UNDERSTANDING THE CAMPAIGN OF ARMAGEDDON

I. God's Timeline And Armageddon

(Daniel 9:20-27)

 

I.               Introduction

A.    Due to unsettling conflicts between nations today, many people, including some Christians, are concerned about facing Russia's invasion of Israel that was predicted in Ezekiel 38-39 and/or Armageddon.

B.    We thus study the whole subject of Armageddon in Bible prophecy, what includes Russia's invasion, starting  with Daniel 9:20-27 to know when Armageddon occurs in God's prophetic timeline for our edification:

II.            God's Timeline And Armageddon, Daniel 9:20-27.

A.    In Daniel 9:20-27, the angel Gabriel informed Daniel of God's prophetic timeline that covers prophetic events for ISRAEL (Daniel 9:24a) – not the Church that was then still hidden by God (Ephesians 3:1-6) – from the edict to restore and rebuild Jerusalem at the end of Israel's captivity to the start of the Messianic Kingdom:

1.      Gabriel's reference to "seventy weeks" (Daniel 9:24 KJV) is literally "seventy sevens" in the Hebrew text. (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Dan. 9:24) This recalls Daniel's having read [in Daniel 9:1-2] from Jeremiah 25:11-12 that Israel would be in captivity in Babylon for 70 years for not observing 70 of her year-long land sabbaths that occurred every 7th year, a punishment that was foretold in Leviticus 26:32-35!

2.      So, just as Israel had failed to keep 70 of her land sabbaths over a 490-year time period, Gabriel said there would be another set of "seventy sevens," another 490 years for ISRAEL between the edict to restore and rebuild Jerusalem after her Babylonian Captivity and the start of the Messianic Kingdom, Daniel 9:24.

3.      The king who later proved to make this edict was Artaxerxes Longimanus, and he did so on March 5, 444 B. C. (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Neh. 2:1; H. W. Hoehner, Chron. Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 139)

4.      In the first "seven sevens," the first 49 Jewish years [360 days/year], Jerusalem's square and moat were rebuilt (Ibid., Ryrie), and at the end of the next "threescore and two sevens," another 434 Jewish years, on March 30, 33 A. D., Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey presenting Himself as Messiah, Ibid., Hoehner.

5.      Then, "AFTER" the 7 plus 62 sets of "sevens," that is, after the 69th "seven" had ENDED, several events were to occur BETWEEN the end of the Daniel 9:26 "sixty-ninth seven" when Christ entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey and the start of the Daniel 9:27 "seventieth seven" for ISRAEL (as follows):

                         a.  Messiah would be "cut off," a term for execution (B. K. C., O. T., p. 1364), what occurred on April 3, A. D. 33 when Christ died 4 days after the end of the 69th prophetic "seven!" (Ibid., Hoehner, p. 139, 143; Herman H. Goldstine, New and Full Moons: 1001 B. C. to A. D. 1651, 1973, p. 87.  Goldstine's tables show there was a full moon on April 3, A. D. 33, what precisely fits the time of Passover at Christ's death!)

                         b.  At His death, Messiah would "have nothing," what predicts Christ's rejection by Israel and the resulting postponement of the start of the Messianic Kingdom that He had offered to Israel, Ibid., B. K. C., O. T.

                         c.  The "people of the prince that shall come" would then destroy Jerusalem and the temple, and the Romans fulfilled this prophecy by destroying the city and temple in A. D. 70. (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Daniel 9:26)

                         d.  From that time until the start of the "seventieth seven," Jerusalem would experience war and desolations.  Right now, we are in the midst of this very prediction, witnessing wars and desolations on Jerusalem.

6.      [The "prince that shall come" in Daniel 9:26 is the antichrist who later invades Israel in Daniel 9:27.]

7.      [Then, after the rapture,] to start Israel's "seventieth seven," the antichrist forms a 7-year treaty with Israel, but just before the middle of the 7-year period, the campaign of Armageddon begins with the Russian federation's Ezekiel 38-39 invasion of Israel and God's miraculous defeat of it.  The antichrist then breaks his treaty with Israel 3 ½ years into the 7-year treaty period, invades her and sets himself up as God in the temple, Daniel 9:27 NIV.  The last 3 ½ Jewish years of the "seventieth seven" (42 Jewish months of 30 days each, Rev. 11:2) will be very traumatic. (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come, 1972, p. 340-358)

8.      Following Daniel 9:27, Christ returns to set up His Messianic Kingdom as mentioned back in Daniel 9:24!

B.    From this prophetic timeline, it is clear that the Church will not be on the earth for the military campaign of Armageddon, what starts with the Russian federation's invasion of Israel!  The Church will then be in heaven!

 

Lesson: God's prophetic timeline as presented in Daniel 9:24-27 shows us that Church is raptured nearly 3 ½ years before the campaign of Armageddon begins, and it begins with the Russian federation's invasion of Israel!

 

Application: (1) May we not be concerned about facing Russia's invasion of Israel or the rest of Armageddon, for it will all occur after the rapture.  (2) Rather, may we focus on our callings from God to prepare for the rapture.