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[0:00] You will take the sheet that has been provided in your bulletin and look at the map that is on one side of that sheet. You will see that the campaign of Armageddon is described.

[0:16] And thus far of the eight stages, we have considered just the first two. And that brings us to the third of the eight today, which is the fall and the destruction of Jerusalem.

[0:31] There is a passage of scripture that sometimes is used to provide what they think or what some think is the fulfillment regarding the destruction and the fall of Jerusalem.

[0:45] And I am simply asking Gary if he will read that passage. It is from Luke's gospel. So if you want to turn to that now, is it chapter 21? 19.

[0:56] If you will turn to Luke's gospel, chapter 19. I'm asking Gary to read this small portion for us because it does refer to the destruction of Jerusalem.

[1:10] But it is not the destruction of Jerusalem in the campaign of Armageddon, of which we will be speaking later on this morning.

[1:21] It is the destruction that is going to come upon Jerusalem approximately 40 years after Christ gave that prophecy. And it will be 70 AD when the Roman general Titus destroys the city.

[1:39] And the casualty rate is incredible. And the Jews are then scattered throughout the Mediterranean world even more than what they were. And the Romans renamed the city Capitolina and set about to destroy every vestige of Jewish influence that was there.

[1:59] But that was 70 AD. And it is not to be confused with the destruction of Jerusalem that is yet to come, which we will be studying. And I just want Gary to insert this now into the record so that you will see that there are two destructions that are involved.

[2:16] And you'll be able to keep them clearly separate. Gary? We will be looking at Luke 19, verses 41 to 44.

[2:39] When he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, but now they have been hidden from your eyes.

[3:01] For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side.

[3:16] And they will level you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

[3:34] And that time of Israel's visitation was what Christ was referring to when he came into Jerusalem, riding on Palm Sunday on the back of that donkey's colt.

[3:52] And he stopped and he wept over the city. And despite the fact that there were people shouting accolades and Hosanna, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna to the son of David, and so on.

[4:08] We know that just within a couple of days, things were going to take a very ugly turn. And the crowd would then be shouting, crucify him.

[4:22] We will not have this man to reign over us. The day of Israel's visitation was that day that Christ came into the city. And even though he was recognized and and lauded as such, it was only by a minority who did that.

[4:39] And those who were in the driver's seat of decision making, the makers, the pushers and shovers of that day still had a very negative attitude toward Jesus as being the Messiah, something that they would not entertain for a moment.

[4:58] And of course, that resulted in his crucifixion. And that is completely different from what we are going to be looking at this morning in connection with our pursuing of these eight items or eight stages that will comprise the campaign of Armageddon.

[5:14] We are now engaging what the Bible has so clearly stated about the end of the age. History is clearly marching toward consummation.

[5:29] Man likes to think only in terms of uniformitarianism. This has been a curse of humanity from the beginning.

[5:41] And uniformitarianism simply assumes that all things continue as they were since the past generations have moved on. And so it will be with all future generations.

[5:52] In fact, Peter even alludes to this in the last days, he says, there will be mockers who will come mocking and saying, where is the promise of his coming?

[6:05] All things continue just as they always have from time immemorial. Nothing has changed. It's just more of the same. Well, the time is going to come when it will not be more of the same.

[6:19] It is going to be radically, radically different. Because the Bible declares that there is to be an ending as surely as there was a beginning.

[6:32] Human existence is not cyclical. It is linear. A point of origin extends to a point of conclusion.

[6:42] And what we are going to be talking about is what many, I think, think of in terms of, you might call it a misnomer, the end of the world.

[6:54] Well, this isn't going to be the end of the world. Actually, that's coming later. It will be in Revelation 20 when John says, I beheld a new heavens and a new earth and there was no more sea.

[7:09] That will be a whole new world. But that is after the reign of Christ. That is after the events of Revelation 19. And this is when God makes new heavens and a new earth.

[7:25] For the first heaven and the first earth passed away. There is no more sea. But that is yet future. And we can be grateful that it is.

[7:35] So what we are talking about really is the end of the age. It is the end of this present existence of society as we know it. And what reason do we have to believe that all of this is coming?

[7:50] And the answer, I think, that is best given is we have reason to believe that these things are going to be fulfilled in the future because of the myriad of prophecies that have already been fulfilled in great detail in the past.

[8:04] And I could enumerate them, but there are too many to name. Many of you have seen publications and there may even be some books on the table back there relating to the subject of fulfilled prophecy and what that involves.

[8:16] So there are literally hundreds, and that is not hyperbole. That is a literal statement. There are hundreds of references where prophecy has been fulfilled in a very, very precise way.

[8:32] If you will take the map now that has been provided you in your bulletin and look at the campaign of Armageddon, you will note that it is going to transpire in eight stages.

[8:44] And one of the greatest difficulties we have in studying these things has to do with assigning a proper chronology to these events.

