Jewish people.

[27:27] Because they will be considered responsible for the demise of the Russian army and all of its allies that are with it. So this will be a kind of vendetta.

[27:39] And it will be looked upon as the ultimate time to rid the world completely of the Jewish people. And you must understand that the one who is going to be instigating all of this is none other than Satan himself who will be energizing the Antichrist.

[27:57] And there is a deep-set hatred against the Jew because the Jew is the object of God's favor and the restoration of all things. All of these things are tied together.

[28:08] And this is exactly what it's coming down to. And so far as the numbers are concerned, and I realize this is staggering, we talked about the Normandy invasion, June 6, 1944, the largest massive undertaking of its kind in the history of humanity.

[28:29] A hundred and sixty-nine thousand troops from about four different countries were involved in that invasion. So how many are going to Mass at Armageddon, the plain of Esdrela, in the staging area preparing for this battle?

[28:52] Scriptures make it quite clear. There will be two hundred million. Now if that doesn't give you pause, you have no idea how much a million is.

[29:09] Two hundred million. And a likely response to that is, oh, come on. Now, where are you going? How can that possibly...

[29:21] That's a stretch. That's hyperbole. That's just the Bible speaking figuratively and not literally. Does that really be two hundred million? Well, take it that it is.

[29:34] And one of the things that enables me to reach that conclusion is this. Are you aware that no more than five years ago, the nation of the Republic, the People's Republic of China, made the boast convinced that if need be, they could equip and put two hundred million troops in the field in a very short time.

[30:10] That's just from China alone, the population of which is well over one billion people. Now, I do not believe that these two hundred million are going to be two hundred million Chinese.

[30:23] There, no doubt, will be some Chinese among them, but there will be nations from all over the world because for all practical purposes, think of it this way. The Antichrist will be the entrenched president, dictator, governor, king, whatever you want to call him, of the entire world.

[30:44] We are right now moving more and more in the direction of globalism. I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but in some of the political circles, there's a great deal of talk of globalism.

[30:56] There are people in power in Washington and in London and in Moscow and other places like that who are convinced that globalism is the only way to go and that we need to do away with nationalism and individual countries.

[31:12] Think of all the problems that would be solved with borders, with integration, with assimilation, with immigration, and everything to be of one government.

[31:23] And that's what's coming. That is precisely what's coming. And it will be looked upon as the only common sense thing to do. It will be put forth in a way that this is going to provide for the survival of humanity as we know it.

[31:37] And each nation is going to be required to give up its individual sovereignty and eliminate its borders. Hey, we have people thinking like that right here in the United States right now about our southernmost border.

[31:53] There are those who don't even want a border. Let whoever wants to come, come. Let whoever wants to go, go. In any and every nation, all over the world, do away with nationalities.

[32:05] Do away with sovereignty and borders and all the rest of it. It could solve a lot of problems. Of course it could. It could also create a lot of problems. At any rate, this is where we're going and this is what's going to happen and this is what will give the Antichrist control because there will be ten districts under him.

[32:23] This is found in Daniel and eventually we'll get there. There will be ten districts or areas of governance under him and he will control all of them and when he sends out the signal that they are to mass here, that's exactly what they are going to do and there will be 200 million of them.

[32:40] And how certain can we be that these things depicted here are actually going to happen? And how do we know it is not possible that this is some kind of poetic expression, not intended to be taken literally?

[32:56] This aggregation of armies from around the world will dwarf the invasion armies of World War II a mere 169,000 which at the time we thought was quite a few people but that will not compare.

[33:15] So this time will be 200 million and this is where they are going to gather. There are two things that I want you to bear in mind in connection with this as we pursue these and we're not going to spend much time on the staging area because I don't think that it requires much time.

[33:34] We're just caring for item number one, gathering of the armies of the Antichrist. And the things that I want you to keep in mind is what we've tried to emphasize all throughout our study of the Jewish final solution to the world's problem.

[33:49] Number one is the consistency and the literality of interpretation and that we not be misled by symbols. Symbols are important and there are many of them found in the book of the Revelation but symbols always mean something and they are always consistent with being identified with whatever it is that they are associated with.

