Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
The world is always in a state of conflict, even when we humans don’t know it. Powerful forces are arrayed to overtake individuals, families, and even nations. A time is coming for the whole world when everyone will be against the other. A world war is coming that indeed will trump all world wars. No treaties will be observed. No diplomacy talks will be held. No military will be held back. Like race horses in the starting gates at the Kentucky Derby, they will be chomping at their bits for the gates to open, and when they do no one will be safe.
The media as prophesied in Dan.12:4 will give live coverage, increased knowledge, of each event and e-mails will be frantically sent from coast to coast, and nation to nation.
We studied the four horses of the tribulation period as noted in Rev.6:1-8. A false peace will initiate man’s idea of the perfect world as the Antichrist rides in on the scene on a White horse following the rapture of the Church. His dream of a utopian society will be sown in lies as he makes empty promises to the Jews. But he will break this promise of peace when Satan is cast out of heaven in the middle of the seven year tribulation. The Temple of the Jews will become the throne of the Antichrist and he will demand the world to worship him and obey his every order. For those who refuse him he will seek to kill them. The Red war horse will ride through the cities and countryside and millions will die. Then the Black horse will bring in the desolation and hunger will follow. Lastly, we saw the Pale horse bringing in great famine and disease and utter chaos upon the whole world. Hard times are coming and no one wants to be left behind for this suffering.
Let me say this at this juncture. It makes no difference how much education you have, or how religious you are, or how good of a person you think you are, if you’re are not saved when the Lord Jesus Christ returns for all born again believers, you will left behind to face hell on earth, and Christ can come at any time. There won’t be time to get ready if you’re not ready. The time for salvation is now the Bible warns. This kind of speech may seem for many as outlandish apocalyptic wildfire and that it has no place in a civilized educated world. Well, if the world was so civilized and educated it seems men would stop fighting and murders and abductions of children and starvation would be a thing of the past. But the problem with the world is sin, and men’s denial of this problem. Jesus Christ is the answer, but most of mankind thinks differently and look where we are.
Now, what is Armageddon? Some think it is the end of the world. Some think no one will survive and that mankind will nuke each other out of existence. Some say it is past and only represents the conflict between the good and evil of the early years of the church. As we will see, Armageddon is more than a place of destruction; it is also the place of deliverance; for it is a place of destruction of the ungodly but deliverance of the righteous.
All the armies of the world will be gathered in a place called Armageddon at the end of the seven year tribulation period, Rev.16:14; 19:19.
This place is said to be in four areas of Palestine.
1) It is in the Valley of Megiddo; the Plain of Esdraelon, This valley runs from the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River in the east all the way to the Mediterranean Sea on the west.Rev.16:16.
2) It is also said in Zech.12:2-11; 14:2 to be in Jerusalem.
3) It is also said to be in the Jehosphat Valley, east of Jerusalem in Ezek.39:11; Joel 3:2-17.
4) And finally it is said to be in Edom; modern day southern Israel and Jordan, Isa.34:16; 63:1-6.
All of these areas cover the area of Palestine. Napoleon Bonaparte upon seeing this vast valley said all the armies of the world could maneuver in such a place.
The word used for battle in Rev.16:14, polemos, means, a campaign. Strategies will be waged between world powers in an all out attempt to rule the world, and Satan will be inspiring all of these major powers to kill those saved during the tribulation period, especially converted Jews to Christ.
Ezek.38:9 says the whole land will be invaded by world military powers, even the modern cities, identified as [unwalled villages] will be invaded as noted in Ezek.38:11.
And as we said last week, and I hope you got this point; that it is God who is making the way possible to draw all of the world powers into this final place. Like shaping up a mound of dirt from the four corners of the globe God will be bringing together the evil men of this world.
It is here, near Jerusalem, that Jesus Christ is prophesied to return in his second coming, Zech.14:4.
The world will not see Jesus Christ at the rapture of the Church when all born again believers will be snatched up to heaven as only believers will see him, I Cor.15:52.
But the whole world will see Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, when he makes his grand return to take back what is his
Now just to clarify something, not everyone who goes to church will be snatched, or raptured to heaven prior to the tribulation period.
Being among a body of church goers doesn’t make a person a member of the body of Christ, and only the body of Christ makes up the true church.
The church is not the building, nor is it necessarily those who gather to worship on Sunday. It is those who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. All others are left behind because they have rejected the Son of God as their Savior.
The second coming of Jesus Christ happens seven years after the rapture of the church. The whole world will be staged at that time to annihilate one another when the second coming of Christ comes upon them, Dan.11:36, 40.
And at that time instead of focusing on destroying one another the mighty armies of the four world powers will see Jesus Christ returning and they will pull all of their resources together to fight the Lord of heaven. Rev.19:19-21.
This battle is not seen until Rev.19:11-21. (Read Rev.19:11-21.)
But the Battle of Armageddon is not the end of time, though it is the end of the Times of the Gentiles as Gentiles have dominated over Israel in the world since 606 B.C when Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.
We will pick up with this Babylon next week.