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| The Armageddon |
According to the Book of Revelation in the New
Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (/ˌɑːrməˈɡɛdən/,
from Ancient Greek: Ἁρμαγεδών Harmagedōn,[1][2] Late Latin: Armagedōn,[3] from Hebrew: הַר מְגִדּוֹ Har
Məgīddō) is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies for a battle
during the end times, which is variously interpreted as either a
literal or a symbolic location. The term is also used in a generic sense to
refer to any end of the world scenario. In Islamic theology, the Armageddon is
also mentioned in Hadith as the Greatest Armageddon or Al-Malhama Al-Kubra (the great battle).[4]
The "mount" of Megiddo in
northern Israel is not actually a mountain, but
a tell (a mound or hill created by many
generations of people living and rebuilding on the same spot)[5] on
which ancient forts were built to guard the Via Maris,
an ancient trade route linking Egypt with the
northern empires of Syria, Anatolia and Mesopotamia.
Megiddo was the location of various ancient battles, including one in the 15th century BC and one in 609 BC. The nearby modern Megiddo is
a kibbutz in
the Kishon River area.[6]
Etymology
The word Armageddon appears only once in
the Greek New Testament, in Revelation
16:16. The word is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew har
məgiddô (הר מגידו). Har means
"a mountain or range of hills". This is a shortened form of harar meaning
"to loom up; a mountain". Megiddo refers
to a fortification made by King Ahab that dominated the Plain
of Jezreel. Its name means "place of crowds".
Christianity
Megiddo is mentioned twelve times in the Old
Testament, ten times in reference to the ancient city of Megiddo,
and twice with reference to "the plain of Megiddo", most probably
simply meaning "the plain next to the city".[9] None
of these Old Testament passages describes the city of Megiddo as being
associated with any particular prophetic beliefs. The one New
Testament reference to the city of Armageddon found in Revelation
16:16 also makes no specific mention of any armies being predicted to
one day gather in this city, but instead seems to predict only that "they
(will gather) the kings together to... Armageddon".[10] The
text does however seem to imply, based on the text from the earlier passage of
Revelation 16:14, that the purpose of this gathering of kings in the
"place called Armageddon" is "for the war of the great day of
God, the Almighty." Because of the seemingly highly symbolic and even
cryptic language of this one New Testament passage, some Christian scholars
conclude that Mount Armageddon must be an idealized location.[11] R.
J. Rushdoony says, "There are no mountains of Megiddo, only the
Plains of Megiddo. This is a deliberate destruction of the vision of any
literal reference to the place."[12] Other
scholars, including C. C. Torrey, Kline and Jordan argue
that the word is derived from the Hebrew moed (מועד), meaning
"assembly". Thus, "Armageddon" would mean
"Mountain of Assembly," which Jordan says is "a reference to the
assembly at Mount Sinai, and to its replacement, Mount Zion."[11]
Most traditions interpret this Bible prophecy to be symbolic
of the progression of the world toward the "great day of God, the
Almighty" in which God pours out his just and holy wrath against
unrepentant sinners, led by Satan, in a literal end-of-the-world final
confrontation.[13] Armageddon
is the symbolic name given to this event based on scripture references
regarding divine obliteration of God's enemies. The hermeneutical method
supports this position by referencing Judges 4 and 5 where God miraculously
destroys the enemy of their elect, Israel, at Megiddo.[14]
Christian scholar William Hendriksen writes:
For this cause, Har Magedon is the symbol of every battle in
which, when the need is greatest and believers are oppressed, the Lord suddenly
reveals His power in the interest of His distressed people and defeats the
enemy. When Sennacherib's 185,000 are slain by the Angel of Jehovah, that is a
shadow of the final Har-Magedon. When God grants a little handful of Maccabees
a glorious victory over an enemy which far outnumbers it, that is a type of
Har-Magedon. But the real, the great, the final Har Magedon coincides with the
time of Satan’s little season. Then the world, under the leadership of Satan,
anti-Christian government, and anti-Christian religion – the dragon, the beast,
