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Well, once again, this is Dr.
Phil Fernandez, the founder of the Institute of Biblical Defense
and the academic dean of Farriston Theological Seminary. Today's
lecture is End Times lecture number nine, lecture number nine
in eschatology. We'll be discussing the end time
wars, World War Three and the Battle of Armageddon. Of course,
when we say World War Three, we're assuming that the next
world war would be the Russian invasion of Israel in the last
days. So that's assuming that these
are the last days that we live in today. So we'll be discussing
the end time wars and if you open up to Revelation chapter
6 we'll get started. Revelation chapter 6 verses 3
and 4. Revelation chapter 6 verses 3
and 4 tells us about the second seal and that reads And when
he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying,
Come. And another, a red horse went out, and to him who sat
on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that
men should slay one another, and a great sword was given to
him. This discusses global war. A sword, a great sword was given
to him to take peace from the earth, global war, that men should
slay one another. And so what type of global war
is it going to be? What type of global war is going
to occur in that last half of the tribulation period, those
last three and a half years? And that's what we're going to
look at at this point. And so let's take a look at what
many theologians refer to as World War III, the Russian invasion
of Israel. Ezekiel chapter 38. Ezekiel chapter
38. and verses, verse 1 of Ezekiel
38 through Ezekiel 39 and verse 16. Starting with verse 1. Take a look at verses 1 and 2
in fact. The word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man,
set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog. the prince of
Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal, and prophesy against him." Now a
little brief introduction, in Ezekiel 37 you have the prophecy
of the dry bones, so the nation of Israel is regathered in the
last days. We see that going on right now.
So you have God saying, Hey, I'm going to gather the people
of Israel from the nations of the earth and bring them back
into the land. This is going on right now. Well, Israel became a nation
in 1948. They reunified Jerusalem in 1967. And now there's a tremendous
regathering of Jews. Even many Soviet Jews are entering
the promised land at this time. But then God says the next important
thing that's going to happen is the Russian invasion of Israel.
Now, Magog and Gog God apparently is just the leader of this tribe,
Magog. And when we look back in the
book of Genesis, we find that Magog was a grandson of Noah,
and his tribe was probably named after him. Now the Jewish historian
that lived from 37 to 97 AD, named Josephus, Jewish historian
who was writing to the Jews, this Jewish historian named Josephus
identified Magog as the land of Ascidians. the land of the
Scythians. And he states in his historical
works that the Scythians dwelt to the north of the Black Sea
and to the north of the Caspian Sea and stretching indefinitely
into the innermost parts of Asia. Now this is a perfect description
of what was once known as the Soviet Union. Now you've got
many different nations and Russia being one of the probably the
most important of those nations So this is pretty much a description
of the modern Soviet Union, which is now the Russian states. And
so, Magog, apparently the mighty power to the north, is none other
than Russia and her allies. Now, again, Gog would be the
leader. We don't know if that's a literal
name, if there's going to be some Russian leader named Gog
come up. There's some Soviet people who
want to see a return of the Tsar at this point. We don't know
if God is a literal name or a symbolic name. Remember in Isaiah, God did predict
that the king of the Persians would be King Cyrus. Then Ross,
Meshach, and Tubal are mentioned in verse 2. Meshach and Tubal
were also grandsons of Noah. Remember, the 12 tribes of Israel,
they were named after the 12 sons of Jacob. Jacob's name was
changed to Israel. So Israel was named after him.
The nation was named after him. The 12 tribes, Reuben, Joseph,
Levi, Judah, right on down the line were named after them. It's
the same way ancient tribes, ancient nations were named after
people, their founders. and Meshach and Tubal were grandsons
of Noah and they could possibly could possibly be the ancient
names Meshach, the ancient name for Moscow and Tubal, the ancient
name for Tobolsk Rosh could possibly be the ancient name for Russia
now a lot of people, now there's some Bible scholars who are a
hold of this Meshach, the ancient name for Moscow Tubal, the ancient
name for Tobolsk and Ross the ancient name for Russia. A lot
of scholars hold to this. At the same time there are many
scholars who say, no, no, that's too much speculation. True, it's
speculation, but I think we need to recognize that it is possible. After all, the word for... I've
got a guy that I used to work with named Kieser. His last name
was Kieser, and I asked him if that ever came from the word
Caesar. And he said no, that it came from the German word
Kaiser. And then I informed him that the German word Kaiser,
they traced that back to the Roman title Caesar. So this guy's name
is Kaiser and you can trace it all the way back to Caesar. And it's often the same way.
