Not take anything away from what dear tec posted (peace to you, both!)... there is only one "war"... and actually NO battles, dear LQ. Here is what I received from my Lord and shared (elsewhere, perhaps) some time ago:
1. My Lord "judges" and "makes war"... "in righteousness." Since he turns the ACTUAL judging over to the Father, and since the war is "of the great day of JAH Almighty"... my Lord's "judging" and "war" is different. First, it's not in blood. It is not done with a sword of steel, but the "sword" of TRUTH: his mouth. HIS "war", then, starts with the "separating" (dividing) of the sheep from the goats... which starts just after the Adversary is abyssed (Matthew 24; 25:; Revelation 20:1-4). This separation takes place DURING the 1,000 years; after he has returned, gathered his Bride, taken them to the spirit realm to be "married" (joined literally)... after which he and they return to "sit on thrones and 'judge'." That judging is oversight of the sheep (who are allowed entry) in the manner of Solomon (who used truth to determine which was real the mother of a baby claimed by both - the TRUTH came out when, in wisdom, Solomon threatened to divide the child in half. LOVE prompted the TRUE mother to offer to give up the baby, rather than see it harmed). This is the manner of "judging" that Christ and those who rule with him engage in.
3. At the end of the 1,000 years, the Adversary is loosed and uses more lies (i.e., "misleads") Gog (the goats) and Magog (the bad spirits that are not in Tartarus). He lies to them using his own words, directly or through the wild beast and false prophet... to convince Gog and Magog that they, too, can enter into the City and eat from the Tree of Life (Christ)... and live forever. They BELIEVE this... because of their desperation: they have been cut OFF from entering and eating... and so are dying. As with Adham, the only way they can LIVE... FOREVER... is to get "in"... and eat. Since they can't go through the Door (Christ), however, they have to lay siege to the City and break in. Their BELIEVING those lies (that they can SUCCESSFULLY lay siege, get in, eat, and live forever)... is what "gathers" them to war "of" JAH's Day. Because it means they are coming against/waging war WITH... Christ: the Door and Tree (in the midst of the "garden").
4. The wild beast and false prophet come against Christ FIRST... by coming against those who FORM the "city". He again wages "war" the "sword" that protrudes from his mouth: truth. Which "kills" those "warring against" him. BUT... it is JAH who actually hurls the wild beast and false prophet "into the lake of fire" (Psalm 110:1)... without any literal battle actually taking place:
"Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together TO wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. BUT the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh." Revelation 19:19-21
This event takes place AFTER the Adversary has been loosed. It is what takes place DURING that "gathering" to "Armageddon." The wild beast and the false prophet are the FIRST to go. But that doesn't stop Gog and Magog. They keep "coming"... again, to try and gain access to the Tree (Christ). But the MOST HOLY One of Israel will NOT let that happen... and so fire comes down from JAH Himself and "devours" them. My Lord tells about it, through David, in his words recorded in the 18th Psalm.
The problem with understanding that my Lord does NOT literally wage war is the word "but" at Revelation 19:20 (inaccurately rendered "and" by the WTBTS). It is from the Greek word kai, which means "and," yes... but also "but," and here the accurate rendering is "but." Because it is stating that, although the wild beast and false prophet CAME to war with my Lord... they DIDN'T... as JAH Himself stepped in. As He SAID He would, as recorded by David:
"JAHVEH says to my Lord:
'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'" Psalm 110:1
Paul explained:
"Then the end (the Judgment - Revelation 20:11-15) will come, when he (Christ) hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he (God/JAH) has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he (Christ) must reign until he (JAH) has put all his (Christ's) enemies under his (Christ's) feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he (JAH) “has put everything under his (Christ's) feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him (Christ), it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he (JAH) has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him (JAH) who put everything under him (Christ), so that God may be all in all." 1 Corinthians 15:25-28
David wrote about THAT, as well:
"what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them (the Bride of Christ) a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; YOU put everything under their feet: ALL flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, ALL that swim the paths of the seas." Psalm 8:4-8
The "war" of JAH is not actually fought by either JAH or Christ; it is waged AGAINST Christ, yes... in that "Gog" and "Magog"... "come against" the holy city, the NEW Jerusalem, which is the people of God, the Bride of Christ. In doing so, it's as with Saul of Tarsus: they are waging war with Christ... by means of coming against/persecuting his Bride. In waging war with Christ... they are waging war with JAH Himself ("He that is touching YOU is touching MY eyeball").
But JAH does not LET a battle occur; He wipes Gog and Magog OUT... with fire from His own "nostrils" (Psalm 18:8)... and then hurls the Adversary into the lake of fire... where, by THIS time, which is really only shortly after... the other two already are.
The problem with understanding the timeline is:
1. As dear tec shared, the Revelation is not in chronological order, as so many believe (and so try to understand it by means of). Many misunderstand John's "and I saw" to mean a chronological timeframe. In some instances, it is, but for the MOST part, John is relating ALL that he saw... much of which was at the SAME time. The thing is, eyesight is 3-dimensional, while writing is not. There was no way for John to write what he saw HOW he saw it (at the same time), other than to say "AND I saw." So, for instance, if you look around you, you see many things. Can you write that, though? Straight out? Or do you have to write what you see in a sequence?
There are helicopter/bird's eye views of situations that there are also close up views of. For example, the correlation of Revelation 16:13-15 with Revelation 20:7... that most of Revelation 19 takes place during Revelation 20:7-9... and more.
2. What you're dealing with (trying to understand): it is a REVELATION. Therefore, just reading it will NOT give one understanding. It is as Christ said:
"Hearing, they hear in vain; seeing, they see in vain."
It is not until HE "opens up the scriptures" that are IN the "revelation"... REVEALS it to whom HE wishes... that understanding can be had. Because it must be GIVEN; it CANNOT be taken.
So, I hope this helps... and I hope you DO keep seeking, asking, and knocking... as well as asking for strength and COURAGE... as you need them.
Again, peace to you!
YSSFS of Christ,
Shellamar
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