The Age of Israel is interrupted by the Church Age. The persistent negative volition of the Jews and their failure to disseminate the Gospel and Bible doctrine (Hosea 4:6; Matt. 23) result in their continued dispersion until after the Second Advent of Jesus Christ. Not until the personal reign of Christ in the Millennium3 will Israel once again be a theocratic kingdom.4 However, during the seven years prior to that period which is the Tribulation, the completion of the Age of Israel, God will unleash upon the world a series of judgments unequaled in history (Rev. 16).
“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.” (Matt. 24:21-22)5
In His Olivet Discourse, Jesus Christ, speaking to His disciples, prophesied concerning the Tribulation. The prophecy should not have come as a shock to the disciples as the Old Testament contains many references to this future time of great violence. Jeremiah 30:4-7 speaks of “the time of Jacob’s distress” and compares it to a “woman in childbirth.” Ezekiel 20:34-38 refers to a time when Israel shall “pass under the rod.” The Tribulation is also represented as God’s melting pot, where Israel will be refined as gold and the impurities removed (Ezek. 22:19-22; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:1-3). This time of trouble is known as “My indignation” (Isa. 10:5; 13:5; 26:20; Dan. 8:19).
Perhaps the most familiar term of all is Daniel’s “seventy weeks,” (Dan. 9:20-27). In his vision the Prophet Daniel was told of a seventy week period that God would give the Jews “to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness . . . and to anoint the most Holy place” (Dan. 9:24). These were prophetic weeks in which each week stood for seven literal years (seventy sevens of years).
This 490-year period is reckoned from the decree of Artaxerxes I (Artaxerxes Longimanus) of Persia on March 5, 444 B.C. to rebuild Jerusalem (cf., Neh. 2:1, 5-6). Exactly 483 years (sixty-nine weeks) transpire from that time to when Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem and was hailed by some as the promised Messiah, the Son of David, and ridiculed by others (Matt. 21:8-9, 15). This is known in Christendom today as Palm Sunday.
The crucifixion of Christ was the beginning of the interruption of the prophecy of 490 years leaving one remaining week (seven years) to be fulfilled. Intercalated between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week of Daniel is the present Church Age during which Israel is temporarily set aside as a client nation.6 Daniel 9:26 demonstrates the silence of the Old Testament prophets with regard to the “mystery” or the Church Age (Eph. 3:3). When any Old Testament prophecy deals with events chronologically, the Church Age is omitted and information concerning the Tribulation, Millennium, or eternal future follow sequentially.
Although Daniel received communication regarding the Tribulation, he understood only that the events referred to a time of great trouble for his people. What were unknown and unrelated facts to Daniel were clearly revealed to the Apostle John later on the Island of Patmos. John was divinely inspired to record the details of the Tribulation in the Book of Revelation.7
THE CHARACTER OF THE TRIBULATION
Through the study of the Word of God, we understand that there exists perpetual warfare between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil.8 Satan is the adversary of God and from the beginning he has attempted to thwart every aspect of God’s plan for mankind (Eph. 6:11-12). Through his cunning in the Garden and the negative volition of Adam and Eve, Satan scored a tactical victory. As a result, physical and spiritual death became the heritage of their progeny (Gen. 2:17; 3:4; Rom. 5:12).9
Genesis 3:15 promises a personal Redeemer who would deliver mankind from sin and spiritual death and overcome Satan. Central to the realization of God’s plan is His creation of the Jewish race through which the Redeemer would appear. God established four unconditional covenants, an everlasting treaty with Abraham, the father of the Jewish race, and his born-again progeny, and He guaranteed their fulfillment (Gen. 17:7). The treaty promises the Jews a future, a purpose, and a title deed to a land of their own.10
Because of the unique promises of God to Israel, Satan sponsors antagonism toward the Jews throughout history. Satan reasons that if he destroys all Jews, then God cannot fulfill His promises to Israel. Therefore, during the Tribulation, Satan fosters a period of unparalleled anti-Semitism and launches a concentrated attack against Israel aimed at the final elimination of all Jews.
Two imperatives will facilitate the acceleration of Satan’s activities in the Tribulation:
the removal of all believers from the earth at the Rapture of the Church (1 Thess. 4:13-18);11
the removal of the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit (2 Thess. 2:6-7).
Satan will be free as never before to delude, deceive, and destroy. He will make particular use of religion, his ace trump.12
The Tribulation is divided into two periods of approximately three and one half years each (Dan. 9:27). The first half of the Tribulation is characterized by power politics in which four major spheres of influence struggle for world domination. In the second half, lawlessness and anti-Semitism drastically increase. At the end of the Tribulation, Satan attempts to annihilate the Jews by gathering the gentile armies of the world against Palestine. So intense is the severity of the second half that it is known as the “great tribulation” (Matt. 24:21; cf., Dan. 12:6-7, 11-12; Rev. 11:2-3; 12:6, 14; 13:5).
As the Tribulation begins Satan sponsors a treaty between the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire and the False Prophet of Israel.13 Three and one half years later the Roman dictator violates his word and betrays Israel with whom he had entered into an agreement. Following his betrayal of the covenant, the Roman dictator turns against the Jews with implacable fury and hatred.
The Tribulation closes with the total collapse and defeat of Satan’s forces at Armageddon. God demonstrates before angels, demons, and men that the Lord Jesus Christ singlehandedly can overcome the combined forces of Satan’s entire kingdom of darkness and sin. Jesus Christ needs the help of no man, and His victory over the powers of evil is unequivocally decisive.
Before every divine judgment God always gives man a period of grace in which to be saved. Prior to the Flood, God granted the Antedeluvian civilization one hundred and twenty years of faithful declaration of the Gospel by Noah, as well as the building of the ark as the picture of salvation (Gen. 6:3; 2 Pet. 2:5). Throughout the Tribulation the Gospel will be proclaimed as never before in history (Matt. 24:14) so that the unbeliever will be without an excuse (Rom. 1:18-20). The world will be evangelized four times: by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who are saved following the Rapture of the Church (Rev. 7); by the testimony of the tribulational saints (Rev. 14:12-13); by the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah (Rev. 11:3); and by angels (Rev. 14:6-7).
Revelation 16 introduces the “seven bowls,” literally seven cataclysmic judgments which represent a final worldwide evangelistic thrust designed to bring people to a realization of their need for Christ. But instead of repenting, “changing their minds about Christ,” these unbelievers “blasphemed the name of God” (Rev. 16:9). This chapter demonstrates that those who are blinded by religion will not change their mental attitude toward Christ even under the most horrendous disaster.
The first bowl of God’s wrath is loss of health (Rev. 16:2); the second and third are food and water crises (Rev. 16:3-7); the fourth, a heat wave (Rev. 16:8-9); the fifth, an epidemic (Rev. 16:10-11). The sixth bowl, which provides the background for Armageddon, is military disaster (Rev. 16:12-16); and the seventh, disasters of nature (Rev. 16:17-21). Although all these judgments result in great pain and privation, they are not designed to annihilate the population. They are designed to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ before the Second Advent and the baptism of fire (Matt. 3:11).14
Revelation 16:12-16 is the only passage in which the word Αρμαγεδών (Armageddon) is mentioned. The context of these verses specifies certain events, personalities, nations, and geographical localities which are identified with “the war [πόλεμος, polemos] of the great day of God, the Almighty.” The presence of polemos in Revelation 16:14 indicates that the events described are a part of a war or campaign. A campaign involves a military invasion into unfriendly territory in an effort to locate enemy forces and peoples for the purpose of destruction and subjugation. Thus, a campaign is composed of a series of battles in a specific geographic location, fought either simultaneously or in chronological succession. Inasmuch as this titanic struggle occurs in one land, Palestine, the translation of polemos as “campaign” is preferred to “war.”
The tenor of Scripture describing the location of the campaign leads to the conclusion that the campaign of the great day of God, the Almighty, is fought in at least four specific geographical areas:
Jerusalem (Zech. 12:2-11; 14:2);
Megiddo and the Plain of Esdraelon (Rev. 16:16);
Jehoshaphat Valley, east of Jerusalem (Ezek. 39:11; Joel 3:2, 12);
Edom (Isa. 34:16; 63:1-6).
That the conflict will rage throughout the entire land of Palestine is confirmed in the phrase “covering the land” (Ezek. 38:9, 16) and alludes to the fact that the armies will sweep over the land of Palestine.
