Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Revelation 16:16 

A clash in the Persian Gulf will shake the world, and “then the Messiah will come and proclaim that salvation is at hand.”  Those words sound like something you might hear spoken by a rather far‑out preacher at a prophecy conference, or a pitch for someone’s latest book. But that statement, which contends that a clash in the Persian Gulf will culminate in the coming of the Messiah, came from the lips of a respected Jewish Rabbi in the early 1990s. Libavich Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, an influential figure among Israel’s ultra-orthodox Jews, made that statement, expressing his belief that conflict cannot continue without the direct intervention of the Almighty Himself.  How much more realistic does that scenario look today?

It’s impossible to pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without someone focusing on Israel and her enemies and how the conflict is affecting life today. Almost daily someone asks, “Are we moving towards Armageddon?”  “Is this the beginning of World War III?”  “Will there be an anti‑Christ who will appear and untangle the mess the nations of the world find themselves in?”

First, let’s begin with the word Armageddon, and once we’ve established an understanding of what it is, see if the events that are confronting us right now could presage that great event.  Though the word Armageddon is often used in the secular world, it’s a term of biblical significance and has been found in the context of biblical history for centuries.  First, note that Armageddon refers to a literal geographic place, a triangular valley in Israel.

Actually, the word Armageddon comes from two Hebrew words, har and meggido, and means “Hill of Meggido,” and it refers to that narrow strip of land in the valley of Esdraelon, east of Haifa and North of Jerusalem.  It’s strategically important because three continents touch this piece of terra firma‑‑Europe, Africa, and Asia, and whenever an army moves from one to the other, the easiest, most direct route, is through the valley of Meggido.

The valley of Meggido is a natural battlefield and possibly more blood has been spilled in warfare in this valley than in any other battlefield in the world—so say military historians.  Gideon fought the Midianites here (Judges 6).  Barak met the army of the Sisera here (Judges 4:15).  King Josiah was slain in battle here (2 Kings 23), and Saul met his death at the hands of the enemy right here, as well (1 Samuel 31).

Napoleon stood on the brow of Meggido and cried, “… all the armies of the world could maneuver for battle here.”

Second, Armageddon represents the final, great conflict in which the nations of the world are gathered in fierce battle.  It is undoubtedly the most hideous and terrible battle ever fought, and at the crest of that battle, Jesus Christ Himself returns.  The Book of Revelation describes this battle where Christ Himself says, “’Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.’  Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon” (Revelation 16:15-16).

The question that confronts the real issue is, “Could it be possible that the conflict in the Middle East may lead to this confrontation?”  No matter what your opinion, there is one thing for certain.  The key players ‑‑ Israel, Iraq, Iran, Russia, and Germany are all represented in one side or the other of every conflict in the Middle East, and these nations are specifically named in Ezekiel 38 as participants in that final conflict.

Resource reading: Revelation 19:1-16