Armageddon
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Let's pray together:
O Lord,
Our study of the seven bowls is drawing to a close, but we still have important subjects
to explore, among which is the famous battle of Armageddon.
What, exactly, does this mean? And how can we prepare ourselves for this great conflict?
May Your prophetic Word give us all the answers we need. In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 16:12,14,16
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great
river Euphrates. (...)
They are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and
of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (...)
And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
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After the first five bowls have brought terrible calamities upon the world, the
unrepentant nations will be filled with uncontrollable anger against God.
They will then respond to the call of Satan, who will gather them together for the final
battle between good and evil: Armageddon.
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Revelation 16:12,13
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great
river Euphrates. (...)
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of
the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
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The sixth bowl is poured out on the river Euphrates: we will come back to this
point in a moment.
But first, let's look at the characters taking part in the battle of Armageddon between
good and evil.
Unrepentant men, who represent the powers of evil, will be led by the members of the
satanic trinity, which we studied in our previous lessons.
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Let's quickly review the identity of the members of the satanic trinity:
1. The dragon: Satan, the head of demons and
powers of spiritualism.
«The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old,
called the Devil
and Satan (...) and his angels were cast out with him.»
(REVELATION 12:9)
2. The beast: the papacy, head of the apostate religio-political system.
«And I saw a beast rising up out of the
sea, having seven heads and
ten horns.(...) And all the world marveled and followed the
beast.»
(REVELATION 13:1,3)
3. The false prophet: the United States, led by the Christian Religious
Right Wing, where lying wonders, signs and miracles will deceive men.
«The false prophet (...) worked signs in
his presence, by which he
deceived those who received the mark of the beast.»
(REVELATION 19:20)
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Revelation 16:13,14
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of
the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet.
For they are spirits of demons, performing signs.
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Exodus 8:2,3
So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt,
and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of
Egypt.
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The unclean spirits of the satanic trinity are like frogs, reminding us of the
magicians' enchantments during the plagues in Egypt.
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Revelation 16:13,14
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of
the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet.
For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth
and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
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Through deceiving signs and wonders the satanic trinity will manage to gather
together all the nations of the earth under the same standard, for the «great day of God Almighty».
What is that great day?
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Zephaniah 1:14,17
The great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hastens
quickly. (...)
I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have
sinned against the Lord.
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Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
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The «great day of the Lord» is the glorious day
of Jesus Christ's return, which will take place at the pouring out of the seventh and last
bowl.
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The final battle will gather together all the nations of the earth...
«[The ten kings] are of one mind, and they will give
their power and authority to the beast.» (REVELATION 17:13)
«And authority was given [the beast] over every tribe, tongue, and nation.» (REVELATION
13:7)
«And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the
earth.» (REVELATION 17:18)
«Proclaim this among the nations: "Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all
the men of war draw near, let them come up." (...) Assemble and come, all you
nations, and gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord.
Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. (...) Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of
decision.» (JOEL 3:9,11,12,14)
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... and the target of the nations' attack will be Jesus, at His return!
«[The ten kings] are of one mind, and they will give
their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb.» (REVELATION
17:13,14)
«Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. (...) His name is called
The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
followed Him on white horses. (...) And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their
armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His
army.» (REVELATION 19:11,13,14,19)
«A noise will come to the ends of the earth - for the Lord has a controversy with the
nations; He will plead His case with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the
sword.» (JEREMIAH 25:31)
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Revelation 6:14-17
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up,
and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men,
every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the
mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks,
«Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of
the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?»
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Of course, as we will see in detail in our next lesson, men will quickly
realize the foolishness of their venture, when they see Jesus coming with power and great
glory, with all His angels...
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Revelation 17:17
For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His
purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God
are fulfilled.
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But how will the nations come to the point of blindly following the satanic
trinity's orders, and believing that they really can overcome Jesus and His heavenly
armies?
Here is how: the Spirit of God having been withdrawn from the earth since the close of
probation, men will be completely given over to Satan's deceiving power working in them
without any opposition.
