08 armageddon

The prophecy for the end of the seven years has the nations of the earth being gathered together at Megiddo in Israel, awaiting the final battle of Armageddon [#14]. A battle that the earthly armies believe will determine the true 'king of the earth.' Battle rages like never before only to be stopped by the Second Coming of Christ.

Footnote 14 [back to top]

Armageddon
(from Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology)

A name occurring only once in the Bible and designating the place where the last great battle of the ages will take place (Rev 16:16). It will coincide with the second coming of Christ (Rev 16:15) and there all of the hosts of evil will be defeated (Rev 19:11-21).

Armageddon is a Hebrew word, although it does not occur in the Old Testament. Its meaning is not exactly clear, but it is best taken to mean Mount Megiddo, since "Har" in Hebrew means mountain and "Mageddon" is the place-name of Megiddo.

In Old Testament history Megiddo was a place of numerous decisive battles because of the broad plain that stood before it. Deborah and Barak defeated Sisera and his Canaanite army there (Judges 4-5), Gideon drove off the Midianites and Amalekites (Judges 6), Saul and the army of Israel were defeated because of their failure to trust in God (1 Sam 31), and the Egyptian army under Pharaoh Neco killed Josiah, king of Judah (2 Kings 23:29). Although these decisive battles were fought before Megiddo, the place-name never became fixed in Jewish tradition as designating the place of decisive battle. However, given the fact that it was such a place, it is natural that John should use it to locate the final great battle on earth.

Some interpreters take John's designation literally, expecting the armies of the earth to gather against God in the endtimes below the remains of Old Testament Megiddo; others see in it a more figurative element. They point out that Megiddo was not really a mountain at all and that the battle will take place in the plain. Perhaps John designated it Mount Megiddo as a clue to its symbolic meaning, drawing together the historic place of conflict in Israel's history with the prophecies of Ezekiel that speak of the great eschatological conflict taking place in the mountains of Israel (Eze 39:2,4,17).

In any case, John sees the final triumph of God at Armageddon and offers that to the persecuted Christians as a word of comfort and hope that evil will not win, but is doomed to ultimate destruction.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright.