By Fransisco Msonge (MD), 2025
Content.
- Introduction
- The Valley of Jehoshaphat
- The Battle of Armageddon
- Armageddon a symbolic name
- Gathering not geographical
- Uniting on common points
- Valley of decision
- Armageddon is soon to be fought.
- Drying up the Euphrates River
INTRODUCTION
Prophecy foreshadows a grand judgment scene at the end of time, where God will directly confront all the earth`s wicked. Come near, ye nations, to hear, for the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies. He hath delivered them to the slaughter, and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, for it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion” (Read Isaiah. 34:1-10).
This Old Testament prophecy portrays the overwhelming cataclysmic destruction of the assembled wicked by the Lord at His coming. The New Testament repeats this picture as the wicked are gathered against the Lord at the time of the sixth plague (Read Rev. 16:13-14). The kings of the earth and of the whole world are gathered at a place called Armageddon (Rev. 16:16).
With this biblical insight, the study and a proper biblical understanding of the term Armageddon and the battle of Armageddon is very important for our life and our salvation. This biblical background will help us understand more clearly the biblical concept of the closing events and the final gathering referred to in Revelation 16:14-16.
THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT
It’s a biblical place associated with final judgment and the battle of Armageddon. The Valley of Jehoshaphat is named after the Hebrew word yehoshafat, which means “God has judged” or “Jehovah has judged.
The Valley is Located between Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives, it was applied to the Kidron Valley, between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, for the first time by the Pilgrim of Bordeaux in 333. It was said and believed that the events of Judgment Day will take place here (Joel 3:12), and all nations will be judged.
The valley is also known as the “valley of decision” in Joel 3:14. It is also known as the “King’s Dale” in 2 Samuel 18:18. The valley is home to many tombs, including the tomb of Jehoshaphat, the tomb of Zechariah, and Absalom’s Pillar.
Joel 3: 2 (KJV)
“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”.
Joel 3:12 (KJV)
“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”.
Here at the valley of Jehoshaphat, God overthrew an alliance of enemies (Tyrians and Zidonians) against His people—the Israelites—and against Him (Joel 3:4, Joel 3:19). But it’s pivotal to note that the book of Joel 3 speaks more than its literal interpretation; the book presents the great picture of the final battle and judgment, when God would destroy all enemies of His people (Rev 14:12), of whom Tyre, Zidon, Ammonites, and Moabites, etc., were types.
THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
The battle of Armageddon is a worldwide final end-time religious battle between the rulers of evil, earthly kings, and all the earth’s wicked against God and His people. The battle takes place on the great day of God Almighty, where God will intervene, give out his judgment, fight for His people, and deliver them for eternal life while the wicked are punished to die eternal death.
Many Christians who are familiar with the book of Revelation and believe in it see the battle of Armageddon as a literal military conflict in the Middle East near the end of the world. However, the Bible gives a totally different picture. Scripture presents Armageddon as the ultimate climax—not between squabbling nations, but between the two sides of the cosmic controversy. It’s a religious struggle, not economic or political, however much economic and political factors might come into play.
The Armageddon passage (Rev. 16:12–16) describes the evil powers that constitute the end-time coalition that war against God. They include the dragon, beast, false prophet, unclean demonic spirits, and kings and inhabitants of the earth.
The first three powers may be described as the false trinity of the apocalypse. The details of their identity and character are fully portrayed as part of the central section of the book of Revelation (chapters 12 and 13). The dragon’s origin, character, and activities were introduced in Revelation 12:3–17 as the mastermind of all deception and evil (Rev. 12:9, 10), giving power and authority to the other beasts described in Revelation 13:2, 4, and 11.
The second power, described as the beast, refers to the sea beast of Revelation 13:1–10, and the third power, the false prophet, refers to the earth beast of Revelation 13:11–15. This trinity appears to act together for the first time as allies in the apocalypse in the Armageddon context (Rev. 16:13).
This coalition of evil powers gathers to make war against God by persecuting His people through an end-time global religio-political enforcement of anti-God law (Rev. 12:17; 13:7, 15–17). By so doing, they prepare for the eschatological battle of Armageddon.
