Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Revelation 19:19
Aug 7th, 2011
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

“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.”

The armies of the world have been assembled in the valley of Megiddo. In Revelation 17:13, at the mid-tribulation point, we see the beast crowned king of kings. “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”

For 3½ years the beast has strutted around the world blaspheming God and killing the saints. He has become intoxicated with his own pride and sense of power. We see in him the climax of the pride of man over the millennia. Unregenerate men have always hated God, but here at this climactic time pride reaches its peak.

The rebellion of the tribulation period is the climax of the age long rebellion of men against God. We are seeing a foreshadowing in our world today of that coming rebellion. We have seen rioting and rebellion in Asian countries, more recently in the so-called Arab spring, we have seen it in Greece and today in the UK along with unrest in Israel. The spirit of Antichrist is the spirit of rebellion.

This deluded king of kings has sent out orders for all of the world’s rulers to come and assemble in the valley of Megiddo. They will come with their super weapons ready to do battle with God. Their wicked hearts have been deceived and they have been drawn to the slaughter by the Lord Himself. We read about that in 2 Thessalonians 2:11, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” They have been deceived by their own proud rebellious hearts and they have been deceived by Satan, but most devastating of all they have been deceived by God. The heart that turns away from the grace and mercy and truth of God will be in danger of crossing the line of God’s grace and enter into deception from which there is no escape.

Today the warnings of the apostasy and deception of these last days is being sounded out, we tremble for those who will not hear and heed those warnings. They are in danger of having their hearts hardened by the Lord Himself. Do not rest in the assumption that you are God's child if you turn a deaf ear to God's Word and His warnings.

This really is the climax of the war of the ages between God and Satan. For over 6,000 years God has given men an opportunity to repent and turn to Him. Man has repeatedly rejected the pleadings of God and repeatedly blasphemed His name. Some have repented and entered into the blessing of God, but for these unrepentant men and women the door of grace is now closed. There is a line that is drawn by rejecting the call of God, and these rebels have crossed that line.

What an army has been assembled and with weapons such as the world has never seen before! Hundreds of millions of men have assembled and represent the armies of the entire world. These rebels are so confident of themselves and their weapons that they dare to confront Almighty God.

On the other side we see Christ Himself seated on a horse along with the assembled saints. We discover that the saints have not been assembled to fight but to witness the slaughter at the hand of their Saviour.

This is a lesson we are all so slow to learn: Christ is the one who fights for us. We can never lose a battle if we only grasp this lesson soon enough. Israel was so slow to learn that lesson but when they did trust the Lord in battle the victory was always certain and always miraculous.

There are so many situations in this windup of the age that are climactic. We can learn so many lessons from this situation. We have read the last chapters of the book and we know how it will come out in the end; that ought to strengthen our faith. We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us.