222 - Stages of Armageddon, The Prelude [B]

Stages of Armageddon, The Prelude. Daniel 11:40

We finished up with Revelation 19:15 with the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. ^NASB "From His mouth comes a sharp sword [broadsword], 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." There is going to be a war between the nations of the earth versus the Lord Jesus Christ. The result is then stated. "…and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty." He will bring them into submission (the phrase comes directly from Psalm 2), and the last phrase talking about Him treading the wine press, which invokes the image of someone walking and crushing the grapes with their feet, is an image of bloodshed and one that is first introduced in Revelation chapter fourteen: V.19 ^NASB "So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered {the clusters from} the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God." So the winepress pictures the judgment of God and the trampling the grapes in the winepress pictures the carrying out of that judgment. [20] "And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles." Two hundred miles is approximately the distance from Dan to Beersheba, and so what this is saying is that this bloody, violent judgment that will come in this war between the Lord Jesus Christ and the nations of the earth is going to cover the land of Israel.

That is referred to by another popular term, the Battle of Armageddon, but is more correctly understood by a phrase that is used in Revelation 16:14 as the battle or campaign—polemos/polemoj, a word that doesn't refer specifically to one individual battle but t6o a series of battles or military campaign: the campaign of the of the great day of God Almighty. This is the focal point of the day of the Lord when God brings judgment into time, brings judgment upon the nations, judgment upon sin and evil in time. There is the judgment of sin at the cross; this is the judgment in time on the nations, the human race, and it brings about a cleansing of the planet through the three successive judgment—the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments—that prepare for the establishment of the millennial kingdom.

This is describes in several passages in the Old Testament. Some of these passages are somewhat general and don't deal with the specifics of the Armageddon campaign. One is Joel 3:9-11. This is the Lord calling the nations to battle, the same thing we see in Revelation 14. ^NASB "Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears…" Notice the reversal there of the well known passage in Isaiah chapter two that during the Millennial kingdom they would beat swords into ploughshares, etc. because of the peace that is established by the reign of the Messiah. This is the opposite, a call for man to come out with all of their weapons of war against God. "… Let the weak say, 'I am a mighty man.' Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, O LORD, Your mighty ones."

Then in Psalm two. Psalm 21:1 ^NASB "Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? [2] The kings of the earth [a phrase seen again and again in the details of Revelation 14-19] take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed [Messiah], saying, 'Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!'" Then the scene shifts in verse 4ff to God's response to their attempts to break out from under the control of God. "He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." So these first five verses of Psalm two refer to that battle as God laughs in derision at these puny human leaders who think that they can somehow rule the planet on their own and cast aside the sovereign authority of God. This comes to be called the battle of Armageddon because Revelation 16 describes it as such, but more specifically it is the campaign of the great day of God the Almighty.

The eight stages of Armageddon. There is the gathering of the armies of the Antichrist at the Valley of Megiddo, followed by the destruction of Babylon, the fall of Jerusalem, the Antichrist attacks the remnant of believing Jews in Bozrah, Israel's regeneration as a nation, Jesus returns—not to the Mount of Olives (that comes later)—to rescue the remnant in Petra, and then leads them on a campaign back to Jerusalem, defeating the armies of the Antichrist along the way, going to the Mount of Olives which then splits in two allowing the remnant that is trapped in Jerusalem to escape. Then He destroys the Antichrist, his armies, and the false prophet. He casts the false prophet and the Antichrist into the lake of fire and Satan into the abyss where he is chained for 1000 years.

Daniel chapter eleven is primarily a historical passage, i.e. the vast majority of the events in the chapter have been fulfilled historically. They refer to the historic battles and jockeying for power and control over the Middle East between the descendants of two of Alexander's generals. The Seleucid empire took over the area of Syria and Turkey, and initially did not have control over the area of Jerusalem. The southern king is the descendant of Ptolemy and his empire and that is referred to as the king of the south. They jockeyed for power back and forth as to who was going to control the area in the Middle East, and so we see a historic description. All of the events from 11:1 through verse 35 can all be identified historically, so that is not prophetic. But once we get to verse 36 there are things said that are not true historically of Antiochus Epiphanes specifically.

