Journal: Conservative Theological Journal
Volume: CTJ 05:14 (Mar 2001)
Article: The Campaign Of Armageddon And The Second Coming Of Jesus The Messiah
Author: Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum

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CTJ 5:14 (March 2001) p. 7

The Campaign Of Armageddon
And
The Second Coming Of Jesus The Messiah

Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum

Director, Ariel Ministries, Tustin, CA

This is an edited version of a paper that was presented to the Pre-Trib Research Study Group in Dallas, TX in December 2000.

The two climactic events of the Great Tribulation are the Campaign of Armageddon and the Second Coming. A considerable amount of data is given about this time period in the Scriptures. One of the greatest difficulties in the study of eschatology is placing these events in chronological sequence in order to see what exactly will happen in the Campaign of Armageddon. This paper is an attempt to do just that.

The Campaign of Armageddon can be divided into eight stages and this, in turn, will facilitate an understanding of the sequence of events.

The First Stage: The Assembling Of The Allies Of The Antichrist

The Campaign of Armageddon will begin with the sixth bowl judgment (Rev. 16:12–16). With the outpouring of the sixth bowl judgment, the Euphrates River will be dried up (v. 12) for the purpose of making it easier for the antichrist to assemble his forces for the Campaign. Although it has become common to identify the kings that come from the sunrising, or even more commonly as “the kings of the east,” with the Chinese and to combine them with the army of the 200 million of Revelation nine, neither consistency of

CTJ 5:14 (March 2001) p. 8

exegesis nor the structure of the book of Revelation will allow for this. Relative to the structure of Revelation, the “200 million” and the kings of the east belong to two different judgments that must be kept distinct and cannot be combined. The “200 million” are in a trumpet judgment, whereas the kings of the east are in a bowl judgment. Furthermore, within the discussion of Revelation nine, it was shown that the 200 million are demons and not men, Chinese or otherwise. In regard to consistency of interpretation, it also rules out the kings of the east as a reference to the Chinese. Everywhere else in the Scriptures, the east always refers to Mesopotamia (Assyria and Babylonia). Consistency demands that this, too, would be a reference to Mesopotamia and not to China (e.g., Mat. 2:1). The fact that the antichrist’s capital city of Babylon will sit on the banks of the Euphrates River further attests to the fact that the kings who come from the east will be Mesopotamian kings. Thus, consistency of interpretation also militates against matching this reference with China. Consisten...

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