Bible Gem 2341 – What is Armageddon and Where is It? (Revelation 16:16)

¹⁵“Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.” ¹⁶And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon. 

Revelation 16:15-16

I wrote in Gem 2340 There is one more aspect of these verses which requires comment but I will save it for the last Gem in this series. That one aspect is the reference in Revelation 16:16 to Armageddon. To understand this fully requires us to dig a little on the toponym used here. I imagine the astute ones among you might also be thinking, “But what about the remaining verses Ian? Revelation 16:17-21? Ah yes, the seventh bowl judgement! I consider I have already covered that in Gem 2334. Do I need to spell it out even more before we close off Chapter 16 of Revelation and move on to 17?

Now let’s examine Armageddon: What is it and where is it? Most readers I am sure are aware that the term Armageddon refers even in secular circles to the last battle between good and evil before the Day of Judgement, a dramatic and catastrophic conflict likely to destroy the world and/or the human race. However, in actual fact, biblically, it is named after the place where that final battle will take place, not as I have heard one preacher claim the word means ‘utter devastation’ or ‘annihilation’. As you can see from the context of Revelation 16:16, Armageddon is a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon, the place where that final battle between good and evil will be fought. And yet the word used is from Greek and not Hebrew. Strange to say the least.

The scene of that final battle between good and evil is to take place in the valley of Jezreel, on the plain of Esdraelon, which was famous for two great victories in Israelite history: 1) Barak over the Canaanites, and 2) Gideon over the Midianites. It is also the place where two Israelite disasters happened: 1) the death of Saul and 2) the death of Josiah.

The ASV, BIS, CJB, NENT, RSV, RV, TLV, TS2009, WEB and WEBA translate the name as [Har-Magedon], i.e. the hill or mountain of Megiddo. Alternatively the mountain near the city of Megiddo. Or according to the Remedy translation Harmegeddøn stands for “the Mount of Assembly – the mountain where God rules.” Alternatively as the Passion Translation puts it “the mount of the governor”. The difficulty with all of this conjecture is a result of a combination of factors.

The first fact to consider is that this use of the word ‘Armageddon’ or ‘Har Megeddo[n]’ is the only place it is used in all of Scripture. There is no other place or verse where we can compare its use and determine the context, nor isolate the geographic place or region which is being referred to. Revelation 16:16 is the only place in Scripture where this term appears.

The second fact is that the term used is a Greek form of a so-called Hebrew name. Why refer to the fact it is a Hebrew name for a particular place and yet give only the Greek form for such a name. What’s the Hebrew word for this term John?

The third fact is that the Hebrew word הַר [har] refers to a mountain but [har] is not the Hebrew word for a town or a city. The etymology of the word is obscure.

Furthermore there is no mountain located in the Valley of Jezreel. The mountain has to be down-sized to a small hill. Does Har Megiddo(n) refer to a mountain or does it refer to the city of Megiddo? Yet the Hebrew term הַר [har] does not include the possibility of Megiddo being a city or town or settlement.

When all of the above is taken into account, there is a lot of conjecture put forward surrounding the details we are given in Scripture, when we attempt to interpret what is meant by what is written. In fact, Megiddo is first mentioned in Scripture in Joshua 12:21 in the list of the 31 kings Joshua defeated, including the King of Megiddo. Megiddo was a Canaanite city assigned to Manasseh who couldn’t conquer it at the time of the apportioning of the land to the tribes of Israel. It is located on the main transport route between Egypt and Syria, through the Levant, the name given to the more fertile coastal land between Egypt and the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia (the land between the two rivers). Megiddo was one of the strategic, military cities located on the main route from the empires to the north, which changed kingdoms regularly, and Egypt to the south.

In Joshua’s time it was held by the King of Megiddo, a small independent kingdom along with thirty others. Debora and Barak defeated Sisera ‘at the waters of Megiddo’ (Judges 5:19). Megiddo was established as a chariot city by Solomon (1 Kings 9:15-19). The original walls at this time were 13 feet thick and Solomon doubled the thickness at certain selected points. Megiddo was also the place where three kings, Saul, Ahaziah and Josiah lost their lives. This city had a chequered history in Israel’s past.

Source: Northern Invasion Route, Zondervan Atlas of the Bible, Carl G Rasmussen, p.157.

Source: The One Stop Bible Atlas Nick Page, Lion 2010 p. 62

The full list of references to Megiddo in Scripture is as follows:

Joshua 12:21; 17:11; Judges 1:27; 5:19; 1 Kings 4:12; 9:15; 2 Kings 9:27; 23:29-30; 1 Chronicles 7:29; 2 Chronicles 35:22.

There is only one reference to Armageddon which is found in the Bible, Revelation 16:16.

Why is Megiddo the location chosen for this final battle between good and evil? I suspect it has to do with the fact that Megiddo has often been the site for multiple battles down through Israel’s history. The fact that Megiddo has symbolised victories and disasters for God’s people is somehow fitting. But there is a link to the past which we still have to explore. That concerns the prophetic statement found in Zechariah 12:1-11.

¹This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the LORD: “This message is from the LORD, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. ²I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. ³On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves . . . ⁹For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. ¹⁰“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died. ¹¹The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

Zechariah 12:1-3, 9-11

Between the two statements there are some difficulties we need to understand. Notice how Zechariah’s statement is introduced, “This message is from the LORD, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit.” Like Revelation, it leaves us in no doubt that we are talking about the God who created the heavens and the earth, not some tin-pot deity of a local tribe. Notice the scale of this battle found in verses 3 and 9. “All the nations will gather against it . . . I will . . . destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

Look at the text we have before us in Revelation 16:

¹⁴They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵“Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.” ¹⁶And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon.