The Greek word Armageddon is derived from the Hebrew הַר מְגִדּוֹ (har Megiddo), meaning the “hill of Megiddo” (Judg. 5:19). The city of Megiddo occupies a salient position on the southern rim of the Plain of Esdraelon. It was famous as the site of two great victories: Barak and Deborah over the Canaanites (Judg. 4:15), and Gideon over the Midianites (Judg. 7). Here, too, occurred the death of Saul in the battle of Gilboa against the Philistines (1 Sam. 31:8) and Josiah’s death at the hands of Pharaoh Necho’s Egyptian army (2 Kings 23:29-30; 2 Chron. 35:22). So vast is this plain of Esdraelon that Napolean Bonaparte upon reviewing it remarked that all the armies in the world could maneuver in such a place.
While Revelation 16 lacks details of the campaign, it verifies the fact that a mighty conflict involving all the nations of the world takes place in Palestine. These satanically-inspired forces assembled in defiance against God are bent on complete annihilation of His people, Israel. However those elements and personalities under the domination of Satan and in opposition to God, are themselves destroyed at the climax of this final campaign, the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Armageddon is not just the decisive defeat of vast military forces representing mighty international empires, but is an integral part of both the closing campaign of the Tribulation and the fulfillment of God’s predicted plan.
FOUR SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
During the biblical ‘week’ Palestine’s strategic location is even more crucial than ever before. Four great spheres of influence are engaged in a power grab for the wealth and control of the tribulational world with Palestine as the central focus. They are designated in Scripture as the “king of the West,” the “king of the North,” the “king of the South” and the “kings from the East.” Their identities are derived from their directional relation to Palestine. Each entity is a group of gentile nationalities united as Satan-inspired combatants for the purpose of destroying Israel and controlling the earth’s surface. In identifying the spheres geographically, we can relate them to current geopolitical conditions, but even a few years from now the picture could change completely.
Among the kings gathered for the campaign of the great day of God, the Almighty is the one whom Daniel variously calls the “king of the North” (Dan. 11:40) and “a king . . . insolent and skilled in intrigue” (Dan. 8:23). Isaiah refers to this same evil person as the “Assyrian” (Isa. 10:24) and “the overwhelming scourge” (Isa. 28:15). Ezekiel labels him “Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech, and Tubal” (Ezek. 38:2; 39:1). This king is not to be confused with “Gog and Magog” of Revelation 20:8 which is an inclusive term for all Gentile adherents to Satan after his release at the close of the Millennium and subsequent rebellion against God. In relationship to world politics today, Gog would be the dictator of Russia, but positive identification must await the unfolding of future events.
The “king of the South” or the pan-Arabic bloc, “will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war” (Dan. 11:25, 40-43), but is eliminated early in the conflict by the whirlwind attack of the king of the North which Ezekiel characterizes as “like a storm” (Ezek. 38:9).
“The kings from the East,” or literally the kings “of the rising of the sun,” Rev. 16:12; cf., Dan. 11:44) lead vast Asian hordes across the dry riverbed of the Euphrates and invade Palestine in the second half of the Tribulation. Today this confederation of Asian powers would be analogous to the Chinese and their allies. Before World War II, many would have speculated it was the Japanese Empire; but in the future, all major Asiatic powers may be linked as a pan-Asian bloc.
The “king of the West” always refers to the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire, the future confederation of western Europe.15 During the entire Church Age there have been and will continue to be power struggles among the nations of western Europe. Near the end of the Church Age the old Roman Empire will be drawn together again and a ten-nation power bloc will emerge. When the Rapture of the Church takes place and the Tribulation begins, Daniel’s prophecy of the “toes of the feet partly of iron and partly of pottery [clay]” will be fulfilled (Dan. 2:42). The ten nation power bloc will consolidate into the Revived Roman Empire which will exist during all seven years of the Tribulation.
The question always arises: Where does the United States of America fit into this picture? The answer is not in prophecy. Today the United States is a client nation to God, a center of Bible teaching, evangelism, and missionary activity, but the United States will not be a client nation in the Tribulation since all Church Age believers including those in this country will be raptured. Any nation without a foundation of believers is easily influenced by the whims of evil. When a nation begins to decline spiritually, the collapse from within is the catalyst which eventuates in the destruction of the nation. As such the United States may be incorporated as one of the toes of clay in the Revived Roman Empire (Dan. 2:41-42). The “iron” of the “toes,” kingdoms of the old Roman Empire, will dominate the weaker “clay” of the “toes” (Dan. 2:42-43).
