The Nine Wars of the End Times - Dr. David R. Reagan - http://www.lamblion.us/2014/10/sermons-from-holy-land-nine-wars-of-end.html
I have been to Israel 45 times, and every time my spiritual life has been enriched. I recently took a video cameraman with me and had him shoot on the fly as I led a pilgrimage group through the land. We began in Tel Aviv, and went from there to Tiberias in the north, and then back to Jerusalem.
I'll continue to share some of the sermons I presented from that trip with you. As I do so, I think you'll come to understand why a person once wrote, "A pilgrimage to the Holy Land converts the Bible from black and white into Technicolor."
My fifth message was presented at the ancient fortress of Megiddo that overlooks the Valley of Armageddon. There we will survey the nine prophetic wars of the end times.
The Only War They Know
Most people have heard of only one war of the end times, what is normally referred to as the Battle of Armageddon. But, the Bible speaks of nine end time wars. I want to talk to you about the final battles of the end times.
Every time a war breaks out over in Israel, without exception Lamb & Lion Ministries gets calls and email messages all asking, "Is this the Battle of Armageddon?" The reason for that is because most people are only familiar with one battle of the end times, and that's the Battle of Armageddon. So, every time a war breaks out, people want to know, "Is this the Battle of Armageddon?"
Most people know the name Armageddon, even people in the secular world. We've had movies named Armageddon. Secular writers talk about how we are in the time of Armageddon, and on and on it goes.
What I want to point out to you is that I believe that Bible prophecy mentions nine wars in the end times, and only one of them is the Battle of Armageddon. As you're going to find out, the Battle of Armageddon is really no battle at all.
Let's take a look for a moment at what those wars are that are prophesied to happen in the end times.
The First War of Gog & Magog - Ezekiel 38 and 39
The end time war that most people talk about is found in Ezekiel 38 and 39 - the War of Gog and Magog. There's a man who has written a lot recently about this. His name is Joel Rosenberg. He's a very fine writer and a great fiction writer. He is also a student of Bible prophecy and truly loves the subject. I've been with him on several podiums which we've shared at conferences. I've got to know him well, and he's really a great guy.
Joel Rosenberg is the one who has really popularized the idea that the next major prophetic war will be Ezekiel 38 and 39. But, I think he's wrong about that, because Ezekiel 38 and 39 says that it will occur at a time when Israel is living in peace and without walls. In truth, Israel is not living in peace today. It's certainly is not living without walls. It has a wall that runs the entire length of the country. By the time it does all it zigzags, the wall runs 400 miles long. In some places it's more of a scientific wall, in the sense a technological wall, because if you cross it sets off all kinds of alarms. In other places it's a big tall wall. The wall's been necessary to stop terrorists from coming into Israel. It's been extremely effective in stopping them. And so, Israel is not living in peace right now.
Another thing that is interesting about the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War is it says that it's going to be an invasion led by Russia with certain specified allies. All the allies are specified, and all of them are Muslim states today. The thing that is most interesting is not one single nation that's mentioned in Ezekiel 38 and 39 has a common border with Israel. So, it begs the question, "Why is it that none of the states that have a common border with Israel are mentioned?"
The War of Extermination - Psalm 83
The person who has come up with an answer for that question in recent years is a man named Bill Salus, who is a good, personal friend of mine. Bill wrote a book called Isralestine. In his book he states that the first war of the end times in Bible prophecy is the War of Psalm 83.
If you read that Psalm, and it's a short psalm, it talks about the fact that all the Arab states in the end times will get together and say, "Now is the time for us to annihilate the State of Israel." So, we call it the Psalm 83 War of Annihilation.
An interesting fact about Psalm 83 is that it names the nations that are going to come against Israel, and every nation it names is one that has a common boundary with Israel today. Those names are Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria. They are the ones that come against Israel to annihilate it, as Psalm 83 foretells. I think the Psalm 83 War is going to be the next great war in the Middle East.
Something interesting about Psalm 83 is that it doesn't tell who wins the war, but we know who wins it, because Zechariah 12 says in the end times one of the miracles that God is going to perform is that Israel will have one of the greatest military forces in the world. As you know, Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, but it is always ranked in the top four in terms of military power. Many rank it number one in the effective use of its power.
I think that probably the first war of the end times in prophecy is going to be the Psalm 83 War. That's when the nations that have a common boundary with Israel will come against and try to destroy Israel. I also think that is most likely when Damascus will be destroyed, because two times in the Old Testament we are told that Damascus will cease to exist in the end times.
