Battle Of Megiddo
We must first be clear that the second coming is defined by Jesus return. This return can be found in Revelation 19 with the battle of Megiddo. It should not be confused with the Rapture. These two events are different in time and purpose for what they serve. The return of Jesus holds great significance as it is a turning point within the world ushering in a new age within the Millennial Kingdom.
The scene is set as the armies of the world gather together in a valley called Megiddo which is the home of an ancient city called Tel Megiddo. The battle takes place at the end of the seven year Tribulation. Let’s dig into these events to pull out significant portions in understanding our time.
Eliminating Secular Ideas
Some have attempted to claim that we are presently within the Millennial Kingdom and this battle at Megiddo is all colorful dramatic writing. They prefer to present these ideas as a romantic view of good winning over evil. There are very serious issues with these secular ideas.
The core problem behind these concepts is that it cannot measure up to prophecies which have been literally fulfilled. In other words all prophecy is progressive to a specified end. The very life of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross written in prophecy across the pages of the Old Testament were seen as fables by some in history. That is until He came being the perfect sacrifice.
The fulfillment of prophecy creates problems for the secular world. Due to this they attempt to remove the legitimacy of Christ despite there being more evidence to His existence and authenticity than the existence of Julius Caesar. The reason for this attempt to remove legitimacy is that the fulfillment of past prophecy would lead to the future fulfillment of these prophecies.
The past lends credibility and legitimacy to a literal interpretation that a secular world does not desire. It is for this reason you will hear people of note and degree speak of things such as the battle of Megiddo and Jesus return as a metaphorical context. To accept it as literal would require them to alter their world view and accept their views as being wrong.
If they were to do this it would challenge all they know concerning the origins of mankind and the universe within which they live. It would challenge the decided path they are on and place at risk the positions which they hold. For them accepting truth is far more dangerous than pretending in many different kinds of truths.
Purpose Of Christ’s Return
There is no doubt that the center figure of this event is Christ Himself. This image of Jesus is one of stark contrast to the popular movie culture we often see. There are only a few places where we are able to see a more clear understanding of Christ’s appearance. Revelation 19 being one and another I love is found in Revelation 1:13-16. The ridiculous pop culture hippy portrayal of Jesus immediately goes out the door.
While I do not wish to focus on the specifics of His appearance it cannot be missed or ignored. I do wish to shift focus to what we could call important footnotes when compared to Christ Himself. We need to look for the purpose of Christ’s return. Some would say that the purpose is to destroy the wicked and end sin. Add to this one could say it is to end the Antichrist and company.
To be clear, Christ could have brought an end to sin at any point in history to present day if He so chose to do so. The removal of the wicked and the destruction of the Antichrist with his world power is a side effect of necessity at the point of the second coming. They are at this point in future history irrelevant. Why is this so?
The fulfillment of Christ’s promises of salvation were met at the cross. The Church was fulfilled then raptured out. Israel at last recognized their God as Christ proclaiming Him to be Lord. All necessary requirements and fulfillments to this future point would have been met. The world structure leading to that point no longer matters and is merely a dieing carcass. It is time for further fulfillment within a new age that will be called the Millennial Kingdom.
God is about fulfilling promises. He never misses a single one.
Who Is With Christ At This Battle?
To know who is with Jesus at His return all we must do is look to Revelation 19. This will give great insight into many parts of Scripture defining the who, what, where, and when of things. To miss this will cause a lack of understanding across a broad picture.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Revelation 19:7-9 14
Those who are with Jesus are defined as follows:
- Saints
- “Her” dressed in fine linen
- His wife and in the marriage of the Lamb
- Armies which follow upon white horses
This is the Bride of Christ. It is the Church which was raptured from the Earth in Revelation 4:1 and has not been seen since that moment. It is critical to note and not confuse this Bride with the saints found at the moment of the fifth seal who are dressed in white robes and defined as martyrs and those who came out of tribulation. Those at the fifth seal are the Tribulation Saints as defined by Revelation 6:9-11.
There are others who partake in this battle at Megiddo. Revelation 19:17-21 we find the kings of the earth and the armies they have brought to battle Jesus. An angel cries from the atmosphere to the birds to feast upon the flesh of kings and great men. Blood will flow to the horses bridle from those who are slain. The beast and false prophet are taken away and the old world order founded in sin long ago is removed.
