Unlike most of the last few posts, I hadn't felt the need to "Write it NOW". Until today. I think maybe because I was letting myself get into a dry spot. Maybe because I get the feeling this is going to be more important to someone down the line than those who read me now, and it was bugging my pride that I wasn't getting the umph from SM that I wanted. But maybe today, a little of that dry and pride has cleared. So here we are.
So let's check up on our characters. Where are the new Christians, brought to faith by the 144,000 and the two witnesses? I believe, thanks to Revelation chapter 14, most of them are in Heaven, under the Bronze Altar with the other martyrs. What about the AntiChrist and his little buddy, the False Prophet? They are likely in what's left of Jerusalem, pretending to be god and wondering why the collapsing universe and the Armies of the East aren't going along with them. And the Jews? Those who are going to survive have been supernaturally hidden, per Rev. 12:6. Where are they hidden? I believe Daniel tells us this:
Dan 11:41 He (the AntiChrist) shall come into the glorious land (Israel). And tens of thousands shall fall, but these (The Jews) shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites. (What we know as Jordan)
So now, the battle rages all around Jerusalem, as is told by the various prophets of the Old Testament. But then...
Zec 14:3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.
Zec 14:4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.
Is this Jesus? Look here:
Act 1:9 And when he (Jesus) had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Act 1:10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
Act 1:11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
Act 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.
"Mount called Olivet" equals "Mount of Olives". This is why those who refuse to believe the Rapture isn't Biblical are wrong. Paul says we "Will meet Him in the air" (I Thessalonians 4:17)- this is separate from the Second Coming, where He physically touches the ground- and any who are left to flee do so through the rift in the mountain.
And what happens next? Why the AntiChrist rallies friend and foe alike to meet this "new challenger";
Joe 3:12 Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Joe 3:13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
Joe 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Joe 3:15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
Joe 3:16 The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.
Joe 3:17 "So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.
But, what kind of battle will it be? Well, let's see- the Almighty Creator of All Things against the pawns of a rogue angel, idiots who have been told time and again what awaits them, and what the right choice would be:
Joe 2:11 The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?
Joe 2:12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Joe 2:13 and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Joe 2:14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?
Even now, on the edge of the End, God offers mercy- and the vast majority turn it down. So...
Rev 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
Rev 19:13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
Rev 19:15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Rev 19:16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Again, the winepress. Blood will be everywhere- an amount that all the people who ever lived bleeding out could not produce it. Remember, this is the same God who turned all the waters of the earth to blood. And the armies of man will be wallowing in it, until...
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
One way of looking at it. Here's another:
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev 19:21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
Why do the two bad guys get tossed into hell alive, while everyone else will be dead first, and wait for judgment? Because there is to be NO trial for these two, who abandoned their souls to serve Satan. I have to wonder if bodies of flesh suffer more than spirits in hell; Perhaps because flesh is subject to time, the fact of spending at least the next thousand years in hell, awaiting judgment, will make them feel the punishment more keenly.
And what about their boss?
Rev 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
Rev 20:2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
Not hell, but "the pit". The same place from which he freed Abaddon and the locusts back earlier. I believe it was Enoch who said the Watchers were bound to black stars burning hotter than anything we know. And Satan gets to 'enjoy' that for the next thousand years. In the meanwhile..., well, that's next week's story.
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