WHAT IS THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON?

Many people have strayed from the Bible truth when it comes to finding out what the battle of Armageddon is and where it will take place. Many believe the battle of Armageddon is going to be a physical war between Israel and some other nation, maybe Russia, Syria or Iran. And then you have the other group of people who are deceived by the Hollywood movies that portray Armageddon as some natural disaster, like an asteroid hitting earth or some other extreme natural event. So what is the battle of Armageddon going to be? The truth is, neither of the above are right. We learned from the study regarding Israel in the End Times, that the literal nation of Israel is not going to be the main focus of end times Bible prophecy. And Armageddon being some extreme natural disaster is just not Biblical whatsoever!

Many sincere Christians who are looking to the nation of Israel for the fulfilment of end times prophecy, do not realise that the promises to the nation of Israel were upon them following God and keeping His commandments. Not only that, but they HAD to accept Christ Jesus as their LORD and Saviour. Take a look at the following Bible verse:

1 Kings 9:6-7 ...'But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, ; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people

Through the prophet Daniel, God gave the Jews a time prophecy of 490 years (70 weeks of Daniel) to put an end to their rebellion against the commandments of God and accept Christ Jesus as their Saviour. Did they do this? No. At the stoning of Stephen the Apostle (Acts 7), the 490 years prophecy came to an end and the nation of Israel were no longer God's special chosen people. Now, as the New Testament teaches,  who comes to Christ Jesus are the chosen people of God (Romans 2:29), (Romans 9:6-8), (Galatians 3:28). Jesus also clearly said Himself ..."Therefore I say unto you, , and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:43) and "Behold,  desolate (Matthew 23:38). How much clearer can the Bible be on this issue?

When Bible prophecy concerning the end times mentions "Israel", it is now speaking in a spiritual context, for Christians are now regarded as spiritual Israel. We must keep this in mind when studying endtime Bible prophecy, because we will never get to the truth if we continue to focus on the nation of Israel.

 It was the Roman Catholic Jesuits who brought about this "interpretation" of end times Bible prophecy being fulfilled with the literal nation of Israel, because it takes the focus off the Papal Church as being the TRUE Bible Antichrist

The promises of God in the Old Testament to "Israel" were never withdrawn. They just now apply to a NEW PEOPLE ... Christians! Too many Christians who study these end time subjects like the battle of Armageddon are still focusing on the physical, when they should be focusing on the spiritual. Didn't Jesus mention a time that would come when the people of God would worship Him in SPIRIT and TRUTH? That time is now.

Before we get into the details about the battle of Armageddon, just think about this important point regarding endtime Bible prophecy. In Daniel the nation of Babylon is mentioned, which pointed to the PHYSICAL nation of Babylon. And yet in the book of Revelation in chapter 17, Babylon is mentioned again. Is this literal Babylon? No, that nation is long gone. Instead, Mystery Babylon is now applied in a spiritual sense to another "kingdom". That kingdom being the Papal Church of Rome, who took on many of the traditions of literal Babylon.

The Bible Battle of Armageddon

Revelation 16:12-21 ...'And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue . And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.'

We know there isn't a literal place in the world today called "Armageddon". So what does the word mean? Well, Strong's translates it as "The Hill or city of Megiddo - In Rev. 16:16 the scene of the struggle of good and evil."

... Now remember what it says in Ephesians about what we are battling against? ...

Ephesians 6:12 ...'For we wrestle  against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,against  wickedness in high places

As a Christian, our life becomes a spirit filled life, which means our battles then become spiritual battles, as our enemy, Satan, is a spirit being. So why would the Bible say that we battle NOT against physical forces, but against spiritual ones, and then say in Revelation that the final battle for us will be a physical one? It doesn't make sense, and we know that God is not the author of confusion. Satan knows he has a short time left, so he is mustering all his spiritual forces (remember, he has millions of fallen angels on his side) which will climax with this great battle of Armageddon. The battle of Armageddon will be Satan's final attack upon the people of God . Remember that point. It isn't going to be focused just in the middle east, it will be a worldwide battle.

 ever say His people would be involved and fight in a physical war?

Something that many Christians do is that they mistakenly take certain words in Bible prophecy and apply them literally. Like the mark of the beast. Many think that this is going to be a physical, literal mark on our hand or forehead. They say the word means a mark, so it must be a physical mark. And yet the word beast in Revelation 13 means a beast. So are we now to believe that we will have literal beasts causing the world to worship them? No! We are to apply them in a spiritual sense, not a physical, because there are many things in Revelation that are symbolic, not literal. So if we look at the root meaning of Armageddon, we will see what this actually means. The Hebrew term 'har - megiddon' means 'a mountain of crowds or congregation'. Now there is another mount in the Bible, mount Zion, the place where God dwells:

Psalm 48:2 ...'Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.'

Psalm 9:11 ...'Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion.'

Now the prophet Joel also mentions mount Zion as being the place where God's people are gathered.

Joel 2:15,16,23,32 ...'Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.'

