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Michael James Stone
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The Campaign of Armageddon pt 4
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THE SIXTH STAGE: THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS THE MESSIAH

In the sixth stage, Jesus will return at the Jewish request for Him to do so. The initial place of His return will not be the Mount of Olives, as is commonly taught, but the place known as Bozrah. Since this fact is relatively new to most people, it would be best to deal with the place of the Second Coming of the Messiah before discussing the manner of His return. Four key passages pinpoint the place of the Second Coming as Bozrah. A fifth one has a possible reference to it. The first passage is Isaiah 34:1-7:
Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from it. For Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig-tree. For my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven:

Behold, it shall come down upon Edom, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And the wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

Isaiah begins with a call to all the nations, declaring that God has indignation against all these nations and against their armies in particular. They are destined to be slaughtered with the sword of the Lord (vv. 1-3). Not only will there be convulsions in the earth at this time, but there will be a shaking in the heavens as well (v. 4). But when the sword of God strikes all the armies of all the nations, in what place will it strike? The name of the country where all the nations will be smitten is identified as the land of Edom (v. 5). Becoming even more specific, it will occur at the city of Bozrah in the land of Edom (vv. 6-7). According to this passage, the exact geographic spot where God will strike all the armies of all the nations will be the city of Bozrah in the land of Edom (southern Jordan).

A far more graphic description is given in Isaiah 63:1-6. While in a prophetic vision, Isaiah the Prophet was standing on some high point or mountain in Israel looking eastward towards the land of Edom when suddenly he saw a magnificent, but blood-stained, figure approaching him in glory and splendor. At that point a question and answer session ensues between Isaiah the Prophet and this marching figure. Isaiah initiated the conversion with the first question in 63:1a: Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength?

The figure approaching him is coming from the land of Edom and from the city of Bozrah. His features are reflecting His glory, and there is greatness in His strength. There can be little doubt that this figure arrayed with the Shechinah Glory is the Jewish Messiah Himself. The answer to Isaiah's question comes in 63:1b:

I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. If there was doubt as to the identity of the person before, it should be very clear now. Only one man can answer, I that speak in righteousness. Only one man has the power that is mighty to save. It is the Person of Jesus the Messiah marching toward Israel from the land of Edom and the city of Bozrah. Isaiah responds to this answer with a second question in 63:2:

Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat?

Isaiah noticed that the clothing of this individual, though glorified with the Shechinah Glory, is nevertheless stained with blood. So Isaiah inquires as to how His garments became stained. This question is answered in 63:3-6:

I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my wrath, it upheld me. And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.

The staining with blood was caused by a battle fought in the land of Edom and the city of Bozrah. He fought against the nations alone. In the course of trampling the nations, their lifeblood sprinkled on His garments, staining them red (v. 3). The fight was necessary in order for Him to save His redeemed people, Israel (v. 4). He fought all alone and there were none to help Him (vv. 5-6).

The main point to learn from this passage is that the battle is initiated in the land of Edom and at the city of Bozrah. By the time Messiah reaches Israel, His garments are already stained with blood from the slaughter of the enemy. The third Scripture that places His initial return in this area is Habakkuk 3:3: God came from Teman, And the Holy One from mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of his praise.

Teman and Mount Paran are both in the vicinity of Bozrah and are located in the same mountain range of Mount Seir. The context is obviously speaking of the Second Coming of Messiah, and that event is said to be in the same area. All these passages clearly pinpoint the place of the Second Coming as being in the land of Edom and at the city of Bozrah. This correlates with where the Remnant of Israel will be located in the last days. The Remnant of Israel gathered in Bozrah and the Second Coming are linked together in the fourth passage, in Micah 2:12-13:

I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. The breaker is gone up before them: they have broken forth and passed on to the gate, and are gone out thereat: and their king is passed on before them, and Jehovah at the head of them.

The Remnant of Israel will be gathered in Bozrah (v. 12) where they will be besieged by the forces of the Antichrist. They are finally able to break the siege, because Jehovah the King is leading them (v. 13). The breaker, the king, and Jehovah are all the same Person in this verse. At the Second Coming, the Messiah will enter into battle with the forces of the Antichrist which have gathered at this city.

A fifth passage that may refer to this same event is in Judges 5:4-5:

Jehovah, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped,
Yea, the clouds dropped water.
The mountains quaked at the presence of Jehovah,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
It is not really certain that these verses are speaking of the Second Coming, but if so (and the author leans toward this position with caution), God is seen as coming from Mount Seir and from the land of Edom. Mount Seir is the mountain range of southern Jordan in which the city of Bozrah is located.