[8:56] There is no question that they are going to occur, but sometimes there is difficulty in determining the timing or the exact order of these events.

[9:07] And personally, I have leaned heavily upon the scholarship of Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum. He was our guide when we were privileged to spend six weeks in Israel in 1990, and we covered just about every nook and cranny in that tiny land that you can imagine, put over 3,000 miles in the vehicle.

[9:30] And when you consider that you're traveling 3,000 miles in a state that is no larger than New Jersey, you're doing a lot of up and down and back and forth and crisscrossing, and that we did.

[9:41] So we got to see a whole lot of things that tourists in those big elongated tour buses never get to see. Dr. Fruchtenbaum came to faith as a young believer.

[9:55] He was, I think, 19 years of age. He was born in Siberia of Orthodox Jewish parents, and he came to know the Lord as a teenager at about 19.

[10:07] He spent a year or two at Cedarville University right down the road here. And then he went to Dallas Seminary and obtained his degree from Dallas Seminary, I think a master in theology.

[10:22] Went on to New York University where he obtained his Ph.D. And he's written some very extensive things regarding the subject of prophecy having to do with the nation of Israel, both its history and its future.

[10:34] And I feel greatly indebted to him. And it's he who has provided the map that you're looking at now for the campaign of Armageddon. You will note the eight things that are listed here are, I believe, and I think this is in accordance with his understanding, which I have considerable confidence in because I've never seen anything that answers the issues better than the order that he has given here in these eight stages.

[11:01] We do not know exactly how long these eight stages will comprise time-wise, but it is safe to say for sure that they will be during the 70th week of Daniel.

[11:16] And I don't think there's any dispute about that, particularly for those who are premillennial and pretribulational. So these eight stages that are listed here consist of the gathering of the armies of the Antichrist, which we've already considered.

[11:33] And that will take place on the plains of Israel near the ancient area of Megiddo, which is commonly referred to as Armageddon.

[11:44] We pointed out at the time that there will be no actual fighting there. This will be the staging area. This is where armies from around the world will mass, where they will congregate in preparation for marching southward to Jerusalem and then on to Basra, which is mentioned significantly.

[12:09] And some would identify that with Petra, and I think that's probably a fair assumption. And this will be in the southernmost area of what is today known as Transjordan.

[12:21] It's a very strategic place. And then stage two, which we've already considered, is the destruction of Babylon. And by the way, if anyone is interested in those particular studies, you will find them according to the date.

[12:35] And that would be last Sunday and the Sunday before. And they are on the table in the rear. You can identify them by the particular date that is given. And this morning will be stage number three, the fall of Jerusalem.

[12:49] And after that, the armies of the Antichrist at Basra, the national regeneration of Israel. And frankly, I'm looking forward to that because that will be an extreme highlight.

[13:01] It is going to be a national reversal for the people of Israel toward their Messiah. It will be very dramatic and very heartwarming indeed.

[13:18] So far as drama is concerned, it would probably be surpassed only by item number six, which is the second coming of Christ.

[13:29] And then seven will be the end of the fighting at the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is also known as the area commonly referred to as the Kidron Valley.

[13:42] It runs north and south, and it is just a short distance from the very walls of Jerusalem.

[13:53] In fact, you can stand on the walls of Jerusalem and look down into the Kidron Valley. And that is also known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where much of this carnage is going to take place.

[14:05] It is an incredible thing to contemplate. And it will be followed by item number eight, the victory ascent upon the Mount of Olives. And looking at your map, if you will, please, you can see by the numbers that are given exactly where these events are going to transpire in accordance with the number that corresponds to the stages.

[14:28] And item number one up at the top is where the gathering will take place. And then note, if you will, item number two has to do with across the page.

[14:42] That is the destruction of Babylon. And it is important to note that this, of course, is going to require Babylon to be rebuilt. And as we pointed out to you in our last session, I believe it was, there is only one city in the Bible that is mentioned more than Babylon.

[15:07] And that is Jerusalem. Babylon is an extremely important strategic area. It is the seabed of evil.

[15:20] It is where the first real insurrection took place in conjunction with the Tower of Babel and the activities of Nimrod, who is described as a mighty hunter before the Lord.

[15:33] And that does not mean what you think it means by being a hunter. This man was a recruiter. He was a rebel. He was an originator of some very evil practices and ideas.

[15:47] And Babylon, historically, is the seedbed of evil and corruption throughout the whole world. And it is no coincidence that Revelation 17 refers to Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlotry, the mother of corruption.

[16:09] It is saying that the virtual evils of the world throughout the world and throughout all history had their origin in Babylon, which is today southern Iraq.

[16:27] Very strategic, archaeologically and historically. It's a very significant place. This is where all the world's ills and evil began.

