Rabbi Schneider - Preparing for Armageddon
Today what I want to speak of is the Tribulation leading up to the greatest world war the world will ever see. It's called Armageddon. Now last week I explained that during the Tribulation there's gonna be twenty one judgments divided into three sets of seven. It's the last seven judgments that are called the bowls of wrath and the church will be taken out of the world right before these last seven judgments, once again, known as the bowls of wrath. After the church is taken out of the world the spirit of the devil is gonna begin to so enrage the hearts of the world leaders against Israel and against God's people that they're gonna all come to Israel for what the scripture calls, Har Magiddo or Armageddon.
I want to read for you a very interesting curious and mysterious verse. I'm going now to the book of Revelation chapter number sixteen. I'm gonna read there, verses thirteen through sixteen. Now these verses, Revelation sixteen verses thirteen through sixteen take place, get it now, right before the last two judgments. In other words, this portion of scripture that I'm gonna read for you takes place between the sixth bowl of God's wrath and the final bowl of God's wrath, the seventh bowl of God's wrath. Listen what happens in between these last two final judgments of God upon the world. Now keep in mind that the only people that are left on the earth at this point are people that are hardened towards the Lord Jesus and towards Father God. The believers have now been taken out of the world at this point in God's prophetic history.
Hear the word of God, Revelation sixteen, beginning in verse thirteen. John says this, "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. 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". Then the Lord says, "Behold I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har Magiddo or Armageddon, Har-Magedon".
Now I want to go back and I want to look at these three verses here in a slower fashion and pull some things out for us here. Let's begin with verse number thirteen. John says, "I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon," this is Satan. Satan is known as the dragon. "And out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet," this is known as the Satanic trinity. In other words, everything that God does Satan tries to counterfeit. So we know that in the kingdom there's the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, right? We're baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Where Satan has tried to counterfeit this where you have Satan who's a counterpart you know to the you know terrible you know, just I hate to even say it, but he makes himself out to be a father. Jesus called him the Father of Lies.
So we have Satan and then we have the Antichrist and then we have the false prophet. All three of these are talked about in the book of Revelation. So once again he says, "I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon," that's Satan, "and out of the mouth of the beast," that's the Antichrist, "and out of the mouth of the false prophet," and we read in Revelation that the false prophet gives credence to the Antichrist. John says, "I saw coming out of their mouths," listen now, "three unclean spirits, like frogs and 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," which John tells us in the sixteenth verse is Armageddon, Har Magiddo, or Har-Magedon.
Think for a second about this mystery that John describes as these spirits like frogs coming out of Satan the Antichrist and the false prophet. What does it mean that these spirits are the spirit of frogs John said? Well I've done ministry in the realm of deliverance, helping people that have been infested with demons get free, just like Jesus did. Remember everywhere Jesus went He did three things. He preached the Gospel. He healed the sick and He cast out the demons with the Word. So that same ministry is on God's messengers today, to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick and to drive out demons. So I've been able by the grace of God to be used by Him to drive demons out of people and what I have found in my ministry helping people to become delivered and freed, is that demons, listen now, will sometimes take on the nature, get it now, of a creature. In other words, some of you may even had a dream at night or had a picture come in your mind of a demon and the demon that you saw was in the form, listen now, of some type of creature.
If anybody's ever read Bill Weiss' book 23 Minutes in Hell , he talks about what it was like in hell and he talks about these demonic spirits that would attack him and they were in the form of lizards and reptiles, etc. So the point that I'm making church is that demons sometimes take on a creature form and this is what John is describing here. The creature form that these demons took on in the book of Revelation in these verses that we just read is the creature form of frogs. John said, "I saw spirits, unclean spirits," in verse thirteen, "like frogs and they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them toegether for the war of the great day of God the Almighty".
And then in the sixteenth verse, "And they gather them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon". We call it in Hebrew Har Magiddo, which means it's a mount, it's a city built upon a city. It's a specific location. But what we find and some of you that have gone to Israel have actually seen the place called Har-Magedon or Armageddon. What we find is as we study the full prophetic writings in the Hebrew Bible is that the battle extends far beyond the reaches of just a small valley. It's taking place in Jerusalem we read in the prophets, it's taking place over much of the land of Israel. But for John's prophetic purposes he laser beams it on to the center point of this battle in the book of Revelation, Har-Magedon.
I want to talk to you today church, beloved ones, about this great, final world war that the Bible calls Har-Magedon. We often say Armageddon. First of all to put it in context, Israel has forever been the central point of the world's political system, of the spiritual climate on the earth. Even today, right? President Trump not long ago recognized Jerusalem and rightly so of course, it is the capital of Jerusalem, of Israel rather. He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which is kind of crazy, because every country has the right to name their own capital. Israel has recognized that Jerusalem is the capital since their earliest days, right? I mean God said, "Jerusalem is My city".
So it's crazy that all the other nations in the world have been able to declare, "This is our capital" and the world has respected that and recognized that. Yet in the case of Israel, Israel said for centuries, right, Even going back to the earliest Bible days, "Jerusalem is our capital". And yet what's happened in the last hundred years since Jerusalem was once again, since Israel was once again birthed as a nation? What's happened? The world has failed to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Well again we all know recently our president Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and he was condemned by the world for doing it. In fact there was a United Nation's resolution and a hundred and twenty eight nations condemned Donald Trump's decision and rendered it null and void in their eyes as recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. So there's been this animosity towards Israel for ever and it's gonna climax once again in Armageddon.
