THE POPULAR ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLE PROPHECY

ARMAGEDDON Part III

WHAT ARE THE STAGES OF ARMAGEDDON?

A detailed study of all of the biblical pages pertaining to Armageddon reveals a very complex campaign. One of the most through studies of the campaign is that of Arnold Fruchtenbaum, who had divided the campaign into eight stages. Although other plans can just as readily be proposed, his evaluation seems to us to be the most logical and comprehensive. Fruchtenbaum ( P.314 ) Writes: The two climactic events of the Great Tribulation are the Campaign of Armageddon and the second coming of Jesus Christ. A considerable amount of data is given about this time period in the Scriptures. One of the greatest difficulties in the study of eschatology is placing these events in chronological sequence in order to see what exactly will happen in the Campaign of Armageddon….. The Campaign of Armageddon can be divided into eight stages, and this in turn will facilitate an understanding of the sequence of events.

Each of these eight stages serves a distinct purposes in the Overall campaign. Although no single biblical pages provides a sequences of all the events, this plan seems to put all the pieces together in the most coherent and comprehensive way:

THE EIGHT STAGES OF ARMAGEDDON

1. The assembling of the allies of the Antichrist (Joel 3:9-11;Psalm 2:1-6; Revelation 16: 12-16 ).
2. The destruction of Babylon ( Isaiah 13 — 14;Jeremiah 50 –51; Revelation 17-18 ).
3. The fall of Jerusalem ( Micah 4: 11 – 5: 1; Zechariah 12 -14 ).
4. The armies of the Antichrist at Bozrah ( Jeremiah 49:13 — 14 ).
5. The national regeneration of Israel ( Psalm 79: 1-13; 80: 1-19; Isaiah 64: 1 — 12; Hosea 6: 1– 13; Joel 2: 28 -32; Zechariah 12: 10; 13: 7-9 ) ; Roman 11: 25-27 ).
6. The Second coming of Jesus Christ ( Isaiah 34: 1–7; 63: 1-3; Habakkuk 3:3; Micah 2: 12-13).
7. The battle from Bozrah to the Valley of Jehoshaphat ( Jeremiah 49:20 – 22; Zechariah 14: 12 – 15; Joel 3:12-13 ).
8. The Victory ascent upon the Mount of Olives ( Zechariah 14: 3-5 ; Joel 3: 14 – 17; Matthew 24: 29 -31; Revelation 16: 17-21; 19:11 – 21 ).

STAGE 1: THE ANTICHRIST’S ALLIES ASSEMBLE

The primary biblical reference to this first stage is Revelation 16:12-16, Where the Euphrates River is dried up to prepare the way for the “Kings of the east,” culminating at Har–Magedon. The assembling of the armies begins at the same time as the divine judgement of the sixth bowl. At this time the Euphrates River will be dried up, providing for a faster and easier assembly of the armies of the “Kings from the East.” In the Bible, “east” refers to the region of Mesopotamia ( Assyria and Babylon ), and the drying up of the river will allow the forces of the Antichrist to assemble out of Babylon, his capital. The armies joining him will be those of the seven remaining kings out of Ten described in Daniel 7: 24-27 and Revelation 17: 12-13. Their goal will be the final destruction of the Jews.

STAGE 2: BABYLON IS DESTROYED

In this stage the activity shifts from the gathering armies of the Antichrist to the destruction of Babylon, which is his capital, by opposing forces. While the Antichrist is with his armies at Armageddon, his capital will be attack and destroyed. The Irony is that while Antichrist is gathering his armies in northern Israel for the purpose of attacking Jerusalem ( God’s City ), God attacks the Antichrist’s city — Babylon. In the Old testament, Babylon was both the place of Israel captivity and the originating site of Idolatry. Known also as Shinar ( Genesis 10:10; 11:2: Daniel 1:2; Zechariah 5:11), Babylon will be a world wide Economic and religious center of activities during the Tribulation ( Revelation 17-18 ). According to Isaiah 13:19 and Jeremiah 50:40, the destruction will be as devastating and complete as was that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Once the attack and destruction are finished, Babylon will be uninhabitable and will never again be rebuild( Revelation 18:21-24 ). The Antichrist will be a world ruler, but his control will not be so absolute as to preclude rebellion or to squelch all opposition ( Daniel 11:41). He will try but it will be tactically impossible. The destruction will come as divine punishment for Babylon’s long history of antagonism and evil against the people of Israel and the result will be the razing of the city.

