No doubt, He is coming to judge and make war, but this is NOT the final judgment. Revelation 20:4.

On 10/08/25, the wife and I watched one of the assistant pastors at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills take the microphone and preach a sermon called The Millennium of the Messiah.

I suspect he went this direction because Pastor Jack was not there to personally squelch it, as this young man is a trusted High School Pastor and does not usually preach to the middle-aged crowd.

As I listened, I believe there were at least three times I said, " That is NOT in the Bible. Only one now stands out distinctly in my mind, the day after the false teaching, and it goes something like this.

“The sheep and the goats will be among those judged by Jesus shortly after the end of the seven-years of God's wrath. The sheep, being found righteous, will gain entrance into the millennial kingdom, while the goats will go off directly to hell.”

The sheep and goat judgment can be found in Matthew 25:31-46.

I have no intention of going into a deep conversation about the sheep, but I am going to talk about judgment. Pay attention to what Jesus said to the disciples as He was defining the eschatology and end times chronology.

“He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”

If Jesus, and I can say that because Jesus is God and the judge, is sitting, then this is the final, great, white throne judgment. This only happens once, at one place, at the end of the Revelation narrative.

All nations?

Huge overview, there are only three people groups detailed in the Bible: the Jews, the nations, and the church.

The church, prior to the wrath being poured out, is removed from earth. This theme is all over the Bible. The Jews who have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Messiah, will leave with the church; therefore, we can include some within the church.

The next group, minus the followers of Christ, is the Jews. The wrath is meant to drive the Jews into a knowledge, love, and acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. Many will come into a relationship, and we see Jesus, after He does battle with the word of His mouth, acknowledging the Jews who now see Him. After this battle, the only two who are included among the combatants and yet NOT killed are taken alive and thrown into the lake of fire. These are the first humans to be thrown into the lake of fire.

The last group is the nations; this is a vast and mixed group. All this happens at the end of time. Are there Christians included in this group? No, as they went up in the rapture, 1007 years before. How about the slaughtered saints from the time of wrath? No, because even they are given a resurrection that happens during the time of wrath. Revelation tells us that there is a specific number, which we are not privy to. So the only other consideration is all those people that we quickly assign to hell. Jesus, the good shepherd, gives the vast number an opportunity to enter the kingdom of peace based upon some of the simplest of kind acts.

Back to the topic.

I immediately said to my wife that what he said is NOT in the Bible.

I was not in a position to check and see if there was a transcript, and so I am having to go slowly through the playback of the video.

The young pastor's introduction continued with these statements.

“We must understand something, He is coming to judge and make war.”

Is this an appropriate statement?

The answer is yes; however, … The Revelation is a Revealing of Jesus; therefore, the seven years are Jesus pouring out the Father's wrath, in other words, judgment.

In the chronology of events, since Jesus just came riding back to earth on the white horse, then we must understand that He is not quite finished with the seven years, and all seven years are an aspect of His judgment. You surely realize that none of those who died as a result of God's wrath/judgment have gone on to eternal judgment as yet.

Where are they then?

Lying in the dust with no thought. Judgment will not happen until the end of the thousand years, and that is all. Yes, that means that those who die after the rapture, aside from the tribulation saints, will have to wait until the final judgment.

So, who dies when Revelation tells us that He is come to fight with the nations?

He is only coming to kill those who have come to fight with Him.

No doubt, He is coming to judge and make war, but this is NOT the final judgment.

Judge(s) is the Greek word krínō, which means “to separate, distinguish, discriminate between good and evil, select, choose out the good.

In the NT, it also means to form or give an opinion after separating and considering the particulars of a case.” While the details are masked from us, this is exactly what we see in Matthew's retelling of the sheep and goat judgment.

Are you telling me that God will continue to show mercy to some?

Absolutely. The problem we have is that, for some reason, we seem to relish the idea that God will bring about some horrific punishment at the drop of a hat. Again, you have a problem, because we don't see this horrific punishment in the end times events.

