"Yes it does," Darryl replied. He looked up from his Bible and
into Jamie's tear-stained face.
Jamie choked back the tears. "What a horrible battle; it will be an
awful way to die!"
"Yes, it will be a horrible ending. The good news is that on this day,
all Israel will believe and accept that Jesus is the Messiah. Zechariah
described this in chapter 12, verses 9 and 10." Darryl turned the page
of his Bible and read. "'On that day I will set out to destroy all
the nations that attack Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They
will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him
as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves
for a firstborn son.'"
"That must be referring to Jesus being crucified and his wrists and
ankles being pierced with huge iron spikes," Jamie concluded.
"You are 100 percent correct!" her father exclaimed. "John
recorded some additional information in Revelation 19:11 through 20:3. '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 G-d. 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 G-d Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He
has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND L-RD 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 G-d, 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
who has performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he
had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped
his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning
sulfur. 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. And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key
to the abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon,
that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for 1000
years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to
keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the 1000 years were ended.'"
"Let me make sure I understand this," Brian said. "All of
the armies of the world gather in Israel for a big battle. Jesus comes back
to the earth at this time with all the armies of heaven. Jesus, of course,
wins the battle and carnivorous birds feast on the carcasses of the dead.
Then the antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire
and the devil is thrown into a bottomless pit."
"Exactly right!" Darryl said proudly. "Now let's move on
to chapter twelve."
