Armageddon’s End

There is only one event that will keep humanity from destroying itself, something the devil has always wanted to achieve as he has sought for ages to displace God – and that is the return of Jesus himself. Here are two accounts, the first from the Old Testament, the second from the New Testament:

Isaiah {11:1-4} And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and  understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Revelation {19:13-21} 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 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. * Jesus. ** The resurrected saints from all ages, perhaps angels as well. See also Zechariah 14:5. *** Antichrist. ****The Antichrist’s second-in-command and minister of propaganda.

Millennium

After seven years of literal hell on Earth, it is finally over. What is left is a smoking ruin, greatly depopulated. Had Jesus not come back when he did, Earth might have become a complete wasteland, perhaps only inhabited by insects, primitive plants, and microbes (Matthew 24:22). However, the Bible reveals that there will be survivors and despite the carnage, when Jesus comes back to take his place as King of Kings on Earth, everything will begin to change. Once again, Isaiah gives us a preview:

Isaiah {11:5-9} And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah {35:1-2,7; 41:18-20} The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. . . . And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, [shall be] grass with reeds and rushes. . . I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, [and] the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

It is my guess that this will happen very quickly and the survivors of the human race, plus the resurrected saints, both from the Rapture (who had been part of the armies that accompanied Jesus for his second coming) and the Tribulation (Revelation 20:4b; Daniel 7:18), will play a part in putting the world back together, Jesus being the ultimate source and director of this restoration. At this time, the Jews, who have at last recognized him as the Messiah (Zechariah 12:10; Revelation 1:7), will now fulfill the role God intended for them all along in leading the world to worship him in Jerusalem, perhaps led by the 144,000 that had been sealed by God during the Tribulation (Revelation 7:1-8).

In this time of global healing, even the life span of human beings will be increased:

Isaiah {65:20} There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner [being] an hundred years old shall be accursed.

But the restored world, as magnificent as it will be, will still not be perfect. From the passage above, we see the great hope the mortals who follow Jesus will have, but also the fate of those who resist. But unlike today, where it seems the “good die young and the evil live on, this, too will be reversed. In a time when the life spans of the righteous may very well last the 1000 years of the Millennial Kingdom, those of evil people may only last one-tenth of that.

Here is another piece of evidence that there still will be rebellious people left on Earth:

Zechariah {14:16-19} And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that [have] no [rain;] there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

This was an autumn feast whose purpose was for the Israelites to celebrate not only their harvest but to remind them of the forty years they were homeless nomads after they’d left Egypt. When Jesus comes back, its celebration will become mandatory for the entire world. It certainly seems to be most appropriate for the Tribulation survivors and their descendants to reflect back on the horror they endured during the worst seven years in history and to give thanks for now living on a planet that has been restored to a nearly Eden-like state by the one through whom all things were created (John 1:3-10).

As we’ve seen above and as hard as it may be to imagine, there will still be “stiff-necked” people in the world who will not accept Jesus’ rule. It is my own personal belief that at the beginning of the Millennium, there may be virtually none of these rebellious types. Those who are left are will forget living through Earth’s worst years nor dismiss the Messiah who saved and now sustains them.

But what about the kids . . . ?

Since the Kingdom Age is ten centuries long, this is plenty of time for the survivors to produce many descendants who will not have first-hand experience of the bad times. It seems reasonable to assume that they are more likely to fall away than their predecessors. The number of them appears quite significant by the time Satan is released and gets one more shot to oppose God at the Millennium’s conclusion:

Revelation {20:7-9a} And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city . . . 

This time God the Father will deal with these rebels immediately – and finally – along with Satan and his newly-recruited rebel followers:

Revelation {20:9b-10} . . . and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are,] and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

At this point, one may wonder why Satan was only locked away and not destroyed after the battle of Armageddon. As far as I can tell the Bible doesn’t give a direct answer, but perhaps it can be found if we look at its very beginning. In the first two chapters of Genesis, as God created the cosmos (which, of course, includes Earth) notice at the end of each step, he pronounces each part as “good.” Since we know that God is perfect, then anything he says is “good” is likely just perfect, too. It was into this flawless world that he placed the first two humans. But what happened? In chapter three, we see that despite being given every advantage, Adam and Eve were tempted – and gave into it.

Let’s spin the clock ahead to the end of time. Humanity will once more have the advantage of living in a world almost as perfect as Eden but remember what happens: A considerable number of people will succumb to the devil’s temptation once again at his release. It is at this point in time when Satan and his followers, both demonic and human, will be dealt with accordingly. This time it will be forever (Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:11-15).

Perhaps the Millennium is God’s way of showing us that the only way to really make things right is to “make all things new.” This sin-tainted world and universe will pass away to be replaced by something entirely new.

Eternity

Isaiah {65:17-18} For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever [in that] which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

Daniel {12:3} And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Revelation {21:1} And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Into this perfected new creation God literally brings heaven, and himself, to Earth:

Revelation {21:2} And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Here’s just one thing I’d like to mention. Though some have considered New Jerusalem to be the “bride,” I believe this is incorrect. Here is what Paul said of the bride’s identity:

Ephesians {5:23,31} For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body . . . For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

The solution to what appears to be a contradiction, I believe, is cleared up with this quote from Jesus himself:

John {14:1-3} Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if [it were] not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.

If we think about this a little, I think we can conclude that the bride is actually the church and that Jesus is preparing a place for this bride in the New Jerusalem. Therefore, in the Revelation passage above, perhaps John wasn’t saying that the New Jerusalem was actually the bride, but only that it looked as beautiful as once would expect a bride to appear. The true bride – the church, composed of all of God’s followers from the beginning of time, is actually living inside.

New Jerusalem on the New Earth

That this city is beautiful beyond comprehension is certainly clear, but also is, is that it is immense – a cube 1500 miles per side.

Now let’s look at a little science.

By the physical rules of our present universe, the Earth, which is 8000 miles in diameter could never accommodate something some 70% the size of the moon landing on it, though a planet the size of Jupiter (88,700 miles in diameter) wouldn’t have a problem with it.

What this strongly suggests is that the New Heaven and New Earth will operate on totally different laws. Maybe the New Earth will simply be enormous. Maybe gravity, as it operates here, will be totally different there. After all, we do know that time will certainly be different, because nothing lasts forever here. Barring Divine Intervention, our sun, all the stars in this galaxy, all the stars in every galaxy, will one day exhaust themselves. In fact, because of the universe’s continuing and accelerating expansion, all matter itself may come apart and every bit of usable energy will be gone. What will be left is . . . nothing!

We can take comfort because based on what the Bible tells us, this grim future is not what lies ahead. Instead of a dark, empty void, Jesus, the Carpenter, already has the building of our new residences well under way in an eternal city which will always be filled with light.

Based on the signs of these times, I’d say he’s putting on the final touches right now and moving-in day for us is just around the next corner!