The Jehoshaphat Campaign

Towards the end of the Great Tribulation, a little while before the cosmic disturbances that shall interrupt the Great Tribulation, the antiChrist and the nations surrounding Israel which are part of the 8th and Final Beast Empire or allied to the antiMessiah shall carry out another military campaign to destroy all in the land of Israel who do not have the Mark of the Beast. The Great Tribulation which began with the Jerusalem campaign in which Jerusalem was surrounded by the armies of the Beast, shall end with another military campaign carried out in the vicinity of Jerusalem to ferret out and destroy the remnants of Israel who repudiate the authority of the antiChrist by refusing to be chipped or branded with his Mark. These men, women, and children are hiding in cellars, basement, underground bunkers and sewers. This campaign called the Jehoshaphat campaign is the gathering of the armies of the Gentile nations that surround Israel which are part of the ten-nation confederation of the antiChrist, or which are not part of the confederation, but allied to the antiChrist like Jordan, in preparation for the second military assault on Jerusalem.

The Lord Himself shall draw these nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat prior to the inauguration of the Day Of The LORD. ” For behold in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and of Jerusalem, and I will gather all nations, and I will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will plead with them there for my people and my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land”(Joel 3:1,2). The intention of these nations shall be to totally destroy the nation of Israel, but God will gather them there to judge them instead. ” For behold, the Day Of The LORD cometh, and thy spoil, shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; the city shall be taken, and the housed riffled, and the women ravished; and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city(Zech.14:1,2). This will be very horrible. One half of the Jewish residents of the city shall be taken captive. Their houses shall be destroyed, and the women sexually violated. The residue of the Jewish residents who shall not be cut off from the city are those who are beast-marked. They are branded with the Mark of the Beast. Therefore they are free to reside in the city, and buy and sell without molestation by the security agents of the antiChrist. However, they shall face the wrath of God in the Day Of The LORD.

“Proclaim ye amongst the Gentiles; prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come all heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be awakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for their will I sit to judge the heathen round about. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the Day Of The LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heaven and earth shall shake: but the LORD shall be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy , and there shall no strangers pass through her any more(Joel 3:9-17).

It is obvious here that this campaign shall begin before the Day Of The LORD, when the sun, moon, and stars shall be darkened. But God shall interrupt this destruction by the armies of the antiChrist and the Gentile nations surrounding Israel with cosmoceletial disturbances. A substantial number of these armies shall be immediately annihilated by the cosmic and celestial disturbances. However some remnants of them shall survive the initial onslaught of the wrath of God, but shall finally be annihilated at Armageddon.

There are some biblical scholars that teach that this is part of the battle of Armageddon. The references to the sickle and the harvest in verse 13, indicate that is is part of the wrath of God. But it is also obvious that the gathering of the Gentiles for this battle occurs under the fourth seal of Rev.6. Remember that the fifth seal is a heavenly scene, reflecting the killings going on here on Earth under the fourth seal, the Great Tribulation, and is therefore concurrent with it. This second invasion of Jerusalem by the armies of the antiChrist shall be the final satanic act to destroy those who do not have the Mark of the Beast in and around Jerusalem, and the whole land of Israel during the Great Tribulation before God amputates it with cosmic disturbances. With the cosmic and celestial disturbances, these armies are incapacitated, and shall finally be annihilated at Armageddon a few years later.

The fact that this battle occurs just before the Day Of The LORD, distinguishes it from the Jerusalem campaign which occurs at the beginning of the the Great Tribulation, in the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel, and the battle of Armageddon that occurs 30 days after the end of the 70th week of Daniel. The Jehoshaphat campaign is a precursor to the Day Of The lord, and the return of Christ. This campaign as we have seen will involve the Gentile nations that surround Israel(Joel 3:11,12 Zech.12:6).