Having identified the place of the Second Coming, it is now necessary to look at the Scriptures dealing with the manner of the Second Coming, and at the final battle between Jesus and Antichrist. It has already been learned from Isaiah 63:2-6 that when He fights, Messiah will fight alone and no others will participate in the battle.

The manner of the Second Coming is described in Matthew 24:30 as being with the clouds of Heaven:

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

Throughout the Old Testament, clouds and the Shechinah Glory are interrelated. In this New Testament passage, the interrelation can be seen again. According to Acts 1:9-11, Jesus will return in the same manner as He left:

And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they were looking stedfastly into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.

It must be noted that the angels did not prophesy that Jesus would return to the same place, but rather in the same manner in which He had left. Jesus left in the clouds of Heaven and, according to Matthew 24:30, He will return in the clouds of Heaven.

An extended passage on the Second Coming is in Revelation 19:1-18. Prior to dealing with the manner of the Second Coming itself, this chapter has a prelude composed of three elements in 19:1-10. The first element in 19:1-8 is the four-fold hallelujah. The first hallelujah is for the fall of the Ecclesiastical Babylon in 19:1-2:

After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, belong to our God: for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

The second hallelujah, in 19:3, is for the destruction of the city of Babylon, the economic and political capital of the world:

And a second time they say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goeth up for ever and ever.

The third hallelujah is a worshipful praise to God from those around the throne, namely the 24 elders and the four seraphs in 19:4-5:

And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. And a voice came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great.

The fourth hallelujah is for the marriage of the Lamb in 19:6-8:

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 thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

The second element of the prelude is an invitation to the marriage feast of the Lamb in 19:9:

And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true words of God. It is with the marriage feast that the Millennium will begin, but the invitations are sent out just prior to the Second Coming. They go out to all the redeemed who are not members of the Church: i.e., the Old Testament and Tribulation saints soon to be resurrected. Finally, the third element of the prelude comes in the declaration of the spirit of prophecy in 19:10:

And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. He is the source of all prophecy, and all prophecy moves towards a fulfillment by Him with a view towards His own glory.

With that prelude completed, the Apostle then describes the Second Coming in 19:11-16:

And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceedeth 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 of the wrath of God, the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

This account of the Second Coming, which begins by describing Messiah as the Judge (vv. 11-13), has many similarities with the descriptions found in the first chapter of Revelation. The war He engages in against the nations is a result of judgment by Him Who is faithful and true. He wears on His head the diadem crowns, indicating His natural royalty. His garments are stained with blood, just as in Isaiah 63:1-6, for reasons discussed earlier. This is the Second Coming of the Judge and the incarnate Word of God; Jesus returning in righteousness to judge the nations.

When He returns, Messiah will be followed by armies (v. 14). The word is in the plural number, meaning that at least two separate armies will return with Him. One army is known as hosts of the Lord, or the angelic army. Matthew 16:27 states:

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds. Another army that will return with Jesus is the army of the Church saints who had been raptured previously, before the Tribulation. Jude 14-15 describes the events as follows:

And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

However, Isaiah 63:1-6 made it clear that although the armies of saints and angels will return with Him, they will not participate in the fighting. Messiah will fight this battle by Himself.

After describing Jesus in His role as Judge and the armies that return with Him, John next describes Jesus in His office of King (vv. 15-16). After judging the nations as a righteous Judge, He is to rule as King, with a rod of iron. These nations will gather and attempt to destroy the Jews in order to abolish God's rule over them (Ps. 2:1-6). However, they will partake of the wrath of God at the Second Coming of Jesus the Messiah and He will rule over them. Hence, Jesus will indeed be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Because of the massive slaughter of all the armies of the nations, another invitation is issued. This one invites the birds of the heavens to the great supper of God in Revelation 19:17-18:

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of 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 thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great. The birds will eat the unburied carcasses of many who participated in the Campaign of Armageddon. In this way, the birds will be filled and satisfied, according to Revelation 19:21:

. . . .and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

This feast for the birds is also described in Ezekiel 39:17-20 extending the invitation to the animals of the field:

And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Speak unto the birds of every sort, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan, And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. And ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Ezekiel closely connects these events with the final redemption of Israel in 39:21-29:

And I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am Jehovah their God, from that day and forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I unto them; and I hid my face from them.

Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. And they shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid; when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Only then will the Gentile nations realize that God did not cast off His people forever. Israel's judgment and dispersion was due to sin, primarily the sin of the rejection of the Messiahship of Jesus. So for a time, God hid His face and allowed the nations to come and cause havoc and destruction. But later, Israel will confess her national sin and seek His face in their affliction (Hos. 5:15). They will seek rescue from the nations that have so sorely afflicted them. The nations will recognize at the Second Coming that God is still Israel's God and He will avenge their affliction of Israel. In gathering all the armies of the world against Israel, they will actually be gathering against Israel's Messiah, as Revelation 19:19 clearly states:

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. Another passage giving a description of the Second Coming is in Habakkuk 3:1-19:

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to Shigionoth.
O Jehovah, I have heard the report of thee, and am afraid:
O Jehovah, revive thy work in the midst of the years;
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran,
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light;
He had rays coming forth from his hand;
And there was the hiding of his power.
Before him went the pestilence,
And fiery bolts went forth at his feet.
He stood, and measured the earth;
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the eternal mountains were scattered;
The everlasting hills did bow;
His goings were as of old.
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction;
The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
Was Jehovah displeased with the rivers?
Was thine anger against the rivers,
Or thy wrath against the sea,
That thou didst ride upon thy horses,
Upon thy chariots of salvation?
Thy bow was made quite bare;
The oaths to the tribes were a sure word.
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
The mountains saw thee, and were afraid;
The tempest of waters passed by;
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted up it hands on high.
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation,
At the light of thine arrows as they went,
At the shining of thy glittering spear.
Thou didst march through the land in indignation;
Thou didst thresh the nations in anger.
Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
For the salvation of thine anointed;
Thou woundedest the head out of the house of the wicked man,
Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck.
Thou didst pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors:
They came as a whirlwind to scatter me;
Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
Thou didst tread the sea with thy horses,
The heap of mighty waters.
I heard, and my body trembled,
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entereth into my bones, and I tremble in my place;
Because I must wait quietly for the day of trouble,
For the coming up of the people that invadeth us.
For though the fig-tree shall not flourish,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labor of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no food;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength;
And he makes my feet like hinds' feet,
And will make me to walk upon my high places.
This prayer of Habakkuk (v. 1) is a prophetic one, for it records in vision what can only be the Second Coming of the Messiah. The prayer opens with the pleading of the Remnant (v. 2) to save them physically (revive thy works) and spiritually (in wrath remember mercy). In answer to the Remnant's request, God is viewed as coming from Edom with all His shining glory (vv. 3-4). At His coming, He will begin to render judgment against the gathered nations by various means (vv. 5-7). Nature will also be greatly affected by the Second Coming (vv. 8-10), as will the terrestrial heavenly sphere (v. 11). The Messiah is next viewed as marching in indignation and threshing the nations (v. 12) on behalf of the people of Israel (v. 13a). The head of the armies, the Antichrist, will be smitten (v. 13b), as well as the soldiers of his armies (vv. 14-15) who have come to scatter the Jews afresh. Having seen this vision of the marching armies and the Second Coming, Habakkuk trembles with the knowledge of what must yet befall his people Israel where so many will be slaughtered (vv. 16-17). But he takes comfort in the fact that his personal salvation rests in the Lord Who, at the Second Coming, will make all things right (vv. 18-19). The Book of Psalms contains many poetical references to the Second Coming. A graphic one is found in Psalm 18:8-16:

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,
And fire out of his mouth devoured:
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down;
And thick darkness was under his feet.
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly;
Yea, he soared upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion round about him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
Jehovah also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered his voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
Yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them.
Then the channels of waters appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare,
At thy rebuke, O Jehovah,
At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
He sent from on high, he took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
At His Second Coming, Messiah will come with the wrath of God (vv. 8-9), riding upon a cherub (v. 10), which will have horse-like features, according to Revelation 19:11. There will be convulsions throughout nature at the Second Coming (vv. 11-15) as the entire world is illuminated by the brightness of His glorious return.

So at the sixth stage of the Campaign of Armageddon, Jesus will return at the request of Israel and enter into battle with the Antichrist and his armies. With His return to the Remnant of Israel in Bozrah, He will indeed save the tents of Judah first, before saving the Jews of Jerusalem, as Zechariah 12:7 predicted: Jehovah also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah.

The term tents points to temporary abodes rather than permanent dwellings. The fact that Judah is living in tents shows that Judah is not home in Judah, but is temporarily elsewhere. That elsewhere is Bozrah. Since the Messiah will save the tents of Judah first, this, too, shows that the initial place of His return will be Bozrah and not the Mount of Olives.

