I would invite any student of the word of God to investigate the details of the prophesied battle of Armageddon throughout the word of God. Don't just take one or two passages and then allegorize them. Joel says that "all nations" will be gathered against Jerusalem one day (not just the Roman armies of Titus).
Zechariah says the same. At Armageddon, Zechariah says that the Lord Himself will personally go forth to "fight against those nations" gathered against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14.3). This is not Titus against the Jews in 66-70 AD! The spirits of devils go forth to draw the kings or rulers of the earth to "gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty" (Revelation 16.14). The location is given as "Armageddon" (Joel's "valley of Jehoshaphat", or "the judgment of Jehovah", or, as some have said, the plain of Esdraelon, the valley of Jezreel). At any rate, this great battlefield will have the fate of the city of Jerusalem, and indeed the fate of the world, as its focus, when the nations of the world will be gathered there (Revelation 19.19).
The armies of the beast will be defeated by the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ and not by the armies of Titus, whom, some preterists would have us believe, was serving the beast (as some of them say Nero was the beast!). Thus preterism confuses and obscures the truth of endtime prophecies.
A study of the Great Tribulation (“the Time of Jacob’s Trouble” according to Jeremiah 30.7) shows that this period did not occur in the first century. There are a number of reasons why the Great Tribulation, as it is described to us in the scriptures, could not have taken place in the first century, and did not take place, given the historical record that we have. It is wrong to try to “force” this prophesied event into the first century if it did not indeed actually happen during the first century.
Some Reasons Why The Great Tribulation (The Time of Jacob’s Trouble) Cannot Fit The First Century:
(1) There was no "beast" in the first century, who caused all of the inhabitants of the earth to receive a mark in their forehead or in their right hand so that they could buy or sell (Revelation 13.15-18). Such a commandment to the Jews would have caused a widescale riot because of the Scriptural prohibition against receiving marks in the flesh (Leviticus 19.28). The technological capacity did not exist.
(2) There are no historical reports of the ministry of the Two Witnesses, with the astounding Old Testament miraculous signs done by them, fire being called down from heaven, water into blood, plagues upon the masses of humanity, etc. (Revelation 11.3-7).
(3) There are no historical reports of the public murder of these Two Witnesses in the city of Jerusalem in the first century, which was witnessed and rejoiced over worldwide by the nations (Revelation 11.8-11). The communications and technological ability did not then exist as it does today.
(4) There are no historical reports of the public resurrection of these Two Witnesses (Revelation 11.11,12).
(5) There are no historical reports of a great earthquake in Jerusalem immediately following the public resurrection and ascension of these Two Witnesses, which is a public event.
Brother you make some very good points here.
If the enemy can
"remove" the one clear safeguard that The Lord Jesus Himself gave us against being deceived into
receiving the false Messiah as the real one, then he has won.
The first thing The Lord told us before He started His answer to the disciples was, -
And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
then again, just before He described His safeguard He said,-
23 Then if anyone says to you,
'Look, here is the Christ!' or
'There!' do not believe it. 24
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25
See, I have told you beforehand. 26 Therefore if they say to you,
'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or
'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.
27
For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
The Lord Jesus made it crystal clear,
NO ONE WILL HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS RETURNED!
If someone has to tell you that He has returned, DON'T BELIEVE THEM!
For as lightning strikes in the east AND IS SEEN in the west, so shall it be with the coming of the Son of Man.
John says it this way - Revelation 1:7
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and
every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And
all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Which is an echo of what
the Lord Himself said through the prophet Zechariah
-
"And
I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication;
then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Zechariah 12:10
In addition to giving this safeguard, Jesus told us that just before He returned -
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days
the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Luke says it this way
Now when
these things begin to happen,
look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
Now why would The Lord say to look up when the sun,moon and stars fell from the sky, if this was not a literal statement?
Total pitch black darkness, then The Light of the world appears in heaven, believe it,
NO ONE WILL HAVE TO TELL YOU HE HAS RETURNED!
FOR EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM!
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and
then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The enemy wants as many people as he can deceive, to believe the lie, so they will embrace the false christ, the man of sin, the son of perdition.
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come
unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
Don't believe the lie, that Jesus has already returned.
JLB