The signs of the times the battle of Armageddon

1. The signs of the timesthe battle of Armageddon

2. Armageddon Revelation 16:16 • 16:16 Gathering the kings • "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 Armageddon." (Rev. 16:14-16)

3. The gathering described in our passage is in preparation for the cataclysmic end seen in the seventh plague. It happens just before the end when Christ returns. The three-part alliance will enforce the death and privation decrees described in Rev. 13:15 (linked below). We will look at this gathering first. Then we will explore the more obscure mention of the Hebrew language and what the term "Armageddon" means.

4. Gathered for a surprise The kings are gathered or joined in an alliance for battle. In the next chapter we see the vile woman on a beast and we are told that the beast's ten horns are "ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 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." (Rev. 17:12-14) 1714. Although in a different setting, the kings there are the same as those here in the sixth plague. They are gathered to enforce the demands of the the beast carrying the woman but instead of killing the righteous who do not bow to the false religion Rev. 13:15, they find themselves overcome by the Lamb.

5. A place called Armageddon "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." (Rev. 16:16). The meaning of this mystery word has always intrigued scholars and curious readers. For a good understanding of a text we must see the context and similar passages. And, as in all Scripture interpretation, we must seek the Lord and be submissive to the Holy Spirit (Rev. 1:3; John 7:17).

6. In considering Armageddon, the eyes of the Christian world tend to focus on the Arab-Israeli tension or other world powers in a great battle. This is a false concept according to the way I read the Scriptures in the larger context. First of all, we are looking at symbols. A physical battle may be involved, in a sense, but the war is between the kings of the earth and the King of kings as we have seen in parallel passages above. The map shows only those places significant to our study plus a few main landmarks.

8. Sources of imageryThe Greek represents the word "in the Hebrew tongue." Armageddon is Har-Magedon in some manuscripts. "Har" is mountain. "Magedon" could be the same as "Megiddon," the name of a Canaanite fortress from very early times. It was located in what is now the plain of Esdraelon (east part of the Valley of Jezreel) which is bordered by the ridge of Mount Carmel.

9. Not far away is Mount Carmel where Elijah confronted the priests of Baal and God sent fire from heaven (1 Kings. 18:17-41). We may see this conflict between false and true worship as a type (or symbol) of the conflict where Christ comes and takes over the kingdoms of this world (Rev. 11:15). As I developed my interpretation, I realized that there is no mountain of Megiddo. Why didn't the text say "Har Carmel"? Maybe because the valley is actually the location of the scene representing the destruction of the end-time kings and people.

10. ....In Elijah's time, Israel had fallen into apostasy and truth had been obscured. People were worshipping idols and following the priests of Baal while having a form of following the true God. When the fire came down, it was clear to all that the God of Israel was the true God. So it will be at in the final test brought on by the image to the beast, Rev. 13:15. When all understand and will have made a choice for Christ or for Satan, probation will close. That was represented in the scene on Mt. Carmel. Then at Elijah's command, the people grabbed the priests of Baal who had deceived them and herded them down to the valley to the river Kidron where Elijah killed them under the direction of God (1ki1840). Consider that this represents the seventh plague where the wicked are destroyed at the coming of Christ. Thus the mountain and the valley � "Har-Megiddo."

11. Was this story of Elijah's witness intended by the cryptic Hebrew word? Evidentially, but we have more options. There are slight variations in the term in the Greek manuscripts for Revelation and other stories come to our attention.

12. More scenes providing a general understandingIn Judges 4 and 5, we find a prophet-inspired call for Israel to face its enemies jg0404ff. Sisera, the Canaanite general came to fight and the Lord, by the hand of the two faithful tribes of Israel, quickly overcame the enemy jg0415. The kings of Canaan came to fight near "the waters of Megiddo" jg0519 apparently called by Sisera. We also have a mountain besides Carmel near Megiddo � Mt. Tabor jg0406.

