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. 

Behold I am coming quickly. Revelation 22:6-7.

 It's Thursday, July 14, 2022, just another Thursday. I met with the men's group, where we are reading a Bob Goff book titled “Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose, Rediscover Your Joy.” This is not about the book, I am merely telling you what we are reading lately, and I will say, it has been a humorous, enlightening journey, and I would recommend Bob's books.

Another part of my morning, though exhausted because my men's group meets at 05:30 on Thursdays, was to watch a few seconds of a young Christian lady I found on YouTube a couple of years ago. This morning she jokingly said, I think the Holy Spirit just spoke to me through a fortune cookie. It said, “You are going to have a change of scenery.”

I will tell you what I think about this. AMEN, Come quickly Lord!

With that, let's continue with Revelation 22.

"And behold, I am coming quickly.

Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."

Revelation 22:7 NASB

What did we just cover when we looked at Revelation 22:6?

• And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true";

  

  This statement should prompt you to ask, what do I know of God that validates that God is faithful and true?

  One of the first things my mind grabs on to is Noah. Having no clue what rain was, Noah believed that a flood was coming and, therefore, started a 120 year construction project in which he builds an ark. Here is a bit of information from https://arkencounter.com/.

  Ark Encounter features a full-size Noah’s Ark, built according to the dimensions given in the Bible. Spanning 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high, The picture is from: https://www.wideopencountry.com/noahs-ark-in-kentucky/

  Secondly, Moses' entire life seems to have been signs that prove  God's faithfulness and the truth of His word, as Moses repeatedly brought the declarations of plagues upon Egypt.

  Did they come to pass?

  Absolutely.

  And then there is the life of Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh, and so Jesus' actions and declarations are an anchor, so to speak, for our foundations of trust in God. Jesus told them, and by extension us, what He was going to do, and He did it.

  We sang a worship song a few years ago, which said, “I remind myself of all that He's done.” I mentioned this to a Christian friend, who promptly attacked me and said, why do you have to do that? Well, to be honest, I forget, and I also have a constant barrage of trials that keep my head occupied. How about you?

• The second admonition from Revelation 22:6 is this, “and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.”

  These things must soon take place.

  I have always struggled with the length of time between the message and the actual events. To add to my angst I have been accosted on several occasions by “Christian” brothers who said just the opposite of God's word, as they told me that Jesus won't be coming back for at least 40 more years, so relax.

  I need you know that I will never relax. I look for Him daily.

So again, Revelation 22:7 tells us.

"And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."

The Greek word for coming (erchomai) occurs 643 times, all of them in the New Testament. An interesting aspect of this Greek word is that it can mean come, came, went, entered, go, and a few others; all of them are associated with movement.

Consider the word quickly. The Greek word is tachu and means shortly, that is, without delay, soon, or (by surprise) suddenly, or (by implication of ease) readily: - lightly, quickly.

Having looked at Revelation 22:6, which defines God's word as faithful and true, I am made aware of how much we need to understand why we believe that God is faithful and true.

To Moses He said,

“The LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD'S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not." Numbers 11:23.

God demonstrated that He was immensely capable of doing anything, and then He sent Moses to Pharaoh with the demand to "let My people go." Pharaoh did not comply which resulted in the plagues most are familiar with.

God was speaking to all of Israel, a people who doubted everything, when He said.

"The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
(Deuteronomy 7:7-9 NASB)

God set His love on these people, and us, simply because He loved us, and He will continue to keep the oath that now applies to His church because of that commitment.

And Moses is one example of God's faithfulness to one person when in fact there were multitudes who can witness to the truthfulness and faithfulness of God.

Because of these people and my own comprehension, I can say, look, He is coming quickly.

Now, what of this statement, “Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."

The Greek word for blessed also means fortunate and happy.

Considering how the majority of the church has now turned their backs on God's word and those who hold to the prophetic, it is difficult, at best, to comprehend how holding to the words of the Revelation is supposed to make you happy.

Here is a portion of Webster's dictionary definition.

• “Being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good;”

  God is good and, therefore, has nothing to do with the possessions you hold. This of course means that for most having possessions means the satisfaction of our lusts, and God is NOT the least bit interested in your lusts. Do you know why? Because everything in this world is working as a enemy of God and His ways, and you are feeding into that evil scheme of the Devil in more ways than you can count.

  So, good then, has to be internal satisfaction knowing that we are hearing from God.

• “enjoying pleasure from the gratification of appetites or desires.”

  The definition continues to explain “The pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites render a person temporarily happy;” Well, that sort of sounds like my explanation above. Earthly gratification makes you temporarily happy. Why do you think the divorce rate is so high, even in the church?

• “but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God.”

  Now, you have to ask yourself, how do I obtain this permanently happy place? Considering that our lives are guaranteed trials and tribulations just for following Jesus, it seems like an impossible assertion. That is why we have to stay in the Word of God and stay focused. Look, the reality of life is that we are and will be, dodging “fiery darts” our entire lives, so get used to it. You can have a peacefulness if you know and understand that peace only comes through a deep and serious relationship with Jesus Christ. This is NOT a cultist relationship I am talking about; this is a serious, purposeful effort.

  For me and my mental health, when I was working, I had to leave the building at lunch time, go to a local fast-food restaurant and sit, read, and write. I wrote down every question and challenge that popped into my mind; and I did this for seven years. It felt like a university education, and I find the Holy Spirit bringing so many things back to my remembrance as I write these Bible studies.

• To be in any degree happy, we must be free from pain both of body and of mind;

  Get a grip; you are never going to be entirely free of pain, whether it's in your body or your mind. Satan, or at least one of his cohorts, taunts me daily about things. None of that changes the fact that the Holy Spirit has filled my life with joy in the midst of those things. Instead of concerning yourself with happiness, focus on the fact that He will fill your life with joy.

• to be very happy, we must be in the enjoyment of lively sensations of pleasure, either of body or mind.

  Really, you are going to throw yourself into worldly lusts to relieve yourself of the cares of this world? Downing a pint of alcohol does not make anything go away. It only makes things worse, especially if you crash your vehicle and kill some innocent victim on the sidewalk.

  Here is what the Word has to say about what the World has to offer.

  “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4 NASB)

  "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." (1 John 2:15-17 NASB)

So the worldly dictionary definition of happiness can in no way fulfill the blessedness of the one who is heeding the words of the prophecy of this book – the Revelation. The prophetic word opened with this admonition -

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3 NASB)

And ends in a similar manner. Do you get the impression that Jesus is serious about this?

The Life Application New Testament Commentary tells us that “this promise that God blesses the reader and listeners sets John’s writing apart from other Jewish apocalyptic literature and points out that these words were inspired by God.”

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament conveys the truth that “Most people in antiquity could not read, and there would not at any rate be enough copies of the book (which would have to be copied by hand) for everyone to have his or her own. Thus the blessing is for the one who reads aloud to the congregation (just as there was one reader in a synagogue) and those who hear (just as the rest of the congregation listened to Scripture readings).”

We seem to forget that life in the early church was sustained without Bibles, as we know them, and, even if there were it would have been the Old Testament alone.