We imagine a war with soldiers dressed in their camouflage and holding their service rifles. We imagine weapons to be tanks and drones and military aircraft and ships and hand grenades and missiles and rockets and mines.
But this is not the clothing worn by Christ's soldiers, nor the weapons described in the battle of Armageddon.
In the battle of Armageddon Christ's soldiers are following Him on white horses and they are "clothed in fine linen, white and clean" and we are given the image of a bride!! Christ is riding a white horse and is called THE WORD OF GOD "And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike the nations", and after the beast is slain, "the rest were slain by the sword of Him who sat on the horse, it proceeding out of His mouth."
The description of the weapons of war described for the beast, the false prophet and the dragon are "three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, which are spirits of demons, working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that day, the great day of God Almighty."
So Christ is the Word of God, and His only weapon in the battle of Armageddon is the sword (the Word of God) proceeding out of His mouth, and the weapons of the beast, the false prophet and the dragon are likewise coming out of their mouths.
The power of the 200 million horses and their riders in the 6th trumpet also resides in their mouths - but also in their tails, because their tails are like snakes, having heads that inflict injuries. Their clothing consists of breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color. The heads of the horses looked like lions' heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths.
A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is, by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths.
So the weapons of warfare in the battle of Armageddon has everything to do with what comes out of their mouths (i.e their words/religious teachings?), and the religion/s built around their words are also what their armies are clothed with.
So what are we really to understand about the final battle? Is it a literal war, or a spiritual war? Is there a danger that our understanding of the final battle - what we imagine it to be - is blinding us because with all the literal wars going on all around us, we can't see (or won't be able to see) the wood for the trees?
But this is not the clothing worn by Christ's soldiers, nor the weapons described in the battle of Armageddon.
In the battle of Armageddon Christ's soldiers are following Him on white horses and they are "clothed in fine linen, white and clean" and we are given the image of a bride!! Christ is riding a white horse and is called THE WORD OF GOD "And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, so that with it He should strike the nations", and after the beast is slain, "the rest were slain by the sword of Him who sat on the horse, it proceeding out of His mouth."
The description of the weapons of war described for the beast, the false prophet and the dragon are "three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, which are spirits of demons, working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that day, the great day of God Almighty."
So Christ is the Word of God, and His only weapon in the battle of Armageddon is the sword (the Word of God) proceeding out of His mouth, and the weapons of the beast, the false prophet and the dragon are likewise coming out of their mouths.
The power of the 200 million horses and their riders in the 6th trumpet also resides in their mouths - but also in their tails, because their tails are like snakes, having heads that inflict injuries. Their clothing consists of breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color. The heads of the horses looked like lions' heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths.
A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is, by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths.
So the weapons of warfare in the battle of Armageddon has everything to do with what comes out of their mouths (i.e their words/religious teachings?), and the religion/s built around their words are also what their armies are clothed with.
So what are we really to understand about the final battle? Is it a literal war, or a spiritual war? Is there a danger that our understanding of the final battle - what we imagine it to be - is blinding us because with all the literal wars going on all around us, we can't see (or won't be able to see) the wood for the trees?