The Last Battle, Armageddon

Before the End, Satan will launch his final war to exterminate the Church, the men and women who have the Testimony of Jesus.

At the end of the present age, Satan will launch his final war to annihilate the Church. Several passages in the Book of Revelation describe the ongoing cosmic battle between “the Dragon” and “the Lamb,” a process that will culminate in this last confrontation on “the great day of God Almighty” at the place called ‘Armageddon’.

In each relevant passage of Revelation, the term “war” occurs in the singular number, and in the Greek text, its noun form is accompanied by the definite article or “the” (τον πολεμον – “The war of the great day of God, the Almighty” – Revelation 16:14). What is described is the war. The Greek noun and its related verb for “war” are applied to the same final event in each case.

[Chessboard- Photo by Barry Weatherall (Milwaukee) on Unsplash]

The language of war is taken from the Book of Daniel with its descriptions of the attack on the saints of Israel by a ruler known as “the Little Horn”:

• “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most-High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom” – (Daniel 7:21-22).

• “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which became exceeding great toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land. And it became great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and of the stars it threw to the ground, and trampled upon them” – (Daniel 8:9-10).

• “And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth” – (Revelation 12:3-4).

• “And his power will be mighty, but not by his own power. And he will destroy wonderfully, and prosper, and do his pleasure. And he will destroy the mighty ones and the saints” – (Daniel 8:24).

This same war is described in the vision of “the Two Witnesses” in Chapter 11 of Revelation. After these two figures completed their “testimony,” the “Beast” ascended from “the Abyss” and “waged war with them and overcame them and killed them,” the same language found in the Book of Daniel – (Revelation 11:7, Daniel 7:21).

The Two Witnesses were identified as “two lampstands,” and elsewhere in Revelation, lampstands symbolize churches. Thus, the Two Witnesses represent churches that are attacked by “the Beast from the Abyss”– (Revelation 1:20, 11:4-7):

This war is described from another perspective in Chapter 12. John saw a “war in heaven” between Satan and “Michael and his angels.” The Devil was represented by “the Great Red Dragon” that had seven heads and ten horns. The Dragon was defeated and expelled from heaven, but he was not yet out of the picture – (Revelation 12:1-11).

Now on the Earth, and enraged, Satan set out to destroy “the woman clothed with the sun,” but he was thwarted in this effort. Therefore, the Dragon instead made war on the woman’s “seed,” that is, on the men who “had the Testimony of Jesus.” Once more, the conflict is described with the same words from Daniel:

• “And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman and departed to make war with the rest of her seed, they who keep the commandments of God, and have the Testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:17).

The vision ends with Satan standing on the seashore as he summons his “seed” to rise from the sea and prosecute his war against the saints, “the Beast from the Sea” and “the Beast from the Earth,” who is identified later as “the False Prophet” – (Revelation 13:1-18, 16:13).

John saw the first “Beast ascending from the Sea,” an image that parallels the Beast’s “ascent from the Abyss” described in Chapter 11. The Beast had ten horns and seven heads, and so, it had the political authority of the Great Red Dragon.

The Beast used Satan’s authority “to wage war against the saints and to overcome them.” Once more, the description echoes the related passages in the Book of Daniel (“His power will be mighty, but not by his own power…” – Daniel 8:24):

• “And they gave homage to the Dragon, because he gave his authority to the Beast. <…> And it was given to the Beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them” – (Revelation 13:4-7).

For his part in this drama, “the False Prophet” used religious deceit by mimicking the Lamb, along with economic control and sanctions. He employed the latter to compel men to swear fealty to “the Beast from the Sea” and to pay homage to its image – (Revelation 13:1-16).

‘ARMAGEDDON’

An angel emptied the Sixth Bowl of Wrath “on the great river, Euphrates.” The water was dried up so “the kings of the east” and their armies could invade by crossing the river. Demons were released from the mouths of “the Dragon,” “the Beast,” and “the False Prophet.” These unclean spirits orchestrated the gathering of these “kings” for “the war of the great day of God, the Almighty” at the place called ‘Armageddon’, where this invasion force was destroyed.