The Syrians have highly sophisticated missiles. They could put a missile right down the smokestack of any building in Tel Aviv if they wanted to, and they are only shooting them 125 miles, not thousands of miles. Syria also has all kinds of chemical weapons. If they were to attack Tel Aviv with chemical weapons, probably the only way the Israelis would be able to defend themselves is to use one of their tactical nuclear weapons to blow up the city of Damascus. So, it could very well be that that very first war of the end times is the one in which Damascus will cease to exist.
The Psalm 83 War is a war between Israel and all the inner circle of Muslim States that have a common boundary with Israel. I think that's going to be the first war.
That makes the second war of the end times the one described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, when Russia comes down with certain specified Muslim allies. Those countries form an outer ring. None of them have a single common border with Israel.
I think what will happen is in the first war Israel will conquer all the states around it and will finally have peace. At that point the Muslim world will turn to its natural ally, Russia. The Russians will come smiling from ear to ear because they've always wanted to dominate the Middle East. What they really want is not so much the annihilation of Israel as much as they want access to all the Arab oil fields.
The Arabs will invite the Russians in, and surely they'll come. But, the great horde of invaders will all be destroyed supernaturally upon the hills of Israel. They won't be destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces like in the first war of Psalm 83. This time God will personally provide the victory, and He'll do it in such a way that even the people of Israel will realize that God did it.
The result of God's victory is that many of the Jewish people will begin to believe. I also think that includes many of our tour guides who have heads full of Scripture, but hearts that are cold to the Gospel, they will suddenly see God intervene and deliver the nation of Israel. Boom! They're eyes will be opened.
To summarize, the first prophetic end times war is going to be the Psalm 83 War and the next one will be the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War, but we don't know when these are going to occur. There's lots of debate among prophecy scholars as to when they will occur. Some think it's going to occur in the middle of the Tribulation, while some at the beginning of the Tribulation. Some think it will start before the Tribulation.
I tend to think these two wars are going to start before the Tribulation, because Ezekiel talks about the fact that when the Gog-Magog War is over, the Israelis are going to spend seven years cleaning up the battle field. We know that in the middle of the Tribulation the Antichrist is going to run the Jews out of the country. They are not going to be there to clean up the battle field after that. That's why I think most likely the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 will start 3.5 years before the Tribulation begins. Israel therefore will finish cleaning up the battlefields in the middle of the Tribulation.
The Conventional War of the Tribulation - Revelation 6
By the time you get to Revelation 6, the Tribulation has begun. The Tribulation does not begin with the Rapture of the Church, so there could be months or even years between the Rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation. It will probably be several months to a year. No, the Tribulation begins when the Antichrist signs a treaty with Israel that allows them to rebuild their temple.
When the treaty is signed, you can count down to the day when Jesus Christ is going to come at the Second Coming. That's one of the reasons I know there's a difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming, for the Rapture could occur at any moment. When the Bible says you cannot know when the Lord's returning, that refers to the Rapture, because we know when the Lord's Second Coming is going to occur. It's going to occur exactly seven years from the date that the treaty is signed. It even tells us in the book of Revelation how many days that will be until the Lord comes. So, if you were here during the Tribulation, you could calculate exactly seven years until the Lord's going to come.
The Antichrist is going to come to power out of the European Union. Daniel says he will get power through cunning, deception, and his charismatic personality. I think he's going to use all those things to take over the European Union.
But, let me tell you something, once he takes over, it doesn't matter how much charisma he has, he's not going to turn to the world quite yet and say, "Come and worship me." The world would say he's nuts because they haven't spent the last 250 years getting out from underneath European colonialism to suddenly turn around and say to a European ruler, "Come rule us." South America is not going to do that, and neither is Asia. They're going to declare they've had enough of European colonialism. "We're not going to let you rule us!" And so, what happens is that as soon as the Antichrist comes to power, we're told in Revelation 6 that he launches a war to conquer the world. It's a conventional war which you can read a description of in Revelation 6.
In the process of that war, the Antichrist will be responsible for slaughtering 1.5 billion people on planet earth! Revelation 6 says that one-fourth of humanity will die. Today we have close to seven billion people on planet earth. Let's say a billion of those are taken out in the Rapture. That's only going to leave six billion left here on this earth. One-fourth of six billion is 1.5 billion people that are going to die in this initial war.
The Nuclear War of the Tribulation - Revelation 8 & 9
Revelation chapters 8 and 9 explains how the Conventional War begins to morph into a nuclear war. It talks about how suddenly one-third of the earth is burned up. Jesus Himself said in the end times that men will faint from fear from the terrors that will come upon the world. The war will morph into nuclear weapons.