THE SEVENTH STAGE: THE BATTLE FROM BOZRAH TO THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT

While the battle between the Messiah and the Antichrist will begin at Bozrah, it will apparently continue all the way back to the eastern walls of Jerusalem which overlook a section of the Kidron Valley, which is also known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The key passage is Joel 3:12-13:
Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

Among the very first casualties will be the Antichrist himself. Having ruled the world with great power and having spoken against the true Son of God, the counterfeit son will be powerless before the True Son. Habakkuk 3:13b described it as follows:

Thou woundedest the head out of the house of the wicked man, Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck. The simplicity with which Jesus will slay the Antichrist is described by Paul in II Thessalonians 2:8:

And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming. The one who has claimed to be god, the one who has been able to perform all kinds of miracles, signs and wonders, the one who exercised all the authority of Satan as he ruled the world, will be quickly dispensed with by the Word of the Lord Jesus.

The arrival of the soul of the Antichrist into Hell is described in Isaiah 14:3-11:

And it shall come to pass in the day that Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers; that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid low, no hewer is come up against us. Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall answer and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee.

At the time of the redemption of Israel, the Jews whom the king of Babylon sought to destroy will taunt him with a new parable (vv. 3-4) commemorating the greater strength of the power of God (v. 5). The Antichrist ruled the nations of the world (v. 6), but then the whole world will rejoice over his demise (vv. 7-8). As the spirit of the Antichrist enters into the gates of Hell, the previous great ones of the earth already there will suddenly rise up off their thrones (v. 9) in utter shock that he, too, has entered the abode of Hell (v. 10). Yet it will be so, and all the pomp of his worldwide reign will suffer the demise of Hell (v. 11).

Having described the spirit of the Antichrist in Hell, Isaiah later describes the fate of his dead body on earth in 14:16-21:

They that see thee shall gaze at thee, they shall consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and overthrew the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their home? All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast forth away from thy sepulchre like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a dead body trodden under foot. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever.

Prepare ye slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that they rise not up, and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.

Many will be able to view the body of the Antichrist and will stare in utter disbelief that he died so suddenly and easily considering he had shaken the kingdoms of the world and the earth trembled in his presence (vv. 16-17). While lesser kings are buried in pompous sepulchers (v. 18), not so the Antichrist whose body will be trampled by the fleeing feet of his own armies (v. 19). In fact, his body will never be buried at all (v. 20) because he will be resurrected and cast alive into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:19-21). His entire family will be destroyed so that they can not try to follow in their father's footsteps and attempt to rule the world (v. 21).

After the death of the Antichrist, the slaughter of his army will continue. Several passages have been cited already which pictured the Messiah as marching through the land in indignation and treading the nations with His feet, causing blood to be sprinkled on His garments. Zechariah 14:12-15 describes the manner in which these massive hordes of Antichrist's armies will be destroyed:

And this shall be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from Jehovah shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in those camps, as that plague.

In this manner, the fight continues all the way back to Jerusalem, coming to an end in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:12-13). The nations that have gathered against the Jews (3:9-11) will now find themselves being treaded by the King of the Jews. It is of this treading in the Valley of Jehoshaphat that Revelation 14:19-20 speaks:

And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and cast it into the winepress, the great winepress, of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

The city spoken of in these verses is Jerusalem, and the winepress is just outside the city, meaning it is in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. From here the armies of the Antichrist will leave for Bozrah, and they will return here as the conflict comes to an end. The blood stretches for 1,600 furlongs, which is approximately 200 miles. The 200 miles may refer to the entire area from the Valley of Armageddon to Bozrah, which is about 200 miles. Another possible explanation is that it refers to the round trip distance between Jerusalem and Bozrah. The fighting will begin at Jerusalem and move to Bozrah (100 miles), and with the Second Coming, will return back from Bozrah to the Valley of Jehoshaphat (another 100 miles). But the best explanation is based on Jeremiah 49:20-22:

Therefore hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. The earth trembleth at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise whereof is heard in the Red Sea. Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

In the context (see vv. 13-14), this passage is dealing with the Campaign of Armageddon. The massive blood-letting that begins at Bozrah begins moving south down the Arabah until it empties in the Red Sea at the present-day cities of Eilat and Akaba. The distance from there to Jerusalem is about 200 miles. The level of blood is to be about four feet high. Exactly how this will be fulfilled remains to be seen. It may not be totally human blood, but also things turned into blood by divine judgment.

The battle will come to an end in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, ending the seventh stage of the Campaign of Armageddon.

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Friday, July 27, 2012

End Times :: End Times Perspective :: The Campaign of Armageddon pt 4