Bible Prophecy: Israel’s Final Battle and the Return of Christ

The Bible talks about this coming world ruler, the Antichrist. It's interesting, he's called the Little Horn. So he arises first insignificantly. That's why when people always write me today and say, well, who do you think the Antichrist is? And, you know, they're trying to figure out the Antichrist. We don't know who he is today. He's going to rise insignificantly. If someone were significant on the scene today, that's not him, because he's going to rise from insignificance. So this could be someone who is a backroom bureaucrat right now. That's right. Not a clue. That's right. I think Satan always has a man ready in every generation. I think there's always an Antichrist who's alive somewhere. That's an interesting thought. That is. But one of these days when everything's ready, whatever man he has ready in that generation is going to step to the forefront and become this world ruler, this dominant player on the world scene. And I don't think the Antichrist will be revealed until after the rapture. So all these people who try to figure out who he is, I always say if you ever do figure out who he is, I've got bad news for you. You've been left behind. Don't focus on who Antichrist is. Focus on who Christ is until the rapture takes place. That's right. But he is going to come someday and be revealed. And the Bible says a lot about him. There are about 100 passages in the Bible that deal with this coming world ruler, the Antichrist. Say again, how many? About 100. Wow. And so people will say, well, why even worry about the Antichrist? We're not even going to be here. Well, why did God tell us so much about this person? I think one of the reasons God tells us a lot about the coming Antichrist is because we can already see the spirit of Antichrist today in our world. We can. Yes, we can. And also another reason I think God shares with us about the Antichrist is the Antichrist is going to ultimately be defeated by God. And if God is going to defeat someday the greatest concentration of evil that's ever existed, then that gives us comfort that he can take care of the evil we see in our world today. But what are some other clearer definitions of the Antichrist? Well, the Antichrist I think is going to rise from this reunited Roman Empire. Again, we don't know what country for sure he's coming from, but we know he's going to come out of this reunited Roman Empire. I think he's going to be a Gentile. The early church believed he was going to be a Jew. Many of them did. But he rises up in Revelation 13 out of the sea, which speaks of the sea of nations. The only type or foreshadow of the Antichrist in the Bible was a man named Antiochus Epiphanes back in the book of Daniel, and he was a Gentile. And also the Antichrist is going to lead the final form of Gentile world power and he's going to be a great persecutor of the Jewish people, which seems odd to me if he's a Jew for him to be persecuting the Jews. Great point. So I think he's going to be a Gentile. He's going to be someone though who's going to come on the scene as a great peacemaker. And you think about what does the world want today more than anything else? Someone who can bring peace to the world, peace and prosperity. And that's going to be his platform and his promise. And he's going to do that for some period of time, but at some point in time, the iron fist inside the velvet glove is going to be unveiled and he will be the most iron-fisted, egomaniacal leader the world has ever seen. And Mark, you can see the way the world is today with instantaneous communication and how very quickly news can spread and power can be established and influence can be made just because of media platforms. That's right. The globalism we see today is setting the stage for him to come on the scene and the technology that's available today because the technology available today allows someone to keep track of where people are and to know what people are doing. So all these things we see coming together really fit what the Bible says about a coming world ruler who's going to come on the scene. Distinguish the difference between the rapture which prophetically occurs seven years earlier where we meet the Lord in the air and the second coming of Christ as it's called at the end of the tribulation. Yeah, I like to call one the rapture and the other the return because at the rapture, Jesus doesn't really come back to the earth. That's good. Because a lot of people will say, well, you all believe in two second comings. You believe in a rapture and then a second coming. No, there are two phases, I take it, of the one coming. At the rapture, he comes for his saints, and that's an event of his grace to us. At the second coming, he comes with his saints. We come back with him, and that's an event when he comes back to judge and to take over the earth. So we believe in a distinction between those two events. And really, I see the rapture as a signless event. It's an event that can happen at any moment. It can come at any time, whereas there will be a lot of signs in this tribulation period that will precede the second coming. So