“But i will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord. “Behold i am against you, O destroying Mountain, who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord. “and I will stretch out my hand against you, and row you down from the crags, and I will make you a burn out Mountain. They will not take from you even a stone for a corner nor a stone for foundations, but you will be desolate for ever,” declares the Lord ( Jeremiah 51:24-26).

STAGE 3: JERUSALEM FALLS

Although the Antichrist capital will have been destroyed in the second phase of the campaign, his forces will not have been lost. Rather than moving eastward to confront the attackers of his capital, the Antichrist will move south against Jerusalem. we read of this move in Zechariah 12:1-3 and 14:1-2: The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel… Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the people around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that i will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.

The Antichrist’s forces will sweep down to Jerusalem, and once against the city will fall into Gentiles control. Although Zechariah 12:4-9 and Micah 4:11-5 describe a temporary resurgence of Jewish strength and stiff resistance, Jerusalem will fall. The losses on both sides will be enormous, but the Antichrist forces will prevail, and Jerusalem will fall. With the fall of Jerusalem the campaign’s third stage will come to an end.

STAGE 4: THE ANTICHRIST MOVES SOUTH AGAINST THE REMNANT

In the fourth stage, the campaigned will shift into the desert and mountains, probably to a location about 80 miles south of Jerusalem to the area of Bozrah and Petra. At the beginning of the second half of the Tribulation, after the Antichrist breaks his treaty with Israel ( Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15), many of the Jews will flee into the desert for safety. This will fulfill the words and exhortations of Jesus in Matthew 24:16-31. In verse 16, Jesus says of those who see the abomination of desolation, ” than those whpo are in Judea must flee to the mountains” This flight for life is also describe in Revelation 12: 6,14.

After Jerusalem is captured the Antichrist will move south in an attempt to destroy those who fled in an attempt to destroy those fled in the previous 3 1/2 years. In Micah 2:12 we read of God gathering and protection of this remnant: “I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; like a flock in the mist of its pasture they will be noisy with men. The area normally associated with this part of the campaign is that of Mount Seir, about 30 miles south of the lower end of the Dead sea, Two sites are possibilities for the location the fleeing Jews, Bozrah and Petra ( see Isaiah 33:13-6 and Jeremiah 49: 13-14). As the forces gather in the rugged wilderness of Mount seir, the fourth phase will come to an end and the last few days of the campaign will begin

STAGE 5: THE REGENERATION OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL

The Campaign of Armageddon will culminate in the Second coming of Christ. But before Christ returns, Israel will confess its national sin ( Leviticus 26:40-42; Jeremiah 3:11-18; Hosea 5:15) and plead for the Messiah to return ( Isaiah 64:1-12; Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 23:37-39). This will come as the armies of the Antichrist gather to destroy the Jews in the wilderness. According to Hosea 6:1-3, the Jewish leaders will issue a call for the nation to repent. The nation will respond positively and repent for two days. Fruchtenbaum writes, “The leaders of Israel will finally recognize the reason why the tribulation has fallen on them. Whether this will be done by the study of the scriptures,or by the preaching of the 144,000, or via the Two witnesses or by the ministry of Elijah, is not clearly stated. Most likely there will be a combination of these things. But the leaders will come to a realization of the national sin in some way. Just as the Jewish leaders once lead the nation to the rejection of the messiahship of Jesus, they will then lead the nation to the acceptance of his messiahship by issuing the call of Hosea 6:1-3, which will begin the last three days before the Second Coming”(P.337).

The Fifth stage will come to completion on the third day of Israel’s confess and prayer for Messiah’s return. In the sixth stage, God, having heard their prayers, will answer them, fulfilling biblical prophecy and the hope of the ages.

STAGE 6: THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

In the sixth stage the prayers of the Jews are answered, and Jesus Christ will return to earth to defeat the armies of the Antichrist at Bozrah and to begin the final portions of the campaign. He will return to earth in the clouds in the same manner in which He departed ( Matthew 24: 30; Acts 1:9-11). The fact that Jesus return first to the Mountain wilderness of Bozrah is seen in Isaiah 34:1-7; 63:1-6; Habakkuk 3:3; and Micah 2:12-13. At his Second coming, Jesus Christ the Messiah will enter battle against the Antichrist’s forces, and He will miraculous defeat them. According Jude 14-15 and Revelation 19:11-16, Jesus will return with an Angelic Army and with the Church Saints ( Robed in white at the marriage of the lamb) who have been raptured prior to the Tribulation. Revelation 19:11-16 makes it clear that the Second Coming will bring destruction to the enemies of Jesus Christ. These verses describe him as treading the winepress of the wrath of God and ruling with a rod of Iron.