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God allows Satan's deception to lead the wicked to their punishment:
«The coming of the lawless one is according to the
working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous
deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they
should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but
had pleasure in unrighteousness.» (2 THESSALONIANS 2:9-12)
«The Lord said, "Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth
Gilead?" So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit
came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, "I will persuade him." The
Lord said to him, "In what way?" So he said, "I will go out and be a lying
spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." And He said, "You shall persuade him,
and also prevail. Go out and do so."» (1 KINGS 22:20-22)
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Revelation 16:16
And they gathered them together to the place called in
Hebrew, Armageddon.
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The final battle between Jesus and the unrepentant nations, which will be the
subject of our next lesson, will occur in a place called Armageddon.
This Hebrew word means «Mountain of destruction», which hints at the fatal outcome of
this last conflict.
But the word Armageddon can also be translated as «Mountain of Megiddo». Now, Megiddo is
the name of a site in the North of Palestine, and some people believe that the battle of
Armageddon will take place at this site.
Is this correct?
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Revelation 16:16
And they gathered them together to the place called in
Hebrew, Armageddon.
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Two problems arise when we try to connect Armageddon and Megiddo literally:
- First, whereas Armageddon means «Mountain of Megiddo», the place called
Megiddo is a plain.
- Besides, the plain of Megiddo covers an area of only 200 square miles (300
square kilometres): it could hardly hold all the nations of the earth at war.
However, Megiddo was the scene of decisive battles and miraculous deliverances in the
history of Israel. This is the key to the enigma of Armageddon...
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Judges 4:7,15
«Against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of
Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver
him into your hand.» (...)
And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the
sword before Barak.
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One of the most famous battles which took place at Megiddo, at the River Kishon
which flowed through this plain, was the battle between the Hebrew people, led by Barak
and the prophetess Deborah on one side, and the Canaanites, led by Sisera, commander of
the army of Jabin king of Canaan on the other side.
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Judges 5:19-21
The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan
fought in Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they took no spoils of silver.
They fought from the heavens; the stars from their courses fought against Sisera.
The torrent of Kishon swept them away.
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The Hebrews faced a coalition of armed kings and powers which would surely have
annihilated them.
But God intervened for His people, and put their enemies to rout.
This war at Megiddo illustrates the miraculous deliverance of God's people from the hands
of the nations in revolt, when Jesus returns.
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Sisera's defeat at Megiddo perfectly foreshadows Armageddon:
«They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and
consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of
Israel may be remembered no more."
For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You:
the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagarites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; they have
helped the children of Lot.
Deal with them as with Midian, as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the Brook Kishon, who
perished at En Dor, who became as refuse on the earth.» (PSALM 83:3-10)
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1 Kings 18:18,19
And [Elijah] answered [king Ahab],
«I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have
forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed the Baals.
Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and
fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's
table.»
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Armageddon, the «Mountain of Megiddo», also refers to the contest between
Elijah and the prophets of Baal, which took place on Mount Carmel.
Carmel was the nearest mountain to the plain of Megiddo, about six miles (10 kilometres)
away from it.
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1 Kings 18:38-40
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt
sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was
in the trench.
Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, «The Lord, He is
God! The Lord, He is God!»
And Elijah said to them, «Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!»
So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them
there.
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On that occasion and in full view of everyone, God clearly demonstrated His
infinite superiority over all false gods.
Then the prophets of Baal were brought down «to the Brook Kishon»,
in the plain of Megiddo, to be killed.
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Revelation 16:12
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great
river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east
might be prepared.
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How will the nations react, when they realize that the battle of Armageddon is
lost in advance, and that they will be destroyed by the glorious coming of Jesus?
The answer is in the symbolic drying up of the Euphrates, a river which flowed through
ancient Babylon.
Now, what does this symbolic drying up, caused by the sixth bowl, mean for spiritual
Babylon?
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Jeremiah 50:35,38
«A sword is against the Chaldeans,» says the Lord,
«against the inhabitants of Babylon, against her princes and her wise men. (...)
A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up.»
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Jeremiah 51:36
Therefore thus says the Lord: «Behold, I will plead your
case and take vengeance for you.
I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.»
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Ancient Babylon, established on the river Euphrates, seemed impenetrable.
And yet, she fell into the hands of the Medes and Persians, who diverted the course of the
river, and then used the dried riverbed to enter and invade the city.
