Armageddon: Revelation 16

Armageddon is one of those those words, that everybody thinks they understand. People think it describes a final battle. While it is true that the chronological placement of it, in this case, is at the end of time, the word more accurately describes a place, the valley of Megiddo, which is outside Jerusalem.

Or how about the view that Armageddon would be a battle between the West and the East; Capitalism and Communism; Europe/America and the Middle East; Everybody against Israel? This suggests a political, and not a spiritual, component to the final conflict. Hollywood can produce movies called "Armageddon," that are based on an alien attack, or nuclear disaster, but they will miss the fact that Armageddon is, simply put, the last stand of God's enemies. They all come together, anyone that has resisted God, from Cain, to Esau, to Pharaoh, to Goliath, to Saul, to Ahab, to Jezebel, to Herod, to the Scribes and Pharisees, to Rome in its many forms.

God throws a bunch of plagues on the earth, as He did against Pharaoh. But incredibly, people grow even more defiant against God. Rather than repent, they curse Him even more. The sinner is determined to stay lost and dead.

During all this time, God's people are safe in His care.

God is still giving them space, and time, to repent. He could kill them outright. But the plagues demonstrate His power. As fierce as it gets, still they do not turn around.

. . . and the people cursed and swore at God for this plague, saying, "This is a terrible plague, indeed."

The world has seen many travesties in its history, more than could be listed. But this is as bad as it gets. God's clean-up operation gives people a chance to repent, but they don't. It is sufficient to destroy everything that has ever opposed God. It is like Nature itself, finally rebelling against humanity. We, and all of creation, were made with the ability to fight off disease and imperfection. The healing process brings forth an uncomfortable condition that we call "symptoms." This could be what is happening right now, in Revelation 16.