Our Lord’s coronation day begins with the King’s return at the end of the Tribulation – the seventieth week of Daniel (Dan. 9:27; Rev. 19:11-16). The King will return to rescue and restore the nation of Israel in order to fulfill God’s covenant promise to Abraham (Zech. 13:8–14:19; Rom. 11:25–36; Rev. 19:11–20:3; Isa. 61:2b–64:12). God will purge and purify the Jews from their rebellion against Him and prepare them to face their King (Zech. 12:9; Mal. 2:3–4). He will make the nation of Israel, now dead, to live again (Rom. 11:25–26; Ezek. 37:4–12). The King will also return to reclaim and renew the earth from the clutches of Satan (Isa. 11:3–9; Rom. 8:19–22; Luke 4:6–7; 2 Cor. 4:4; Jn. 16:11, 12:31; Rev. 5:6–10). And the King will return to reign over a kingdom on a renewed earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4–6).
The church is referred to as the mystery by Paul – the dispensation of grace, or the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:1-4). This mystery is a gap of time between Messiah being cut off (crucified) and the catching up of the church (Dan. 9:26). This gap has lasted for now over 2,000 years. The seven literal churches in the book of Revelation actually represent seven church ages: Ephesus (30-100 A.D.), Smyrna (100-313), Pergamum (313 – 600), Thyatira (600-1517), Sardis (1517-1648), Philadelphia (1648-1900), and Laodicea (1900 to the present).
After the church age, a series of judgments on God’s people (the Jews) will be unleashed. These judgments are broken down in Revelation 5-19 into seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls, each being worse than the one before. They come like waves on a beach. The first wave of judgment (the seal judgments) begins with the opening of the seven-sealed scroll. John was crying because there was no one to open the scroll. He then heard the roar of a lion that startled him, and he turned and saw a Lamb as though it had been slain (Rev. 5:6). The Lamb was worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. The scroll is the title deed to the earth. With the opening of the scroll, the waves of judgment begin on the earth to reclaim and renew the earth for the kingdom to begin.
When the last seal is broken, the first of seven trumpet judgments begin. They are worse than the seal judgments. When the last trumpet is blown, it will usher in a time called the seven bowls – a time of horror like never seen before in history. The last bowl judgment ends with the great campaign of Armageddon (Rev. 16). This judgment begins with three insidious demons being belched out of where: the dragon (Satan), the Antichrist (the Beast), and the false prophet (another beast). These demons are commissioned by Satan to gather the whole world together at the Valley of Megiddo for the battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:12–16). Their mission is to destroy the woman (Israel) who gave birth to the Son (the Lord Jesus), but we already know from Genesis 3:15 that the Son is destined to kill the dragon, Satan.
Contrary to popular belief, there will be no fighting in the Jezreel Valley. There is really no such battle as the Battle of Armageddon. In the Jezreel Valley, storm clouds gather in the form of the armies of the Antichrist, preparing to destroy Jerusalem (Rev. 16:12-16). The battle is called “The Great Day of God Almighty.” God will dry up the mighty Euphrates River to allow the Antichrist and his army to get to the Jezreel Valley. There is little doubt that one of these armies will include much of the revived Roman Empire which surprisingly is made up of a large percentage of the Muslim Arabic bloc that circles the Mediterranean Sea and surrounds the tiny nation of Israel today. What a coincidence! This army will be headed by the Antichrist himself. I made the observation in my book “A Glimpses of the Coming King,” that wouldn’t it be the one of the greatest “gotcha’s” of history for Islam’s coming Mahdi (Twelfth Imam), and the Beast mentioned in the Bible, to be one and the same. I really think – because of the identity of the Mahdi given in the Muslim writings – the Koran and the Sunna (the Hadith), and the characteristics identifying the Antichrist, that they are. Both Russia and China will be involved. These armies will realize the genius of the Antichrist, and they will pledge their allegiance to him. It is from this Jezreel Valley that these soldiers under the leadership of the Antichrist will gather, organize, and ready themselves for battle – to go first against Jerusalem. One serious motivation for this looming battle could be the vast supply of oil and chemical resources of the Dead Sea. There is now technology available to mine those resources. It will be granted to him (the Antichrist) to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:7–8). Remember the sign, “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place” (Matt. 24:15).
Stay safe and stay tuned.