Armageddon and the Middle East Crisis

Anyone looking for a conventional clash of arms in the battle of Armageddon—the apocalyptic conclusion to earth’s history—will most likely be disappointed, suggests Alan Reinach.

Despite the handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis by the coalition of the willing, and the attempts at a withdrawal of the Jewish presence in the Gaza strip, conflicts continue in the Middle East. And regardless of its outcome, a pressing issue in the minds of many Christians is the place of Israel in any Middle Eastern conflict, since they believe Israel is where earth’s last great military battle—called Armageddon in the Bible—will take place.
But while many proclaim this battle is imminent, is it really? And what form will it take?

no such place
The terrifying image of a war of apocalyptic proportions is taken from Revelation chapter 16: “They gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon” (v 16).
Popular imagination—reinforced by events pitting earth’s great powers one against the other in the immediate neighbourhood—interprets this verse as referring to an actual place in Israel where earth’s final war will occur. However, as with most of the book of Revelation, “Armageddon” is symbolic. You won’t find it on any map of the Middle East.

The book of Revelation is crammed with symbols, most of which refer to or are derived from the Old Testament. Armageddon is just such a symbol. The term means “mountain of Megiddo,” from the Greek Harmageddon (Har means mountain). There is no Mount Megiddo anywhere. However, there is a plateau in northern Israel called Megiddo. Mount Carmel rises above this plateau. It was on Mount Carmel that Elijah faced off against 400 prophets of Baal and the evil empire of Ahab and Jezebel. It is probably the imagery of this conflict John the Revelator had in mind when he called earth’s last battle Armageddon.

a mountain-top battle
When Revelation borrows from the Old Testament, it also incorporates the spiritual lessons associated with those same stories and symbols used. So with Armageddon. The name, pointing as it does to Mount Carmel, recalls the events of that turning point in Israel’s history.
Ahab, king of Israel, and Jezebel, the queen, had led the Israelites into the worship of Baal, one of the prohibited Canaanite gods. So Elijah proposed a contest to reveal who was the true God (see 1 Kings 18). “How long will you waver between two opinions?” he asked the people. “If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (v 21).

The contest was to be decided by fire—the true god revealing its divinity by sending fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice offered by the worshippers. The prophets of Baal built their altar and called on Baal all morning—dancing, singing, shouting, and slashing themselves with knives. They bled all over the altar, but to no avail. Obviously, they were genuine believers. But their god didn’t respond.

Elijah mocked them. “Shout louder!” he suggested. “Maybe your god is sleeping, or travelling, or deep in thought!” The priests of Baal continued their frenzied supplication throughout the day until the time of the evening sacrifice, when they finally collapsed, exhausted.

Elijah calmly prepared a simple stone altar and placed wood and a sacrifice atop it, then drenched the lot with water. He knelt and prayed a brief and simple prayer. God answered by sending a lightning bolt that evaporated the sacrifice, wood, and the stones on which they were laid.

So, a great victory was won that day. The hearts of the nation were turned back to the worship of the Creator.

last-day parallels
Just as there was a conflict between true and false worship in Elijah’s day, so there will be in the last days. In Revelation 13 we’re introduced to two beasts, which represent human institutional powers on earth. The second beast, representing a political power, will attempt to force everyone in the world to worship the first beast—obviously, a religious power. According to the text, the beasts will threaten with death any who dare to refuse. While it was God who brought fire down from heaven to consume Elijah’s sacrifice on Carmel, in the last days it will be the evil beast of Revelation 13 that causes “fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men” (v 13)—a convincing attempt to displace God.

Revelation indicates that the issues in earth’s final war will be global, not local. And the issues (and combatants) will be spiritual, not political as they are at present in the Middle East. The battle of Armageddon will pit the nations of the world against the armies of heaven. The “spirits of demons performing miraculous signs [will] go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14).

Revelation 19 describes the same battle, picturing Christ as the Supreme Commander of heaven’s forces, riding on a white horse. The Revelator says He “is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war” (v 11). And “the armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses” (v14). Then, verse 19 says, “I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the white horse and his army.”

What “weapons” would the beast and the rulers of earth employ in warfare against Christ and heaven? Will they deploy weapons of mass destruction or laser beams? The Bible doesn’t say, but it’s interesting to think about.

a spiritual event
In any case, we know the battle will have spiritual significance. As in Elijah’s day, worship will again be the central issue. In anticipation of the final judgment, God’s people will have warned the world to worship only the Creator: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come,” is the message they’ve proclaimed everywhere (Revelation 14:7). By contrast, the powers opposed to God will require everyone to worship the beast and his image and to receive the infamous mark of the beast (Revelation 13:13-17).

Armageddon is the culmination of this battle—between true and false worship at the time of Christ’s return—that’s been going on since Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, refused to bring a proper sacrifice to God (see Genesis 4) soon after they were thrown out of Eden for much the same thing.

a final attempt to deceive
Revelation 13 says that the second beast will use false miracles to deceive the inhabitants of the world (verse 14). It is possible that one such deception will be a counterfeit battle of Armageddon; after all, the spirits of demons will gather the entire world to this battle (16:12-14).
In this respect the Bible gives two important details that can prevent us from being deceived. According to popular Christian culture, Armageddon finds the nations of the world taking sides against each other, arrayed in battle on a dusty Palestinian plain.

In Revelation, on the other hand, the nations of the world assemble to make war against Christ, not against each other. Moreover, it appears that virtually all nations participate. So, no matter how terrifying a world war in the Middle East may be, if the nations of the earth are fighting each other, that war is not the biblical Armageddon.

Second, Armageddon, the sixth in a series of seven plagues, will be immediately followed by a seventh plague, when all creation will come apart at the seams—literally. Revelation says that “every island fled away and the mountains could not be found” (Revelation 16:20). So, if there is any semblance of normal life after a battle the world calls Armageddon, you can be sure it wasn’t the real things.

Christ didn’t show John the battle of Armageddon to terrify us. He showed it because He wants us to understand how the conflict of the ages between Christ and Satan will be concluded. And He showed it so we will be spiritually prepared for that great struggle. Elijah’s message to Israel on Mount Carmel is relevant to us today: Choose whom you will serve. If the Lord is God, serve Him; if Baal—the beast and its image—serve him. Armageddon will be a “spiritual” battle, but that doesn’t mean it’s less than real. Lives will be saved or lost for all eternity based on the outcome.

a matter of choice
Everyone will have to choose between worshipping the beast and worshipping God. Because God is love, He doesn’t force anyone to be saved, but gives us a choice. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). By contrast, the beast threatens to kill those who do not worship its way (see Revelation 13:15). Forced worship is false worship. The death threat that the beast employs at that time culminates Satan’s ancient warfare against Christ and His people.

Elijah’s day, true worship triumphed over idolatry. Similarly, the battle of Armageddon marks the triumph of true worship at the end of time. Prior to the battle, the idolatrous worship of the beast will be almost universal.

Great miracles will have convinced the entire world that God sanctions the worship of the beast. But a faithful group will cling to the true worship of the Creator. And just when it seems that the forces of evil and darkness will finally destroy the people of God in a “final solution,” Christ will come to deliver His people. So, far from being a frightening event to God’s children, the battle of Armageddon means their deliverance.

The battle of Armageddon may indeed be imminent, but not in the form some Christians expect. It will not be fought on a desert plain with guns and tanks. Rather, it will be fought in the hearts and minds of people throughout the world.

At its climax, Christ will come to rescue His faithful people and destroy His enemies, ridding the universe forever of the plague of sin and all its attendant suffering (see Revelation 19:20).

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