Announcer: Today on Let
the Bible Speak - Some tell us the
battle of Armageddon is about to take place. But what is this battle? We'll let the Bible speak next. From the churches of Christ Let the Bible Speakf Christ Let the Bible Speak with Kevin Presley ♪ Intro Music ♪ Few subjects in modern
religious discussion have generated as much
interest and speculation or sold as many books as
the battle of Armageddon. We're told that the events now
unfolding on the world stage involving nations like
Israel, Iran, and Russia, are all pointing to end times, and that the so-called
rapture of the church is about to take place. And within seven
years of that time, massive armies will
converge in the holy land at a site called Megiddo
where a bloody holocaust will take place ushering
in a 1,000 year reign of King Jesus upon this earth
from the city of Jerusalem. Where does that
doctrine come from? Does the Bible teach that
there will be a carnal conflict called the battle of Armageddon? Proponents of the theory
point to Revelation chapter 16 as teaching this looming
conflict of the ages. Let's read the text beginning
in Revelation 16 and verse 12. Here John writes, the sixth
angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates and the water
thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of
the East might be prepared. And I saw three unclean
spirits like frogs come out of the
mouth of the dragon, and out of the
mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth
of the false prophet, 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. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth
and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and
they see his shame. And he gathered them
together into a place called in the Hebrew
tongue, Armageddon. Well, what is John seeing in
this part of the revelation? What is the battle
of Armageddon? We'll study it
together in a moment. - The Psalmist said,
"Through Thy precepts, "I get understanding." The Bible is the
revelation of God to man and you simply can't live for
God until you know something about the Word of God and you may say,
"Well, I want to read "and study the Bible, but I
don't know where to begin. "I feel overwhelmed" or "I
don't understand the Bible." I want to offer
you a wonderful way to get acquainted
with the scriptures. You'll learn about
some of the most basic and foundational
teachings of God's Word and you'll get a better
handle on how to read and approach and study
the Bible as a whole. Won't you get in
touch with us today and ask to be enrolled in the
Bible Correspondence Course. It won't cost you a penny
and we'll mail the lessons to your home and you take
your time to read and study through the lessons, I think you'll be surprised
how much you'll learn. - [Voiceover] Want to
see today's study again? Watch Let the Bible
Speak any time. Even on the go. On your computer,
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Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. What does the Bible teach
about the battle of Armageddon? For all of the emphasis
that has been put upon it, ironically, the word
Armageddon is used only one time in the
Greek New Testament, and that is in the passage
that we read a few moments ago in Revelation 16 and verse 16. It says and he gathered
them together into a place called, in the Hebrew
tongue, Armageddon. That's the only time the word
is used in the New Testament. But entire books
have been written and countless theological
theories have been propounded upon this one verse in
the Bible essentially. In the Hebrew it is
called Harmageddon, which means literally the
hill or mount of Megiddo. It's a reference to
a famous battleground in ancient northern Israel
near the Jezreel valley. It's a little bit southwest
of the Sea of Galilee, about halfway between
it and Caesarea, which is on the coast of
the Mediterranean Sea. And it's actually not
a mountain at all, but rather a plain that
is about 20 miles long by almost 15 miles wide. Now, there's several
notable battles that took place there
during Old Testament times. And it's very significant
for us to remember that. For example, it is where
Jabin and the kings of Canaan were overthrown by
Deborah and Barak according to Judges
chapters four and five. You may recall how God
put together an army of 300 men for Gideon
to fight against over 100,000 Midianites
in Judges chapter six. Well that famous battle
took place here in Megiddo. And it remains a famous battle
in the history of Israel even in our minds today. Saul went up against
the Philistines here and was defeated according to First Samuel chapter
31 and verse eight. And there were other
very notable battles that took place here as well. So not only was Armageddon
well-known among the Jews, it was particularly known
for the decisive conflicts that took place there
throughout the centuries. So why would John see a
conflict taking place here when he received the
vision of the ages called the Revelation
of Jesus Christ? What significance
would Armageddon have in such a Revelation,
in New Testament times? Well, first of all,
the book of Revelation is all about a great
conflict or struggle between the church and
the forces of Satan, the forces of evil. Revelation is what is called
an apocalyptical book. In other words, it
is a book of prophecy written in the form
of signs and symbols. The ancient Jews
were very familiar with apocalyptic writing,
it was nothing new to them. There were several
apocalyptic messages in circulation back
then, some inspired, and others uninspired. The book of Daniel in the
Old Testament is one example. The visions recorded in
Daniel are, of course, full of symbolism and
figurative language. The book of Daniel which was
