Armageddon

Armageddon is a transliteration of the Hebrew name “Megiddo.” It was one of the garrison cities rebuilt by Solomon (1 Kings 9:15), situated on a hill at the foot of Mount Gilboa, on the southwestern edge of the Jezreel Valley. Israel was a crossroads of the ancient world, and the Jezreel Valley was a crucial corridor within that crossroads, surrounded by Mount Nazareth, Mount Tabor, Mount Moriah, Mount Gilboa, and Mount Carmel. The main road from Egypt to Damascus had to pass through this valley, making it a constant battlefield for the ancient empires of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Many battles took place near Megiddo in the Old Testament:

1. Joshua defeated five Canaanite kings there (Joshua 12:21).
2. Deborah and Barak defeated Sisera at the foot of Mount Tabor (Judges 4:14).
3. Gideon and his 300 men defeated the Midianite army there (Judges 7:21).
4. Saul and Jonathan were killed by the Philistines there (1 Samuel 29:1; 31:8).
5. Elijah defeated the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20, 45).
6. King Ahaziah of Judah was pursued and killed by Jehu in the city (2 Kings 9:27).
7. King Josiah was killed there by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt (2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chronicles 35:22).

The commander of the final battle of Armageddon, Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:11-16), would have had a view of this end-times battlefield, the Jezreel Valley, from his childhood home on Mount Nazareth to the north. During his three and a half years of ministry, He specifically went to the city of Nain in the Jezreel Valley to resurrect the widow’s only son (Luke 7:11), and it may have been on Mount Tabor, to the east of the Jezreel Valley, that he was transfigured (Mark 9:2). In the New Testament, the Apostle John mentions in Revelation that the three unclean spirits would gather the kings of the whole world for battle at a place called Armageddon (Revelation 16:13-16). Revelation 19:11-21 symbolically describes the Battle of Armageddon, where human authority will be destroyed by Christ: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”