Zechariah 14:1, Rev 19:11-21
The Last Battle
I believe other Bible passages describe this battle, Joel 3. Some
think Daniel 11:4-:12:3 and Psalm 83. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah, as
well as other prophets may give some details, but they will be harder
to discern for them were also prophesying of near-at-end destructions
of Jerusalem. 2Thess 1 and others.
Zech 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh,
and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of
thee.
I say this is the last, but I know it is not. Man will fight more
wars after this one and so will our Lord, but this is the last battle
of the Tribulation.
We continued to study the battles which we think we occur during the
Tribulation. So far, we have mentioned four:
1. Daniel 9 - Perhaps there will be a battle that will start the
Tribulation by promoting the anti-Christ and by having the
seven-year covenant signed.
2. Rev 6 - A spirit of conquest will spread causing as many as
1/4 of the world’s population to be killed.
3. Daniel 11 - A battle seems to take place against the anti-
Christ.
4. Eze 38-39 - An intended attack against Israel by the nations
of this world is at least slowed by the supernatural hand of
God.
And now we come to the Battle at Jerusalem.
At present, I see the Battle at Jerusalem to be the next phase of
Ezekiel’s battle in chapters 38-39. I hesitate to call Ezekiel’s
battle the Battle at Armageddon because he did not use that term, but
I think it is. That being the case, let me back up to connect the two
as we move forward.
I. I believe the battle begins with God’s invitation in
\\#Revelation 16:12-16.\\
A. The actual invitation from God, that is the actual thought to
come attack Israel, will come sometime AFTER the middle of
the Tribulation.
B. To help plant that thought, God will dry up the River
Euphrates so these armies can come down against Israel on
foot.
1. God HAS DONE that.
a. Just Google it.
b. The River Euphrates is dry enough to day that an army
could easily come across it.
2. Someone asks why does this great end-time army come on
foot and horseback instead of tanks and jeeps? I don’t
know but it might be because their battery-powered tanks
and jeeps won’t crank.
C. So this mighty river which flows 1700 miles and has been around
since BEFORE THE FALL OF MAN \\#Ge 2:14\\ is drying up.
II. Ezekiel tells us how God whittles down the army at Megiddo.
A. \\Eze 39:2\\ God will use both natural and supernatural events
to slay 5/6’s of this massive army, but, I believe, the
remaining 1/6th of the army will continue the 90 mile journey
across Israel to the walls of Jerusalem.
B. 1/6 of an almost innumerable army is still a lot of soldiers!
C. Little do they know that have a rendezvous with God and death
at those walls.
III. Then Zechariah and John describe how the battle will end.
A. \\#Zech 14:1\\ It is called "the Day of the Lord."
1. That is a phrase that is used to describe God’s judgment,
either on Israel or the world.
2. It is not limited to a single day, but can be a time
period.
3. If this attack is comprised of what happens at Megiddo and
Jerusalem, it will obviously take more than one day.
B. Notice also that God promises to divide the spoil of these
nations.
1. \\#Eze 38:12\\ told us that it was the intend of this army
to take Israel’s spoil.
2. At that time, I said that, as far as I knew, Israel was
the only nation they were coming to attack, but this
phrase changes that.
a. This army did not start out with "spoil."
b. They collected it along their way, meaning they had
fought with and defeated other nations BEFORE they
got to the Israel’s mountains.
c. They had collected spoil and booty, but they would not
be returning with any of it.
d. In fact, they would not be returning at all!
e. God was going to see to that.
3. But the point is that Israel was not the only target of
this mighty army.
4. They had fought and conquered others on their way to
Israel.
C. \\#Zech 14:2\\ God has gathered the nations to Jerusalem.
Zech 14:2 For I will gather all nations against
Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken,
and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and
half of the city shall go forth into captivity,
and the residue of the people shall not be cut
off from the city.
1. And what usually comes as a surprise to most when they
read Zechariah for the first time, the nations will
conquer Jerusalem.
a. The Jews are saved at this time.
b. Many will have been killed.
c. Some may flee to Jerusalem for protection—but Jesus
told them NOT to do so.
Matt 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso
readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into
the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come
down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return
back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to
them that give suck in those days!
d. Most understand the mountains to be the mountains of
Edom, modern-day Jordan.
(1) There is city there craved out of the mountain
called Petra.
(2) \\#Daniel 11:41\\ tells us that Jordan will
"escape out of" the anti-Christ’s "hand" during
that time period.
(3) For some reason, many think Jordan will allow the
Jews to flee into their land for protection from
the anti-Christ, and they have it in their
minds that they will flee to Petra.
(4) They see that as a fulfillment to:
Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness,
where she hath a place prepared of God, that they
should feed her there a thousand two hundred and
threescore days.
2. But any of the Jews/Christians that flee to Jerusalem will
be defeated by this army.
Zech 14:2 …and the city shall be taken, and
the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and
half of the city shall go forth into
captivity….
3. And only after that will the Lord return.
a. \\#Rev 19:1-10\\ give the impression the Lord will be
with us until it is time for Him to go deliver the
people from the anti-Christ’s victorious army.
(1) \\#Rev 19:1-6\\-Alleluia Chorus
(2) \\#Rev 19:7-11\\-The Marriage Supper of the
Lamb.
b. But then the Lord rises to come to the earth, to this
very battle.
(1) John describes His appearance:
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold
a white horse; and he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he
doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his
head were many crowns; and he had a name written,
that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in
blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
(2) And His accompaniment:
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven
followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine
linen, white and clean.
(3) And in two verses, John describes what will
happen:
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp
sword, that with it he should smite the nations:
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and
he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and
wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh
a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
c. Zechariah gives a few more details:
Zech 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and
fight against those nations, as when he fought in
the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the
mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the
east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the
midst thereof toward the east and toward the
west, and there shall be a very great valley; and
half of the mountain shall remove toward the
north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the
mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall
reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye
fled from before the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall
come, and all the saints with thee.
(1) Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives.
(2) There will be a great earthquake when Jesus puts
feet on the mountain.
(a) It may be that the armies of this world are
too scared to make a move until that
happens.
(b) But when Jesus’ feet hit the ground and the
ground starts to shake, those armies start
running!
(3) Zechariah even tells us that the DAY itself, the
feel of it and the light of it, are a bit off.
Zech 14:6 And it shall come to pass in that day,
that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known
to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall
come to pass, that at evening time it shall be
light.
(4) And he tells us what will happen when the sword
goes out of the mouth of our Savior:
Zech 14:12 And this shall be the plague
wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that
have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall
consume away while they stand upon their feet,
and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,
and their tongue shall consume away in their
mouth.
(a) It would appear that they will have an
atomic come apart, but just them.
(b) Not the things, the land, or the people that
are around them.
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