Did you see what Joel said? ... "whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered" ... Now that the literal nation of Israel is no longer God's chosen special people, the term 'Zion' is applied to Christians. Zion is no longer applied to a physical location on earth, like Jerusalem, or the temple. It is now applied spiritually to God's people. And who are they? ... Galatians 3:28 ...'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all ONE in Christ Jesus.' ... Which is why Joel says 'Whoever' calls on the Lord will be delivered. The New Testament says clearly that WE (Christians) are now the temple of God. The physical temple of Jerusalem AND the city was destroyed in AD70 because the Jews rejected Christ Jesus and were no longer His special people. Therefore, the place of Jerusalem in Israel lost it's significance also. So applying the prophecy of Joel above in a spiritual way, we learn that God's people who are scattered all around the world are"GATHERED" and are in His presence to receive His protection.

 "the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father ... But the hour cometh, and now is, when the TRUE worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."

Do you see the significance of this? Jesus knew that the Jews would reject the gospel message, and He knew that the literal city of Jerusalem in the nation of Israel would not longer hold any special significance with God. Instead, the TRUE people of God would be worshipping God in spirit and truth ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Now God is not the only one who is gathering a people around the world. As we read in Revelation 16 above, Satan is also gathering his people for the last great battle (the battle of Armageddon) between good and evil. Satan gathers the wicked to fight against God's people scattered around the earth. Did you see that it says "unclean spirits like frogs" come out of the mouths of the dragon, beast and false prophet? What do frogs use to catch their pray?  So the unclean spirits like frogs out of the mouths of the dragon, beast and false prophet, are . Please note, the dragon is satan (see Revelation 12:3,4,9), the beast is the Papal Church of Rome, and the false prophet is protestant America, which we learned from the Bible study to do withAmerica in prophecy.

Now have a good think about this point: Is satan going to gather all the wicked of the world and God gather all the saints of the world to a relatively small mount in Israel for a physical fight? We are talking of billions of people. This just isn't possible. No, the battle of Armageddon is one that is fought throughout the whole earth, not just in the nation of Israel.

But what about the drying up of the great river Euphrates mentioned in Revelation 16:12? Well, in the Old Testament, we have an actual account of God using Cyrus to divert the Euphrates river in order to capture literal Babylon, to end the 70 years bondage of God's people. And notice how God describes Cyrus ... Isaiah 45:1 ...'Thus saith the LORD to , to Cyrus.' ... Isaiah 41:2 ...'Who raised up .' ... God calls Cyrus His"anointed one" and "rightoues one" from the East. This is to be applied in a spiritual way to the end times and the battle of Armageddon.

Revelation tells us of another Babylon who captures God's people and oppresses them. But this is spiritual Babylon, an apostate religion that deceives the world into bowing down to her (The Roman Catholic Church). Throughout the dark ages, this Babylon captured, tortured and murdered tens of millions of Christians who would not bow down to her. But in the last days, God will cause her surrounding waters (the river Euphrates) to be dried up to deliver His people. But remember, the Old Testament account was a physical, local account of Babylon that happened, whereas this account in Revelation has a . Water in bible prophecy represents peoples and nations ..... Revelation 17:15 ...'And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.' ... The "whore" is spiritual Babylon (Roman Catholic Church) and the waters represent the people and nations that support her.

Whereas the literal water surrounding Babylon (Euphrates) was just that, literal water, that had to be dried up or diverted, the water surrounding Babylon the Great in Revelation represents people. So how are these people (those who support and protect Babylon) going to be "dried up"? ... Revelation 17:16 ...'And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.'... The world kingdoms and people who once supported and protected Babylon will turn on her. Why? Because the seven last plagues will start falling on them and they will realize that they were deceived by her (Roman Catholic Church) and will turn on her and destroy her. When the sixth plague falls (Rev. 16:12), the people will then realize that they have been tricked by Babylon and thus the "water" (people), the surrounding protection that Babylon once had will dry up to her destruction.

This then prepares the way for the Kings of the East (Rev.16:12). Now remember we learned that Cyrus in the Old Testament who diverted the river Euphrates to capture Babylon, was called the 'anointed one' and 'righteous one' from the east? The spiritual application of this points to Christ Jesus at His second coming with all His angels. Take a look at the following verses:

Revelation 7:2 ...'And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.'

Matthew 2:2 ...'Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.'

Matthew 24:27 ...'For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.'

Revelation 17:14 ...'These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.'

Revelation 19:16 ...'And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'

Matthew 25:31 ...'When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.'

So who are the "kings of the East" that Revelation 16:12 describes? They are Christ Jesus, the KING OF KINGS and all His holy angels at the second coming. It's sad that so many Christians have their eyes fixed on the Middle East, the literal nation of Israel, where the hate filled sons of Abraham (in the flesh) destroy each other with American and Russian weapons. The Jews of the flesh are no longer God's chosen special people, please understand that vital point. Study the70 weeks of Daniel a few times to grasp this important issue, which will open up your understanding of the role of Israel in the end times. What is the battle of Armageddon? It will be a worldwide spiritual war between those who support Babylon and those who follow Christ Jesus and His true Word, which is described in Revelation 13 ... "And he gave power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads." (Rev. 13:15-16)

So yes, there will be physical aspects of the battle of Armageddon, like the saints being captured and killed for not taking the mark of the beast. But ultimately, it is a spiritual battle that we are fighting against, not flesh and blood. So please take your eyes off the nation of Israel, as the battle of Armageddon is not going to be fought soley in the Middle East. It will be fought all around the world. Instead, fix your eyes on the eastern skies, where our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will return with the armies of Heaven to deliver us.