“And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 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 (of God), saying, It is done.” 

Revelation 16:16

Here we are told after the final punishments have been laid out upon a rebellious world culminating at Armageddon, as I described in Seven is the Number of God’s Perfectness does not mean it’s always GOOD!, God Himself will proclaim “It is done.” This raises two critical questions. What is Armageddon and what does God mean when He says “It is done?”

Unlike Nancy Pelosi recently claiming passage of the Republican tax plan overhaul would be “Armageddon”, most believers AND unbelievers alike often refer to Armageddon as an end times battle of the world that may very well be the end of life on this planet as we know it. Christians have faith and Biblical foreknowledge it is at this enormous battle Jesus Christ will return at His Second Coming and finally defeat Satan. Here is what we do know about Armageddon directly from the Holy Bible:

• The signing of a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians will begin a 7 year period called the Tribulation period.

“And he (the antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years); and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease (rituals that will be reintroduced in the newly rebuilt Jewish Temple), and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it (the Temple) desolate, even until the consummation, and that shall be poured upon the desolate.”

Daniel 9:27

• Armageddon will occur exactly 7 years after the peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians is signed.

“Seventy weeks (490 years – see my post at God’s 490 year binding contract that’s almost over! as to the how we calculate there are 7 years yet to go in God’s calendar) are determined upon thy people (the Jews) and upon thy holy city (Jerusalem), to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity; and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

Daniel 9:24

• Armageddon will occur 3 1/2 years after the antichrist defiles the rebuilt 3rd Jewish Temple in an act referred to as the Abomination of Desolation, which will occur midway through the Tribulation period, as he was given authority over the earth for 3 1/2 years.

“And there was given unto him (the antichrist) a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (3 1/2 years)”

Revelation 13:5

• The armies of the world in support of the antichrist (and Satan) will gather together in Israel to once and for all defeat the Jews.

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan), and out of the mouth of the beast (antichrist), and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the WHOLE (capitals mine) world, to gather them to the battle (Armageddon) of that great day of God Almighty.”

Revelation 16:13-14

• Jesus will return at His Second Coming on a great white horse followed by an army of raptured saints.

“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgement upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

Jude 1:14-15

• Jesus will defeat and kill ALL the followers of the antichrist.

“And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

Revelation 19:21

• He will cast the antichrist and his false prophet into a lake of fire and brimstone.

“And the beast (antichrist) was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

Revelation 19:20

• He will bind up Satan for 1,000 years and throw him into a bottomless pit.

“And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years (Millennium) should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”

Revelation 20:2-3

Basically, most are correct regarding their understanding of the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus will return and finally defeat Satan. It will be a war of epic proportions so that the entire world will fully understand sin has finally been defeated; Christ has returned; and, Bible prophecy has been fulfilled.

While many preachers and members of the media refer to this coming battle which will signal the end of THIS age, very, very few then go on to explain what happens AFTER Armageddon. Is it the end of mankind? Does the world blow up, never to exist again? Is man judged and then goes to his eternal place in either heaven or hell?

Again, what we know from the Bible is after Armageddon the world will be ruled by Jesus for 1,000 years, a time period also referred to as the Millennium. I like to think of this time period as very similar to what the Garden of Eden would be like if man had not fallen in sin and continued to walk with God on earth. We know:

• Those who took the mark of the beast will have been killed at Armageddon so only those who refused the mark and who came to know Christ AFTER the Rapture will be alive on earth after Armageddon.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them and judgement was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived AND REIGNED (capitals mine) with Christ a thousand years.”

Revelation 20:4

• Jesus will rule the world with a “rod of iron” and be assisted by those saints which had been previously raptured with Him.

“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite  the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

Revelation 19:15

• Satan and sin will be totally absent from this time period.

“…that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:”

Revelation 20:3

• Death for the inhabitants of the earth during the Millennium will be exceedingly rare and apparently those men and women still in human form will marry and multiply.

“There shall be no more thence an infant of days , nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.”

Isaiah 65:20

“And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”

Isaiah 54:13

• At the end of the 1,000 years Satan will be set “free” for a very short period of time and will persuade some (probably those born to those who went through the tribulation) to rebel against the rule of Jesus.

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And shall go out and deceive the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

Revelation 20:7-8

• This last ever rebellion will be cut short.

“…and after that he (Satan) must be loosed a little season.”

Revelation 20:3

• At the conclusion of the 1,000 Millennium rule of Jesus, there will be a Great White Throne Judgement where the sinful dead will be raised, sentenced and given their eternal punishment in Hell.

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

Revelation 20:12-14

• The righteous in Christ will receive their rewards (not punishment).

“Then shall he  say also unto them on the left hand (those that has rejected Christ), Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.”

Matthew 25: 41 & 46

• There will be a new heaven!

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth WERE PASSED AWAY (capitals mine); and there was no more sea.”

Revelation 21:1

So, here we have multiple scriptures that talk about the battle at Armageddon; Christ’s triumphant Second Coming; the defeat of Satan; and, the beginning of a much sought after 1,000 year Millennium period with Christ at the helm, ruling with pure justice and sin dispersed from the world. As I said earlier, if you can imagine Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden BEFORE the fall, when they walked with God and had work they were responsible for, that is what awaits us in the future! The unrepentant dead will be in Hades awaiting their ultimate judgement at the Great White Throne Judgement of God. The faithful followers of Christ will help rule with Him having been either raptured previously and ascended to heaven or saved during the Tribulation period and now living in the 1,000 Millennium. In Revelation 21:6 Jesus says:

“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

Going through life knowing the consequence of our existence and the very simple path to eternal life with Christ is more comforting than anything else I can say. The Holy Bible makes it clear what is coming, both before Christ returns and after. By knowing of this beforehand, I remain comforted by His words and I encourage you, as always, to “…therefore, comfort one another with these words.”

May God Bless You!!