TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY IN BIBLE PROPHECY
Lesson 49: Christ's victorious return and establishment of His earthly
kingdom of peace.
I SETTING:
A The Battle of Armageddon between the massed armies of
the nations, will be the final event of the Seventh
Plague Nuclear War (AWWII).
B This battle will mark the final fall of the anti-Christian
international government and the end of man's reign on the
Earth.
II John's vision of the reaping of the harvest of the earth
and the ripe grapes.
14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the
cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head
a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a
loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy
sickle and reap: for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the
earth; and the earth was reaped (Rev. 14:14-16).
A This passage opens with a review of Christ's physical
return in the air on a white cloud at the sounding of
the seventh trumpet.
B The order to remove, or reap, the good seed sown by
Christ and His followers is borne directly from God the
Father, by the angel, to Christ the Son.
C This will be Christ's first return at the end of the
age, for the purpose of rescuing Christians from the
grasp of the anti-Christian world government.
D They shall be caught up to meet Him in the air
(I Thess. 4:17).
17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in
heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had
power over fire: and cried with a loud cry to him that had
the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and
gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her
grapes are fully ripe.
19 And 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.
20 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 (Rev. 14:17-20).
A This vision represents the destruction meted out to
God's enemies at the time of His second return at the
end of the age.
B The ripe grapes represent the wicked who will be cast
into the winepress of the wrath of God in the final
destruction of the nations and their armies, gathered
for the Battle of Armageddon.
C "The winepress trodden without the city" notes that the
Battle of Armageddon will take place outside the city of
Jerusalem.
D Blood coming out of the winepress "even unto the horse
bridles" indicates the magnitude of the great slaughter.
E "By the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs"
specifies a battlefield covering a space two hundred
miles square.
F This added fact emphasizes the massive size of the army
and the extent of the slaughter.
III Christ's victorious return.
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He
who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he judges and makes war.
12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are
many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one
knows but himself.
13 He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by
which he is called is The Word of God (Rev. 19:11-13, RSV).
A In the midst of the Battle of Armageddon Christ will
return from heaven with His armies, "and in righteous-
ness" judge and make war against the wickedness of the
world.
B He is not designated here by His usual name but rather
by attributes which describe His character and strength.
C Christ's second return at the end of the age will mark
the fulfillment of the prophesied judgment of the
world government "beast" and those who carried out its
anti-Christian policies.
14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white
and pure, followed him on white horses.
15 From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite
the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he
will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God
the Almighty.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed,
King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:14-16, RSV).
A The armies in heaven will follow Christ, the "King of
kings and Lord of lords," to witness and rejoice in His
victory at the Battle of Armageddon.
B Note the weapon Christ will employ to smite the nations
and their gathered armies: "and out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword."
C In other words, as He spoke through His Prophets down
through the ages so shall the nations be destroyed.
D Thus, the nations will methodically destroy each other
with their conventional and nuclear weapons of
destruction; they will not be destroyed in a physical
battle with Christ and His army.
E The statement "and he will rule them with a rod of iron"
declares that Christ will establish His earthly kingdom
of peace at the time of the complete overthrow of the
nations and their anti-Christian world government.
F What does the "rod of iron" symbolically represent?
1 It identifies the unbreakable character of the
instrument Christ will employ to govern the nations.
2 Since John previously used "a reed like to a staff"
(Rev. 11:1, IGENT) to symbolically represent the
canon of Scripture, (the measuring reed of the Church
containing the precepts of the Christian faith), the
"rod of iron" (literally "an iron staff" in the
Greek) represents the character of Christ's future
world government, which will be based on the same
long established precepts of the Christian faith.
3 Thus, the word "iron" is used here to describe the
invincible strength of the world government that
Christ will set up following AWWII.
G What is the meaning of the statement "He will tread the
wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty?"
1 It is a figurative declaration that compares the
certainty of the vast extent of the slaughter over
the course of AWWII to what would happen to grapes in
a wine press if "God the Almighty" tread them in the
fury of His wrath.
2 Here again John is not suggesting that God will crush
man in this coming war, but rather, that the violent
destruction of the nations will surely come to pass
according to the Word of the Lord.
