We honor our war dead on Memorial Day each year on the last Monday of May. The United States has lost over 1.3 million dead due to wars. This includes killed in action as well as died of wounds, as POW’s, or other related deaths. America’s deaths pale in comparison to such nations as Russia who lost over 1.7 million in World War I and as the Soviet Union another 8 million or more in World War II and over 27 million with civilians. Germany lost 8 million during the two World Wars and another 3 million civilians. Japan lost over two million dead in World War II and close to another million or more civilians. China lost millions in World War II. France lost over 1.3 million in World War I. These nations have lost more dead in one war than we have in over 250 years. The most Americans ever killed in combat on one day were the 2,500 men who died on D-Day on June 6, 1944 storming the beaches of Normandy during World War II. This pales in comparison to the 27,000 French who died on a single day during World War I. We need to remember all of the men who have given their lives for this nation so that we may continue to have the freedom to worship God. Even one death is tragic, but let us thank God that our death tolls have been much smaller than that which many other nations have suffered. We must be willing to continue to die if we want to keep our freedoms and liberties that we have. They are already being eroded away. Jesus died as the commander of the heavenly army so that we may have everlasting life. As we remember our war dead, I wanted to look at the deadliest battles in scripture. Some battles in World War I and II had over a million dead in them and it is believed one battle in World War II had over two million dead.
The deadliest battle in scripture will probably be the future Battle of Armageddon at the end of the great tribulation. This battle will entail the entire world. It will be a true world war unlike the first two as all nations will be involved. This battle will take place in Israel in the valley of Megiddo where many battles throughout history have taken place. This valley is also known as Jezreel Valley. This battle is also found in Zechariah 12:9-11. (Zechariah 12:9-11 ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.) (Revelation 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.) (Revelation 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.) Devils help bring the nations together to battle it out. One side consists of the antichrist and his allies and the other side consists of the Oriental nations consisting of China and probably Japan, the Koreas, and other nations such as maybe Vietnam and they have a 200 million man army. (Revelation 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.) Today China already can do this alone with an overabundance of men due to the former one child policy where so many girls were killed off. Many men can never get married as there are not enough Chinese women. God will dry up the Euphrates River in order to allow this large army to get to Israel and fight. (Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.) As the battle rages on, Jesus will return for his second coming and both sides will stop fighting each other and will turn against Jesus who will quickly defeat them with his mouth as he speaks their destruction. Jesus wins. Scripture does not give an actual number of deaths, but it does say the blood from the battle will be as deep as the horse’s bridles for over 200.7 miles. A horse’s bridle depending on the horse averages four to six feet off of the ground. (Revelation 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.) That is a lot of blood and death. We also know that over one half of the people in the world will die during the great tribulation. (Revelation 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.) (Revelation 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.) At today’s population of close to 8 billion people that is close to four billion people and that is before this great battle. There will definitely be hundreds of millions of people who die in this great battle, making modern battles pale in comparison.
The Second Battle of Gog and Magog will occur at the end of the Millennium when God releases Satan and allows him to stir up the people who as the number of the sand of the sea will rebel against Jesus. Jesus will quickly kill all of them making it a short, but very deadly battle as again hundreds of millions of people will die and possibly in the billions as the sand of the sea is a lot of people and many people will be born over the thousand years of the millennium. (Revelation 20:7-9 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.) Jesus wins.
The First Battle of Gog and Magog as we have been studying shows there will also be many battle deaths. This battle will see Russia and other nations such as Iran (Persia), Ethiopia, and Libya and other Muslim nations attack Israel, but God will supernaturally intervene and will destroy 5/6ths of the attackers. (Ezekiel 39:2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:) If 500,000 people attack and invade Israel that would be 415,000 dead. I would not be surprised if the death toll is not much greater. God wins.
The deadliest battle in scripture that we have actual numbers for was the Battle of Mount Zemaraim as told in II Chronicles 13 which saw Israel led by Jeroboam, who was Israel’s first king, fight against Judah led by Abijah who was the son of Rehoboam who was the first king of Judah after the split of Israel into two kingdoms. Judah won a great victory with help from the LORD as he was angry with Jeroboam. Judah killed 500,000 Israelites out of 800,000 that entered the battle. This spelled the end of Jeroboam. (II Chronicles 13:3-4 And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.
