Well. I finally saw the word used in association with events currently at play in the Middle East.
In her post, Coston claimed that, in the last battle, the nations wouldn’t necessarily fight against Israel but against Christ.
I have to say, I have never actually seen such a narrative in the text of Scripture. In fact, the very basic gospel tells us that Jesus came to save the world, not condemn it (cf. John 3). Isaiah 9 promised that when Jesus came, there would be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.
Every time there is a conflict in the world caused by prideful people, many doomsday preachers come out to profit from the bloodshed by preaching a message that ultimately disagrees with the prophets and Jesus’s actual words. So, let’s go directly to the Book of Revelation. Let’s look at this Armageddon to see what is actually described there by the same John who recorded Jesus’s statements about saving the world rather than destroying it in John 3 for us.
Revelation 16
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.
13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;
14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”)
16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.”
John alludes to Isaiah’s prophecy. On a few
occasions, Isaiah predicted that God would dry up rivers in
order to bring Israel’s enemies against her and carry her off
into exile (Isaiah 11:15; 41:2, 25; 44:27; 46:11). John
appropriates Isaiah as a sign (cf. 15:1), not a literalistic
happening. John is using God’s past wrath to symbolize the
work of Christ on Calvary and what will soon take place
because of the world’s reception of the Christ. John tells us
what his sign means: Unclean spirits proceed from Satan,
Rome, and Nero to deceive the whole world by using great
signs and wonders to attract them.
The great day of God (cf. Malachi 4) would come
after John the Baptist and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to
restore the people who fear God. So, we can be certain of
the timing because Scripture explicitly provides it for us.
Satan was preparing for this final battle by deceiving and
gathering the nations to himself in conjunction with the
cross and prior to AD 70. The day of the Lord comes, and
Jesus is like a thief in the night who comes to bind the
strong man and take his possessions (cf. Matthew 12:29-30;
24:42-44). Satan gathers those he has deceived against
Christ for the final battle—which John has already depicted
in Revelation. The whole world came against Jerusalem.
Though Jerusalem fell, the Lamb was exalted.
Har-Magedon, or Armageddon, is Mount Megiddo.
John appropriates this historic location where God’s people
claimed victory over their enemies (cf. Judges 4; 7) as a
sign (cf. 15:1) to show Christ’s promise—His church will
have the victory no matter what is suffered by whose hand.
God prepared the way for persecution. He is sovereign over
it. He deals the final blow against the kingdoms of darkness
in the First Century AD. Victory is, then, only in Christ,
and His work of salvation is accomplished at the cross. His
judgment of the nations is accomplished 40 years later as
He kills Nero and crushes the Temple.
When the seventh angel (seven being the number of
completeness) pours out his bowl of coronation, a voice
comes from the temple and throne. Since Jesus is priest and
king, the voice is that of Christ. “It is done.” John, like in
Chapter 15, quotes Jesus’s words from Calvary. When He is
about to give up His spirit, He tells us the work is finished. It is no coincidence that John quoted Jesus’s words from the cross here. He is not speaking about world events in our future. He is speaking about the victory Christ won when He actually uttered those words in AD 33.
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So, John’s Revelation is not about our current conflicts in any way. It is not a foretelling of Iran. It is not about the modern state of Israel. It certainly is not about the United States. It is about Christ’s victory at the cross and His judgment against the Jewish Temple. John’s revelation was meant to encourage believers in the midst of both Roman and Jewish persecution against the followers of Jesus—The Way, which was growing very rapidly. Jesus already won. He will continue to win. The world will be saved. Revelation tells the same story John told in his gospel account. It is explicitly not about the destruction or end of the world. It is about the life and victory we have in Christ regardless of any human conflict we see in the world. I am saddened when people use their misinterpretations of the letter to insist that Christ is not actually saving the world or that He somehow did not accomplish the work He set out to do on Calvary.
Though I believe John wrote this Revelation in the 60s AD and was looking forward to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, that doesn’t make the passage unimportant for us. If Jesus truly won the victory at the cross, if it really is finished, we do not have to dread the future. Jesus is saving the world. All human-invented religion seems to insist that there is a doomsday coming. They will fear monger people into obedience by the oppressive news that, if they don’t act right, God will burn them with fire in the end. The whole world is going down. Straighten up, or you will go down with it.
Jesus never uttered those words. Biblical Christianity is different. The news is better than that of the Muslims who want to force everyone under Sharia Law. It is better than the Hindus who think they will be reincarnated into a new caste based on their performance in this life. It is better than the atheist who teaches the universe will end with a bang or a whimper, and our objective is to simply live the best life we can. Jesus taught that despite our sin, God so loved His world that He sent His Son. Whoever believes in the Son, Jesus, will be saved. The world will be renewed according to God’s promise, not forsaken or destroyed, because God is good. He doesn’t not depend on our performance to give us good things, including eternal life.
It’s time to step out of the darkness of man-made religion. Believe now in Jesus, the savior and Lord of the whole world.
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