[34:12] There is a consistency among the symbols. And secondly, we need to be aware of the resumption of open and obvious elements of the supernatural that were often displayed in the Old Testament and the Gospels and the book of Acts but are now dramatically curtailed during the administration of grace also known as the church age.

[34:38] When you move through the Gospels, actually if you even go to the Old Testament and deal with situations like Noah and the flood and Elisha and the miracles that God used Elijah to perform and Elijah and Elisha both and into the Gospels where miracles performed by Christ were the order of the day.

[35:07] They weren't anything strange at all. They were he performed an abundance of miracles 33 of which we have recorded. He was known for that and when you move into the Acts we have the similar thing through the power that God delegated to the apostles to perform miracles and it began with Acts chapter 2 and it continues on even into the ministry of Paul and then they begin to fade away and today we do not see the same kind of miracles or in anything approaching that number because while Israel requires a sign a miracle the church is to walk by faith and not by sight and we are completely different people and we are not to be dependent upon miracles but when the church the body of Christ not laden with the miraculous but with the spiritual when we are removed then God once again turns his direction to the people that he utilized during the miracle age and that is the Jew and that means that the revelation involving the Jew is going to be replete with all kinds of supernatural events such as we have already studied in the revelation in addition there will be besides the supernatural elements there will be hyperactivity of the demonic under the command of Satan himself who will energize the Antichrist and we saw some of that in the Gospels and it was on that basis that Christ cast demons out and Satan had a foothold during the Gospels that seems to have been accelerated at that time so much so that Christ even did combat with him for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness and I can assure you our Lord was not hallucinating or imagining anything he was actually confronting

[37:17] Satan himself well during this time during this time of Jacob's trouble with the focus on Israel and the church having been removed through the rapture the emphasis is going to be once again on the supernatural and there is going to be an enormous outpouring of angelic activity both good angels and fallen demons it's going to be as we've already described in Revelation for those of you who were here with us so all of these things need to be kept in mind in connection with this battle because it just sounds too supernatural to actually be to be believed but we've got a track record whereby we have good reason to believe and to take it literally because of what has already been fulfilled literally and the best answer I've ever been able to give to anybody who's asked me all of this prophecy stuff what makes you think these things are going to come true and the answer that is the best and the simplest is this we believe that what has not been fulfilled is going to come to pass because of what has been fulfilled and it is undeniable it is not just in the Bible it is in secular history as well and it is available for anybody to read in any encyclopedia that's our best evidence for believing what is coming notice if you will

[38:49] Joel chapter 3 in those days in that time when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land and then chapter 12 of Zechariah in the next column the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel saith the Lord which stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people all that burdened themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it there's a lot of controversy going on even in our day because President Trump has recently designated

[40:01] Jerusalem as the legitimate capital of Israel and we are going to move our embassy from Tel Aviv and put it in Jerusalem Jerusalem not long ago celebrated its 3000th birthday it is probably the second oldest city continually inhabited in the world second only to Damascus in Syria verse 4 in that day saith the Lord I will smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with madness and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the people with blindness and the governors of Judah shall say in their heart the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God in that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood and like a torch of fire in the sheaf and they shall devour all the people round about on the right hand and on the left and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place even in Jerusalem and this Jerusalem by the way it's going to be completely destroyed that will be one of the eight stages that we'll be looking at

[41:19] Jerusalem is going to be ravaged and destroyed that is yet future the Lord shall also save the tents of Judah first that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah in that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David thinking in terms of David the king and the house of David shall be as God as the angel of the Lord before them it shall come to pass in that day you see that phrase occurring over and over in that day in that day and what day is that it's in this day appointed it is in this day in time of tribulation that is on God's calendar all of these things are going to come together on that day shall defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David and the house of David shall be as God and the angel of the Lord before them it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem in chapter 14 behold the day of the Lord comes this is when

[42:39] God does his thing whose day is this now this is man's day this is Satan's day he's the God of this age but the time is coming when God is going to say that's enough that's enough I'll take over from here and that's precisely what is going to happen when the day of the Lord comes and I spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken this is the destruction of the city and the women ravished and half of the city shall go forth into captivity and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city and then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives which is before

