Introduction

There are 2 main events that take place at the end of the Tribulation period. They are the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ.

I. Battle Of Armageddon

a. Armies will meet in the valley of Megiddo. (This is where we get the word Armageddon from.) (Zechariah 14:2- “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”)

i. South of Nazareth

ii. West of the Jordan River

iii. 3 continents come together at this point- Europe, Asia, and Africa. This makes it a very strategic point.

b. How it goes down:

i. Near the end of the Tribulation, the nations of the world will invade Israel.

1. A nation from the south will attack Israel first. (Daniel 11:40a- “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him…”)

a. Some say that this army will come from Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia. (Daniel 11:42-43 – “⁴²He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. ⁴³But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.”)

2. The nations from the north will counterattack. (Daniel 11:40b- “…and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.”) (Ezekiel 38:15- “And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:”)

a. This army will chase the southern army into Egypt while destroying everything in its path except Jerusalem.

b. However, they will turn back towards Jerusalem when they hear of other armies ready to invade. (Daniel 11:41-44 – “⁴¹He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. ⁴²He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. ⁴³But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. ⁴⁴But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.”)

3. Israel will be defenseless because of their trust in the Antichrist’s promise of guaranteed safety. (Ezekiel 38:11- “And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,”)

4. God will intervene to save Israel from destruction. (Ezekiel 38:18-22 – “¹⁸And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. ¹⁹For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; ²⁰So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. ²¹And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man' sword shall be against his brother. ²²And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.”)

a. He will send earthquakes. (vs. 19)

b. Mankind and all animal life will be affected. (vs. 20)

c. God will send rain, hail, fire, and brimstone on the northern army. (vs. 22)

d. It will take 7 months for the defeated nations to bury the bodies of their dead. (Ezekiel 39:12- “And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.”)

5. The western and eastern armies will invade Israel after the northern army is destroyed.

a. God dries up the Euphrates river to allow the eastern forces access to Israel. (Revelation 16:12- “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”)

ii. The Antichrist will have a commitment to protect Israel, so he will move his armies in as well.

II. The Second Coming Of Christ

a. This is the time when Christ comes back and sets foot on the earth. That’s why this is referred to as the “Second Coming”.

b. This is the event that ends the Battle of Armageddon, and it also marks the end of the Tribulation. (Luke 21:24- “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”)

c. The beast and the false prophet will be defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 19:19-20 – “¹⁹And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. ²⁰And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”)

d. The armies that followed the beast and the false prophet will be put to death. (Rev. 19:21- “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”)

e. The nations of the earth will then be judged to see who will enter the Millennial Kingdom. (Matthew 25:31-46 – “³¹When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: ³²And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: ³³And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: ³⁶Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. ³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? ³⁸When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?" ³⁹Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? ⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. ⁴¹Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴²For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: ⁴³I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. ⁴⁴Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? ⁴⁵Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. ⁴⁶And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”)

f. Believers who were killed for their faith during the tribulation will be raised, joining the raptured believers that will have returned from Heaven with Christ. At this point, Christ will set up His millennial reign. (Revelation 20:4-6 – “⁴And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”)

Conclusion

Isn’t it great to know that, as Christians, we are on the winning side? We can face whatever comes with confidence because of this.

Our next lesson will finish things up by looking at the Millennial Kingdom and the Great White Throne Judgment.