4 ¶ And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;) (II Chronicles 13:17 And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.) Many historians claim that scripture is wrong and has exaggerated the numbers not only here but in other battles as well. If God says 500,000 died, then that is how many died. I trust and believe God, not fallible historians who do not believe in God.
The Battle or siege of Jerusalem as told in II Kings 18-19 saw God intervene supernaturally to defeat Judah’s enemy. The Assyrian king Sennacherib sent troops to siege Jerusalem until Judah surrendered. Hezekiah, the king of Judah prayed to God and asked for help. The city had been surrounded for some time. The angel of the LORD who was the preincarnate Jesus intervened and killed 185,000 Assyrians. (II Kings 19:35 ¶ And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.) (Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.) Jesus won.
The Battle of Samaria can be found in I Kings 20. The king of Syria along with 32 other kings came against Samaria, the capital of Israel. God allowed the wicked Ahab who was the king of Israel to defeat Syria and the other kings because he was tired of the sins of Syria. God and Israel prevailed as Israel killed 100,000 Syrians on the seventh day of the battle followed by another 27,000 who died the next day for a total of 127,000 dead. (I Kings 20:29-30 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben–hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.)
The Battle of Karkor which is also known as the Battle of the Valley of Moreh can be found in Judges 7-8 and was a battle between the Israelites led by Gideon and his three hundred man army against the Midianites who were oppressing Israel with slavery and control of the nation. God used Gideon and his 300 men to show that he alone gives victory and not the Israelites themselves. Gideon and his ragtag army with the help of God killed 120,000 Midianites and freed Israel from the bondage of Midian. God won. (Judges 8:4 ¶ And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.) (Judges 8:10 ¶ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.)
Pekah the king of Israel fought against Ahaz and the nation of Judah. God allowed the Israelites to kill 120,000 Judahites because they had forsaken God. God will even use a people and their wicked king whom he does not approve of their sins to destroy another nation including his own chosen people since they had rejected God including their own wicked king. (II Chronicles 28:5-6 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
6 ¶ For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.)
The Battle of Medeba is found in II Samuel 10 and I Chronicles 19. When the king of Ammon died, David sent men to give his condolences, yet the men were mistreated which angered David. The Ammonites realized this and hired Syrians to help them fight against Israel. The Israelites went on to kill 87,000 Syrians in the Battle of Medeba (7,000 charioteers and 40,000 cavalry [horsemen] and 40,000 infantry [footmen]) and claim victory. (II Samuel 10:18 And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there.) (I Chronicles 19:18 But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.)
During the time of the judges and not a long time past the death of Joshua, the nation of Israel saw a civil war between Benjamin and the other eleven tribes after the Benjaminites had killed the wife of a Levite after brutally gang raping her all night. The Battle of Gibeah is found in Judges 20. Israel (the eleven tribes) had 22,000 killed on the first day of the battle. (Judges 20:21 And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.) Benjamin killed 18,000 more Israelites on the second day of the battle. (Judges 20:25 And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword.) On day three of the battle, the Israelites had 30 killed and Benjamin had 25,100 killed. (Judges 20:35 And the LORD smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword.) This battle saw over 65,130 men killed not including those in the city. Israel won.
The Battle of Aphek in I Samuel 4 pitted the Philistines against the Israelites at Aphek. The Philistines killed four thousand Israelites who then went and got the ark of the covenant hoping that God would help them, but God did not as the Israelites had turned from him and he wanted to teach them a lesson. (I Samuel 4:2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men.) After the ark of the covenant arrived, the battle continued and led to the deaths of 30,000 more Israelite footmen (infantry) for a total of 34,000 Israelites killed. (I Samuel 4:10-11 ¶ And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.) The Philistines captured the ark of the covenant and killed the two sons of the high priest and proclaimed victory.
As we remember our war dead on Memorial Day, let us never forget the sacrifice these men made for our liberty and freedom of worship of God. Let us never forget the God that gave us those victories and let us pray for our nation to turn back to God so that he will continue to give us victories before he decides to let us be destroyed by our enemies. Let us remember these great battles from biblical history that they not be forgotten and learn from them to always honor the true living God Jehovah who is Jesus. For those who are not saved please call upon Jesus now so that you can proclaim victory and no longer be among the war dead of Satan, but a living child of Jesus. Let us never forget those men and women who have died for Jesus in the spiritual war that we fight each and every day. May God bless America and more importantly, may America bless God.