when we move to this physical second coming of Jesus, first coming was in Bethlehem's birth. The physical second coming is now he returns. Is there something there about on a horse, or is that symbolic language? What does that mean? Yeah, he comes back on a white horse, the Bible tells us. He's going to come back to rule and to take over. Yeah, the white horse. People take these things differently. It says he's going to have a sharp sword sticking out of his mouth. But that could be truth that he speaks, because he's the word of truth. That's right. And I take it that that speaks of, yes, his word that's coming out. But he's riding a white horse. So they'll say, well, if that's symbolic, then the horse is symbolic. But it is true in the Bible. There are horses. The chariot of horsemen of fire came down and caught Elijah to heaven. So maybe some type of heavenly creature that God has created. But clearly a white horse, though, in that day spoke of someone coming and taking control, and it speaks of victory. Let's get now to the Battle of Armageddon itself. Jesus Christ, along with the family of God, his redeemed, returned to this earth, and there is conflict. Right. So who's fighting whom? Well, it tells us there in Revelation chapter 16 that all the nations are going to be gathered to Armageddon. There's a fascinating passage there in chapter 16 that says that the Euphrates River will be dried up to make way for the kings of the east. Now, we don't know who that is. Some people have surmised, well, that's China because, you know, it's an army of 200 million. But all we know, they're invaders from the east, that the way is open for them to be able to come into the land. So all the nations of the earth are going to be gathered there together in that place. But it says whenever that Jesus returns that they're going to see him, and they're going to turn to fight against him. You know, it's interesting, the rapture is going to be an event that happens in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. The second coming of Christ, it says, every eye will see him. And my friend, Dr. John Walvard, used to teach the second coming might last for 24 hours. Think about it. As the earth rotates, everybody will see him. Now, he could reflect it all the way around the earth, and everyone could see it in a moment. But it may be a dramatic event that takes 24 hours as people begin to see Jesus coming, and he comes to the earth. And these armies are going to turn to fight against him. And, of course, you talk about being futile, but it's going to be man's last attempt to rid themselves of God. And Jesus is going to return and destroy the armies gathered there. And reign victorious over that. And so there's a period of time when all the world will see, and Jesus comes and confronts those enemies who have been empowered by the evil one to defame him and his glory. What happens then after the very last enemy of Christ is destroyed or defeated? Well, like the very end of chapter 19, it says, the beast, that's the Antichrist, and the false prophet, his henchmen, are thrown alive into the lake of fire. There's two people in the Old Testament went to heaven without dying, Enoch and Elijah. Two go straight to the lake of fire without dying. It's a powerful picture. It's interesting insight. But God deals with the false prophet there and the beast, the Antichrist. Then in chapter 20, he deals with the third member of this unholy trinity. He deals with Satan. And it tells us there, when Jesus returns, that Satan is bound in the abyss for a thousand years. And Jesus sets up his kingdom on this earth, the messianic kingdom that's promised throughout the Old Testament. So the Antichrist is destroyed, false prophet is destroyed, they're thrown into the lake of fire, eternal damnation or whatever those equivalents would be. And then Satan is dealt with. And then at that transitional point, this is the establishment of the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. That's right. Yeah, we call it the millennium. It's the word, obviously. Mille means thousand atoms. So it's a thousand years when Christ is going to rule and reign on this earth. And it's the greatest event in human history. We can't get our minds around what's it going to be like when Jesus Christ, and we're going to be with him if we know him. I think we'll be coming and returning to this earth with him. And, again, to think about that, to get our minds around that, we need to live today in light of the fact that we're going to come back as a holy army with him. Well, as important as these topics are, the most important question and subject is, do you know him? Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Has there been a time and a place in your life when you've repented of your sins and you've given him your life? There's a phone number on the screen that you can call where there are prayer partners. That's right. We have a prayer and care center here in this facility where thousands of people call every single week. Would you be one of them? And allow us the opportunity to talk to you about how to know Jesus savingly. He can literally change your life.