Here you have the same land, same approximate land, and it
would seem to be possible that Rosh is an ancient name of Russia,
Meshach an ancient name of Moscow, and Tubal an ancient name of
Tubal. Verse 3 tells us of Ezekiel 38 that God is against them.
And say, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against you, O Gog,
that's the ruler, Prince of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal. Look at verses
4 and 5. And I will turn you about, and
put hooks into your jaws, and will bring you out, and all your
army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a
great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding
swords. So God is going to bring them,
like when you go fishing and you sink your hook into a fish
and you reel them in, God's going to hook this nation and bring
them down, bring them for battle, and they're obviously prepared
for battle, with the description that is given there. Verse 5,
Persia, Ethiopia, and put with them all of them with shield
and helmet. Now Persia apparently is modern
Iran, Ethiopia is apparently modern northern Sudan, and put
is modern Libya. So apparently Russia will be
aligned with many of these other nations. Look at verse 6, Gomer
with all his troops, Beth Togarmah, from the remote parts of the
north with all its troops, many peoples with you." Gomer and
Togumar, many say modern Turkey, some say, I don't know how much
speculation is involved there, some even say it would be Germany,
but that might have been because at one time East Germany was
aligned with the Soviets. Now that's not the case apparently
at this point, but some say modern Turkey, others say also Germany. Look at verses 7 and 8. Be prepared
and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled
about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will
be summoned. In the latter years you will
come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants
have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel,
which had been a continual waste, but its people were brought out
from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
So when Israel is secure, in the last days, Russia and her
allies will invade her. Now this is something that even
during the Nixon administration, there was a gathering of Soviet
troops and there was speculation that the Soviets might invade
the nation of Israel. And President Nixon put our nuclear
bases on alert and the Soviets backed down. And I don't think
they were really planning something. but they just wanted to see what
kind of response the Americans would give and so this is something the
Soviets could align themselves with many of the Arab states
would back the Soviets or the Russians at this point but for
them to take full control of the Middle East there's no doubt
about it they would have to defeat Israel in battle look at verses
9 to 12 and you will go up and will come like a storm. You will
be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops,
and many peoples with you. Thus says the Lord God, it will
come about on that day that thoughts will come into your mind and
you will devise an evil plan. And you will say, I will go up
against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those
who are at rest, that live securely, all of them without walls and
having no bars or gates, to capture spoil and to seize plunder. to
turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited
and against the people who are gathered from the nations who
have acquired cattle and goods who live at the center of the
world." So here it says that their motive is to capture spoil
and to seize plunder. Now there's some speculation
that the spoil has to do with oil, that there's going to be
much oil found in Israel, that's possible. Another alternative
is the fact that if they just gain control of Israel, they'll
gain control of the Middle East. And it talks about Israel being
the center of the world. It's a strategic piece of land
that connects three continents, Africa, Europe and Asia. It's
a strategic, very attractive strategically when you talk in
terms of military strategy. and so the Soviets have much
to gain by taking it over. Look at verse 13. Sheba and Dedan
and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say
to you, have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your
company to seize plunder? To carry away silver and gold?
To take away cattle and goods? To capture great spoil? Sheba
and Dedan are Arab tribes and Tarshish is in South Spain so
it might The fact that southern Spain is coming into this, it
might be that other nations like Spain begin to question why the
Soviet Union has done this. So there might be even more and
more rumors of wars, more nations getting involved. Look at verses
14 to 16. Therefore prophesy, son of man,
and say to God, Thus says the Lord God on that
day, when my people Israel are living securely, will you not
know it? And you will come from your place.
By the way, they're living securely. I believe this is after the Antichrist
has signed that treaty with them. So it's at least in the first
half of the tribulation period. But I believe it's going to occur
in the second half of the tribulation period. But it's they've signed
a peace treaty with the Antichrist, so they feel secure and protected.
They feel like nobody's going to mess with them because the
Antichrist who rules the world is going to be offering them
protection. That reads, Therefore prophesy,
son of man, and say to God, Thus says the Lord God, On that day
when my people, Israel, are living securely, will you not know it?
And you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the
north. You and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses,
a great assembly and a mighty army. and you will come up against
my people Israel like a cloud to cover the land and it will
come about in the last days that I shall bring you against my
land in order that the nations may know me when I shall be sanctified
through you before their eyes O God and so God will make himself
known to all nations because of this war look at verses 17
to 20 thus says the Lord God Are you the one of whom I spoke
in former days to my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied
in those days for many years that I would bring you against
them? And it will come about on that day when God comes against
the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, that my fury will
mount up in my anger. And in my zeal and in my blazing
wrath, I declare that on that day there will surely be a great
earthquake in the land of Israel. And the fish of the sea and the
birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping
things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the
face of the earth will shake at my presence. The mountains
also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse,
and every wall will fall to the ground." So tremendous earthquake. that occurs during this time.