People need to realize that when mankind begins to rebel against God, God steps back and He lowers the hedge of protection. Read Romans 1 where it says that if there's no repentance, God steps back and lowers the hedge of protection. Romans also says that a third time He'll stand back and lower it, turning the people over to a depraved mind. Basically what He's saying is if you want to live that way, I will let you live that way, and I will stop giving you any protection whatsoever. I'll let evil take its course. That's what's going to happen during the Great Tribulation. God's just going to step back and man is going to begin to use those weapons that have been restrained up to that time.
Revelation tell us us that another one-third of humanity will die during that period. That's another 1.5 billion people. By the middle of the Tribulation, the book of Revelation teaches that one-half of the population of the world will be dead. That's 3 billion people!
I have preachers sometimes call me and ask, "Do you think we are living in the Tribulation?" I say, "If we were in the Tribulation, you wouldn't have to call anybody and ask them. You will know it if you are living in the Tribulation."
I don't plan to be here for the Tribulation. People will know if they are still here for the Tribulation because the death toll is going to be beyond anything in human history. Jesus said that if He didn't stop it, all mankind would cease to exist. The only reason anybody is going to live through the Tribulation is because He is going to bring it to an end. With those kinds of numbers, you know it's going to be that terrible.
The War in the Heavens - Revelation 12
To summarize, first we have the Psalm 83 War in which Israel defeats its inner ring of enemies. Second is the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War of Gog and Magog where God defeats the outer ring of Israel's enemies. In addition to that, thirdly we have the Conventional War of the Tribulation followed fourthly by the Nuclear War of the Tribulation.
Now for the fifth war. In the middle of the Tribulation, there's going to be yet another war, and it will be a supernatural war. Revelation 12 reveals that suddenly Satan decides one last time to try to take the throne of God, right there during the middle of the Tribulation. He and his angels make an attack upon the throne of God and upon Heaven itself. He tries one last time to remove God from power.
The Bible says that when that happens, Michael who is the commander and chief of the armies of God and his angels confront Satan and his angels in the atmosphere of this planet. There's a great battle. As a result of that battle, it says Satan is defeated. He's cast down to earth, and it says he has no more access to the throne of God.
Did you know that Satan still has access to the throne of God? He can condemn us. He can charge us before the throne of God. I'd love to see that because I can just see him up there before the throne of God attacking me and Jesus saying, "Oh, by the way, David is covered by my blood. You might as well forget about him."
Satan is cast down to the earth. Now, take a look at this amazing statement in Revelation 12. It says when Satan is cast down to earth, he knows his time is short. That means Satan knows Bible prophecy!
That's why when people ask me, "Do you think the Antichrist is alive today?" I reply, "Yeah. He's always been alive. Always." Satan knows Bible prophecy, but he doesn't know timing. All throughout history he's always had a candidate that he is ready to anoint. When God plays His card, Satan is going to play his card. It might have been Mussolini at one time, or Hitler, or whomever, but he's always ready to play his card. The Antichrist has always been alive. Satan's always had a candidate ready to go.
The War Against the Jews and the Saints - Revelation 12
Once banished from God's throne room, Satan knows his time is short. He knows he's only got 3.5 years remaining before Jesus returns in victory, and so he becomes obsessed with one thing - the destruction of every Jew on planet earth. Satan hates the Jews with a passion. He hates them because God gave the Bible through them. He hates them because God gave the Messiah through them. He hates them because they are the chosen people of God. He hates them because God has said in the end times, "I'm going to save a great remnant of the Jews," and he doesn't want to see even one Jew saved.
In the book of Zechariah we're told that in the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation that two-thirds of the Jews on planet earth will be destroyed by Satan. It will be a greater holocaust than the Nazi Holocaust. But, the glorious thing is that by the end of the Tribulation a remnant that's left is going to look upon Jesus whom they've pierced and they're going to weep and wail and mourn and cry out, "Baruch haba beshem, Adonai!" That means, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Jesus said He would not come back until the Jewish people are willing to say that, and by the end of the Tribulation that's when they are going to say it.
The Tribulation brings people to an end of themselves. In the Old Testament, Israel ran to Egypt all the time. Today they run to the United States all the time. But, they are going to get to the point at the end of the Tribulation where there's no one to turn to because all the nations of the world are opposed to them. The only thing they can turn to is God, and they will indeed turn to God. The veil will be lifted and a great remnant will be saved.
The Middle East Campaign of the Antichrist - Daniel 11
To summarize, we've got the first end times war - the War of Psalm 83. Second follows is the War of Gog and Magog. Both of those probably happening before the Tribulation. The initial wars of the Tribulation the first 3.5 years sees a Conventional War followed closely by a Nuclear War. Fifthly, there is a war in the heavens occurring during the middle of the Tribulation. Sixthly, the War of the Antichrist against the Jews happens during the second half of the Tribulation. Satan begins to persecute the Jews and tries to kill every last Jew and Tribulation Saint on planet earth.
