SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 238BAugust 31, 2005
Armageddon – Not in the Far Distant Future – Part 2
An Exposition of Revelation 16:13 to 18:24
Revelation 16:16 – And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
I am inserting the words of James Henry Thornwell as the preamble of “An Exposition of Revelation 16:13 to 18:24.”
BEGIN QUOTE: “To employ soft words and honeyed phrases in discussing questions of eternal importance; to deal with errors that strike at the foundations of all human hope as if they were harmless and venial mistakes; to bless where God disapproves, and to make apologies where God calls us to stand up like men and assert, though it may be the aptest method of securing popular applause in a sophistical age, is cruelty to man and treachery to Heaven. Those who on such subjects attach more importance to the rules of courtesy than they do to the measures of truth do not defend the citadel, but betray it into the hands of its enemies. Love for Christ, and for the souls for whom he died, will be the exact measure of our zeal in exposing the dangers by which men’s souls are ensnared.” END QUOTE.
James Henry Thornwell was a Presbyterian Minister, and even though I do not agree with many of the views expressed in his writings, I definitely agree with what he had to say in the preceding quote. The quote was timely for me, because I was having reservations about doing the exposition of this particular series when I received it. It reminded me of an obligation God advised Ezekiel to consider as a watchman who sounds to warn those in danger.
Ezekiel 33:3-6 – If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; [4] Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. [5] He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. [6] But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
The primary Scripture, among those on which I will be expositing in this series, specifically warns those setting under false teachings to break away from the religious “her” that is teaching them today.
Revelation 18:4 – And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
This Scripture lets me know there are saved men and women who are “in” the “her” of this verse, because it calls them “my people.” The primary purpose of this series is to specifically identify the “her” and to implore those “in her” to come “out of her,” and to warn those not “in her” to stay “out of her.”
Now, I shall continue expositing from where we left off in Part 1 at Revelation 16:16.
Revelation 16:16-18 – And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. [17] And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. [18] And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Just when it appears that the antichrist will finally end the existence of the nation of Israel in the Negev south of Beersheba, having gathered the greatest military ever assembled, God will rip apart the Jordan River Valley with the greatest earthquake since he placed Adam in the Garden of Eden. The antichrist will be beyond all help when God performs this act of his wrath.
Daniel 11:45 to 12:1 – And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. [1] And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Matthew 24:21,22 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
The first earthquake in Revelation 6:12 will also be in the Jordan River valley. It will occur in conjunction with the first attack of Antichrist that drove Israel into the Negev, leaving Israel in a state of confusion for a lightning Jihad from the North. It will announce the beginning of the last three and one-half years of the tribulation period. The last earthquake in Revelation 16:18 will mark the closing period of God’s wrath during the battle of Armageddon.
Revelation 6:12-15 – And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was A GREAT earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. [14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND ISLAND WERE MOVED OUT OF THEIR PLACES. [15] And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
All mountains and islands ride as passengers attached to the tectonic planets, and by the end of the tribulation period, they will have been moved away from their latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates by a few microseconds, such that the islands have fled to new coordinates, and the mountains will not be found at their old coordinates. The plates begin to move in Revelation 6:12 with the first great earthquake, and stop moving noticeably in Revelation 16:20 following the last fantastic earthquake. (See Archives – Birth Pang 3)
Revelation 16:18-21 – And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a GREAT earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and SO great. [19] And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. [20] AND EVERY ISLAND FLED AWAY, and THE MOUNTAINS WERE NOT FOUND.
The tension and pressure buildups along the plate boundaries produce the world’s earthquakes. They have been built up by the slow plate movements over a long period of time. The vast majority of this tension and pressure buildup will be released between the opening of the sixth seal and the pouring out of the last vial. This will mean a millennial reign of Christ that only shows minor earthquakes from time to time.