The sixth Bowl of Wrath is part of the series of judgments that “complete the wrath of God.” This series concludes with the destruction of the world city, “Babylon the Great,” and her downfall results in terrestrial and cosmic upheaval when the present age ends – (Revelation 16:12-21):

• “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished. <…> And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air. And there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done! And there were flashes of lightning, and voices, and claps of thunder, and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. <…> And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” – (Revelation 15:8, 16:17-20).

In Chapter 17, the Ten Horns of the Beast are said to represent “ten kings” who gave their authority to the Beast so it could “wage war against the Lamb.” However, the Lamb overcame these kings, “for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings,” and the Lamb was accompanied by his saints, “the called and chosen and faithful” - (Revelation 17:9-14).

This picture from Chapter 17 anticipates the victory of the figure who “rides the white horse” and his army. This rider was followed by his “armies in heaven,” namely, his overcoming “saints.” On his thigh was the designation “King of kings and Lord of lords,” the same description applied to the Lamb in Chapter 17:

• “The armies in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white, pure” – (Revelation 19:14).

• “But you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.  He who overcomes will thus be arrayed in white garments” – (Revelation 3:4-5).

• “After these things, I saw, and behold, a great multitude that no man could number out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands. <…> These are the men who come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” – (Revelation 7:9-14).

• “These will war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings. And they who are with him, called and chosen and faithful” – (Revelation 17:14).

The battle is described in Chapter 19 with language taken from the Book of Ezekiel applied originally to the army of “Gog and Magog.” Just as “the Kings of the Earth” were “gathered together” to ‘Armageddon’ for destruction in Chapter 16, so “the Beast and the kings of the earth and their armies” were “gathered together to make war” with the figure who was riding the White Horse – (Revelation 19:10-21).

The passage does not describe the actual battle, only its aftermath. The Beast and the False Prophet were thrown “alive into the Lake of Fire,” and the rest of their unholy force was destroyed by “the sword of him that sat upon the horse.”

SATAN UNCHAINED

In Chapter 20, Satan was released from “the Abyss,” an event conceptually parallel to the “ascents” of the Beast from the Abyss and the Sea. The Devil “gathered together” the nations “from the four corners of the earth to the war, Gog and Magog.” Here, the link to Ezekiel’s vision of “Gog and Magog” is made explicit – (Revelation 20:1-10).

The Book of Revelation describes this army, Gog and Magog, as “ascending over the breadth of the earth to surround the camp of the saints.” The extent of this final battle is global. It is Satan’s final attempt to destroy the saints throughout the Earth.

As in Chapter 19, no description of the actual battle is provided. The passage simply states that “fire came down out of heaven and devoured them,” which is followed immediately by the final judgment at “the Great White Throne.”

The verbal parallels in Chapter 20 with the preceding passages are clear. This is the same war, “the war,” portrayed in Chapters 11, 12, 13, 16 and 19, and here, the targeted victims of the Dragon are identified as “the saints,” the same group persecuted before by the Beast and the Dragon, the men and women “who keep the commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus”  – (Revelation 12:17, 13:7).

• “Here is the patience of the saints, they who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” – (Revelation 14:12).

The use of the same language from the books of Daniel and Ezekiel to describe this final great battle in the several parallel passages, along with the verbal links (e.g., “gathered together”), the conceptual parallels (e.g., ascent/release from “the Abyss”), and the identity of Satan’s victims (“the saints”), demonstrate that the same “war” is in view in each case.

Before the end of the age, Satan will launch his final assault against the “saints,” the men and women who “follow the Lamb wherever he goes, the true Church. The Devil’s attack will include deception and deceivers working inside the church, economic pressure from the outside, and, when necessary, persecution and martyrdom.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Great Cosmic War - (At the end of the age, Satan will wage his final war on the saints, the followers of the Lamb)

• The Final Hour - (The Book of Revelation moves from the Death of Jesus to the final day when God judges the wicked and vindicates the righteous)

• Persecuting the Saints - (Satan attacks the Lamb, Jesus Christ, by persecuting his followers, the men and women who have the Testimony of Jesus)

• La Dernière Bataille, Armagédon - (Avant la Fin, Satan lancera sa guerre finale pour exterminer l'Église, les hommes et les femmes qui ont le Témoignage de Jésus)