The Book Of Revelation

The Battle of Armageddon

Scripture reference: Revelation 16

Considering that the word Armageddon occurs only once in the Bible, it is amazing how well known it is - whilst at the same time so little understood! This is simply because it has been taken completely out of context and applied to pretty well any major battle in the history of mankind.

In order to present what the Bible has to say we must first clear away a lot of misinformation on the place and scriptural references to it. Popular belief is that it refers to a forthcoming military confrontation involving Russia, Arabs, Israel and others in the Jezreel Valley of Northern Israel, also known as the Plain of Esdraelon in Greek and the Valley of Megiddo in Hebrew. Those who promote this scenario believe the valley of Megiddo to be the site of Armageddon, but it is only the similarity of the name, and its appropriateness as a site for a miliary battle that appears to have led them to draw this conclusion.

When Napoleon visited the place in 1800 he agreed it would make a fine battle ground for the world's armies. In 1874, Lord Kitchener (the man whose picture adorns the poster which says "Your country needs you!") reported to the Palestine Exploration Fund that "this is the greatest battle field in the world where the last great battle of Armageddon is to be fought". In 1918 it was the site of the British General Allenby's final defeat of the Ottoman Turkish forces which resulted in the liberation of what was then known as Palestine.

The so-called "experts" in linguistics and religious studies, howver, seem unable to agree about the location of Armageddon. Some say that it was originally spelt "Har-Megiddo" and therefore means a Hill at the end of the Megiddo valley, described in the previous paragraph. The problem here is that we never read in the Bible of a battle on any such hill. So is this Armageddon? or perhaps the question should be, does it actually exist or is it - like the rest of the Book of Revelation in which the name is found - a symbol of something else?

Here is the reference: 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. 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 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. 15. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

The Plain of Esdraelon overlooks an important pass into the hill country. Historically this pass was very important because it was the route which most armies and traders took from Egypt to Babylon or other important areas north and east of Megiddo. Archaeologists indicate that no less than two dozen powers have owned Megiddo at one point or another through history.

Israel fought a number of important battles there. Gideon and his small army defeated the Midianites there, see Judges 7. King Saul was defeated by the Philistines, I Samuel 31, in that area. King Josiah died in a battle with Pharaoh-Necho, who was on his way to fight further north and warned Josiah not to interfere, 2 Chronicles 35:22-25. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel lived in that area in the city of Jezreel, where she also died, 2 Kings 9:30-37.

Whenever a valley or plain is mentioned in the Old Testament it is usually associated with a moment of decision before proceeding. The Valley of Decision is a biblical name given to the Valley of Jehoshaphat by the prophet Joel. It is the location of Jehovah's inflictions on Zion's enemies. In Psalm 23, there is a reference to the valley of the shadow of death.

What is interesting about Megiddo is that just above that valley stands a mountain called Mount Carmel where the Children of Isreal were called upon to make a decision that would determine their destiny. It was there that the prophet Elijah had a contest with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 17 and 18). It was a battle of sorts, though the people did not go to war against anyone. It was not a physical battle fought with bows, arrows and spears, but rather it was a spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of the citizens of Israel, who had dabbled in the worship the pagan god Baal. In the Biblical account, God wanted Elijah to prove that they should worship God, rather than Baal. After the contest was over and the prophets and priests of Baal had been revealed as fakes, Elijah is said to have killed them. There was no battle, unless you stretch your imagination and dub Elijah's actions a battle.

They weren't assembled on Mount Carmel to fight, but to be challenged as to who was the true God. Note one thing, only those who remained loyal to the false god died, and that happened only after the people determined in their own mind who was the true God. At the core of this contest on top of Mount Carmel was the battle for the hearts and minds of the citizens of Israel.

The Book of Revelation often draws upon events and symbols taken from Israel's past and uses them to illustrate a truth that God is trying to get across. Elijah's contest at Mount Carmel took place in the very area alluded to in Revelation 16, which would strongly suggest the event would be similar in nature.

The Bible is full of stories about situations depicting Satan warring against God through common events in everyday life. They illustrate such conflicts as being between good and evil that have been going on even before the creation of life on this earth. Job 1-2 is a good example of this. In most instances, much of the battle is unseen by human eyes, yet it is very real. It involves the battle for the human mind, and for heaven itself, and what it represents.

