Armageddon (Commentary)

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Comment by Stephen R. Rizzo on December 3, 2008 at 7:56pm

The word Armageddon has been used by the media many times, but the Apostle John, in the book of Revelation, uses it only one time. The original word from the Bible is Ar Magedon which literally means "mount of Megiddo" -- a city from which only ancient ruins remain.

The ruins are located in northern Israel by the Kishon River on the southern edge of the plain of Esdraelon, south of Haifa. This area seems to be where the Battle of Armageddon will take place in the future, as prophesied by the Apostle John.

Ruins of Megiddo


To understand the timing for the Battle of Armageddon we need to realize that the book of Revelation is revealing us the sequence of events. The book is mainly a vision of a scroll sealed with seven seals which are opened SEQUENTIALLY. After the seventh and last seal is opened, John sees seven angels with seven trumpets. After the seventh angel blows his trumpet, John sees seven angels with seven bowls of wrath. It is at the end of the 6th bowl of wrath that the events leading to the Battle of Armageddon start to unfold.

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.

River Euphrates


Revelation 16:13
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;

The apostle John depicts evil spirits as "frogs" because they have the ability to "jump" from person to person like frogs to influence people to join the Battle of Armageddon. Many Christians are not aware that many demons have already been cast out from heaven and do posses and influence many people. These evil spirits are doing Satan's bidding.

Revelation 16:14
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.

Satan is deceiving the leaders of the world, preparing them for the Battle of Armageddon, which as we read in Re 16:14 is also called "the war of the great day of God the Almighty."
We include this map of Israel so the reader could locate the Plain of Esdraelon where the armies will congregate against Jerusalem.


The Battle of Armageddon is also mentioned in the old testament, but not under this name.

Zechariah 14:2
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.

This reference can not be construed to mean the fall of Jerusalem during 70 AD because at that time, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were either killed or deported out of Jerusalem. Also in 70 AD it was only the Romans that went against Jerusalem and not all the nations. The context is obviously at the time when our Lord Yeshua returns to this Earth as a King.

Zechariah 14:3
Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as

Comment by Stephen R. Rizzo on December 3, 2008 at 8:06pm

Zechariah 14:3
Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.

Zechariah 14:4
In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

Mount of Olives


The above quotes from the book of Zechariah tell us that this battle will be held at the time when "the Lord will ...fight against those nations" meaning the nations that gathered in Israel. The statement "the mount of Olives will be split" is due to the earthquake referred to in Revelation 16:18-19 which we quote a few lines down.

Revelation 16:15
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.

Revelation 16:16
And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

Revelation 16:17
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."

At the end of the seventh bowl of wrath everything is ready for the return of Christ and His armies to wrestle one of the most important battles against the forces of evil.

The deceived humans would have been fed a constant lie by the media and will believe that the attacking forces are aliens coming from outer space -- very rightly so, but these "aliens" are actually Christ and His armies. The humans on Earth will be fighting God Himself, just as they did during the first coming of Christ, in which they crucified Him. The difference now is that Christ is not coming to Earth as the Lamb to allow Himself to be slaughtered; He is returning as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He will win this battle against Satan.

Revelation 16:18
And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a GREAT EARTHQUAKE, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.

Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

Revelation 16:20
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

Revelation 16:21
And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.

All of these events on Earth are the beginning scenario of the battle against the forces of Satan.

In Revelation 17, the angel describes to John who Babylon the Great is, and how the kings of the earth delegate their power to a one-world government leader called "the beast." This interjection in the sequence of events leading to the Battle of Armageddon is necessary in order for us to understand that the battle against Christ and His armies is made possible because at that time there will be a one-world government of the beast (similar to the United Nations nowadays). This will make it easier to congregate a great army to fight Christ.

Revelation 17:12
The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour.

Revelation 17:13
These have one purpose, and they give their

Comment by Stephen R. Rizzo on December 3, 2008 at 8:18pm

Revelation 17:13
These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Revelation 17:14
These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and THOSE WHO ARE WITH HIM are the called and chosen and faithful.

Zechariah relates the same message of our Lord returning with His saints.

Zechariah 14:5
You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

Continuing with the book of Revelation, we read:

Revelation 17:15
And he said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues."

Revelation 17:17
For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a COMMON PURPOSE, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.

