At the  time of the 6th Bowl judgment, Satan will send 3 demonic emissaries with miraculous powers to persuade all the Kings of the Earth to gather their armies at Har Megiddo, known to us as Armageddon  (Rev. 16:14,)   Mt. Megiddo overlooks the plains of Jezreel in central Israel, where the world’s armies will come together for the battle of Jerusalem, less than 100 miles to the south.  The anti-Christ will invade Israel and set up headquarters in Jerusalem (Daniel 11:41.45).  According to Zechariah, the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. (Zech 14:2)

Then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations as He fights in the day of battle (Zech 14:3). In Rev. 16:14 John called this the battle on the great day of God Almighty, and it will all be over in less than one day. But which day? Jesus said,  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (Matt. 24:42)  Let’s see if we can piece the various scripture references together to make some sense of the chain of events.

Lights Off
He told us that “immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” (Matt. 24:29)

480 years earlier He had Zechariah say, “On that day (the day of the battle)there will be no light, no cold or frost.  It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light.” (Zech 14:6-7) That tells us this battle will follow on the heels of the Great Tribulation and occur during the time when there’s no light on Earth, on a day only the Lord will know.  I think this time of darkness will be a brief one, perhaps just a few days long.  It only has to last long enough to make the Lord’s statement that no one would know the day or hour of His return come true.

Picture the armies of Earth gathered in Israel knowing they’re going up against the King of Kings in  the final round of the battle for control of Planet Earth. Babylon the Great will have just been destroyed (Rev. 18) and you’d think they would have had enough.  But obviously they’ve been emboldened by Satan’s demonic emissaries. The miraculous signs these three display will convince them they have the necessary force to prevail.  Then without warning the whole world will be plunged into absolute darkness with no Sun, no Moon, no stars to illuminate the endless expanse of the night sky.  Everything will come to a standstill.  Where is their enemy? Why doesn’t He come out and fight?

Suddenly the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. (Matt. 24:30)  At that moment they’ll realize their mistake, their confidence will evaporate, and they’ll wish with all their heart they hadn’t listened to Satan’s emissaries.  But it’ll be too late for that.

John described the ensuing battle this way.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. (Rev. 19:11-15)

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. (Rev. 19:19-21)

The Armies of Earth will quickly discover that their worst fears have become reality.  They’re no match for the Lord. The sword that comes from His mouth is obviously symbolic, standing for His Word.  Having spoken the universe into existence, defeating this army with the word of His mouth will be no challenge. The armies of Heaven won’t even get their robes dirty.  But the Kings of the Earth will realize they’ve been misled by Satan once again, and this time it will prove to be a fatal mistake.

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea(Dead Sea) and half to the western sea, (Mediterranean) in summer and in winter. (Zech 14:8)

From Ezekiel 47:2 we learn that the water comes from the Temple, flowing south into a great  ravine formed by an earthquake that will occur when the Lord’s foot touches the Mt. of Olives (Zech 14:4).  This ravine will run west to east  from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, forming the bed of the mighty River of Life (Ezek. 47:1-12, Rev. 22:1-2).  Splitting the Mt. Of Olives means it will go straight through the current Temple Mount, eliminating all traces of it. Since the water flows south it means the Temple built at the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week will have been located to the North of the current Mount.  Last time we identified its location as Shiloh, 20 miles north of Jerusalem.

The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name. (Zech 14:9)

This is a long awaited fulfillment of prophecy.  Within a few short days, everyone on Earth will stand before King Jesus and agree that He is Lord of all the Earth.  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:9-11) Tragically, many will not have confessed Him as their Savior, and now it’s too late.  As they depart to begin an eternity of torment they’ll have to admit that as Lord,  He has the right to banish them. Even worse, they’ll know that He died for their sins, but they refused the pardon His death purchased for them, and the time for claiming it expired with His Coming.

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. (Rev. 20:1-3)

Lights On
The anti-Christ and false prophet will have been cast into the Lake of Fire, and Satan will be bound.  Finally peace will come to Earth. Zechariah said that in the evening of that day there will be light (Zech. 14:7), but Jesus said the Sun would go dark to mark the end of the Great Tribulation.  Where will the light come from?

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. (Rev. 21:2-3)

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. (Rev. 21:23-25)

Believers who died before the Church age will rise from their graves (Daniel 12:2), accompanied by Tribulation Martyrs (Rev. 20:4).  Together they’ll witness the Glorious Appearing of the Lord and join the grateful multitude in welcoming Him to Earth.  The Creation itself will have been waiting in eager expectation of this day, when it will finally be liberated from it’s bondage to decay. (Romans 8:19-21)

The Lord’s first order of business upon returning will be to summon all the survivors of the Great Tribulation to determine their disposition. First the Jew,

Jesus said to them (the Disciples), “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.(Matt. 19:28)

then the Gentile.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Matt. 25:31-32)

This prophecy first appeared in Joel 3:1-2. “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.  There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.”

