"Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand." Joel 2:1Don't let this current ceasefire in Lebanon lull you to sleep. This conflict is far from over. It may not happen tomorrow, or even this year, but God promises that a Day is coming when the nations will gather around Israel and fight her hard.
"A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city." Zechariah 14:1,2
All the signs that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 have come true. Like labor pains these catastrophes and events have descended on us in greater frequency and force over the last 100 years.
Now we see a new boldness among the Muslim nations. Israel has shown her weakness, to the shock and delight of her hate-filled neighbors. So has America. It's no coincidence that these two countries have struggled in their respective wars. I think it has everything to do with the stage being set for this great battle against the Lord's anointed. Arabs will be begin to wonder aloud if they can finally realize their dream of taking Jerusalem for themselves. I suspect that new alliances are already being formed.
"A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come." Joel 2:2
Revelation 9:16 numbers them as 200 million. China could easily supply that number, but I think it will be a coalition of troops from a number of different countries.
"Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste— nothing escapes them." Joel 2:3
A fierce war would certainly accomplish this, as would the use of nuclear weapons. Don't think for a minute that Iran's quest for a nuclear weapon can be stopped. Iran will make her bomb. It's too late to turn back the clock. The U.N. will work feverishly to try diplomacy and threats of sanction, but this bomb will definitely be made.
"With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops,like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle. At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale."
Joel 2:5,6
Once the world sees this battle unfolding, there's going to be terror in their hearts like never before. The Bible seems to indicate that over 1/3 of the world's population will perish in this conflict. (Revelation 9:15-19)
BUT GOD WILL STAND AND FIGHT FOR HIS BELOVED ISRAEL!
"Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him." Zechariah 14:3-5
"...and all the holy ones with him." I think that indicates that Christians will have been raptured before these events take place. Then Christ will return with His raptured ones to defend His holy city, and it's at this point that He will establish His millennium reign for the next 1,000 years, during which many people will come to know Christ as Savior and Lord, including many Jews for the first time in their history.
But the devil will not sit idly by. God will loose him for a final battle, and we will again see a devastating battle in the Middle East.
"Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed. Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed." Revelation 16:15-19When this war hits Israel, all hell will break loose against her. Millions will die as the earth gets scorched with nuclear heat.
Christian......we are nearing the end of the "days of the Gentiles". The storm clouds are brewing, and the stage appears to be getting set for a mighty war.
Are you ready for Christ's return? Are you ready to meet Him in the air? Are you spending a little more time in prayer for your lost loved ones? Are you asking God to save them before this all unfolds?