written while he was exiled in Babylon during the captivity was about the political
and spiritual events that were to come over the
next several centuries, culminating with the
establishment of the
kingdom of Christ on the day of Pentecost and
the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple, all taking place in
the first century, several hundred years after
Daniel wrote those things, but from our perspective,
2,000 years ago. It ultimately pointed
forward to the emergence of Christ's reign from
heaven after his death, resurrection and ascension, which all came into reality
with the establishment of the church in
the first century. But he truth that
Daniel was conveying was robed in symbols and figures and not in literal
forthright language. Now the book of Revelation
is written in the same way. Why? Well, an Apocalypse
served two purposes. Number one, to convey
a message of hope to God's people in
a time of darkness. That message being
vividly illustrated with symbols and figures that the reader alone
would be familiar with. The Jews particularly
would be familiar with. And number two, the
purpose was to keep that same message out
of the wrong hands, namely, in the case of
the book of Revelation, the pagan Roman Empire,
which was at that time oppressing and
persecuting the church. The book of Revelation
was most likely written in about A.D. 96 near
the end of the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian, who unleashed an awful
and bloody campaign of torture and death
upon Christians who refused to denounce
Christ and worship him, the Caesar, as Lord and God. The persecution of
the Roman Empire would have seemed to those
frightened Christians to threaten the very
annihilation of the church and that would have tempted
them to surrender their faith. So Revelation was
written to them in a kind of code language that they, the believers,
could understand, because they were familiar with
apocalyptical type language and it was written to them
so that they would know that though the
battle was raging, and the times were very
threatening and frightening, that ultimately they
would be victorious over their enemies
through Christ. It is a signal of victory
given to them from heaven. And so again, in highly
symbolic language, a series of events are unfolded in the book of Revelation and repeated using various
symbolic figures and patterns to convey and reinforce the
message of hope and triumph to those very early believers. In Revelation chapter 16,
there is the picture given of seven bowls of God's
wrath being poured out into the earth. Now, these bowls of
wrath were pictured in the form of plagues,
like plagues of blood and swords, fire, and
frogs are mentioned. And all of these symbols were
merely telling the Christians that God's judgment was
going to be poured out against their enemies
that were now assaulting and persecuting and
threatening them. But ultimately they would
meet God's judgment, and those enemies are
pictured throughout Revelation as the dragon, the beast,
and their associates. Now the sixth bowl
that is poured out in this symbolic
vision is described in verses 13 through 16. Let's read those verses again. He says, and I saw three
unclean spirits like frogs come out of the
mouth of the dragon and out of the
mouth of the beast and out of the mouth
of the false prophet, 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. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth
and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and
they see his shame. And he gathered them
together into a place called in the Hebrew
tongue, Armageddon. Well, it should be obvious to us that figurative
language is being used throughout this passage. And surely we're not
to think literal, croaking, ribbiting slimy frogs are gonna come out of the mouths of literal beasts and dragons
to do battle in Armageddon. Well, of course
not, it's a symbol referring to the forces
of cunning deception that we're doing battle
against the people of God at that time. John is simply seeing that
these evil and nefarious forces would face God's judgment. And it is likewise a
picture using symbols saying that all of
this would culminate in the battle of Armageddon. Well, if frogs coming
out of the mouths of dragons and so
forth are symbols, why isn't the battle of
Armageddon a symbol as well instead of what many
people today consider it to be talking about, some kind
of literal, bloody conflict in a literal place
in the Middle East? Well, someone says, because
Armageddon is an actual place, it refers to an actual locality. Well, that's true. But there's such
a thing as frogs. And just because
something exists literally doesn't mean that that
thing can't be used as a symbol to illustrate
a spiritual truth without the literal thing
actually being involved. Remember Megiddo was a
famous place in Israel known for its fierce
and decisive conflicts. It was synonymous in
the minds of people acquainted with the Old
Testament with holy wars or battles involving
the people of God. You know, we use
literal places known for their historical
significance to illustrate present situations without having any
literal connection with the place name
as the illustration. For example, have you
ever heard someone say that so-and-so met
their Waterloo? What do they mean by that? Well, if you remember
your world history, back in 1815, the
world dominance of the French Emperor
Napoleon came to an end at the battle of Waterloo. And the mighty Napoleon
had returned to power earlier that year, just
about three months before, and the states that opposed
him began to mobilize their armies against him. And on a Sunday in
June of that year, Napoleon went up against
two English armies and through a surprising
