Since my early childhood days, the battle of Armageddon has always filled me with a sense of dread. The scary end of times scenario explained to me in such a manner that caused fear to overcome me. Much of my fear was because of the lack of understanding of this Bible prophecy by those who sought to use it as a whip to scare church members into compliance. The shaped truth can be an effective tool when seeking to intimidate and influence the mind of Christian worshippers. We must remember when it comes to rightly dividing the word of truth; there is the truth, the myth, and the big lie.
The ancient Kings James Bibles often showed pictures of angels and humans engaged in bloody battles. Supernatural beings against mortal man did not depict a level playing field. These biblical pictures often fueled many of my childhood nightmares. My hope was simple; I did not want to be around when this battle began. Even making that assessment did little to calm my fear, because not being here would mean that I was dead, the same outcome of that of the battle with the Angels. The outcome of all scenarios was that irreconcilable unknown.
Just as there are many different denominations in the Christian or Religious community, there are numerous interpretations of the end time prophecies. As stated earlier in part #1 of this study, one error many Bible students make is to insert the "church" in the place of "nations" or "Jews". Paul's meaning should be clear, "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:" (1st Corinthians 10:32) In essence whats for the Jews must remain for the Jews, the same as with the church. Another error is to place all of the events mention in the end time prophecies in our future, rather than acknowledging the possibility of the fulfillment of the prophecies in our lifetime.
As long as we can keep all of the events of the end-time prophecies in a future realm, we are justifying our inane existence in a feudal attempt to prolong the inevitable. Bible prophecies set in motion one millennial, not two or three as some propose. After the millennium then there is an eternity. There is a timeline and there is a starting point which we can choose to overlook. Where are we in the timeline set forth in Revelation? These questions should be at the forefront of our Bible Study. Join me as I in a rambling fashion attempt to sort through the conflicting and often self-serving rhetoric with the hope of arriving at a common sense conclusion.
What is Armageddon? In the King James Version, the word is mention only one time. "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." (Revelation 16:16) Who gathered them (who) together? This event precedes Revelation 16:12. "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." The uptake from this verse is that when the sixth angel poured out his vital the Euphrates River become crossable. The Euphrates River is a marker used in the Old and New Testaments. September 26, 2017, The Russian military has built a bridge across the Euphrates River near Deir al-Zor to move troops and vehicles to the other side to support a Syrian army offensive.
According to the Book of Revelation, Armageddon is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, variously interpreted as either a literal or a symbolic location. The term is also used in a generic sense to refer to any end of the world scenario.
The traditional viewpoint interprets this Bible prophecy to be symbolic of the progression of the world toward the "great day of God, the Almighty" in which the great looming mountain of God's just and holy wrath is poured out against unrepentant sinners, led by Satan, in a literal end-of-the-world final confrontation. Armageddon is the symbolic name given to this event supposedly based on scripture references regarding divine obliteration of God's enemies. Are we guilty of creating our own end time scenario?
"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather ALL NATIONS, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat,' and will plead with them there for MY PEOPLE and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the Nations, and parted my land." (Joel 3:1-2) This verse references a point in time when Israel was not counted among the nations, she was a scattered people and the land promised her by God was divided among other nations. The use of the word plead seems to imply a type of negotiation. This verse does not depict a war or judgment of the Nations and it should not be merged with Matthew 25:31-32.
The history of the 1948-9 Arab-Israeli war is deeply controversial. Israelis and their supporters have traditionally referred to the conflict as the War of Independence, seeing it as a defensive war to prevent the destruction of the fledgling Jewish state in the face of overwhelming Arab aggression. Many believers have interpreted the victory of the new Jewish state over five Arab armies as a miracle.
"When the son of man shall come in his glory, and all of the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him he shall gather all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." (Matthew 25:31-32) This is the Judgment of the nations and remembers the judgment of the nations is based upon how they treated the brethren.
The visualization of this verse is clear, but the use of the words holy angels can cause several questions to emerge. Through Bible study and reading we are told, "The Saints shall judge the world". We will revisit that question in the timeline set forth in Revelation 20. Now another question that is emerging is are we looking for the battle of Armageddon to take place or has it already happen. We shall ask the same question about other end-time events.
At the close of the Great Tribulation, the devil will deceive the entire world into worshipping him. Some interpretations will say he will come in the form of The Antichrist, but there is no scripture to support the coming of "The" antichrist. When John made the statement about antichrist, he said antichrist, which was a spirit, was already here. "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." (1st John 4:3) There is the Devil and there is the spirit of the Devil. There is Christ and there is antichrist. Throughout the tribulation, it is the spirit of antichrist that will cause men to turn away from God.
The battle of Armageddon taking place at the close of the millennium is not entirely scripturally sound. This scenario achieved through the twisting of scriptures and combining bible verses that should not be combined to support the myth surrounding Christianity.
Revelation 20 is not a separate prophecy, it encapsulates all of the events that have taken place or set to take place. It is a recap of all of the events prophesied by John in the order that they are to take place. For this study, we have divided Revelation 20 into four sections:
1. The account, of the binding of Satan for a thousand years, Revelation 20:1-3.
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand." (Revelation 20:1). Most theologians set the time of this event in the future, and is said to be at the close of the millennial. This is one of those confusing aspects of Christ rulership. Why would he rule on earth for a thousand years then turn the Devil lose?
2. The reign of the saints with Christ at the same time, Revelation 20:4-6.
In these verses, it seems that while the saints are reigning with Christ in Heaven the Devil on Earth is bound. This is not acceptable to most Christian who proclaim the Devil is loose on earth and is causing destruction. Also the word of Paul who stated, The Devil is as a roaring Lion walking to and fro upon the earth seeking whom he may devour."
3. Of the loosing of Satan and the conflict of the nation, become intense, with Gog and Magog, Revelation 20:7-10.
The evilness on man has flourished and before the final consummation of things, the Devil and the nations are given their last chance.
4. Of the Day of Judgment, Revelation 20:11-15
For the above verses and the timeline to hold true, the events must proceed as follows. First, the devil is bound, Christ comes for his Church, "the Saints", and at the close of the millennial, the devil is released. Christ comes back with his Holy angles to judge the nations.
What makes the interpretation of Revelation so complicated is the attempt to include the church in the end-time prophecies. In John's past, Jesus was seen interacting with the church. In John present day, Jesus addressed the church and issued an indictment against a Church that had lost it way. In Chapter 4 John is caught up into Heaven and the prophecy proceeds with John's view from Heaven. The Church is no longer mention as being on earth.
Have you ever considered the possibility that we are enduring the tribulation? Remember the huge number John saw? He was asked the question, "Who are these?" "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7:14)
No comments:
Post a Comment