“If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.” – Terry Venables
“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
The horse, the mule, the camel, the ass, rams, lambs, goats, bullocks, the fatlings of Bashan, and of all the beasts will be the transportation of those who, in their futility, attempt to do battle with the returning King of kings and Lord of lords. These beasts of war, just as in the distant past, will be the divinely mandated modus operandi of warfare for the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and all of the armies of the world at Christ’s Second Coming – a battle commonly referred to as “Armageddon.”1
Does this statement in the above paragraph surprise you? It shouldn’t because this is what the Word of God clearly lays out for that final battle which is doomed to failure for “all that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 13:8) who seek to thwart the Lord from establishing His Kingdom.
Let’s take a look at the Scriptures that declare that this will, indeed, be the case and see if we can surmise how this may actually play out. Below are the three most powerful prophecies of this last battle and what is to be expected by those who partake in it.
The prophecy of Ezekiel:
“And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God” (Ezekiel 39:17-20). (emphasis mine) [Possibilities: The Ezekiel 39 Aftermath]
The prophecy of Zechariah:
“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… And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague” (Zechariah 14:12, 15). (emphasis mine) [A Study of Zechariah 14:12-21]
The prophecy of John:
“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. 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. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
“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. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army… And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh” (Revelation 19:11-19, 21). (emphasis mine)
Why? Why are the kings of the earth, the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and all the armies of the rebellious made to resort to these archaic modes of transportation and warfare?
The Fourth Vial: Electronic & Technological Destruction
“And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory” (Revelation 16:8-9).
The fourth vial will be the most destructive EMP attack the earth will have ever experienced and is carried out by the wrath of God on a Christ-rejecting world.
“Power was given unto him [the angel when he poured his vial upon the sun] to scorch men with fire.” We can be sure that this fire and subsequent heat will fry the satellites in the earth’s orbit – as well as every electrical circuit on earth – rendering the tracking surveillance system of The Mark of The Beast, communications, transportation, weapons of war, and all other electrical devices utterly useless. The world’s electrical grid – whatever will be left after seven-plus years of devastation and destruction – will be no more.
The Fifth Vial: Antichrist’s Kingdom Goes Dark
“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds” (Revelation 16:10-11).
To manifest the futility, and complete destruction, of Antichrist’s economic and worship system, darkness is poured out “upon the seat of the beast” in witness to God’s sovereign will and plan over Satan and his right-hand man, Antichrist.
This darkness will no doubt have supernatural characteristics, but one can’t help in wondering if the earth will have stopped its rotation, leaving the Eastern Hemisphere facing away from the sun in perpetuity as Christ prepares to come back to earth, thus reminding us of Christ’s visually charged statement:
“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27).
It’s at this point that I can almost hear the Lord Jesus Christ’s prophecy that “… except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:22).
With The Mark of The Beast system disabled beyond repair, and those who took The Mark in pain and full of sores, this doomed horde will ride on into infamy as the sixth vial is poured out.
The Sixth Vial: The Kings of The East’s Only Way to The Battle
“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” (Revelation 16:12).
Thank the Lord that the “great river Euphrates” and her water will be “dried up” or “the kings of the east” might have to just stand there wondering how to join their deluded counterparts in their fruitless endeavor on the other side to take on Yeshua as He comes back to earth. I jest, of course, but this truly is the scene we are looking at – as comical as it may be.
Communications and The Mark of The Beast system are down from the intense fire and heat of the sun, and there’s no way to summon the inhabitants of the earth for “the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
What’s Satan to do now?
Spiritual Communication: The Last & Only Resort
“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty… And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon”1 (Revelation 16:13-14, 16).
With no ability to technologically communicate to the inhabitants of the earth, the spiritual forces of darkness will respond. All “the kings of the earth and of the whole world” who had taken the now-disabled Mark of The Beast are assembled together to the Valley of Jehoshaphat all the way to Bozrah by the “unclean spirits like frogs” to their ultimate demise. [The Valley of Jehoshaphat and ‘Armageddon’]
How apropos. Add to the scene spiritual apparitions of an “animal” to help advance the powerful rulers of the earth who ride an assembly of earthly beasts. Truly, The Mark of The Beast has turned into The Mark of The Beasts.
I honestly considered titling this article The Kings of the Beasts, as this has got to be the most ridiculous, pitiful scene the world will ever see: The mighty Antichrist, False Prophet, the inhabitants and the kings of the earth reduced to riding on animals with light infantry weaponry, their spears, swords, and bows and arrows to take on the Creator.
With this visual in mind, one gets a new perspective on Psalm 2:
“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure” (Psalm 2:1-5).
The remainder of the Psalm says it all!
“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:6-12).
“Kiss the Son” and “blessed are [we] that put [our] trust in Him,” indeed!
So will begin our God and Savior Jesus Christ’s glorious Millennial Kingdom, and we will be with Him at His side, ruling and reigning with The One – and for The One – we love!
Can I get an “Amen!?!”
Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!
Endnotes
- See The Meaning of “Armaged[d]on” by Jeff Van Hatten for an excellent article on this topic, and The Valley of Jehoshaphat and ‘Armageddon’ by Mark A. Becker.
Email: mab10666@yahoo.com
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Email: mab10666@yahoo.com