Revelation 16:14-16

The text of verse 16 has a third person singular verb which is translated in the KJV as “he gathered them together” meaning ‘He God gathered them together.’ The NIV translates this portion “then they gathered the kings together”. Why just the kings, surely it is referring to the rulers and their armies? The NLT translates this verse as follows: “the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies”. Look at this portion in the context of 16:14 which reads: “They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty.” These are subtle differences but they are important. Yes, it is God who is the Chief Gatherer, but He is using the demonic spirits to gather all to this battle of all battles between good and evil. This is the ultimate battle between Good and Evil. Come one, come all. I think the translation of the NLT for verse 16 is a good one in the light of verse 14. That surely must be the sense John was shown and conveys to us. Of course demon spirits would be involved in this battle following their release from the bottomless pit at the fifth trumpet.

The above is not the link to the past which we still have to explore. That concerns the statement in Zechariah 12:11 where there is a puzzling reference to Hadad-rimmon.

The sorrow and mourning in Jerusalem on that day will be like the great mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.

Zechariah 12:11

There are all sorts of takes on this reference, some of them fanciful to say the least. The two most logical connections to explain the link to Hadad-rimmon are as follows:

1. Hadad-rimmon is the name of the place where Josiah, King of Judah, was put to death in 609 BC when he went out to face Pharaoh Neco and was killed at the place of that name. Jerome, among others identified Rummani as the location of Adad-rimmon. Keil & Delitzch suggest the ancient location of Hadad-rimmon is now a village called Leijjûn or Leggun or Legio. The great mourning in Jerusalem resulted from the grief at the loss of their reformer King of Judah who was killed in battle with Pharaoh Neco, which makes sense of the reference in Zechariah but is tenuous at best in terms of the etymology of the name of the location.
2. Hadad-rimmon is a compound name for two Syrian / Phonecian / Aramean deities. Hadad was also linked to the Canaanite storm god, while Rimmon was linked to the sacred pomegranite tree and had links with Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14). But these associations are also extremely tenuous. Keil and Delitzsch claim #1 as being the most believable link “while all other explanations are so arbitrary as to be hardly worthy of notice.”

There is a reference in Isaiah 14 where the King of Babylon sits enthroned with haughty pride and claims to rule unequivocally.

 ³In that wonderful day when the LORD gives his people rest from sorrow and fear, from slavery and chains, ⁴you will taunt the king of Babylon. You will say, “The mighty man has been destroyed. Yes, your insolence is ended. ⁵For the LORD has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule. With one voice they all cry out, ‘Now you are as weak as we are!

¹¹Your might and power were buried with you. The sound of the harp in your palace has ceased. Now maggots are your sheet, and worms your blanket.’ ¹²“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. ¹³For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. ¹⁴I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’ ¹⁵Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. ¹⁶Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble? ¹⁷Is this the one who destroyed the world and made it into a wasteland? Is this the king who demolished the world’s greatest cities and had no mercy on his prisoners?

Isaiah 14:3-5, 11-17

The significant verse for us in the context of Revelation is found in Isaiah 14:13 above.

For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.

[b^ehar] “on the mountain of” [mô’ed] “assembly” or “gathered multitude” is a likely play on words between “Megiddo” and “mô’ed” the latter meaning “where multitudes gather” or “where the crowds are”. In one of my sources megiddo is listed as meaning “place of troops”. This haughty king of Babylon will be humbled or brought down by YHWH who will come like a thief in the night. Here there is another pause. We don’t actually get to the final battle as such until Revelation 19:11-21. When we reach that point, the battle is over as soon as it starts. The gathered multitudes are no match for the Maker of Heaven and Earth, it is over as soon as it begins. Furthermore, the location of where the battle takes place is irrelevant as Gordon Fee states (Revelation p 224-5). Gordon Fee writes, “What can possibly be the point both of naming the place as such and then giving only the Greek form of a Hebrew name? The very ambiguity has thus called forth considerable speculation, none of which seems immediately pertinent to John’s point, which is not the place as such, but the greater reality intended by the imagery. Most likely, therefore, and without any sense of certainty (!) this is a play on the Hebrew term [har mô’ed].”

Now I suspect I have covered the features of this passage that are necessary for us all to understand how this description of what John saw and heard informs those of us who believe and trust God to protect us who bear the mark of His ownership in the end times. Once again don’t take the mark of the Beast and make sure you persevere to the end, not fearing even to the point of death. I have made numerous, relevant connections from the text to believers facing persecution or end time conditions. But for many, they are asked to resist their persecutors and stay true to their faith in Christ nowadays, before End Times have come. Spare a thought for them and pray for them as well as yourself, that you might have the courage of conviction when the time comes for you.

I don’t see why Christians have been expecting the imminent end of the world for millennia. But it keeps not ending. So far, so good.

Orson Scott Card

It’s the end of the world every day, for someone. Be prepared.

Margaret Atwood

God is going to invade, all right: But this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side.

C S Lewis 

I was coming to grips with the end of the world. The familiar world, anyway. Scientists said it was ending now, philosophers said it had always been ending. Historians said there’d been dark ages before. It all came out in the wash, because eventually, if you were patient, enlightenment arrives. Politicians claimed everything would be fine. Adjustments were being made. Much as our human ingenuity had got us into this fine mess, so would it neatly get us out. That was how we could tell it was serious, because they were obviously lying.

Lydia Millet

If anyone tells you the end of the world will happen on a specific day, date and time you can know they’re wrong. That day will come like a thief in the night. Jesus Christ said so.

Ian