Daniel 11:36 ^NASB "Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done." Antiochus did not exalt himself above every god, he exalted Zeus and set up an idol to Zeus in the temple, but he did not exalt himself above Zeus. He was exalting the worship of Zeus and was hostile to the God of the Jews. So there is a shift that takes place in verse 36, and down to the end of chapter twelve deals more with future things that have yet to have been fulfilled.        

Daniel 11:40 ^NASB "At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow {them} and pass through." If we are in the end times starting in v. 36 what does he mean here by "the time of the end"? Is this a general reference to the end of the age for Israel, Daniel's seventieth week, or is this referring to the actual end of the seventieth week period? [41] "He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many {countries} will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon." We have to identify who the "him" refers to and when the time of the end is.

As pointed out, the events from v. 36 on have never been fulfilled. What we see is a description that most dispensationalists view as the time of the abomination of Desolation when the Antichrist identifies himself as God and is to be worshipped as God and sets up his idol in the temple. Notice the similarity with 2 Thessalonians 2:4, describing the Antichrist. ^NASB "who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God." The first part of that is taken almost directly out of Daniel and the second part adds new information, that he sits as God in the temple of God. This event takes place at the mid point of the Tribulation. This is similar to what is stated about him in Revelation 13:6 ^NASB "And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, {that is,} those who dwell in heaven," and verse 15 related to the second beast, the false prophet, "And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed." So these four verses all relate to the same kind of situation where the Antichrist makes himself to be God, elevates himself above all other gods, and is to be worshipped as God. That is clearly a benchmark of time, that this is the Abomination of Desolation.

Daniel 11:39 ^NASB "He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with {the help of} a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge {him} and will cause them to rule over the many [Israel], and will parcel out land [Israel] for a price." So he is going to start parceling out the land of Israel to his cronies and allies as rewards. So when we come to verse 40, near the end of the second half of the Tribulation, it is obviously before the eight stages of the campaign of Armageddon. This is a prelude; it sets up what will happen in those eight stages.

Who is the king of the north? It is not Russia. Why? In Daniel 11:5 ^NASB "Then the king of the South will grow strong, along with {one} of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain {will be} a great dominion {indeed.} [6] After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to carry out a peaceful arrangement…" Who is the king of the south in that passage? Egypt. Who is the king of the north? Syria. Historically, in those first 35 verses in Daniel 11 the king of the south is the Egyptian Seleucid empire; the king of the north is the Ptolemaic empire that was primarily Syria, Turkey, maybe even going to towards Russia, but this is the area of the king of the north. As we read through the text and comes down to vv. 36-39, and into verse 40 where it says the king of the south shall come we can't all of a sudden make the king of the south refer to something other than what it has already been referring to. Neither can we make the king of the north refer to something other than it has already been referring to. Basic hermeneutics! You can't switch meanings in mid-sentence, unless you identify them—that hasn't happened here. It is thought that the king of the south and the king of the north represent coalitions and that these coalitions are clearly larger than what they were when there were these battles between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids in the third century BC, but they still basically represent those general areas. The king of the north is who attacks in the Gog and Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38 and 39. The phrase "king of the north" is not there in those chapters. They are invaded from the far north, but the invasion of whoever that military power is in the far north is different from the king of the north. 

Daniel 11:40 identifies that there is going to be this battle between the kings of the south who will attack the Antichrist and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind. He has set himself up to be worshipped in Jerusalem, so he has an outpost there. But remember his main kingdom is out of Europe, the revived Roman empire. So it has elements of the old Roman empire plus some new elements, that is what we learn from Daniel chapter two with the ten toes that are made of iron and clay. The iron represents elements from the old Roman empire and the clay new elements. It is clear that the ten toes are an outgrowth of the Old Roman empire. That is his initial power base: the ten nations or ten kings come out of that area. Then there will be the king of the north and the king of the south and another group referred to as the kings of the east. 