And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. (Rev. 16:13)
There are many passages that describe the maneuvers of the various kings of the Tribulation; this passage explains the evil force that motivates them. The “three unclean spirits” are demons to whom Satan delegates the responsibility of indwelling world rulers and their advisers in order to influence them to execute his will (Dan. 10:13). During the Church Age, Satan’s power on earth is so restrained by the ministry of God the Holy Spirit that men often forget his very existence. However, during the Tribulation Satan will be free to wreak havoc without restraint as demonstrated by the unholy trinity.
The first member of this nefarious trio is the dragon, or Satan himself.16 In the Tribulation as in the Garden of Eden, Satan will direct worship away from God and toward himself. His obsession has ever been “to be like the Most High” and to be worshiped as God (Isa. 14:13-14). While God has permitted Satan to become the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31), this has never satisfied his insatiable power lust to be like the Most High. When the devil took Christ whom he knew to be God to a high mountain and showed Him the kingdoms of the world, he said, “All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:9).
The culmination of Satan’s attempts to be worshiped as God is revealed by the power he gives the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3): it is written that the king of the West, as Satan’s man, “takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God” (2 Thess. 2:4). The fulfillment of this Scripture occurs in the middle of the Tribulation as a direct result of “war in heaven.”
And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Rev. 12:7-9)
The seed of rebellion planted in the Garden will bear bitter fruit, for in the Tribulation both Satan and “the beast” are worshiped instead of God (Rev. 13:4, 8, 12).
From the first pernicious innuendo of the Garden until this very hour, Satan denies that a just and righteous God has pronounced a death penalty on sin (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23). The devil has succeeded in blinding men’s minds “that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). The simplicity of “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31) is obscured by endless systems of works and religion through which man seeks to be saved.
And he stood on the sand of the seashore. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. (Rev. 13:1-2)
The second personality is the “beast coming up out of the sea.” Other passages refer to him as the feet of the image (Dan. 2:31-45), the little horn (Dan. 7:8), the “prince who is to come” (Dan. 9:26-27), the “god of fortresses” (Dan. 11:38), the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3-10), and the “scarlet beast” (Rev. 17:3). As the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire, the king of the West, is said to have “ten horns,” signifying the ten-nation confederacy which he rules (Dan. 7:7-8, 23-24). He is depicted as rising out of the turbulent “sea” of nations. He is given the power to persecute and “to overcome” the saints (Rev. 13:7).
“Horns” in Scripture denote power, which is given to the little horn, the beast, by the dragon and reveals that this dominating personality of the Tribulation is the agent of Satan. As such, he is also the ecumenical religious leader of the future ‘World Council of Churches.’ Since Satan is a spirit, he needs earthly agents who agree to accomplish his will; he therefore operates through the minds and activities of men such as the king of the West to affect the affairs of the world.
That this beast is greater than any power of the past is indicated by the reference to the leopard (Graeco-Macedonian Empire of Dan. 7:6), the bear (Media-Persian Empire of Dan. 7:5), and the lion (Babylonian Empire of Dan. 7:4). The king of the West epitomizes all the brilliance of Alexander the Great, the massive power of Cyrus the Great, and the autocratic royalty of Nebuchadnezzar.
The beast’s empire is discussed in more detail in Revelation 17:2-12. The “seven heads” or “mountains” are seven kingdoms that have opposed Israel: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the future Revived Roman Empire.17 In the day in which John recorded his Patmos vision, the first five kings had fallen, while the sixth empire, Rome, was still in authority. The seventh king, the beast or little horn, subdues three horns of the ten-horn confederation thereby gaining ascendancy over the Revived Roman Empire (Dan. 7:8-24). Then, according to Revelation 17:14, the confederation of kings (the ten horns) under the beast makes war “against the Lamb.” But Jesus Christ overpowers them, completing His glorious victory at the end of the campaign of the great day of God, the Almighty.
And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth [land]; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. (Rev. 13:11)
The third member of the infamous triumvirate, the “false prophet” (Rev. 19:20; 20:10), is the Jewish dictator of Palestine. He is also known as the willful king (Dan. 11:36-40) and the “useless shepherd” (Zech. 11:15-17). While the first beast of Revelation 13:1 comes “up out of the sea” of Gentile nations, the second beast comes “up out of the earth [Land]” of Palestine (Dan. 11:37). The fierceness of this Jewish dictator is hidden under the disguise of “a lamb” which dupes people into believing he is the Messiah. The “two horns” signify the dual office of king and prophet which he assumes.
Although this dictator has no great army, his influence is enormous. He is empowered by Satan and exercises all the might of the first beast.