While the Antichrist remains obsessed with killing Jews and Tribulation Saints, it's during that time his attention will get so distracted from his kingdom that he just completely loses it. He's become so focused on killing all the Jews.
At that point all the nations of Asia will say, "This is our opportunity. Let's revolt against this madman." They begin to march across Asia with an army of 200 million. In Daniel 11, we read that the Antichrist hears of these armies coming and he becomes very distressed. He decides he must make an invasion into the Middle East immediately, engaging in the seventh war of the end times.
The Antichrist brings his armies from Rome and he invades the Middle East. He goes down to Egypt and then back up into Israel. He camps his army in the Valley of Armageddon and waits there for all of these hundreds of millions of other Eastern soldiers to come. They are converging from all over the world as he waits.
What I find interesting is it says in Daniel 11 that the Antichrist is not allowed to go into Jordan. The reason for that is that when the Jews flee Jerusalem in the middle of the Tribulation, they are going to flee into Jordan. That's going to be their safe haven, possibly at Petra, and they will be protected there by God.
Another reason I believe that is so is because it says in the book of Isaiah that when the Messiah returns, He goes first to Bozrah in Jordan and apparently picks up the Jewish remnant there. He brings them with Him as He comes to Jerusalem where He lands on the Mount of Olives.
The Battle of Armageddon - Joel 3, Zechariah 14, and Revelation 19
Let's go from the war of the Antichrist against the Saints and the Jews to the end of the Tribulation. By the end of the Tribulation, all of the Antichrist's armies are encamped in the Valley of Armageddon. Two-hundred million more troops are still coming from the East to converge on that valley.
Suddenly, at the end of the Tribulation, the Lord breaks from the heavens on a white war horse. He returns to the Mount of Olives. When He touches the mount it splits in half. Zechariah 14 says Jesus speaks a supernatural word. This is the One who spoke and the whole universe came into existence. Jesus speaks a supernatural word, and when He does, it's like a neutron bomb goes off. It says all of the people gathered in the Valley of Armageddon that suddenly their tongues melt in their mouth, their eyeballs melt in their sockets, and their skin falls off their bodies. It's no wonder that the valley will be full of blood as high as a horses bridle. It's just going to be incredible!
There is no Battle of Armageddon really. The Lord just speaks. He doesn't send out an army because He just speaks, and the Antichrist and his forces cease to exist.
I wish that were the last battle in history, but it's not.
The Second Battle of Gog & Magog - Revelation 20
At that point, the Lord Jesus Christ judges everyone who is left alive at the end of the Tribulation, both Jew and Gentile. Notice here there's a Jewish judgment and a Gentile judgment. He allows all those at the end of the Tribulation who believe in Him and have put their faith in Him to go into the Millennium in the flesh. The Millennium begins with a very small group of people. They are Jews and Gentiles who have lived to the end of the Tribulation and who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Raptured believers will live during Christ's Millennial Kingdom as well, but in glorified bodies. We will reign over those in the flesh. That's one of the rewards we receive. We are going to have degrees of rewards. One will reign over one city, one will reign over two cities, one will reign over five cities, and another over ten cities. That's part of our rewards. We will be scattered all over the earth to reign over those who are in physical bodies.
Those who come in the Millennium in the flesh will begin to repopulate the earth very, very rapidly. In the book of Micah it says that those who live during that time will live as long as a tree. It says if a person were to die at the age of 100, they would be wept over as if they were a baby. What's going to happen is God is going to return the lifespan of man to what it was at the beginning when people lived 800-900 years. They will live throughout the whole Millennium and they will be repopulating the earth. The population of the earth will grow exponentially. We will be in charge of governing all these people under the Lord Jesus Christ.
At the end of the Millennial reign of Jesus, a time when the earth has been flooded with peace, righteousness and justice for 1,000 years, Satan will be released. This whole time Satan has been held captive in a pit, but by the end of the Millennial kingdom he is going to be released.
People ask, "Why would Satan be released? Why would the Lord do that?" I think one of the reasons is because God is going to use the Millennium to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the evil in the world is due to the evil in our hearts and not to the evil in society. History goes in a cycle. It begins with two people in a perfect environment who rebel against God, and it ends up with all of mankind in a rebellion against God.
The ninth and last war in history is the Second War of Gog and Magog. It occurs at the end of the millennial reign of Jesus when God destroys supernaturally all of the forces that come against Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
No More War
After that is when we enter into the Eternal State. Never again will there be any war whatsoever. It will be a time of eternal peace. I can hardly wait for that day to come, but there's going to be a lot of conflict beforehand.
What is the message of all this? The message is very simple. God is in control. God has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all the evil of mankind to the triumph of Jesus Christ. He's in control. The message is that all of us who've put their faith in Jesus Christ will win in the end. Hallelujah!