[43:40] Jerusalem on the east and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west there shall be a very great valley half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south and you shall flee to the valley of the mountains for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azalea you shall flee like as you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee and we will be among them but we will not be combatants because Jesus Christ with the sharp sword that proceeds from his mouth is going to tread the winepress of the wrath of God alone he will be the singular combatant think of it one savior versus two hundred million and they won't have a prayer think of it one against two hundred million and they don't stand a chance it almost reminds me of an old cavalry tale that goes back to the Indian fighting days when this troop of soldiers were out and they rounded the wagons and tried to defend themselves and the enemy was coming from the north and the south and the Indians were pouring in from every direction and the sergeant turned to his captain and said what are we going to do captain and the captain said don't let a one of them escape well that's the way this is going to be it will be no contest because this one who has the power to create possesses the same power to destroy and he's going to utilize it then it will be nothing more than his spoken word that will decimate the enemy and that will be no challenge provided

[46:01] Jesus Christ is who the scriptures say he is it will be no contest and there will be another not terribly unlike it that will happen a thousand years afterwards according to Revelation 20 at the conclusion of the millennial reign of Christ when there will be one final rebellion that will take place I want to close with this last passage in Revelation 16 it ties in with the same period that we're talking about if you will just come down to verse 16 the end of chapter 16 and verse 16 and he gathered and he in the Hebrew tone Armageddon and that's where the staging area will be and then the rest as we've already pointed out will be history now what we plan to undertake next time if you will look again at your map on the reverse side is the destruction of Babylon and when

[47:09] Babylon is destroyed the Antichrist will not even be there he will be over in Jerusalem but he will get word and we will look at the verses that accompany that and after the destruction of Babylon then there will be the fall of Jerusalem and the armies of Antichrist at Basra this is Petra the national regeneration of Israel is going to be a thrilling time because it is then when the people of Israel will look upon him whom they pierced and they will mourn for him Zechariah 12 10 as the Christ whom their forefathers rejected and then there will be the end of the fighting in item 7 at Jephoshaphat and the victory ascent upon the Mount of Olives that will be the wrap up and it's going to be quite time and I'm not absolutely positive about this but I'm I am 90% positive and that is we're going to witness much of this we are not going to be involved except as spectators and no doubt what will take place there will stimulate encourage and it'll have an enormous effect upon everybody who witnesses this interesting thing that

[48:29] Christ is going to tread the wine press of the wrath of God alone that is going to be amazing absolutely amazing have you a question or comment you'd like to share feel free anyone okay in the back I can't help but feel that the Antichrist and the devil will both know when they gather that 200 million or whatever in the valley that there he knows he's going to hell and he wants to take as many people as he can with him well that's probably that's probably been his game plan from the beginning yeah when he even when he recruited our first parents that was his objective there too and the only thing that thwarts that of course is the incredible incredible fact of redemption that God has put together through what Christ accomplished in making that payment amazing amazing anyone else comment or question feel free if you do have questions that you're reluctant to ask feel free to write them out drop them in the offering box and we'll do our best to give them attention and the best answer that we can come up with so feel free to do that and if you would would you stand please father we fully recognize that we have covered this morning some things that are utterly beyond us in our ability to comprehend even imagine the magnitude of what has been described here and yet it's only because of our limited frame of reference and our limited experience with the past and with history that we view these things as improbable or maybe even impossible but we recognize that we have a terribly limited perspective and terribly limited experience so we do not in any way want to impugn the character of those who have under inspiration given us this information we want to receive it with sobriety and with confidence that you will bring to pass all that you have promised even as you have already done in so many instances so we ask that as we continue our trajectory through these eight stages you will provide the enlightenment and the understanding that we know we lack thank you for being pleased to reveal these things that we otherwise would have no way of knowing and we are grateful that you have let us in on what you plan to do to put down this final rebellion thank you for your great love and faithfulness thank you for being ever available and always willing to receive those who come to you with repentance and with faith thank you for it in Christ's name amen