Perhaps a word picture will help. I picture King Solomon, who listened to the legal proceedings from two harlots, about a baby, which belonged to one of them. (One woman had unknowingly suffocated her baby during the night and chose to swap her dead baby for the other lady's live one.)
Solomon, after considering the particulars of the case, gave an opinion and returned the baby to the correct woman because she had compassion and could not allow the baby to be cut in half just to satisfy the selfish and foolish desires of the other woman. (Read about this in 1 Kings 3:16-28)

The young pastor continued to imply that He (Jesus) judges: “against all of His enemies and slays them.”
If you are going to advocate for an action that implies the eradication of an entire class of people that hold to a particular ideology, like Islam, and you deem them unworthy of God's salvation, then you need to back your false and confusing teaching with scripture. The young pastor could not do that.

This next paragraph is here to inform you that false teachers come in every shape and size.

Encouraged by my late father, I joined my mom and dad for dinner at a restaurant with an old friend of his. This friend, whom I will call Bob, would constantly rant about semi-biblical events. On this particular evening, my dad says, Bob (this is not his name), tell my son about your latest theory. Bob immediately tries to tell me that Satan had intercourse with Eve in the garden. This, according to Bob, allegedly created dark-skinned people and was associated with the entrance of sin into the world. I immediately lashed out at this man and said, " Show me in scripture where you got this rubbish! Bob could not provide “evidence” for such an outlandish assertion. He did, however, angrily lash back with, " You look it up! I tried to look it up, but not while sitting there that evening. I found NOTHING in scripture to validate such an outlandish claim, but I did find that this hideous theme has been around since the mid 1800s and had its roots in some very ugly racism, and was integrated into a religious sect. This is only coming, at the moment, from my memory, but when I came back to confront Bob, I came back with specifics. I told him that lashing out with “look it up,” only adds to the fact that advocating for something so in conflict with the scriptural narrative makes you a vile, false teacher who should keep his mouth shut. Any future meetings with Dad and Bob came with instructions to NOT fight with him. So I stayed away from Bob after that.

Let's look at Revelation 19, where we see a definition of those who are about to cease to breathe.

Revelation 19:15 NASB “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”

If you develop a doctrine of destruction, based upon Revelation 19:15 alone, you are going to be sadly lacking in an understanding of God's nature and character. For one, God is love, and denouncing God as a psychopathic mass murderer is so far removed from who God is. Consider that these people, having somehow made it through seven years of God's wrath being poured out upon the people of the earth, have now (once again) rallied a fighting force against Jesus/God.

Questions?

• How did they know where to come, so that they could attempt to fight against God?

• What would possess them to think that they could prevail against the same God that had been pouring out His wrath, in multiple forms, against those on the earth?

• How do we define the combatants?

  This last one may be the hardest to define because the Quran teaches its followers to teach their children, to hate those in opposition to the Quran, up to and including killing the unbelievers; and that giving their lives in death is the closest thing to an assurance of eternity, virgins and all.

God does not leave it at merely striking down the nations. John is shown armies gathered to fight against Jesus, and no more.

Revelation 19:19 NASB 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.

I say it like that because that is what will happen. The passage below only shows us two beings thrown into the lake of fire, although we know that Satan is also thrown there for a thousand years.

“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. 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. 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.” Revelation 19:19-21 NASB)

So the beast (the Antichrist) and the false prophet are the only humans that are thrown into the lake of fire. The rest of the dead – non air-breathers- lie in a state of inactivity awaiting the judgment that only happens at the final throne, which Revelation 20 describes as a great white throne, 1007 years later.

Who is seated upon the horse in Revelation 19?

Jesus.

Who is assembled to make war?

While the armies of the nations are NOT defined, it is easy to assume that they are primarily Islamic nations that are currently rising up against Israel. So, if you noticed, we have the beast, the false prophet, the kings of the earth, and their armies, which were assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His armies.

