Armageddon

2006-7-19 05:24:00

Let us take another look at the last verse under consideration:

"For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." (Revelation 16:14)

Deceptive authorities influence the leaders of the earth "to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

The orthodox interpretation here is that evil spirits will gather the armies of the world who are going to attempt to defeat God himself. In "the battle of that great day of God Almighty," all evil doers will be destroyed by fire from God.

What is the great day of God Almighty and what is the battle? A hint is given in the next verse.

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Revelation 16:15)

This is a direct quote from the voice of Christ announcing he will come as a thief. Paul said something similar:

"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." (1 Thessalonians 5:2)

A thief in the night comes quietly and does not want to be detected. No one knows he robbed their place until the next morning when he is gone.

Most people see the day of the lord as an event where a great appearance by Jesus in the sky will take place that the whole world will see. Instead of appearing quietly as a thief he is expected to appear with great fanfare and destroy the wicked.

So if this is describing the great gathering for Armageddon, why does Christ say he comes as a thief? The answer is because that is exactly what will happen.

When the day comes that the disciples issue forth words of light that dispel the illusion of the deceptive spirits then Christ will come quietly on several fronts. Within the hearts and minds of the disciples the consciousness of Christ will burn with great inner radiance and power. But he will come also in another way. When the people can no longer hold to the deceptive illusion of the past they are forced to see the truth demonstrated before their eyes that will plant in them the seeds of the Christ consciousness which will eventually grow to maturity.

Many of those who fight the truth of the soul will be stolen and taken away by the spirit of Christ and removed from their illusions.

Next we have one of the most talked about verses in the Bible:

"And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." (Revelation 16:16)

It is interesting that all have heard of the great last battle at Armageddon. Therefore it is of interest to note that the scripture just ends here. No battle is described.

What then really happens at Armageddon?

It helps to take a look at the word. Although the Book of Revelation was written in Greek, John uses a Hebrew word with no Greek equivalent. It is written two ways on the various scrolls. The first is the popular Armageddon but this word is believed to be a corruption of the Hebrew HAR-MEGIDDO which means the "mountain of Megiddo."

Now this is mysterious because Megiddo is a great plain and has no hills or mountains. How then can the leaders of the world with their followers gather to the mountain of Har-Megiddo?

It can happen because John was speaking symbolically and not literally.

Megiddo is a location of numerous great battles in the past where the wicked were slaughtered.

What does this tell us then about the meaning of the gathering to Armageddon?

First we need to realize that a mountain is a symbol of higher consciousness. When the disciples of the Master do their job and dispel illusion the leaders of the world will fight against it but will eventually yield and themselves be lifted up to a higher state of consciousness.

Let's first give an example of how this has worked in the past. Until a few hundred years ago most of the leaders of the world owned slaves and believed in slavery as an institution. Then eventually the world was confronted with the truth about the equality of humanity. The leaders and their counselors resisted and fought against change as if they were in the great last battle of Armageddon. Eventually the mountain of higher consciousness won out and now the leaders of the world are against slavery and are willing to fight against it instead of to preserve it.

At the present time many of the leaders are against world peace and prefer their own selfish interests instead. But a new Armageddon is on the horizon and the day is not far off until the Prince of Peace arises in their hearts and swords will be turned to plowshares as peace is diligently sought and embraced.

May such a day come soon.

Here are the next verses to consider:

¹⁷ "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

¹⁸ "And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

¹⁹ "And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

²⁰ "And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

²¹ "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

(Revelation 16:17-21)

Global Warming Enlightenment

"In a separate report, the Pew Center for Global Climate Change notes that the nation with the lowest carbon-intensity (the ratio of carbon emissions to GDP) is France, 'owing to its heavy reliance on nuclear power.' Environmental correctness still prevents a serious discussion of expanding nuclear power in the United States as a means to reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

(Index of Leading Environmental Indicators 2005)