Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith. It's a huge, peaceful, flat plain in Israel. One day it will be filled with blood. The place, the Valley of Jezreel. The event, Armageddon.
The Bible tells of a climactic war that will culminate in the personal return of Jesus Christ. Today, the final sign that precedes the glorious appearing of the Messiah. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Irwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Erwin Lutzer is in a series on seven signs of Christ's return.
Today, we come to sign number seven: the world's bloodiest conflict. Pastor, both of us have stood on a high Mount Carmel overlook, facing this enormous plain, envisioning a great battle that one day will take place. And you know, Dave, when I stop to think of it, as I look back on my history, my experiences, certainly being in Israel is a highlight. To be able to stand on Mount Carmel, and to know that it is here that Elijah, of course, he had the contest with the prophets of Baal, and then to be able to look out over the Valley of Jezreel, which is called also the Valley of Armageddon, and know that we are standing where history is going to be wrapped up. What a privilege!
And we hear it running to win. Believe very deeply that Jesus Christ is going to return. He is going to be victorious. But in the meantime, we want to reach as many people as possible with the good news of the gospel. And for those of you who support this ministry, I want to express my deepest appreciation.
And some of you perhaps have been blessed by running to win, and yet you have never connected with us. At the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info, also some encouragement as to what this ministry is doing. All because of people just like you. But for now, let us listen. There is a story about a boy who was reading a novel in the living room.
His mother called to him and said, "Johnny, come to the dishes." But he said, "No, mum, I can't because right now I'm in chapter six and the villain has the hero down, and he's about to kill him, and I have to see how it turns out." Well, as most mothers do, she persisted and she said, "Johnny, I said you are to come to do the dishes," knowing that he had to go. He flipped to the last page of the book and read it. And that day, when he went into the kitchen, he said, "You know, the villain is doing fine in chapter six, but is he ever in for a shock when he gets to the last page?" Today we're talking about the last page. Today we're talking about the Battle of Armageddon and the glorious return of Jesus Christ to this very, very sinful planet. We're talking about finally the villain getting his just deserts.
We're talking about righteousness. We're talking about a time when the whole world will no longer wonder at the beast, as we talked about, but glorify and honor and worship Jesus Christ. What a day that is going to be! If you've been with us, you know that this is the last in a series of messages. Seven signs of Christ's return.
We've talked about the return of Israel, the unification of Europe, the rise of Antichrist, the one-world religion, the rebuilding of the temple. Last time we spoke about a war that originates in the north and comes into Israel, and God protects His people and wipes out those armies. But today we come to Armageddon, which culminates. In the return of Jesus Christ, the very word Armageddon, I'm sure, has many evokes many emotions within us. I think it was Disney that used the word to refer to a video that was done when an asteroid hit the Earth, and it was called Armageddon.
The Wall Street Journal talks about Armageddon in a context of reviewing a book about a final battle. That word Armageddon has a long history in our own thought, and we we think finally of the time when all the armies of the earth will be gathered together, concentrated in the Middle East. Let me say that Antichrist. You will remember if our scenario is correct, we'll have signed a covenant, a peace covenant with Israel, guaranteeing its security. In this series, we didn't go into detail, but that is based on the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel.
And having done that, Israel lives securely, thinking at last it will be at peace. But three and a half years after the covenant is signed, Antichrist goes into Jerusalem. He then goes. Into the temple, which some of us believe will have been built at that time, and he declares himself to be God. He harasses the Jews, turns against them, but the whole world worships this beast, and he has his false prophet, and he has also a third member of that trinity, so that together the beast and the antichrist, the beast, of course, being the antichrist, but being together.
Now, suddenly, try to rival the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in that context that all the armies of the earth basically gather toward Jerusalem. It says, for example, in the ninth chapter of Revelation, that there are some angels at the Euphrates River, and those angels allow the river to be dried up so that an army of two hundred million, two hundred million, come from the east. We think, for example, of China and Japan and India, and we think of those armies all converging on Jerusalem, as we shall see in a moment. What can we say about this battle and the circumstances that will take place after it has been ended?
How can we describe it?
Well, let me give you what I believe to be today five facts. Five facts that will help us put all of this into some perspective. First of all, this battle, which is called Armageddon, will be fought in Israel. It will be fought in Israel.
Now, take your Bibles and turn to the only passage in all of Scripture that mentions Armageddon. You might be surprised to discover that the word Armageddon occurs only once in the Bible.
Now we think that there are many references to this battle, but it's the 16th chapter of Revelation that actually uses the word Armageddon. I'm going to begin at verse 13, Revelation 16:13, 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. There you have it: the dragon representing Satan, the beast representing Antichrist, the false prophet representing the Holy Spirit in that unholy Trinity. And you'll notice it says three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are the 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. Behold, I am coming like a thief.
Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place which is called in Hebrew Har Megiddo. Two words, really. The word Har means mountain.
Now we say "r" with an "a" Armageddon, but you have to understand that the "h" was very soft, and so the text here says Armageddon, but we say Armageddon. But it is the mountain of Megiddo.
Now, if you've been to Israel, you've been to Megiddo, because all tour groups go to Megiddo. It is there that Solomon had his stables. It was one of the large cities of the ancient world. But when you're at Megiddo, That is the town of Megiddo, the city, and you go through those ancient ruins. You look out and you see the plain of Megiddo, twenty miles long, fifteen miles wide.
By the way, if you ever go to Israel with Pastor Schwartz. And you're standing at Megiddo. Ask the tour guide to show you the city of Nazareth, because Nazareth is across the plain, maybe 15 miles or perhaps nearer than that. But nevertheless, it is there on the edge of the rift that goes into the plain of Jezreel, as it is also called, or the plain of Megiddo. I mention that only because it dawned on me.
Jesus being brought up in Nazareth, I can imagine as a little boy, he'd often run to the edge of the cliffs and look over. Little boys do that, and I wonder if at that time he contemplated, even then, that this would be the place that the battle would begin, that would be Earth's final serious conflict.
So it is fought in Israel, but please do not think that it is somehow limited to that plane. As a matter of fact, it may begin there, but the real focal point is Jerusalem. The Bible says in the book of Zechariah, God says all the nations of the earth will be gathered again to Jerusalem, and we'll read a similar passage in just a moment.
So here you're going to have a battle that will spill throughout all the land, encompassing at least 200 miles, as I shall point out in a second or two. It will be fought in Israel.
The Middle East will be the focal point of that battle. Secondly, it will be the world's bloodiest conflict, the world's bloodiest conflict. I base that on Matthew twenty-four, verse twenty-one, where Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem in seventy A.D., and he says there will be a great tribulation such as has not occurred since the creation of the world, and that actually is a picture of the coming tribulation. Because a few verses later he says, immediately after those days the tribulation takes place. After the days of tribulation, it is then that you will see the light in the sky, and as the lightning shines from the east and even unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
So the destruction of Jerusalem is a little cameo. It is a little picture of the battle that is still to come, and it is the greatest tribulation. Great tribulation such as has not been seen since creation. In Revelation fourteen twenty, it speaks of a battle, and I take it to be the same. Where it says the wine press was trodden outside the city, and the blood came out from the wine presses up to the horses' bridles for a distance of two hundred miles.
Now, of course, blood cannot flow as high as the bridles of horses. No, there has not been any human blood upon all of planet Earth put together. That means that there's a river of blood like that. Maybe it means that the blood was splattered up into the bridles of the horses. But at any rate, even if there's some symbolism here, the simple fact is that this is a terribly, terribly bloody time and a time of great conflict, of great heartache.
It will be awful. We think today of World War One. We think of World War Two. We think also of what is happening in Kosovo or Bosnia, and we think to ourselves all of the atrocities and the evil things that are done. I take it that the Battle of Armageddon means that at last all the wickedness of men comes to the surface in this gigantic battle, which is basically a battle of East and West.
I mentioned that Antichrist exalts himself, and there's a whole Eastern confederacy that says to itself, "It is time that we unseat this world ruler who demands that we worship him." And so the conflict gathers there, centering in Jerusalem. Thirdly, it is interrupted by the return of Jesus Christ. It is interrupted by the return of Jesus.
Now there are two passages I want to read. One is found in Zechariah 14, and because this passage is so important, I would appreciate very much if you turn to it in your Bibles, because I want you to see the text to make sure that your pastor is not making this up. All right, Zechariah fourteen. Actually, if this wasn't in God's word, not a one of us would dare to make this kind of stuff up. But notice Zechariah fourteen.
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half the city exiled. But the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when He fights in a day of battle. And in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives will be split in the middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half the mountain will remove toward the north, and the other half toward the south. If you've seen pictures of the Mount of Olives, you know that today already it comes in two halves. Tourists who go there, looking at the Mount from Jerusalem, say, "Now, which one is the Mount of Olives? Is it this, or is it this part of the mountain over here?" The answer is both are. And geologists tell us that there is a fault line that runs from the Mount of Olives.
All the way to the Dead Sea.
Now, notice what the text says: that it will be split from east to west. That means that the Mount of Olives will be split in two, and you have one part that moves toward the south, and you have the other part that moves toward the north when Jesus comes. And the whole topography of the area there is severely and significantly rearranged.
Now the Bible says in Revelation that every eye shall see him. How can that happen? You have somebody coming to the Mount of Olives. The world is round. We can't see him.
Well, some people have said, Ah, thank God for television. Thank God for television. ABC will be there. NBC will be there. Maybe even CNN will be there.
And therefore, every eye will see him.
Well, that's a possibility, but I have a of a better scenario. I think. Imagine this. Here is Jesus. He's coming out of heaven, and he comes slowly.
In fact, it may take him a couple of days to descend in all of his glory.
So here is Christ. You begin to see him. It is the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and people begin to say, "What is that? And who is that?" And as the Earth rotates on its axis, the entire world gets to see Him, and maybe over a couple of one or two days or more, Jesus is descended. And each time the Earth revolves, He's a little closer.
