Introduction
I grew up with a Catholic grade school education. We prayed daily, saluted the flag, and were educated in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Along with this we daily had some kind of religious education. Unfortunately, my educators (Nuns) were not well-educated in the Bible. I specifically remember them teaching about Jesus’s temptation on the mount. We would all laugh knowing (as we were taught) that Jesus could not be tempted and that it was all a lie. Later, after I became a Born Again Christian and student of the Bible I realized that Jesus’s temptations were real temptations. When Jesus was offered food by Satan we know that after 40 days of fasting, He was very hungry. Yet Jesus refused. Afterward, Jesus was tempted by Satan to throw Himself off the mountain proving the scriptures true that His angels would protect Him. Jesus again refused. The last temptation was that Satan would give Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would only bow down to him. We all laughed at this in school being told that all the kingdoms belonged to God, not Satan. We were told again that Satan was lying. We never knew that the kingdoms of the world were given to Satan at the fall of Adam. All these temptations were real temptations. Jesus could have failed. If He could not have failed they were not actual temptations. Many Christians do not believe that Jesus could have failed His task of redeeming mankind. I believe that if He could not have failed the task would be moot. The fact that He did not fail makes the case that we can make it also because his death and resurrection follow all Biblical principles of propitiatory sacrifice. Below, is a short synopsis of the two major battles He fought along with the final battle.
Definitions
A Battle
A skirmish or fight can lead to warfare which that are many battles. Often it is a battle for control of the mind and the body as in the battle at Gethsemane that Jesus fought. It can also be very spiritual, physical, or both. Battles can involve heavenly powers or earthly dominance propagated by evil.
War
War is usually composed of many battles. Winning a battle does not necessarily win a war nor does losing battles lose the war. Check the Bible and see if this is not true. The final battle, described below, is a battle that ends all wars on earth bringing back reminiscence of the Garden of Eden before the fall of mankind and much more.
The Battle at Gethsemane
“Then Jesus led his disciples to an orchard called “The Oil Press.” He told them, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” He took Peter, Jacob, and John with him. However, an intense feeling of great sorrow plunged his soul into deep sorrow and agony. And he said to them, “My heart is overwhelmed and crushed with grief. It feels as though I’m dying. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Then he walked a short distance away, and overcome with grief, he threw himself face down on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if there is any way you can deliver me from this suffering, please take it from me. Yet what I want is not important, for I only desire to fulfill your plan for me.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen him. (Matthew 26:36 -39) TPT
When we read the Bible account of the suffering and death of our Lord we often skip over those things we think we know. We’ve heard the account so many times it becomes a boring read. On the Mount of Olives (Gethsemane), Jesus felt the full weight of His upcoming battle at Calvary. Having spent His entire life doing the will of the Father and spending His whole life in communion with Him, Jesus suddenly realizes the full brunt of His Father turning from Him because of the weight of our sin upon His shoulders. This is what is meant by the propitiatory sacrifice mentioned above. The entire wrath of His Father fell on Him, not us. The Bible says He plunged into intense sorrow and agony being crushed with grief. He sweats blood. Asking His Father 3 times to take this task away from Him, He relented saying: “Not my will but Thine be done”. Any normal person would have died but being full of the Holy Ghost, He lived for another day to complete the task assigned by His Father. Some commentaries say that this suffering was much worse than that incurred on the Cross. On Gethsemane, He truly realized what dying for our sins and taking our sins upon Himself meant – being absent from His Father. It was Jesus’s hell.
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” (Romans 3:25) KJV
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2) KJV
The Battle of Golgotha
The next day comes. Being captured, tortured, and humiliated He was stripped from all His garments and nailed to a tree naked for all to see (no loin cloth as depicted in drawings and sculptures). While they were nailing Him to the cross He shouted “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (not “I forgive but I won’t forget” and some Christians do). Then he forgives the thief on the cross beside Him. As He hung on the cross His greatest fear became real. His Father turns His head away from His Son Who became sin, and looks the other way in revulsion (God the Father could not bear to look at sin). Jesus then shouts “Eli! Eli! L’mah sh’vaktani?” (My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?) Not being able to withstand any more Jesus gives up His own life (it was not taken from Him) and dies.
The Final Battle
I have a T-shirt that says, “Spoiler Alert – Jesus Wins”. It’s fun sometimes to read these things and to sing songs and hear preaching that depicts Satan as a toothless lion. I, however, am very careful about how I speak of our enemy Satan. Satan, a creation of God Almighty, is so powerful that he was able to bruise the heal of Jesus our redeemer, and is an unnerving enemy whom we must approach with caution. We must remember that it is Jesus who defeated Satan on the cross not us. We still battle every day. Our ultimate battle is for salvation, the salvation of Israel and the world and to rid the world we know from evil. We, His creation, have many skirmishes (battles) along the way with sickness, disease, relationships, earthly wars, floods, famine, earthquakes, etc. No doubt, the final battle is coming soon. It will be an awesome supernatural spectacle to behold.
Here is the account of the final battle from The Passion Translation of Revelation 19: 11-21. Note this as you read the scripture below.
- The armies of heaven follow Jesus on white horses. Jesus is Anoni-Tza’ot, the God of the armies of Israel. Some translate this as God of hosts.
- The Kings of the earth and beasts gather to fight the one on a white horse.
- The armies of the wild beast and false prophet were killed by the man on the white horse, not killed by us.
- The wild beast and the false prophet were not killed but thrown into the lake of fire. This is because spirits have no bodies and cannot be killed they can only be bound.
“Then I saw heaven opened, and suddenly a white horse appeared. The name of the one riding it was Faithful and True, and with pure righteousness, he judges and rides to battle. He wore many regal crowns, and his eyes were flashing like flames of fire. He had a secret name inscribed on him that’s known only to himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title is called the Word of God. Following him on white horses were the armies of heaven, wearing white fine linen, pure and bright. A sharp sword came from his mouth with which to conquer the nations, and he will shepherd them with an iron scepter. He will trample out the wine in the winepress of the wrath of God. On his robe and his thigh, he had inscribed a name: King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to all the flying birds of the sky, “Come and gather for God’s great supper! Come and devour the flesh of the kings, generals, and soldiers, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all people, slave or free, lowly or famous.” Then I saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to wage war against the rider on the white horse and against his armies. The wild beast was captured, as was the false prophet who had performed miracle signs in his presence. (It was by these miracle signs that he had deceived those with the mark of the wild beast and those who worshiped its image.) The wild beast and the false prophet were both thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur, and their armies were killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the white horse. And all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.”
“Then I saw a mighty angel descending from the heavenly realm, holding a heavy chain and a key—the key of the deep. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent known as the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:1, 2) TPT
“After the thousand years are over, Satan will be let loose from his prison and will go out and deceive the nations of the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog. He will bring them together for battle, and they will be as numerous as grains of sand on the seashore. They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s holy believers and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. Then the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the same place with the wild beast and the false prophet—the lake of fire and sulfur—where they will be tormented day and fought forever and ever.” (Revelation 20: 7-10) TPT
Conclusion
The war for the earth and God’s creation on earth is over after the final battle. Our enemy, Satan, is defeated. However, here’s something to think about. Are there more battles to come? Jesus said we would rule and reign with Him. What do we rule and reign over? Ruling and reigning suggest something that needs rule and governance. Is that us ruling and governing? Is Jesus going to stop creating? I feel there are many more exciting things to come that have not yet been revealed and are not in “The Book”.
Enough said
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16) ESV