The parables of the Faithful Servant, the Ten Virgins, and the Talents in Matt. 24-25 also describe this time of judgment that I believe will consume the Lord’s first 30 days back on Earth.  The net result of these events is that surviving Tribulation believers will be welcomed into the Millennial Kingdom, while unbelievers will be taken away to begin an eternity of torment (Matt. 24:51, 25:30, 25:41)

Next will come the business of establishing His Kingdom.  The Temple, defiled by the abomination of desolation, will be cleansed and made fit for service again like its predecessor of Maccabean days. The new levitical priesthood, led by the descendants of Zadok, will be installed (Ezekiel 44:10-16) to officiate therein. The promised Land will be divided and re-distributed to the Jews (Ezekiel 48:1-29)  while believing Gentiles will be sent to re-populate the nations. Governmental and administrative systems will be put into place.

This will require an additional 45 days.  These two periods were hinted at in Daniel 12:11-12.

“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.

The Great Tribulation will be 1260 days long.  30 days to judge the survivors brings us to 1290 days and 45 more to set up the Kingdom totals 1335.  Blessed is the one who reaches this time because he will be counted among those who’ve been judged worthy to inhabit the kingdom.  Every one will be a believer.

So as the Millennium begins there will finally be peace on Earth, a peace so real they’ll be able to feel it. The Lord will be King of all the Earth and His name will be the only name (Zech 14:8).  More next time.

The combination of the Rapture and the Battle of Ezekiel 38 will fill the world with anguish and uncertainty as Daniel’s 70th Week begins.  Where did all those Christian people go? How did Israel so utterly destroy that massive invasion force all by itself?  Who caused the nuclear exchanges in various places?  How did all these things happen so suddenly? Why didn’t somebody see this coming and do something about it?

The Seal Judgments
In the midst of the chaos and confusion a man with an incredible ability to restore the world’s hope for the future will emerge, promising to bring peace. (Rev. 6:2) The frightened populace will listen and  will quickly persuade themselves to follow his lead.  He’ll agree to Israel’s demand for a Temple, not because He wants to help them honor God for securing their victory but because he has plans of his own for the Temple. (Daniel 9:27)

From their own Scriptures (Ezekiel 48:1-10) he’ll show Israel why their new Temple shouldn’t be built where the old ones had stood.  Instead it should be located a few miles north, in ancient Shiloh, where the Tabernacle had been located.  This will leave the Moslem facilities intact for a time on the current Temple mount.  After the disappearance of the Church Islam will fast become the dominant religion of the world and they believe their third most holy place is on that mount.  With this bold stroke he’ll bring a semblance of peace to the region, demonstrating that Jew and Moslem can live in peace as neighbors in a brave new world (Dan 8:25).  The people of Earth will breathe a collective sigh of relief.

But all too soon wars will start to break out in various places (Rev. 6:3) because this leader’s ultimate goal is world domination and some nations will resist. He’ll convince people it’s only a necessary inconvenience and   assure them that everything will soon be all right again.  But the combination of wars, food shortages, and runaway inflation will begin taking their toll (Rev. 6:6).  The deadly effects of this combination will be felt across one fourth of the Earth.

Though it’s often called a religion of peace, Islam offers the world only two options, submission or death, as the martyrs among believers of other faiths will soon learn.  For the multitude of new Christians who witnessed the disappearance of friends and family in the rapture and know from first hand experience the truth of the gospel, conversion  to Islam will be impossible and the number of those who will die for their faith will mount rapidly and steadily. (Rev. 6:9) They’ll cry out to the Lord for vengeance but He’ll caution them to be patient for a little while longer because many more will die just as they have (Rev. 6:10-11).

A great earthquake that will be felt world wide will trigger volcanic action spewing millions of  tons of ash into the air, blotting out the Sun and bringing the Blood Moon (Rev. 6:12-14).  Some will blame the earthquake on a unique planetary alignment predicted by the Mayans long ago.  Others will say it’s due to the return into the Solar System of a long lost planet.  The upper atmosphere will literally burst into flame because of the simultaneous magnetic polar reversals on the Sun and Earth.

The world’s leaders will run for cover, some intuitively knowing that the Wrath of God they were warned about by the Christians who’ve all disappeared has already begun and they’ll be shown no quarter. (Rev. 6:16-17)

The Trumpet Judgments
As if to confirm the worst fears of these leaders, a storm of hail, fire, and blood will rain down upon the Earth burning up a third of it.  A third of the trees and all the green grass will go up in smoke.  (Rev. 8:7)  A meteor-like object the size of a huge mountain will crash into the sea.  The resulting contamination will turn a third of the world’s oceans to blood killing all the marine life in the affected areas. The tsunami this causes will capsize and destroy a third of the ships in the world.  Over 50,000 commercial ships will disappear in a single day. (Rev. 8:8-9)

Then another star will fall to Earth and when it does a third of the fresh water will be contaminated.  It will be toxic and foul tasting and many people will die from drinking it. (Rev. 8:10-11)

Both the day and the night will lose a third of their light due to the smoke and ash from the fires and  volcanos.  Through the smoke and haze a messenger will bring a warning from the Lord, “The worst is yet to come.” (Rev. 8:12-13)

A fallen angel will open the shaft of the Abyss and smoke will billow forth, further contaminating the already toxic air. Creatures resembling locusts will fly from the smoke and for 5 months will inflict scorpion like stings on the people. These stings will be so painful people will wish they could die, but there’ll be no escape (Rev. 9:1-11).  The only people on Earth who will be immune from their venom will be the 144,000 evangelists the Lord will have commissioned from among 12 named tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:1-8).