And then, of course, the juxtaposition of events is such that His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount splits. Because God has come, and all the nations the Bible says have gathered together to fight in Jerusalem, and they all are going to say, "You know, He is our real enemy," and they will set aside their differences. and The Scripture says they will fight against Him now because He is coming to take over planet Earth, and they're saying, "Not a chance." But He says to them. Not a chance. Let's look at the passage of scripture in the book of Revelation now that discusses this, and this you have to turn to Revelation chapter 19.
I feel so sorry for some of you who don't bring your Bibles and open them. I don't know how God is going to judge you. I don't know, you know, how you're going to explain all this to Him because He's going to ask you about it and all that, and I'll just leave that with you and with Him. But notice it says in Revelation 19, verse 11, and I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat upon it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war, and his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems, and he has a name written upon him which no one knows except himself. And he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. And from his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may smite 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. And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written.
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Wow!
Now you've heard me say this before if you attend Moody Church, and probably you're going to hear me say it sometime in the future. But I have to say it again. I have to ask you the question. Who are the armies? Verse fourteen in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, following him on white horses.
Who are those armies?
Well, listen. The Bible doesn't leave us any doubt. It says in verse eight of the same chapter, speaking of the marriage supper of the Lamb. I shall begin in verse seven. Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready, and it was given to her to clothe herself.
In fine linen, bright and clean. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. I've explained before. You need two kinds of clothes to get into the wedding feast. You need the righteousness of Christ to get you into heaven, and you need righteous acts so that you have something to wear, something to to put on for the wedding feast.
But but we are those people that are with Jesus Christ. Because we will already have glorified bodies, we will have been raptured. Our bodies will have been transformed, and we shall be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is, and we shall come. This is incredible.
Thank you, there, Michael. Thank you. If I'm interpreting this right. That means that, in fact, the Bible says he's going to come with his saints. This is the coming with his saints.
We are going to be a part of that descent that I told you about. That his armies, the righteous people who have accepted Christ and who belong to him, are returning with him. See, that's why I told you that you don't have to be too concerned if you don't get to go with Schwartz to the to Israel. You be a believer in Jesus, and you are going to get the grand tour. Christ coming to the Mount of Olives, and His people coming with Him to fight and to rule.
Now, very quickly, I want you to notice what happens in this context of Revelation nineteen and twenty. It says in verse twenty, and I love to read these verses. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone. Who's winning this battle?
By the way, any doubt in the mind of anyone? And then a thousand years elapses, as I'll mention in a moment. But let's pick it up in verse ten, in chapter twenty, twenty verse ten. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Wow!
One summer I read Dante. I thought it was time to stretch my cultural quotient. He's got a lot of interesting things to say, a great writer, but he was wrong about his conception of hell. You know this idea that demons are going to be running around in pitch with pitchforks tormenting people. They're going to be the tormentors.
No, no, my friend. In hell, Satan is not the one who is going to do the tormenting. He is not the tormentor. He is the tormented. And if it is true that the devil said, as Milton believed.
That he decided that he would rather be a king in hell than a than a servant in heaven. I'll tell you, he was incredibly mistaken. Because, listen to me carefully: there are no kings in hell. There are no kings in hell. He is tormented along with the beast and the false prophet, day and night, into the ages of the ages, forever and ever.
Any doubt as to who the winner in this conflict is? Jesus is the winner, and the battle of Armageddon is interrupted by his glorious return. Here at Running to Win, we are deeply committed to preaching all of the Scriptures, not just the parts that are very easy to accept, but also those parts of Scripture that are very difficult for us to accept. Because they have to do with judgment, they have to do with the outpoured wrath of God. But we here are committed to the Bible, and I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry.
And when I read a testimony of what Running to Win is doing, I think of the many people who support us. Listen to this: We received a letter. My husband and I enjoy your messages very much, and often discuss them at supper. We are grateful for the wonderful insights and so forth, and then they end by saying, "We don't just listen and enjoy, but we also put into practice what we are learning." Those testimonies are your testimonies. I want to ask you a question: Would you pray about the possibility of becoming an endurance partner?
You know, at the beginning of this program, we always talk about running the race with endurance. Would you join us in the race? Here's what you can do: go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com, and when you're there, you click on the endurance partner button. Become a partner as we run the race of life together.
Or you can call us at one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven. I can't help but think that there are many who are listening, and God is asking you to at least investigate the possibility of joining us on a regular basis.
So once again, go to rtwoffer dot com, click on the Endurance Partner button, or if you prefer, call us at one eight eight eight. Two one eight ninety three thirty seven. You've heard me say this before, but when I think of running to win, I visualize thousands of people gathered together, hand in hand, running toward the finish line. Our desire here is to get the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world and. That's why I repeatedly thank you from the bottom of my heart for being partners in this ministry.
You can write to us at Running to Win, sixteen thirty-five North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois six zero six one four. Erwin Lutzer with Part One of the World's Bloodiest Conflict, the Seventh Sign in His series Seven Signs of Christ's Return.
Next time, the end of this battle and the end of this series of messages. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