The battle of Armageddon takes place on the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 16:13, 14, 16). This is a time when God intervenes and fights for His people who have been oppressed by evil powers. Thus, Armageddon must not be located in world events marked by terrorism or continual wars in the Middle East. The Scriptural understanding of Armageddon expects us to refrain from speculation but look forward to the ultimate triumph of God in the cosmic conflict between good and evil, between Christ and Satan.
Revelation 16:14-16 (KJV)
“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”.
The word “Armageddon” occurs only once in the Bible, at Revelation 16:16. Prophetically, Revelation shows that at “the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon,” “the kings of the entire inhabited earth” will be gathered “together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.”—Revelation 16:14. Jesus Christ will lead a heavenly army to victory over the enemies of God`s people. Just like what happed in 2Chronicle 20: 15-30.
Identifications of Armageddon: First, as a place, the Greek word for “place” in Revelation 16:14-16 is tópos: Tópos has both literal meaning and metaphorical meaning. Literally, it means “place,” “location,” “country, or “land.” Metaphorically, it could mean: “Opportunity,” “Power,” or “Mindset.”. Second, Joel calls this “place” (topos) the valley of Jehoshaphat. Third, Zechariah states that the nations will be gathered to Jerusalem, meaning that these nations will fight against God’s people. Metaphorical meanings give us a clear understanding of the battle of Armageddon soon to be fought at Jesus Christ’s second coming.
The word topos can also be used to convey the idea of “position” or “situation.” An illustration of this use of the Greek word topos is found in 1 Corinthians 14:16. Regardless of the translation we might choose, it is clear that the Greek word topos in this particular text refers to the position occupied or the situation under consideration.
Joel 3:1-2 (KJV)
“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”.
Zechariah 14: 1-3 (KJV)
“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle”.
ARMAGEDDON A SYMBOLIC NAME
The last development in the history of rebellious mankind is presented under the symbolic name of Armageddon. The meaning of the word, as evident in the variety of positions taken by scholars, is not conclusive, except that all of the possible derivations of the word point to the general meaning of gathering or assembling.
They do seem to agree that the word har, Hebrew for “mount” or “mountain,” is the source of the first syllable of Armageddon. The derivation of mageddon is uncertain.
We know the word “Armageddon” comes from two Hebrew words: Har, meaning “mountain,” and mageddon, meaning “Megido,” that is, Mount Megiddo. There is no Mount Megiddo in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. However, the Valley of Megiddo in Israel is located near Mount Carmel, where Elijah confronted the priests of Baal nearly 3,000 years ago.
Regardless of the inability to arrive at a single clear meaning for the word Armageddon, all attempts to explain it lead to one conclusion. They result in a connotation of gathering, assembling, or bringing together as the prime significance of the word. Thus the main emphasis of the text has to be the idea of assembling, gathering, and bringing together the kings of the earth against God.
GATHERING NOT GEOGRAPHICAL
The main activity pictured in this text (Reve 16: 14-16) is a gathering, assembling, uniting, or confederating of the kings or political powers of the earth to the battle of the great day of God. Armageddon is used here to symbolize the final acts in the great controversy, “the controversy of Zion,” in which Satan and the hosts of evil unite to fight against God by trying to destroy His remnant people.
The assembling of the kings of the earth is not necessarily a physical gathering of the armies of the world into one spot on earth. Further study reveals that this warfare against God is directed at His people, who are in all countries of the world, thus calling for a worldwide war rather than one that will conclude with a major battle in one particular geographical place.
The gathering of the kings of the earth and of the whole world must then transcend a simple physical gathering of armies into one battlefield. It must be the “climax of satanic planning for the unification of the world through a compact between the apostate religious organizations of earth, as represented by the harlot woman, and the political powers of earth, as represented by the beast.”
This gathering of the kings of the earth to war seems also to be described in Revelation 17:13-14, where the ten kings have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb. This statement literally reads: These have one purpose, that is, they shall give their capacity and authority to the beast. The nations of Earth here purpose to unite with the ‘beast’ in forcing the inhabitants of Earth to drink the ‘wine’ of Babylon, that is, to unite the world under her control and to obliterate all who refuse to cooperate.
