Tribulation and Armageddon

This world is headed for the judgment of God. Plagues and pestilence, natural and man-made disasters, famine and ecological crises are all vividly foretold in the Bible. The worst carnage of war the world has ever experienced, the Battle of Armageddon, is on the horizon of the near future. But despite the worst, the child of God can face the future with confidence.

The Word of God accurately prophesies of a coming time of tribulation. The God of love is also a God of justice and judgment. Mankind’s miserable experiment with self-government will end with the establishment of the truly-benevolent government of Jesus Christ. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” Isaiah 9:7. “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:3. “And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:14.

We address the reality of the coming kingdom of Jesus Christ elsewhere in this issue, but here we will briefly survey the coming tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon. Gentile times will end in one last, prophetic hour. Numerous verses in the book of Revelation establish that this “hour” covers seven years. Much happens during that time: trumpet-plagues, persecution, the rapture of the bride of Christ, the return of Elijah and the national repentance of Israel, the eighth head of the beast and the false prophet, the seven last plagues of the wrath of God, and more.

The worst of the tribulation that comes to this world will occur during the last half of the last prophetic hour (3½ years). It is the worst trouble the world has ever seen. Daniel 12:1. Jesus called it “great tribulation.” Matthew 24:21. But some servants of the Lord will live through that great tribulation. Revelation 7:14.

The last half-hour will be “great” tribulation, but the first 3½ years will be tribulation, too. Approximately once every six months, an angel will sound a trumpet: heralding a new plague. See Revelation 8:1 through Revelation 11:15. It is also the time of mankind’s final world-dominating government, called the eighth head of the beast. See Revelation, chapters 13 and 17. Then, the last 3½ years will see the pouring out of great vials of judgment, the seven last plagues of the wrath of God. See Revelation, chapter 16.

Man’s rule will end in an awesome, awful time. Isaiah 13:6-7, 10-11. The Lord has said, “I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.” Verse 6. This will be a time of judgment. Isaiah 34:2-4. “For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations…” The Lord will trample the sinners in the winepress of His fury. Isaiah 63:3-6.

The hearts of men will fail – out of fear. Luke 21:25-26. This tribulation is like birth pains – temporary, and forgotten in the joy of birth. See John 16:21. Weeping may endure for the night, but for the child of God, joy comes in the morning. Psalms 30:5. God will wipe away all tears. Isaiah 25:8. How? By returning to establish His everlasting kingdom. After the Great Tribulation, Jesus comes again. Mark 13:24-27.

There are six reasons why a period of tribulation is needed. First, this time will harvest the crops – the Lord’s, Satan’s and mankind’s. In Matthew 13:3-8, 24-30, Jesus gave two parables of the sower of seed. He explained the parables in verses 18-30, and in verses 36-43. The good seed is received by the children of the kingdom, to be harvested by the angels; the tares are to be destroyed out of the kingdom. The judgment of the tribulation, and Armageddon, will remove the wicked from the earth.

Second, tribulation will prove the falsity of the lies of the devil. Satan seeks to be worshiped as the ruler of this world. See Matthew 4:8-10. It is his will to rule and be worshipped. Isaiah 14:12-14. He is called the god of this world. II Corinthians 4:4. But he is a liar. John 8:44. The world is not his, and he will eventually be bound, so as not to deceive the nations any more. Revelation 20:1-3.

Third, the tribulation will prepare an unnumbered host for the kingdom of Jesus. Not everyone who endures the time of judgment is a vile sinner. Revelation 7:9-14 speaks of a great multitude, that come through great tribulation, and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. When Jesus returns after the tribulation, He will find some sheep here. Matthew 25:32-34.

Fourth, the great tribulation will punish sinners. The Bible speaks of the wrath of God that will fall on sinners. Romans 1:18. They will receive tribulation, and wrath, and indignation, and anguish. Romans 2:6-9. The plagues, and the holocaust of Armageddon, will be Divine punishment upon evildoers. See Ezekiel 39:4, 11-12.

The fifth reason for the tribulation is to rid Israel of sinners. Some wicked persons will survive this time of judgment worldwide, but none will in the nation of Israel. The Lord is going to purge all rebels out of His land. Ezekiel 20:37-38. He will refine His people by the fire of Armageddon. Malachi 3:3. Only the righteous will survive. Isaiah 33:14-15. When this time of judgment ends, only the holy are left alive in Israel. Isaiah 4:3.