13. the Valley of Jehoshaphat • The Bible gives another location for the gathering for the final conflict � the Valley of Jehoshaphat. See Joel 3. The significance of the Valley of Jehoshaphat is clarified in the story of his victory over three enemies 2 Chron.20:10. There the king trusted God who fought for him and the people 2 Chron. 20. So will God do for His people in the final time of trouble Ps. 91:9.Instead of Armageddon we may read har-mo'edth. This term is used in Isaiah 14 for the mountain of God's throne,Isa 14:31. Lucifer, later Satan, presumed to take it over. The gathered kings will, in a similar way, attempt to take from God the control of the faithful remnant just before the coming of Christ. We can see concepts of the final conflict in these three scenes as well as the one on Mt. Carmel

14. What is the focus of the sixth plague? Let's return to the text of the sixth plague. "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...." (Rev. 16:12, 13). The initial issue is not on the meaning of Armageddon. It's on the drying up of the Euphrates for the kings of the East. The river ran through the literal city of Babylon providing her support. The evil woman as Babylon thus sits on many waters (Rev. 17:1). The river was "dried up" by diverting the water and marching under the walls of the city then entering through river gates left open (Isa. 45:1). The literal kings of the East would be Cyrus and the king under him, Darius. Darius conquered literal Babylon (Dan. 5:30). Cyrus came later and liberated God's people from the city (Ezr. 6). The two kings were from Persia which was East of Babylon. This represents protection from the end-time coercive forces.

15. Looking at the water of the river as the world's support system, we can see economic, political, and other chaos. This is the time of the loud cry (Rev. 18:1), the last call to leave spiritual Babylon (Rev. 18:4) before she is destroyed by plagues at the hand of God (Rev. 18:7). At the same time, the kings of the earth � the political powers � are united by deceptive miracles from the earth beast (Rev. 13:15-17). Satan can impersonate Christ or Mary or others2co1114. When chaos leads to the breakup of the three-part alliance (Rev. 16:19), these kings lament (Rev. 18:9).

16. Who gathers the kings? • Who gathers the kings?The three evil spirits of verse 14 gather the kings for Armageddon, while verse 16 says "he" gathered them. The word "he" could represent the one who keeps his garments or Christ who comes as the thief. In verse 14, however, neither of these gather the kings. "The spirits of devils" gather them. Many translations show "they" instead of "he" for who gathers the kings, making the gathering, in both verses to be by the evil spirits. This is an acceptable translation. I have chosen to follow the singular, "he" because it finds a closer antecedent � he, indicating God or the one who keeps his garments. The truth of the text is unchanged by the pronoun although choosing "he" brings a little more information.

17. "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 Armageddon." (Rev. 16:14-16) At first the spirits gather the kings as Ahab gathered the priests of Baal. At the end of the showdown, Elijah ordered the gathering under divine inspiration. The text says, "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." I believe God should be seen in a second gathering � this time for destruction. (Notice that the gathering is mentioned twice.)

18. The deceptive spirits sent out by the three-part religious coalition will induce the kings into a union to destroy those who are faithful to Christ and who keep God's law 1217c. God will allow the wicked to believe the lie of the coalition because that is their choice (2 Thess. 2:8-12). Thus He gathers kings and people for destruction. We will see it in chapter 19. "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." (Rev. 19:19-21)

19. How God's people will be ready for the final battle • The final day of the Lord is pictured in the Battle of Jehoshaphat 2 Chron.20. Did you notice that, in the battle of Jehoshaphat, the people drew close to God and He gained the victory for them. During the time of trouble, God will save His people while He will slay the wicked, partly by allowing them to destroy themselves. This is not the final end of the wicked, however. They will live again as we will see in Revelation 20.

20. During the time of the sixth plague, the religious leaders of the world will have chosen to believe falsehood � gathered by the deceptions of the three-part coalition of evil (1613b) as were the priests who had chosen to practice idolatry. The battle of Armageddon is decided on the mountain in the hearts of the people some for God and some against. It is executed under the seventh plague in in the valley. This is the battle of the mountain which is above the valley of Megiddo � the battle of Har-Megiddo. Let's remember that the three-frog deception is for the whole world. The focus is on its results, not its location. We see it in several stories including the account of Elijah on Mt. Carmel. The deception will include acting like Elijah and performing miracles calling fire from heaven,1313.