Divine intervention. Verse 21. And I shall call for
a sword against him on all my mountains declares the Lord God.
Every man's sword will be against his brother. And so just as with
the Midian troops in Judges chapter 7 verse 22 when they invaded
the Israelites just as they God caused confusion there and brother
killed brother so too when the Russians invade Israel The Russian
troops will be killing Russian troops. It may be because there
may be Christian troops among them who refuse to war with the
nation of Israel. Let's read further on, verse
22. And with pestilence and with
blood I shall enter into judgment with him, and I shall rain on
him and on his troops and on the many peoples who are with
him a torrential rain and hailstones, fire and brimstone. And so you
have pestilence, plagues, contagious diseases, hailstones, fire and
brimstone. This may be talking about nuclear
exchanges, I don't know. It might just be talking about
direct divine intervention. Rush's defeat is prophesied in
verses 1 to 5 of Ezekiel 39. In fact, first let's take a look
at verse 23. And I shall magnify myself, sanctify myself, and
make myself known in the sight of many nations, and they will
know that I am the Lord. 39 verses 1 to 5. And you, son of
man, prophesy against God, and say, Thus says the Lord God,
Behold, I am against you, O Gog, Prince of Rosh, Meshach, and
Tubal. And I shall turn you around,
drive you on, and take you up from the remotest parts of the
north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. By the
way, if you go north from Israel, directly north, you run right
smack through the center of Moscow. And I shall strike your bow from
your left hand, and dash down your arrows from your right hand.
You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops
and the peoples who are with you I shall give you as food
to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field you will
fall on the open field for it is I who have spoken declares
the Lord God and so Russia's defeat is prophesied look at
verse 6 and I shall send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit
the coastlands in safety and they will know that I am the
Lord so There's fire that comes upon the coastlands of Russia,
the Russian homeland. Again, it might be those who
back the nation of Israel and Israel themselves. Israel has
gone on record saying that if we are invaded by the Soviet
Union or if all nations come and invade us, we will start
pushing buttons. We'll push buttons and nuke everybody
if that's what it takes before we're annihilated, wiped off
the face of the earth. So the Russian homeland receives
fire and brimstone, and it may be nuclear exchanges. I know there's many theologians
say there won't be nuclear exchanges. I think there's either going
to have to be nuclear exchanges or much chemical warfare or a
combination of both, because we're going to need to have the
last seven to ten. And my holy lessons will know
that I am the Lord, the Holy Word. And the nations will know
that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. And the nations
will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. And the
nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
Behold, that is the day of which I have spoken. And those who
inhabit the cities that I have spoken, and those who inhabit
the cities of Israel will go out, and make fires with the
weapons of them. And they will not take fires
of them. And they will not take fires
of them. and they will not take fires
with the weapons and they will take fires with the weapons and
they will take fires with the weapons and they will take spoil
with the weapons and they will take spoil with the weapons and
they will take spoil of those who despoiled them and seize
the plunder of those who plundered them declares the Lord God and
so the Israelites will use Russian weapons as firewood for seven
years and I believe that's going to go right on into the Tribulation,
the Millennial Kingdom, they'll still be using it as firewood,
the Russian weapons. Look at verses 11 and 12. And
it will come about on that day that I shall give Gog a burial
ground there in Israel, and the valley of those who pass by east
of the sea, and it will block off the passersby. So they will
bury Gog there with all his multitude. So apparently they're going to
bury even the leader with all his multitude and they will call
it the Valley of Ham and Gog which means the multitude of
Gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them
in order to cleanse the land. So for seven months they're going
to be burying dead Soviet, dead Russian bodies. Look at verses
13 and 16. Even all the people of the land
will bury them And it will be to their renown on that day that
I glorify myself, declares the Lord God. And they will set apart
men who will constantly pass through the land, burying those
who are passing through, even those left on the surface of
the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months,
they will make a search. And as those who pass through
the land pass through, when anyone sees a man's bone, then he will
set up a marker by it until the buriers have buried it in the
Valley of Ham and Gog. And even the name of the city
will be Hamana. So they will cleanse
the land. And so you have the Israelites
not only will use Russian weapons as firewood for seven years,
But you also have the Israelites will be burying Russian corpses
for seven months. Now, the next passage talks about
the verses 17 to 20. We're not going to read it right
now. We'll come back to it a little
later. But it talks about the fact that in the last days, God
is going to assemble birds to eat the corpses of many princes
from many different nations. from the princes of the earth
so this goes into the battle of armageddon now i think world
war three is going to be a stop and go type thing where there's
going to be the russian invasion the israelites defeat them through
the power of god through divine intervention uh... there might
even be the neutron bomb is a bomb it's a nuclear weapon where the
the burst occurs in the sky and what happens is the uh... It's
not the explosion that kills anybody, so it doesn't destroy
any buildings. It just leaks the radiation. And it does it
in such a way that it only lasts for a few days. So that if you
were to have decent fallout shelters, you would survive. It wouldn't
even knock a vase off a fireplace. It wouldn't knock chairs down.
