The Battle Of Armageddon

by R. Armstrong, Toronto | Category: The Finger Of Prophecy | Sept 1970

One of the two final wars of this world's history will be fought at a place called Armageddon (Hebrew, Har-Magedon), in the Middle East. This great future event shown clearly in Bible prophecy will occur at the end of the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy, or the last seven years of the Times of the Gentiles. We saw earlier in these articles how 69 weeks of years or 483 years were fulfilled up to the death of Christ, which leaves another 7 years to be fulfilled to complete this prophecy. Revelation 6 to 19 inclusive, vividly describe momentous happenings on the earth during this seven year period. These include (1) the opening of the seven seals, (2) the sounding of the seven trumpets, (3) the pouring out of the seven vials of the wrath of God. These visions all have to do with conditions on the earth during that time when there will be great cosmic disturbances, plagues, and the judgements of God. Near the close of that time of world distress the armies of all nations will gather together in Israel.

Isaiah the prophet looked across the centuries and wrote of that coming time. "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the LORD hath indignation against all the nations, and fury against all their host: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter" (Isaiah 34.1' 2). Zechariah prophesied of the same time, and wrote, "Behold, a day of the LORD cometh, when thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished: and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle" (Zechariah 14.1-3). It will be the greatest movement of troops and machines of war the world has ever seen. It is this gathering of the military power of the world into Israel, and the appearing of the Son of Man in "power and great glory," (Matthew 24.30), that will bring to a close the great tribulation. Immediately following this the bloodiest military engagement in history will take place. The dark and unseen forces of the spirit world, called the "spirits of devils, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty ... And they gathered them together into the place which is called in the Hebrew Har-Magedon" (Revelation 16. 14, 16). Thus in a simple and unsensational way the Divine Spirit records this coming event of the two greatest armies the world has ever seen, moving on a collision course.

This will be the commencement of the "day of the Lord," an expression which occurs numerous times in both Old and New Testament Scriptures, all referring to the time when God will send the Lord Jesus Christ to execute judgement and establish His kingdom. "He hath given all judgement unto the Son; ... And He gave Him authority to execute judgement, because He is the Son of man" (John 5.22,27). Thus it appears that the first major judgement executed by the Lord Jesus will be the destruction of the world's military power.

The Armies of the World

God will move Satan to gather all the armies of the world into Israel, one of the smallest countries of the Middle East, for the Lord Jesus to destroy them. We can see the divine plan in this strategy, for a confrontation of such immensity will concentrate mammoth forces of men and equipment into such a small area that when they are thrown into confusion by the dramatic and unexpected appearing of the Lord Jesus there will be no possibility of escape or withdrawal. The Beast (or man of sin) will be the master-mind under Satan's power to organize this great campaign, and direct them to Israel's tiny country. We are told of a divine miracle that will be performed to assist in the movement of armies. The sixth angel will pour out his vial upon the river Euphrates, "and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sun rising" (Revelation 16.12). It seems clear that this is the time when the Beast will move quickly to retain undisputed power over the military might of the. Far East, Japan, China, Russia and India. This move is suggested by Daniel's vision, "Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many" (Daniel 11.44).

The Lord's Army

The one great power the Beast and the generals of his confederated armies will fail to reckon with as they plan the annihilation of Israel, is the unseen heavenly army of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are introduced to this amazing host of heavenly warriors in Revelation 19. 11-19, where the Lord Jesus is seen coming out of heaven with eyes aflame, riding on a white horse and followed by the armies of heaven who also are seen riding on white horses. What a tremendous sight the flaming host will be (see 2 Thessalonians 1.8), as they descend from heaven, and no modern weapons of war can stop them!

The plains of Megiddo lying to the north west of Jerusalem, where many battles were fought in ancient times, will be the scene of the destruction of the armies of the earth, and the casting of the Beast and the false prophet alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19.20). We quote from an archaeological note: "Megiddo was the famous battlefield, Armageddon, which gives its name to one of the final battles of the ages. It was situated on the south side of the plain of Esdraelon, 10 miles southwest of Nazareth, at the entrance to a pass across the Carmel mountain range, on the main highway between Asia and Africa, key position between the Euphrates and the Nile, meeting place of armies from the east and west... It has been said that more blood has been shed around this hill than any other spot on earth" (Halley's Bible Handbook).

The sharp sword of judgement proceeding from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ is the destroying weapon that will cut down the massed forces of the Beast, and their flesh shall be food for all the birds that fly in mid heaven (Revelation 19. 15.17, 18). Of that titanic battle we read, "And the winepress was trodden without the city (Jerusalem), and there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs" (Revelation 14. 20). The area indicated here if taken in Hebrew measurement, which is 54 feet less than one eighth of a mile, or approximately 600 feet to the furlong, represents about 160 linear miles. We are aghast at the thought of blood filling an area of this size to a depth of a horse's bridle, or about 4 feet. It gives us some idea of the terrible carnage that will take place when the Lord Jesus releases His mighty judgements. It will be without precedent in world history.

The issue of this brief but terrible battle is clear. When the armies of the nations surround Jerusalem it will be hopeless for Israel to resist. The odds will be overwhelming. The heavens will seem as brass above them, and they will cry out to God for deliverance as in times of old. Humanly speaking Israel will be doomed to destruction. Without warning the Lord and His mighty army will appear at the right moment. It will be wonderful to behold! The heaven-borne terror will descend on the forces of the world's vaunted military power deployed on Megiddo's plains. Assisted by natural forces, an earthquake, darkened sun, moon, and stars we visualize the world plunged into darkness, as this wave of heavenly power sweeps in to destroy the armies of the earth (See Matthew 24.29). No doubt the rest of the inhabited earth will suddenly become aware of impending judgement, not only because of cosmic upheavals, but the face of the Lord Jesus Christ will be seen, set towards judgement. "Every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him" (Revelation 1. 7).

Contemplation of the reality of those awful days that lie ahead for the world makes those thankful who know the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour. All such will escape the judgements of God as they are poured out upon men and the great world system which is now almost ripe for that time. The consummation of that indescribable scene is best conveyed in the language of Scripture itself. "And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men both free and bond, and small and great.

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet they twain were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone" (Revelation 19. 17, 18, 20). Thus will the Lord Jesus execute His first judgements on the earth when He comes as the Son of Man, and will usher in the "great and terrible day of the LORD" (Malachi 4.5). We leave the reader to ponder the solemn issues of those soon coming days.

R. Armstrong, Toronto | Sept 1970
The Finger Of Prophecy