Nowhere in Revelation 16 does it say that the nations of the world are the players at Armageddon. It indicates that the players are the dragon (a perscuting monarch or authority), the Beast (a governing power), the false prophet (doctrine of mistruths about God) who will orchestrate the gathering together for war (conflict) the nations of the world (groups of people involved in the prophecy who share a common belief). This is not a 'nation against nation' confrontation; this is spiritual force against spiritual force. Verse 14 speaks of it as a battle against the great day of God, so this is a battle against God himself and what He stands for. It also says He will overcome those who war against Him (Rev. 17:14). It is significant that the false God who Elijah challenged on Mount Carmel was the pagan god Baal. It was the introduction of various aspects of Baal worship into the Roman Catholic church in the 5th and 6th centuries AD that corrupted her doctrines and turned her into the Beast of Revelation.

So the players are identified as God on one hand and Satan personified in the dragon, the beast and the false prophet who teach false doctrine (the false prophet) within the church on the other. God's people will be challenged as to whom they will serve. For those who have decided for God, there will be eternal life. For those who have sided with the beast, comes judgement and destruction on both them as well as the beast. It is this event which is equivalent to the killing of the priests of Baal.

In the original story of Elijah versus the prophets and priests of Baal, several things are evident. At Mount Carmel God called the people together through the prophet Elijah, which brought about the events of that day. In that event, God was able to bring the people to choose to serve him. At Armageddon, it is the Beast who brings the people together in a mirror image of the original Mount Carmel events, but in reverse. In the book of Geneisis, frogs were sent by God to plague Egypt, here the frogs are sent by the Beast to perform miracles. The underlying message here is that frog are still frogs (a plague), but the Beast's plague comes disguised as miracles.

Regarding Armageddon, though the people have been gathered for war, there is no indication that God expects or is prepared for a war, nor is there any record of a war actually taking place. It was the Beast - the human authorities that rule God's people - who meant it to be a time of battle. They thought they had assembled themselves to make war against God's people, but God turns the tables on them. The schoolyard bullies thought they were coming after the weaklings, and picking a fight. The Beast expects a fight with the God's people, but what he gets is an encounter with Big Brother - Jesus!

How do we know this? Right in the middle of the discourse, in verse 15, is a warning for God's people to be ready and alert as he is coming as a thief. This reads remarkably like 2 Peter 3:10, Matt 24: 42, Matt 25: 13, 1 Thess. 5: 2 which refer to the second coming of Jesus: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10). No wonder it is referred to as the great day of God Almighty!

Armageddon in Herbrew Tongue

Revelation 16: 14, 16 says: "working miracles, they 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. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon".

As we have already discussed, there isn't a place called Armageddon, but this verse is in the Book of Revelation, which is a book written in symbolism, so there is a good chance that the word Armageddon in the Hebrew language is a symbol. So what does Armageddon in the Hebrew language mean? The word Armageddon can be broken down into three major components: Arema-gai-dun. When put together into a meaningful phrase these Hebrew words could read "A heap of sheaves in a valley for judgement". What better descriptive, symbolic word, given in the Hebrew tongue, consistent with what the Hebrew prophets have told us, adequately describes this event than Armageddon?

Many Hebrew prophets spoke of a coming great day of God Almighty:

"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2:35)

"Now also many nations are gathered against thee that say, Let her be defiled and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." (Micah 4:12-13)

"Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." (Joel 3:13-14)

The striking thing about these passages (and there are many others we could turn to) is how they all use the metaphor of "the harvest being ripe"; or, "a time of threshing" or the "gathering of nations as sheaves" etc. Other passages which use similar symbology are Habbakuk chapter 3 and Isaiah chapter 63. Indeed, Isaiah 41 shows how Israel itself will be used as a sharp threshing instrument in bringing judgement on its detractors. One further intriguing point about this particular quotation is how the prophets talk about threshing mountains. Can mountains be threshed? Literally speaking, no! But when we realise how often the prophets (e.g. Daniel chapter 2:35 above) symbolically refer to nations (groups of people with a common faith) as "mountains" (which together make up the whole earth), we can see how it is possible.

The same symbolism is taken up in the book of Revelation 14:14-16: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."

Armageddon is that time we read about at the beginning of Revelation 11 when John is just about to be told about the 7th Trumpet, and God says 'Hold everything'. He tells John to go out and 'measure' the temple, to take stock of who is allowed into the inner court where He is, and who has been locked outside. It's the time Jesus referred to as when the sheep would be sorted out from the goats, when the wheat will be separated from the tares.

God has allowed the Beast and false prophet to take over the outer temple and they see themselves as God's people, but in fact they have been shut out of the Inner Court. That is reserved for the sheep of His pasture, those who hear His voice, who know him and who are known by him (John 10: 27) because they live in the Naos - the Holy of Holies. They are the small remnant, the third referred to throughout the Revelation, who are numbered as 144,000.

The 144,000 and the Day of Harvest