THE REAL WAR
(Formerly entitled "The Muslim War")

by
Pastor Don Chrysler
Pastor of the Happy Days Bible Church
Zephyrhills, Florida

MUSLIM PROPHECIES IN EZEKIEL

Ezekiel chapters 35 through 48 give a treasure house of chronological prophecies concerning the last days in which we live. Chapter 35 begins with a curse and judgment upon Mount Seir, which is in the land of Edom, the land of the Muslim descendants of Ishmael and Esau today. The purpose of the judgment is given in Ezekiel 35:

3: …Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.

5: Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.

10: Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
11: Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.
12: And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13: Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14: Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
15: As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Idumea is the ancient land of Edom. Today, the Muslims to the east of Israel occupy it. This Muslim hatred for Israel is universal. In response to the Twin Towers bombing, here is a quote from the head of the United Muslim Association writing in the Tampa Tribune on November 17, 2001.

"Since Sept. 11, Americans want to know what is behind such anti-American
sentiment in the Muslim world…Our (America's) support for…Israel has been
responsible for the killing and maiming of thousands of Lebanese, Palestinians and
Iranians.

"Through our $3 billion-a-year aid to Israel and our veto at the Security Council of the United Nations, we have supported Israel's unjust and illegal occupation of Palestinian lands. Jews from all over the world obtain rights of citizenship in Israel and become settlers in occupied territories, while Israel denies Christian and Muslim Palestinians their basic human and nationals rights. Israel, too, is guilty of conducting state terrorism against the Lebanese and Palestinians."

On November 15, 2001, the Tampa Tribune interviewed a group of college-aged Muslim young people. They expressed their hatred of the American policy of "U.S. support for Israel over the Palestinians." They justified the bombing of the twin towers and the Palestinians dancing in the streets as follows:

"If you put yourself in their shoes, you'd see how they are oppressed, their loved
ones are dying before them and America supports Israel all the time. How do you
expect them to feel toward the American government?"

Meanwhile in Israel on October 26, 2001, Sheikh Raid Sallah, the head of the Islamic movement in Israel said the following at a rally in the town of Tamra:

"Oh, peoples of the West… we say to you: We are the masters of the world and
we are the repository of all good (in the world), because we are the 'best people,
delivered for mankind' (Koran, 3:111). We do not hesitate, Oh Bush and (British
Prime Minister Tony) Blair: We invite you to Islam, enter Islam, you and your
peoples."

Thus, the Muslims themselves again admit the real goal of global domination for Islam. Because of their hatred for God's chosen people, Israel, Ezekiel 35 tells of their fate:

1: Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2: Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

4: I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

7: Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth.
8: And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.

MODERN ISRAEL IN PROPHECY

Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37 give the prophecy of Israel's "gathering" and "redemption" in the last days. Ever since I was a boy I have had excellent Sunday School teachers tell me that Israel would some day become a nation. That was long before 1948, the year of Israel's modern birth. Some of the Scriptures my teachers used to prove their predictions were found her in Ezekiel 36:

8: But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
9: For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
10: And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
11: And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
12: Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.

24: For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

In 1926 George Williams, in his Students Commentary, wrote the following prophetic statements concerning the above verses:

"There was a limited fulfillment of these prophecies at the restoration, under
Zerubbabel; but their plenary fulfillment is yet future. Israel, as a nation, will not
be won for Christ until after they have returned to Palestine. The theme of these
chapters (Ez. 36, 37) is the relationship between Jehovah and His people. The
chapters present a general picture of the last days, of the rebirth of Israel, and of
her enjoyment of earthly glory and blessing."

In chapter 37 we have the revelation of the valley of dry bones. Here again God instructs Ezekiel that in the last days the Jews will be gathered from the nations to restore once again the nation of Israel. Notice the interpretation given in Ezekiel 37:

11: Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12: Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

The graves here represent the nations into which the Jews have been dispersed for the past 2,000 years. Ezekiel 37 sums it up as follows:

21: …Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

On this verse, the Companion Bible by Dr. Bullinger says:

"These words were chosen for the legend on the Zionist medal commemorating
the National Federation (of 1896), which is a landmark in the history of the Jewish
nation."

In 1897 Theodore Hertzel convened the First World Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. Its goal was to proclaim a campaign to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. They began by guying property for farms. Their first all-Jewish city, Tel Aviv, was founded in 1909.

