President Antivon, now completely revealed as the Antichrist to all who were willing to see the truth, is losing control over his domain. There is death, disaster, pain and destruction everywhere as the Bowl Judgments take their toll. Food and water are very scarce. There is misery at all levels of society. The streets are filled with chaos, lawlessness, looting, mass unrest and riots. His Citizen's Police forces have been decimated by the judgments so their numbers have dwindled, but the ones who remain continue to kill people at will, especially Christians and Jews. Jewish Christians are their number one target. Assassination attempts on the President and his staff occur regularly. Antivon has lost two Chiefs of Staff as a result. There has been a general breakdown of law and order, as lawless gangs rule the cities. President Antivon decides to take warfare "on the road" to distract from the internal turmoil at home.
The Western Alliance had made a treaty with Israel early during the Tribulation, but President Antivon now has new plans for the Middle East. The Western Alliance wants to set up a base of operations inside Israel, and use it to invade African countries. That will require a large military presence in the region. Although Israeli Prime Minister Garlock is in his pocket, the Israeli military is not. But it has been reduced to just a small military Resistance unit. Therefore President Antivon cannot rely on Prime Minister Garlock to deliver Israel over to him, so an invasion and forceful takeover of Jerusalem by Western Forces is required since there will be opposition from the Israeli Resistance. The West's plans are set into motion and within a few weeks Western Alliance ships land at the port of Haifa in western Israel while ground forces enter Israel from the northeast. These two army groups converge on Jerusalem in a pincer movement from the north.
Western Alliance forces close in on the Israeli Resistance forces on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem, and their situation is dire. As the Western forces reach Jerusalem, fighting by the Israeli Resistance under Generals Dayan and Gurian is heroic, but they are overpowered and pushed back into the city, followed by street to street and house to house fighting inside the city. Both sides suffer heavy casualties. The Israeli troops fall back into midtown Jerusalem where they become trapped.
It was then the fifth Bowl Judgment happened -- intense darkness on the Antichrist's kingdom and their military forces.
Revelation 16:10 “The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.”
The supernatural darkness had two purposes, first to blind the military forces of the Antichrist fighting in Israel, and secondly as a judgment on the Antichrist's kingdom. The supernatural darkness blinded both the Western Alliance soldiers and their electronics, but it did not affect the Israeli Resistance forces in any way. This blindness of the Western Alliance allowed the Israeli Resistance forces to escape straight through the middle of the battle lines of the blinded Western forces.
Since this supernatural intense darkness affected only the Western Alliance, it allowed the Israeli Resistance forces to escape the clutches of the Antichrist's forces and withdraw from Jerusalem. They retreated to the outskirts and joined the forces under General Dayan and General Gurian who had set up defenses south of Jerusalem. The Jewish Resistance forces then regrouped in southern Israel near Bethlehem, where they were able to resupply and bring in additional troops from other locations. With a new hiding place established, their numbers were bolstered, and their supplies were renewed. The Israeli Resistance forces were once again ready to take on the enemy who was occupying Jerusalem. But only when the timing was right.
General Dayan addressed the Jewish Resistance fighters:
"This is the same as what happened during the days when the Pharaoh of Egypt hardened his heart against the Jews, and Moses caused darkness for three days as part of the ten plagues on Egypt. Moses was in ancient Egypt at that time, and he was here today in Jerusalem near the Temple when our Jewish forces needed to escape. The ancient Egypt event is recorded in Exodus 10:21:
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. 23 No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.”
General Dayan continues: "The power of the Antichrist has been targeted directly, and his kingdom was turned dark. The empire of darkness got the darkness they deserve. It allowed us to escape from Jerusalem today in order to survive. We cannot go back and fight them directly at this point. But we will have our day soon, and the forces of the Antichrist will be wiped out completely. Of this you can be certain."
Israeli General Dayan proceeds to outline the strategy for the remainder of the war, which will be one of opportunistic strategic engagement and defensive covert withdrawals. They cannot afford to attack the forces of the Antichrist head-on at this point. They must pick their battles wisely and retreat when necessary to survive. They cannot save Jerusalem from the Antichrist forces. But they can have an impact, and they can survive to fight during the final stage when the Lord returns. That is when they will defeat the forces which drove them out of Jerusalem. The Israeli Resistance forces will have their own revenge. But they must remain patient.