If the Islamic male, head of household, follows their leader and comes to fight against Jesus, are those that he left at home supporters of Jesus?

It is probably safe to say, NOT A CHANCE. So, it is clear that NOT everyone is killed and denied entrance into the 1000-year reign.

If, as some would say, only “Christians” go into the millennial kingdom, then why would God see a need to point this next passage out?

With Satan put away for 1000 years, there is nothing spiritually evil to influence people to sin. Lacking a death that would kill the body, and therefore, the sin that lives within the human body, through Adam, these people are still carriers of this sin disease.

Revelation 21:7-8 defines who will eventually end up in the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:7-8 NASB "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. (8) "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

This branch off his notes focused upon Revelation 20:4.

Revelation 20:4 BSB “Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

The young pastor centered on these words for a moment.

“I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge.” Some translations will say “they” instead of those. It seems to me that we need to find the context of who is being referred to when it says those or they. Further evidence as to who will be seated on those thrones with Jesus can be extracted from Revelation 19. So, we see the saints in Revelation 19:14, and we see the martyred saints in Revelation 20:4.

This young pastor said, they won't simply be lying back in a recliner, they will be given a job to do, and this is where he took us to 1 Corinthians 6:2.

1 Corinthians 6:2(a) “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?”

The young pastor added, with Christ – that is.

Daniel's words seem to say it all.

Daniel 7:27 NKJV “Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”

Does Jesus fight in two battles; if so, what are they?

 

 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. 

Micah 6:9, the armies of destruction are coming.

It has been a rough week and I needed to spend some time the Father.

Micah 6:9 NLT  Fear the LORD if you are wise! His voice calls to everyone in Jerusalem: “The armies of destruction are coming; the LORD is sending them.
Without explanation, let's break this down.

• “Fear the LORD if you are wise! Words of wisdom, no matter who you are, or, what you are doing. Notice how it says if; perhaps we should all look at this as one of those self-analyzing questions that now and again needs to be asked as you say, if I am found to be wise, let it be in your eyes Father. I guess that means that I recognize that He is your Father and that you need to hold the mirror of the word up frequently as you would a mirror and look in it.

• “His voice calls to everyone in Jerusalem:” The NET translation implies that this can also be read - “the voice of the LORD is calling.” Keil & Delitzsch, in their commentary on the Old Testament, state, “because Israel is altogether wanting in these virtues, the Lord must threaten and punish. Mic_6:9. “The voice of Jehovah, to the city it cries, and wisdom has thy name in its eye; hear ye the rod, and who appoints it!” With these words, Micah introduces the threatening and reproachful words of the Lord. It is not to be taken by itself, as an exclamation, “Hark! voice of the Lord!” as in Isa_13:4; Isa_40:6, but must be connected with what follows.”

The deadly nature of the warning comes next.

• “The armies of destruction are coming;” J. Vernon McGee attempted to give us a portrayal of Micah; it goes as follows. “We have seen that Micah has been directing his prophecies largely to the urban areas, to the cities. His writing reveals that he is a very sophisticated writer. He was in the know; he belonged to the upper echelon. He is in contrast to Amos who said, "I'm no prophet. I'm just a gatherer of sycamore fruit.” And yet, it was McGee that gave me this: “Micah the Moresthite means that he was a native of Moresheth of Gath, which is southwest of Jerusalem. Although he was in the kingdom of Judah, he prophesied to both kingdoms, but his main message was directed to the northern kingdom. I have often wondered about that. His contemporary, Isaiah, was a prophet to the southern kingdom;... You will never misunderstand Micah because he makes it very clear to whom he is speaking.”

If Micah had not told us, we would have never known of such a place called Moresheth in Judah. Isaiah the prophet, also from Judah, was born of influence and therefore had access to the court of kings and influential people. Isaiah's lifestyle, it seems, was not Micah's. As you can see above, Micah prophesied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, where Samaria lay.

