What is the Battle of Armageddon?

The battle of Armageddon refers to earth’s final battle. But who is really involved in this battle? Please note that the information provided here is extremely brief. So for a very detailed document on this topic please read what is the Battle of Armageddon.

The actual word “Armageddon” occurs only once in the entire Bible and is found in Revelation 16:16 that says, “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”

So who is in this great battle? We do not have to guess as we find the Bible tells us who the enemy is firstly in Revelation 16:13, which says it is made up of the “dragon” the “beast” and the “false prophet.” And secondly, Revelation 16:14 says the “spirits of devils,” and last, Revelation 16:19 adds the “great Babylon,” which finally drinks “the wine of the fierceness of God’s wrath.” Hence the enemy that gets destroyed at Armageddon is the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, the spirits of devils and the great Babylon.

And Revelation 16:14-15 says the good guys are “God Almighty” Jesus Christ and those who “watch and keep their garments” which means the wearing righteousness of Christ, which He gives to those who repent and trust in His grace. (See Revelation 7:9). Revelation 16:15 says it this group that will survive this mighty end time battle.

Revelation 16:14 says those gathered at Armageddon are “the kings of the earth and of the whole world” and not just those in the Middle East. When this great battle begins, God’s voice is heard from “the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’” Revelation 16:17. So the focus in Revelation 16 is the Heavenly temple and not a rebuilt temple on earth. So what else happens during the battle of Armageddon? A huge earthquake shakes the planet (Revelation 16:18), “the cities of the nations” crumble (Revelation 16:19), “and every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” Revelation 16:20. So this great battle is not local but involves the entire planet.

And what about the drying up of “the great river Euphrates.” (Revelation 16:12) “The great river Euphrates” is mentioned right before “the beast” [a kingdom] and the “dragon” [Satan] and since these words are symbolic, could this river be symbolic also? Scripture reveals this to definitely be the case!

Revelation 16:12 speaks not only of the “great river Euphrates” but verse 19 speaks also of the “great Babylon,” which is described in Revelation 17 as a harlot riding a beast. This is clearly symbolic. There will be no literal prostitute riding a scarlet colored beast that will be reported on the news all over the world. And note most significantly that Revelation 17:1 says this whore [great Babylon] also “sits upon many waters.”

Now history shows that ancient Babylon also sat upon water as it was built over the Euphrates river. And looking at Old Testament history depicts a larger “Mystery Babylon” (Revelation 17:5) that is also seated upon “many waters.” So what is the relevance of all this?

The angelic interpreter explains, “The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” Revelation 17:15. So according to the angel, “the waters” flowing beneath this Harlot represents people from around the entire world who support mystery Babylon the great mother of harlots. We are also told that these waters will be “dried up.” Why? Because the sixth angel pours out the wrath of God upon these waters! In other words, right before the Battle of Armageddon, God’s judgment will come upon all the people who supported Babylon’s deceptions instead of the truth of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. This is what prepares the way “for the kings of the east” as described in Revelation 16:12.

Now note that King Cyrus, who God called “My shepherd” (Isaiah 44:28) also came and attacked from “the east” (see Isaiah 46:11) and dried up the river Euphrates by blocking of the river upstream, (Isaiah 44:27) which enabled Cyrus to conquer Babylon (See also Daniel 5) and free Israel from captivity (See also Ezra 1). So we had literal Babylon that sat upon the river Euphrates and was conquered by drying up the water and we have spiritual Babylon that is also conquered by the drying up of the water but in this case we are told the water represents all the people who supported this end time power that God also calls Babylon because of all the pagan customs that she took on, and some were in place of the very law of God and why the relevance.

So this very same history is found in Revelation as a type of the apocalyptic moment when our Lord descends from “the east” (see Matthew 24:27) to rescue those who are wearing white robes at Armageddon being those who belong to Christ and keep His Commandments!

Hence the Battle of Armageddon is not some Middle East showdown against the Jews. This is not supported by Revelation 16 anywhere, which is the only place in scripture where the word “Armageddon” is used. This end time Battle is not some military conflict near Tel Aviv but scripture reveals that it is worldwide conflict that involves people all over planet Earth. It is essentially Satan's entire Babylonian system that represents all the false religions (they took on one pagan practice especially from literal Babylon that involved sun worship that affected God's law) that gets smashed when not king Cyrus that came from the east, but this time by King Jesus that also comes from the east with His heavenly army. See also who is the antichrist for detailed information that reveals the truth on antichrist from the Bible and history. And for the origin of that mysterious number of the beast, see the origin of 666 the number of the beast.