"The true heroes of the Jewish cause were the soldiers in Israel who rose up against the Antichrist and the Jewish traitor called the False Prophet. These brave fighters were new believers who risked everything to hold back the onslaught of the evil forces of the Western Alliance. They were the ones protecting the rights of Jews everywhere, even though they were but a few." With that, General Dayan departs to set up the logistics necessary to support the long battles which lie ahead. He knows that his brave troops have an enormous task ahead of them, and the battles will be fierce. He prays for his troops as he walks on ahead. Armageddon is approaching quickly, and his troops will play a key role on that day as they will be given the task of fighting the Western Alliance forces in south Israel and in Jerusalem.
While that was happening in Israel, in the remainder of the Western Alliance the darkness had another purpose, which was judgment. In addition to the effects on the military forces of the Antichrist, the people of the Western Alliance experienced deep darkness which the sun could not penetrate, or moon or star light. No light of any type could penetrate the supernatural darkness. Flashlights, building lights, street lights, car lights, cell phone light, candle and flame light were all useless. There was no natural or artificial light of any type. Everyone was essentially blind since their eyes could not reveal anything of any type without light. It drove intense fear.
Many people across the entire Western Alliance were caught out of their homes when the darkness struck. There was no way to get home for most people. No one could go to or from work. Even if they were stuck at their workplace no work could be done. People trying to walk home were seldom successful. There were many injuries from cuts, falls, and other hazards but no one could help them. All sense of a normal life was removed by the darkness. Each person was forced to focus primarily on their own thoughts since they could not engage in any of their normal distractions. No online interaction, no reading, and getting food to eat was very difficult. Not even a gas flame emitted light so it could not be seen. During this time houses burned to the ground but no one saw the flames. The helplessness was overwhelming for many. They could not be alone with their own thoughts without some distraction to keep them from thinking too much. Most people survived by living a life of distraction without thinking. Anything that kept them from their own thoughts was useful. There was no anchor in their soul to stabilize them, so they tried not to think. Distraction was the key to survival. But the intense darkness forced them inward, which was frightening since they found nothing there. Just emptiness, loneliness, and nothingness.
Fortunately for Jill, she was at her apartment when the darkness struck. She knew it was coming so she was prepared. She could not get to work, and no news could be broadcast during this judgment. Jill had memorized her small apartment and gathered everything she needed as close as possible. She had stacks of pre-made food and bottles of water alongside her sofa. This enabled very limited movement in order to survive the ordeal. It would not last long, she knew.
Prior to this judgment, Jill had read about it. She knew she would not be able to do anything but sit and wait it out once the darkness hit. She had memorized information related to the judgment.
After two days the darkness was gone. Unbelievers went back to just being extremely hungry and thirsty, and trying not to inflame the constant sores which had remained just as painful. They saw that the believers around them did not have such issues, except that they suffered some degree of privation. But they did not have the sores. The unbelievers began to hate those who had no sores. They themselves could have lost the sores at any time, but they refused to turn to God. From this point on there would be almost no one change their mind about needing God's help. They were totally hardened in their souls.
This is not the last of the darkness which the Antichrist forces will see. There will also be a separate day of total darkness over the entire earth on the day the Lord returns, and that will occur as the world's Alliances are assembled at Armageddon.
Back in Israel, the Western Alliance troops secured Jerusalem as their new base of operations. It would be used by the West for further conquests of African nations. Meanwhile, the Western Alliance forces were angered by what had happened to them in Israel. So they took their revenge on the city of Jerusalem which they had captured. It was as Zechariah had prophesied several thousand years before:
Zechariah 14:1 “A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. 2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.
The Western Alliance forces began to round up Jews inside Jerusalem to be shipped out to concentration camps. The troops needed their homes for themselves since they would be based there. So they stole their houses and food and possessions. A procession of Jewish prisoners several miles long was marched out of the city toward the east for shipment out of Israel to unknown locations.
Armageddon is inevitable at this point. The stage has been set. The world leaders are drunk with power madness and cannot see anything else. They are about to be drawn into the meat grinder they themselves had constructed, and it would be called "Armageddon."