Listen to this statistic. Over the course of Israel's history, listen to this now, it has been attacked by other countries fifty two times. It has been besieged twenty three times. It has been destroyed twice. So for ever there's been this intense, violent conflict with the powers of darkness against God, against His people and against His land and it's gonna climax with Armageddon. And the people that go against Armageddon are gonna be demonically infused with a hatred that's beyond any human hatred that you ever seen, but hear this, it's part of God's sovereign plan. In other words, it's not just that Israel is going to be a victim, but it's that God is the one behind this whole thing, sovereignly setting it up, so He can put an end to His enemies there, listen church, once and for all.
Let's take a look at some scriptures as we continue forward in this process today. I'm reading now from the book of, I'm gonna read from the book of Joel and then I'm gonna read again from the book of Zechariah. Hear the word of God. I'm beginning here with Joel chapter three verse two. The Lord says, "I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into the 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".
I want you to notice a few things here. First of all, I'm pointing out here that the Lord is the one that's bringing them down to the Valley of Decision, that's what Jehoshaphat means, the Valley of Decision. And again, Armageddon is spread all over the region of Israel. And so the point is, is that this is part of God's way of bringing the entire world to accountability before Him. He is bringing them there. He is angry, because of the world's persecution of His people and because the Lord said there, listen, "They have scattered my people among the nations," listen now, "and they have divided up my land".
Joel continues in the third chapter, verses nine through twelve and verse fourteen. Hear the word of God. "Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare a war, rouse the mighty men," notice church that it's the Lord that's rousing the people of the world. He's the one that's bringing about this final world conflict. "Let all the soldiers draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords". In other words, He's wanting the world to come against Israel with sword. "And your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a mighty man". Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down O Lord your mighty ones. Let the nations be aroused and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat".
The Lord continues in the book of Zechariah as the conflict escalates, in the twelfth chapter, the second and third verse. "Behold," the Lord says, "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around and when the siege is against Jerusalem it will also be against Judah. It will come about in that day that it will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations," listen, "and all the nations on the earth will be gathered against it".
Listen to the harmony there and the unity between what John tells us in the book of Revelation, where he tells us here in chapter sixteen of Revelation that God is gonna release these demonic spirits into the hearts and minds of the kings of the earth to gather them together for the great war of God and He's gonna do it in Israel with Armageddon being the center piece of it all. You think of that and think about what Zechariah says, it's the same exact thing. Zechariah tells us that God is gonna gather the nations of the world against Jerusalem. And why is God gonna do it? So that He can break in and destroy His enemies. In verse eight and nine of Zechariah twelve we read this, "In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the one that is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. And in that day," the Lord says, "I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem".
Now it's important to realize though church that it's not as though Jerusalem is going to be able to face this battle and be unscathed by it, because it actually is going to appear in the midst of this battle before Abba breaks in and destroys all His enemies through His Son. It's actually gonna appear as though Jerusalem and Israel will be wiped off the face of the earth forever. It's gonna be nearly destroyed before God breaks in. God is gonna show up at the last moment. We read in Zechariah 14:2, "I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle," listen, "and the city will be captured". So the Lord says, "I'm gonna gather the nations against Israel, against Jerusalem". And it says, "And the city," listen now, "will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished," listen now, "and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city".
And just as it appears as though Jerusalem is gonna be completely trodden over, just as it would appear that there is no hope left, suddenly Jesus is gonna break through the sky with His mighty angels and flaming fire and the horses of God and the armies of heaven behind him, along with His saints and He's gonna destroy the enemies and then set up His kingdom, beloved ones, on the earth. We read about this in Zechariah 14:3-5. The grass withers, but the word of the Lord abides forever. Hear the word of God. "The Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. In that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in the middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half the mountain will move toward the north and the other half towards the south. You will flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azal". And it says, "And the Lord will come and his holy ones with him".
It's amazing to me that when God appears to stop the battle and destroy His enemies, the place that His appearance is first seen, we read, is at, listen now, the Mount of Olives. Listen again, In front of Jerusalem on the east at the Mount of Olives and listen, this is the same exact spot that in Acts chapter one the disciples saw Jesus visibly ascend to heaven from. So in other words, the place where the Apostles and the Disciples saw Jesus be lifted off the earth into the heavens, that place in Acts one was the Mount of Olives. That's where Jesus ascended to heaven from. When He returns, where will he return to? Zechariah tells us, listen, the Mount of Olives. It is an amazing thing to me when I see the unity between what the Hebrew prophets tell us and what's revealed in the New Testament.
And I love this, that the place that Jesus ascended to heaven from in Acts one is the same place His feet will first hit the ground too when he returns to stop the Battle of Armageddon, claim His people and set up His kingdom on the earth. Beloved, we don't have to be rocket scientist to see and to understand that God is getting ready, He's setting the stage right now to bring about the nations of the world again against Jerusalem. Antisemitism is growing all over the earth right now, even on college campuses, Sweden, Austria, Poland, France, all over the earth there's a resurgence of antisemitism and it's all in preparation for the world to condemn Israel and turn against her once again, even as was evidenced by the recent vote of the United Nations to condemn Donald Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. But the Lord said, "Stand with Me. Stand with my people and be true to My cause and you will be rewarded".