What Happens Next?

The Bible provides a considerable amount of detail concerning the dramatic events that will occur at the time of the end. However, the details are scattered among many different prophetic passages throughout numerous books of the Old and New Testaments.

Zechariah’s prediction that Jerusalem would become a problem for the whole world, and that the nations would unite to impose their solution, is found in the opening verses of his twelfth chapter.  Zechariah continues to discuss events related to Jerusalem through the end of chapter fourteen.  However, it is not clear whether all of these developments are chronological, or even closely related in time. Here are some highlights:

“‘On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.’”

—Zechariah 12:6 NIV

Could this be a reference to the time since 1948, when the small Jewish state has been victorious in one war after another, fought against Arab neighbors who were determined to eliminate the state of Israel?

“‘On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them.  On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.’”

—Zechariah 12:8-9 NIV

Chapter fourteen seems to imply that the final attack on Jerusalem by all the nations will be successful at first, before God steps in to reverse their apparent victory:

“‘I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.  Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.’”

—Zechariah 14:2-3 NIV

But we know for sure that victory belongs to God, and that he will eventually triumph over the nations.

“This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem:  Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.  On that day men will be stricken by the LORD with great panic.  Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other.”

—Zechariah 14:12-14 NIV

The apostle John was imprisoned on a Roman penal island called Patmos, when he received his divine revelation of future events.  He told of the time when the leaders of all the nations would assemble their forces at the place in Israel called Armageddon, or Mount Megiddo:

“. . . they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. . . .  Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”

—Revelation 16:14-16 NIV

John’s Revelation goes on to describe the victory of the Kingdom of God over the kingdoms of men:

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.  With justice he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns.  He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  

“The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.  ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’  He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.  

“And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.’  Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.  But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet . . .  The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.”

—Revelation 19:11-21 NIV

These prophecies must be pieced together with those found scattered elsewhere in the Old and New Testaments. The Hebrew prophet Joel recorded these warnings from God about the armies of all the nations converging on the valley of Jehoshaphat in Israel:

 “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 and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.  And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.  Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine?  will ye render me a recompence?  and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head.”

—Joel 3:2-4 KJV

Joel’s inspired description of God Almighty’s intervention on behalf of Jerusalem truly inspires fear and awe—with the action again focusing on Jerusalem and on the valley of Jehoshaphat in Israel:

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.  Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about:

“thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.  Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.  Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

“The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.  The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.  So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. . . . But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.”

—Joel 3:9-17, 20 KJV

The prophet Isaiah likewise uses powerful language to describe the coming battle when God will “gather all nations” and wage war from heaven against humans who make themselves his enemies:

“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her  . . .  For this is what the LORD says: ‘I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;  . . .  and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.’  . . .  the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes. See, the LORD is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.  For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the LORD. . . .  ‘And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory . . . ,’   says the LORD.  ‘And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.’”

—Isaiah 66:10-24 NIV

Similar powerful language is used by New Testament writers. Peter, for example, reminds readers of the earlier prophecies and of the global deluge of Noah’s day as proof that God can and will intervene again in the affairs of mankind:

“I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.  First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised?  Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’  But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

—2 Peter 3:2-7 NIV

These prophecies are not provided so that we will know ahead of time exactly what will happen and exactly when. Rather, they are provided so that we will know that God knows exactly what will happen, and so that this knowledge will motivate us to put our trust in him.  Moses explained that some information belongs to God alone, and that the information God gives us is sufficient for us to do what is right:

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” —Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV

Prophecy is usually best understood in retrospect. We may have twenty-twenty hindsight in our understanding of fulfilled prophecy, but seldom do we have twenty-twenty foresight as to how the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled.

This fact is abundantly clear from the failure on the part of the Jewish religious leaders to recognize clearly all the prophecies about the Messiah and to understand them correctly before he appeared.  Jesus called his followers’ attention to many of those prophecies and how they applied to him and were fulfilled by him.  And the apostles’ writings went on to explain how many more versus in the Old Testament applied to the Messiah, and pointed out how those were fulfilled by Jesus.  Yet, serious Jewish students of Scripture had been unable to discern the correct scenario: that the Messiah would not arrive as a conquering hero, but would appear humble and would be killed and would only later return in power.

The same may well be true with the prophecies about the final conflict over Jerusalem.  We may best understand them after the events take place.

The Apostle Paul wrote,

“Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

“But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.  You are all children of the light and children of the day.  We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.  So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.”

—1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 NIV

Jesus devoted a significant portion of his teaching to the subject of his return and the end of the world.  Many of his parables are devoted to this theme, describing how people would be caught by surprise, and would be rewarded or punished at that time.  You may wish to read, for example, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep and the goats—all found in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew—and the parable of the faithful and wise servant at the end of the twenty-fourth chapter.

Jesus encouraged us to

“‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 

. . . be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.’”  —Matthew 24:42-44 NIV

We can “be ready” by living the way the Bible teaches us to live, and we can “keep watch” by eagerly praying for Christ’s return and by paying attention to world events that point to the imminence of his coming.  Which events?  When Jesus told them about the coming destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, his disciples asked him, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3)  Jesus answered them with a lengthy discussion of future world events, recorded for us in Matthew chapters 24-25, Mark chapter 13 and Luke chapter 21. 

After speaking about armies surrounding and destroying Jerusalem, and the Jewish people being scattered worldwide, Jesus went on to speak of future events that would lead up to his return in power:

“‘There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.’”                             —Luke 21:23-28

Meanwhile we can take comfort in these words of Jesus:

“When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near.”

—Luke 21:28 TEV

So, we can confidently expect a final conflict between God and the nations—a conflict that will somehow involve Israel and Jerusalem—but we must content ourselves with knowing what the final outcome will be, without knowing all the details of what will happen between now and then.