[16:39] And it spread from there throughout the whole globe so that no continent has been unaffected by the evils that originated in Babylon.

[16:51] And Babylon is where it's going to end. That will be the destruction thereof. Now, in order for Babylon to end, it has to exist.

[17:03] And all that is there now is a meager beginning that Saddam Hussein undertook when he was in power. And he tried to reconstruct and establish the famous Ishtar Gate.

[17:17] That was supposed to be a worldwide thing of beauty and awe and architecture. And he visioned himself as being the new Nebuchadnezzar.

[17:32] And he was going to rebuild ancient Babylon in his own name and for his own honor and glory. And, of course, we all know what happened to Saddam Hussein and how that played out.

[17:42] But the point I'm making is simply this. All of this requires for Babylon to be rebuilt. And it is going to be rebuilt even as we speak.

[17:54] There are tremendous economic forces and political forces that are moving more and more in the direction of the Mideast.

[18:06] And this is where it is going to center in Babylon. I cannot imagine the speed and rapidity with which this nation or this area will be developed.

[18:18] But apparently it is going to be something quite phenomenal. And it will be the very latest state of the art. Whatever you can imagine is going to be there. And it is all going to come crashing down as we saw in our last study.

[18:33] And when that happens, the Antichrist will not even be there. He will be massing with the armies in Armageddon.

[18:46] And he will get word that his beloved Babylon is no more. It has been leveled. Well, there's no point in him returning to Babylon.

[19:00] Why would he do that? So he doesn't. But what he does do is he answers at the directions of Satan himself. And as we went through the Revelation verse by verse, we discovered in very, very plain figure that there is an unholy trinity.

[19:18] And Satan is the counterpart of God the Father. And the false prophet is the counterpart of the Holy Spirit. And the Antichrist is the counterpart of our Lord Jesus.

[19:31] So there is an evil trinity just as there is a holy trinity. And it is Satan himself that will be energizing those other two figures.

[19:43] And his principal objective has always been and still will be the destruction of the nation of Israel. The elimination of every Jew.

[19:55] That has been his number one agenda item from the beginning. And this all goes back to the reason being God making his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[20:10] And the fulfillment of that with the integrity of God being at stake, the faithfulness of God being at stake. Satan is setting out to thwart the plan and program of God in any way he can.

[20:23] And when you cannot get at God himself, the next best thing is to get at God's people. And Israel represents God's people.

[20:36] Completely distinct from God's people, the church, the body of Christ. This has to do with an ancient nation that God has selected for his own purposes. Prove himself to them to bring the Messiah into the world.

[20:50] Who will be a direct descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so on. So there are many implications involving that. But the fall of Babylon is going to result in the Antichrist heading south to completely destroy Jerusalem.

[21:11] And that is exactly what he's going to do. And that is item three on the agenda. Upon hearing Babylon is destroyed, he will march on Jerusalem. And the battle of Jerusalem and the taking of the city is going to be realized in a very dramatic way.

[21:27] There will be a valiant effort to defend the city. And there will be a tremendous loss of lives on both parts.

[21:38] But the city will fall. The Antichrist will prevail. And Jerusalem will be taken. And I take it that it is in the taking of Jerusalem that this is when the Antichrist will go into the Jewish temple, which now does not even exist.

[22:02] But this will necessitate its being built. And our Lord talks about this. Well, let's go to the reference, if we may, please. In Matthew chapter 24.

[22:13] Matthew chapter 24. We have been there before, but we'll just stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. And if you will look at Matthew 24.

[22:30] I'm glad that wasn't my phone. Mine went off once when I was preaching the funeral. So we're preaching the funeral now.

[22:41] It's the funeral, if you will, of Jerusalem and the people who are going to be there. In verse 15 of Matthew chapter 24.

[22:53] Christ is speaking. And this is referred to as the Olivet Discourse. It is the most lengthy discourse our Lord gave on the subject of prophecy. And he's telling his audience.

[23:03] Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation. Desolation. This is a person. This is an individual.

[23:14] And it will be his presence and his claim that will constitute a defilement. An abomination.

[23:26] A contamination of the very place where he is. And where he will be then, when he makes this boast. Is in the temple.

[23:38] In the holy place. And Jesus says, when you see the abomination of desolation. Which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet. And that's in Daniel chapter 9.

[23:48] And we will get there later. But not today. Standing in the holy place. Let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea.

[24:00] That is the area that immediately surrounds Jerusalem. And actually, Jerusalem is in the tribe territory of Benjamin. Not Judah. But Benjamin is a very small tribe.

[24:12] And Judah is the larger area that kind of surrounds and engulfs the whole thing. And this is referred to as Judea. And he says, let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

[24:23] The mountains to which they are going to flee. Will be down south, southern Jordan. This will be in the Mount Seir. That's S-E-I-R area.

