14. The Host of Stars Will Fall Down
The “host of heavens” in Genesis 2 is understood to mean the army of angels lighting up the night sky. The word “host” literally means “armies” in Hebrew. The host of heavens is thus the army of heaven’s angels.
Before the battle of Armageddon begins, all these angels will fall to the earth. Isaiah described this as being like the rolling up of a scroll: “The host of heavens shall be dissolved, and the heavens rolled up like a scroll, and the host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine.”Isa 34:4
Isaiah gave us a picture of stars being rolled up like a scroll and dropping to the earth. Angels as stars falling to the earth are also found in Daniel 8 and Revelation 8 and 12.
The host of heavens shall be dissolved, and the heavens rolled up like a scroll, and the host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine.
Isaiah 34:4
Isaiah described the great battle that will take place after the armies of heaven fall: “My sword shall be bathed in heaven, indeed it shall come down on Edom; and on the people of My curse, for judgment, the sword of the LORD is filled with blood.”Isa 34:5
In Revelation 9, the angel with the sixth trumpet was told to “release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates, and the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and the day and month and year, were released that they should kill a third of mankind.”Rev 9:14
These four angels from the four directions of the earth represent all the angels of God. They will become the “invisible” army that will fight for Israel, as they did in the Old Testament. They will kill a third of mankind using the weapons of men—that are described as fire and brimstone and great hailstones.
15. the Kings
Ezek 38:2-5, Dan 11:40-45, Rev 16:12
The prophets described the nations who will gather for the final great battle.
Isaiah prophesied God’s judgment “on Edom, and on the people of My curse.”Isa 34:5 Edom represents all the enemies of God.
Joel warned: “Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness.”Joel 3:19 Egypt represents the defender of Israel.
Daniel said that the king of the north “shall enter the glorious land, and many shall be overthrown, but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.”Dan 11:41
God described His opponent as “Gog in the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meschech and Tubal.”Ezek 38:2 The land of Magog is today’s Russia, and we assume that this is why Magog is called the prince of Rosh. Meschech and Tubal are the two sons of Noah’s son Japheth. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, the descendants of Meschech settled in Turkey, and Tubal was the father of the Latins in Italy and Spain. God continued, saying, “Persia, Ethiopia, and Lybia are with them…Gomer and all its troops.”Ezek 38:5-6 Gomer is another son of Japheth. Gomer is the father of the Armenians, Celts and Germans.
Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?
Ezekiel 38:17
God described the foolishness of Gog, saying, “Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?”Ezek 38:17
John prophesied that an angel would dry up the Euphrates to make way for the kings from the east.Rev 16:12 John described the end-time salvation of God from the east. Just before the battle began, “an angel ascending from the east … cried out, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bondservants of God.’”Rev 7:2-3 Thus, we believe that the kings of the east must be on the side of God. Daniel said that rumors from the north and the east would trouble the king of the north and cause him to attack with great fury, “yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.”Dan 11:44-45
16. My Fury Will Show in My Face
God warned us that when the nations attack Israel, “My fury will show in My face.”Ezek 38:18 Of course, here we understand that His face is Christ. Isaiah called Christ “the Messenger of His face”Isa 63:9 —the image of the invisible God, the face that Cain could no longer see after he killed Esau.Gen 4:14
On that Day, Jesus Christ will bring God’s fire down from heaven, as He did in Sodom and Gomorrah. As Moses told us, “then He WILL BE rained brimstone and fire … from He WILL BE out of the heavens.”Gen 19:24
Jesus said, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”Luke 12:49
Zechariah described Him as the warrior for Israel: “Then He WILL BE shall go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that Day, His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives.”Zech 14:3
He WILL BE will come with fire and render with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.
Isaiah 66:15
He will stand on the Mount of Olives as the great archangel who leads the angels of God in battle. Isaiah said, “The Day of He WILL BE of the Armies shall come upon the proud and lofty.”Isa 2:12 And Joel said, “He WILL BE gives voice before His Army, for His Camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His word.”Joel 2:11 The Camp of the Angel of the Lord was first seen by Jacob when he fled from his brother Esau,Gen 32:1-2 who is called Edom and represents the enemies of God.