For the Battle of Armageddon to occur, it is necessary that all the people of Earth would have the "common purpose" of fighting "the invading aliens" so that the word of God will be fulfilled. As the saying goes, "you can pull a much greater weight if all the horses are pulling in the same direction."

In chapter 18 John continues explaining who is Babylon and how and why it is destroyed. We must not lose track of the main story which is the Battle of Armageddon, for which the preparatory events start with the 6th bowl of wrath. The Battle of Armageddon actually starts at the 7th bowl of wrath.

God also describes the results of the battle as "the marriage supper of the lamb" because all the dead humans are like a big meal for the wild animals of the earth.

Revelation 19:9
Then he said to me, "Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God."

Revelation 19:11
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.

Revelation 19:12
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.

Revelation 19:13
He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

The Word of God is Jesus Christ. In Isaiah, we find the following prophecy about the return of Christ:

Isaiah 63:1
Who is this who comes from Edom,
With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah,
This One who is majestic in His apparel,
Marching in the greatness of His strength?
"It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save."

Isaiah 63:2
Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?

Isaiah 63:3
I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And from the peoples there was no man with Me.
I also trod them in My anger
And trampled them in My wrath;
And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I stained all My raiment.

Isaiah 63:4
For the day of vengeance was in My heart,
And My year of redemption has come.

Isaiah 63:6
I trod down the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk in My wrath,
And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth

Christ is depicted with clothes stained red with blood because He kills all the people who oppose Him. It is the final battle in which He overcomes the forces of evil in order for the Kingdom of God to be established on th

Comment by Stephen R. Rizzo on December 3, 2008 at 8:24pm

this earth. The "beast" and all his human followers are defeated in this Battle of Armageddon.

Revelation 19:14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.

Here the Apostle John describes how Christ, the Word of God, and His armies are coming from the heavens and John sees them riding some vehicle that he describes as white horses. The deceived human armies will think this is an alien invasion from extraterrestrials (enough movies on this sort of theme) and they need to fight the "aliens."

Isaiah 66:15
For behold, the LORD will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.

Isaiah sees chariots instead of horses, but it is the same event -- the second coming of Jesus Christ for the Battle of Armageddon.

Isaiah 66:16
For the LORD will execute judgment by fire
And by His sword on all flesh,
And those slain by the LORD will be many.

Our God and Lord Yeshua is not the "politically correct" weakling that most churches preach. He is a warrior.

Revelation 19:15
From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

See Wrath of God.

Revelation 19:16
And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

Revelation 19:17

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, "Come, assemble for the great supper of God"


Here there is another reference to "the great supper of God" because animals will feed from these corpses.

Revelation 19:18
so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.

Zechariah refers to this event with these words:

Zechariah 14:12 Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.


Zechariah 14:13
It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another's hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another.

Zechariah 14:14
Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance.

Zechariah 14:15
So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps.

Revelation states the following:

Revelation 19:19
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

Revelation 19:20
And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fi

Comment by Stephen R. Rizzo on December 3, 2008 at 8:29pm

of fire which burns with brimstone.

This part is written so we will know that the same beast (government leader) who started the human implantations of the Mark of the Beast will be the one that is caught alive and thrown into the "lake of fire."

Revelation 19:21
And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Revelation 20:1
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

Revelation 20:2
And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

Zechariah refers to this day with these words:

Zechariah 14:6
In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle.

Zechariah 14:7
For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.

This is said in Zechariah in order for us not to confuse this time with "the Day of the Anger of God" or day of His Wrath, because preceding the Anger of God, signs are given in the moon, sun, and stars and in the oceans raging of the sea. It is very important we understand the difference, because the rapture occurs at the time the 6th seal is opened, before the anger of god starts, whereas the Battle of Armageddon occurs years later after the 7th bowl of wrath; it is the consummation of God's Wrath. See Timeline.

As we can read in Revelation 20, after the Battle of Armageddon is won, Satan is put "in chains" for a millennium, the dead in Christ are resurrected, and the Government of God on earth ensues.

Zechariah refers to the millennium with these words:

Zechariah 14:8
And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

Zechariah 14:9
And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.

Zechariah 14:10
All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses.

Zechariah 14:11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
Zechariah 14:16
Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.