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud
voice he called to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven,
"Come, gather for the great supper of God,
18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the
flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders,
and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small
and great."
19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with
their armies gathered to make war against him who sits upon
the horse and against his army (Rev. 19:17-19, RSV).
A What reasons would support a literal fulfillment of the
text's description of the world government and the kings
of the Earth making a conscious decision to mobilize
their armies for the express purpose "to make war
against him?"
1 The Christian community's well-publicized warnings of
the nearness of Christ's Second Coming, provides one
logical explanation for why the "kings of the earth"
would be convinced that Christ was about to return at
this particular point in time.
2 The disappearance of the world's Christians at the
time of the seventh trumpet rapture should further
emphasize the reality of Christ's imminent arrival.
B "The beast and the kings of the earth" will fail to
carry out whatever plan they devise "to make war against
him who sits upon the horse and against his army" at the
Battle of Armageddon, since the armies of the nations
will actually end up killing each other in keeping with
the prophesied atomic destruction of the nations.
20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false
prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which
he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast
and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown
alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur.
21 And the rest were slain by the sword of him who sits
upon the horse, the sword that issues from his mouth; and
all the birds were gorged with their flesh
(Rev. 19:20-21, RSV).
A The false prophet is identified here as the one who will
work "the signs" to "deceive" those who will receive the
mark of the beast and worship its image.
B Through the false prophet's deception, many will believe
that the world leader came back to life as a god.
C The fact that John did not introduce the false prophet,
in his initial description of this subject, as the one
who will be the master-mind behind this deception,
suggests that he may successfully keep his leading role
in the matter concealed from the public until the very
end.
D He will not keep his diabolical role hidden from God,
however, since John reported that "the beast was captured
and with it the false prophet."
E The closing statement about the rest being "slain by the
sword of him who sits upon the horse" emphasizes the
point that no one lending support to, or employed by the
murderous anti-Christian world government will escape
the death sentence meted out by Christ when He returns.
F Why is the charismatic world leader not mentioned in
John's account of the final judgment of the anti-
Christian forces?
1 Certainly this individual should not be exempt from
being cast into the lake of fire along with his
accomplice, the false prophet.
2 The answer to this question lies in the fact that the
world leader will receive a death wound shortly after
coming to power: "and to destruction goes"
(Rev. 17:11).
3 Hence, the charismatic world leader will not be cast
into hell along with the false prophet upon Christ's
return, since he will have been there for quite some
time already.
IV The judgment of rebellious nations that forget God.
A King David of Israel recorded a general description of
the judgment of nations that forget God.
B His prophecy provides insight into the high and mighty
attitude of those who will touch off AWWII.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit which they made; in the
net which they hid has their own foot been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself known, he has executed
judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own
hands (Ps. 9:15-16, RSV).
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the
nations that forget God (Ps. 9:17).
A David pointed out that God makes Himself known by
executing judgment against the nations that forget God.
B That judgment will be carried out by the wicked
themselves who will be "snared in the work of their
own hands" at the end of the nuclear age.
C David noted in the next verse that the nations will
finance their expensive weapons systems and military
might on the backs of the poor and needy.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the
hope of the poor shall not perish forever (Ps. 9:18, RSV).
A God promises here that His return will mark the end of
the nations long-standing practice of taking the poor
and needy's wages to build multi-trillion dollar war
machines.
B The hopes and dreams of the poor will cease to perish
when Christ returns.
19 Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be
judged before thee!
20 Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that
they are but men! Selah (Ps. 9:19-20, RSV).
A The people who will drive the events leading up to the
Battle of Armageddon will actually believe that their
advanced weapons of war will prevail over all the laws,
instructions and prophecies that God has established for
mankind down through the ages.
B It will be a case of mortal men becoming evil to the
point where they will consider themselves equal to the
immortal God who created them in the first place.
C However, God will not let the nations prevail.
D The Battle of Armageddon will end abruptly, shortly
after the nations start it.
E When AWWII is over, the prophesied destruction of the
nations will be complete.
F In the end it will be even as it is written; the Captain
of the Lord's host will "put them in fear" and will "let
the nations know that they are but men!"
G The Revelation promises further that Satan will be bound
a thousand years and not be allowed to deceive the
nations during this coming age of peace.