Zech. 14:12-15

12 And this shall be the plague [maggephah] wherewith the LORD [Yahovah] will smite [nagaph] all the people [`am] that have fought [tsaba'] against Jerusalem [Yaruwshalaim]; Their flesh [basar] shall consume away [maqaq] while they stand [`amad] upon their feet [regel], and their eyes [`ayin] shall consume away [maqaq] in their holes [chowr], and their tongue [lashown] shall consume away [maqaq] in their mouth [peh].

13 And it shall come to pass in that day [yowm], that a great [rab] tumult [mahuwmah] from the LORD [Yahovah] shall be among them; and they shall lay hold [chazaq] every one ['iysh] on the hand [yad] of his neighbour [rea`], and his hand [yad] shall rise up [`alah] against the hand [yad] of his neighbour [rea`].

14 And Judah [Yahuwdah] also shall fight [lacham] at Jerusalem [Yaruwshalaim]; and the wealth [chayil] of all the heathen [gowy] round about [cabiyb] shall be gathered together ['acaph], gold [zahab], and silver [keceph], and apparel [beged], in great [ma`od] abundance [rob].

15 And so shall be the plague [maggephah] of the horse [cuwc], of the mule [pered], of the camel [gamal], and of the ass [chamowr], and of all the beasts [bahemah] that shall be in these [hem] tents [machaneh], as this plague [maggephah]. KJV-Interlinear

12 Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. 13 And it will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another's hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. 14 And Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. 15 So also like this plague, will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and all the cattle that will be in those camps. NASB

Now we have a brief flashback to the final moments of the final war of history. Recall that a sudden darkness will cover the entire world as the enemies of God clash with each other and Jerusalem.

Confusion and terror will set in, and folks will be so tense that any little noise from the darkness will be met with violence. They will, in effect, be shooting each other. But that will not be the worst of it all.

Earthquakes, and who knows what else, will begin to occur, and many more folks across the planet will die.

Then the light of Christ s return will shine around the world, and all will look skyward to see His coming.

Believers everywhere will be relieved, but they will stay right where they are, for they should know that the end is not yet.

Christ s feet will touch down on the Mount of Olives, and that is when the real fireworks of judgment begin.

The planet will rip itself apart. Mountains will collapse, islands will sink away, and cities will crumble where they stand. Those believers in Jerusalem, are the only ones who have standing orders from the Bible, to move out when the earthquake opens up a valley to the east of Jerusalem. And out they will go. Some walking, some probably being carried by others, some running. Their escape is on.

The enemy forces will be in hot pursuit, but they have to get by Christ first, who is standing on the Mount of Olives. They won t succeed. In fact, things are going to get very ugly, worldwide, very soon.

Rev. 14:20

20 And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses ' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles. NASB

To the north of Jerusalem, huge armies will still be in the heat of battle. When the light of Christ restores all vision on earth, those forces will not only try shooting at Christ, but they will be shooting at each other too.

Now let s just speculate as to the numbers of people that might still be alive at this point in time.

Lets assume that the Rapture occurs today while our population is six and a half billion. If two billion people are removed at the Rapture, that would leave four and a half billion people to go into the Tribulation. During the tribulation, half of the world s population will die from various troubles that will plague the planet. That leaves a little over two billion people to face Armageddon.

Now, if the Rapture does not occur for another hundred years or so, and the planet has a population of say, fifty billion, then we have to again, assume a Raptured number, perhaps ten percent, leaving forty-five billions to go into the Tribulation. With half dying, that leaves some twenty-two plus billion to face Armageddon.

Now not all of these will be in the military, and not all of the military forces of the world will be in the Middle East, but a lot of them will. This still leaves a huge number to make the prophecy of Revelation 14:20, possible. When a valley fills up with the blood of the dead, for two hundred miles, and at a height of about five feet, that means there will be a lot of bodies lying everywhere.

In the final moments of Armageddon, Christ will command, Enough! or some such command, and all enemies of God will die right where they stand. They will not die of nuclear explosions worldwide, that would mess up the planet for future life, but they will die from a selective choice by Christ.

The enemies of God, along with their livestock, will all die right where they stand.

Any non-enemy animals will be unharmed. Any persons, who have believed in Christ and have passed the recent tests of faith, will not die. Only the evil of the world and all that it has been exposed to, will die.

That could mean a huge number of people, perhaps in the many tens of billions, will fall instantly. In the final battle, the weapons of man will not be used by God to destroy evil. But, Gods will and command will be all that is necessary to destroy instantly, all of evil humanity.

This is a tremendous contrast to what the saved people will have when the battle is finally over.

We saw briefly in the last few days, a picture of what the Millennium will be like.

After the battle finally ends, then all of the booty, which the invading armies most likely took, will be taken back, by those who survive to live in the Millennium.

Now is the time to post a prayer.