I got a message from a friend that I needed to address.
Originally posted on 08/31/2019.
I received a message which read sort of like this – I say sort of because I had to make it legible.
My acquaintance said, "I told some people that Jesus fights two battles, one by himself and then Armageddon." The people he spoke to responded with, "are you sure." To which he said, "yes, turn your bible to Isaiah 63:3,4, and then look at Revelation 19:13."
Let's start by looking at Jesus allegedly fighting two battles.
While the terminology, fighting, shows up multiple times throughout the Bible. In reality, Jesus only fights ONE battle, and we see that "war" in Revelation 19.
11) “And I saw
Heaven opened. And behold, a white horse! And He sitting on him was
called Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes
war. (12) And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on
His head many crowns. And He had a name written, one that no one knew
except Himself. (13) And He had been clothed in a garment
dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. (14)
And the armies in Heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed
in fine linen, white and clean. (15) And
out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike
the nations. And He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And
He treads the wine-press of the wine of the anger and of the wrath of
Almighty God. (16) And He has on His garment, and on His
thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
(Revelation
19:11-16 MKJV)
If you integrate Armageddon into the conversation, you only confuse the issue for most; the reason for
that is that every major battle in the scriptures was fought in the Plain of Jezreel, in the Meggido Valley (it is the location that causes us to call this Armageddon.) This will include the "war" at the end of the seven years and the final battle at the end of the thousand-year reign. A fascinating yet confusing fact is that this information about the final battle is found in Revelation 20:7-9. In case you forgot, the book of Revelation is the revealing of Jesus Christ, so when it says God, you need to ask, am I looking at God or Jesus?
7) “And when the
thousand years have expired, Satan will be loosed out of his prison.
(8) And he will go out to deceive the nations which are
in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them
together to battle. The number of them is as the sand of the sea.
(9) And they went up over the breadth of the earth and
circled around the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. And
fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them.”
(Revelation
20:7-9 MKJV)
In this battle, there is only one person, Jesus, against the multitude. Just for the fun of it, we will say that Jesus never has to lift a hand because “fire comes down from God out of Heaven and devours them.” I would not consider this a fight.
Now, if you want to get technical about the components that make a fight, Revelation 19:11-15 fits the bill.
“And I saw Heaven
opened. And behold, a white horse! And He sitting on him was called
Faithful and True. And in righteousness He judges and makes war.
(12) And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His
head many crowns. And He had a name written, one that no one knew
except Himself. (13) And He
had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called
The Word of God. (14) And the armies in Heaven
followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
(15) And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that
with it He should strike the nations. And He will shepherd them with
a rod of iron. And He treads the wine-press of the wine of the anger
and of the wrath of Almighty God.”
(Revelation 19:11-15
MKJV)
All of the actors have gathered for battle.
We have the king of kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus, sitting upon the white horse, and He has a sword coming out of His mouth.
Jesus is followed by the saints of heaven, and they, too, are riding on white horses.
And then there are the nations.
The Jews would never, especially at this point, rise up against the Messiah they have been waiting for, and the martyred saints should have already been resurrected to heaven and may well be riding with Jesus into this “battle.” The nations are those who have chosen to take up arms against Jesus, and contrary to twisted opinion, not all of the nations will be standing there ready to fight. Fascinating that a people group that refused to acknowledge God now recognizes Jesus.
But you still have a problem, which most solve by making assumptions, as you don't see Jesus lift a finger in battle. The response to that problem can be seen in Isaiah's writings.
“But
with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and shall decide with
uprightness for the meek of the earth. And He shall strike the earth
with the rod of His mouth, and with
the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.”
(Isaiah
11:4 MKJV)
So all these people who have come to fight are slain with the breath of His lips. For the unbelievers, I offer a second witness from the Apostle Paul.
“And
then the lawless one will be revealed, whom
the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth
and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming,”
(2
Thessalonians 2:8 MKJV)
And to make your head swim a little, allow me to throw in the idea that Sodom and Gomorrah may well have been an example of towns and people being destroyed by the breath of God. You can read Genesis 19 at your leisure.
Revelation 19:13 tells us that His garment has been dipped in blood. I am not sure how my acquaintance integrated this point about "The blood on his cloak," but he presented this argument to some people at church, and they responded with, “some say it's the blood of the saints, while others say it is His own blood.” My friend replied by telling them, "not so, it is the blood of His enemies." At this point, those people who questioned him agreed and walked away. Apparently, my acquaintance took this last statement to a couple of Pastors at a Calvary Chapel, and they agreed with my friend.
So let's look at what the Prophet Isaiah tells us about this illustration.
Isaiah 63:1-4 NASB 1) “Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? "It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save." (2) Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? (3) "I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples, there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath, And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. (4) "For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come.”
Isaiah 63:1 explains who the subject is by giving us clues, similar to Revelation 19: 11-15. Any decent Jew would recognize that this is a comparable prophetic word from the Old Testament that gives acceptance to Revelation 19. Some of the clues are:
This One who is majestic in His apparel (Psalm 93:1);
Marching in the greatness of His strength (Psalm 24:8);
It is I who speaks in righteousness (Proverbs 8:8).
All of these speak about Jesus Christ. An obvious aspect of this passage is that at least the lower half of the garment of the Messiah is soaked in blood.
The narrator asks,
“Why are your garments like the one who treads in the wine-press?”
Consider that there was a time when people stomped the liquid out of grapes with their feet. If they were smart, they would lift up or remove any outer garment so it would not get covered in juice. Perhaps, in making juice, some would splash onto your clothing, but merely allowing your garments to become wholly inundated with this blood-red juice is preposterous.