In 2 Thessalonians, Paul told us, “The Lord will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.”2 Thess 1:7-8 In that day, Christ will be the savior of Israel and will punish the ungodly.
Isaiah said, “He WILL BE will come with fire and render with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.”Isa 66:15
17. The Resurrection of the Saints
Isa 34:15, Matt 24:40, Rev 16:15
Paul warned us that Jesus would come like a thief in the night.1 Thess 4:16 In the Gospels, Jesus said, “If the owner of the house had known what day the thief is coming, he would have kept watchMatt 24:43—[on that day] there will be two men in a field; one will be taken and one will be left behind.”Matt 24:40 In Revelation 16, before the battle of Armageddon begins, Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming like a thief.”Rev 16:15
Isaiah set the stage for this great battle. He described the angels that would fall to the earth. Then he prophesied the wrath of the Almighty God, saying, “My sword shall be bathed in heavenIsa 34:5 … there shall the falcons be gathered.”Isa 34:15 The Greek word aetoi describes the falcon family of birds. Most English Bibles translate aetoi in Matthew’s Gospel as “vulture,” but they translate the same word as “eagle” in the Book of Revelation.
There also the falcons will be gathered every one with her mate.
Isaiah 34:15
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus quoted from the Book of Isaiah, saying, “Where the corpse is, there the eagles shall gather.”Matt 24:28 The eagles are the end-time saints. Jesus told us that the elect of God would be spared from the battle of Armageddon.
Zechariah described the deliverance of the saints, saying, “The Mount of Olives shall be split in two—then you shall flee through my mountain valley.”Zech 12:4-5
Jesus promised that “He will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpetMatt 24:31 … the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”John 5:25 Paul explained this, saying, “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”1 Thess 4:16
18. Flooding Rain, Great Hailstones, Fire and Brimstone
Ezek 38:19-22, Rev 6:14, Rev 9:17-19
The symbolism of the battle of Armageddon begins in the book of Ezekiel: “In that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel … The mountains shall be thrown down … I will rain down on him, on his troops … great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.”Ezek 38:19-22
From Ezekiel’s description, it seems that God is going to use the whole arsenal of nature. But as we go through the Book of Revelation, we find more and more evidence that these weapons of nature are just metaphors of weapons of mass destruction.
From Rev 8:5 and Rev 11:13, we understand that an earthquake is a war.
the sky was split apart like a scroll when rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Revelaton 6:14
Rev 6:14 tells us that “the sky was split apart like a scroll when rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” Here, John gives us a very good description of the effect of a nuclear blast.
The hailstones that Ezekiel mentioned are described by John as “about a talent in weight [about 75 to 100 pounds].”Rev 16:21 But are these really hailstones, or are they missiles that appear as large hailstones to John?
Finally, Ezekiel describes “fire and brimstone.”Rev 9:17-19 This was explained in John’s vision of horses in Revelation 9. The riders had breastplates of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceeded fire and brimstone. As early as the 17th century, Joseph Mede concluded that these could only pertain to guns, saying that there is no such description of this anywhere else in the Bible.
19. Fire Came Down from Heaven and Devoured Them
Ezek 5:2, Zech 14:12-13, Rev 20:9
The conclusion of the Battle of Armageddon is described as a great panic in which the nations of the earth turn their swords on one another before they are all destroyed by flaming fire.
Ezekiel said, “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.”Ezek 38:21 The prophet Joel compared this to Jehoshaphat’s battle, when the nations turned their swords against each other.
Zechariah said, “A great panic from the LORD will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor and raise his hand against his neighbor’s hand … and this shall be the plague with which Yihvah shall strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.”Zech 14:12-13
Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.
Zechariah 14:13
John described the Battle of Armageddon as the end of Mystery Babylon: “The Great City will be divided into three parts.” This harkens back to the Book of Ezekiel, where God described His punishment on the harlotry of Jerusalem: “You shall burn with fire 1/3 in the midst of the city, when the days of siege are finished; then you shall take 1/3 and strike it around with the sword, and 1/3 you shall scatter to the wind.”Ezek 5:2 This will be the end of those who refuse to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
John said, “Fire came down from heaven and devoured them.”Rev 20:9
The apostle Peter told us that all things will be destroyed in this way: “The heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat.”2 Pet 3:10
