Armageddon is the final battle between God and Satan. This devotional reading look at what Revelation 16 has to say about it.
Nuggets
- The Euphrates was an important river.
- The kings of the east identify the opponents.
- Jesus will return without warning.
Armageddon can be a scarry word. A major battle – the last battle – is associated with it.
You would think that it would have a lot written about it.
Not so. Revelation 16: 16 is the only place where the location of the battle is given by name.
But God gives us more information than just that about the great battle. Zechariah 16 prophesied it.
Revelation 19 has some verses about the battle. We’ll wait to talk about those when we get there.
Let’s dig into this section of Chapter 16.
Program note: This devotion ran long. The discussion of the seventh bowl looks like it isn’t going to be much. I am going to save the connections until the next devotion.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in The Bowl series
Euphrates Dried Up
“The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 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” (Rev. 16: 12-16 ESV)
The Euphrates was an important river.
There are several mentions of the Euphrates River by name in God’s World. Usually, it is identified as a boundary for something.
- “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates” (Gen. 2: 10-14 ESV).
- “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates” (Gen. 15: 18 ESV)
- “From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory” (Josh. 1: 4 ESV).
- “Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates” (Deut. 1: 7 ESV).
- “And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals” (Isa. 11: 15 ESV).
Vaughan explained why these boundaries were important and what happens to it because of the sixth bowl. He wrote,
“The river Euphrates, the dividing stream (in old time) between Israel and Assyria, between Israel and Babylon — the dividing stream (in typical language) between the Israel of God and the foes of God, between the Church and the world, between the disciples of Jesus Christ and the opposing hosts and powers of evil — is dried up, by the outpouring of the sixth vial, that the last confederacy of infidelity and ungodliness may be tempted onward to its ruin.”
Resource
God’s angel is the one who dried up the Euphrates. He did it on God’s order.
Put that all together. The boundary between the Church and the world is now dried up. The world now has unimpeded access to the Church. God is the One Who ordered this access be given.
The scary part is that it doesn’t say that the angel crossed over the Euphrates. It doesn’t say the angel came to mankind’s aid.
Kings of the East
The kings of the east identify the opponents.
Ooo, baby. Can you imagine the glee that the kings of the east are going to experience riding toward God’s children? At this point, they are going to still think they are going to win. They will probably think there is no way they are going to lose.
But this is the battle that is going to decide the fate of everyone and everything.
We can’t gloss over the fact that the kings of the east used to be God’s angels. They chose to follow Satan rather than God, so now they are called demons.
Three Unclean Spirits
The three unclean spirits gather the opposing forces together to fight Sovereign God.
Vaughan wrote, “The three unclean spirits which gather the invading powers to the battle of the great day are said to issue from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet.”
Resource
In other words, Satan, the Antichrist, and the imitation Holy Spirit will gather the powers. That is going to be a horrifying sight.
- “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems” (Rev. 12: 3 ESV).
- “And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads” (Rev. 13: 1 ESV).
- “Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon” (Rev. 13: 11 ESV).
We have to remember that the first beast rising out of the sea is the composite of Daniel’s four beasts. That will cause it to induce fear in many.
They will be formidable opponents. They will have strength and versatility.
I loved Vaughan’s description of the second beast. It combined meekness with subtlety — and deception.
Come as a Thief
Jesus will return without warning.
Jesus told His disciples that He would come as a thief in His Second Coming. They told others.
- “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Mt. 24: 43-44 ESV).
- “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (II Pet. 3: 10 ESV).
- “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (I Thess. 5: 2 ESV).
When we least expect Him, Jesus’ Second Coming will occur.
But we can’t say that we don’t have warning. If we had no other book in God’s Word, Revelation is warning enough.
Look at this verse in Romans. “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off” (Rom. 11: 22 ESV).
We’ve talked about the duality of God. He is love, and He also has wrath. This verse said the same thing, only using kindness and severity.
The warning in the last part of the verse is loud and clear. We have to continue in His kindness – we have to be obedient. If we aren’t, we are a goat masquerading as a sheep.
Verse 15 talks about staying awake and keeping our clothes on so we are ready. If we keep diligent watch, we won’t be surprised when Jesus returns.
We have to focus on our spiritual condition rather than our physical condition. Only God can give us our clean spiritual condition – here referred to as garments – through salvation.
John had used that designation previously. We cover our nakedness by believing our sins are covered by Jesus’ blood. Because He covers our sins, we have white garments of righteousness.
Our job during this lifetime is to try to keep the garments clean. We do that by not sinning and repenting when we do.
We need to be like Nehemiah. “I also said to the people at that time, ‘Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.’ So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand” (Neh. 4: 22-23 ESV).
God wants us ready, waiting, and clean.
Assembled at Armageddon
The battle will take place here on earth at a place called Armageddon.
We’re given the Hebrew name of the location where the final battle will take place. It is called Armageddon.
Yes, the Day of the Lord is going to be about our spiritual condition, but we first must address our physical condition. We can’t access Heaven until the sin is eliminated.
That is why New Jerusalem — a new Heaven and a new earth — isn’t presented (Rev. 21) until Satan is cast into the fire (Rev. 20).
Vaughan made a great observation. The three unclean spirits did not choose the battle location. That was a God thing.
Look what the Old Testament passages said.
- “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Ezek. 9: 1-2 ESV).
- “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it” (Joel 3: 2-3 ESV).
Satan may think he is running the show, but really God is. God has a plan, and he is working His plan – using Satan to accomplish it.
Think this is a physical war? Think again. Look at what Vaughan said. He wrote,
“Even in that last suggestion, of the attractiveness to a later enemy of a battle-field fatal to Josiah, we have something to learn as to the fascinations of that lying spirit which alone can make any man a fighter against God. But we are reading of spiritual things: the field of that war is not local — any more than its [armor], whether of [defense] or attack, is carnal. Nay, the place itself is varied in various predictions. St. Jehu points us to the valley of Esdraelon and the hill of Megiddo; Joel makes the place of “decision” the valley of Jehoshaphat; and Zechariah gathers all nations against Jerusalem, speaks of a siege and capture of Jerusalem, and sets the feet of the Divine Deliverer upon the Mount of Olives before Jerusalem eastward. Such varieties should guard us against all temptations to limit or [localize] where the matter itself spoken of is not carnal but spiritual.”
Resource
In other words, don’t google Armageddon on Google Maps.
The place isn’t important. The battle is.
How Do We Apply This?
- Choose which side you are going to be on: God’s or Satan’s.
- Understand you are picking your side even now.
- Work and watch for Christ.
- Put on Christ and God’s armor to secure justification, sanctification, and grace.
- Keep our garments clean.
- Keep our clothes on so we are ready for His return.
- Keep watch so we don’t commit old sins.
Resources
Father God. We know little about what will really happen at Armageddon. What we do now is that You will win. We watch for that day. Amen.
What do you think?
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