The elasticity of the outer crust of the earth, when it was first created, was much greater than it is now, and was more than able to withstand the constant gravitational pull of the other heavenly bodies, which have caused it to daily pull outward, and then to relax inward, as it rotated around the sun, without causing the crust to phase into a worldwide readjustment of its tectonic plates. I believe what begins in Revelation 6:14 and ends in Revelation 16:20 portrays such a readjustment, and will include all the phenomena of Isaiah 29:6.
Revelation 6:14 – And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Revelation 16:20 – And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Isaiah 29:6 – Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
The fantastic changes in the outer topography will cause living waters to surface in Jerusalem and flow eastward through the place where the Mount of Olives divided.
Zechariah 14:8,9 – And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. [9] And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
In order to define the time of “in that day” given in verse 8, we must go to verse 9. Verse 9 clearly identifies “in that day” as the time when the Messiah will be king over all the earth – A period of time known as the Millennial Reign of Christ. However, in order for Jerusalem and Israel to come to be as verse 8 describes, it is obvious that fantastic geological changes must occur in the existing topographical structure, and these drastic geological land mass shifts will occur during the last three and one-half years prior to the final battle of Armageddon.
What are the “living waters?” They are spring waters that will support aquatic life continuously because they never cease to flow. We are told in verse 8 this “living water” will flow out of Jerusalem, and that part of it will flow into the Dead Sea, the Eastern Sea (Former Sea), while part of it will flow into the Mediterranean Sea (Hinder Sea). Furthermore, we are informed the water will be a continual stream that does not dry up between the two rainy seasons (most of the interior streams in Israel are dry creek beds a large part of the year). To the Oriental mind, “in summer and in winter shall it be,” means a perpetual flow of water that will support life year round.
In order to graphically portray and describe these changes, it will be necessary to use many other scriptures in future chapters, which will accurately detail geological changes prophesied to occur during the tribulation period. And, having presented them, I will then put them all together into a composite picture, which will show the total change. The first Scripture to be involved with the formation of this spring of living water is found in Revelation 16:18,19.
Revelation 16:18,19 – And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. [19] And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
During the great worldwide chain of earthquakes, while the “cities” of the “nations,” including Rome, are undergoing great devastation, the “great city” (Jerusalem) will be “divided into three parts.” The division of old Jerusalem will be a geological one, which is both commonly, and directly, tied to earthquake activity along major fault lines. There is, at the present time, a fault line running north-south in the substrata of the limestone rock beneath the Tyropean Valley, which separates uplifted western Jerusalem from eastern Jerusalem. One of its names in ancient times was the “Valley of the Cheesemakers (Birth Pang Figures Archive – Figures 40 and 41).
The great earthquakes that will occur in the Jordan Rift Valley will cause the mount of Olive to split apart between two east-west fault lines, one that penetrates its north flank, and one that penetrates its southern flank. A great graben rift valley will be formed between the two faults as the northern and southern halves spread apart (Birth Pang Archives – Figures 31 to 34). During the same general time period those sections of Jerusalem, east of the Tyropean Valley fault will subside, and those west of it will rise (a common phenomenon along normal faults during earthquake activity). The final result of the activity along Jerusalem’s aforementioned three faults will result in its division into three sections by elevation and the water from the spring of Zechariah 14:8 (Birth Pang Figures Archive – Figures 42 to 48).
And the last earthquake will divide the great city of Jerusalem into three parts, affect the cities and nations of the world, and destroy great Babylon’s false center of ecumenical worship.
Revelation 16:19 – And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
This last great earthquake will occur in Israel’s Jordan River valley, but its effects will spread north and south, eventually to set off quakes across in the earth in the cities of many nations. It will ripple northward to make contact with the great east-west fault across northern Turkey, then eastward across the Mediterranean, then along the sea flow northward to begin to set off a series of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions across western Italy, one of which will occur to the southeast of Vatican City in the ancient volcanic crater that holds the waters of Lake Albano – More on this in a future Update.