Many will read a passage like Micah 6:9 and only see the relatively immediate Assyrian destruction that is coming, first to Israel and, in time, to Judah. The Assyrian invasions that occurred throughout this period, beginning around 730 BC, and culminated in 701 BC against Judah, however, as Micah tells us, the Assyrian is coming again.

The next aspect should cause some to shudder.

• “ the LORD is sending them.” The simplistic definition of this is that God is sending all that this “Assyrian” represents. In the passages from Micah 5:5-6, I see, not only a singular entity but again, fighting forces. That entity, I believe, is known to us as the Antichrist. Now, what of this “they” that rules Assyria with drawn swords and enters the gates of the land of Nimrod?

Micah 5:5-6 NLT  And he will be the source of peace. When the Assyrians invade our land and break through our defenses, we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us, eight princes to lead us.  (6)  They will rule Assyria with drawn swords and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod. He will rescue us from the Assyrians when they pour over the borders to invade our land.

Because we now should be able to make a strong tie between Micah 6:9 and Micah 5:5-6, we should able to grasp, at least minimally, some idea of this Assyrian and where he comes from. Let me help you by showing you a map.

Everything that is yellow, green or a blend of those colors comprised the Assyrian empire.
When Micah 5:5-6 speaks of Nimrod we are talking about the region that comprises modern-day Iraq.
To be honest, the first thing I thought of as I saw the name Nimrod was Jonah and Nineveh; these too were Assyrians. Unless you have been living in a cave then you are aware of the group, of which we seem to have no origins called ISIL, or their preferred name ISIS. With firearms lifted high, they entered the region that formerly was Nineveh and retook towns like Mosul – a town that sat on the outskirts of Nineveh after Americans “liberated” it in the Iraq wars.
In so many ways I can see ISIS fulfilling some of Micah's prophecy, but the greatest fulfillment is found in Ezekiel 38 and 39 when Gog, the leader of Magog, swarms over Israel and dies on the hills of that country.

 Keep your eyes on the Holy Land.

Dispelling some myths - David and Goliath

We all have versions of the David and Goliath story in our heads. In our men's group, we are reading Max Lucado's book Overcoming your Giants. In the first chapter the author talks in odd descriptives about a young David, but the focus centers on how long we have been fighting our own giants. Max Lucado, at one point, details what some of those “giants” might be. Things, such as pornography, loss of income, whiskey, anger, drugs; you should be getting a general idea.

I, like several others in the group, found myself focusing on the physical aspects of the David story. For example, Max Lucado speaks of young David bending over the stream to collect throwing stones. He continued by saying, if the water had been calm he could have looked longingly at his youthful, handsome face. Instead, David quickly gathered five, smooth, flat stones for his belt bag. Max. Lucado embraced his ridiculous reasons for picking flat rocks. This idea of collecting flat stones was one of the places where I stopped and said, WHAT?, as I found myself thinking, this guy has never shot a slingshot because you want the smoothest and roundest stones you can get. There is a practical reason for this, as anything else will do strange things, like curving away from the target when you sling them. This factor alone would have meant death for David, as he might not get a second shot. I am also aware, from video shot in Israel, that the Palestinians still have people who can accurately launch larger stones from long, leather slings, which is what David used.

One of the men in the group asked the question, how big do you think David was? I immediately answered, 6 foot 4 inches. As you can imagine, that response got met with hostility and rebuttal. The person that asked the question, then said that is impossible since David, having had the armor placed on him, could not even pick himself up off the floor. Responses like this one about David, make me wonder where we get the garbage we are willing to spew out of our mouths as Biblical literacy. It also proves that the individual making the statement is unwilling to read the Bible for themselves. Sadly, all this unbridled talk was meant to educate and impress the fellow sitting next to me, a man who has only been a “Christian” for three weeks.