The whole world will be united in one great evil harmony and purpose: to fight against God by destroying His remnant people. No wonder this gathering or uniting of the world is called Armageddon. God’s people are all gathered into His remnant, while the whole world is gathered or united against His remnant to destroy them. This is the gathering of the nations. This is Armageddon.
UNITING ON COMMON POINTS
Through the final events leading up to the close of probation, every human being will be led to choose on which of the two sides he or she will stand in the battle of Armageddon. As a prelude to this spiritual warfare, John sees three demonic spirits resembling frogs.
The dragon (paganism and spiritualism), the sea beast (Roman Catholicism), and the false prophet (apostate Protestantism) unite under Satan’s command (Rev. 13:11-12). Satan enables the lamblike beast to perform miraculous signs (Rev. 13:13-17) that include spiritualistic manifestations. These signs are part of Satan’s end-time deceptive strategy to persuade the world to follow him rather than the true God.
Blinded by their hatred of God and His truth, the leaders of the world readily believe Satan’s lies, which are cloaked in a pleasing religious guise (2 Thess. 2:9-12). Ultimately, they will unite in the final battle leading to the end of this world.
The actual steps taken in uniting the whole world under the domination of the Papacy are portrayed in Revelation 13. Here the two-horned beast, the United States, is the great agency that exercises all the power of the first beast, the Papacy. It causes the setting up of the image to the beast in the union with apostate Protestantism and the worldwide enforcement of its worship.
The outstanding aspect of the worship of the image will be the receiving of the mark of the beast (Sunday sacredness). The kings of the whole earth are brought to the point where they “have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb” (Rev. 17:13, 14). This is the uniting described in Revelation 16:14 as gathering “them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
All who do not have the spirit of truth will unite under the leadership of satanic agencies. Yet under one head, the papal power, the people will unite to oppose God in the person of His witnesses. Satan is also mustering his forces of evil, going forth ‘unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world’ to gather them under his banner, to be trained for ‘the battle of that great day of God Almighty.’
Can we not see that the gathering process has already begun? “The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we are now entering. The agencies which will unite against truth and righteousness in this contest are now actively at work.”
Sunday sacredness has been a common uniting point, but for now, we should consider the ecumenical movement, the uniting of the churches, the National and World councils, the search for points of common interest, and the minimization of differences as unifying factors. In all of these, the law of God and the Scriptures are set aside.
Undoubtedly, the most startling and ominous development in this uniting process is the phenomenon of the “tongues or Charismatic” movement, which has erupted from the original narrow confines of Pentecostalism to sweep across the boundaries of the mainline denominations and the Roman Catholic Church as well, bringing Protestants and Catholics together in unprecedented fellowship.
The increasing favor with which Rome is not only viewed but actually courted by Protestants is most significant, for this is the very direction that prophecy requires. Rome, under whose leadership the whole world is to be gathered under one head, has been silently coming into power. If the full extent of her influence and power in both Protestant and government circles in the United States and the world were known, we might well conclude that very little remains for the full development of the prophecy.
The devil is now actively uniting everyone on his side, under the umbrella of Christianity; most are uniting against God and His word. What is now taking place is clearly portrayed in these prophetic words: “The principalities and powers of earth are in bitter revolt against the God of heaven. They are filled with hatred against those who serve Him, and soon, very soon, will be fought the last great battle between good and evil.”
VALLEY OF DECISION
The Valley of Jehoshaphat is also known as the “valley of decision” in Joel 3:14; this background pictures, “The Battle of Armageddon, as “The Battle of the Mind”. Some Bible scholar uses the term “valley of decision” for an individual’s time of decision-making during this difficult time of conflict, because decision-making is important for our salvation, and Satan wants to prevent people from making correct biblical decisions.
Some souls that are in the valley of decision take their position in the ranks of the enemy and become enemies of God and the truth. Multitudes are in the valley of decision homiletically as a spiritual decision opportunity, and people have a chance to decide their eternal destiny. Valley of Decision is a mind-set battle.
The focus of Joel 3 is on the future Day of the Lord. This time will include a gathering of the nations (verse 2) and a judgment (verse 13). God will hand down His decision of judgment at the end of the great time of trouble. Wickedness will be dealt with decisively and justly. Praise the Lord for His promise to make all things right one day and to be “a refuge for his people” (Joel 3:16).