And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth [Land] and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. (Rev. 13:12)
And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. (Rev. 13:13)
And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. (Rev. 13:14)
And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Rev. 13:15)
And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, (Rev. 13:16)
And he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Rev. 13:17)
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding [doctrine] calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. (Rev. 13:18)
By producing these great signs or miracles through the power of Satan, the dictator of Palestine is able to sustain the claims of deity made by the first beast, the king of the West, and direct worship toward himself. For this reason, the second beast is called the “false prophet.” Thus these earthly rulers together with unprecedented demon activity, wars, cataclysms, and pestilence precipitate the greatest suffering the world has ever known. Is it any wonder this period is referred to in Scripture as “the great tribulation”?
For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (Rev. 16:14)
For centuries demons have operated undercover, but in the Tribulation they assume major roles and their activities become highly visible. These demons are said to be “like frogs” (Rev. 16:13). The croaking noise of the frog is used here as an analogy to the boastful promises of these future tyrants. The summit talks which precede the alliance between the demon-possessed beast and the false prophet are actually the mouthings of demons.18
These demons also provide the power for the dictators to perform pseudomiracles which are designed to captivate people. The less people think Bible doctrine, the more they are deluded by the performing of “signs.” In the Tribulation, Satan utilizes every means possible to assemble the “whole world” to do battle against God.
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
Early in the Tribulation the false prophet, the dictator and religious leader of Israel, faces a dilemma: how can he defend his little country against the constantly changing balance of powers on every side? The king of the North threatens his destruction; to the south are the Arabs, his hereditary enemies, who are certainly never interested in the protection of the Jews; neither would he consider an alliance with the Asian powers from the East. Therefore, his only hope is the king of the West. Consequently, he enters into an alliance with the Revived Roman Empire for protection. In return, the Roman dictator demands a share in the wealth of Palestine (Dan. 11:36-39).
For a time the covenant between the two dictators provides Israel with a false sense of security. But in the middle of the seventieth week, the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire indwelt by an enraged and avenging Satan breaks his treaty, eliminates the Jewish sacrifices in the Temple, and demands that he be worshiped as God (Dan. 12:11). At this point, a statue of the king of the West, the “abomination of desolation,” is set up in the Holy of Holies. All who fail to worship the image are put to death (Rev. 13:15).
To believers who know the Word of God, the erection of the abomination of desolation is the signal to flee to the mountains where they are to remain for the next three and one half years.
“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” (Matt. 24:15-16)
And the two wings of the great eagle [angelic protection for the believing Jews] were given to the woman [Israel], in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time [one year] and times [two years] and half a time [one half year], from the presence of the serpent. (Rev. 12:14)
There are many attempts to lure these believing Jews from their mountain hideouts in order to kill them. False propaganda is disseminated to persuade them that Christ has returned (Matt. 24:23-26). The question then, as now, is, will they believe the word of man or the Word of God? When the spurious reports of the return of Christ fail to induce the believers to come out of hiding, Satan promotes great “signs and false wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9) in an attempt to deceive. The ones who succumb to these fraudulent wonders are martyred; but those who believe Bible doctrine and stay hidden survive and are delivered by Jesus Christ at the appointed time.
Just as God has used invading armies to punish disobedient Israel in the past, so the king of the North appears during the Tribulation to ravage the Land and destroy its people. But, his invasion of Israel assures his own destruction.
“And at the end time the king of the South will collide [make war] with him [dictator of Palestine], and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen, and with many ships; and he [the king of the North] will enter countries, overflow them, and pass through.” (Dan. 11:40)
The “king of the South,” the pan-Arabic bloc, invades Palestine in another of his many attempts to seize that land. About the same time the “king of the North” advances toward Palestine. His main objective is to attack Africa by land. Therefore, the king of the North must move his army through Israel, the only land bridge between Russia and Africa.
The “chariots” of Daniel’s prophecy would today be highly mechanized armored forces; “horsemen,” would be highly mobile troops; and “many ships,” a mammoth navy. This verse indicates a strategic double envelopment by the army and the navy of the king of the North with Palestine caught in the middle. The king of the North’s fleet sails out of the Black Sea through the Bosporus and into the Mediterranean. The land forces cross the western end of either Iran or Turkey and continue on into Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Negev, and Sinai toward Egypt. The area from Syria down through the Sinaitic Peninsula, from the standpoint of logistics, becomes vitally important. As the king of the North passes through, he makes a swift conquest of these countries and also defeats the king of the South.
