Wednesday, March 19, 2014

THE ARMIES OF ANTICHRIST GATHER AT ARMAGEDDON


With this post we have come to the next to the last plague to be inflicted upon planet earth before the return of Jesus as King of kings.

Revelation 16:12–14 “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. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 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.”

The effects of this plague will occur over a period of time.  The vial is poured over the waters of the Euphrates River to dry it up to prepare a crossing for a great army led by the kings of the east.

John also sees spirits that look like “frogs” emerge from the mouths of the dragon/Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet—the false trinity.  They are empowered to work miracles (supernatural wonders/signs) and will use these supernatural powers to persuade the kings of the earth to join forces with the Antichrist.  Note that these spirits are recruiting the armies of the nations of the world—not just the east.  The drying up of the Euphrates is to facilitate the movement of those coming from the east.

Again we see from scripture how the actions of invisible spiritual forces work in conjunction with humanity in accomplishing God’s purposes.  We see these forces (both good and evil) at work throughout the whole of scripture, and they are just as surely at work today.  Paul very clearly stated that our fight is primarily against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

The writer to the Hebrews declares that the angels are “sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.”

Hebrews 1:13–14 “But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

I liked the observations on spiritual warfare made by Tony Evans in answer to questions from Jim Dailey (for an interview published in the February 2005 issue of Decision Magazine):  “…if we are to be victorious over the devil and his army, we must learn to fight him on a spiritual level through the power of the Holy Spirit…. The spiritual realm precedes, influences and, to many degrees, determines the physical realm. The better we understand the spiritual and how it relates to the physical, the better we are able to operate as Christians…. The materialistic nature of our culture camouflages the spiritual world and makes it seem insignificant and unimportant. That is to our spiritual detriment. As Christians we have contributed by not giving the spiritual dimension high play. Look at the theologies out there today that emphasize a physical blessing as the sum of all things. We have to help people understand the cause-effect relationship. There frequently is a strong link between the spiritual and physical. That is, what we are dealing with in the physical realm often can be determined by what is taking place in the spiritual realm. Our failure to deal with the spiritual cause of the problems we encounter can really mess us up.”

We are not left to wonder at the purpose of this great gathering of armies.   They are gathering to do battle against “the great day of God Almighty,” the return of Jesus as King of kings.  At this point Jesus tells John to record a word of encouragement to His followers.

Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”

This statement is made in context with encouragement for the believer to stay strong in his faith so as not to suffer shame, and I think it references the characteristic of a thief to come suddenly and unexpectedly.  The rule of evil will be at its height, and it will be easy for one to begin to have doubts about the outcome—just as John the Baptist did when things looked the darkest to him.

Luke 7:19 “And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?”

Jesus declares that those who stay vigilant and guard their faith as they await His return will be “extremely blessed”(makarios, supremely blest).

Revelation 16:16 “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”

This is a very interesting “he” used here.  You immediately think of the Antichrist as the one who is gathering his forces together to do battle.  The last person speaking to whom the he would apply is Jesus.  Jesus is the one in control and has been all along—He will dictate the time and place of this gathering.  Where did He choose?  Armageddon—the hill country of Megiddo.  Though the armies will gather in the plains of Megiddo where other great battles have been fought, scripture declares that the final battle will be fought in the valley of Jehoshophat outside the walls of Jerusalem.

Joel 3:2 “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.”

The Hebrew for the word “plead” makes reference to “avenge.”  It is the completion of this battle that will accomplish God’s vengeance against those that have persecuted the nation of Israel.

(to be continued…)

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