At Israel’s request, Jesus Christ will return to Earth and enter the battle against the Antichrist and his armies. He will save the Jews in the wilderness from destruction and will than continue to Jerusalem to save the remnant there and conclude the campaign ( Zechariah 12:7 ).

STAGE 7: THE FINAL BATTLE

In the Seventh phase, Jesus the Messiah will fight alone on Israel’s behalf, destroying the Antichrist and those who have come against the nation and persecuted it. In this phase the Antichrist will be slain by the true Christ ( Habakkuk 3:13 b; 2 Thessalonians 2:8 ). Among the very first casualties will be the Antichrist himself. Having rule the world with great power and spoken against the true son of God, the counterfeit son will be powerless before Christ. Habakkuk 3:13 says, “You went forth for the salvation of your people, for the salvation for your anointed. You struct the head of the house of the eveil to lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.” Second Thessalonian 2:8 tell us, “Then that lawless one will be revealed who the lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearing of his coming.” Beginning at Bozrah and moving back to Jerusalem and the Kidron Valley, also known as the valley of Jehoshaphat, Jesus will engage and destroy the Antichrist’s forces ( Joel 3:12- 13; Zechariah 14:12 -15; Revelation 14:19-20). In the valley of Jehoshaphat, along the eastern walls of Jerusalem, the nation and armies that gathered against the Jews to destroy them will now find themselves being destroyed by Jesus Christ, the Messiah and King of the Jews.

STAGE 8 THE ASCENT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

With the destruction of the Antichrist and his forces complete, the Campaign will be over, and Jesus will go and stand upon the mount of Olives in a symbolic victory ascent. when he does so a number of cataclysmic events will occur, bringing the tribulation to an end,as describe in Zechariah 14:3-4 than the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fights on a day of battle. In that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olive will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move towards the north and the Other half towards the south.

Revelation 16:17: adds: Then the Seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air; and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” And there were flashes of Lightning and sounds and pearls of thunder; and there was a great earth quake, such as there has not being since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.

The supernatural calamities that come upon the world at this time correspond to the seventh bowl judgement and includes the greatest earth quake the world has ever known. As the results of the earthquake Jerusalem will split into three areas, and the Mount of Olives will split into two parts, creating a valley and means of escape from the earthquake for the Jewish inhabitant of the city ( Zechariah 14:4b-5).

WHAT COMES AFTER ARMAGEDDON?

Armageddon will be the last great World war of history, and it will take plce in Israel in conjunction with the second coming of christ. The Bible is very clear that it is certain cataclymic event yet to come. According to the Bible, great armies from the east and west will gather and assemble to strike a final blow against Israel. There will be treats to the power of the Antichrist from the south, and he will also move to destroy a revived Babylon in the East before finally returning his forces towards Jerusalem to subdue and destroy it. As he and his armies move upon Jerusalem, God will intervene and Jesus Christ will return to rescue His People Israel. The Lord and his Angelic army will destroy the armies, capture the Antichrist and the False prophet, and cast them into the lake of Fire ( Revelation 19:11-21).

In a sense, Armageddon is a battle that never really takes place. That is, it does not take place in accordance with its original human intent. It human purpose will be to gather the armies of the world to execute the Antichrist’s “Final Solution” to the “Jewish problem.” This is why Jesus Christ chooses this moment in history for his return to earth– to thwart the Antichrist’s attempted annihilation of the Jews and to destroy the armies of the world. It seems only fitting, in light of mankind’s bloody legacy, that a world wide military conflict against Israel should precipitate the return of Christ. —-THOMAS ICE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dyer, Charles, World News and Bible Prophecy, Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1991.

Feinberg, Paul. “The Mideast March to Megiddo.” In William James, ed. Foreshocks of the Antichrist Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishing, 1997.

Fruchtenbaum, Arnold. Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study in the Sequence of Prophetic Events. Tustin, CA: Ariel Press, 2003

Hidson, Ed. Approaching Armageddon Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1997

Jeffrey, Grant, Armageddon: Appointment with Destiny. New York: Bantam Books, 1991.