I have shared my understanding of David, the young man who killed a bear and a lion, and how and why I think that he was a tall, well built young man with a handful of people. But, because our traditions are so deeply ingrained, I am typically met with resistance. A friend of mine asked, where do you get this information. I will tell you, but you must know, it is not all in one place, and, you have to apply some logic and put flesh and blood on these Biblical people; after all, we are not reading fairy tales, now are we.

When we first meet Saul, the man that was to become the king Israel demanded, he was looking for the donkeys of his father, Kish. 1 Samuel 9:3-6

Saul, aware that there was a man of God living in Zuph, opted, along with his servant, to go this man for “all that he says surely comes true,” and they were going to ask him about the donkeys. That man was Samuel, the prophet. What they did not know, was that God had a plan, and had already been talking to Samuel about Saul.

1 Samuel 9:1-2 NASB Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. 2 He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice, and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

God, always has a plan, and these donkeys played a role.

1 Samuel 9:15-16 NASB Now a day before Saul's coming, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel saying, 16) "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over My people Israel; and he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have regarded My people, because their cry has come to Me."

So, now you understand, to some degree, how and why Saul was anointed the king of Israel. What I left off, because, at the moment it had nothing to do with Saul becoming king, is his overall appearance.

1 Samuel 9:1-2 NASB Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. 2 He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice, and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.

The message translation tells us, “he literally stood head and shoulders above the crowd!” So, there you have it. You cannot merely assume that the tallest man in Israel was only three and a half feet tall. There had to be large men, like myself, who stood six foot four inches tall. Therefore the probability of King Saul being seven foot tall or taller is reasonable.

How tall was David? We are not given that information, so what do we know about David, the son of Jesse?

When we first meet David, Samuel has been sent to anoint another man king over Israel. While there was a time when Samuel could boldly speak into King Saul's life, that time had passed. Saul was wallowing in a bipolar depression on a frequent basis and was no longer fit to be king. In Samuel 16 we see Samuel having a conversation about the task God has asked him to perform.

1 Samuel 16:1-13 NASB Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons." 2) But Samuel said, "How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' 3) "You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you."

Stop here for a minute. Samuel knows that he is a dead man if Saul finds out what he is about to do. His instructions so far are clear, but there is no indication, other than being a son of Jesse's, who this young man is.

4) So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, "Do you come in peace?" 5) He said, "In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice."

I am interrupting here, to point something out. Note the reaction of the city elders, they came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come in peace?” Assuming this is all you know about Samuel, what reason would they have to fear the God-man? However, they still remembered when Samuel hacked up king Agag, whom Saul, had taken captive, in direct opposition to God's orders.

He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

Jesse, having been given instructions by Samuel off stage, brings in the older, mature sons to present before Samuel. Jesse, by-the-way, has no idea what is about to happen, he merely assumes that it will good for one of them. Samuel, may not know Jesse, nor how many sons Jesse has.

6) When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him." 7) But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 8) Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." 9) Next Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." 10) Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel.

Jesse brought them in, one at a time, from oldest to youngest, but he did not bring David. Why? Could I presumptuously say, it was because David was just a little boy, too young to serve, nor understand what would be asked of him? No, we don't have enough information to make that kind of decision. What we should realize is that there was a birthright order to be followed, and the firstborn son always got the most significant and best share; at this point, Jesse is merely following Jewish guidelines. In Jesse's mind, Samuel should have been done with the first son. Perhaps this gives you a little more insight into the hostility David received from his brothers when, under orders from his father, entered the battle zone.

10 cont.) But Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen these." 11) And Samuel said to Jesse, "Are these all the children?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep."

You still have nothing that tells you his size, or age. All we know is that he had been tending sheep.

11 cont.) Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." 12) So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance.