21. In the Hebrew tongue • "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." (Rev. 16:16) John, along with other New Testament authors, wrote in Greek. Why did the Holy Spirit, through him, direct us to think in terms of the Hebrew language? When the armies of Sennacherib surrounded Jerusalem after conquering the other cities within their reach, they talked in the people's language and said bad things about their godly leaders who were wishing that they would use the Syrian language instead of Hebrew. Isaiah 36. In the end-time gathering of the kings, we may expect to the religion of the remnant to be despised and great pressure exerted on them to abandon their minority, Bible-based convictions

22. So what happens under the sixth plague? • The text sequence is as follows • verse 12 Plague 6. Vial emptied. Way for kings of East prepared. verse 13 Three spirits come from enemies of God verse 14 Devil spirits do deceptive miracles to gather kings of earth verse 15 Christ comes as a thief. Keep ready verse 16 Kings gathered to Armageddon verse 17 Plague 7. "It is done." World comes apart. Punishment and slaying of the wicked.

24. At the end of chapter 15 we learned that there would be no intercession during the plagues 1508. The righteous are sealed at this time and do not need to have sins forgiven. Then why the admonition to be ready? We concluded that verses 13 to 15 1615c explain what happened earlier for the gathering of the kings. Now the job is completed. The sixth plague describes the work of the image to the beast 1315. • Let's remember that God's people will be saved out of the time of trouble. It is for the wicked. Let's each determine to remain faithful in every way to our Lord Jesus.

26. Three Frog-like Spirits From Dragon, Beast, and False ProphetRevelation 16:13

27. Three Frog-like Spirits From Dragon, Beast, and False ProphetRevelation 16:13 • Battle lines are drawn • "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." (Rev. 16:13, 14)

28. Question and answer • How many items on the screen ? • Three • What are they ? • Frog like creatures. They are not exactly frog. • What do they represent ? • The dragon • The beast • The false prophet

29. What is the function of these three unclean spirits? • They are the spirit of DEVILS working miracles • They gather nations / kingdoms into great controversy issue – the battle of Armageddon

30. What goes through your mouth • I'm rather particular about what goes into my mouth, and I expect you are, too. Would you like to hold a frog in your mouth and then open up to let the creature leap out? With this repulsive scene of the unclean spirits in mind, let's turn back to the preceding verse to see what is going on. "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." (16:12).

31. So it's the kings of the East against the kings of the world. The way for the kings of the East is prepared by the drying up of the river. The kings of the earth are prepared by devil-inspired miracles. Our eternal salvation depends on who wins this battle. Will deception and hatred continue forever or will the kings of the East get rid of the source of evil?How good it is to be sure of the outcome.

32. Jesus has already conquered the world "These things I [Jesus] have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) What did He mean? He said this before His victory in Gethsemane and before the cross. How could He have already overcome? Earlier in this final talk with His disciples, he had told them he would go away to His Father but come again. Then He added, ". . . for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." (John 14:30). Satan had tempted Him and would tempt Him to the end, but our Lord would not sin. His victory can be ours!

33. IN JESUS • PEACE • IN THE WORLD • TRIBULATION • Do we get discouraged and depressed ? • NO • Of good courage / cheer • Positive attitude /positive thinkinking

34. The divine standard of righteousness • Because nothing evil was found in Jesus, He has the authority in the eyes of the universe to take our guilt and to give us His righteousness without setting aside the divine standard of righteousness that identifies sin. In the sanctuary system, only a perfect lamb could be a sacrifice to represent the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

35. What is the purpose of the standard ? • The standard will and shall identify and define sin . • Can we get rid of the standard if we do not like it ? • NO • The standard of Righteousness will stand the test of time . • The standard = The God’s Laws is eternal .

