Prophecy Section Edited by Charles L. Feinberg, Th.D. Ph.D. Dean, Talbot Theological Seminary
ARMAGEDDON
by Edgar C. James, Th.D.
ever, the word that is used in this passage means much more than this. It really refers to a whole armed conflict, a war, or a campaign. In other words, it is not one isolated event that the Great Day of God Almighty encompasses, but rather a whole series of battles. John is describing here an entire military campaign, embodying many battle fields o f Palestine, which will eventually culminate at the battlefield o f Armageddon. This necessarily means that such a campaign will take more than a few days or months but rather a couple of years or perhaps the entire last half of the coming tribu lation period. The long time involved for this war is also sup ported from the context of the Book of Revelation. Most Bible students recognize that the judgments of Revelation are presented in three series of seven judgments each. The first series is the seal judg ments in chapter 6; the second is the trumpet judg ments in chapters 8 and 9; and the third is the vial or bowl judgments in chapter 16. However, there is an important fact about each of these series as presented in the Book of Revelation. Between the sixth and seventh judgments of each of these series, the Apostle John presents some material that does not concern any of the judgments. This parentheti cal material does not extend just during the period between the sixth and seventh judgments but rather may extend for a much longer period of time. For instance, between the sixth and seventh seal judgments, the apostle presents the 144,000 sealed Jewish witnesses and the vast multitude that are saved during the tribulation period (chap ter 7). Between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgments, the apostle gives the material of chap ter 10 and the ministry of the two witnesses of chapter 11. This, of course, must occupy at least 42 months (11:3) while the time between these two judgments is evidently much less. Between the sixth and seventh bowl judgments, the Apostle John presents more parenthetical material, this time that of the campaign o f the Great Day of God Almighty (16:13-16). Just as the other parentheti-
W HENEVER THE MERE WORD ARMAGEDDON is mentioned, fear and terror are stricken into the hearts of men. We always associate Armaged don with that mighty war to end all wars, that great world-wide conflict which will spill blood as deep as rivers. Military and political as well as reli gious men use this word to describe the worst world catastrophe that will ever come upon the face of this earth. Moreover, today a new significance is added to this word. As with the start of any global war, peo ple ask if such a war might be Armageddon, so it is with the present war in Vietnam. Although President Johnson has forcefully announced he does not want Vietnam to turn into an Armaged don, people are asking if this could be the begin ning of such a world conflict. Will Armageddon begin with such a war as we presently have in Viet nam? It is always important to remember that in order for us to understand rightly today’s prophetic events, we should first go to the authoritative Word of God and then see if present world situations fit God’s picture. What, then, is Armageddon and when will it be fought? The word Armageddon occurs but one time in all of Scripture and that is in Revelation 16:16. Since there are many misconceptions about what Armageddon is, we need to see clearly what this passage says. Here it is stated that Armageddon is a place rather than a battle — a place where God gathers the nations to fight against themselves and then against Him. This whole war, however, is called the “Great Day o f God Almighty” (16:14). In other words, this is going to be a time when God will bring great judgment upon this earth. He will show the unsaved that even in their deepest need they will not turn to Him. He will allow Satan to run his course and then once and for all commit him to his eternal punishment. Another misconcep tion in this passage concerns the word battle. There are two words in the original language that could be translated battle, the first one denoting an isolated battle or an isolated one-time conflict. How
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DECEMBER, 1966
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