Revelation 16: The Mountain of Megiddo

Today’s reading is Revelation 16.

Armageddon

We all know what Armageddon is, right? The final battle. Everyone in the world, except the inhabitants of God’s city, gather to battle against God and His people. This happens right before the end of the world. The destruction in that battle leads right into the final judgment. That’s what Armageddon is. Right?

Maybe.

Can we first recognize “Armageddon” is only found once in Revelation. In fact, it is only found once in the entire New Testament. In fact, it is only found once in the entire Bible. It is found right here in Revelation 16:16:

And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon (ESV).

Now, Revelation is a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of visions. It repeats and switches back. So, this may well be the same gathering and battle as we see in Revelation 19:11-21, when the beast and false prophet are captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire. But that battle is not called Armageddon. This may well be the same gathering of the earth’s inhabitants when Satan is released after a thousand-year imprisonment in the abyss to surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city in Revelation 20:7-10. Of course, it is hard to see how the Revelation 19 battle and the Revelation 20 battle are the same. But, even for that, we must say, “Maybe.” However, this final battle is not called Armageddon. Further, it takes place on a plain, not on a mountain.

Why then is the gathering in the sixth bowl called Armageddon?

The Mourning at Megiddo

While there is some question about translation, most see “Armageddon” as a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew phrase meaning “Mountain of Megiddo.”

Megiddo has a long history, not an illustrious one. We only know a few things about it. This was one of the cities in which the Israelites failed to complete the conquest and drive out the Canaanite inhabitants (Judges 1:27). The battle under Deborah and Barak was, at least in part, fought there (Judges 5:19). Solomon built up or rebuilt the city (1 Kings 9:15). When Judean king and son-in-law to Israelite king Ahab, Ahaziah, was mortally wounded by Jehu’s men, he fled to Megiddo and died there (2 Kings 9:27).

However, the most important event occurring at Megiddo is revealed in 2 Kings 23:29. Josiah, great reformer king of Judah, was killed by Pharaoh Neco in a battle at Megiddo. More explanation and description is given in 2 Chronicles 35:20-27. There we discover Neco was on his way to fight against Babylon at the battle of Carchemish. Neco told Josiah he was sent by God. The text says Josiah “did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God, but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo” (ESV).

Josiah was shot and mortally wounded by an archer. He was taken from the battlefield back to Jerusalem where he died and was buried with his fathers. Then the scripture declares:

All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold they are written in the Laments (2 Chronicles 35:24-25, ESV).

The depth of the impact of this event on the psyche and imagination of Israel is seen by the legacy of mourning. This seems to be the reference when Zechariah wanted to describe great mourning in Zechariah 12:11: “On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo” (ESV).

This is the history called to mind when Revelation 16:16 says the kings of the whole world will be gathered to Armageddon for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

But Why Call it Armageddon?

It’s a vision. They aren’t actually gathering at Megiddo. Its the armies of the whole world. They couldn’t actually gather at Megiddo. Why bring it up in this place?

I may not know any better than anyone else. But may I hazard a guess I think fits within the context we have seen this week?

Josiah was an incredible king. He was the great reformer. He began to reign in Judah at age 8. At 16, he began to seek God. At 20, he began to purge Jerusalem and Judah of idolatry. At 26, his people found the book of the Law. Josiah led them in even further reform, re-establishing the Passover. However, at 39, this great reformer king neglected to listen to the word of God and was killed in a battle at Megiddo.

I am glad I’m not the judge of Josiah. I admit, I do not think Josiah “lost his soul” in this final moment. I know God will do right with Josiah and however God judges Josiah eternally will be the right thing. That being said, I can’t miss how this fits within the context of Revelation.

John is writing to seven churches in Asia. These are people who have turned to Jesus. I don’t know all the reforms they made in their lives. I don’t know all the teaching they did. However, they certainly did some. Yet, when Revelation was written, some of them were struggling to maintain faithfulness to Jesus. Now, John is writing them words from the mouth of God. A battle is coming. If they do not repent, it will be an Armageddon.

No, that doesn’t mean it will be the end of the world. That means it will be a cause for incredible mourning when those who had once reformed are caught up in the judgment they are being called to avoid.

A Message for Us

When we talk about Armageddon, we are too influenced by all the wrong teachings on Revelation. The fact is, we can get caught up in our own personal Armageddons if not a world-wide one. If my guess above is anywhere close to the truth, the battle is Armageddon not because it is the end of the world. It is Armageddon when we who had turned to the Lord grow weary of doing good and leave our first love. It is Armageddon when we rest on a reputation from the past and do not complete our works. It is Armageddon when we become too much like the world around us. It is Armageddon when we compromise with the enemy kingdom and its false religion.

It is Armageddon when those who once listened to God ignore Him and get caught up in what was intended to be someone else’s judgment. Don’t let that happen to you.

Next week’s reading is Revelation 17.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share with others from Revelation 16?

Revelation 15: Bowls of God’s Wrath

Today’s reading is Revelation 15.

The Final Cycle Begins

We’ve seen seven oracles to seven churches, seven seals, and seven trumpets. We almost saw seven thunders, but John was told not to write their messages down. Now we come to the final seven cycle in this apocalypse: the seven bowls of God’s wrath.

The picture is summarized in Revelation 15: 1:

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished (ESV).

The seven angels have seven plagues. Those plagues are the completion, the filling up to the full, of God’s wrath. In other words, for all we’ve seen in this amazing vision, get ready because we ain’t seen nothing yet.

Bowls of Wrath

As if the plagues the seven angels had were not enough, in Revelation 15:7, one of the four living creatures give the angels each a bowl “full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever” (ESV). The concept of a bowl, vial, or cup of God’s wrath was an ancient prophetic picture. Perhaps the most well-known cup of wrath picture is found in Jeremiah 25. In the days of Jeremiah’s preaching, the Lord came to him once and said:

Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them (Jeremiah 25:15-16, ESV).

Then you shall say to them, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you” (Jeremiah 25:27, ESV).

And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts” (Jeremiah 25:28-29, ESV).

In Psalm 75:7-8:

But it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs (ESV).

Similarly, in Isaiah 51:17:

Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering (ESV).

There are others, but you get the picture. As God mixed wine of His wrath against ancient cities and kingdoms, including His own, He mixes the wine of His wrath with the plagues of these seven angels. His wrath will be spent in this coming cycle.

The WinePress of His Wrath

I know it seems weird to hear these angels already each had a plague. They could simply toss the plague down on the earth. In fact, when we read what the seven angels cause, we will be reminded of the 10 plagues on Egypt in Exodus. However, God wanted those original readers to know how strong a judgment was coming.

Further, this is a vision. God had already started a picture, He now completes it. In Revelation 14:19-20, the one angel had swung his sickle across the earth and gathered up the grapes. These grapes were thrown into the winepress of the wrath of God. We talked about that last week. The winepress is trodden and the wine of God’s fury, that is the blood flowed out.

Now the seven angels with seven plagues will receive seven bowls full of this very wine. We will not discuss now what happens when that plague-mixed wine is poured out on the earth. I’m guessing you can already imagine it won’t be pretty. Actually, I hope you already know how awful it is. After all, you should have read this entire book way back when we began. If you haven’t done it yet, do it this week.

JEsus and the Cup of God’s Wrath

I hope as we talk about bowls of wrath, vials of wrath, and cups of wrath, you couldn’t help but think of the prayer Jesus offered in Gethsemane.

Do you recall Jesus’s prayer?

My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will (Matthew 26:39, ESV)

In John 18:11, John recorded Jesus rebuking Peter for trying to start a war against those who came out to arrest Him. He said:

Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? (ESV)

Whether you picture the cup Jesus drinks as merely a cup of suffering or as fully drinking the cup of God’s wrath and fury, I hope as we read Revelation and are horrified by the cups/bowls of wrath poured out, we can recall Jesus drank the cup of the cross to save us from the bowls of wrath. In other words, God does not watch the angels pour out the wine of His wrath with glee. He has done all to save all from the judgment.

However, and this is really hard for us to grasp, God is a God of good boundaries. If we don’t actually want Him, He won’t force Himself upon us. If we will not drink His cup of salvation, we will drink the cup of His wrath.

Let us praise Jesus for drinking His cup, that we might be saved from ours.

Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 15.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 15 prompt or improve your hope in God?