I have been to Israel 45 times, and every time my spiritual life has been enriched. I recently took a video cameraman with me and had him shoot on the fly as I led a pilgrimage group through the land. We began in Tel Aviv, and went from there to Tiberias in the north, and then back to Jerusalem.
I'll continue to share some of the sermons I presented from that trip with you. As I do so, I think you'll come to understand why a person once wrote, "A pilgrimage to the Holy Land converts the Bible from black and white into Technicolor."
My fifth message was presented at the ancient fortress of Megiddo that overlooks the Valley of Armageddon. There we will survey the nine prophetic wars of the end times.
The Only War They Know
Most people have heard of only one war of the end times, what is normally referred to as the Battle of Armageddon. But, the Bible speaks of nine end time wars. I want to talk to you about the final battles of the end times.
Every time a war breaks out over in Israel, without exception Lamb & Lion Ministries gets calls and email messages all asking, "Is this the Battle of Armageddon?" The reason for that is because most people are only familiar with one battle of the end times, and that's the Battle of Armageddon. So, every time a war breaks out, people want to know, "Is this the Battle of Armageddon?"
Most people know the name Armageddon, even people in the secular world. We've had movies named Armageddon. Secular writers talk about how we are in the time of Armageddon, and on and on it goes.
What I want to point out to you is that I believe that Bible prophecy mentions nine wars in the end times, and only one of them is the Battle of Armageddon. As you're going to find out, the Battle of Armageddon is really no battle at all.
Let's take a look for a moment at what those wars are that are prophesied to happen in the end times.
The First War of Gog & Magog - Ezekiel 38 and 39
The end time war that most people talk about is found in Ezekiel 38 and 39 - the War of Gog and Magog. There's a man who has written a lot recently about this. His name is Joel Rosenberg. He's a very fine writer and a great fiction writer. He is also a student of Bible prophecy and truly loves the subject. I've been with him on several podiums which we've shared at conferences. I've got to know him well, and he's really a great guy.
Joel Rosenberg is the one who has really popularized the idea that the next major prophetic war will be Ezekiel 38 and 39. But, I think he's wrong about that, because Ezekiel 38 and 39 says that it will occur at a time when Israel is living in peace and without walls. In truth, Israel is not living in peace today. It's certainly is not living without walls. It has a wall that runs the entire length of the country. By the time it does all it zigzags, the wall runs 400 miles long. In some places it's more of a scientific wall, in the sense a technological wall, because if you cross it sets off all kinds of alarms. In other places it's a big tall wall. The wall's been necessary to stop terrorists from coming into Israel. It's been extremely effective in stopping them. And so, Israel is not living in peace right now.
Another thing that is interesting about the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War is it says that it's going to be an invasion led by Russia with certain specified allies. All the allies are specified, and all of them are Muslim states today. The thing that is most interesting is not one single nation that's mentioned in Ezekiel 38 and 39 has a common border with Israel. So, it begs the question, "Why is it that none of the states that have a common border with Israel are mentioned?"
The War of Extermination - Psalm 83
The person who has come up with an answer for that question in recent years is a man named Bill Salus, who is a good, personal friend of mine. Bill wrote a book called Isralestine. In his book he states that the first war of the end times in Bible prophecy is the War of Psalm 83.
If you read that Psalm, and it's a short psalm, it talks about the fact that all the Arab states in the end times will get together and say, "Now is the time for us to annihilate the State of Israel." So, we call it the Psalm 83 War of Annihilation.
An interesting fact about Psalm 83 is that it names the nations that are going to come against Israel, and every nation it names is one that has a common boundary with Israel today. Those names are Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria. They are the ones that come against Israel to annihilate it, as Psalm 83 foretells. I think the Psalm 83 War is going to be the next great war in the Middle East.
Something interesting about Psalm 83 is that it doesn't tell who wins the war, but we know who wins it, because Zechariah 12 says in the end times one of the miracles that God is going to perform is that Israel will have one of the greatest military forces in the world. As you know, Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, but it is always ranked in the top four in terms of military power. Many rank it number one in the effective use of its power.
I think that probably the first war of the end times in prophecy is going to be the Psalm 83 War. That's when the nations that have a common boundary with Israel will come against and try to destroy Israel. I also think that is most likely when Damascus will be destroyed, because two times in the Old Testament we are told that Damascus will cease to exist in the end times.
The Syrians have highly sophisticated missiles. They could put a missile right down the smokestack of any building in Tel Aviv if they wanted to, and they are only shooting them 125 miles, not thousands of miles. Syria also has all kinds of chemical weapons. If they were to attack Tel Aviv with chemical weapons, probably the only way the Israelis would be able to defend themselves is to use one of their tactical nuclear weapons to blow up the city of Damascus. So, it could very well be that that very first war of the end times is the one in which Damascus will cease to exist.
