Why the World will go to war against the Lord at that time.
When Christ returns with his mighty angels, He will resurrect his saints and rapture those elect who are alive and remain on the earth. The Christ will rule in the midst of his enemies and from Zion send forth the rod of his strength (Ps 110:2). In retribution for killing his saints and disobeying the Gospel, God will inflict seven bowls of wrath on the unbelievers who remain on the earth. As mentioned previously, each of the first five bowls inflicts a size-able measure of pain on those who experience them; an amplified measure of pain that is meant to get their attention. God does this in an attempt to get unrepentant people’s attention and make them change. All of these pains will only harden unbelievers, stir them to blaspheme God, and move them to war against the Christ. At this point, the wickedness of men will fully ripen (Rev 14:17-19). Through evil spirits like frogs, the Dragon, the beast, and the false prophet will summon their subjects to fight in a battle commonly known as Armageddon. Emboldened they will beat their plowshares into swords and their pruning hooks into spears (Joel 3:9-13). In going to war, they will attempt to cast off God’s hold from their lives (Ps 2:1-5). In vengeance for their pains, they will seek to defile Zion (Micah 4:11-12). Their plot will only prove a vanity. Little do they know that they are walking into a trap; a trap that will be their undoing.
God will allow the nations to gather for war that He might have occasion to destroy them.
When the sixth bowl of wrath is poured out on the River Euphrates, it’s waters will be dried in order that the way of the world’s Kings might be prepared. God will allow the nations to gather in the valley of Megiddo. He will let all the men of war draw near. There He will enter into judgement with them on account of his People whom they scattered (Joel 3:2). There He will outpour on them all his fiery indignation (Zeph 3:8). The Lord will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem (Joel 3:14-16). In righteousness, He will judge and make war. On a white Horse, God himself will come out of his place to face them and to tread the wine press of his wrath. In a literal sense, God will squash them like grapes (Rev 14:17-19). He shall break them with a rod of Iron and dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel (Ps 2:9). By things such as this, God will make his name known among his adversaries. By such a battle, God will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell on the earth (Zeph 1:18).
How the saints in God’s army will be granted vengeance upon their enemies.
The Lord gives voice before his Army; a great camp that will execute his Word (Joel 2:10-11). God’s people, the saints, shall be volunteers in the day of his power (Ps 110:3). The armies of Heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, will follow the Christ on white horses (Rev 19:14). They are a people, great and strong, the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them. The earth will tremble and quake before this army (Joel 2:10-11). A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Surely nothing shall escape them (Joel 2:2-3). They will pursue their enemies and overtake them. Their enemies shall fall under their feet (Ps 18:37-39). His army seems like torches; they run like lightening; they leave everything empty, desolate, and a waste in their wake (Nahum 2:1-10). The saints shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of their feet (Malachi 4:3). God will arm them with strength for the battle. He will subdue under them those that rose up against them. He will give them the necks of their enemies and allow them to destroy those who hate them. They will beat them fine as dust and cast them out as dirt in the streets (Ps 18:39-42). No weapon forged against them shall prosper; everyone who rises in judgement against them, they themselves shall condemn. This is the heritage of all God’s servants (Isa 54:17).
A brief description of the horror that will befall the wicked in this battle.
The Horror that will befall the wicked in this battle can only be described as a nightmare. God will thunder from Heaven; He will scatter his foes with arrows and lightening in abundance. God will punish those who fight with thunder, earthquake, storm, and the flame of devouring fire (Isa 29:6). Smoke proceeds from his nostrils and a devouring fire from his mouth; coals will be kindled by this fire. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike the nations (Rev 19:15). He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips He shall slay the wicked (Isa 11:4). As wax melts near the fire, so too the wicked will perish in God’s presence (Ps 68:2). He will make their flesh dissolve while they stand on their feet. Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths (Zech 14:12-15). The mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split like wax before the fire (Micah 1:3-4). From his brightness, thick clouds pass with hailstones and coals of fire (Ps 18:7-14). God will strike terror into the hearts of the wicked (Isa 64:1-3). A great panic will seize them on that day. Their hearts will melt, their knees will shake, and all their faces will drain of color as their armies writhe in pain along with all their horses and animals (Nahum 2:1-10, Joel 2:6). They will walk like blind men (Zeph 1:17) and will attack each other in their own confusion and distress (Zech 14:13). God’s fury will be poured out like fire and rocks will also be thrown down by Him (Nahum 1:6). Great hail from Heaven will fall upon men; hailstones about the weight of a talent (75 lbs, 34 kg) (Rev 16:21). God will wound the head of his enemies and trample them; He will crush them in blood (Ps 68:23). Their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like refuse (Zeph 1:17). The Christ will bloody his robes from the killing spree (Rev 19:13). He shall fill the place with dead bodies; He shall execute the heads of many countries (Ps 110:6). The blood shall flow out of the winepress up to the horse’s bridles for one thousand six hundred furlongs (Rev 14:20). Now a furlong is the equivalent of about 660 ft or 201 meters. This means the pool of blood from this massacre will be about 4 to 5 feet deep and will span a distance of about 200 miles or close to 322 kilometers. The tongues of God’s dogs will lick up their portion of blood from the carnage (Ps 68:23). Birds from all over the world will gather together to eat the flesh of kings, mighty men, soldiers, and horses. They will come to eat the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great alike (Rev 19:18). The day of the Lord will be great and terrible; who can endure it (Joel 2:10-11)?
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