[24:34] It is where Basra and Petra are located. And they too will surface in some prophecies that we'll be looking at a little later on. Let those, let them flee to the mountains.

[24:48] Let him who is on the housetop. Now, culturally speaking, we would look at that and say, well, what in the world is anybody doing on the roof, on the housetop?

[24:58] Well, you've got to understand the kind of construction that is utilized there in the Mideast is such that so many of these homes have flat roofs on them.

[25:10] And they are places of congregation. They are places where children play. They are places where women hang out the wash day clothes. They are places where friends gather together for lunch or for meetings or whatever.

[25:26] And the housetops are very prominent in Israel, which we do not realize today. Their roof is different than our kind of roofs. And he's saying, let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things that are in his house.

[25:41] In other words, you don't run downstairs to collect a bunch of old pictures or official records because you don't have time. Somebody is after your scalp and you are in the crosshairs of the Antichrist.

[25:57] And when you understand that this one is defiling the holy place of God by being there and announcing that he is God.

[26:13] And when that takes place, run for your life because it's not going to be worth much. And where they will run to is the area that we've indicated before in Basra.

[26:26] And they will be fleeing there to the mountains. So this is the time that is going to be very, very perilous. And as a result of their having taken Jerusalem and having completely decimated the area, the Antichrist, this is a man.

[26:47] The Antichrist is going to strut into the holy place of Israel and stand in the most holy place, which will have to, of course, be reconstructed, which now does not exist at all.

[27:01] And he is going to announce that he is God. And part of the evidence or the proof that he will present in declaring himself to be God is the fact that he has been victorious over what had then been referred to as the people of God.

[27:24] And the implication will be, well, if the Jews were the people of God, their God didn't take very good care of him, did he?

[27:36] Because I overpowered them and their God, proving that I'm the greatest. And he will declare himself to be God, to be deity. And that's exactly what Christ is talking about when he says, when you see the abomination that desolates, head for the hills.

[27:54] So the Jews who have been in Babylon. Well, let's look at some of our references here on the reverse side of this page, if we may.

[28:05] Let's just kind of work our way through here. And we'll probably generate some questions that you may have, so feel free to ask them. Let's look at Zechariah chapter 12 and beginning up here in the left-hand corner.

[28:18] And one reason I wanted to provide these on a sheet like this is so we would all be having the same translation in front of us. And this is, by the way, the King James. And we have an emotional attachment to the King James, but we certainly do not limit ourselves to using it exclusively.

[28:35] This just happens to be the text. The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretches forth the heavens. And by the way, Zechariah, written probably, hmm, probably, well, I'm sorry, I can't say it.

[28:57] But suffice it to say, multiple hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. But I'm having mental difficulty right now picturing the time frame there. But it's hundreds of years before Jesus was born.

[29:09] That we know. 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.

[29:28] And in that day, I will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people. That's another way of saying Jerusalem is going to be a real trouble spot.

[29:43] It's going to be a pain in the neck for the whole world. It's going to be a center of controversy and conflict and turmoil. Making Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people.

[29:58] All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. This is the gathering tide that is taking place even as we speak.

[30:11] I don't know how aware you are of it, but virtually every time an issue comes up in the United Nations that involves the nation of Israel, without fail, they get the short end of the stick every time.

[30:28] And every kind of petition that comes up, it invariably goes against Israel. And about the only thing that has contributed to their support is the veto power that the United States has as one of the original five nations in the UN Security Council.

[30:46] And any one of the five can veto the action of the other four. And that has been the only thing that has saved the bacon for Israel on a number of occasions is the United States injecting a veto and using that power.

[31:02] Verse 4 says, As in that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment and his rider with madness. Now there's a question that should surface there.

[31:15] Smite every horse of the people with blindness. Well, for crying out loud, what are they doing on horses? With all of the modern warfare that we've got today, the technology, the smart bombs, and nuclear activity and all the rest of us, where do these horses come in anyway?

[31:35] And my answer is, I don't have a clue. I don't have a clue. I've got a couple of possibility suggestions, but there's no way that I can really support them to enthusiastically.

[31:49] But you know we have talked in the past about man's inventions sometimes coming back to bite him. And there has been considerable talk and concern among our security people in Washington about the EMP and the electromagnetic pulse.

[32:09] If something like that should be activated on any part of the globe, there is a very good possibility that whoever was a recipient of that would exact the same upon the country that they suspected for doing it.

[32:24] And the EMP, the electromagnetic pulse, simply renders all electronic and electrical equipment worthless. Nothing operates.

[32:34] Your car won't run. Your computer won't run. You won't have any lights. The wells and the pumps won't work. The pumps and the wells, rather, won't work. Nothing will work. Anything that runs off of electricity or electronics, shut down.

[32:49] Nothing works. No vehicles, no tanks, no airplanes, no jets, no nothing. That is simply one possibility. We do not know, and I'm not saying that's what's going to happen, but I am saying that virtually everybody knows that is a possibility.