and the false prophet – is gathered against the Church for the final battle,
and the need is greatest; when God's children, oppressed on every side, cry for
help; then suddenly, Christ will appear on the clouds of glory to deliver his
people; that is Har-Magedon.[15]
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| The war of Armageddon |
Dispensationalism
In his discussion of Armageddon, J. Dwight Pentecost has devoted a chapter
to the subject, "The Campaign of Armageddon", in which he discusses
it as a campaign and not a specific battle, which will
be fought in the Middle East. Pentecost writes:
It has been held commonly that the battle of Armageddon is
an isolated event transpiring just prior to the second advent of Christ to the
earth. The extent of this great movement in which God deals with "the
kings of the earth and of the whole world"[16] will
not be seen unless it is realized that the "battle of that great day of
God Almighty"[17] is
not an isolated battle, but rather a campaign that extends over the last half of
the tribulation period. The Greek word "polemo", translated
"battle" in Revelation 16:14, signifies a war or campaign, while
"machē" signifies a battle, and sometimes even single combat. This
distinction is observed by Trench, (see Richard C. Trench, New Testament
Synonyms, pp.301-2) and is followed by Thayer (see Joseph Henry Thayer, Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 528) and Vincent (see Marvin R.
Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, II, 541). The use of
the word polemos (campaign) in Revelation 16:14 signifies that
God views the events culminating in the gathering at Armageddon at the second
advent as one connected campaign.
Pentecost then discusses the location of this campaign, and
mentions the "hill of Megiddo" and other geographic locations such as
"the valley of Jehoshaphat"[18] and
"the valley of the passengers",[19] "Lord
coming from Edom or
Idumea, south of Jerusalem, when he returns from the
judgment"; and Jerusalem itself.[20][21]
Pentecost
further describes the area involved:
This wide area would cover the entire land of Israel and
this campaign, with all its parts, would confirm what Ezekiel pictures when he
says the invaders will 'cover the land'.[22] This
area would conform to the extent pictured by John in
Revelation 14:20."[23]
Pentecost then outlines the biblical time period for this campaign to occur and with further arguments concludes that it must take place with the 70th week of Daniel. The invasion of Israel by the Northern Confederacy "will bring the Beast and his armies to the defense of Israel as her protector". He then uses Daniel to further clarify his thinking.[24]
Again, events are listed by Pentecost in his book:
- "The
movement of the campaign begins when the King of the South moves against
the Beast–False Prophet coalition, which takes place 'at the time of the
end.'"[25]
- The
King of the South gets in battle with the North King and the Northern
Confederacy.[26] Jerusalem
is destroyed as a result of this attack,[27] and,
in turn, the armies of the Northern Confederacy are destroyed.[28]
- "The
full armies of the Beast move into Israel[29] and
shall conquer all that territory.[30] Edom, Moab, and Ammon alone
escape. . . ."
- ".
. . a report that causes alarm is brought to the Beast"[31]
- "The
Beast moves his headquarters into the land of Israel and assembles his
armies there."[32]
- "It
is there that his destruction will come.[33]"[34]
After the destruction of the Beast at the Second
Coming of Jesus, the promised
Kingdom is set up, in which Jesus and the saints will
rule for a thousand years. Satan is then loosed "for a
season" and goes out to deceive the nations, specifically, Gog and Magog.[35] The
army mentioned attacks the saints in the New
Jerusalem, they are defeated by a judgment of fire coming down from heaven,
and then comes the Great White Throne judgment, which includes
all of those through the ages[36] and
these are cast into the Lake of
Fire, which event is also known as the "second death" and
Gehenna, not to be confused with Hell, which is Satan's domain. Pentecost
describes this as follows:
The destiny of the lost is a place in the lake of fire.[37] This
lake of fire is described as everlasting fire[38][39] and
as unquenchable fire,[40][41] emphasizing
the eternal character of retribution of the lost.
