Chapter Thirty – Armageddon!
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Nearly everyone has heard of Armageddon! Hundreds of authors have written books on the subject, and dozens of movies have been produced depicting the “final battle between good and evil.” Generals, scientists and world leaders also use the term, generally to reference the possible annihilation of mankind through nuclear, chemical or biological means.
Some thought Armageddon would be the final battle of World War I. They were wrong! Others thought World War II would end with this battle. They were also wrong! More recently, during the Gulf War, thought-to-be Bible experts were announcing, “Armageddon is here!” Again, they were wrong!—as have been many other scenarios.
What exactly is Armageddon? Is it a place or an event? Who will take part in it? What does the Bible really say?
Over 1,900 years ago, while exiled on an island off the Greek coast, the apostle John recorded what would happen—culminating in our time! We saw he was thrust forward in time into the “Lord’s Day” or “Day of the Lord” (Rev 1:10) and was given messages regarding “...things which are, and things which shall be hereafter” (Rev 1:19).
Most of what John saw in vision was foreign to him. He had to record things in a way that could be understood. For instance, how would someone from the first century describe a helicopter gunship? What about a jet—or nuclear explosion? Jesus would have inspired him to use symbols or items familiar to him.
Important History
A certain amount of historical background to the subject of Armageddon must precede proper understanding of this improperly understood subject.
Surprisingly, the Bible mentions Armageddon in only one verse: “And He [God] gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Rev. 16:16). Though the New Testament was written in Greek, Armageddon is not a Greek word. It comes from two Hebrew words—“har” and “megiddo.” Har means hill—or sometimes figuratively hill country.
Megiddo, or Megiddon, was a royal city of the Canaanites until Joshua captured it (Josh. 17:11). Located on the southern edge of the great plain of Issachar (also known as the Plain of Esdraelon and Valley of Jezreel) (Josh. 17:16), it was given to the Israelite tribe of Manasseh (I Chron. 7:29). Megiddo was a fortified city that guarded the strategic passes around Mt. Carmel.
Now for two of several vital points. Grasp them. (1) God brings certain people (armies) to Megiddo, and (2) the Bible says Armageddon is a gathering place, not an event—and not a battle (Rev. 16:16). When the Bible speaks of Armageddon, it is not referring to either the end of the world or the final battle between “good and evil,” as so many believe. This is critical to understand—and it will soon be obvious.
The site of Megiddo is within the borders of the modern state of Israel, about 60 miles north of Jerusalem and about 20 miles east of the port city of Haifa. The location of up to 30 different cities over thousands of years, Megiddo is today little more than a 15-acre pile of rubble on a hilltop.
In ancient times, this area included a main highway between Africa and Asia. It provided a natural gathering place due to the flatness of the surrounding topography. Archaeology shows evidence of frequent, extremely heavy defense facilities there through the centuries, and involving many periods of development. I have carefully walked the area, and seen this.
Megiddo is a famous setting for several great slaughters through history. The first was when Joshua overthrew it in the 1400s BC. Later, when Deborah was judging Israel, she ordered Barak into battle there against the Canaanites, led by Sisera. Every soldier in Sisera’s army was killed. (This story is in Judges 4:1-25 and 5:1-31.)
The well-known defeat and slaughter of 120,000 Midianite soldiers by the army of Gideon may have also taken place near Armageddon. Judges 7:1-25 describes how God first reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300 prior to this battle.
I Kings 9:1-28 describes how King Solomon turned Megiddo into a fortified stronghold that housed hundreds of horses for his fleet of chariots. The foundation of his enormous stable is still visible today. I have also walked through and studied these.
When Jehu, king of Israel, wounded Judah’s King Ahaziah in battle, Ahaziah fled to Megiddo, where he died.
The Egyptian king Pharaohnechoh came to the aid of the Assyrians and defeated the Israelites led by Josiah at Megiddo—where Josiah died (II Kings 23:29-30).
This valley has also seen military conflict in modern times. On September 19, 1918, British General Edmund Allenby won a decisive battle there in World War I, defeating the Ottoman Turks. This led directly to the birth in 1948 of today’s nation of Israel.
Because Megiddo is identified as a place of historic conflicts, and because more battles have been fought there than at any other place in the world, it has become emblematic—like Waterloo, Gettysburg or Normandy.
More Background
More background and review is now important to establish the setting surrounding the biblical Armageddon. Without this necessary review, the truth about Armageddon—what God wants understood about it—simply cannot be seen.
We saw the Bible foretells a period of seven trumpets blown, each heralding its own terrible event. We saw that throughout history, trumpet blasts have been used as warnings of imminent danger, such as war or another calamity (Zeph. 1:16; Jer. 4:19; Ezek. 33:2-6).
However, the seventh (or last) trumpet will announce to the world that Jesus Christ is coming to establish God’s rule on Earth. Man’s way of governance is ending. Also heralded by this final trumpet are the seven last plagues (bowls or vials of wrath) God will use to punish a rebellious mankind. Revelation describes seven angels who “pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth” (Rev. 16:1).
Let’s also review these, because Armageddon and the mark of the Beast are involved. When the first vial is poured out, “there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast” (Rev 16:2). Of course, by now you understand these belong to the great, false church-state system. (More on this in a moment.)
The second plague mirrors what the Egyptians suffered before the Exodus: “The second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea” (Rev 16:3).
The next three plagues involve the rivers and fountains turning to blood, the sun becoming so hot it scorches people, and darkness and pain becoming unbearable. After all these plagues, men will continue to “blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repent not of their deeds” (Rev 16:11).
We saw the last generation before Jesus’ Return is so vile, corrupt and contemptuous that God will subject them to the worst punishment possible—and they still will not repent.
The Important Sixth Plague
The sixth of the last plagues sets the stage for the final battle to resist Christ at His Return. Forces of spiritual wickedness—demons—are released to gather armies to bring about destruction and devastation on the inhabitants of Earth. Notice how these armies are able to gather: “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” (Rev. 16:12).
The Euphrates River originates in Turkey and flows southeast through Syria and Iraq, finally reaching the Persian Gulf. God will cause this river to dry up, enabling, it says, the “kings of the east” to easily cross into the Holy Land. But this is just a prelude—the setting of the stage for even more significant events to come.
Rev 16:13 continues, “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon [Rev. 12:9—the devil], and out of the mouth of the beast [the civil end-time ruler possessed by the devil], and out of the mouth of the false prophet [the also possessed religious leader with the Beast].” We saw Revelation 17:5 calls this Babylon the Great.