Four angels who’ve been bound at the gateway to the East (the Euphrates) will be released to kill one third of the Earth’s remaining population with plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur.  (Rev. 9:13-19) The East is far different from the West and because of Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern religions the Far East will be the most difficult to bring under the Islamic one world banner.  Since 40% of the world’s population lives there the number of casualties will be enormous.

Between the Rapture, the martyrdom, the wars and the judgments well over 2 billion people will no longer be found among the living on planet Earth as Daniel’s 70th Week approaches the mid point.  And yet the Bible gives no indication that the unbelievers who remain will see the error of their ways and change their minds.  This is the hardest core of the unsaved, the ones who refused to believe the truth of the Lord and accepted the lie of the anti-Christ instead (2 Thes. 2:10).  In their deluded state they’ll think they’re on the side of light not darkness, and right not wrong.  They’ll see God as the invading enemy and Satan as their leader.  Spiritually, everything will be upside down.

But at the blowing of the 7th Trumpet, the Lord’s reign will begin (Rev. 11:15). Having used every device at His command to persuade the people of Earth to change their minds and accept His offer of pardon, He will now take action to unseat the usurper from the throne that’s rightfully His and claim for Himself that which He’s purchased with His own blood, Planet Earth.  Those who’ve sided with Satan will now face the worst time of judgment in the history of mankind.  Were it not for a remnant of the Lord’s people among them, not a single soul would be left standing when this is over (Matt. 24:21-22).

The Bowl Judgments
The Bowl judgments make up the 3 1/2 year period of time we know as the Great Tribulation.  The Seal and Trumpet cycles of judgments were partly for the purpose of demonstrating evidence of God’s existence to the undecided among the people of Earth.  But that will have come to an end with the Bowl judgments.  They’re strictly for the purpose of bringing judgment upon those who’ve rejected Him.  In the process the Lord is going to completely destroy all the nations to which His people have been scattered (Jeremiah 30:11).  Today there are nearly as many Jews in America as there are in Israel, so you know this country will not escape.

By now Satan will have been expelled from Heaven (Rev. 12:9), taken up residence in the body of the anti-Christ (Rev. 13:4) and unleashed his full fury on those who refuse to bow before him.  Three angels will have delivered God’s final messages to mankind.  The first one will offer one last chance to accept the Gospel, the second will announce the coming destruction of Babylon and all the city represents, and the third will warn mankind against taking the mark of the beast. (Rev. 14:6-11)

People who will have disregarded the warning against taking the mark will be treated to a dose of ugly and painful sores (Rev. 16:2) All the water on Earth will turn to blood, whether in the sea (Rev. 16:3) or in springs and rivers (Rev. 16:4). All sources of water will now be contaminated.  The angel in charge of the waters reminds us that God is just in doing this because those He’s judging have shed the blood of God’s saints and prophets.  Now He’s giving them blood to drink. (Rev. 16:5-7)

The Sun will go super nova at this point becoming so hot people will burst into flames just by going outside.  Again they will curse God but refuse to repent. (Rev. 16:8-9)

Then the Sun will go totally dark turning day into night, and still the people of Earth will curse God but refuse to repent (Rev. 16:10-11).

The anti-Christ will gather the armies of the world to Armageddon in a final effort to repel the Earth’s “invaders”.  From Heaven a loud voice will shout, “It is done!” and the full fury of God’s wrath will be loosed on Earth. Lightning, thunder, and the worst earthquake man has ever experienced  will be followed by a torrent of 100 pound hail stones. (Rev. 16:17-21)  The punishment for blasphemy is stoning, and the blaspheming people of Earth will suffer the most extreme form of this punishment for their behavior.

Then God will turn to Babylon, headquarters of the forces who’ve defied Him since the time after the flood. There are three components involved, governmental, commercial, and religious, and among them they have enslaved the people of Earth for several millennia.

First God will use the governmental component to destroy the religious one.

“The beast (anti-Christ) and the ten horns (ten kings who assist him) you saw will hate the prostitute (religious Babylon). They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God’s words are fulfilled.” (Rev. 17:16-17)

Then He’ll turn to the commercial component.  It will be so totally destroyed that Earth’s leaders will stand aghast scarcely believing what their own eyes are telling them.

They will weep and mourn and cry out, “Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!” (Rev. 18:16-17)

Finally the governmental component.

The beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. (Rev. 19:20-21)

For six thousand years God has worked tirelessly to reconcile Himself to man, even giving His own life in exchange for ours, and all of His efforts have ended in failure.  Covenant after covenant was instituted and broken due to man’s unfaithfulness.  The only one that wasn’t is the one the Father made with His son to save us.  But even then man, given the choice to participate as a beneficiary, refused.  Soon, His patience exhausted, God will remove the remnant that chose the pardon He offers, and judge the rest.  Can you blame Him?