The Battle of Armageddon

Ezekiel 39

²¹ And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

²² So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.

By Pastor Joseph Chambers  /  Paw Creek Ministries

     The Mother of Battles is the Battle of Armageddon. The Devil has been defeated both at Rome and at Babylon. Both cities are destroyed and Rome is burning with fire. Now the Antichrist is determined to take Jerusalem and either possess it completely and free of Jews or totally destroy it. Those are his two options. He gathers the elite armies of every nation of the world. His army is undefeatable. They fill the entire valley of Megiddo and even have armed camps in every possible place. They have united all the forces and ready to march.

     Suddenly the Heavens come alive with a host of an even greater multitude. The sounds in the heavens are so loud and overwhelming that Satan’s great multitude suddenly trembles with fear. The mighty Redeemer is on His white stallion and followed by the Raptured crowd having just finished the wedding feast on the Sea of Glass. Every Raptured saint is riding a white horse and the bellowing of the horses is enough to drive the Antichrist crowd mad with fear. Jesus simply speaks victory and the multitude of the wicked are paralyzed in defeat.

     At this point, the Antichrist kingdom is in ruins. Babylon, the capitol, is burning with fire and the headquarters of the One World Religion has been destroyed.  The Antichrist is seething with hatred, and his false trinity is using the last ounce of their powers to gather an army for a last-ditch stand.  The chosen location is Megiddo in Northern Israel, and Jerusalem is bracing for an all-out war.  The Jews that have not been killed will have retaken Jerusalem and are preparing for the greatest battle of their existence.  The army of the Antichrist is massive and Israel knows they will either be victorious or the ancient city will be no more.  The massacre of the smaller cities in Northern Israel has already cost many Israeli lives.  The whole area stretching into Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan is an incredible war camp and nobody gives Israel an ounce of hope.  It’s hundreds-to-one in favor of this army of beasts.

     Elders, the raptured saints, the saints redeemed during the tribulation years, Jewish believers of the one hundred forty-four thousand and their converts, the host of angels, cherubim – those living creatures, the great God and His Son – the Lamb, and the seven Spirits or the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit are all preparing for a wedding in the sky. 

     All judgments are complete except those that will occur when the Son of God descends with His army of the redeemed.  Before that army leaves Heaven, the Son of God must take His Bride unto Himself and prepare for His Millennial reign on planet earth.  The Son of God is the Eternal Creator and when He descends, He will revolutionize this universe with righteousness and the nature of God.  Planet earth will quickly become a garden of beauty rare and prosperity to the fullness intended in creation.

     As Heaven prepares for the wedding of all eternity, rejoicing turns God’s city into a holy celebration.  The banquet is being prepared, flowers fill every nook and corner, angels busy themselves with the banquet meal, and others set the table with spotless care and expensive ware.  This transpires while the Bride waits in perfect peace.  Multitudes of Cherubim and Seraphim are worshipping the Father and the Lamb.  They are filling all heaven with their music.  The Bride in waiting has her own song and music echoes across the towering walls of this Heavenly city.  The redeemed Jews also have their unique song and their singing is like the echo of angels as they celebrate their love for a Messiah so long rejected.

     Satan’s trinity is well connected to the spirit realm and they know what is happening in the heavens.  This dark threesome is in continuous troubling conversation with their generals and commanders.  The army is massive, but they are a very disturbed multitude.  They can be united only by occultic deceptions and constant debates made horrendous by the many language barriers.  Hatred for every living Jew and any semblance of Biblical Christianity is the one power and idea that deters total revolt.  They are one in purpose only because the condition of the present Antichrist kingdom is chaos and there is nothing else to dream about but war on Jerusalem.

     Before Christ’s army leaves the Heavenly city, the wedding of Christ and His Bride will transpire.  The Psalmist David was given a peep into this royal ceremony.  First, he spoke of this coming King Messiah and declared Him with a glorious sense of His lofty stature.  Here is his description of our future Groom, “My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.  Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.  And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.  Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.  Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.”  Psalm 45:1-6

     Such words are too high for me and leave me with a glow into the marvel of our Father’s gift.  He was very God – already a King – and grace poured from His life.  He was majestic in humility, mighty in battle, and truth was the essence of His person.  He came from a throne and was destined to return to a throne with everlasting victory in His right hand.  He will be the Bride’s everlasting companion in a spiritual union where marriage is but a shadow.

