The Seventh Vial: The Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon
The seventh angel poured his vial into the air, and a great voice from Heaven thundered, "It is done." Then there were voices, thunder and lightning, and a great earthquake, so mighty such as the world has never seen. Mountains crumbled, islands sank into the sea, and great cities across the earth were demolished. The city of Jerusalem was divided by this earthquake into three parts. And a great hail fell from heaven, with each hailstone weighing about a talent (100 pounds), and it fell upon all men. "And men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." (Revelation 16:17-21). In the valley of Megiddo, at the place called Armageddon, the armies of the kings of the earth have gathered together into place.
John said, "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 (believers taken in the Rapture) 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 beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 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 19:11-21).
Concerning this great war, the parenthetical chapter 14 of Revelation declared, "The angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." (verse 19-20).
The Thousand Year Reign of Christ
"It is done," said the voice from Heaven. What was done? "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to FINISH the transgression, and to make an END of sins, and to make RECONCILIATION for iniquity, and to bring in EVERLASTING righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." (Daniel 9:24)
This terrible war of Armageddon, now complete, will usher in the great Millenial reign of Jesus Christ. Micah the prophet said of this day, "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Micah 4:1-3).
John saw in his vision, "An angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more... And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Revelation 20:1-4).
With Satan bound and out of the way, it will be a great time of prosperity, peace and righteousness, and the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the land. There will be no denominations, and the body of Christ will be in complete unity, worshipping God in spirit and in truth. There will be no more killing or war as swords are beaten into plowshares. Even animal natures will change as, "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 65:25).
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