At this point, the foundation’s been laid. The regional nature of the end-times story has already been made clear through Scripture, the Jewish worldview of the first century and the Early Church Fathers, who echoed the teachings of the apostles. I’m no longer making the case. We’re stepping into it. We’re stepping into the map.
There are many aspects of the end-times narrative to explore. Plenty of passages that highlight cosmic signs, global tremors, judgments on distant nations and the return of the King. Notice that many of those events are global, but still, the core — the foundation — is the regional conflict. That’s the map we will walk out. We’re zeroing in on the core. And when it comes to the core conflict, there’s no better place to start than the framework Jesus Himself gave.
His disciples asked the most direct question imaginable — “What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?” They weren’t asking in metaphor. They weren’t trying to build a system. They wanted to know what to look for — what would actually happen. And Jesus answered by pointing to something specific, visible and unmistakable: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.” That’s not vague. That’s a real place, a real siege and a real moment that believers were meant to recognize.
That statement sets the stage, and it’s not a new stage. It’s the same one the prophets built. Jerusalem becomes surrounded. Desolation is imminent. Fleeing becomes the instruction. And everything that follows cascades from that flashpoint. So, we’re not adding layers of modern interpretation here. We’re simply walking the path Jesus laid and seeing how the rest of Scripture fills in the gaps.
As I’ve written — perhaps to the point of nausea for some — Jesus didn’t say anything new. He triggered their memory. He rooted them back in the time they already knew would come, because the prophets had made it plain. He specifically linked the surrounding of Jerusalem to “the abomination of desolation,” a phrase directly drawn from the prophet Daniel.
In Daniel 9:27 (NIV), we read, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation…”
In Daniel 11:31, it continues: “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.”
These aren’t floating predictions. They’re structured military movements. Jerusalem’s worship is cut off, armies rise and a desecration occurs. Jesus, speaking centuries later, pulls those prophecies forward, not to reinterpret them, but to reemphasize them. He’s saying: That moment Daniel spoke of? That’s what you’ll see. And it starts when Jerusalem is surrounded.
From the point Jesus said this, Jerusalem had already seen sieges. The city had been surrounded before and would be again in 70 AD. But Jesus speaks of one siege that is different, specific, prophetic and tied to the end. There’s a weight and clarity to His words that suggests this isn’t a vague cycle, but a precise fulfillment.
What makes this one different? The surrounding is part of a broader campaign. One where armies don’t simply “attack Israel,” but move with strategic coordination. Daniel 11 provides a comprehensive portrayal of the conflict between the “King of the North” and the “King of the South,” with the “Beautiful Land” caught in the middle of it. Armies march, alliances break, power shifts, however, the geography remains the same. It’s focused on Jerusalem, and Jesus pressed that geography into the minds of His disciples.
He even gave practical instructions: “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matt. 24:16). This isn’t a metaphor. This is a literal escape from a literal siege. It’s as if Jesus is saying, You’ll know it when you see it. And when you do, don’t hesitate. Get out.
What’s striking is how consistent the imagery is across Scripture. Zechariah 12–14 paints a picture of Jerusalem surrounded and attacked with half the city taken into exile, and then God intervenes. Zechariah 14 opens with a piercing clarity: “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord… I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle… Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle” (Zech. 14:1–3 ESV).
Jerusalem is plundered. The city is divided. Half of the population is exiled. But just when it seems lost, the Lord steps in. His feet touch the Mount of Olives, the mountain splits and living waters begin to flow from Jerusalem. That’s not a metaphor. That’s not a symbolic gesture. That’s the King arriving where He said He would, in the place every prophet pointed to depciting a real return to a real city to bring a real kingdom.
And while Jerusalem is the epicenter, Scripture is not silent on the armies and how they get there. That, we’ll explore next. But for now, there’s one staging ground that deserves special mention — Armageddon. Revelation 16:16 (NIV) says, “Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”
This infamous battlefield is more than just a symbol of chaos — it’s a geographical location. Har Megiddo is the mountain near the ancient city of Megiddo in northern Israel. It has been a strategic site for military staging throughout history. But in this final conflict, it serves a prophetic purpose — a launch point.
Armageddon is not the place of final destruction. It’s the place of final assembly. The armies don’t stay there, they stage there. They march southward toward Jerusalem. The prophet Joel confirms this when he speaks of nations being gathered to the Valley of Jehoshaphat — the region just east of Jerusalem — for judgment. It’s not a random convergence. It’s a regional funnel.
Isaiah 10 describes an Assyrian figure moving down toward Jerusalem from the north. Micah 5 tells of a shepherd-king who strikes down invaders at the gates. Ezekiel 38 and 39 chart the northern coalition that comes against Israel and meets its end on the mountains of the land. Everything is triangulating toward one flashpoint, one target — Jerusalem. And when Jesus says, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded,” He’s drawing that entire roadmap together. He says, “This is it. This is the moment. This is where everything turns.” The prophets pointed to it. The geography confirms it. And the Messiah ties it all together.
There’s a reason Jesus didn’t say, “When the global economy collapses” or “When a certain alliance signs a treaty.” He said, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded.” Because that’s where the story has always been headed, that’s where the covenant was made and that’s where the covenant will be contested. This is no longer theory — it’s terrain. And it begins not with speculation, but with boots on the ground.
