Army Of Israel Moves
In due time, Israel, under the direction of Christ and the saints, moves into the north to free the Jews held there (Jer. 3:12-18; Jer. 16:14,15). Under the direction and instruction of Elijah (and others who may have accompanied him there) the Jews in the north will be ready to unite with the Jewish army from Israel. The men will be incorporated with the army while the women and children will be taken to Israel. (See Jer. 31:712).
The Jews will move steadily forward against each country that lies in their pathway. As each city or region is taken, the saints will move forward behind the lines to restore order and convert the people to God. It may be that Elijah will continue to lead the Jews in their conquest of the countries. Through a scarcity of information about his role, some uncertainty necessarily exists about his full and complete work. This conquest in “the wilderness of the people” (Ezek. 20:35) will serve as a test of faith for the fighting Jews, and will give God the opportunity to purge out the rebels (Ezek. 20:33-38). Every place of resistance will eventually fall to the Jewish army.
It may be that the Jewish army will simultaneously invade the east and the west; that a part will he assigned to one direction, while another part will turn toward a different area. Or it may be that several invasions will be launched synchronously, because in lsa. 11:14-16 we read of different contingents of the Jews entering the land of Israel from opposite directions, seemingly at the same time. Some coming from Egypt cross the Red Sea, while others coming from Assyria cross the Euphrates river.
Papal European Coalition
Eventually the whole world will be conquered and subjugated, but the center of attention is focused on the European invasion because it is in Europe where the false prophet of the “mystery of iniquity” ecclesiastical system of apostasy resides (2 Thess. 2:3-12). As the Jews move forward under the guiding hand of Christ and the saints, the Papal European coalition of powers attempt to resist them. The Papal European powers will resist Christ, believing Him to be an imposter (Rev . 1 7 :12-14). Of course many individuals may disassociate themselves from the action, because a warning will go forth to the people of the region: “Come out of her MY people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4).
King of Kings
A symbolical picture of this conflict is given to us in Rev. 19:11-21. The scene begins with heaven being opened, which seems to represent the Jewish army being sent from the land of Israel to carry the conflict into Europe. One sits astride a White horse. The rider is Christ. The white horse represents the purified Jewish army (Zech. 10:3, 5). The armies on white horses with Him are the glorified saints as His assistants in directing the Jews. They are clothed in fine linen, white and clean, which represents the righteousness of the saints (Rev. 19:8). Christ and the saints direct the war in righteousness.
The sharp sword that goes out of Christ’s mouth, with which He smites the nations, is another figure or symbol of the Jews (Zech. 9:13). There will be a great slaughter of the combination, or confederacy, of the ecclesiastical and secular powers that oppose Christ. Verse 19 of Rev. 19 has the same meaning as Rev. 17:13, 14 so that by “the beast and the kings of the earth” is meant the aggregation of the ten horn powers of Europe under the direction or influence of “the false prophet” or the ecclesiastical head of the European powers that will oppose Christ. Continental Europe is designated here.
The Beast and False Prophet
The Papal European coalition of powers are defeated, and the east (the secular leaders) is taken and with him the false prophet, or from what follows descriptively of him, the pope’ who happens to be in office at that time, and his associate’s such as cardinals, bishops, etc.
In the 12th chapter of Revelation John sees the pagan Roman beast power replaced by the Catholic Roman beast power. In Rev’. 13 John sees the Roman Catholic beast power evolve into the Roman papal beast power. The word “beast” symbolizes a ferocious, destructive, antagonistic, and hostile power toward those who oppose it, and this includes those who possess the Truth of God. In verse 11 there was depicted the rise of a two horned beast power representing the alliance of the pope and emperor of Central Europe, such as existed in the days of Charlemagne the great (from 800 A.D. on) and which is referred to by historians as the Holy Roman Empire. In time (1870) the pope lost his temporal power. It seems from Rev. 17:11-14 that some kind of confederacy or alliance will exist again between the false prophet ecclesiastical system and the political leaders of Continental Europe.
In Rev. 16:13 we have the dragon, beast, and false prophet mentioned. But in Revelation 19:20 we have only the beast and false prophet. There is no mention of the dragon. This is because the power represented by the dragon (the Russian Confederacy) has been disposed of before this time, on the mountains of Israel. It is well known that Constantine transferred the seat of government from the city of Rome to Byzantium which was renamed Constantinople, and which is known today as Baluchistan, Turkey. Constantinople then became the seat of the Roman secular power. The dragon is a symbol used to designate this power. When Russia overruns the city of Istanbul (Constantinople) it becomes the dragon power. When the Gogian forces that invade Israel are disposed of there, the dragon power is eclipsed and disappears.
Cast alive into a Lake of Fire
Rev. 19:11-21 is a symbolical picture of the invasion of Europe by the Jewish army acting under the direction of Christ and the saints. The leaders of the confederated ecclesia-secular system (the beast and false prophet) are taken and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. While the remnant are disposed of in the usual way of being slain with the sword, the political and religious leaders will he arraigned before Christ and the saints, and will be convicted and sentenced and subjected to a destruction by judicial decree.
There was an example of this kind of procedure when the leaders of the Nazi regime, at the end of World War 2, were brought before a tribunal at Nuremberg and were made to give an account for their war crimes. It could well be that the place where the beast and false prophet leaders are brought to trial, for the purpose of being denounced and receiving sentence by judicial decree is Rome itself. There would be something fitting in using Rome which is the chief city of the fourth beast system or power of Daniel 7, for the place where judgment upon this system is pronounced. And it MAY be that the place chosen for the true Christ to personally encounter the false one or Antichrist, is that of the Vatican (2 Thess. 2:4, 8)
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One