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| Armageddon, the end of all things |
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that
Armageddon is the means by which God will fulfill
his purpose for the Earth to be populated with happy healthy humans who will be
free from sin and
death.[42] They
teach that the armies of heaven will eradicate all who oppose
the Kingdom of God,
wiping out all wicked humans on Earth, only leaving righteous mankind.[43]
They believe that the gathering of all of the nations of the
earth refers to the uniting of the world's political powers, as a gradual
process which began in 1914 and was later seen in manifestations such as
the League of Nations and the United
Nations following the First and Second
World Wars.[44] These
political powers are said to be influenced by Satan and his
demons in opposition to God's kingdom.[42] Babylon
the Great is interpreted as being the world empire of false religions,
and it will be destroyed by the beast just prior to Armageddon.[45][46] Witnesses
believe that after all other religions have been destroyed, the governments of
the world will begin persecuting Witnesses, and God will then intervene,
precipitating Armageddon.[47]
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the armies of heaven, led by
Jesus, will then destroy all forms of human government and then Jesus, along
with a selected 144,000 humans,
will rule Earth for 1,000 years.[48] They
believe that Satan and his demons will be bound for that period, unable to
influence mankind. After the 1,000 years are ended, and the second resurrection
has taken place, Satan is released and allowed to tempt the perfect human
race one last time. Those who follow Satan will be destroyed, along with him,
leaving the earth, and humankind at peace with God forever, free from sin and
death.[49]
The religion's current teaching on Armageddon originated in
1925 with former Watch Tower Society president J. F. Rutherford, who based his
interpretations on passages that are found in the books of Exodus, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel and Psalms as well as additional passages that are found in the books
of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. The doctrine marked a further break from the
teachings of the Watch Tower Society's founder Charles Taze Russell, who for decades had
taught that the final war would be an anarchistic struggle for domination on
earth.[50] Tony
Wills, the author of a historical study of Jehovah's Witnesses, wrote that
Rutherford seemed to relish his descriptions of how completely the wicked would
be destroyed at Armageddon, dwelling at great length on prophecies of
destruction. He stated that towards the close of his ministry, Rutherford
allocated about half the space that was available in The Watchtower magazines
to discussions about Armageddon.[51]
Seventh-day
Adventist
The teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church state
that the terms "Armageddon", "Day of the Lord" and
"The Second Coming of Christ" all describe the same event.[52] Seventh-day
Adventists further teach that the current religious movements taking place in
the world are setting the stage for Armageddon, and they are concerned by an
anticipated unity between spiritualism,
American Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. A further significant
difference in Seventh-day Adventist theology is
the teaching that the events of Armageddon will leave the earth desolate for
the duration of the millennium.[53] They
teach that the righteous will be taken to heaven while the rest of humanity
will be destroyed, leaving Satan with no one to tempt and effectively
"bound."[54] The
final re-creation of a "new heaven and a new earth."[55] then
follows the millennium.
Christadelphians
For Christadelphians,
Armageddon marks the "great climax of history when the nations would be
gathered together 'into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon', and
the judgment on them would herald the setting up of the Kingdom of God."[56]
Baháʼí
Faith
From Baháʼí literature, a number of interpretations of
the expectations surrounding the Battle of Armageddon may be inferred, three of
them being associated with events surrounding the World Wars.[57]
The first interpretation deals with a series of tablets
written by Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith, to be sent to various kings and rulers.[57] The
second, and best-known one, relates to events near the end of World War
I involving General Allenby and
the Battle of Megiddo (1918) wherein
World Powers are said to have drawn soldiers from many parts of the world to
engage in battle at Megiddo. In winning this battle Allenby also prevented
the Ottomans from killing 'Abdu'l-Baha,
then head of the Baháʼí Faith, whom they had intended to crucify.[58][59] A
third interpretation reviews the overall progress of the World Wars, and the
situation in the world before and after.[57]
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| The battle of Armageddon |
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