It is likely that these surrounding nations are the seven secondary nations of the ten nation confederation formed by the antiChrist. But they will also include other nations which are not part of the ten nation confederation which are allied to the antiChrist. The three power base nations would already have their armies stationed in Jerusalem by virtue of the Jerusalem campaign that occurred at the midpoint of the 70th week, at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. As a matter of fact, the three power base nations of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval shall station a protection force in the land of Israel and her Holy City , Jerusalem, right from the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel, following the 7-year peace agreement between Israel and the antiMessiah and his ten nation confederation. This accounts for the relative peace that Israel shall enjoy while wars rage on in all other parts of the world for the first three and one-half years of the 70th week of Daniel. This relative peace shall lull Israel into complacency until attacked by these forces at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel in the Jerusalem Campaign. The seven secondary nations of the ten nation confederation form a circle around Israel. Whichever these nation would be, the prophet Joel prophesied that God would gather these nations together into the valley of Jehoshaphat just before the Day Of The LORD. Therefore this campaign will occur sometime during the second half of the 70th seven of Daniel, just before God cuts short the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist with cosmic disturbances. The Scriptures did not name them, but gave us a description of them. They are the nations that surround Israel geographically.

Most biblical scholars believe the valley of Jehoshaphat is the kidron valley in the east of Jerusalem. Jehoshaphat means Jehovah judges which is an apt description. There is no valley in the OT named the valley of Jehoshaphat. It may be that Jehoshaphat was referring to the valley of Beracah located about six miles, approximately 10 Km, southwest of Bethlehem where king Jehoshaphat defeated the coalition forces of Moab, Ammon, and Edom(2 Chron.20:20-26). Whatever the exact location of this campaign, the Almighty God of Israel will defeat these arrogant, insolent, and ungodly nations.

The prophet Zechariah portrayed the same end time scenario. ” In that Day, saith saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah, and I will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 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. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a touch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again on her own place, even in Jerusalem(Zech.12:4-6).

The defeat of these armies by God in the valley of Jehoshaphat shall enable the clans of Judah to mount a counteroffensive against the antiChrist and his allies. It is important to remember that the Jehoshaphat campaign by the antiChrist will begin shortly before the Day Of The LORD is unleashed upon the Earth. The back-to-back sign of the end of the ages, and the sign of Christ’s coming, cannot occur until the Jehoshaphat campaign has been initiated against Israel and her Holy city Jerusalem. It is only after these crucial events that the return of the Lord shall be imminent.

Our Lord addressing His disciples on the end time scenario, said, “the days will come(during the Great Tribulation) when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son Of Man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, see here; or, see there: go not after them nor follow them. For as the lightening, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall the Son Of Man be in His day”(Luk.17:22-24).

Christ continued to admonish his disciples to pray and have faith in God, and not to faint, telling them the parable of the unjust judge. If the unjust judge grants the widow legal redress against her oppressors, so as not to be wearied by her continual coming, shall not God, The Righteous Judge of the Universe grant justice to His elect, who cry to Him, day and night? I tell you, He will grant them justice speedily. However, when the Son Of Man cometh, will He find faith on Earth?(Luk.18:1-8). Therefore we conclude, that the return of the Lord, initiated by the sign of the end of the ages , cannot be imminent until the persecution of the elect begins during the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist, after the beginning of the Jehoshaphat campaign and the cosmic disturbances. The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from the heaven. There shall be universal darkness and frigidity. It is only after then shall we look for the sign of the coming of the Son Of Man, which is the Shekinah in the heaven. The Shekinah, the glorious presence of the God of Israel shall dispel the darkness and defrost the Earth. This is the sign of His Coming, the appearance of the Son Of Man in the heavens, and of the End Of The Ages.

Avraham Shallom.

Author’s Note: I have culled this article from my previous post, The Great Tribulation, to put it here, as it were, on the front page, to make it easier for those who visit our website, in preparation for our seminar on End Times, to access; for that is one of the topics we shall be discussing. Shalom! Maranatha.