My last post was about the heavenly woman, Virgo, and the trials she is going through giving birth to the Son of God. This starts a whole round of warfare which ends with the Dragon (Satan) being thrown out of heaven. He immediately begins his assault on the woman, who is Israel.

“Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” – Rev. 12:6

“Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. “But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. – Rev. 12:13-14

This assault must have been intense because the woman cannot resist and flees into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God and she stays there for 3½ years. Now we know these last days will be filled with wars for Israel; the Psalm 83 wars, the Ezekiel 38 war, and the war of Armageddon, but which is this war? I suspect we are currently watching the Psalm 83 wars as Israel battles the Shiite Muslims of Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen. These may very well lead into the Ezekiel 38 war in which Turkey, Iran, and Russia, and others will be involved. But I do not think the war described here is one of those because God provides Israel with the victory in those, but He does not in this war. Zechariah, I think gives us the narrative on this final war in chapter 14.

“Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus, the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You.” – Zech. 14:1-5

Notice Zechariah begins with the phrase “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming”, it is not here yet, but it is coming. Even though Jerusalem is under siege, it is not yet the day of the Lord. In other words, there is something He has yet to do. I believe the prophets Micah and Isaiah tell us what that is. Before I begin, I want to draw your attention to a verse in Revelation about when the Lord comes riding out of heaven with the armies of the Lord behind Him.

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.” – Rev. 19:11-14

All the saints were dressed in fine linen, white and clean but Jesus has a robe on that was dipped in blood, why? I will begin to answer this question from the book of Micah.

As Israel flees in Revelation 12, many have wondered where this ‘wilderness’ is they flee to. I believe we will begin to see from Micah 2. God says to Judah, “Arise and depart, for this is not your rest because it is defiled” (speaking of Jerusalem)- Then God says –

“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold (Heb. Bozrah), Like a flock in the midst of their pasture; They shall make a loud noise because of so many people. The one who breaks open will come up before them; They will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the LORD at their head.” – Micah 2:12-13

In Hebrew, the name ‘fold‘ is Bozrah. Bozrah is a well-known place in Edom south of the Dead Sea where shepherds kept their flocks. They would build the pens out of rocks, enclose the flock for the night, and them break them out in the morning and lead them to pasture. thus, Micah uses the well-known phrase “They will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the LORD at their head.” to fulfill this. The leader of Israel at the time, maybe Netanyahu, will pass before them but the LORD will be at their head. Notice they will go into Bozrah as Jacob, but they will come out as Israel. Jacob was a tricky guy, but Israel means ‘Prince with God’. In other words, something will happen to Jacob during the 3½ years in this wilderness.

Now Edom is populated with Arabs and not overfriendly to the Jews, in fact they are under a curse from God because when Israel came out of Egypt, they refused to help their brother.

“For I have sworn by Myself,” says the LORD, “that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse. And all its cities shall be perpetual wastes.” – Jer. 49:13

Isaiah builds on this word –

“For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed, it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness, With the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. The wild oxen shall come down with them, And the young bulls with the mighty bulls; Their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust saturated with fatness.” For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.” – Isa. 34:5-8

Notice the reference to the ‘wild oxen’, or Reem. This is a reference to Taurus the Bull of Judgement in the heavenly constellation. Isaiah answers the question as to where Jesus got blood on His robe.

“Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength? — “I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger and trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come.” – Isa. 63:1-4

You no doubt have heard the phrase, “All Israel will saved as in a day”, well I believe this is the “day’, a long 3½ year day in which Jacob begins to recognize Jesus as their Redeemer and turns to Him as Lord and Savior. The Lord then leads them to join the armies of heaven that follow Him to Armageddon, or something like this. This time their ‘wilderness’ will lead them believing in the Lord and now be able to enter the Promised Land.

So, if I read Scripture right, and I believe that I do, from the time Satan is thrown down to the earth, he will have 3½ years to bring his havoc on the earth. Jesus called this time the great tribulation –

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” – Matt. 24:21-22

At the beginning of this time, the Antichrist will set up his Abomination of Desolation that Jesus talks about –

“Therefore, when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” – Matt. 24:15-20

Jesus is here talking about Jacob’s fleeing into the wilderness that John is speaking about in Revelation 12, and He does not hide any of the hardness of the facts. I am reminded of another of Jesus’ saying here, “Many are called, but few are chosen”. Not all of Jacob will leave Jerusalem on that journey through the valley that is created in Mount of Olives to the sheepfolds of Bozrah, Zechariah predicts that 2/3 of Jacob will die and the other 1/3 will be brought through the fire (Zech. 13:8). It will be a hard time for them but, it will also be a hard time for the Gentile Christians as well.

During this last 3½ years the devil and his antichrist will be exacting their punishment on the rest of the world, deceiving many to do the wicked work for them! The evil Babylon system, the kings of the East, and even the false church will be doing their part under his direction. Meanwhile the devil will be directing his attention at getting after the Jews who fled to the wilderness, but he will be thwarted and will turn his anger on the true believers in Jesus.

“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” – Rev. 12:17

We Christians who remain will also have our opportunity to overcome as did Jesus, the Apostles, and all those who have gone before us have done. I think Peter had a word for us in times like these.

“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” – 1 Pet. 4:7-13

Pastor Charles Cooley, ret.