Journey to Argmageddon

Please take out your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 16. Revelation chapter 16, we're focusing on one particular verse this morning, verse 16. But what I'd like to do is read that verse in context, so I'm going to start at verse 12. Revelation chapter 16 beginning at verse 12. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed. And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Lord God, your word is truth. Sanctify us. Make us holy by your truth. And teach us what this biblical word Armageddon means in its context so that we might know your comfort and your peace. And I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. When we drove into the parking lot this morning, I saw the sign in big letters, the journey to Armageddon. And I said, oh, I don't know if I want to go to church today. And then I remember, and I'm supposed to preach on Armageddon this morning. And Armageddon is often a scary word. We use it when we see threats of nuclear war and we say, is this leading to Armageddon? We use that word when we see natural disasters like the one we just experienced and we say, this is like Armageddon. What is Armageddon?

What do you think of when you hear the word Armageddon? The word Armageddon is found one time in the Bible. But once is enough to spur a myriad of books and videos and rhetoric by both Christians and unbelievers that depict Armageddon as a nuclear war, a nuclear holocaust between nations that is centered in Israel and will result in a complete and final destruction of the world as we know it. And it is for this reason that the word Armageddon naturally brings fear. I want to assure you today that the evidence for this understanding of Armageddon is overwhelming, but none of the evidence is found in the Bible.

All of the evidence for a future Armageddon of nuclear holocaust is found in the media, the newspapers, television, radio, end times books and videos, and in the opinions of men. And for that reason, the word Armageddon has lost its original meaning. The word Armageddon as it is used by man brings fear, but as it is used in Scripture, it is intended to bring comfort to the church. And so what I want to do this morning is bring back our biblical theology, our biblical vocabulary, and to understand what Armageddon means in the context of Scripture, to restore the biblical meaning of Armageddon by taking you on a journey down the road to Armageddon so that you can see its intended purpose in developing a theology of comfort for your soul by showing you three things. First, I want to show you who is intended to be comforted by the word Armageddon. Secondly, I want to show you who is intended not to be comforted by the word Armageddon. And thirdly, I want to show you how the Bible uses the word Armageddon to bring comfort to his church today.

So first, who is intended to be comforted by the word Armageddon? We can find the answer by looking at the recipients of the letter of Revelation. If you would turn to Revelation chapter 1, the letter is written to seven churches situated in Asia Minor, which is present-day Turkey, in the first century AD.

They are among all the Christians in Rome and around the world who are facing and will continue to endure great persecution because of their faith in Christ by the hand of the Roman government and the Jewish leaders who have rejected Jesus Christ. Now listen to how John begins his letter. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. And blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it for the time is near.

The intent of this whole letter is to bring blessing by bringing you comfort in knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus is revealing through his letter that he's going to bring decisive defeat to the enemies of the church in a way that will lead to the advancement of the church and the kingdom of God as the church is faithful to proclaim the gospel. And the assurance of that defeat is found in Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, that same Jesus who loved us and freed us from our sins by his blood shed on the cross. The nearness that John is speaking of when he says the time is near is the nearness of the judgment and wrath of God against the enemies of Christ in the first century who rejected the Lord as the Messiah and who were persecuting the church.

If you read through the book of Acts, almost every chapter, the ones who are persecuting the church are the Jews who have rejected the Messiah. And so John uses a word in Revelation 16 to bring comfort to the saints in the churches and that word is Armageddon. It is a combination of two words, Har meaning mountain and Megiddo which was a place in Israel where famous and decisive battles had taken place. It's like the same word that you might use, Waterloo.

It's about a battle that took place in the past but when you say he met his Waterloo, it means he met that same decisive defeat that Napoleon did in 1815. Megiddo is the place in Judges 4 and 5 where God defeated the Canaanites under the leadership of Deborah. It is the place where God defeated the Midianites in Judges 7 under the leadership of Gideon. It is the place where King Saul met his defeat at the hands of the Philistines after he had rebelled against God and sought to kill David because God had chosen David to replace Saul as king. It was the place where King Josiah who was faithful as the king of Judah to restore the kingdom to submission to God but at the end of his life was disobedient to God when he chose to fight against the Pharaoh of Egypt. So it says in 2 Chronicles 35, nevertheless Josiah did not turn away from him but disguised himself in order to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neko from the mouth of God but came to fight in the plain of Megiddo.

And the archers shot King Josiah and he died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. So we see that Megiddo is a place of decisive defeat of those who are disobedient and who reject the will of God. The Christians in the first century are being persecuted by those who have rejected Jesus Christ as the son of God. So the letter of Revelation is intended to bring comfort to the first century church by reminding them that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that he is on the throne. This same Jesus who was crucified has risen. He has ascended to heaven and he has conquered sin and death and he is the king of kings and lord of lords forever to whom belongs glory and honor and power who will defeat all his enemies for the sake of his church, his bride. Thus John writes in chapter 1 verse 7, Behold he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him even those who pierced him and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.

Even so, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega says the Lord God who is and who was and who is to come the almighty. This is how we need to approach the letter of Revelation because if we do that we recognize this is a word of comfort. I would argue that the battle of Armageddon referenced in Revelation 16 is a battle that took place in the first century which led to the destruction of the temple because think about it. Why was the temple still there? Because the Jews had rejected the Messiah and were still waiting for him to come. It led to the overthrow of the Jewish leaders and the advancement of the gospel and the growth of the church.

Not all Christians agree. Many Christians claim that Armageddon is still a future battle and I have to admit that that view leaves me often confused because you find yourself trying to make sense of the images that John saw in the first century and applying them to the 21st century and once you start going down that road you begin to lose all sight of reality as you convince yourself of bizarre things like how Lindsay does in his book Apocalypse Code where he says in describing the imagery in Revelation 9 he says something like crowns of gold most likely describes the elaborate helmets worn by helicopter pilots and their faces resembled human faces as John looked at the front of the helicopter. The face of the pilot appeared through the front window screen.

The appearance of something that looked like women's hair could describe the swirling propeller that looked like filmy hair. The term teeth probably describes the weaponry projecting from the chopper. There is a monster six barrel cannon suspended from the nose of most attack helicopters today and so he describes what's described in Revelation 9 as a helicopter that John's looking at and he's trying to make sense of it. Dr. Kim Riddlebarger, senior pastor of Christ Reform Church in Anaheim, California comments, this is exactly the kind of ridiculous speculation that has made the book of Revelation so utterly mysterious and practically useless to God's people. At that point Armageddon becomes focused on the battle itself rather than Christ Jesus who has already won the battle. He is already declaring victory before the battle begins because he has won that victory on the cross in his resurrection from the dead where he conquered sin and death.

Satan is already a defeated enemy by the time the battle of Armageddon begins. So the battle is not about whether Jesus will win or not, it's about the consequences of Christ's victory on the cross against those who have rejected him. So if we take our eyes off Jesus then the book of Revelation becomes a mysterious and a scary book that loses all connection to the reality of what is happening in the first century which is completely opposite of its original meaning and intent for the church then and the church today.

So let us keep our eyes on Jesus so that we can understand and receive the comfort that this letter is intended to bring. So regardless of whether the battle is past or future, it brings the defeat of the enemies of Jesus and thus the word Armageddon is a victory cry intended to bring comfort to the church, not fear. Secondly, who is intended not to be comforted by the word Armageddon? The wicked, the apostate, those who live their lives in disobedience to God and have rejected Jesus as Lord and Savior and who stand in opposition to the advancement of the church and the advancement of the kingdom of God.

They find no comfort in the word Armageddon because it means their decisive defeat, their destruction. Revelation 16 verse 5, we go back in our chapter that we're looking at, Revelation 16 verse 5. John says, I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments, for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink.

It is what they deserve. And I heard the altar saying, yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments. And then in verse 9, they were scorched by the fierce heat and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores.

They did not repent of their deeds. And then in verse 21, great hailstones, about 100 pounds each, fell from heaven on people and they cursed God for the plague of the hail because the plague was so severe. If that is you refusing to repent after God has demonstrated his love by sending his son to die for you, to take the punishment of your sins upon himself and to take the wrath of God and his judgment upon himself for your sake, if you have rejected him, then the word Armageddon should bring fear, not comfort. A fear not of nuclear war or the end of the world, but fear of God and his divine wrath against sin and certain eternal divine judgment on any who have rejected his beloved son, Jesus Christ as king.

As king and savior. Thirdly, how does the word Armageddon bring us comfort today? Revelation was not only intended to bring comfort to the church in the first century, but also to the church in the second century, in the third century, in the tenth century, in the fifteenth century, in the twenty-first century. Just as every letter and gospel and epistle in the New Testament is intended to do.

When we read the book of Ephesians, for instance, we are reading a letter that was written to the saints in Ephesus in the first century. But we can apply the teachings of God to his church today because we share that same fellowship with the same God who sent his son to give us salvation by grace through faith in him. Paul speaks of the Old Testament scriptures in this way when he says in Romans 15, For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. All of scripture is meant to comfort the church in every generation. And if you are a believer and you have repented of your sins and you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and you read the book of Revelation and it brings you fear, then you're not reading it as it was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Because the Holy Spirit who is called the Comforter inspired it for your comfort as children of God. John 14 says, I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, Helper, Advocate, a Counselor to be with you forever. Since no prophecy of scripture ever came from the will of men, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, then it follows that the book of Revelation along with all of scripture is not written to bring fear to the church but comfort. We have to keep this in mind as we read especially books like the book of Revelation.

Romans 8, you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Father. Armageddon is not about a great battle, it is about a great God. Kistemacher writes that Armageddon is a symbol by which God delivers his people from harm and demonstrates that he has the power and might to overthrow his enemies. This is why in Revelation 16, 14 John describes the assembling of the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle of Armageddon as the great day of God Almighty. Armageddon, whether it was a battle in the first century or a battle today or a battle in the future is the great day of God the Almighty who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God. What should be our response to the word Armageddon? Instead of leading you to immediately think of nuclear holocaust or the end of the world, follow the word where it was intended to lead you. A journey to Armageddon will ultimately lead you to the cross where Christ Jesus secured your victory over sin and death and received the blessing of the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. For without the shedding of that blood there is no forgiveness of sins and brings you into reconciliation and fellowship with the triune Godhead for all who have put their faith and trust in Jesus.

And where he secured the defeat of the devil and all who despised the cross and reject the salvation of God through Jesus Christ. And so the message today, the call today is to the unbeliever. You who do not believe do not fear Armageddon. Fear the God of Armageddon who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way. That's the message of Armageddon to the unbeliever. Let the word Armageddon lead you to the cross to receive the blessing of the shed blood of Jesus for your sins through confessing your sin, repenting of your sin that brings the wrath and punishment of God and turn to Jesus who delivers you from that death and condemnation and judgment. And to the believer the message of the word Armageddon is do not fear Armageddon. Find comfort in the God of Armageddon who defeated death and the power of sin and the dragon, the devil and all the enemies of Christ through his death and resurrection and marvel and sing of God's grace and love for you and his power to defeat all the enemies of the church throughout church history.

Until the coming of Christ when he gathers all of his saints of his people to the consummation of the victory that Christ has ultimately won for his saints on the cross. And find comfort in this God who says to your soul be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. Praise God, the God of Armageddon.

Let's pray. Lord God, thank you for this powerful word that speaks of a powerful God. A powerful God that loved us by dying on the cross for us. That we might be freed from condemnation of sin and death and be brought into light, be brought into fellowship with you.

Thank you that as believers we can certainly find comfort in this biblical word Armageddon and be reminded that yes, Lord, yes, you are a just God and you will bring condemnation and wrath against your enemies. We praise you and we find comfort in your power, your justice and your love. And for those who do not know you, Lord, we pray even more fervently that you will have mercy and show them their need of Christ. And the great love with which you have loved us and the great savior who died and has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven and is on the throne as king of kings and lord of lords. Lord of lords, draw them to you too and use us as your instrument, as a means of leading them to Christ through the preaching and the sharing of the gospel, the good news of salvation to all who believe. And I pray in Jesus' name, amen.