It wouldn't destroy any houses. But then you'd have to wait a
few days for the radiation to clear and then you come up and
you wonder, well, what's the sense of it? Well, the sense
of it is it defeats invading armies without killing your people
or your allies. And the United States of America
says that we have these neutron bombs, we will use them if our
allies ask us to. So if the Soviets invaded Israel,
God may use America as his instrument to bring fire and brimstone on
the Soviets, or possibly the revived Roman Empire, under the
Antichrist, maybe God would use them. But whatever the case,
that would have the thing. You see, for seven months they're
burying dead Soviet bodies, and there's not even one mention
of them burying Israelites. And I'm sure they're going to
be burying some, but that's not the big thing. The big thing
is that it's almost all the people that are laying there dead are
Soviets, and a neutron bomb would get that kind of effect. But
I think World War III is going to be ongoing type thing, and it's
going to eventually lead into the Battle of Armageddon, and
I think that's why the next four verses or so discuss what would
be referred to as the Battle of Armageddon. So we talked about
World War III, the Russian invasion of the Middle East. Now let's
talk about the Battle of Armageddon, the final battle of mankind until
Jesus Christ up to the point that Christ returns. The battle
of Armageddon, let's take a look at this point at Zechariah chapter 14. Take a
look at Zechariah chapter 14. Take a look at verses... In fact, let's make that verses
1 to 5. verses 1 to 5 of Zechariah chapter
14. Behold, a day is coming for the
Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. In other words, the spoil that
was taken from Israel will be returned to the Israelites. For
I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle. uh... pat robertson makes a good
point in his new book the new world order that uh... you know
it almost seemed impossible that all nations would go to war with
just one nation until you had world war one world war two but
now with the persian gulf war you had the united nations gathering
a force one force to go and do battle against iraq uh... if the israelites don't go along
with these peace plans the day could come when All of a sudden,
the United Nations decides that all nations are going to turn
on Israel. Verse 2. For I will gather all the nations
against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured.
The house is plundered, the woman ravished, and half of the city
exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the
city. And 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. Apparently where he lands is
on the Mount of Olives, where he also gave the Olivet Discourse,
where he talked about the end times. And 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 Olives 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. And you will flee by the valley of my mountains, for the
valley of the mountains will reach to Hazel. Yes, you will
flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah, king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come
and all the holy ones with him." Footnote here, this is talking
about the deity of Christ. Because it says there, the Lord,
my God, will come and all the holy ones with him. And we know
that's talking about Jesus returning, so it's calling Jesus God. But
also, apparently, there's going to be some Jews saved after the
rapture. Remember, we're in Romans chapter
11 where it says all Israel will be saved when the hardening of
the hearts gets removed. I believe it's Romans 11 25 When
the hardening of the heart gets When all Gentiles the falls of
the Gentiles comes in when the last Gentile gets saved the hardening
of the hearts is going to be removed from the Jews and all
Israel is going to be saved all true Israel is going to be saved
and And it may occur as they see Christ returning right after
the raptures occurred because these people apparently don't
get, these Jews don't get the resurrection bodies yet because
they need protection. As the earthquake splits, they
go through the crack in the earthquake for protection as Christ then
returns and fights the battle for them. And as verse 3 said,
Zechariah 14, then the Lord will go forth and fight against those
nations Remember, verse 2 said he'd gather all nations against
Jerusalem. Verse 3 says, then the Lord will
go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on
a day of battle. Look at verse 12. Verse 12 and
the following verses. Now this will be the plague with
which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to
war against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot while they
stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets.