series of events, he was defeated at Waterloo, and he abdicated
four days later, and that was Napoleon's last
battle, he was finished. Now today, we might
refer to someone who seems to get away with
something for a long time, but they finally get
themselves into a circumstance they can't get out of,
and it brings them down. We say, he or she finally
met their Waterloo. What do we mean by that that
something happened to them over in Belgium in
the city of Waterloo that something in
recent times occurred with that individual in some
literal battle in Waterloo? Well, of course not. We all understand
we're merely using the well-known historical
reference to Waterloo to illustrate that
person's predicament. Well, friends, that's
what's taking place here in Revelation 16 and verse 16. It's not talking about a
literal, bloody conflict that is yet to come in Megiddo in the Middle East
in modern times. It's merely God's
way of assuring the
persecuted Christians of the first century,
contextually, that Christ was
going to do battle and win against their enemies. And of course, the
opposition they were facing at that time did
come to and end. Now the things
pictured in Revelation are like history in general,
it tends to repeat itself or be cyclical in nature. The church will always
face foes that arise in one form or another that seek to thwart
the work of Christ. But the message of the book
of Revelation is the same in every situation, right
will win, wrong will lose. You can be assured of that. You read the back of
the book, you'll learn that the forces
of right will win. Now, what was the Roman Empire? And what is any and every
force that vaunts itself at anytime against
Christ and the church. Well, they're all
the agents of Satan. And Satan, of course, wants
to destroy the kingdom of God. But listen to
Revelation chapter 12 beginning in verse seven. There the Revelation says,
and there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and
his angels and prevailed not, neither was there place
found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was
cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan
which deceiveth the whole world, he was cast out into the earth and his angels were
cast out with him. And I heard a loud
voice saying in heaven, now has come
salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God
and the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our
brethren, Satan, is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night. Listen now. And they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
their testimony, and they loved not their
lives unto the death. Verse 12, therefore
rejoice ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitors of
the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down
unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that
he have but a short time. Now, you see, friends,
that's not literal language, that's figurative
language that is picturing the unfolding and the ultimate
end of a spiritual battle, not a literal war fought on
some earthly battlefield. It is a spiritual battle. Paul even said in Second
Corinthians chapter 10 beginning in verse three. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into
captivity, listen now, every thought to the
obedience of Christ. That's the kind of warfare
that the New Testament concerns itself with
is spiritual warfare, spiritual conflict. It's a battle of ideology, not
a battle of flesh and blood. So where did this notion of a
literal battle to take place in the future in Armageddon,
where did that come from? Well, it comes from the
very popular doctrine of dispensational
premillennialism. That's a doctrine
that many if not most of your televangelists,
popular religious authors, denominational preachers, they
all propound this doctrine which suggests Christ's
reign and his kingdom are still yet to come, that when Jesus comes again,
it will not be to end the world but rather to sit down
upon the throne of David in Jerusalem and reign over
an earthly kingdom of the Jews for a millennium or
a thousand years. Now, this doctrine does not
date back to the apostles and the original church,
but rather to about the second and third centuries. It came after the apostolic age, and it essentially disappeared by the end of the third century, and it reemerged in the
1800s when it was taught by a man named John Darby. And it became, you might
say, a mainstream doctrine due to the work of a man
named C. I. Schofield and that name may sound
familiar, because he published his Schofield Study Bible, which, if you read the
study notes in that Bible, it primarily promotes the
doctrine of dispensationalism or dispensational
premillennialism. And the theory suggests
that Jesus came to establish his kingdom in the first
century among the Jews, but because the Jews rejected
him, he delayed the kingdom, and he instead established
the church among the Gentiles and for the past 2,000 years,
Christ, the bridegroom, has been waiting, he's
been tarrying in heaven until the time is
right for him to return and at some point we're told
in the very near future, we're told he will invisibly
and silently return, that he will supposedly rapture
the church out of the world, which will then
commence a seven-year
period of tribulation. And during this seven years,
the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem, even
the sacrifices of the
temple will resume. And during the last part
of this tribulation period, world forces are supposedly
going to gather in Armageddon where this awful
holocaust will take place, a battle like the
world has never seen, at the end of which
the triumphant Jesus will be crowned king and
sit down on David's throne and rule the earth
for 1,000 years. And after that time, the