Let's look at the words used to describe David:

• Ruddy – Hebrew word ’aḏmôniy: An adjective meaning red, ruddy. At best, with this information, we can assume he was a redhead with freckles.
• He had beautiful eyes: The Word Study Dictionary indicates that the Hebrew word yāp̱eh: Is “an adjective meaning lovely, beautiful. It is used in many settings to describe the beauty of various things and persons: of women (Gen_12:11, Gen_12:14; 2Sa_13:1; Est_2:7). It is used to indicate a healthy appearance (Gen_41:2). It may be used to mean good-looking, handsome of young men or adult males (2Sa_14:25).”
• Or, he had a beautiful Countenance, as some translations state. The Hebrew word ‛ayin is the word for eyes. So his eyes played a role in his attractiveness.
• And goodly to look at – The Hebrew word is ṭôb and means pleasant and agreeable to look at. Nothing here gives us a description that assigns age or stature. So, I nothing with which to determine an age yet.

Again, nothing that gives away his age. One more thing. We, love to speak of God holding no one accountable until the “age of maturity.” It's not a bad standard, and it sure let's many ten-year-old children off the hook for their role in gang murders. However, you will not find that concept in the Bible. It is purely a Jewish tradition. If I could apply it to God's acceptance of David, then the young boy would have been older than twelve. Your problem when attempting to use that logic is that God is not the least bit concerned with the traditions of men. Besides that, if we are using only the word of God for our argument, you will find that God did not use this tradition to make His decision.

Let's finish off the selection 1Samuel 16:1-13.

12 cont.)And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he." 13) Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

After this, Samuel fled for his life; now, wherein these passages did you find the description of a child of 12? You didn't, did you?

Our next piece of testimony, for the defense, also comes from 1Samuel.

1 Samuel 16:14-18 NASB Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him. 15 Saul's servants then said to him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. 16 "Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well." 17 So Saul said to his servants, "Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me." 18 Then one of the young men said, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the LORD is with him."

What can I gather from this?

• First, there is nothing to indicate how much time has passed since Samuel anointed David.
• Secondly, Saul's servants went out seeking a MAN who is skillful at playing the harp.
• Thirdly, without looking, one servant volunteers some information about David, whom he has seen. So, we have eyewitness testimony.
• Fourth, note how this man describes David: A mighty man of valor; a warrior; one prudent in speech; a handsome man, and, as a bonus, the Lord is with him.

At this recommendation, David is hired. What do we see next?

1 Samuel 16:19-23 NASB So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me your son David who is with the flock." 20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David, his son. 21 Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. 22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight." 23 So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

• Verse 21 tells us that David came to Saul and attended him.
• Saul loved him greatly
• And, David became Saul's armor-bearer.

Once again we have conclusive evidence that shows: David was not a little boy; that Saul knew David well, and that David was very acquainted with Saul's armor.

The word familiar, as used in this context, would imply that David knew how much it weighed, how it went on, and what to look for as he concerned himself with damage. He not only carried it but polished it as well.

There can be little doubt that Saul knew full well who David was when he returned that day to fight Goliath. Considering how close Saul and David had become, and what his job was, causes me to have even more questions about his brother's reactions to him. I cannot see what they said as anything less than jealousy. Some time passes, but we do not know what the length of time was.

We are now looking a 1Samuel 17 where we are introduced to Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:1-7 MSG The Philistines drew up their troops for battle. They deployed them at Socoh in Judah, and set up camp between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. 2) Saul and the Israelites came together, camped at Oak Valley, and spread out their troops in battle readiness for the Philistines. 3) The Philistines were on one hill, the Israelites on the opposing hill, with the valley between them. 4) A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. 5) He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor--126 pounds of it! 6) He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. 7) His spear was like a fence rail--the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.

As you read through commentaries, you find statements such as no one in Israel wanted to commit suicide by facing this guy. Goliath, knowing full well the fear he imposed upon Israel and their now weak-kneed king, was devastating.

