Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Revelation 16:16 speaks of the sovereignty of God in preparing the final battlefield at the end of the Tribulation: “And He gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Although Satan, the Antichrist, the Antichrist’s chief aide, and the demons are agitating “the Kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle,” God is in complete control of the situation. The specificity of this prophecy should grab everyone’s attention: “Armageddon” is literally the “Mount of Megiddo,” near the city of Megiddo on the Plain of Jezreel (also called the Valley of Jezreel, the Great Plain, and the Plain of Esdraelon) in northern Israel. Napoleon, certainly a military expert, called this area “the most natural battlefield of the whole earth.” This final campaign (the literal meaning of the Greek word for “battle”) will include this precise location (as is detailed later in Revelation 19). Other areas will be involved, too (Revelation 14:20 speaks of a 200-mile front, and Zechariah 14:1-3 details conflict in and around Jerusalem itself). All of these exact geographical references remind us of the precision of the Word of God and should encourage us to continue to trust fully in our Savior.