Basic HTML Version
Just What DoYou
Mean...
'~RMAGEDDON''?
by
Keith W. Stump
Few understand the
real
meaning of this much-misused biblical term.
''I
TURN
back to you r ancient
prophets in t he Old Testa–
ment and the signs fore-
telling Armageddon,"
confided P resident Ronald
Reagan to an American Jew–
ish leader in the autumn of
1983, "and
1
find myself won–
dering if we' re the generation
that's going to see that come
about."
On nearly a dozen occasions,
Ronald Reagan has suggested
that " Armageddon" is com–
ing-and possibly soon.
His references to Armageddon
have received widespread attention
and have aroused concern among
sorne that Mr. Reagan might view
a nuclear war with the Soviet
Union as
inevitable.
They imply he
might not take sufficient steps to
prevent a superpower confronta–
tion. In response, President Reagan
has stated that his belief in Arma–
geddon would never keep him from
seeking world peace.
But is Armageddon a superpow–
er confrontation? Is a war between
the United States and the Soviet
Union prophesied in the Bible?
Statesmen, scientists and gener–
als have long warned of the dire
prospects of a "nuclear Armaged–
don" that could annihilate mankind
from the face of the earth.
Many believed that World War
1-and later World War 11- would
end with Armageddon. Sorne today
bel ieve that Armageddon will be
June 1985
the last battlé between the demo–
crat ic West and communist East.
But d id you know that
nowhere
in the BiblO-from Genesis to Rev–
elation- is there any mention of a
future "battle of Armageddon"?
The Bible, of course, does reveal
a great military confrontation to
occur at the end of this age.
But it is not caJled the battle of
Armageddon!
Hebrew tongue Armageddon."
We see here that Armageddon is
described in the Bible as a
place,
not an event. It is a place where
armies
gather.
But notice that
there is no mention of Armageddon
being a battlefield, an actual scene
of fighting.
Where is this place called Arma–
geddon?
The word
Armageddon
is a
Aerial view of extensive excavations at Megiddo, strategic military city of ancient
t imes.
The Hill
of
Meglddo
The word
Armageddon
is found
only once in aJl the Bible- in Reve–
lation 16:16. That scripture reads:
"And he gathered them [the
kings of the ear th a nd their
armies-see preceding verses] to–
gether into a place called in the
Greek form of the Hebrew name
Har Megiddon.
It means "hill (or
mountain) of Megiddo." Megiddo
is an ancient town of Palestine. lt is
in the modero state of Israel on the
southern rim of the large flat
expanse of the plain of Esdraelon
(also called the valley of J ezreel in
Scripture). Megiddo lies about 55
33