Bullinger and Williams both looked for the "gathering" of the Jews to the promised land based on these two chapters and other Scriptures. However, neither of them lived to see the birth of the nation of Israel in 1948.

George Williams summarizes these two chapters thus:

"As bones, flesh, sinews and skin form perfect manhood, so they here symbolize
fully organized and equipped nationhood. The Hebrew people will become a true
and real nation, but spiritually dead. A little later they will be Spirit-born."

And then in a most prophetic paragraph, Williams observes:

"As the first restoration from Babylon was opposed by Satan, so will he oppose
Israel's future settlement in Palestine. The two following chapters (Ez. 38, 39) deal
with this, and foretell the agents he will employ."

One might say, "It sounds like Williams was observing the persecutions of Israel by the Muslims today. How could he have been so perceptive?" The answer is, he read it in the Scriptures, particularly in these very chapters of Ezekiel.

During World War II Adolph Hitler murdered 6 million Jews in Europe. Those that were able fled to Palestine. Thus, the purpose of WWI appeared to prepare the land for the people of Israel while WWII prepared the people for the land. This truth is illustrated in Jeremiah 16:

14: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15: But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
16: Behold, I will send for many fishers (Hertzel, Wiseman), saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters (Hitler, Mussolini), and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

The Jews as a whole did not respond to the gentle appeals of the fishermen Hertzel and Wiseman. However, they hurriedly fled to the promised land following the attacks of the hunters, Hitler and Mussolini.

Let us now summarize chapters 37 and 38. Israel has been dispersed into the nations since 70 AD when Titus destroyed their city and Temple. We have now reached what Dr. Bullinger called the "sunteleia," the first part of the end times before the Tribulation begins. Bullinger said that as there was a transition period between the beginning of the Church and the setting aside of Israel, so there would also be a transition in the end times between the restoration of Israel and the end of the Church age. Today we are living in that transition period, the "sunteleia." Soon the Church age will end with the rapture of the Church. The coming peace treaty ("covenant") of Daniel 9:27 will then be signed and the true end ("telos") will come in the form of the Great Tribulation. This we will now discuss as we look at Ezekiel 38 and 39.

ISRAEL'S LAST BATTLE

Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe the attack and destruction of Israel's enemies at the Battle of Armageddon. Multitudes of books have been written to prove that Magog is modern Russia and Gog is her leader. To this we agree. Her allies in Ezekiel 38 are given in verses 5 and 6 and consist of the modern Muslim nations surrounding Israel today.

The time of the attack against Israel will be near the end of the seven-year Tribulation period. It will be a time when Israel will have been gathered back to her homeland and is dwelling "safely" as a result of the peace treaty of Daniel 9:27. (This is the treaty we are looking for today. Russia will be one of the signers.) Ezekiel 38:9-11 tells that when Israel least expects it, Russia and the Muslim nations will break the treaty and attack.

The attack is again described in Ezekiel 38:

14: Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15: And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

Ezekiel here describes the most modern army of his time. Today instead of horses we would say tanks. Before telling us the outcome of this last battle, Ezekiel gives us the greatest hint as to the identity of Antichrist. It says in Ezekiel 38:

17: Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

The Septuagint translated this verse as follows:

17 Thou art he concerning whom I spoke in former times, by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel…

There is no doubt that the great enemy of Israel predicted by Isaiah, Daniel, Joel and the other OT prophets was the Antichrist. Now here in this verse we are told for the first time that Antichrist is none other than Gog, the head of Russia in the last days.

The outcome of this last great battle is given in Ezekiel 38:

18: And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.

21: And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
22: And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

Ezekiel Chapter 39 continues the results of the Battle of Armageddon:

2: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

4: Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

Ezekiel then describes the procedure for cleansing the land and burying the corpses in the Valley of Hamon-gog on the east side of the Dead Sea. The "supper of the great God" for the beasts and birds is then given in Ezekiel 39:

17: And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18: Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19: And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20: Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

Dr. C.I. Scofield, in his Scofield Reference Bible has the following remark in his marginal reference regarding this passage. See Armageddon, Rev. 19:17-18.

