I found five Scripture passages from Joel, Zechariah, Daniel, and Revelation that speaks of the gathering of armies (or nations). Interestingly, I found from my reading that there is not one clear purpose for the gathering. There will actually be four different purposes or goals. As we read from the following passages, I’m sure we will be able to see the different intentions.
Joel 3:1-3, 9-16
1″For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations
And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Then I will enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
And they have divided up My land.
3 “They have also cast lots for My people,
Traded a boy for a harlot
And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men!
Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”
11 Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, O Lord, Your mighty ones.
12 Let the nations be aroused
And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to judge
All the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread, for the wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
16 The Lord roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the heavens and the earth tremble.
But the Lord is a refuge for His people
And a stronghold to the sons of Israel.
It seems here, from verse three, that the nations will be coming to raid Israel—to take their “fortunes.” But the rest of the passage tells a different story. God will be using their greed to gather them together in order to judge them for their sins against Israel.
Zechariah 14:1-3
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
Here is a similar situation. The nations will gather to capture and plunder Jerusalem; but the Lord will take advantage of their greedy gathering, to judge and destroy them.
Daniel 11:40-44
“At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. 41 “He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 “Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43 “But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels. 44 “But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many.
In this passage, which is describing the final conflict, the objective in battle seems to be to gain power. And for the most part, it will be the Antichrist and his forces against the rest of the world. Here we see that the Antichrist is winning—until the end (see verse 45).
Revelation 16:12-14, 16
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.
13 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; 14 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.
16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
In this sixth bowl judgment the gathering of the nations of the world are demonically engineered through the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. I wonder what the message will be that the demons will send. We don’t know whether it will be a clear, direct message like, “Let’s all gather together to destroy the Jews.” Or perhaps there won’t be any clear message; perhaps the demons will put them in a mindless trans, and by demonic power they will be pulled to the place of war with a great hook in their jaw (see Ezek. 38:4).
Revelation 19:19-21
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
These three verses describe what happens at the very end of the Battle of Armageddon and the Tribulation. Here we see a fourth purpose for the gathering, to make war against Christ.
To review the different purposes: 1) coming from the nations, to raid and destroy the Jews; 2) again, from the nations, to gain power over other nations; they will gather to fight each other; 3) the purpose of God will be to judge the nations for their sin; and 4) from the nations, to make war against Christ.
As it appears from the text, the nations will probably not think that Christ will show up. But when they see Him coming, riding on a white horse, they will stop fighting each other; and verse 19 says that “their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”
Can you imagine it? You know, there is nothing like the ultimate enemy (Christ) to make you shake hands with the ones you are fighting with. That is what will happen. All the nations—the beast and the kings of the earth (v. 19)—will come together and make peace with each other, and thus combine forces, in order to destroy their real enemy—Christ. Of course, it will happen the other way around!
World governmentproponents Klaus Schwab and Yuval Noah Harari
Jan Markell, in her Olive Tree Ministries mailer, shared ten 2022 stories with prophetic implications—although she said that there were over one-hundred more. It was a very big year for end-time implications.
1 The Rise of the World Economic Forum Cabal and their Rush to Global Government
This is the true shadow government in which Revelation 13 outlines.
2 The Stirring Up of the Spirit of the Antichrist
Here we have seen the new lawlessness at work with rebellion allowed to take place because of the George Floyd ordeal. Hence, police forces are reduced and criminals are released with no bail.
3 Government Knows Best—Trust it
We have been encouraged to trust the government for vaccines and other health issues. Millions have bought into it, and will now transition into trusting the Antichrist.
4 The Rise of the Green Dragon: The Worship of Mother Earth
In the name of saving energy, farmers in Europe are being put out of business. This is inviting a famine.
5 The Race Towards Digital Currency: Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
Biden is pushing this and we could see it in 2023.
6 The Decline of America and the Rise of Radical Liberalism
America is trying to become like Venezuela. We are trying to create a permanent welfare state.
7 Christians Are Canceled; Jews are Under Attack
Entire Christian villages in Nigeria are being wiped out. Attacks against Jews in New York City are up 125%.
8 The Rise of Strong Delusion and Global Deception
It was the year of the rage of transgenderism.
9 Apostacy in the Church
It was the year that social justice has replaced salvation.
10 The Staggering Rise of the Paranormal and Occult
Here’s one of the latest puzzles I did. It’s an image of St. Mortiz Station, Switzerland. It’s a very old puzzle. I had to put some baking soda into the box and shake it around; and surprisingly, it got rid of the musty smell. It’s a good idea to always put the pieces in a plastic bag. This one has t wo pieces missing.
