Armageddon

“Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets,” Amos 3:7.

The battle of Armageddon is the final battle of Satan against the saints of God.  It will take place at the end of the last age, and it will end with the return of the Lord.  At Armageddon, Satan will meet his final defeat.

Armageddon is not the name of the battle, but rather the location where it will take place, “And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon,” Rev 16:16. Armageddon is not a physical location, but a spiritual one, as the kingdom of Christ is not a physical kingdom, but a spiritual one, as Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here,” John 18:36.  The kingdom, the church of Christ, is not in one location on the earth, but in the midst of all nations, scattered throughout. This is key to understanding the subject at hand, for though the battle will take place on the earth, for that is where the saints are, the battlefield itself is spiritual in nature.

The Participants
The four key participants in the battle of Armageddon are the Lord, Satan, Israel, and Gog.  Israel is the church, and Gog the persecutor, the nations of the world (Rev. 20:8, “…the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog…”).

Before the Battle - Israel at Rest
“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it?  Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army,”’” Ezekiel 38:14-15.

Ezekiel tells us that Gog will find the people of God restored to the mountains of Israel, dwelling safely.  “My people Israel” is the church, for Ezekiel says of them, “they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely,” Ezekiel 38:8, and Paul writes of us,

“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord,” 2 Corinthians 6:17.

We have been restored to the mountains of Israel spiritually, for the church is the restoration of Israel; we have been brought out of the nations where we dwell, and dwell in the kingdom of Christ.

The Battle Begins - Satan is Released, Gog is Deceived
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.  But after these things he must be released for a little while,” Rev 20:1-3.

Satan was cast out of heaven at his defeat by the cross, and had only a short time before the beginning of the 1000 years, the period during which he is prevented from deceiving the nations.  At the end of the 1000 years, Satan is to be “released for a little while,” meaning he will be free to once again deceive the nations of the earth.  This signals the start of the battle,

“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.  They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city,” Rev. 20:7-9,

and again, the Lord says to Gog,

“Thus says the Lord God: ‘On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: You will say, “I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,”’” Eze. 38:10-11.

Satan will deceive Gog (the nations) in order for them to rise up against the church (but take heart, for this is according to the plan and determination of God, Zephaniah 3:8).

What does this mean, that the nations will be deceived?  To determine this, let’s look to a similar situation.

Rev. 12:12 proclaims, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea!  For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”  This short time began when Satan was cast out of heaven after his defeat by the cross, and continued until he was bound by the angel in Rev. 20, which started the 1000 years.  Verses 13-17 of chapter 12 go on to describe how during this period he persecuted the woman, and failing at that, he then turned his attention against the church. 

A very strong case can be made that this “short time” is the period of the Roman persecution of the early church.  During this time Satan was not bound; he could still deceive the nations, and without question, this persecution of the church was done by the state.  Satan tried to eradicate the church by turning Rome against it.  This “short time” ended when Constantine proclaimed Christianity the state religion of Rome, and the persecution ceased.  Since that time, the church has dwelt safely in the world.

Therefore, taking into account that the church is not in one location, but is within all nations, and that all things will continue as they currently are until the moment Christ returns (see below), it is very likely meant that in deceiving the nations Satan will turn the entirety of the world against the church, to attempt to destroy it; not in a war, as men view war, but by the same means he used against the early church - state persecution.

On a global scale.

Revelation 16:12-16 says,
“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.  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.

“‘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.”

The war will likely not be a physical one in the way that we think of ‘nation against nation’ war, (there is a physical component, of course; the persecution will be real), as the saints will not be in one physical location, but scattered to the “four winds,” Matt. 24:31.  It will be a spiritual battleground where the unrepentant world, deceived by Satan, will do battle with the saints.

In the midst of the description of the gathering for battle, the return of Christ is mentioned, “I am coming as a thief.”  Paul states, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night,” and Peter says, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…,” 1 Thessalonians 5:2 , 2Peter 3:10. By this we know this passage in Revelation is pointing to the end, and the saint is exhorted to be on the watch, for redemption is at the very door.

After the battle has gone on “a little while,” Rev. 20:3, Christ will return, and all will be brought to an end.

The State of the World When Christ Returns
As the day is today, so will be the day when the Lord returns,

“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be,” Matthew 24:37-40

“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.  For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth,” Luke 21:34-36

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…,” 2Peter 3:10.

These also point to the battle being a persecution, and not an “army against army” type of war.  The saint is warned not to be caught unexpectedly, which would be unlikely if an army were amassed against him.  And if the world were physically amassed against the saints somewhere, it’s mind would certainly be on that, and not on day to day affairs; but the world will be going about it’s day to day routines, for as 1 Thessalonians 5:3 states, “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them.”  As today where the world doesn’t pay much mind to the persecution of the church where it occurs, so it will be then.  To them it will just be another day.

The Return of Christ & the Reaping of the Saints
There will be, however, signs of the return of Christ,

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” Matt. 24:29-31.

“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near,” Luke 21:25-28.

Whether these signs appear on the day of his return, or over time preceding it (as seems to be the case from the passage from Luke), yet these things will not cause men to turn to God, nor will they repent of their works.  Nevertheless, they will be greatly troubled.

When the Lord appears, the saints must be gathered out of the world, in order that he may take his vengeance.  There will be angels that appear with him, and this is their task,

“And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other,” Matt. 24:31.

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words,” 1Thess. 4:15-18.

“Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left,” Matt. 24:40-41.

The Vengeance of Christ
As with Noah, when the destruction awaiting the earth patiently waited until he entered the ark, and with Lot, where the destruction was delayed until Lot left Sodom, so it will be at the end: when the saints have been gathered out of the earth, then,

“…it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2Thess. 1:6-9.

“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” Romans 12:19.

Conclusion
The battle of Armageddon is a great, final persecution of the church, likely after the same manner as the persecution of the early church by Rome; not army against army, but governments against the Lord’s people.  This will go on for “a little while,” Rev. 20:3, but when it is time, Jesus will return, gather the saved to himself, and reap vengeance on those who did not turn to God.  Then, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are.  And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever,” Rev. 20:10.  Then comes the judgment.

Zephaniah says,

“Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up for plunder;
My determination is to gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy,”  Zeph. 3:8 (cf. 2Peter 3:10-13).