Who Goes to War at Armageddon?

And now, Contending for the Faith. In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call. Here’s this week’s question: 

“Dear Dave and Tom: My question concerns the Valley of Megiddo in Israel, where it is said that Armageddon will be fought, or at least start, and end up in Jerusalem. Could you help me get the following lined up in order? One: Who converges in that valley? Two: What is their purpose in going there? Three: Do they fight each other? And if so, what for? Four: The Bible says that blood will be up to the horse’s bridle. And five: Since that is true, it doesn’t seem many troops will be left to go up to Jerusalem when Jesus returns to it. When I stand there on the rim of that Valley, I would like to teach the truth of what is going to happen there. Please help me.”

Dave: First of all, “who goes there?” That’s pretty clear. Zechariah 14…now, it’s not as clear from Ezekiel 38, and most prophecy teachers spend a lot of time analyzing Gog, Magog, Gomer, Persia, Ethiopia, and they can find correlation’s why these are the Muslim countries and they’re going to be allied with Russia, and so forth. But you get the—Gog and Magog, you find that in Revelation 20, they’re going to come against Jerusalem, against Jesus, at the end of the Millennial reign, and it says like the “sand of the sea”—I believe it means all nations. Now, it names some of them. But when you go to Zechariah 14, for example, again, it’s quite clear there. God says He’s going to bring all nations. Let me read it—v. 2: “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken,” and so forth. If you went to Joel:3:2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
See All..., again God says He’s going to punish all nations. He says, Joel:3:2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
See All...: “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people whom they have scattered, and parted my land,” and so forth. So I think it’s quite clear. This is Armageddon, and all the nations of the world are going to come against Israel.

Tom: Now, Dave, earlier you said that at the end of the Millennium, but…

Dave: No, Gog and Magog, that’s another war.

Tom: Okay. I just wanted to make that distinction.

Dave: Right, right. So that’s why I say in Ezekiel 38 it talks about Gog and Magog, and people spend of lot of time analyzing it. But we get the same expression in Revelation 20, and it just simply means all of the nations.

Tom: Now, what draws—from their standpoint, what draws these nations to that area?

Dave: Well, Tom, I believe that what draws them is their hatred for Israel. They’re going to effect a “final solution” to the “Jewish problem.” God is drawing them there. He’s going to bring them, and He says, Ezekiel:38:16And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
See All...…well, let’s go back first of all to v. 11. “Who is coming?” This is what they’re asking. And “where are they going, and against whom,” and so forth. And He’s talking to Antichrist here: “And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.” That wall that Israel is building is going to come down. Obviously there will be a false peace. 

And, Daniel:8:25And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
See All..., of Antichrist it says, “Through peace he will destroy many.” So this is the false peace. Okay? And Israel thinks it’s okay, because Antichrist has guaranteed this. Then he double-crosses, and he’s going to go against them. 

“Why are you going there?” To take a spoil, to take a prey, to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited upon the people that are gathered out of the nations. So obviously this is Israel. These people have been scattered everywhere. They haven’t just been brought from Egypt into this land, no, they’ve been brought from all the nations back to this land, and they are prospering, which is amazing. We have high tech companies in Silicon Valley buying up the Israeli companies. These people are brilliant, but they have been able to accomplish some amazing things. They feed Europe out of that little tiny land, and Russia with its huge land couldn’t feed itself.

Tom: So,it’s hatred against Israel, but it’s also what they have. But, Dave, in the Valley of Megiddo, who fights whom?

Dave: Well, Tom, the Bible talks about their going to turn their weapons upon one another. Apparently there will be confusion. There are some prophecy teachers—I’m not criticizing them for it, but—wow! They have studied all of these passages in such depth, and they’ve got, you know, Jesus goes first to (…), then He comes out of (…), His garment soaked in blood. And so they’ve got a campaign here, and I’ve seen some of their charts where the (…) were—where this group is going to come from, and that group comes from… 

Tom, I cannot follow something if the Bible doesn’t give me enough detail and I’ve got to study it. Well, there are things worth studying, but to try to study the various military campaigns or where they might go or what is exactly going to happen… All I can say is all the nations of the world, under Antichrist, will come to destroy the Jews, to wipe them out.

And Christ will destroy Antichrist with the word of His mouth. He doesn’t have to fight a battle here and another battle there. No, He will just wipe them out. So that’s enough for me. 

But, Tom, let me just read it at the end here. It says, “You’re going to come up against my people Israel,” this is Ezekiel:38:16And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
See All..., “as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me.” And then He goes on—He says, v. 19: “For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel, So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of heaven, and the beast of the field.” And it goes on, “Every creeping thing will shake at my presence,” it says. God is coming back to this earth. The mountains will be thrown down, and so forth. “I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.” 

So there’s apparently confusion, and they’re fighting one another—not necessarily with swords, but that was the weapon of the day. But this will be with their most sophisticated weapons today. “And I will plead with them for what they’ve done with pestilence, with blood, I’ll rain upon them fire, and so forth, hailstones, and fire,” etc. So God is going to bring these people, He’s going to wipe them out, He’s going to punish the nations for what they’ve done to Israel, and I just can’t follow all the details, and I’m not sure of what they actually mean, because Jesus will do it all.