And their tongue will rot in their mouth. So you have this
horrible, horrible devastation as Christ returns. Rotting eyes
in their sockets, tongues in their mouth. Also in Revelation
it says that the horse of the slaughter on the day of the battle
of Armageddon, the slaughter is going to be so horrible that
you're going to have blood right up to the horse's bridle. Now
a lot of people say, well the blood is going to splash up to
that for a distance of 200 miles. I think it's literally going
to be that high. I think if you put human beings in a blender
and reduce them to liquid, that's how much devastation there's
going to be. Now that sounds horrible, that sounds gross,
but I really believe that that's what it is talking about. Jesus
Christ is going to literally devastate those who come to war
against Israel. Verse 13, And it will come about
in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them,
and they will seize one another's hand, and the hand of one will
be lifted against the hand of another. And Judah also will
fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations
will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance."
So also like the plague will be the plague on the horse, the
mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will
be in those camps. Then it will come about that
any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will
go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts,
and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. That's when Jesus Christ
rules in Jerusalem. Look at verse 17. And it will
be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to
Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will
be no reign on them. and the passage goes further
talking about Jesus Christ ruling in Jerusalem so the battle of
Armageddon what you have is all nations going to war against
the nation of Israel they invade Jerusalem they attempt to defeat
the nation of Israel and to wipe them off the face of the earth
and just when it appears that Israel will be wiped off the
face of the earth that they'll cease to exist as a people that
they'll become extinct. Just at that point, the Israelites
began to say, hey, we're going to be wiped off the face of the
earth. The sun is dark and the moon isn't giving its light.
The stars are falling from the sky. We're going to be wiped
completely off the face of the earth. And our Messiah never
came. And then all of a sudden it's
going to click. And wait a minute. What about the carpenter from
Nazareth? 2000 years ago, the one who claimed
to be God, the one who claimed to be our Messiah, the one who
claimed to die on the cross for our sins, and his followers claimed
to be eyewitnesses, that they had seen him risen from the dead,
and that he would someday return. At that point, that's the final
domino to fall, to usher in the return, the second coming of
Jesus Christ to the planet Earth, is when the Israelites recognize
that Jesus Christ is their Messiah, And at that point, when they
turn their hearts back to Him, that is when He'll return. You
also find that in Hosea chapter 5, the last few verses and the
first few verses of Hosea chapter 6. In fact, let's take a look
at that passage real quick. Hosea chapter 5, last few verses
of it, because it also gives us a little indication, it may
be an indication of around approximately what time Christ will return.
We can't be dogmatic on it, but it is possible. Hosea chapter
5, look at verse 15, God is talking
in verse 15 of Hosea chapter 5, He says, I will go away and
return to my place. He's probably talking about the
ascension when He ascended back to heaven, about 30 AD. Until they acknowledge their
guilt and seek my face, in their affliction they will earnestly
seek me. So once the Jews admit that they
were wrong and that Jesus Christ is their Messiah, and then in
the tribulation, during their affliction, they will earnestly
seek Christ. Chapter 6, verse 1, is what they
say. Come, let us return to the Lord,
for He has torn us, but He will heal us. He has wounded us, but
He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days.
He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before
Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going
forth is as certain as the dawn, And He will come to us like the
rain, like the spring rain watering the earth. Now it says there
that He will revive us after two days, and He will raise us
up on the third day. We're going to see in the next
lecture that when the Lord speaks prophetically, a thousand years
arise a day, and a day is a thousand years. Now it says that He'll
raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.
Well, if that third day is the Millennium Kingdom, a thousand
years, the thousand year reign of Christ, then the first two
days would be 2,000 years. Now the question comes up, is
it 2,365 day years from 30 A.D. which would take it to about
the year 2030 would be when Christ returns? Or is it 360 day years
which would put it right about the year 2000? Or is this just
not meant to be taken so literally? Are we getting a little too far-fetched
in their speculation. I don't know for sure, but what
I do know is the Lord wants us to live as if Jesus Christ could
return during our generation. And so I'll just throw that out
to you at this point. Look at the Book of Revelation,
the New Testament Book of Revelation. In fact, getting on this theme,
not to drill it home too deep, but Romans chapter 11, just on
the fact that we're talking about the day when the Israelites Once
they turn to Christ, then Christ will return. Look at Romans 11,
verses 25 to 27. Romans chapter 11, verses 25
to 27. And that reads, "...for I did
not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest
you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has
happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles is coming."