[33:07] And our powers that be say these are the kind of things that keep them awake at night. Our electrical grid in the United States is in an absolutely pitiful condition.

[33:20] It should have been rebuilt and reworked decades ago, and we are now limping along an inadequate power that is threatened, that is not secure, that is subject to terrorism, and frankly, I don't know why it hasn't been hit before, but it hasn't, so we're thankful for that.

[33:38] Anyway, wouldn't that be something? If techno man is back to the horse and buggy, unthinkable, impossible, ridiculous, could never happen.

[33:53] Well, we've said that about a number of other things, only to be proven wrong, haven't we? I don't know. Maybe this means that Zechariah and other prophets are using these ancient elements like horses and chariots and things like that, because that's all that existed then, and maybe what is going to be updated is some kind of a modern equivalent to that, so that they will be sophisticated machinery and things of that nature.

[34:27] That, too, is a possibility, that he is just using terms that he could identify with, that he saw in these visions, etc., because what we deal with today and what we know to be a reality simply didn't exist then.

[34:44] They were not available to be shown, so the jury is still out on that. We cannot be dogmatic about it, but the text is very, very interesting when it says, We'll 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.

[35:03] Now, some, of course, read into this and they say, Well, yes, that's the way it is, or that's the way it was. All of these are horses and chariots, etc., because that's what they were when this was fulfilled.

[35:19] So, actually, this isn't prophecy at all. This is history. And there are some of our brethren who take that position.

[35:30] Frankly, I do not think the text of Scripture or the general tenor of the Bible overall will allow for that, because the laws of hermeneutics have to mean something, and we've spent some time on that.

[35:42] But there are too many events that are described here that cannot be attributed to history because there is nothing that ever happened in history that could answer to them.

[35:55] So they, as well as tying them together with other portions, indicate that they are in the future. But I would admit right up front that it makes it seem a little more incredulous to be talking about horses and things like that in connection with what we know to be modern implements of warfare today.

[36:15] But keep in mind what I said. The jury's still out on that. The governors of Judah will say in their heart, Now, what this is described, is an incredible, valiant effort that is going to be put up by the inhabitants of Jerusalem to withstand the army of the Antichrist, and they are going to exact a horrendous toll.

[37:08] I don't know about you, but it reminds me of what happened in 70 A.D. when Titus brought his Roman army against Jerusalem, laid up a siege to the city, surrounded it. Nobody got in, nobody got out.

[37:22] And the toll of the Roman army was amazing. These Jews who fortified themselves in that city of Jerusalem eventually were overrun.

[37:36] Many of them were killed, executed. Many of them were led away in slavery. But they put up an enormous fight, and so much so that they angered the Roman soldiers who had lost many of their companions in the battle, and they insisted on sacking and ruining the city in a way that could not be imagined.

[37:58] In connection with what Jesus said about not a stone left unturned, they took huge pry bars and pried up those stones to the buildings that the Jews had built.

[38:10] And these were massive, massive stones weighing several tons. And they did so because so many things were overlaid with gold. And when the city was set on fire, the gold melted and ran down into cracks into the ground.

[38:20] And, of course, they used the pry bars to get those up and get the gold out. But that's different. This is talking about the time when the Antichrist is coming against Jerusalem.

[38:32] In verse 7, The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first. And that's a very interesting expression because I think we will see in a rather certain way that the tents of Judah will refer to the places of habitation that the Jews have fled to in southern Jordan in the areas of Basra and Petra.

[38:54] And they will be there one-third of the surviving Jewish population because two-thirds will have been eliminated. That's an important thing to note. As I pointed out in the past, Adolf Hitler succeeded in eliminating one-third of the world's Jewish population during World War II.

[39:17] Six million-plus Jews were eliminated. The Antichrist is going to succeed in eliminating two-thirds of the Jewish population worldwide.

[39:32] And there will be just the remnant of the one-third left. And they will comprise the tents of Judah. They will be those who are in Basra. And the beautiful thing about it is the supernatural is going to come back in a way that it hasn't been here perhaps since the first century when Christ was here because God is going to miraculously protect and provide for the people, the remnant in Basra during this time of onslaught.

[40:07] They are going to flee from Jerusalem to Basra. There they will be holed up. And this will be within the last couple of months of the tribulation period immediately prior to the coming of Christ.

[40:23] And he is going to supernaturally protect them and supernaturally provide food and water for them just like he did when they came out of Egypt. We are not told that it will be manna, but we are told that God will provide for them supernaturally.

[40:41] And that will be the tents of Judah, 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, verse 8, shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David.

[41:01] And the house of David shall be as God as the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day. And that phrase keeps cropping up.