The final reason for tribulation is to prepare the inhabitants of the earth to accept Jesus Christ as King. Few will survive this terrible time, and those who do will lose all hope in every institution of man. Isaiah 24:3-11. “Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” Verse 6. They will look for the only source of salvation: Jesus. Hebrews 9:28. They will cry for Him to come. Isaiah 64:1. They will be willing to ask Him to rule. Isaiah 2:2-4.

And Jesus will come to save His people. He will come in the midst of the Battle of Armageddon. The thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel shows the gathering of the nations for this battle. The Lord said in Zechariah 14:1-3 that He would gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle. They are gathered to a place called the Valley of Megiddo, or Armageddon. Revelation 16:12-16.

Warfare has been an unremitting characteristic of fallen man’s rule on earth. Wars and rumors of wars have been constant. Killing, and the attendant pillage, economic devastation, famine and disease have stalked the people of this planet since shortly after the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden. But no example of the carnage of war begins to compare with the Battle of Armageddon.

The day of the Lord is a day of sacrifice. He has bidden His guests. Zephaniah 1:7. It will be a day of wrath, of trouble and distress, of wasteness and desolation, of darkness and gloominess, against all civilization. Verses 14-16. The Lord is going to deal with the invading armies. Joel 2:1-11.

As the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel shows the nations gathering for this battle, the thirty-ninth chapter of that prophecy describes the terrible battle. Nuclear discharges will be a part of the carnage. II Peter 3:10; Zechariah 14:12. It will be worldwide in scale and effect, Isaiah 24:20; Joel 3:9, but it will center on the land of Israel, specifically the plain of Megiddo. Zechariah 12:11.

The wonderful thing about the Battle of Armageddon is that the Lord will return in the midst of this battle to save His people and to establish His kingdom. Revelation 19:11-19; Zechariah 14:2-3. He will march through the land in His anger; He will thresh the heathen; He will invade with His troops. Habakkuk 3:12-13, 16. This will be the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and heralds the end of man’s rule. It will be the dawning of a new day, the Day of the Lord.

In these trumpet-plagues, the social, economic, political and religious structures of mankind will be tested and found wanting. When the first trumpet sounds fire and blood are cast upon the earth. Revelation 8:7. Much of the earth’s vegetation is burned. The second trumpet predicts a large volcano, or a series of volcanoes erupt in the ocean or shoreline. Verses 8-9.

Hot gasses and lava could raise the water temperature, destroying creatures in one-third of the earth’s oceans.

The third trumpet describes an object, perhaps a meteor or asteroid, striking the earth. Revelation 8:10-11. This may cause an acid rain or a precipitation of particulate matter that will contaminate fresh water supplies. These trumpet-plagues will devastate the world’s economy.

The fourth trumpet then sounds, and the sky is darkened, possibly as the result of volcanic ash or particulate matter suspended in the atmosphere. Revelation 8:12. Something will block some sunlight and block out much of the nighttime sky. This will interfere with photosynthesis in the remaining plant life, further reducing an already fragile food supply.

As bad as these four trumpets seem, it will only get worse. Revelation 8:13. Men’s hearts will be failing them for fear. Luke 21:26. The fifth trumpet brings warfare. Revelation 9:1-6. This plague begins with a star falling from heaven. That may be a reference to the devil. See Luke 10:18. This fallen being has the key to the bottomless pit. A bottomless pit is false religion; it has no foundation. Religion will again unite with the state, as during the Crusades, to lead the world into warfare.

In Revelation 9:7-11, it seems that the Apostle John is trying to describe modern warfare. As a citizen of the first century, he would not have had the vocabulary or the experience to describe tanks, missile launchers, helicopters and the modern weapons of war. Verse 11 says that the king of this army is the devil, called “Apollyon.”

Then the sixth trumpet sounds to bring on the destruction of war. Revelation 9:13-15. This is another army, originating from the River Euphrates, in modern Iraq. And warfare will devastate the earth.

It is amazing that these judgments do not produce repentance. Warfare, disease, loss of water supplies, loss of commerce, and judgment does not cause the people to repent. “And the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the work of their hands.” Revelation 9:20.

The seventh trumpet, which signals the catching away of the bride of Christ, and the beginning of the setting up of the kingdom of God, is seen in Revelation 10:7 and Revelation 11:15. These seven trumpets are terrible. It is a time when everyone should become a servant of the Lord.

It is also the time of mankind’s final world-dominating government, called the eighth head of the beast. See Revelation, chapters 13 and 17. Then, the last 3½ years will see the pouring out of great vials of judgment, the seven last plagues of the wrath of God. See Revelation, chapter 16. The trumpet-plagues will be bad; the seven last plagues will be far worse.