wicked dead will supposedly be raised and the final
judgment will take place. So says the traditional
premillennial doctrine. But friend, it can't be true. The book of Revelation does
not teach any of those things for several reasons. Number one because Revelation
was written contextually to first century Christians
to tell them of things which would quote
shortly come to pass, Revelation one and verse one. Number two, the theory
of premillennialism interprets literally a book
that by its very nature is symbolic or figurative. Number three, the rejection
of Jesus by the Jews was not a surprise
as traditional
premillennialism suggest, it wasn't unexpected
by Christ when he came. It was prophesied a
thousand years before in Psalm 118 verse 22,
when the psalmist says, the stone which the
builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. That's a passage that Jesus
said referred to himself in Matthew 21 and verse 42. Number four, Christ
is not going to reign over a kingdom, he's reigning
now over his kingdom. John said in Revelation
one and verse nine that he is our brother
in the kingdom. And Paul said in
Colossians one and verse 13 that we have been
translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son. It's not something
off in the future, it's something that existed in
the time of the apostle Paul. Number six, when
Jesus comes again, he's not gonna begin his
reign, but rather the opposite, he's gonna hand it
over to God the Father, according to Paul in First
Corinthians 15 and verse 24. Number five, there
will be no silent, or number seven, rather,
there will be no silent or invisible coming of Jesus, but rather it will be
both seen and heard according to First
Thessalonians four and verse 16. Not only that the
sacrifices of the temple, they'll never be resumed, because, first of all, Christ
offered the perfect sacrifice once and for all according
to Hebrews 10 and verse 10. And secondly the
genealogical records which allow for a
Levitical priesthood to be in office in the temple, those were all destroyed in
the destruction of Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years
ago in A.D. 70. Friends, this doctrine
of the rapture, a literal bloody
conflict in Armageddon, and a literal earthly kingdom
to come for a thousand years is a false and a
speculative doctrine. The reference to Armageddon
in the book of Revelation is merely a figure that
refers to a spiritual conflict between the enemies of God
and the Lord Jesus Christ. And really, it takes place
every time the cause of Christ goes to battle against the
forces of sin and evil. Armageddon can even take place in your heart and in my heart. But the wonderful,
wonderful point of the book of
Revelation assures us that those on Christ's side
are on the winning side in this great battle. There is a war going on. There is a war being
waged for your soul today. There is an Armageddon in which
all of the forces of Satan are being hurled
against you and me. But oh what wonderful
assurance that was given to us in the passage we
read in Revelation 12 and that is they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. We have the victory in
this great Armageddon in Jesus Christ through
obedience to the gospel by being in Christ. And I hope today, that if
you're not on the winning side, you'll get on the winning side. ♪ Oh, press the fight
for truth and right ♪ what e'er the cost may be ♪ Yes, dare to do
and e'er be true ♪ till victory we shall see ♪ The Christ we
love sees from above ♪ and knows the deeds we've done ♪ Then on and on, yes, on and on ♪ till the crown on life is won ♪ Oh, never give up ♪ there is hope from day to day ♪ Oh, never give up ♪ for the Savior leads the way ♪ We'll soon be home
beneath the dome ♪ with endless praise begun ♪ Then on and on, yes, on and on ♪ till the crown of life is won ♪ 'Tis sweet to know as on we go ♪ that Jesus always cares ♪ What e'er the test,
we shall be blest ♪ because our lot He shares ♪ Oh, soul, rejoice
with heart and voice ♪ our guide is God's own Son ♪ Then on and on, yes, on and on ♪ till the crown of life is won ♪ Oh, never give up ♪ there is hope from day to day ♪ Oh, never give up ♪ for the Savior leads the way ♪ We'll soon be home
beneath the dome ♪ with endless praise begun ♪ Then on and on, yes, on and on ♪ till the crown of life is won - The Psalmist said,
"Through Thy precepts, "I get understanding." The Bible is the
revelation of God to man and you simply can't live for
God until you know something about the Word of God and you may say,
"Well, I want to read "and study the Bible, but I
don't know where to begin. "I feel overwhelmed" or "I
don't understand the Bible." I want to offer
you a wonderful way to get acquainted
with the scriptures. You'll learn about
some of the most basic and foundational
teachings of God's Word and you'll get a better
handle on how to read and approach and study
the Bible as a whole. Won't you get in
touch with us today and ask to be enrolled in the
Bible Correspondence Course. It won't cost you a penny
and we'll mail the lessons to your home and you take
your time to read and study through the lessons, I think you'll be surprised
how much you'll learn. I'm very glad that
you joined me today for our study on the
battle of Armageddon. And if you'd like
a free transcript of what we've talked
about so you can go back and review it and
study it further or pass it along
to someone else, we'll be happy to
provide you a copy, again free of charge. Simply contact us. The information that
we'll give you here, and we'll have that on its way. Simply request the lesson
the battle of Armageddon. We appreciate you for
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have a wonderful week, and may God bless you.