     David’s description of the Bride is awesome.  She is not the product of a mixed multitude.  The present church world treats the Bride like she is a loose knit bunch of church members that make it in by the skin of their teeth.  The great voices of the past church world adhered to strict Biblical interpretation and saw a very different truth.  The brideship of Christ must be seen as a coveted promise for those willing to forsake all and follow Christ.  David clearly shows the distinction between the Bride or Queen and the guests at the wedding. “Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.  Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.  And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.  The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.  She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.  With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.”  Psalm 45:9-15

     These words are written in a complex manner, but carefully show this Queen dressed in the extravagant gold of Ophir.  She stands forth among the virgins, the daughter of Tyre with her gift, and the multiple kings’ daughters.  This singular (special) daughter – the Bride and Queen – is all dressed and prepared in raiment of needlework to be brought unto the King Himself.  Not only is she attired in raiment of needlework; but also, she is all-glorious within.  Twice it was declared that her clothing is of wrought gold.  All of this beauty is a work of grace and redemption that the King Himself wrought for her when He stepped out of eternity to enter the winepress of wrath as our sacrifice for sin.  What a picture of the Bride shortly to be celebrated in the banquet hall of the heavenly city of Jerusalem, God’s mountain of holiness on the sides of the north.

“And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.” Revelation 19:1-4

Matthew 24

²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

³⁰ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

     The judgment of this “Great Whore” of a One World Religion takes front page as this chapter unfolds.  Nothing in human history has done more damage and nothing is more assuredly the tool of Satan than false religion.  It’s practically impossible to debate the world and its problems with a critic without them speaking of the damage religion has caused, and they are right.  But, in every case the damage is the work of some false expression of religion, never the real Church and Biblical truth.  Satan, being religious himself, has always clothed his dark deeds in some religious garb for maximum damage.  The Book of Revelation clearly shows that the Father and the Lamb hate a religious mixture and any form of a false church.

     Revelation chapter nineteen is a triumphant chapter and begins with the destruction of the false religious orders united into one massive religious whore.  It’s actually positive and beautiful how the religious world was allowed, even directed by the Lord, to create this great system representing all false systems into one so the Lamb could pour His wrath on them in total destruction.  The blood of millions of the true saints is avenged in one great moment.  Every organization that is guilty of defying truth, fight against genuine saints, and causing harm or martyrdom will be brought into this whoredom and will be destroyed.

     Alleluia and praise is heard from the twenty-four elders that first appeared before God’s throne at the Rapture in chapter four.  They are joined by the living creatures, cherubim, because this is the church’s triumph of the ages.  Nothing has been such a pain as the tares growing among the wheat.  The saints are rejoicing because the fires of judgment have cleansed the world of religion that has been described as the opium of the people.  Cherubim join this celebration because their mission has always been to protect holiness and defend the earth.  They have borne the great challenge of judging the false and protecting the real and they have had no rest.  They join the saints, now elders, as cause for great rejoicing has filled God’s universe.

“And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” Revelation 19:5-7

     The call for celebration comes directly from the Throne of God.  The Father and the Lamb have been at the very center of every event in this Book.  Every voice from an angel, an elder, or cherubim had support and direction from the Throne.  The great happenings of judgment or redemption were never accidents or some momentary decision, but a course in prophecy set by the Creator in ages past.  The whole design of this book flows out of the previous sixty-five books of the Bible and this is a culmination of them all.  It’s God’s Masterpiece of End Time events and all is on schedule.  The Father had planned His day for His Son to be united with His Bride and the time is here in this text.  So, a voice calls out, “Praise our God, all ye his servants.”

     Every voice, from that of His saints all the way to the sounds of nature and the created planet earth, begins to praise the Lord.  Thunderings now become praise instead of the voice of a storm.  These sounds begin the rejoicing that the false religion is judged and that the true religion may triumph.

