| (Copyright) by Rhoda Foust (Lehigh Acres, Florida) |
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| When the word Armageddon is spoken, people automatically think of war between nations. Most do not fully understand when, where, or how it will take place. Many fear it could happen at any time, especially now that Israel is fighting for survival, and many assume that the middle east problems will lead to this event and that it will spread into other nations. We hear religious people talking about armies surrounding Jerusalem, and “sudden destruction coming upon the land”, and we think could this be “Armageddon”? Because it conjures up fear many choose to disbelieve it will ever happen. This study is to show how we may understand and see the many events to take place before the battle of Armageddon. We find this topic mentioned in the widely misunderstood book of Revelation. Re 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants’ things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 6 ¶ And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. The book of Revelation is a message, from Yeshua to His people, to unveil events that are to happen during our age, from the time of John the Baptist to the millennium (the next age). Regardless of how difficult it is to understand, if we respect and reverence our heavenly Father, Yahweh, and are of His church (have an earnest of His holy spirit), and keep his commandments, we should have a strong desire to “have a good understanding” of this valuable message Yeshua has sent especially to us. He tells us who can understand these prophecies. Within this message He tells us of certain events that take place before the battle of Armageddon Ps. 111:10 The fear (St.Conc.#3374 = reverence, respect) of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. 112:1 ¶ Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Pr 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Pr 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. These are but a few scriptures showing that one must reverence and respect Yahweh, keep and delight greatly in His commandments, that he may have good understanding, and wisdom. Another scripture tells us that the wise shall understand. Da 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. Having said that, we will go to Rev. 16 where we find the mention of Armageddon. 1 ¶ And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. We must first find the time setting for these Vials. We start with the seven Seals which gives the overall view of our entire age, starting in Rev. 6:1-17. The first six Seals pictures events to occur up until the seven Trumpets are introduced. By studying these Seals, we can see that the first three seals are being fulfilled and makes us wonder that we may presently be entering the fourth Seal. When we come to the last Seal, we see that within it are seven trumpets (Rev.8). The first four trumpets describes horrendous diasters to our earth. The fifth trumpet introduces the first of the three Woes. Woe one happens in the fifth trumpet (Rev.9:1-11). Woe two in the sixth trumpet (Rev. 9:12-14), and the last, Woe three, takes place at the end of the seventh trumpet (Rev. 12:1-17, 13:1-18,14:1-20). The seven vials of Yahweh’s wrath cultumates in the last Woe. To reach the secquencial time flow the reader should read these verses from the Bible before starting this study. The first verse (Rev. 16:1) gives the time slot showing that this is the beginning of the seven Vials of Yahweh’s wrath located in the third Woe. 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. Verse two shows that Satan’s beast power (world government) has already been in power for some time, long enough for many to have already taken his mark and have worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. Each vial, as did the previous events, flows into the next event, compounding each vial’s events. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 8 ¶ And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. This is getting very close to the end of Satan’s world ruling power. The seventh Trumpet which is in the 7th Seal (and the 6th vial of God’s wrath) is where we find the great battle of Armageddon. 12 ¶ And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. Each vial is added onto the next, showing how each event progresses into the next event. These “vials” are time periods which show how Yahweh is venting His wrath against a wicked world, giving them an opportunity to repent. We are not told how much time each event occupies. Verse 13 and 14 shows demons influencing the nations to war by miracles. Notice who these nations will battle against; “the battle of that great day of God Almighty”. They have no intention of fighting each other. They agree to meet in Armageddon combining their power against Yeshua and his army. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan), and out of the mouth of the beast (Satan’s world government), and out of the mouth of the false prophet (Satan’s world religion). 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. These remaining wicked Gentile nations have murdered Yahweh’s people, and now they think to destroy the army of Yahweh. He has had his fill of their wickedness and makes the decision to end this age with His last, 7th Vial. This is “The Great Day of Yahweh Almighty”. He says, “It is done”! He will end this age as we know it. 17 ¶ And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nation’s fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent (65 lbs.): and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. Does this study not show that there is no need for anyone in our generation to fear being alive when the great battle of Armageddon takes place? Chapters 17 and 18 gives vivid descriptions of Satan’s world powers, and how they are dealt with. In Chapter nineteen we see the second coming of Yeshua. He comes with His angelic army for the final victory of destruction to an evil world. Rev. 19:11 ¶ And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the remnant (rest of them) were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast (who is still in control of the world). 13 These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. At this point in time another age begins, one without the influence of Satan for one thousand years, one that the resurrected saints’ rules with Yeshua. Together they will restore the earth back to the beauty it once knew. 20:1 ¶ And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. In conclusion: The war at Armageddon is not a war between nations. These nations think to war against Christ. However, Christ is the one who wins this war. By this time the wicked have killed the righteous, who refused to take the mark of the beast, and at the end God destroys the wicked. So, the fear that “Armageddon” is a war that mankind can expect soon will not happen until all the “seven last plagues” of the third woe have been fulfilled. That doesn’t mean that anyone should be unprepared to meet God with a clear conscious because regardless of how long it may be until all these prophesies are fulfilled, anyone of us could die at any time, and the next instant of awareness we will be judged by our works (acts). Instead of fearing the war of Armageddon we need to fear to disobey Yehweh. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: What About Armageddon – Who Will Fight and When? Article by Rhoda Foust Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| This article was probably written at a point in time where we thought Christ would be fighting this battle with angels. However, Revelation 17:14 makes it quite clear that those with him are the “called, and chosen, and faithful,” in other words the “First Fruits”. (14) These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. |
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