So when that last Gentile gets saved, verse 26, "...and thus
all Israel will be saved, just as it is written, The Deliverer
will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob,
and this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
So the hardening of the hearts will be removed from the nation
of Israel and Jesus Christ will return. Take a look at the book
of Revelation. The book of Revelation. And let's
take a look at Revelation 9, verses 13-21. Revelation 9, verses 13-21. And a sixth angel
sounded, a sixth trumpet, and I heard a loud voice from the
four horns of the golden altar which is before God. One saying
to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, release the four angels
who are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels
who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year
were released so that they might kill a third of mankind. And
the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million.
I heard the number of them. Maybe the kings of the east,
India plus India's got between 800 and 900 million people. China has over a billion people.
If you just combine those two alone and take one of every 10
people, you've got armed forces of 200 million people. And this
is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them. The riders had breastplates the
color of fire and hyacinth and of brimstone, and the heads of
the horses are like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths
proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. Third of mankind was killed by
these three plagues by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone
which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the
horses is in their mouths and in their tails, and their tails
are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm. And the rest of mankind who were
not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their
hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of
silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can
neither see, nor hear, nor walk. And they did not repent of their
murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their immorality, nor
of their thefts." Apparently John here is describing what
may be modern warfare. He didn't know any better way
to describe it, and so he began to describe it as horses that
Heads of the horses, like the heads of lions, and out of their
mouth proceed fire and smoke and brimstone." I don't know
if he's talking about tanks here, or what he's talking about. But
I believe the 200 million men are the kings of the East, which
are mentioned a little further on in Revelation. Look at Revelation
chapter 16, verses 12 to 16. This is the sixth bull. Revelation
chapter 16, verses 12 to 16 reads as follows. And the sixth angel
poured out his bowl upon the great river, the Euphrates, and
his water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for
the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth
of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of
the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are spirits of demons,
performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world,
to gather them together for the war of the great day of God,
the Almighty. Behold, I am coming like a thief,
Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments
lest he walk about naked and men see his shame. And they gathered
them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon. So there the battle of Armageddon,
the kings of the east, the Euphrates river is dried up to make way
for the kings of the east to boldly march into the nation
of Israel. And again Zechariah says this
is when all nations do battle against Israel. However, when
all nations do battle against Israel, that is when one Jew
returns who is so tough that he's able to take on all the
nations of earth, all their militaries, and defeat them in battle. Revelation
chapter 19, verses 11 to 21. And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse. And he who sat upon it is called
faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war. And
his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems,
and he has a name written upon him which no one knows except
himself. And he is clothed with a robe
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The
armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
were following him on white horses. And from his mouth comes a sharp
sword, so that with it he may smite the nations, and he will
rule them with a rod of iron, and he treads the winepress of
the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh
he has the name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I
saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a
loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven,
Come assemble for the great supper of God, in order that you may
eat of the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and
the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those
who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free men and
slaves, and small and great." birds of the sky eating the flesh
of all the kings and all the warriors. That's also mentioned
in Ezekiel chapter 39 verses 17 to 20. Let's pick it up in
Revelation 19 verse 19. And I saw the beast and the kings
of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against
him, against Christ, who sat upon the horse and against his
army. And the beast, that's the Antichrist,
and the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who
performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who
had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped
his image these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which
burns with brimstone and the rest were killed with the sword
which came from the mouth of him who sat upon the horse and
all the birds were filled with their flesh and so that's the
battle of Armageddon when all nations do battle with the nation
of Israel They march on Jerusalem in an attempt to wipe them out
in the last days, but then the Israelites return, they repent,
and they accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah, their Savior
and their Messiah. At that point, Jesus Christ returns
to the planet Earth, His feet land on the Mount of Olives,
and then He does battle for the nation of Israel, and defeats
those who attack them. And then Jesus Christ defeats
the nations, sets up his kingdom, the millennial temple is built,
and Jesus Christ rules from Jerusalem, rules the entire world for 1,000
years, the millennial reign of Christ, when Jesus Christ reigns
on the earth for 1,000 years. That's what our next lecture
is about, the millennial kingdom. Remember Jesus Christ said that
in this world you have tribulation. But be of good cheer, take courage,
for I have overcome the world. Jesus Christ is going to return,
he'll defeat the nations of the earth, and he'll rule the earth
for a thousand years. And when the Prince of Peace
returns, then and only then will this planet experience world
peace. Thank you, and God bless you.
Eschatology 9
Series Eschatology
| Sermon ID | 3151064256 |
| Duration | 43:17 |
| Date | |
| Category | Teaching |
| Language | English |
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