Armageddon
Chuck Crisco | Dec 19 2014
There is No Future Battle of Armageddon.
Did that get your attention?
Revelation 16:16, "And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon."
Movies are made about it. Theologies are built around it. Book series are written about it. Fear is cultivated because of it.
But did you know that there is no such place in Israel called Armageddon?
It doesn't exist, nor will it exist in the future. The word is made up of two parts... Ar (har) which means "mountain" and Megiddo which is in the valley of Jezreel. There is no mountain there. (There is a small "tell" which is just where cities have built and rebuilt on top of each other but no mountain).
So what is this passage about? Revelation is to be interpreted according to the first verse of the book... "the Revelation (apocalypse-unveiling) of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must SHORTLY take place. And He sent and SIGNIFIED it by His angel to His servant John."
Apocalyptic language through signs. ie, there are nearly 400 references to the Hebrew scriptures that sign point to a previous event so we can understand that the destruction of Jerusalem will take place in such a manner. Apocalyptic is written in cataclysmic, cosmic, grandiose, language to paint a strong heart picture.
Megiddo is the place in history where wars and the blood-shed of kings took place. (2 Kings 9:27; 2 Kings 23:29, and historically)
So Armageddon in Revelation is not about a great end time battle in our future. It was a sign to describe in apocalyptic language the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. In other words, just as there were slaughters in the valley in the past (sign pointing-Revelation 1:1), now in John's day, Jerusalem, which sits on a mountain (Mt Zion-2500 ft elevation), will experience slaughter.
Zechariah prophesied it as well using the same idea about Jerusalem: "On that day the weeping in JERUSALEM will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of MEGIDDO." (12:11) It was used by John as a figure of speech to say Jerusalem would experience death and war just as in Megiddo in the past.
It is true the world goes through many upheavals and transitions, but Is. 9 says, "of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end." We have a hope filled future that the "KNOWLEDGE of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea!"
According to the futurists Jesus will come like a thief in the night in a secret rapture. They teach this could happen at any time and afterwards is the tribulation and "Armageddon"
They say that because he comes as a thief in the night there will be no signs preceding this rapture coming of the Lord.
BUT... in Revelation 16:14 is the battle of Armageddon while in the next verse 15 Jesus declares, "Behold I am coming as a thief." That means that Armageddon comes FIRST, THEN the thief-like coming of the Lord.
Not only that, this would mean that contrary to futurist theology, there were MANY signs before his coming as a thief. For example, his coming according to a futurist interpretation of these passages is still after what they say are the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, after the destruction of a huge majority of the earth's population, and after the destruction of 2/3 of the Jews.
The truth is THE war with the Jews in Jerusalem did take place in 70AD. Paul told THEM in THEIR day that Jesus coming in judgment wouldn't be like a thief for those who are believers:
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And THEY shall not escape. 4 But YOU, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
[source]
Also see: Fallacious Notions - Temporal Displacement
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