1 Samuel 17:9 NASB "If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us."

Other translations use the word slave. It is not difficult to imagine the fate awaiting Israel. Israel, on the other hand, had standards for keeping slaves and servants, and abuse was not allowed. The word slave is the Hebrew word ‛ebed. The Word Study Dictionary defines ‛ebed in this way:

A masculine noun meaning a servant, a slave. Although the most basic concept of this term is that of a slave, slavery in the Bible was not the same as the slavery of modern times. The period of slavery was limited to six years (Exo_21:2). Slaves had rights and protection under the Law (Exo_21:20). It was also possible for slaves to attain positions of power and honor (Gen_24:2; Gen_41:12).

There was nothing to indicate that the Philistines would abide by Israel's standards.

Although the Philistines would come forward on a daily basis, shouting taunts, it seems the entire verbal exchange was between David and Goliath that day. However, there is this:

1 Samuel 17:16 NASB The Philistine came forward morning and evening for forty days and took his stand.

I had wondered why Saul acted like he did not know David that day, when in reality Saul loved David, and as his armor-bearer saw David frequently. Scripture tells us that David went back and forth between his father's sheep and Saul.

1 Samuel 17:15 NASB but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem.

David had returned that day at his father's direction.

1 Samuel 17:17-20 NASB Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers. 18) "Bring also these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back news of them. 19) "For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines." 20) So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.

I have never had a clear image of how and why David's brothers had such a caustic interaction with him. Perhaps this verse explains that.

1 Samuel 17:22 NASB Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers.

He entered the battle zone. Since he is on a mission from dad, then, with his brothers gathered in one place, he may have been asking obvious and foolish questions.

1 Samuel 17:23 NASB As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.

Suddenly everything changed.

1 Samuel 17:24-25 NASB When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid. 25) The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel."

It is safe to assume that David heard what they said, but he had to ask once again, perhaps for verification.

1 Samuel 17:26-27 NASB Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?" 27) The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, "Thus it will be done for the man who kills him."

David asked, “what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel?” I can perceive this two ways: 1. He is referring to one of the troops, or, 2. He includes himself among the men that day.

When we were going over chapter one in Max Lucado's book, Facing Your Giants, the point was made that David said this phrase “the armies of the living God” or something similar, at least eight times. My take away, was that our focus in the midst of facing our giants is to give God and his power, the emphasis, instead of emphasizing the problem.

1 Samuel 17:31-33 NASB When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him. 32) David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 33) Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth."

There is a noticeable age difference, but there is nothing about this statement that turns David into a whining pre-teen. When the job came open to play the harp, they were looking for a man; they found David. When David was presented as the perfect candidate, he was pitched as a man, a mighty warrior, and a valiant man. What changed? The reality that all of Israel's life was at stake here. If David loses, they all become slaves to the Philistines.

Since Saul now refers to him as a youth let's see what the Hebrew word means.

nâ‛ûr The Word Study dictionary states: It refers to the early stages and years of a person's life and the experiences and characteristics of that time: every person, all humankind experiences this time of life (Gen_8:21). It is a time when skills are best learned (Gen_46:34); a time of dependence on parents (Lev_22:13; Num_30:3 [4], Num_30:16 [17])

Therefore, considering David too immature is only a presumption on our parts. Why would I say that? Because the man giving the references for David says, tells us he is, “one prudent in speech.” Webster's dictionary defines prudence in this manner:

“Prudence implies caution in deliberating and consulting on the most suitable means to accomplish valuable purposes, and the exercise of sagacity in discerning and selecting them. Prudence differs from wisdom in this, that prudence implies more caution and reserve than wisdom, or is exercised more in foreseeing and avoiding evil, than in devising and executing that which is good.”

 David and Goliath (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having fought off a bear and a lion, I would say that David was skillful at combat, but men are slightly different from animals, as they can carry spears and slings as well. So, David expounds upon his resume by giving Saul the details.

1 Samuel 17:34-37 NASB But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35) I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36) "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God." 37) And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." 

At hearing this, Saul says, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.” If there was an implication of David a small boy, putting Israel's life into the hands of a giant, it just went out the window.