Immediately following the prophecy of judgment, Joel transitions to a description of the Lord’s millennial reign, a literal 1,000-year time period that follows the great time of trouble. During this time, Christ and the redeemed saints (Rev 20:6) will be in heaven, while Satan will be bound here on earth for a literal 1000 years. Yes, Revelation 20:1-6 describes a 1,000-year period when Satan is bound on Earth and the saved are in heaven with Jesus Christ.
Revelation 20:1-3 (KJV)
“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. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season”.
Revelation 20:6-7 (KJV)
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison”
ARMAGEDDON IS SOON TO BE FOUGHT.
We are in danger, as a people, of becoming assimilated to the world rather than to the image of Christ. We are now at the very final time of the world, but it is the purpose of the adversary of souls to lead us away and to put us far off the close of time. Satan will in every conceivable manner assail those who profess to be the commandment-keeping people of God and to be waiting for the second coming of our Saviour in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Satan is working “with all power and signs and lying wonders.” (2Thessa 2:9). For six thousand years that mastermind that once was highest among the angels of God has been wholly bent to the work of deception and ruin. And all the depths of satanic skill and subtlety acquired, all the cruelty developed, during these struggles of the ages, will be brought to bear against God’s people in the final conflict.
And in this time of peril, the followers of Christ are to bear to the world the warning of the Lord’s Second Advent, and a people are to be prepared to stand before Him at His coming, “without spot and blameless.” (2 Peter 3:14). The long-continued conflict between good and evil is on the verge of ending, and Jesus Christ is coming soon.
The coming of the Lord is nearer than when we first believed. The great controversy is nearing its end. Every report of calamity by sea or land is a testimony to the fact that the end of all things is at hand. Wars and rumors of wars declare it. The Lord is coming. We hear the footsteps of an approaching God, as He comes to punish the world for its iniquity. We are to prepare the way for Him by acting our part in getting a people ready for that great day.
All that was spoken in Matthew 24 and the entire Bible is happening now in this last generation of the earth. We are actually lucky to see and experience the fulfillment of the signs of the end.
We now have the environmental signs evidently around us; political signs (church and state) joining in action to support the man of sin agenda and world plans. Economical signs, moral signs—evidently by world moral decay such as (indiscipline, sexual issues, gender issues, abortion, drugs, etc.), spiritual signs (Protestants joining back to Babylon, false doctrine and worship, false miracles, and false prophets), and lastly, the mark of the beast (the Blue Law) is now in action to its fruition.
The present is a solemn, fearful time for the church. The angels are already girded, awaiting the mandate of God to pour their vials of wrath upon the world (Rev 16:1-21). Destroying angels are taking up the work of vengeance, for the Spirit of God is gradually withdrawing from the world. Satan is also mustering his forces of evil, going forth “unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world” to gather them under his banner, to be trained for “the battle of that great day of God Almighty,” the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. (Read Isaiah 34:1-10)
We are soon entering the little time of trouble and then the great time of trouble—described by the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.” (Rev 16:1-21). The great time of trouble is marked by the seventh bowl; immediately after the seventh bowl, Jesus Christ, Our Savior, appears in the cloud for our deliverance. We need to study the pouring out of the seventh bowl. With the cessation of Christ’s intercession in the heavenly sanctuary (Rev 15:8), the destiny of each individual is forever determined. The time has come for those who have spurned the gospel to experience God’s wrath in its fullness.
The expression “no one was able to enter into the temple” (Rev. 15:8) points to the close of probation (Rev. 22:11). As Christ’s mediatorial ministry in heaven comes to an end, the door of opportunity to repent closes forever. The seven last plagues will not bring anyone to repentance, but only disclose the hardness of the hearts of those who chose to side with Babylon, prompting them to hate God even more (Rev. 16:9, 11). The battle of Armageddon comes after God’s righteous judgment of both the dead and the living is done.
The seven last plagues are referred to as the “last” plagues because they come at the very end of earth’s history. On the other hand, the seven last plagues are poured out just prior to the Second Coming. They are poured out upon those who, like Pharaoh, hardened their hearts against God’s redeeming love and would not repent (Rev. 16:11). Divine wrath is God’s righteous judgment on the choices people have made (Rom. 1:26-28), and at that time the lost are reaping the consequences of their own choices.
