An answer to the common belief about Armageddon

The common belief

Immediately before the Second Coming, cataclysmic events will take place and that the Antichrist will appear to lead the forces of chaos. He will summon the demonic hosts of Gog and Magog to do battle with the followers of Christ at a place called Armageddon. At the end of the battle, God will send lightning down from heaven, annihilating Satan, the Antichrist, and their followers. But, even in defeat, the forces of chaos would have brought about the end of the world, for when the battle was over, the Last Judgment would begin.

The above is excerpted from the book "The End of the World," by Richard Morris. It is modified slightly for readability, without changing the context, and is included here because it is so typical of the most widely held and erroneous beliefs about the coming end times battle. These same beliefs are held, believed, and taught by many people who claim to be "Christian" teachers and who really should know better. Unhappily, when they teach this error, they are perpetuating another of the things that Satan wants people to believe, instead of what the Word of our Eloah says.

The verse referred to above, with Megiddo in it.

A description and the location of the battle under consideration

Note in ZekarYahuw 14 above, that the battle is not going to be fought at "Armageddon," but at Yeruwshalom and for Yeruwshalom. Yahushua will stand with His feet on the Mount of Olives, which is physically located at Yeruwshalom. (Yeruwshalom is the City of Yahuwah and has been since time immemorial.) From this you should be able to see that "Armageddon" is NOT a battle, nor is it a symbol FOR a battle. "Armageddon" is the mangled name of the PLACE where the forces who are to fight against the saints at Yeruwshalom will be staged. People long ago confused the staging area, Har-Megiddown, with the actual place of the battle, Yeruwshalom, and have carried that confusion down to today as the error "The Battle of Armageddon." Just as "Desert Storm", or "The Battle of Kuwait," was staged out of Saudi Arabia and fought in Kuwait and Iraq, this battle will be the Battle of Yeruwshalom, staged out of Har-Meggiddown, and will be fought at Yeruwshalom.

Where the word "Armageddon" appears in various versions of scripture

These two passages are the references to the battle and Armageddon that cause so much error. Note that 13 and 14 say that the kings of the earth will be gathered (staged) to the battle of the great day of Yahuwah Almighty, while verse 16 literally says that when they are gathered together (staged) it will be at the place called Armageddon. Armageddon is not the scene of the final struggle between good and evil. That "struggle" has already been won by the Anointed Yahushua. Neither is this battle that will be staged out of Har-Megiddown the "final battle." The battle talked about here is described in Revelation 19. Read that chapter and chapter 20. You will see that after Yahushua comes with all His saints and puts down the foe here, that Satan is chained for one thousand years and placed in the bottomless pit. After the thousand years expires, he will be let loose to do his thing again for awhile, and THEN comes the final battle. Only it isn't much of a battle. Satan gathers his forces, including Gowg and Magowg, and Yahuwah just zaps them from the sky. No real battle, just instant incineration. After this "battle," where Gog and Magog finally get involved, contrary to the common belief, comes the Final Judgment. This judgment will not occur for at least one thousand years AFTER the battle of Yeruwshalom. All of this is described in Revelation chapter 20. Read it for yourself. So there is a big separation of at least one thousand years between the first battle when Yahushua returns and the REAL final battle. Yahushua is going to reign with His saints (these are not the saints appointed by the Roman Catholic Church either) on this earth for one thousand years in the interim. The period of time stated as "a season" that Satan will be allowed free hand after his release from the bottomless pit is indefinite. It may be one day, or it may be another thousand years. There is really no way to tell how long this period will be, but usually a "season" in scripture is one year.

Strong's Hebrew/Greek Dictionary definitions

The definition given above for "Armageddon" and the book by Mr. Morris are typical of secular, humanistic, for profit, entities talking of things about which they know nothing. Unhappily, sometimes well meaning but ignorant people who are otherwise very intelligent believe them and because they fail to check it out for themselves they remain ignorant. The Scripture is very clear on this subject, just as it is on all the other subjects that cause so many people to stumble in the Word of Yahuhwah. Too many times people will take the word of some human "authority" on subjects that affect their salvation instead of reading the Word of Yahuwah for themselves to see what the real truth of the matter is. If people would in fact read for themselves, and understand through the guidance of the Spirit, there would be no divisions in the so-called Christian Church of today. Everyone would understand the same thing, and would be in the unity that Sha'uwl (Paul) talks about in Ephesios (Ephesians) 4.

Take no man's word for what is or is not in the Scripture, even if that man wrote an encyclopedia. Look it up in the Scripture and read it for yourself. This book is authored by the One who really knows what is going on and what is going to happen, because He is the One who has and will make it happen. If you don't understand it, and it deals with your salvation, find a man who is a child of Yahuwah to guide you. And I don't mean a Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Jehovah's Witness, Episcopalian, Mormon, Lutheran, etc., but a true child of Yahuwah. There is no such thing as a Baptist Christian, a Methodist Christian, a Roman Catholic Christian, a Presbyterian Christian, etc. You are either child of Yahuwah, or you're not. All black and white. No gray here. You either are, or you are not.

If you are not in the body of Yahushua, talk to this same man about what the entrance requirements are. If he is really a child of Yahuwah, he will tell you that Yahushua has already paid your entrance fee, all you have to do is pick up the ticket and come on in. He will tell you that to pick up that ticket you must sincerely believe that Yahushua is the Aanointed of Yahuwah the Father. (If you don't believe this, you are wasting everybody's time.) He will also tell you to repent (Grrek metanoeo - to think differently, or stop thinking on the things of the world and start thinking on the things of the kingdom of Yahuwah), and that you must be immersed (total immersion for burial in the likeness of Yahushua) in His name for the remission or washing away of your sins (Acts 2:38. 22:16). When you meet these conditions, you will rise out of the watery grave as a "born again" child of Yahuwah to walk in the likeness of the resurrection of Yahushua, just as He described it (see Yahuchanan (John) 3:3-8, Rhomaios (Romans) 6:3-6, 1 Keph (Peter) 3:21), you will receive the gift of the Set Apart Spirit, and be ready to go forward in the learning of the scripture. If he tells you anything else, such as to pray "the Sinner's Prayer" or "accept JESUS as your personal Savior," RUN. He is not an agent of Yahuwah but of satan.

C.F. Castleberry
http://www.considerthis.net
buck@considerthis.net