War! No one wants war, the pain, the sorrow, and the grief that all have to endure. This war that Christ speaks of is different than all the other wars known to mankind. When this war begins there will only be one way to bring it to an end and having any life left. Do we know where it will take place? Who will be involved in this war? Will man destroy each other off the face of the earth? Let's begin with where this war will take place.  “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;” (Joel 3:9-16).

    The motivation for the Church of God is to witness for Christ. In this present age of Grace the Bible teaches that we are living at the very end of time, great trouble is coming upon the earth (Matthew 24:21).

    I believe this war will last for seven years and it will occur before the rapture of the church (Matthew 24:29-31).  The Bible tells us that you will see the great tribulation that is found in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament prophecies.  The first six seals are in the first six chapters of Revelation and from the seventh chapter to the sixteenth chapter will give us a glimpse of God’s wrath in the tribulation.  This picture is indeed a frightening one that the whole world must go through, but for the saints they shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1). 

    Here are human souls who have so hardened their hearts against God that absolutely nothing can bring them to repentance.  Actually confronted with long predictions and often scoffed at the judgment of God, they can only find it in their hearts to curse God to his face and plunge madly to their own destruction.  What a warning against hardening one’s heart in this day of Grace!

    Once again Zechariah sees Jerusalem as a ravaged city, suffering the worse consequences of siege and enemy occupation.  We recognize this chapter as a symbolic description of the conflict between good and evil and the final victory of the Lord.  When the enemy has done his worst against the Holy City and its inhabitants then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations.
  
    “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Zechariah 14:1-2).

    The power of evil forces seems too great to resist, Satan the dragon is the leader.  Here is a sudden but timely warning to put every man on his guard when this sudden and unexpected tribulation should take place.  “Armageddon” the mount of the assembly or the destruction of their army. 
   
    “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Revelation 16:14-16).

    Here Gog (Russia) is represented as himself planning the attack on the Israelites, but he does not know that he is being lured on by Jehovah that He may be glorified in his destruction.  When he comes into Israel, Jehovah God will strike his weapons from his hand, and his soldiers shall lie unburied.  Gog believes his campaign against God’s people is of his own planning, but, in reality it is part of God’s plan to reveal His Holiness and Power in the eyes of many nations.  The devastation upon Gog’s forces is destroyed.  Gog will be utterly defeated.  It will require a lengthy time to burn the weapons of the enemy and bury the dead.