They are the same event, which occurs at the Second Coming of Christ.
Gog of Magog - Here a little, there a little - Prophecy
.
If that is true, and 1st century Jerusalem is symbolizing that great City in Revelation 18,
what would that mean?
This should interest Preterists...........
Armageddon: Past of Future?
By John Noē
John Noe Study Archive | The Only Defense in the Major Case Against Christ, Christianity, and the Bible. | Armageddon: Past or Future? | Restoring the Kingdom-of-God Worldview to the Church and the World | 12 Most Common Mistakes People Make About Bible Prophecy and the Endtimes | 7 Demanding Evidences Why Christ Returned As and When He Said He Would | What About Paul's Man of Sin? | Are the End Times Behind Us? | The Millennial Book Awards
Are Millions Being Misled, Again?
Armageddon is coming April 8th! According to proponents, that’s the publicized date when it will be “unleashing everywhere” and “no one will escape!” The only question now being asked by a multi-media promotional campaign is, “Are you prepared for Armageddon?”
Fortunately, this alarming announcement is not about a future USA vs. Iraqi conflict or for the real so-called final “battle of Armageddon” at the supposed end of the world. I am speaking of
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ tenth and latest blockbuster title in their wildly popular
Left Behind series. It is provocatively titled
Armageddon.
Even though this is another work of fiction, LaHaye contends that his works of fiction are conduits of “God’s end-times truths.” There is no question that he is seriously committed to equipping “Christians with the prophetic knowledge that God expects His children to have.”1 The
Left Behind series has proven to be the best vehicle to achieve his goal. Its 50,000,000 books sold-to-date are designed to reach people in a way his “non-fiction” books can not. And, they are doing just that—literally influencing and convincing multiple millions toward his view.
Unfortunately, his books are based upon an eschatological view that is not held by many Christians, and for good reasons. A case in point is this latest book. Below are ten biblical reasons why the theology behind
Armageddon’s story line is
biblically flawed.
1. The name of the battle is NOT “Armageddon” or “the battle of Armageddon.” It’s “the battle on the great day of God Almighty” (
Rev. 16:14). Armageddon is the location of this battle. Big difference!
2. The location is NOT in Israel’s largest valley, 50 miles north of Jerusalem, as is commonly thought. Yet this 20-mile long and 14-mile wide valley (presently known as the Valley of Jezreel or the Plain of Megiddo) remains one of the popular stops on most tours of Israel. According to Scripture, the location of this battle “in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon/Megiddo” (
Rev. 16:16). But “har” is the Hebrew word for mountain. A mountain is the exact opposite in meaning from a valley.2Since in Hebrew the ‘h’ is silent, the Greek rending became “Armageddon.”
3. This battle is part of the whole prophecy of the book of Revelation. According to Revelation itself, its whole prophecy were things that “would shortly take place” (
Rev. 1:1;
22:6), were “at hand” (
Rev. 1:3;
22:10), and were obeyable, heedable, keepable (
Rev. 1:3;
22:7) in the lives of this book’s original recipients in that 1st Century time frame.
4. Likewise, the whole of this prophecy was not to be sealed up (
Rev. 22:10). But LaHaye and Jenkins have, in essence, sealed it up for over nineteen centuries and counting via their postponement interpretation. Now, however, they want to unseal it by claiming that these events will finally and soon occur in our day and time.
5. A strong case can be made that the book of Revelation was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70.3
6. Har-Magedon/Megiddo, where this great end-time battle takes place, is a composite name and, most likely, symbolic. It is contained in a book filled with signs and symbols. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to conclude that it, too, is symbolic of a real battle. BAGD rightly recognizes that “Armageddon is a mystic place-name” and “has been identified with Megiddo and Jerusalem.” Yet they lament that “its interpretation is beset with difficulties that have not yet been surmounted.” 4 Or, have they? Read on.
7. The most likely case is that Revelation’s “Har” is Jerusalem. Geographically, Jerusalem sits on top of a mountain. To get there from any direction one must go “up to Jerusalem” (
2 Sam. 19:34;
1 Ki. 12:28;
2 Ki. 18:17;
2 Chron. 2:16;
Ezra 1:3;
7:7;
Zech. 14:17;
Matt. 20:17,
18;
Mark 10:32,
33;
Luke 18:31;
19:28;
John 2:13;
5:1;
Acts 11:2;
15:2;
21:12,
15;
24:11;
25:9;
Gal. 1:17,
18). Jerusalem is also called God’s “holy mountain” (
Psa. 43:3) and the “chief among the mountains” (
Isa. 2:2-3; also 14:13;
Exod. 15:17;
Joel 2:32;
3:16-17).
8. Based on other Scriptures, one can also make a case for “Magedon/Megiddo” pointing to Jerusalem. During the time of Jesus and Revelation’s subsequent writing, large crowds of devout Jews would gather three times a year to celebrate their religious feasts in this central city. Other related Hebrew terms support this identification:
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Some Fundamentalists Ache for Armageddon
The discussion in this book of the alliance between Christian and Jewish fundamentalists – whose theological differences have been shelved for the political goal of strengthening Israel – is instructive, Jews in Israel and the U.S., it seems, do not realize that the Christian fundamentalists urge such a policy
because they believe it will usher in the Battle of Armageddon and the end of the world – not because they are concerned with Israel’s long-run security.
