WHAT IS ARMAGEDDON?
Many people describe the final battle at the end of the world
as the battle of Armageddon. But is that really what the Bible teaches?
For centuries, the name “Armageddon” has been understood
as the final battle at the end of the world between the forces of good and evil.
Yet in Revelation 16:16, the only place in the Bible where this word is found,
we see a different explanation: “And they gathered them together
to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.”
“They,” according to verses 13-14, are the three unclean “spirits of demons,
performing signs,” who go out to the leaders of the earth “to gather them
to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Notice that the name
of the battle is not called “Armageddon.” It is called the battle of “
that great day of God Almighty.” Armageddon will be the gathering
place for the armies.
Armageddon was the site of many battles in history
The Hebrew word for Armageddon is actually “Har Megiddo,”
which means hill or mountain of Megiddo.
It also referred to the plain and valley of Esdraelon.
It was in this area where Pharaoh Necho of Egypt,
on his way to aid the king of Assyria,
was attacked by King Josiah of Judah,
who then was defeated by the Egyptians at Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29-30).
According to a historical marker at the site of Megiddo,
“The city of Megiddo played a prominent role in the history of the ancient Near East.
Strategically located at the mouth of the Nahal ‘Iron Pass,’
Megiddo controlled access to the road that linked Egypt
with Mesopotamia and Anatolia—the most important trade and military
route of that time. Megiddo is the only site in the Land of Israel
mentioned in the records of all Near Eastern ancient powers
and was one of the most fought-over cities of the region.”
As corruption, violence and evil increase, our world teeters on the brink of self-destruction.
Jesus Christ’s promise to come again offers our only real hope.
Is our world like the days of Noah?
In speaking about the end times and His return to this earth, Jesus Christ said,
“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37).
Just before He returns, Christ says, the earth will be dominated by gentile nations.
Who are these gentiles, and what will be the result of their influence?
When His disciples asked Jesus Christ what the sign of His second coming would be,
He told them that terrible and troubling times would exist just before He returned.
Jesus spoke about increasing religious deception, natural disasters,
disease and pestilence, religious persecution, revolutions and wars (Luke 21:7-17).
He went on to say the fighting would culminate with Jerusalem being surrounded by armies.
And He said, “Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled”
(verse 24, emphasis added throughout).
Our Creator God knows what is good for us and what is bad for us.
What does the Bible tell us God wants us to do?
Matthew 22:37-40 ).
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
Which is the great commandment?
“Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is:
“Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. A
nd you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
” This is the first commandment.
And the second,
like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31).
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