[41:12] That day, that day, that day. And all you have to do is look at the context and see what that day is. That I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

[41:27] And Zechariah 14 at the top of the page. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

[41:38] And by the way, that day and the day of the Lord are synonymous. That day is the day of the Lord. And it is in contrast to the day of man or to the day and age of the Gentiles.

[41:54] The day of the Lord means nothing more than this. God is going to have his day. And it won't be 24 hours.

[42:06] It will be an extended period of time encompassing, no doubt, several days, maybe even several weeks. But it will be a time when God is manifested in a way that he has never been manifested before.

[42:20] And all will be in subjection to him. The day of the Lord comes and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I, the Lord, will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city shall be taken.

[42:42] Valiant effort, tremendous opposition, lots of heroes are going to be made, but in the final analysis, the city will fall.

[42:55] And this is what will give rise to the Antichrist and his boast of supremacy and going into the temple and declaring himself to be God Almighty.

[43:09] You see what I did, didn't you? You see how I've taken over the so-called people of God. You see, I've decimated them and the city. Doesn't this prove who I am? And he will demand worship and they will have little alternative but to give it.

[43:26] And many will think he deserves it and will freely worship him. When Jerusalem falls, the city shall be taken and the houses rifled, looted, and the women ravished.

[43:41] Not going into any detail there, but I think everyone, adult-wise, has a pretty good idea of what will be involved with women being ravished.

[43:52] It will be the invading enemy will have their way with the female population. And that is nothing new.

[44:04] It has been that way for thousands of years. It is that way today, particularly under the marching of Islam when they go into any new area.

[44:18] Wherever there are non-Muslim women, they are fair game and they have their way with them. Half of the city shall go forth into captivity and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

[44:35] Many of them will be subjected to slavery and servitude for a short period of time at least. Many of them, of course, will be executed. And then in Micah, Micah 11, verse 11 says, Now also many nations are gathered against thee that say, Let her be defiled and let our eye look upon Zion.

[45:03] But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel, for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

[45:17] He's talking about the threshing floor where you gather all of the sheaves of grain and you bring them into the threshing floor where the grain can be extracted from the sheaf and the good separated from the bad.

[45:35] And these have no idea who is really behind this. They think that it's their idea, that it's their motivation. But God is gathering them all together and they are completely clueless.

[45:48] He shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Rise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brass.

[46:03] In other words, this is the idea of in doing with superhuman strength, supernatural strength, so that it will not be normal at all.

[46:13] It will be supernatural. And thou shalt beat in pieces many people. Thy will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance unto the whole, unto the Lord of the whole earth.

[46:28] Now, gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops. He hath laid siege against us. They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

[46:39] And these references, many of them are cross-referenced with other passages that you may want to check at your leisure. And that would be perhaps helpful and even more enlightening.

[46:51] So, this concludes a brief and admittedly somewhat superficial consideration of the fall of Jerusalem.

[47:03] And these are the several verses and there are others that could be marshaled to support this same thing. Looking back at your map again, let me just point out a couple of things if we may.

[47:16] Item number one is where this is going to take place. The massing. This is the Megiddo or the area of Armageddon. This is often called the Battle of Armageddon.

[47:29] But as I pointed out, that's not all that correct. This is the campaign of Armageddon. There isn't going to be any actual fighting at Armageddon. But that's where the troops are going together and they'll march southward.

[47:41] And when that is under preparation and they are preparing to march, the game plan is to march south against Jerusalem. While that's taking place, Babylon is going to undergo a massive destruction.

[47:56] destruction. We saw that in Revelation 17 and Revelation 18 where those throughout the earth are lamenting, literally crying their crocodile tears because their support base has been taken away.

[48:14] There is a commercial Babylon that is going to be utterly ruined and a political Babylon that is also going to be brought to naught. Both of these are going to be destroyed. And these are the main support base of the Antichrist.

[48:28] And when he sees that these are all gone, the battle is over. And by the way, I do have one really, really intriguing question. Who is it that's going to destroy Babylon?

[48:48] That entity responsible for the destruction of Babylon that we considered in our previous segment is an enemy that is anti- Antichrist.

[49:03] These are opponents of the Antichrist. And during his time of ascendancy and power, he is going to put together a coalition that is going to to consist of most of the nations of the world.

[49:27] Who are these that he will not succeed in commandeering or enlisting because whoever they are, that's going to be the group.

[49:41] To my estimation, that's the only group left that would even have the will or the desire to destroy Babylon because Babylon is the new world seat of power and influence and wealth and economy and everything else.

[50:01] And yet, some formidable foe, unidentified, is going to destroy Babylon while the Antichrist is masked with all of his colleagues, with all of his allies in Armageddon preparing to march.

[50:22] And when he gets word, they will bring word to him that Babylon is no more than he is going to realize that he might as well forget about going to defend Babylon.

