The key to Armageddon
Armageddon: a catastrophe that will destroy the world? No, because it is not a place. It is a concept. Want to know why? Read on!
The translation
The term Armageddon is mentioned once in the Bible, with the comment that it is a Hebrew term. The interlinear text does not give any further insight into the meaning. So let’s go step by step.
“Ar” means mountain in Hebrew. But which one? And there we have three possibilities and I think all of them are relevant:
- It can mean “mount of assembly” from a passage in Isaiah describing the fall of Babel. But the verse that precedes the reference to Babel as “fallen from heaven, O Day star, son of Dawn” is more descriptive of the powers behind Babel and may refer to Satan. The whole chapter is a mockery of the invincible who is completely destroyed.
- But it can also mean “Mountain of Megiddo”. This is a longer explanation because there are many events that happened at Megiddo and its mountain.
- And finally it can mean “mountain of slaughter”, which we will also look at.
Deborah and Jael
The first mention of a battle near Megiddo concerns the judges Deborah and Barak. You may know the story, but do you recall Jael and her role? Let us start at the beginning.
Israel was, as so often in the book of Judges, was under a foreign ruler who was oppressing them. And there the Deborah calls a certain judge named Barak to follow God’s promise and free Israel as God promised them to deliver them. But he is unsure and will only come if Deborah joins him which she does but already announces that he will not make the final strike against their army leader Sisera, but that this will be done by a woman. If you think this is Deborah, you are wrong, because this is where Jael comes in.
After Barak defeats the army, Sisera runs away and tries to find refuge as Heber’s house (since they were friends of Sisera’s king). But Heber‘s wife Jael took the opportunity to kill Sisera as he slept.
Elijah
The mountain near Megiddo is called Carmel. This is one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament describing the standing of one prophet of God against several hundred prophets of Baal.
As background: King Ahab of Israel with his wife Jezebel of Sidon (a kingdom north of Israel) introduced the cult of Baal, of god of fertility. One of his main duties is to bring rain (otherwise there will not be a good harvest). The new queen also hunts down the prophets of God so that only one seems to be left: Elijah. After his prophecy, the rain stops for 3.5 years and has its final showdown on Mount Carmel where he faces several hundred prophets and defeats them.
But the story is not over yet. The queen is angry and wants to kill him. Elijah gives up and wants to die but God calls him out to anoint Elisha and Jehu.
When Jehu, the commander of the army, was finally annointed, he destroyed the entire network of Jesebels that reached Judah. When Jehu followed the king of Judah, he shot him, and the king of Judah died in — guess what — Megiddo!
Josiah
There is a separate entry for this.A king gives his life fighting the king of Egypt who was on his way to help the Assyrians against the Babylonian Empire. Just a few notes:
- Assur was constantly oppressing Israel at this time and stopped because Babel was causing them trouble.
- Egypt was on the one hand the place where Israel came out of slavery, but was always the backup plan for Israel which usually disappointed Israel. It seems that Josiah was the first king of Israel to ever fight against Egypt.
Conclusion
Armageddon represents a paradox that we see throughout the New Testament, especially in the book of Revelation: The invincible is destroyed and the weak conquers.
- The place of death mocks the one who conquered all.
- A housewife defeats an army commander.
- A single prophet turns all Israel back to God and defeats hundreds of the evil queen’s prophets.
- A single commander overthrows his king and the neighboring king without preparation.
- A king of a tiny kingdom fights a world power, is defeated and killed, and thus secures the future of his people.