It seems that what happens is this: the Antichrist has consolidated his power after he is miraculously brought back from the dead. He is indwelt by Satan, empowered by the dragon (Revelation 13), and the Antichrist and the false prophet are performing all of these signs and wonders. Economically they come to control the whole world, it is a world-wide dominion. He manages to utilize his power base from western Europe, it is believed, to intimidate and control the Middle East, and it is also believed that he utilizes economic Babylon as his power base to further his control over the earth. 

Up until the 1970s Beirut was sort of the Wall Street of the Middle East, the banking center. Once Lebanon began to fall apart in the 70s the Middle East no longer has a real central banking. There have been recent attempts to establish some sort of economic centre in both Syria and Dubai as an attempt to try to really install an economic base somewhere in the east. There have even been suggestions of using Babylon, which will probably happen—an economic center in the Middle East. This won't be the Antichrist's center, it will be the economic center that he has made an alliance with in order to expand his power over the whole earth. But this begins to fragment when we get into the second half of the Tribulation. In that last quarter of the Tribulation his empire begins to fragment; he can't hold it together. The first sign of this is when the king of the north begins to break loose and attack his outpost in Israel and the king of the south does as well.

Daniel 11:40 ^NASB "…and he will enter countries, overflow {them} and pass through." He is going to come in from the west and will overrun their armies to establish himself in the Middle East. This is what is going to bring all the military might of the Antichrist's kingdom into the Middle East. His staging area is going to be the Valley of Esdraelon/Valley of Jezreel which is the valley which extends just below the hill of Megiddo. [41] "He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many {countries} will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon." The three listed are Ammon, Edom and Moab. Those are all part of the modern kingdom of Jordan. Moab and Edom are particularly noteworthy because they are the area right around Bozrah where we know that the remnant of Israel will flee and where there will be a major battle between the Messiah and the forces of the Antichrist later on. But initially he is not able to control that area, so this gives the Israelites a place of refuge, a place to flee to as he is persecuting them. [42] "Then he will stretch out his hand against {other} countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. [43] But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians {will follow} at his heels." That last phrase is another one that is particularly challenging to interpret. Some say that this is an idiom, that "shall follow at his heels" means they are attacking him. Another view is that this is an idiom meaning that they will follow after him. In other words, they are aligning themselves with him. A third view is the view that he only goes that far in his southern probe.

That third view has some real potential because if the Ezekiel 38, 39 invasion has already taken place Libya and Ethiopia/Sudan have already been wiped out. No matter where we put that battle—before the Tribulation, the early part, mid-Tribulation or the initial stages of Armageddon they have already been wiped out. So it probably fits best if this is just showing the extent of his thrust into the south. The reason he turns around and goes back is because of verse 44 ^NASB "But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many." East and north always have to be understand from the perspective of Jerusalem, so east would be back towards Babylon and north would be towards possibly Russia. [45] "He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas [Mediterranean] and the beautiful Holy Mountain [Temple mount]; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him." This just summarizes what happens as he goes back into the land but the details are left out.

What about this news from the north and the east that troubles him? Going back to Revelation 16 where we are looking at the 6^th bowl judgment, verse 12: ^NASB "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." This obviously is designed to enable the kings of the east to move west into the area of Israel and Armageddon. Are they coming as allies or foes? [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." Remember, we made the distinction between the kings of the earth and the ten horns/kings that are the specific power base of the Antichrist. [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."

So we have the gathering of the armies of the Antichrist, but not just his. Are the kings of the east coming against the Antichrist? Daniel 11 seems to suggest this. He is worried; he hears this rumor from the north and from the east. It also seems to make sense that these kings from the east have been somehow responsible for the destruction of Babylon. Babylon is located due east of Megiddo on the Euphrates River.