What does this scene, where the victor, coming from a battle, soaked in the adversaries blood, say about the person walking out of the battle?
It says He went into the battle prepared.
We can't presume He went alone, but if there had been others, we would be left to assume that no one else made it out alive. Consider who is going into the battle. Everybody coming with Jesus to the conflict is NOW an immortal being that cannot be harmed. Recall that we have demonstrated that Jesus kills all who choose to fight with the breath of His mouth; therefore, no one has to assist Him in battle.
And lastly, He is obviously trained, qualified, and with a positive attitude. He did not care about what His clothing would look like. Perhaps, knowing that He would win, His blood-soaked clothing then becomes a symbol of victory, bravery, and conquest.
Based on what the passage says, can we figure out who this is?
Absolutely. So, what clues are we given that identify who went into the bloody battle?
Isaiah 9:2-5 NASB 2) “The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. (3) You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. (4) For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. (5) For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.”
Who is with Jesus in Isaiah 63:3-4?
Perhaps the question is, does anyone have to be with Him?
The answer to that is NO. But for the doubter, I refer you to Exodus 12:12 NASB, where it says,
“For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments–I am the LORD.”
The verse above makes it quite clear, that there was NO death angel, it was Jesus, and He slaughtered all who were not covered by the blood. So the answer to the question, who was with Him, is NO ONE else. You cannot apply God's judgments against Egypt, where those who were spared were covered by the blood, as that theme does not apply to the nations that we see in Revelation 19 at the end of the seven years.
If we are going to study Armageddon, we must step back a bit to Revelation 16, where we see the end of the final judgments being poured out of the bowls. The preparations for the Battle of Armageddon are made and brought into the picture because of a vial, which is part of the sixth bowl.
Revelation 16:12-16 NASB (12) “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. (13) 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; (14) 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. (15) (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) (16) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.”
I already gave you a regional map of Israel, and there is NOTHING called Har-Magedon on the map. The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury helps to define Har-Magedon.
“Armageddon. i.e. hill of slaughter, *S# G717. i.e. Mount of Decision or Sentence (Lange). Valley, symbol of defeat; hill, of victory. What the heathen once did against Josiah and his people at Megiddo would now find its counterpart in what they did against Jesus and his followers; but that as once, in the Valley of Megiddo, the theocracy was borne to the grave with Josiah, so, in Armageddon, the Hill of Megiddo, the Lord would avenge the crime of the heathen (Gebhardt, p. 274, cited in Dusterdiek, Note LXXX, p. 425). Compare Psa_83:17-18, and indeed the imagery of that whole Psalm and its connection to the history of Josiah, but its prophetic reference to the future of the nation of Israel in their land and the victory over surrounding enemies. Armageddon is related to the "hill of Megiddo," and that Megiddo is situated in the plain of Jezreel.”
In Revelation 16:17-21 The seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” While there are still horrendous things happening, the central focus is Babylon, or, should I say, the Babylon system. (Keep in mind that it has everything to do with power and the love of money, the root of all evil.)
Chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation focus on the downfall of the Babylon system. There are some very telling facts about this greed and lust.
Revelation 18:3 NASB “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”
The system collapses in one hour.
Revelation 18:9-10 NASB 9) “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, … For in one hour your judgment has come.”
If you have been watching the news (December 2022), this should sound familiar as the economic system completely collapses. This is notable as oceanic shipping comes to a complete halt. (Revelation 18:11-17 NASB)
There is an aspect of this next verse that I find deeply troubling, as it implicates the wealthy of the earth in the death of the innocents.
Revelation 18:24 NASB “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.”
“All who have been slain on the earth.” This should be an eye-opening statement for everybody.
So, as we come into Revelation 19, there are no more judgments to be poured out, merely the termination of the judgments. Watch what happens.
Revelation 19:1-2 NASB “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; (2) BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.”
In Heaven, they are rejoicing. The Babylon system is gone. Jesus is about to come roaring on the scene in dramatic fashion, with all the saints riding with Him. The antichrist, the false prophet, and Satan will be thrown into the pit. The loud voices declare that His judgments have come, And, He has avenged the blood of His bond servants.
How can it be said, “it is done,” especially since there is still a battle to be waged?
By Heaven’s standards, this mess is done, for God always looks toward the future (Abraham is a good example of that.)
Revelation 19:6-9 NASB “Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. (7) “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” (8) It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (9) Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.”
Clothed with a robe dipped in blood, everything about Him is brightness and glory, and His name is the Word of God. Pure majesty.
I have had discussions like this before, how He only kills the fighters that day. Invariably, the religious come against me with their tradition and false teachings they have learned and try to persuade me of various things, like no one from the nations enters the millennial kingdom.
But here is what the Scripture says,
(Revelation 19:19-21 NASB) 19) “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. (20) 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 worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. (21) And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
So what do we see in Revelation 19:19-21?
The beast, which is the Antichrist, and most likely a Muslim leader.
The false prophet. I feel strongly that this man will be the high priest of the new Jewish temple. He will convert to Islam and perform signs. It is the signs that will be comparable to what the two witnesses perform that will cause deception.
The kings of the earth. This can include the leaders we see at the G10, World Economic Forum, and the European Union.
They are assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
The beast was seized, along with the false prophet, and these two, very specifically, were seized and thrown alive into the lake of fire. The rest – those gathered for war, were killed with the sword that comes out of Jesus’ mouth.
Jesus put himself on the cross so that you can have the life of the Father within you; and, in time, spend eternity with Him.