DRYING UP THE EUPHRATES RIVER
Reading Revelation 16:12 along with Revelation 17:1 and 15. What does the symbol of the Euphrates stand for? What is the significance of the drying up of the Euphrates in the context of the seven last plagues? In the Old Testament, the Euphrates was a critical means of support for Israel’s enemies, Assyria and Babylon. The river flowed through Babylon and was important to the city because it nourished crops and provided water for people. Babylon could not survive without the Euphrates
Revelation 17:1 describes end-time Babylon as sitting upon many waters, perhaps a reference to the Euphrates (Jer. 51:12-13). Revelation 17:15 explains that the waters upon which end-time Babylon sits represent the people who support it: the worldwide civil, secular, and political powers behind the system. However, these powers eventually will retract their support.
The scene of the sixth plague reflects the capture of ancient Babylon by Cyrus the Persian (see Daniel 5). According to the ancient historian Herodotus, on the night that King Babylon Belshazzar and his officials had a feast, the Persians diverted the Euphrates and entered Babylon along the riverbed, taking the city by surprise.
The symbolic drying up of the Euphrates in Revelation 16:12 results in the collapse of Babylon in the end time. Because the Euphrates in Revelation represents the people: the world’s civil, secular, and political powers giving their support to Babylon, the drying up of the Euphrates symbolizes the withdrawal of their support and their subsequent attack against Babylon, thereby causing its downfall.
As the people of the world witness the upheaval in nature (Rev. 16:3-9), they turn to Babylon for protection. However, as the fifth plague (Rev 16: 10-11) strikes the seat of Babylon’s authority (Rev. 16:10-11), they see the futility of seeking help there. Feeling deceived, they turn against Babylon, causing her downfall (Rev. 17:16). Yet, as we have seen, their hearts remain hard against God and His people. As such, they become fertile soil for the final deception by which Satan will draw the world to unite against God’s people to wipe them off the face of the earth—the Sixth plague (Rev 16:12-16)
Revelation 16:12 tells us that the purpose of the drying up of the Euphrates is to prepare the way for “the kings from the east.” In the Old Testament, “the kings from the east” were Cyrus and his forces coming from the north, then approaching Babylon from the east (Isa. 41:25). Their conquest of Babylon made the return of God’s people to their homeland possible (Isa. 44:27-28). In the same way, the symbolic drying up of the Euphrates prepares the way for the coming of the kings from the east to provide deliverance to God’s end-time people.
The kings from the east in Revelation 16:12 are Christ and His army of heavenly angels. (Isa 41: 1-2, Eze 43: 1-2, and Rev 19: 13-15). At His second coming, Jesus will appear with His angelic host, “clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Rev. 19:14-15), which is the dress of sinless angels (Rev. 15:6). Accompanied by the host of heaven, Christ will, as Revelation 17:14 shows, overcome the satanic forces that oppress His people. This is the battle of Armageddon.
Isaiah 41:1-2 (KJV)
“Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow”.
Ezekiel 43:1-2 (KJV)
“Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory”
Revelation 19:13-15 (KJV)
“And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God”.
The seventh bowl is emptied into the atmosphere. A loud voice in heaven says, “It is done!” (Revelation 16:17). The seventh bowl results in flashes of lightning and an earthquake so severe that “no earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake” (verse 18). Jerusalem is split into three parts, and the cities of the world collapse (verse 19). Islands are flooded, and mountains disappear (verse 20). Giant hailstones, “each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people” (verse 21). Those under judgment “cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible” (verse 21).
The seventh plague is marked by the appearing of Jesus Christ and His army of heavenly angels in a cloud. One of the angels of the seven bowl judgments then shows John the fate of Babylon the Great (Revelation 17), as God avenges “the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth” (Rev 18:24). The world mourns the fall of Babylon (chapter 18), but heaven rejoices (chapter 19). Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, then returns and appears in glory to judge the wicked and deliver His people. This is the Battle of Armageddon. The Battle of Armageddon serves to reveal the justice of God’s judgments.
AMEN