[50:35] It's gone. So he keeps up with the plan that Satan has inspired him to fulfill, and that is to march against Jerusalem. That's what he's going to do. So now, with a few moments that we have left, I'd like to open this up for any questions or comments that you may have.

[50:50] And the opportunity for such, I think, is great because there's a lot of things to be considered here. And we've got a pair of young legs back there with a microphone, so you feel free to raise your hand and he will get to you.

[51:04] You can ask your question, or if you want to make a comment, you can do that too. Anybody? Where is Nazareth compared to Megiddo?

[51:23] Where is Nazareth compared to Megiddo? Well, Nazareth is way up north, not far from Gentile territory. In fact, it borders Gentile territory in the north.

[51:35] So I would say that Nazareth is probably 70 to 90 miles north of Jerusalem. As far as I know, Nazareth has no play in the end time events at all.

[51:50] At least none that is recorded in Scripture. Did I see another hand somewhere? Up here? Jamie?

[52:02] Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. What are some of the resources that we could look up that would help show more of the timing that you're giving with the different stages?

[52:19] Are there any other resources that we could look at to help us know what in the Bible is referring to what?

[52:30] Yeah, I can steer you to Dr. Fruppenbaum's website. This is Ariel Ministries, A-R-I-E-L, Ariel Ministries, and he's got an extensive webpage with just a ton of materials available, some of which can be downloaded, some of which can be ordered.

[52:54] There are books, there are CDs available, things like that. And if you just log on to Ariel, I think it's Ariel.

[53:06] A-R-I-E-L, and the word Ariel means Lion of God. That's the name of his organization. It is headquartered in Southern California.

[53:20] And Dr. Fruppenbaum used to take groups to Israel for six-week historical geographical tours.

[53:31] Barbara and I were privileged to be on one in 1990. But my understanding is he has given that up. He used to do it every two years, and he did it, I think, for a period of about 20 years.

[53:45] But his wife became incapacitated with a serious illness, I think, MS. and he stayed pretty close to home. But he's quite a guy.

[53:55] And I recall reading a comment that Hal Lindsay had made about Dr. Fruppenbaum, and he said, Hal Lindsay said, I don't think there is a person alive who knows more about ancient and modern Israel than Dr.

[54:14] Fruppenbaum. And I think he's probably right. He's a pretty knowledgeable guy. And he'll provide you with a ton of materials. Question here? Yes. Dolly, right up front.

[54:24] Just wait for the microphone so they can hear it. It's coming. What do you think President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the political capital of Israel impacts anything that you've read in Revelation?

[54:42] Well, that's a very, insightful kind of question. And I appreciate your asking it. We do not know at this point in time how significant that is, but I would just say it has the potential of being very significant because you can understand the great controversy that surrounded his decision to do that.

[55:09] And traditionally, traditionally, and if I'm mistaken about this, I think Jim Jordan can correct me, but I think traditionally when the United States locates an embassy just about anywhere in the world, that they seem to always select the capital of that country for their embassy, and yet that has never been the case in Israel.

[55:40] our American embassy has always been in Tel Aviv, and Tel Aviv is a relatively modern city. In fact, the very name Tel Aviv in Hebrew means old and new, and the first part of the word Tel is taken from the ancient archaeological digs.

[55:58] They call these Tel's, a Tel, when they go into a mound and dig it up, it's called a Tel, T-E-L, Tel Aviv is from the Hebrew word, which means new, like new life, and that's the whole idea of putting those words Tel Aviv together, it's the old and the new together, and they named the city Tel Aviv.

[56:22] So it could play a very, very important part, and you know, the Muslim constituency worldwide fought against that, very much so, because they want Jerusalem, of course, for their capital.

[56:37] Okay, Joe. It would seem to me it's just one of those things happening in the world that's going to bring about sooner or speed up or, in God's way, the day of the Lord.

[56:50] It's just going to bring it about sooner. It's one of those steps that's leading towards the day of the Lord. I think you're right. I think you're right. Probably the biggest difficulty we have with these events is not in understanding what they are, but it's understanding the chronology and the order in which they're going to happen.

[57:11] I have weighed heavily over this issue for, probably for more than 30 years anyway, of the exact order in which these things are going to transpire.

[57:23] I think the suggestion that Dr. Fruchtenbaum has come up with now, understand what he's staging here, what he's indicating here as the eight stages are just the eight stages of Armageddon.

[57:40] These eight stages comprise just a small part of the 70th week of Daniel, which will encompass seven years. And what we have here is the end time of that seven year period.

[57:56] I don't know exactly how long these eight stages are going to ensue, how much time they are going to consume, but my guess is probably no more than several weeks.

[58:13] This is really close to the wrap-up. And of course it's going to be climaxed with the coming of Jesus Christ and his victory ascent to the Mount of Olives. So all of these things, I take it would seem to me that they're going to have to be pretty close together and they're all going to be at the end.