   The false bride married to Antichrist has to be rendered divorced because her marriage was an act of fornication – the love of flesh – and it has ended in God’s purge of uncleanness.  The result of this purge has prepared the way for the royal marriage of God’s Son to His chosen Bride.  God’s Son has always been the joy of Heaven and the praise of all righteousness.  For the time of this celebration to begin, He fills the Heavenly sphere with exceeding joy.  The Father was the Master Giver that sacrificed His own Son that this day could be possible.  The words most fitting from the Heavenly Hosts are “the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

     Then, that voice from out of the Throne speaks again, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come.”  From the Revelation of the glorified Christ in Chapter One, every event and occurrence in this book has been directed towards this wedding and the wedding company’s destination in the city prepared as a “Bride adorned for her husband.” The wedding and the city of New Jerusalem is the crowning joy of this book and indeed of the entire Bible.  The Father’s plan for His Son is the final honor for His sacrifice of redemption.  The Bride for His Son is the highest honor for the saints that give a total surrender of them to the Kingdom of God.  The proclamation, the “Marriage of the Lamb,” is one of the Father’s grandest revelations in Holy Scripture.  It was in His heart when he placed the first man and woman in the garden.

“And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.  And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.  And I fell at his feet to worship him.  And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  (Revelation 19:8-10 KJV)

     The relationship of this Bride to the Lord Jesus Christ is what the Father intended for all mankind.  We were created to be His intimate family, to live in a splendor that every king has labored to create.  Fellowship between God and man was ordained to give Him pleasure and great joy, and for a short time, He and Adam walked together in the great expanse of gardens and prosperity.  Daily, as the afternoon began to merge with the evening, the Father would step down from His eternal city and meet Adam and Eve in the splendor of their surroundings.  The singing and laughter was no doubt the joy of angels and cherubim alike.  Darkness fell when man sinned, and God spoke of another day when the intruder would be finished and truth would prevail.  This wedding is the day that God spoke of in the shadows of Adam’s failure.

2 Peter 2

1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

² And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

³ And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

The Bride “hath made herself ready.”  No wonder the Bible says, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)  This Bride is the chosen out of all church history, both the First Covenant and the Second.  They gave themselves totally, they were the overcomers, and their reward is the highest honor of human history.  This voice out of the throne spoke to John and said, “Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:9)  This company will be made up of martyrs that laid down their life with joy – prophets and pastors, elders, and elect ladies.  These are the souls that have clearly paid the price of their cross, forsaken all to follow Jesus, and never complained that their cross was too heavy.  These saints will be pillars in His temple.  As citizens of New Jerusalem, they will eat of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God.  They will wear crowns, sit on thrones, eat the hidden manna, have a new name, possess the Morning Star, and hear the Son confess their name to the Father.  They are royal sons and daughters, the Bride of the Lamb.

     The Bible could well have given us more, much more details about this wedding; but the event is so royal that its language was never meant for the ears of carnal men.  The elder that gave John the message of the wedding was quick to stop John from worshipping him.  God chose an elder to speak of this wedding because it is an affair of Christ and redeemed men, angels were not allowed to talk of this special time for Him and His saints.  The elder said to John, “I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10b)

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”  Revelation 19:11-14

     The Lamb has received His Bride and the earth must become their redeemed possession.  The army in Heaven includes all His saints:  every redeemed soul, the elders of chapter four, the Tribulation Saints of chapter seven, the one hundred and forty-four thousand of His Jewish kin and their converts of chapters fourteen and fifteen, and the two witnesses of chapter eleven.  The Antichrist army is as prepared as the Antichrist crowd can obtain.  The Lamb must lay aside the appearance of death and take up the office of the “Word of God.”  The “Word of God” rides a white stallion and His army rides white horses with Him.

     This is the Battle of Armageddon.  Every title that has prepared Christ for this great moment rides with Him on His white stallion.  He is “Faithful and True.”  It is righteousness alone that He comes to establish.  The judgments of this descent of Christ are to establish the purity of the Father on this earth.  Almost all wars have been the result of the anger, vindictiveness, and lust of mankind; but this is a holy war to cleanse the earth of the last vestige of carnal men and their carnal pursuits.  The armies of the Antichrist were slain on the battlefield of Armageddon; but their politicians, their supportive trainees, and those that handle the logistics of shipping the war machinery must be dealt with in the countries of the world.  This army that rides with the Son of God will be fully prepared to take possession of the earth for great victory on the white stallion.

     His appearance is the rendering of all He will represent as King of Kings over all God’s created world.  We saw Him as a Lamb slain during the entire seven years of tribulation, but now the new appearance must match the new challenge.  He is coming to perfect a world, transforming it from human government to divine government.  The omniscient, all-knowing, all wisdom, revelation of the eternal Son of God is breathtaking.  He is wearing the crown of all crowns – the final crown of all kingdoms – because He alone will rule the world in righteousness.  He has a name that is His final name, the total of all His names, because He is the Son of man, perfected and the Son of God accepted by the entire universe.