The prayer is arranged in three main parts: the address—“Our Father who is in heaven,” six petitions, and the doxology. We will focus, in this blog, on the six petitions.
The Six Petitions
As for the six petitions, the first three are directed toward God and His purposes, and the second three are directed toward man and his needs.
The first three petitions are:
1 That the name of God will be revered—“Hallowed be Your name,”
2 That the role of God would be established—“Your kingdom come,” and
3 That the will of God be done—“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Notice how each of these petitions is dependent on and related to each other. The hallowing of His name is dependent on the coming of His kingdom, and the coming of His kingdom requires the doing of His will. Each is a separate…
And the opening of my lips will reveal right things (Prov. 8:1-6).
Wisdom can be found at every corner, at every turn in the road or at every decision point. It is calling out to us to be wise. We must listen for its voice.
I have been writing a book on the Tribulation, and I am at the end of it. The last chapter, which I am beginning now is entitled: Armageddon, The Fall of Babylon, and The Judgement of the Nations.
ARMAGEDDON
When we think about Armageddon we should think of it first as a war, or as an extended, escalating conflict. Then at the very end it will be a bloody battle, normally called the Battle of Armageddon.
In my research I found that some of the most popular authors on this subject seem to be quite sure that the campaign of Armageddon involves eight phases or stages: 1) the gathering of the armies of the Antichrist, 2) the destruction of Babylon, 3) the fall of Jerusalem, 4) the Antichrist moves against the Jewish Remnant, 5) Israel is saved, 6) Jesus Christ Returns, 7) the final battle, and 8) Christ ascends to the Mount of Olives.
Using the same Scriptures, I came up with a slightly different and shorter list of stages. Here are my five stages: 1) the gathering of the armies, 2) A Great Earthquake, or a nuclear exchange, 3) the fall of Babylon, 4) the fall of Jerusalem, and 5) the climax of the battle, or the return of Christ. Also note that I am not positively sure about the order of stages two, three, and four; but I will do my best to explain things as I see them, as you will read in upcoming blogs.
The study of prayer would not be complete without examining the Lord’s Prayer. It is no doubt the most comprehensive piece of work on prayer ever composed. Here in this very short prayer Jesus has woven every possible principle of prayer together and has given it to us to show us how to pray. It is the best and simplest prayer tool we could possibly have. John MacArthur, in his book, Jesus’ Pattern of Prayer, said, “It [The Lord’s Prayer] is an absolute masterpiece of God’s infinite wisdom to somehow encompass every conceivable element in prayer and reduce it to one simple pattern.”1
In this first blog on the Lord’s Prayer, as an introduction, I want to talk about its settings. In upcoming blogs we will talk about its sources, its form, and generally what it teaches us about prayer.
It is so sad that this is happening–that young people are not being guided and that they make a wrong choice to change their gender. So they will choose to be female then later back to being male again. Parents have to step in and do the right thing. We can’t let our kids make these terrible wrong choices. Transgender is always wrong. We need to remain to way we were created. I invite you to read the following article.
With the explosive phenomenon of gender dysphoria continuing to ripple across America’s youth, a related but much less highlighted trend is simultaneously occurring — a movement almost completely ignored by the mainstream media. New studies are now emerging showing that the “detransitioner” movement is far larger than what is commonly acknowledged, with detransition rates nearing 30% in some instances.
The phenomenon of “gender dysphoria” (the condition of being mentally distressed due to a perceived mismatch between one’s gender identity and one’s biological sex) has seen a colossal increase among children in the United States over the last five years.
This article is a few days late but it’s contents is still valid. Everything in the government is now woke, including those in charge of the military. And you can believe that they don’t want Christians in the military. Read the article below for the full report.
Conservative activist Gary Bauer has a theory about why leftists who now control the U.S. military want to purge Christians from the ranks.
The new Republican-controlled House has many things on the agenda as it begins its work. Perhaps the most high-profile issue of immediate concern is determining who will assume the position of Speaker of the House, which Democrat Nancy Pelosi has held for the last four years. Today the House is slated to begin voting for that post – and it’s unclear whether California’s Kevin McCarthy, who held the House Minority Leader position in the previous congressional session, will ascend to that position.
But also of concern to some in Congress – and to evangelical Christians as well – is a campaign threatening the religious rights of those in America’s military. For example, an amendment passed as part of the recent National Defense Authorization Act put an end to vaccine mandates in the military. However, no provision was made to reinstate the thousands and thousands of former service members who have had their careers destroyed for refusing – because of religious concerns – to comply with the vaccine.
Stephen Nielsen 