The Psalm 83 War is a war between Israel and all the inner circle of Muslim States that have a common boundary with Israel. I think that's going to be the first war.
That makes the second war of the end times the one described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, when Russia comes down with certain specified Muslim allies. Those countries form an outer ring. None of them have a single common border with Israel.
I think what will happen is in the first war Israel will conquer all the states around it and will finally have peace. At that point the Muslim world will turn to its natural ally, Russia. The Russians will come smiling from ear to ear because they've always wanted to dominate the Middle East. What they really want is not so much the annihilation of Israel as much as they want access to all the Arab oil fields.
The Arabs will invite the Russians in, and surely they'll come. But, the great horde of invaders will all be destroyed supernaturally upon the hills of Israel. They won't be destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces like in the first war of Psalm 83. This time God will personally provide the victory, and He'll do it in such a way that even the people of Israel will realize that God did it.
The result of God's victory is that many of the Jewish people will begin to believe. I also think that includes many of our tour guides who have heads full of Scripture, but hearts that are cold to the Gospel, they will suddenly see God intervene and deliver the nation of Israel. Boom! They're eyes will be opened.
To summarize, the first prophetic end times war is going to be the Psalm 83 War and the next one will be the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War, but we don't know when these are going to occur. There's lots of debate among prophecy scholars as to when they will occur. Some think it's going to occur in the middle of the Tribulation, while some at the beginning of the Tribulation. Some think it will start before the Tribulation.
I tend to think these two wars are going to start before the Tribulation, because Ezekiel talks about the fact that when the Gog-Magog War is over, the Israelis are going to spend seven years cleaning up the battle field. We know that in the middle of the Tribulation the Antichrist is going to run the Jews out of the country. They are not going to be there to clean up the battle field after that. That's why I think most likely the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 will start 3.5 years before the Tribulation begins. Israel therefore will finish cleaning up the battlefields in the middle of the Tribulation.
The Conventional War of the Tribulation - Revelation 6
By the time you get to Revelation 6, the Tribulation has begun. The Tribulation does not begin with the Rapture of the Church, so there could be months or even years between the Rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation. It will probably be several months to a year. No, the Tribulation begins when the Antichrist signs a treaty with Israel that allows them to rebuild their temple.
When the treaty is signed, you can count down to the day when Jesus Christ is going to come at the Second Coming. That's one of the reasons I know there's a difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming, for the Rapture could occur at any moment. When the Bible says you cannot know when the Lord's returning, that refers to the Rapture, because we know when the Lord's Second Coming is going to occur. It's going to occur exactly seven years from the date that the treaty is signed. It even tells us in the book of Revelation how many days that will be until the Lord comes. So, if you were here during the Tribulation, you could calculate exactly seven years until the Lord's going to come.
The Antichrist is going to come to power out of the European Union. Daniel says he will get power through cunning, deception, and his charismatic personality. I think he's going to use all those things to take over the European Union.
But, let me tell you something, once he takes over, it doesn't matter how much charisma he has, he's not going to turn to the world quite yet and say, "Come and worship me." The world would say he's nuts because they haven't spent the last 250 years getting out from underneath European colonialism to suddenly turn around and say to a European ruler, "Come rule us." South America is not going to do that, and neither is Asia. They're going to declare they've had enough of European colonialism. "We're not going to let you rule us!" And so, what happens is that as soon as the Antichrist comes to power, we're told in Revelation 6 that he launches a war to conquer the world. It's a conventional war which you can read a description of in Revelation 6.
In the process of that war, the Antichrist will be responsible for slaughtering 1.5 billion people on planet earth! Revelation 6 says that one-fourth of humanity will die. Today we have close to seven billion people on planet earth. Let's say a billion of those are taken out in the Rapture. That's only going to leave six billion left here on this earth. One-fourth of six billion is 1.5 billion people that are going to die in this initial war.
The Nuclear War of the Tribulation - Revelation 8 & 9
Revelation chapters 8 and 9 explains how the Conventional War begins to morph into a nuclear war. It talks about how suddenly one-third of the earth is burned up. Jesus Himself said in the end times that men will faint from fear from the terrors that will come upon the world. The war will morph into nuclear weapons.
People need to realize that when mankind begins to rebel against God, God steps back and He lowers the hedge of protection. Read Romans 1 where it says that if there's no repentance, God steps back and lowers the hedge of protection. Romans also says that a third time He'll stand back and lower it, turning the people over to a depraved mind. Basically what He's saying is if you want to live that way, I will let you live that way, and I will stop giving you any protection whatsoever. I'll let evil take its course. That's what's going to happen during the Great Tribulation. God's just going to step back and man is going to begin to use those weapons that have been restrained up to that time.