[58:33] And that's the only place that makes any sense because the second coming of Christ is there and he's not coming in the middle, he's coming at the end. And he's coming when Israel is on the very brink of annihilation.

[58:49] And one other thing that I would like to mention in connection with the warfare, and I don't, like I said, I don't have any solid answers to this, but this makes me wonder.

[58:59] All right, so you've got this remnant of Jews comprising probably several hundred thousand, maybe even a couple of million, I don't know how many, but they are going to be the remnant.

[59:14] They are the ones who are going to come to a spiritual awakening, and every single one of these is going to embrace Yeshua HaMashiach as their Messiah.

[59:31] This is what Zechariah is talking about when he says in chapter 12, that they, Israel, shall look upon him whom they pierced, and they shall mourn.

[59:46] These will be tears of repentance, tears of regret, and remorse for their ancestors having rejected Jesus as their Messiah, and they will embrace him, and they will cry out to him for his return.

[60:10] And Jesus said, shortly before he was crucified, he said, that you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

[60:24] And that's what that remnant is going to be looking for. Now, my question is this, how is that remnant going to be protected even if they were in a secure place like Petra, where scriptures refer to, well, we'll see this, you know, we'll see this in our next section, the armies of the Antichrist at Basra, how are they going to be protected if modern warfare implements are able to be utilized, how can they be protected?

[61:03] I know God could put up some kind of a miraculous shield and protect them. In fact, Israel's working on such a shield now, and so are we with the Star Wars thing to thwart incoming rockets and whatever, but it would, if things are reduced to a 19th century modus operandi and none of the modern implements of warfare would work, that would be one thing that would explain their protection.

[61:37] They could, they would be accessible only by ancient means. And do you know what the ancient means was for accessibility to Petra?

[61:48] You can see this, by the way, you can get it online. If you were going to the rose-red city of Petra, which is an incredible place, and you're going there on foot, of course, you could go in by helicopter, but what if helicopters can't be used?

[62:09] If you're limited to going in on foot, there's only one entrance into the place, and it's just a very narrow slit. And this is one reason why it has been considered impregnable for centuries, because there is just enough room through that slit in the rocks for one horse with one rider at a time.

[62:31] Can't even be two horses abreast. And what kind of a defense would that provide? It would be tremendous, wouldn't it? I mean, if only one person could get through there at a time on the horseback.

[62:43] Now, if that's what it's reduced to when that comes, maybe that will be part of their protection. I don't know. But it would seem like they would be vulnerable for aerial bombardment, for, you know, for fighter planes, for bombers, for grenades, for anything.

[63:02] But apparently that's not going to be the case, so we're not real sure why. Someone else quickly before we dismiss. Marie, up the front here. Boy, I'm sure glad you've got young legs.

[63:16] Here he comes. Up here, Marie. Isn't there a time when the Egyptians, is it the Egyptians or Arabs, are going to embrace the Messiah as theirs?

[63:35] Well, I do know this. I don't recall that exact thing, but I do know that in the final scheme of things, in the millennial rule and reign of Christ, there is a special blessing that is guaranteed for Egypt.

[63:57] And I'll research that and try to give you an update on it next week, but there is something promising in the future for Egypt as well. Matter of fact, there is for the descendants of Ishmael.

[64:14] And you recall that the Ishmaelites become pretty much the fathers of the Arab population. And Esau and his descendants are the people who populate the area that we're talking about now.

[64:32] In Basra, and Idumea, and Petra, and so on, in that geographical area, these are all descendants of Esau, one of the sons of Isaac. Well, I was wondering if they might be some that would join with the Jews in fighting the Antichrist.

[64:48] and I can't answer that for sure, but I guess all things are possible. I do know that when it comes to international politics, things can shift overnight.

[65:04] It's just amazing how an enemy can become an ally or vice versa, especially in a volatile Mideast. that place always seems to be in turmoil of some kind or another.

[65:18] Well, we've looked at a number of things this morning, and I know you've got a lot of questions, too, and so do I, but we will just try to work our way on through this, and we'll spend the next few weeks in these items one at a time as they come up.

[65:35] Feel free to bring your questions. Any suggestions or ideas you have, we're certainly welcome, and they will be welcome. So would you stand, please? Father, we are so grateful to know that despite the many questions that we have about the things that we have been reading, you don't have any questions at all, and you are completely in charge of this, and you are going to bring all things about according to the counsel of your own will, and we take great comfort in that, knowing that you are indeed aware of all that's transpiring and how it's coming down, and what your part is going to be in it, and we are grateful to be under your lordship.

[66:21] Thank you for what you've been pleased to reveal. I trust that you will use the time that we've spent this morning together to gain further information and understanding about what's going to happen, simply so, that our confidence and trust in you might be increased because you are worthy.

[66:41]  In Christ's name we pray. Amen.