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Revelation 17:1,15
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came
and talked with me, saying to me,
«Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.» (...)
And he said to me,
«The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and
tongues.»
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Similar to ancient Babylon, which was established on the river Euphrates,
spiritual Babylon is also established on the spiritual river Euphrates, since she «sits on many waters».
This spiritual Euphrates symbolizes «peoples, multitudes, nations,
and tongues».
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Revelation 18:2,4
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen! (...)
Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her
plagues.
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At the time of the loud cry calling every one to come out of Babylon, before
the close of probation, a lot of sincere believers will respond to this call and come out
of the apostate system.
These believers will begin to dry up the waters of Babylon, that is, the peoples and
multitudes over which she exerts her domination.
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Revelation 17:16,18
And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will
hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. (...)
And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.
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This drying up will be completed by the end of the sixth bowl: the nations,
seeing that they have been deceived by Babylon (the coalition of apostate churches led by
the papacy), will then completely withdraw their support, and deprive her of the authority
they have given her.
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Revelation 9:13-15
Then the sixth angel sounded.
And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to
the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
«Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.»
So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were
released to kill a third of mankind.
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Let's notice that the correlation between the trumpets and bowls is still
present here: the sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl both strike the Euphrates.
But whereas the judgment of the trumpet kills only «a third of
mankind», the bowl announces a complete destruction of the wicked.
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Isaiah 44:27,28
[The Lord] says to the deep, «Be dry! and I will dry up
your rivers.»
[He] says of Cyrus, «He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure.»
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Isaiah 46:10,11
I will do all My pleasure, calling a bird of prey from
the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
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When the river Euphrates was dried up, ancient Babylon fell into the hands of
Cyrus, king of Persia, who came «from the east» of the
kingdom of Babylon, exactly as foretold.
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Revelation 16:12
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great
river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east
might be prepared.
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Matthew 24:27
For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to
the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
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Likewise, when the nations cease supporting spiritual Babylon, thus drying up
her spiritual Euphrates, the way will be prepared for the coming of the King from the
east, Jesus Christ.
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The coming of Jesus, the spiritual Cyrus, will complete Babylon's fall:
«The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz
saw. (...)
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord and His weapons of
indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore all hands will be limp, every man's heart will melt, and they will be afraid.
Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
they will be amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames.
Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the
land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it.» (ISAIAH 13:1,5-9)
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Revelation 16:15,16
«Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who
watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.»
And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
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Right in the middle of the sixth bowl, Jesus Christ, the King from the east
Himself, digresses for a moment to remind us that He is just about to return.
But what is the meaning of the words «I am coming as a thief»?
Does this mean that He will return in a secret way, without making any noise?
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2 Peter 3:10
The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in
which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with
fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
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1 Thessalonians 5:2,3
The day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
For when they say, «Peace and safety!» then sudden destruction comes upon them.
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Jesus will return «as a thief», that is,
suddenly and unexpectedly.
But His return won't take place in a secret or silent way - far from it!
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Revelation 16:15
Behold, I am coming as a thief.
Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his
shame.
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Isaiah 47:1,3
Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of
Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! (...)
Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame will be seen.
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Finally, Jesus counsels us to keep the garment of righteousness He gave us, so
that we may not experience the humiliating fate of Babylon the harlot, who made the choice
of dressing herself with her own clothes.
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Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire,
that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your
nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
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In fact, the sixth bowl takes up again Jesus' advice to Laodicea, the Church of
the last days.
It must obtain the white garment of Christ's righteousness, «that
the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed», in addition to obtaining gold
(steadfast faith), and eye salve (the Holy Spirit).
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Let's pray:
Father,
The battle of Armageddon, the final fight between the powers of good and evil, is won in
advance for those who will struggle along at Your side.
In order to prepare ourselves for this important day, we humbly ask You to grant us what
we really need: the faith of Jesus, similar to gold refined in the fire; the righteousness
of Jesus, similar to white garments which clothe us; and the Holy Spirit, similar to eye
salve opening our eyes.
We thank You for these priceless goods which come from You alone. In the precious name of
Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
The test of Lesson 87 is waiting for you!