3. The Battle of Armageddon

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3. THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.

Rev. 19:11-19.

"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."

In chapter 6:2, a "White Horse Rider" was seen, who had a bow in his hand, and a crown was given him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. That "Rider" we saw was "ANTICHRIST," but this "Rider" has eyes like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns, and out of His mouth went a sharp sword. This identifies Him as the Person John saw standing in the midst of the "Seven Candlesticks" of chapter one, and whom we saw to be the "SON OF MAN." The name of the first "White Horse Rider" is not given, but this "White Horse Rider" is called

"THE WORD OF GOD,"

and on His Vesture, and on His thigh, a name was written "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."

Many stumble at the "White HORSE" and his RIDER; and ask, in amazement, if we believe it? Yes! Why not? We believe it, just as we believe the prophecy of Zech. 9:9, where the Prophet, speaking of the First Coming of Christ, said--"Behold, thy King cometh unto thee . . . lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass," which we know was literally fulfilled as recorded in Matt. 21:4-11. Jesus, as far as we know, rode but once in the days of His Humiliation, and then upon an humble animal, an ass, but when He comes again in His Glory, as "King of Kings," He shall sit astride a magnificent WHITE CHARGER. Oh, you say that is figurative, who ever heard of horses in Heaven? We answer "horses and chariots of fire" were seen in the heavens in the days of Elijah and Elisha, and why not again? 2. Kings 2:11 6:13-17.

The riders upon these "White Horses" were clothed in fine linen, white and clean. As this is the dress of the Saints that compose the

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Bride, it is clear that Christ's Bride will accompany Him back to the earth, and here we have the fulfilment of the prophecy of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, recorded in Jude 14--"Behold, the Lord cometh' with 10,000 OF HIS SAINTS." But they doubtless will be but one division of that great army, for we are told that Christ shall be accompanied by the ARMIES of Heaven.

"Lo, He comes! from Heaven descending,
  Once for favored sinners slain:
Thousand thousand saints attending,
  Swell the Triumph of His Train!
                Hallelujah!
  Jesus comes, and comes to reign."

But He does not come unarmed. "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." Here we have the fulfilment of the Second Psalm. "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." These "Kings" are the "Ten Federated Kings" under Antichrist. But the Lord shall have them in derision, and then Christ shall do as the Psalmist says He is directed to do--"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."

With Christ at this time shall be the "Overcomers" of the "Thyatiran Church Period" (A. D. 606-1520), to whom He promised to give power over the nations that they should rule them with a "ROD OF IRON," and to them shall be given some official position of a ruling character.

We have here fulfilled the prophecy of Isa. 11:1-4, where a colon (:) in verse 4, makes a break or gap that covers this Present Dispensation from the First to the Second Coming of Christ--"And He shall smite the earth with the 'ROD OF HIS MOUTH, and with the BREATH OF HIS LIPS shall He slay--THE WICKED (the ANTICHRIST)." 2. Thess. 2:7-8. The "SHARP SWORD" that goeth out of the mouth of the "White Horse Rider" is not the "SWORD OF THE SPIRIT," for that bringeth "Salvation," not destruction, but stands for some supernatural form of destruction, called in the above passage the--"ROD OF HIS MOUTH."

But probably the most remarkable thing about this "White Horse Rider" is, that John saw His VESTURE had been dipped in BLOOD. Whose is this blood? His own blood that He shed on Calvary, or the blood of His enemies? We must turn to the Prophet Isaiah for the answer. Isa. 63:1-6.

"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?" And the answer comes back--"I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." Then the Prophet asks, "Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the Winefat?" And the response p. 173is--"I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all My Raiment" Isa. 63:1-6.

That this does not refer to Christ's atonement on the Cross is clear, for the Prophet adds

"For the 'Day of Vengeance' is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come."

There was no "vengeance" in Christ's heart on the Cross. It was "Father 'forgive them' for they know not what they do." The time the Prophet foretells, is the "Day of Christ's Vengeance" on His enemies, and the day when He shall redeem His chosen people the Jews from the power of Antichrist. It is the time when He shall tread--

"THE 'WINEPRESS'
Of the Fierceness and Wrath of
Almighty God."

The Apostle John had a vision of this "Winepress" in chapter fourteen, verses 14 to 20. That was before the pouring out of the

"Vials," and was a prophetic foreview of what should happen in chapter nineteen.

In verses 18 to 20, an angel with a sharp sickle is told to

"Thrust in thy Sharp Sickle, and gather the clusters of the 'Vine of the Earth,' for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his Sickle into the earth, and gathered of the 'Vine of the Earth,' and cast it into the Great Winepress of the wrath of God." And we read that "The Winepress was trodden Without the City, and blood (not wine), came out of the Winepress, even unto the horses' bridles, by the space of a Thousand and Six Hundred Furlongs."

From this we see that the "Allied Armies" of Antichrist will cover the whole of Palestine, and so great shall be the slaughter, that, in the valleys and hollows, all over the whole of Palestine, for the length of Palestine as far south as Bozrah is 1600 furlongs or 200 miles, the blood shall be up to the horses' bridles.

It will be the time of which Isaiah speaks, when the land shall be "Soaked With Blood." Isa. 34:1-8.

The "Tribulation Period" will close with the great "Battle of Armageddon." As we have seen the armies of the East and the West will be assembled in the Holy Land by the "Demon Spirits" that shall be sent forth from the mouths of the "Satanic Trinity." The field of battle will be the "Valley of Megiddo," located in the heart of Palestine, the battlefield of the great battles of the Old Testament. The forces engaged will be the "Allied Armies" of Antichrist on the one side, and the "Heavenly Army" of Christ on the other. The "time" will be when the Harvest of the Earth" IS RIPE (Rev. 14:15), and at the "Psychological Moment" when the "Allied Armies" of Antichrist are about to take the city of Jerusalem.

The Prophet Zechariah says--

"Behold the 'Day of the Lord' cometh." (The "Day of the Lord" is the Millennial Day.) When--"I will Gather All Nations Against Jerusalem to Battle . Then shall the Lord Go Forth and Fight Against Those Nations." Zech. 14:1-3.