The first stage is the gathering of the armies of the Antichrist and the second stage has to do with the destruction of Babylon. What is interesting in the destruction of Babylon? In Zechariah 5:5-11 there is the vision of the woman with the ephah. [5] ^NASB "Then the angel who was speaking with me went out and said to me, 'Lift up now your eyes and see what this is going forth.' [6] I said, 'What is it?' And he said, 'This is the ephah going forth.' Again he said, 'This is their appearance in all the land [7] (and behold, a lead cover was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.' [8] Then he said, "This is Wickedness!" And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and cast the lead weight on its opening. [9] Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. [10] I said to the angel who was speaking with me, 'Where are they taking the ephah?' [11] Then he said to me, 'To build a temple for her in the land of Shinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.'" The land of Shinar is the area of Babylon. This woman is going to be set down there and the lead indicates the value. It is not silver or gold, it is a false economic measure. This woman and the basket indicates this false economic base that is going to come out of Babylon at this economic center. So Zechariah chapter five stresses that this is the area of Babylon that will be the center of the world economy in the future. 

Secondly, Revelation 17:16. ^NASB "And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire." Babylon has now become an onerous master of the Antichrist's power base. The ten horns (the ten kings) will hate the harlot. The Antichrist at this point does not like Babylon. So who destroys Babylon? It seems from this passage that it is the Antichrist's kingdom. The other group that is mentioned in relation to this is in Revelation 18:9 ^NASB "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." So she is destroyed by burning. It seems from 17:16 it is the ten horns. But they are different from the kings of the earth: the ten horns hate her; the kings of the earth mourn over her. This is where the plot thickens a little bit.

Isaiah 13 begins by dealing with this in terms of the day of the Lord. Isaiah 13:6 ^NASB "Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty." In chapter fourteen we see the fall of the king of Babylon who is then taunted as Lucifer who is the power base behind all of that when we get into that chapter. Isaiah 13:1 ^NASB "The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. [2] Lift up a standard on the bare hill, Raise your voice to them, Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles. [3] I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, To {execute} My anger. [4] A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of the uproar of kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts is mustering the army for battle. [5] They are coming from a far country, From the farthest horizons, The LORD and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole land [in context, Babylon]." They are Gentiles that are coming against Babylon, but they are identified in v, 3 as "sanctified ones." The word "sanctified" means those who are set apart for the service of God. Arnold Fruchtenbaum takes the position that "sanctified ones" means that they must be believers. His conclusion is that this is an army of Gentile believers that attacks and destroys Babylon. A problem with that is that it is doubtful that there are enough believers at this time in the Tribulation to be able to mount a major military assault against Babylon and destroy it. But there is a basis as when the Lord referred to Cyrus as His anointed one. Cyrus was an unbeliever and there is no indication that he every was a believer, but he was chosen by God and appointed to a particular role to release the Jews to go back to the land. Same thing here. God is calling them a group that is set apart by Him in His plan to accomplish the task of destroying Babylon.

This seems to fit with a statement in Jeremiah 50:9, 10 ^NASB "For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon A horde of great nations from the land of the north, And they will draw up {their} battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior Who does not return empty-handed. Chaldea will become plunder; All who plunder her will have enough," declares the LORD.

If we go to Ezekiel 38:3 ^NASB "…'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. [4] I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company {with} buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords." Then verse 6 mentions, "Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah {from} the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you." We know from tracing back these ancient words through the table of nations in Genesis 10 that the areas where these people groups settled would be in eastern Europe and Germany. That area is called the far north in Ezekiel chapter 38, so if that is the far north it is coming out of eastern Europe. That could very easily part of the Antichrist's power base that is attacking Babylon because when we read in Jeremiah 50 that they are being threatened from the north, that is not the north of Babylon, it is north from Israel. If Ezekiel 38 uses that same north orientation that would fit and would back up what is said in Isaiah 13 that it is a Gentile power base, part of the ten-horn nation confederacy that destroys the harlot/Babylon, but it is distinct from the other kings. This leads us to understanding that there is this gathering of troops in the area of the Valley of Esdraelon which is the staging area for the battle that is about to take place.

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