Revelation tell us us that another one-third of humanity will die during that period. That's another 1.5 billion people. By the middle of the Tribulation, the book of Revelation teaches that one-half of the population of the world will be dead. That's 3 billion people!
I have preachers sometimes call me and ask, "Do you think we are living in the Tribulation?" I say, "If we were in the Tribulation, you wouldn't have to call anybody and ask them. You will know it if you are living in the Tribulation."
I don't plan to be here for the Tribulation. People will know if they are still here for the Tribulation because the death toll is going to be beyond anything in human history. Jesus said that if He didn't stop it, all mankind would cease to exist. The only reason anybody is going to live through the Tribulation is because He is going to bring it to an end. With those kinds of numbers, you know it's going to be that terrible.
The War in the Heavens - Revelation 12
To summarize, first we have the Psalm 83 War in which Israel defeats its inner ring of enemies. Second is the Ezekiel 38 and 39 War of Gog and Magog where God defeats the outer ring of Israel's enemies. In addition to that, thirdly we have the Conventional War of the Tribulation followed fourthly by the Nuclear War of the Tribulation.
Now for the fifth war. In the middle of the Tribulation, there's going to be yet another war, and it will be a supernatural war. Revelation 12 reveals that suddenly Satan decides one last time to try to take the throne of God, right there during the middle of the Tribulation. He and his angels make an attack upon the throne of God and upon Heaven itself. He tries one last time to remove God from power.
The Bible says that when that happens, Michael who is the commander and chief of the armies of God and his angels confront Satan and his angels in the atmosphere of this planet. There's a great battle. As a result of that battle, it says Satan is defeated. He's cast down to earth, and it says he has no more access to the throne of God.
Did you know that Satan still has access to the throne of God? He can condemn us. He can charge us before the throne of God. I'd love to see that because I can just see him up there before the throne of God attacking me and Jesus saying, "Oh, by the way, David is covered by my blood. You might as well forget about him."
Satan is cast down to the earth. Now, take a look at this amazing statement in Revelation 12. It says when Satan is cast down to earth, he knows his time is short. That means Satan knows Bible prophecy!
That's why when people ask me, "Do you think the Antichrist is alive today?" I reply, "Yeah. He's always been alive. Always." Satan knows Bible prophecy, but he doesn't know timing. All throughout history he's always had a candidate that he is ready to anoint. When God plays His card, Satan is going to play his card. It might have been Mussolini at one time, or Hitler, or whomever, but he's always ready to play his card. The Antichrist has always been alive. Satan's always had a candidate ready to go.
The War Against the Jews and the Saints - Revelation 12
Once banished from God's throne room, Satan knows his time is short. He knows he's only got 3.5 years remaining before Jesus returns in victory, and so he becomes obsessed with one thing - the destruction of every Jew on planet earth. Satan hates the Jews with a passion. He hates them because God gave the Bible through them. He hates them because God gave the Messiah through them. He hates them because they are the chosen people of God. He hates them because God has said in the end times, "I'm going to save a great remnant of the Jews," and he doesn't want to see even one Jew saved.
In the book of Zechariah we're told that in the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation that two-thirds of the Jews on planet earth will be destroyed by Satan. It will be a greater holocaust than the Nazi Holocaust. But, the glorious thing is that by the end of the Tribulation a remnant that's left is going to look upon Jesus whom they've pierced and they're going to weep and wail and mourn and cry out, "Baruch haba beshem, Adonai!" That means, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Jesus said He would not come back until the Jewish people are willing to say that, and by the end of the Tribulation that's when they are going to say it.
The Tribulation brings people to an end of themselves. In the Old Testament, Israel ran to Egypt all the time. Today they run to the United States all the time. But, they are going to get to the point at the end of the Tribulation where there's no one to turn to because all the nations of the world are opposed to them. The only thing they can turn to is God, and they will indeed turn to God. The veil will be lifted and a great remnant will be saved.
The Middle East Campaign of the Antichrist - Daniel 11
To summarize, we've got the first end times war - the War of Psalm 83. Second follows is the War of Gog and Magog. Both of those probably happening before the Tribulation. The initial wars of the Tribulation the first 3.5 years sees a Conventional War followed closely by a Nuclear War. Fifthly, there is a war in the heavens occurring during the middle of the Tribulation. Sixthly, the War of the Antichrist against the Jews happens during the second half of the Tribulation. Satan begins to persecute the Jews and tries to kill every last Jew and Tribulation Saint on planet earth.