36. "Your lamb [for the Passover when leaving Egypt] shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats. . . . And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it." (Ex. 12:5, 7). Jesus was a perfect lamb. Praise His holy name! Because He achieved victory over the temptations of the world and died without sin,He is justified in attaining the victory over the kings of the world in the physical struggle between good and evil when He comes in glory to take us to heaven. • His way is the way of love and peace. By His grace, you and I can stay on His side in this battle.

37. What is the qualification for the pass over lamb? • The one year old male lamb without blemish { perfect and good physical shape } • What is the meaning of Pass over feast ( event ) in Egypt ? • The blood from the pass over lamb on the door post {right, left and top} signifies the trust and confidence in God. • The death angels came and passed over your house without destruction because of demonstration of trust / faith in God.

38. Coalition of evil forces • 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. (Rev. 16:13, 14)

39. The false trinity We saw how Satan has prepared the three religious forces after the pattern of the divine three-member team, These three forces, dragon, beast, and false prophet are seen in chapters 12 and 13. The evil forces decree death and prohibition to buy and sell for those who refuse to worship beast and image. God responds in chapter 14 by warning that those who accept the false worship, also receive His unmixed wrath. We are seeing this poured out in chapters 15 and 16.

40. What is the parallel here ? • Three unclean spirits • Three religious forces • Dragon , beast, false spirit • Divine three member team • God, Jesus , Holy spirit • What do three unclean spirits ( religious- political coalition ) try to enforce ? • Death decree • Prohibition to buy or sell unless you receive the mark of beast

41. Who is the false prophet? We know the beast (1301c) and the dragon (the devil or Satan, 12:9) but who is the false prophet? The third in the series in chapters 12 and 13 is the beast from the earth. Is he also the false prophet? Yes, because he pretends to be the prophet Elijah and does miracles

42. Who is the beast ? • Roman catholic system { pope } • Who is the dragon ? • Satan , Devil • Who is the false prophet ?

43. Power comes from the mouths of the false trinity Keep in mind that the spirits work miracles to get the kings to fight. They are the driving force of the three-part coalition. What is the spirits' counterpart in God's power? We don't see it so clearly in this passage. Let's look in chapter 19 where we find more of the story. There, Christ rides the white horse.

44. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. . . . And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goetha sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeththe winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. . . . And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

45. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. (Rev. 19:11 - 12:2) re1911.

46. All three enemies will be captured as we see from the passage just quoted. We'll learn more about that later. How does Christ win the battle? In comparison to spirits of devils, He will use the sword of His mouth. ". . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" (ep0617; cf. 0101f). The sword is from His mouth because it represents His words (John 16:13, 14). The spirits of devils which come from the three mouths of God's enemies are thus contrasted to the word of God and of Christ, communicated by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21). Words, in both cases, speak to the minds and hearts of humans. Those who choose Satan's words of deception instead of the way of peace shown us in the Scriptures, will also hear the words of the sword of the Rider of the white horse.

47. Parallel

48. In parallel imagery, those who drink the wine or false doctrine of Babylon,1813, will also be made to drink the cup of God's wrath which is the seven last plagues,1409c. The battle is not fought to see who is stronger, Christ or Satan, although that may be part of it. The battle is to clarify in the minds of the whole universe that God is right in cleansing the earth of sin and those who cling to it. (See the first chapters of Job.). This is a slow process and will end only when every knee bows to acknowledge the sovereignty of God (Rev. 4:13; ph0210).

49. Parallel imagery : • Those who drink the wine or false doctrine of Babylon • Drink the cup of God’s wrath which is the seven last plagues • What is the central question / issue in the battle? • Who is stronger ? • Christ or Satan ? • NO

50. What is the fundamental question at hand ? • What is God trying to clarify ? • God is right in doing ………….. • Cleansing the earth of sin and of those who cling to it (sin ). • If you continue to cling to sin, • You will be destroyed with sin altogether . • God will destroy / eradicate sin from the face of the earth in the end for ever and renew the earth with different group of peoples. • Sin will arise no more.