As we move into the beginning of chapter 20 we find Satan and company are taken and bound for a thousand years. While this moment is not the total end of their story at this point it holds a special purpose to God’s promises and prophecies. The culmination of the battle to this point is to establish something which had been promised.
Result Of The Battles End
To have a more complete picture of the results from this battle and its purpose we can look to Isaiah 11. Christ promised a kingdom which He ruled that would be complete, perfect, where the wolf will dwell with the lamb and a child can play on the hole of the asp with no harm. There in His kingdom will be perfect harmony.
This kingdom was prophesied but it was also prepared by bloodline. This bloodline comes from the stem of Jesse as part of the House of Judah. Only Jesus met the qualifications to be this King of Kings. The end of this battle will remove all sin and purge the world from all its plagues and evil.
Those who came to know Christ within the Tribulation and manage to survive through it will partake in and live within this kingdom. They will repopulate the Earth in this perfect world. All nations will bow before Christ and none will be able to deny Him.
The battle of Megiddo at Jesus return is an event of necessity to the end of establishing the rule and reign of Christ in His promised kingdom.
A Legitimate Event And A Literal Battle
Make no mistake that this battle will be a literal event. Its position in time will be 7 years after the covenant with the many is made in Daniel 9:27. It will be 3.5 years after the Antichrist takes the Temple and proclaims himself as god. This battle is as literal as any battle within history.
Mankind has a way of refusing what we cannot see, touch, or feel. Even when we can see what is in front of us many still have a way of refusing what we see. This can be seen in the life of Jesus Himself. No matter the miracles He performed or the proof which they saw, even after the stone rolled away and He was not in the grave, they denied.
To read these events of a Church returning with Jesus flying through the air sounds as a fairytale. It breaks all reason and logic that we know within our daily world. Yet let’s be honest. If I were a man who looked for unreasonable things I could believe in a flying horse before a man could bring himself back to life. Nevertheless Jesus did come back to life. A flying horse becomes a little more reasonable.
Why mankind cannot accept what we cannot see and often we still reject what we do see has little to do with truth. Rather we reject based upon what we want to be true. Our world view will always be shaped based upon what we want to see rather than truth or facts. It is for this reason that men such as John Adams was famous for saying “Facts are stubborn things”. They simply will not go away so we must deny their existence.
Evidence To Other Events
The impact of this Scripture reaches beyond just this battle. With it we find a record of where the Church is and as mentioned Revelation 1 showing how they got there. This is further proof of a Pre Tribulation Rapture. Why is this important to establishing Christs authority in these events?
The entire concept of salvation is built around Christ, His sacrifice and resurrection. The very authority presented in Revelation 19 with Christ’s description and those that follow Him is a picture of that power. Those who attempt to remove this authenticity will present alternate Church views.
An example of this would be a mid tribulation or post tribulation rapture. Along with these ideas are those who claim that instead of this present time being the figurative Millennial Kingdom rather we are at present within the Tribulation. No one can get their story straight nor agree once they stray from literal Scripture.
These alternate views do all lead to one very specific place. All of them require something other than Christ and His blood sacrifice for sin. It requires some other alternate form of purification, test, or trial that the Bride of Christ must endure to prove herself.
Nowhere in any Scripture within the Bible does this measure up. No where can there be found that anything we can do or endure be good enough. Rather Scripture is clear to just the opposite in that all our works are as filthy rags. What is broken cannot repair itself. What is tainted cannot make itself pure. We are hopeless without Christ and only Christ can restore us.
Any other alternate view than the literal interpretation destroys the validity of Christ and His authority as presented in Revelation 19 as being faithful and true. His clothing was dipped in blood holding a duality of His own sacrifice and those He has slain. The many crowns show Him as a King of Kings and His authority is not to be matched.
There is no way I can nor will I ever accept a professors opinion otherwise. A professor or theologian has never been a king nor has he ever witnessed the ages. He has never foretold of things to come in future millennia to have all come true. Their world is as narrow as their birth and the date of their death having accomplished nothing in magnitude as creation itself nor bringing in a new world.