     While His glory is that expression of total triumph over all the results of sin and redemption, He will still bear the remembrance of sin. His vesture, a small part of His matchless robe, is dipped in blood.  Eternity, though high and exalted above all the pains of sin and rebellion, will forever remember His sacrifice.  Coupled with the vesture dipped in blood is His name, the “Word of God.”  One God-man, Jesus Christ, is the eternal manifestation of the Father’s spoken word as well as the fullness of His sacrifice.

     His army is fully ready and armed with His authority.  This is the first time in Revelation that His saints are called His army.  They became His elders when they were raptured.  They are His Bride at this moment of descent to the earth, but will not be called such until after the Millennium.  They must serve as His army, then as His kings and priests, and then they will enter the nuptial city to celebrate eternity and begin their reign as His chosen Bride, basking in His glorious city and His glorious presence forever.

“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”  Revelation 19:15-16

     This expression of the Word of God as a sword proceeding from His lips is Heaven’s best rendering of the infallible Bible.  All judgment – every act of divine reckoning – must proceed from the Word.  The Holy Bible contains the exact words of the Son of God, Who is the word incarnate.  You cannot separate the Word of God in its written form from the Word of God in person.  When this world gets this manifestation of the Lamb of God made up of the Word of God – descending and revealing – the entire universe will bend, bow, and surrender to His mastery.  This Word becomes a rod as it proceeds from His mouth and the rule and reign of this earth yields tenderly into His hands.  The Word is both fury towards sin, but also a shepherd’s rod towards a yielding populace of the earth’s redeemed.  The Word has entered the winepress and flows out of the winepress as righteousness to rule the world.  The Word is fury to the wicked, but joy to the righteous.

2 Thessalonians 2

⁸ And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

⁹ Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

     The vesture dipped in blood is inscribed with words of His majesty. The strength of a man is in His thigh and the Son of God is the ultimate Son of Man.  Both His vesture and His thigh are inscribed with the words, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”  Every glory that has been manifest of the Son of God comes to be revealed as He descends to finish the Antichrist kingdom and to establish God’s kingdom on earth.  There can be no failure or mistakes.  Every name of authority is now perfected in one great person as God ordained.  The Son of God is returning to earth, this time to conquer.

“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”  Revelation 19:17-21

     It’s all over but the clean up.  The first act after He descends is for an angel to call for the fowls of the air to gather to devour the flesh of this slaughtered army of deceived and angry worshippers of Satan.  The angel calls the fowls to “the supper of the great God.”God is so very patient, but when the axe falls, it will be final.  Even during these seven years of the Great Tribulation, men have had invitation after invitation to repent.  Nobody will go to hell but those that deserve to go to hell.  The mercy of God will guarantee this fact.

     I marvel at an army so blatant that they can look up at the heavens that are filled with saints led by the Eternal Son and still propose to fight.  They saw Him and His great redeemed host and sent out the call, “Fight, fight Him.”  Surely, He will laugh at their ignorance before He speaks the final words.  To consider such a scene is almost like Heaven itself.  Satan must be respected for His audacity.  The history of the war on God reads like a novel.  If it could be called fiction, those that know God and His Word could easily understand it.  But, Satan is real and his war against God is real, but it will end at the prophesied moment when Satan passes his last God’s appointed privilege.  The Father has always been in control.  He is sovereign.

Conclusion

     The Beast of the Antichrist is taken captive with his stooge of a false prophet and a false organization of religions.  The greatest insanity is that of an imitation Christian coalition of Bible-carrying church folks.  The worst of their translations still has enough truth to condemn their darkness.  This whole Antichrist crowd is seen in this closing moment as worshippers, but worshippers of a masquerade with Satan’s incomplete mastery.  The two beasts go straight to the Lake of Fire while his horde of deceived followers are killed.  They will wait for the resurrection of damnation and the White Throne Judgment.

     The victory is complete.  The earth is now ready to be blessed with the Millennial Kingdom.  Sin and sorrow, pain and death, will give vent to the blessings of the Creator.  Christ and His kings and priests will rule the natural people that have survived.  The earth is going to explode in its creative wonders without the curse to impede its beauty.  The Millennial Kingdom will be grand.

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