Armageddon: The Devil’s Last Great Battle To Destroy The Church

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Pastor Mike here.

I want to talk to you about Armageddon: The Devil’s Last Great Battle To Destroy The Church, today.

We read about it in Revelation chapter 16, starting with verse 12…

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way 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 demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)

16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

And so we have the description of Armageddon.

TWO OTHER PLACES IN REVELATION WHERE ARMAGEDDON IS DESCRIBED

There are two other places in the book of Revelation where Armageddon is described (though the word, Armageddon, is not spelled out, like it is in Revelation 16).

The first place is in Revelation chapter 9, verses 13 through 19, where frightful, demonic entities that participate in the battle of Armageddon are mentioned.

The second place where Armageddon is described is in Revelation chapter 20, verses 7 through 10, where the devil himself is “released from his prison” to deceive the nations (all peoples of the earth) into gathering against Christ’s Church to destroy her.

Ultimately the devil is “thrown into the lake of fire” to “be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

ARMAGEDDON IS BEING USED SYMBOLICALLY IN REVELATION 16

Which brings us back to Revelation chapter 16 where we have the only place that the word, Armageddon, spelled out is used.

And it’s a symbol here.

Armageddon is being used symbolically in Revelation chapter 16, verse 16.

This is where people like Tim LaHaye and Hal Lindsey have gone wrong.

They think it’s the literal place that John is describing when he says Armageddon.

And they miss that John is using it as a symbol of something else.

DR. LOUIS BRIGHTON ON THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST 666

In his popular commentary on the Book of Revelation, Dr. Louis Brighton puts it this way…

“The enemy hosts are assembled ‘at the place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon’ (16:16). While Armageddon (from the Hebrew for ‘mountain of Megiddo’) is a geographical place name, John lifts it out of any particular historical context and uses it as a symbol for this last battle before the End. The natural environment surrounding Megiddo offered springs and supplies of fresh water, as well as forage and spatial expanse, so that armies could sustain themselves and be deployed easily. Thus it was one of the few suitable places in ancient Israel where vast armies could assemble for battle.” (pg 289-290)

Dr. Brighton goes on…

“[The mountain of Megiddo] had been the place of the battles of the Israelites under Barak and Deborah with the hosts of Sisera (Judges 4:14-24) and the warfare between the Israelites and the Egyptians in which King Josiah was killed (2 Kings 23:29-30). It was also at Megiddo that Ahaziah king of Judah died after having been mortally wounded in a battle with Jehu (2 Kings 9:27) and where Joram king of Israel was killed (2 Kings 9:23-29). As mountains have often witnessed great events (Isaiah 44:23; Ezekiel 6:3-13; cf. 35:12; 36:1-7), so here in Revelation 16:16 the mountain of Megiddo will witness this final battle on the great day of the Lord.” (pg 290)

Dr. Brighton concludes…

“Thus Armageddon is used here [in Revelation chapter 16] not as the designation of a particular geographic place, but as a terrifying metaphor of a war that will cover the expanse of the entire earth, since the whole human race will be caught up in it (see Rev 20:9). The enemy’s (Satan’s) intent in this last battle before the End will be the destruction of the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ (20:9; cf. Ezekiel 38:7-16). But the enemy shall not prevail (Revelation 16:19; 20:9-10), and the kingdom shall belong to the Lord forever and ever (Obadiah 21; 1 Chronicles 29:11).” (pg 290)

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION OF ARMAGEDDON

And so we have the description of Armageddon.

It’s used as a symbol in Revelation 16, verse 16, and is not to be taken as the literal place.

It’s from the Hebrew for ‘mountain of Megiddo.’

It’s a terrifying metaphor of a war: the Devil’s last great battle to destroy the Church.