While the Antichrist remains obsessed with killing Jews and Tribulation Saints, it's during that time his attention will get so distracted from his kingdom that he just completely loses it. He's become so focused on killing all the Jews.
At that point all the nations of Asia will say, "This is our opportunity. Let's revolt against this madman." They begin to march across Asia with an army of 200 million. In Daniel 11, we read that the Antichrist hears of these armies coming and he becomes very distressed. He decides he must make an invasion into the Middle East immediately, engaging in the seventh war of the end times.
The Antichrist brings his armies from Rome and he invades the Middle East. He goes down to Egypt and then back up into Israel. He camps his army in the Valley of Armageddon and waits there for all of these hundreds of millions of other Eastern soldiers to come. They are converging from all over the world as he waits.
What I find interesting is it says in Daniel 11 that the Antichrist is not allowed to go into Jordan. The reason for that is that when the Jews flee Jerusalem in the middle of the Tribulation, they are going to flee into Jordan. That's going to be their safe haven, possibly at Petra, and they will be protected there by God.
Another reason I believe that is so is because it says in the book of Isaiah that when the Messiah returns, He goes first to Bozrah in Jordan and apparently picks up the Jewish remnant there. He brings them with Him as He comes to Jerusalem where He lands on the Mount of Olives.
The Battle of Armageddon - Joel 3, Zechariah 14, and Revelation 19
Let's go from the war of the Antichrist against the Saints and the Jews to the end of the Tribulation. By the end of the Tribulation, all of the Antichrist's armies are encamped in the Valley of Armageddon. Two-hundred million more troops are still coming from the East to converge on that valley.
Suddenly, at the end of the Tribulation, the Lord breaks from the heavens on a white war horse. He returns to the Mount of Olives. When He touches the mount it splits in half. Zechariah 14 says Jesus speaks a supernatural word. This is the One who spoke and the whole universe came into existence. Jesus speaks a supernatural word, and when He does, it's like a neutron bomb goes off. It says all of the people gathered in the Valley of Armageddon that suddenly their tongues melt in their mouth, their eyeballs melt in their sockets, and their skin falls off their bodies. It's no wonder that the valley will be full of blood as high as a horses bridle. It's just going to be incredible!
There is no Battle of Armageddon really. The Lord just speaks. He doesn't send out an army because He just speaks, and the Antichrist and his forces cease to exist.
I wish that were the last battle in history, but it's not.
The Second Battle of Gog & Magog - Revelation 20
At that point, the Lord Jesus Christ judges everyone who is left alive at the end of the Tribulation, both Jew and Gentile. Notice here there's a Jewish judgment and a Gentile judgment. He allows all those at the end of the Tribulation who believe in Him and have put their faith in Him to go into the Millennium in the flesh. The Millennium begins with a very small group of people. They are Jews and Gentiles who have lived to the end of the Tribulation and who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Raptured believers will live during Christ's Millennial Kingdom as well, but in glorified bodies. We will reign over those in the flesh. That's one of the rewards we receive. We are going to have degrees of rewards. One will reign over one city, one will reign over two cities, one will reign over five cities, and another over ten cities. That's part of our rewards. We will be scattered all over the earth to reign over those who are in physical bodies.
Those who come in the Millennium in the flesh will begin to repopulate the earth very, very rapidly. In the book of Micah it says that those who live during that time will live as long as a tree. It says if a person were to die at the age of 100, they would be wept over as if they were a baby. What's going to happen is God is going to return the lifespan of man to what it was at the beginning when people lived 800-900 years. They will live throughout the whole Millennium and they will be repopulating the earth. The population of the earth will grow exponentially. We will be in charge of governing all these people under the Lord Jesus Christ.
At the end of the Millennial reign of Jesus, a time when the earth has been flooded with peace, righteousness and justice for 1,000 years, Satan will be released. This whole time Satan has been held captive in a pit, but by the end of the Millennial kingdom he is going to be released.
People ask, "Why would Satan be released? Why would the Lord do that?" I think one of the reasons is because God is going to use the Millennium to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the evil in the world is due to the evil in our hearts and not to the evil in society. History goes in a cycle. It begins with two people in a perfect environment who rebel against God, and it ends up with all of mankind in a rebellion against God.
The ninth and last war in history is the Second War of Gog and Magog. It occurs at the end of the millennial reign of Jesus when God destroys supernaturally all of the forces that come against Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
No More War
After that is when we enter into the Eternal State. Never again will there be any war whatsoever. It will be a time of eternal peace. I can hardly wait for that day to come, but there's going to be a lot of conflict beforehand.
What is the message of all this? The message is very simple. God is in control. God has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all the evil of mankind to the triumph of Jesus Christ. He's in control. The message is that all of us who've put their faith in Jesus Christ will win in the end. Hallelujah!
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