17: And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18: That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

Thus, we agree with Dr. Scofield that Gog's battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39 is the same as the Battle of Armageddon of Revelation chapter 19. Immediately after these events Ezekiel 39 reveals the glory of Christ's return to Jerusalem and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom:

21: And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22: So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

The remainder of Ezekiel in chapters 40-48 describe the building and services of the Millennial Temple following the Tribulation. It also gives the division of the land among the twelve tribes of Israel as promised so long ago to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Thus, "all Israel shall be saved" (Rom. 11:26) and become the head of all nations. The entire world will then be blessed when our Lord and Savior reigns as King in Jerusalem.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

The conclusion of this story begins with another verse from the prophet Ezekiel. In chapter 39 he speaks of the terrible stench that will result from the destruction of Gog's army at the Battle of Armageddon:

11: And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon-gog.

This is the same destruction and stench that the prophet Isaiah described over 100 years earlier in Isaiah 34:

1: Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
2: For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
3: Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

Although all the nations will suffer destruction at Armageddon, the particular people that are singled out for destruction in the following verses of this chapter of Isaiah are the children of Bozrah in the land of Idumea:

Isaiah 34:5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

Isaiah 34:6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

The "land of Idumea" is Edom, the land of the descendants of Esau. These are the lands of the Muslim enemies of Israel today. For a more complete description of this terrible destruction of Bozrah and Edom, let us look at Isaiah 63:

1: Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2: Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
3: I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
4: For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
5: And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
6: And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

Here in verse three it is said that the blood of Israel's enemies "shall be sprinkled upon my (Christ's) garments." The fulfillment of this prophecy is given in Revelation 19:

11: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12: His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13: And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14: And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15: And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16: And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Christ's treading of the "winepress" is explained in Revelation 14:

14: And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15: And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16: And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
17: And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18: And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19: And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20: And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

How sad to hear that "the harvest of the earth is ripe" and how near we must be to the time when the angel will thrust in his sickle and "gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe." Jesus is coming soon. Why not trust Him now as your Savior before it is eternally too late? Revelation 16:

15: Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16: And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

THE LAST DAYS IN ZECHARIAH

One of the clearest descriptions of the horrors or the Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon is found in the book of Zechariah. Dr. Harry Bultema often said that there are some Scriptures that are so powerful in themselves that they require no commentary. Such are chapters 12 and 14 in the book of Zechariah:

Zechariah 12:2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3: And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

5: And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
6: In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

8: In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
9: And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Zechariah paints a most vivid picture of the Battle of Armageddon in Zechariah 14:

1: Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2: For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3: Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4: And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

12: And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

This glorious return of Christ to the earth will result in a universal salvation of the Jewish people as recorded in Zechariah 12:

10: And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Christ will then establish His Millennial Kingdom in Israel and all the nations of the world shall send ambassadors to Jerusalem each year to worship Him. Zechariah 14:

9: And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

16: And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17: And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

20: In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD's house shall be like the bowl's before the altar.

OTHER PROPHECIES OF ARMAGEDDON

The prophecies of Joel give a graphic picture of the invasion of the nations of the world against Israel in the Battle of Armageddon. Joel 2:

1: Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2: A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
3: A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4: The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5: Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
6: Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
7: They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
8: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9: They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
10: The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Russia and all the Islamic nations will join with the nations of the world in this final attempt to destroy the people of God, Israel. At the very moment they are about to claim victory, the Lord Jesus will return from Heaven and deliver His people. Joel 2:

11: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Zephaniah also describes the judgment upon Israel's enemies in Zephaniah 3:

8: Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

The prophecy of Isaiah ends with a description of this same battle. Isaiah 66:

15: For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16: For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

This sounds like a terrible conclusion to the prophetic story, but it really has a beautiful ending. When our Lord comes to finish His work at Armageddon, "every eye shall see Him" (Rev. 1:7). There will be conversions to Christ as at no other time in history. Christ will establish His throne in the new Temple in Jerusalem and then call His people from the four corners of the earth. The Jews shall return and together with their newly converted Muslim friends begin a new life in the Holy Land. Isaiah 19:

21: And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.

24: In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:
25: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Thus, there is light at the end of the tunnel. But first we must pass through the tunnel. This dark time we are approaching is called the "Great Tribulation" or "The Time of Jacob's Trouble" in the Bible.

It will begin on the day the Peace Treaty (Covenant) of Daniel 9:27 is signed. It will end seven years later at the Battle of Armageddon.

In the gospel of Matthew, our Lord describes these final days in His discourse on the Mount of Olives. Matthew 24:

15: When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16: Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

20: But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22: And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

27: For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28: For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29: Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31: And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Revelation 22:20, "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."