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ROKU AppWhen Is Armageddon Not Armageddon?
Written by Joel Meeker
The word Armageddon conjures images of the destruction of the earth. Some believe it will be the battlefield of the final confrontation between good and evil. Can we know what will really happen at Armageddon?
The word Armageddon has occupied a frightening and unique place in the popular imagination of Western civilization for nearly two millennia. The word appears in the titles of books and blockbuster films, usually in the context of the catastrophic destruction of planet earth.
An Internet search for Armageddon yields over 50 million results, which is amazing. What is even more amazing is that virtually every claim to explain what Armageddon means in Bible prophecy is wrong.
Skeptical? You can prove this to yourself in about a minute in your own Bible; we’ll get to that in a moment.
I survived Armageddon
That kitschy subhead is actually true. My family spent a hot summer working on the ongoing archaeological excavation at Megiddo, Israel, the place that is the origin of the word Armageddon. Now a vacant man-made mound some 70 feet (20 meters) high, Tel Megiddo contains layer upon vestigial layer of successive human civilizations. A freshwater spring at the site, in a region where permanent water sources are scarce, guaranteed that Megiddo was occupied from earliest times.
Armageddon is derived from the Hebrew expression for mount of Megiddo, and also referred to the broad plain below the site, called the valley of Jezreel or Esdraelon. This area has been hotly contested for at least 3,500 years, since Pharaoh Thutmose III gained a victory here around 1500 B.C. There have been 34 other recorded battles in and around Megiddo, including several mentioned in the Bible, as well as others fought by Saladin, Napoleon Bonaparte and Edmund Allenby. These continued up to and beyond the Israeli war for independence.
While digging in 2008 in area Q, at a depth where most of what we uncovered dated from the seventh century B.C., one of my daughters uncovered spent rifle cartridges and mortar shell cases that had been buried in foxholes dug during the Megiddo battles of 1947.
The great battle at the return of Christ
Bible prophecy does predict a calamitous world war at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. The nations of the world will contest the return of Christ. The rulers of the nations will be gathered together by spirits of demons performing signs and miracles.
The deceived nations of “the whole world” will send their armies to fight Jesus at His return, and, according to Revelation 16:16, they will gather at “the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.” The armies fighting against the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth will gather around Megiddo, at Armageddon. But the final battle—the one most people call Armageddon—actually won’t occur there.
“I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem”
That is a quote from Zechariah 14:2, which also predicts this great end-time battle. Armies numbering in the millions will fight at Jerusalem, which is the very place where Jesus will descend to earth.
The following verses in Zechariah show Jesus Christ standing on the Mount of Olives (just to the east of the old city of Jerusalem), fighting the rebellious armies who attempt to stop His return. The prophet Joel portrays God judging the world in battle at Jerusalem (Joel 3:1-2, 12-16), specifically at a valley called Jehoshaphat, which means judgment. This is a name historically connected with the Kidron Valley between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem, and the Valley of Hinnom, south of the old city.
Jerusalem is situated in a rugged, mountainous region that would make gathering and organizing armies difficult. So it is not surprising that those armies will gather in the valley below Megiddo, a spacious flat plain, before moving 60 to 70 miles south to their final battle.
Beyond Armageddon
World War I was optimistically called “the war to end all wars.” We know how that turned out. But the battle at Jerusalem at Christ’s return will mark the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, which in turn will finally enforce world peace under the authority of Almighty God. With all the rebellious might of mankind defeated and destroyed, surviving human beings will finally be able to rejoice in safety and peace:
“For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:3-4).
Joel Meeker is the French-language regional director for the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. He and his wife and two daughters have participated in the archaeological excavations at Megiddo and Ashkelon in Israel.
For more about the end-time battle and the peaceful Kingdom of God beyond it, see:
