Armageddon
Armageddon [Grk. harmagedōn]. The term appears only once in Scripture, Revelation 16:16, as the location of the final battle of earth's history (Rev 16:14, 16).
The Linguistic Background. Harmagedōn is a compound word based on the Hebrew, so the most natural understanding of the Greek is "Mountain of Megiddo." Har is Hebrew for mountain. And while the Greek spelling of Megiddo (magedōn) differs from the Hebrew original (megiddo), it is identical to the Septuagint transliteration of Megiddo in Joshua 12:21 (ms A), Judges 1:27 (ms A), and 2 Chronicles 35:22. Another transliteration of Megiddo in the LXX even reflects the double "d" of the Hebrew (mageddon, 2 Kgs 9:27). Thus an allusion to Megiddo is the most probable linguistic explanation of the term "Armageddon." It is interesting, however, that the only place in the OT where the Hebrew adds a final "n" to Megiddo, Zechariah 12:11 (megiddon), the LXX does not transliterate, instead it translates "Valley of Megiddo" as "the valley of 'cutting down' or threshing" (ekkoptomenou).
The Ancient Background. The region of Megiddo was an ancient battleground. There the armies of Israel under Deborah and Barak defeated Sisera and his Canaanite army (Judg 5). Later, Megiddo was the scene of the fatal struggle between Josiah and Pharaoh Necho (2 Kgs 23:29-30; 2 Chr 35:22). This was such a memorable event in Israel's history that the mourning for Josiah was recalled a hundred years later (Zech 12:11). Thus, if the writer of Revelation was alluding to this ancient battleground, its significance for ancient Israel made it an appropriate background for his description of the final battle between the forces of good and evil.
The phrase "Mountain of Megiddo" is, however, problematic. While the OT knows of a city of Megiddo (Josh 17:11; Judg 1:27; 1 Kgs 4:12; 9:15; 2 Kgs 9:27; 23:29-30), a king of Meggido (Josh 12:21), a valley of Megiddo (2 Chr 35:22; Zech 12:11), and the waters of Megiddo (Judg 5:19), it knows of no "Mountain of Megiddo." So this concept requires interpretation (for a general history of interpretation see the article on "Armageddon" in the Anchor Bible Dictionary).
Seventh-day Adventist Interpretation. According to Mansell, from 1845 through 1857, Armageddon was regarded among Seventh-day Adventists as a spiritual battle. From 1857 to 1881, belief that Armageddon was a physical battle in northern Israel/Palestine gradually came to be the main view and that position dominated in Adventist thinking from 1881 to 1924. World War I and its battle of Megiddo (between the Turks and the British) was not considered the battle of Armageddon itself but was considered the preparation for Armageddon. Since 1924 beliefs about Armageddon have moved back in the direction of a spiritual battle, and that view has been the dominant one since 1972. Uriah Smith, the best-known Adventist author on Revelation, associated Armageddon with the "hills of Megiddo" (based on "Mount Megiddo") but had nothing more to say about it. He generally supported a literal Turkish view of the final battle.
In recent times, Seventh-day Adventist scholars have offered four main approaches to Armageddon as a spiritual battle. 1) Leona G. Running, following Roland Loasby (1950s), associated harmagedōn with the heavenly throne room. She suggested that the Greek gamma in magedōn is a transliteration, not of the Hebrew gimel but of the Hebrew ayin. Thus harmagedōn would be a corruption of the Hebrew har-moʿed, or "mountain of assembly," the heavenly court in which God's throne is located (Isa 14:13). Armageddon, in this view, is Babylon's final attempt to usurp the throne of God in its attack on end-time Jerusalem.
2) Hans LaRondelle associated harmagedōn with "Mountain of Destruction" (or "slaughter") based upon the LXX of Zechariah 12:11 (ekkoptomenou). The translators of the LXX apparently understood the Hebrew megiddon to be derived from the Hebrew root gdd, which means "to cut" or "to gash." Armageddon, in this perspective, would be a reference to the location where the wicked are destroyed at the end (cf. Joel 3:14).
3) Jacques Doukhan has understood harmagedōn as Jerusalem. Like LaRondelle he saw an allusion to Zechariah 12:11, but as a wordplay on the Hebrew rather than on the LXX. The Zechariah text places the final battle in Jerusalem, the mountain city, but also refers to the "valley" of Megiddo. In this view, harmagedōn combines the concepts of Jerusalem (har) and Megiddo (magedōn). Armageddon would then depict the final battle between the forces of Babylon and the people of God (cf. Dan 11:45; Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22).
4) William Shea (1980) has associated harmagedōn with Mount Carmel, the place where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal. This view is supported by the fact that the name Megiddo can be used to speak of something else in the geographical area. For example, the phrase "waters of Megiddo" (Judg 5:19) is a reference to the Kishon River. Since the city was located at the foot of the Carmel range, "mountain of Megiddo" could easily be a reference to Mount Carmel (1 Kgs 18:19-20; 2 Kgs 2:25; 4:25). It was on Mount Carmel that fire was called down from heaven to prove that Yahweh was the true God (cf. Rev 13:13-14). It was there that the false prophets were defeated (cf. Rev 16:13-16). If John was alluding to Elijah's experience on Mount Carmel, he understood the battle of Armageddon to be a spiritual conflict over worship (cf. Rev 13:4, 8, 12, 15; 14:7, 9, 11; cf. 16:14; 17:14) in which all would be brought to a fateful decision with permanent results.
Considering the wide variety of opinions, even among Adventist scholars, it is probably wise not to be dogmatic about the meaning of Armageddon in Revelation 16:16. But what all Seventh-day Adventist scholars seem to agree on is that the final battle is primarily a spiritual one. Both end-time Babylon and end-time Israel are interpreted in relation to the gospel (Rev 14:6).
Armageddon in Context. As part of the sixth bowl plague (Rev 16:12-16), the battle of Armageddon comes at a pivotal point in human history as portrayed in the book of Revelation. The three unclean spirits (Rev 16:13) are the demonic counterpart to the three angels of Revelation 14:6-11. The reference to the demonic trinity connects this passage also with chapters 13 and 19, where the same characters are at work. Revelation 16:15 makes clear that Armageddon is primarily a spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of the people of the world (cf. 2 Cor 10:3-5; Rev 3:18). The sixth bowl plague, however, is not the battle of Armageddon itself; it is the gathering of forces for the battle. The battle itself accomplishes the fall of Babylon, which is outlined in the seventh bowl plague (Rev 16:17-21), in 17:16, and in chapter 18.
References
Doukhan, Jacques. Secrets of Revelation: The Apocalypse Through Hebrew Eyes. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2002.
LaRondelle, H. K. Chariots of Salvation: The Biblical Drama of Armageddon. Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1987.
Mansell, Donald E. Adventists and Armageddon: Have We Misinterpreted Prophecy? Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 1999.
Paulien, Jon. "Armageddon." The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1992). 1:394-395.
________. Armageddon at the Door. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2008.
Loasby, Roland E. (abstracted by Leona Running). '"Har-Magedon' According to the Hebrew in the Setting of the Seven Last Plagues of Revelation 16." Andrews University Seminary Studies 27 (1989): 129-132.
Shea, W. H. "The Location and Significance of Armageddon in Revelation 16:16." Andrews University Seminary Studies 18 (1980): 157-162.
Smith, Uriah. Daniel and the Revelation. Battle Creek, MI: Review and Herald, 1897.
