shows what tremendous decima tion of mankind will be experi enced there. There will be powers of the East, North, South and West (the latter known as the revived Roman Em pire). When we see the far Eastern nations come alive—China, Japan, Korea, India and the rest—what a sure sign of the nearness of Armageddon! A committee has al ready been formed in the Holy Land to do research and prelimin ary work on the rebuilding of the Temple. Israel may be dwelling in the land in relative or imagined security for the moment but that is when sudden destruction is the nearest. As believers in Christ we could see Jesus return today, with in the hour or even in the next five minutes. How glorious that would be. The end of the times of the Gentiles certainly appears to be upon us. Daniel says that there is going to be agony such as there never was (12i1). No student of world affairs needs to be told the importance of the Middle Near East in international relationships. It is the most dan gerous powder keg in existence. It is the meeting ground between the civilizations of the East and the West. To this area we owe so much of our civilization, culture, philos ophy, science and religion. The area covers 2,800,000 square miles. It is the only central land bridge in the world that connects three continents — Europe, Asia and Af rica. It has been the sought-after prize by every military conqueror from Alexander the Great to Hit ler. The Kremlin has had its own plans for this region. This area is important, too, be cause of its basic resources. More
conspicuous feature in the land scape. The total area is much like a triangle with its sides 20 miles by 15 by 15 miles. It extends from Haifa all the way to the Jordan Val ley. In a sense, it could be regarded as an ideal battleground, one which will be the most famous in the world. It was in the early part of the last century that the great mil itary strategist, Napoleon the First, overlooked this area. Standing on that promentory he declared, “What a magnificent place to ma neuver all the armies of the nations of the world!" From that vantage point one can look down to see Bethlehem where the Lord of glory was incarnate. This is the place where it started and also where it will end. Of course, some of the most important and pivotal con flicts of history have already been fought here (Judges 5:19; 6:33; I Kings 8:9, II Kings 9:27; 23:20; II Chronicles 35:20-27). So Jews, Gentiles, Christian crusaders, anti- Christian Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Turks and warriors out of every nation under heaven have pitched their tents on the plains of Megiddo to wage war with one another. The Bible's picture of the battles that are going to be fought there in the future is not so simple as some may assume. Joel 3:1-14 tells us that the conflict in Jerusalem is going to have two stages. There will be initial success for the ene my with the spoil of Jerusalem di vided. Zechariah 14:1, 2 shows the ultimate victory for the forces of the Lord. There is going to be a cry for all the birds of the heavens to come and to eat the flesh of small and great, kings and cap tains (Revelation 19:11-16). This Page 12
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