Philologos
Bible Prophecy Research
Title: Armageddon
Submitted by: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: November 20, 1998
Update: April 06, 2001
URL: philologos.org/bpr/files/a0005.htm
Armageddon
Armageddon is Greek for "Mount of Megiddo." This valley has seen more climactic battles than any other place on earth.
Originally, Megiddo was one of the capital cities of the Canaanites. The Egyptian king Thothmes III, the founder of an empire, once said "Megiddo is worth a thousand cities." The reason is that it sits on the pass leading through Mount Carmel to the Mediterranean, one of the most strategic crossroads in Palestine. Anyone who wishes to control the Middle East must control the vital trade and military routes which connect Europe, Africa and Asia.
Napoleon stood at Megiddo before the battle that thwarted his attempt to conquer the East and rebuild the Roman Empire. Contemplating the enormous plain of Armageddon, the marshal declared, "All the armies of the world could maneuver their forces on this vast plain."
The kings of the East are to have an army of 200 million soldiers. By the late 1990s China alone will have more than 125 million young men of military age without any women to marry because of their one child policy. The Chinese want their one child to be male to carry on the name so they abort or kill females and now have nine male babies born for every girl each year.
(Mostly taken from Messiah--War in the Middle East and the Road to Armageddon, Grant Jeffreys)
We don't know of any war or any battle before 1450 BC. This is the place where the horse entered history. The site of the first battle with a remembered name--this is Armageddon.
"And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."--Revelation 16:16
(Warhorse--A Beast for Heroes, The History Channel, 11/98)
"Armageddon--...the great battlefield of the Old Testament, where the chief conflicts took place between the Israelites and the enemies of God's people...the scene of the struggle of good and evil is suggested by that battlefield, the plain of Esdraelon, which was famous for two great victories...and for two great disasters...
"Esdraelon--This name is merely the Greek form of the Hebrew word Jezreel...This is that Valley of Megiddo (so called from the city of Megiddo, which stood on its souther border)...
"Jezreel--[Ahab] chose it for his chief residence...It is on one of the gentle swells which rise out of the fertile plain of Esdraelon...In the neighborhood, or within the town probably, was a temple and grove of Astarte, with an establishment of 400 priests supported by Jezebel (1 Kings 16:33; 2 Kings 10:11). The palace of Ahab (1 Kings 21:1; 18:46) probably containing his 'ivory house' (1 Kings 22:39), was on the eastern side of the city, forming part of the city wall. The seraglio [palace of a sultan], in which Jezebel lived, was on the city wall, and had a high window facing eastward (2 Kings 9:30). Close by, if not forming part of this seraglio, was a watch-tower, on which a sentinel stood, to give notice of arrivals from the disturbed district beyond the Jordan (2 Kings 9:17)...The gateway of the city on the east was also the gateway of the palace (2 Kings 9:34)...[in an easterly direction] are two springs, one 12 minutes from the town, the other 20 minutes...the latter...was called by the Arabs 'Ain Jalud, 'the spring of Goliath.' This last name, which it still bears, is derived from a tradition...that here David killed Goliath."
(Dr. William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 1872)
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"Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel" Hosea 1:11
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"Esdraelon or Plain of Jezreel, a large plain in N. Palestine, situated between the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan R. on the E., and the Mediterranean Sea on the W. The plain, of triangular shape, is marked roughly by Mount Tabor on the N.E., Mount Gilboa on the S., and Mount Carmel on the N.W. It is approximately 36 m. long, and has an average width of 15 m. Esdraelon is watered by the Nahr el Djalood, which empties into the Jordan R., and the Kishon.
"The plain of Esdraelon has figured prominently in the history of Palestine. According to Joshua 19:17-23, it was assigned to Issachar in the division of Canaan among the twelve tribes. In the 14th century BC the Israelites, under the leadership of Barak, defeated there the Canaanites commanded by Sisera. Again in the 13th century BC Esdraelon was the site of a great victory by Gideon over the Midianites, and the site of Saul's final defeat at the hands of the Philistines in the 11th century BC. Josiah defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt on the historic plain in the 7th century BC, according to 2 Kings 23:29-30. Other biblical traditions associated with Esdraelon include the cure of the ten lepers. Elijah is thought to have engaged in his famous contest of 'miracles' with the prophets of Baal on the W. border of Esdraelon.
"The armies of ancient Assyria and Egypt engaged in battle on the plain of Esdraelon on many occasions. In 1187, Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria, destroyed a fortress erected on Esdrealon by the Knights Templars. In 1799 Napoleon, with an army of 4000, defeated a numerically superior Mohammedan army on the plain."
(Universal Standard Encyclopedia)
"Esdraelon, Plain of, The plain has been a key transportation zone, and a battleground in many periods. It is important to the trade routes of Asia and Africa--giving access to the Mediterranean coast, northwest through the Kishon River Valley to Haifa and the Plain of Acre, and southwest through the Wadi-Arah Pass in the Carmel Ridge to the Plain of Sharon and Tel Aviv; and providing an eastward approach, between Mount Gilboa and Mount Moreh, to the Jordan River Valley.
"Megiddo, the ancient buried city overlooking the Wadi-Arah Pass, has been identified not only by tradition but by archaeological study as Har-Megiddon, the Armageddon of the Bible. There, within recorded history, Pharaoh Thutmose (Thothmes) III fought the Syrians (Battle of Megiddo) in 1479 BC; Lejjun, the Roman city Legio, was built; Napoleon routed the Turkish army in 1799; and Edmund Allenby defeated the Turks there in World War I."
(Collier's Encyclopedia)
For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land...Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.--Joel 3:1-16
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Strong's 3092 Jehoshaphat = "Jehovah has judged"
The valley of Jehoshaphat is not a particular place with that name, but is the "valley of the judged." It also corresponds to what happened to king Jehoshaphat when he and all of Judah sought the face of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 20:1-30 is a narrative of the defeat of Moab and Ammon (Jordan). Jehoshaphat proclaims a fast when he hears the multitudes are coming (they were forming an army around En-gedi which was known for its vineyards and Tekoa which was known for its oil--see harvest and winepress). The Lord answers: "Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out aginst them: for the LORD will be with you." And the Lord smote them all: "And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped." Judah gathered the booty for three days.
Taking both these things into consideration and looking ahead to end-times, the valley would be Megiddo where all the nations will be judged and defeated by Jesus.
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 Armageddon.--Revelation 16:12-16
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 [Jesus], 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.--Revelation 19:19,20
See also Elijah
See also Hamon-gog
See also Locusts
See also '...and the blood came out of the winepress...'