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 Armageddon
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Armageddon is the location of the final climactic battle between God,
also known as Yahweh or Jehova, and Satan the Devil mentioned in the
Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament, or more generally, an
apocalyptic catastrophe.
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The word Armageddon in Scripture is
known only from a single verse in the Greek New Testament, where it is
said to be Hebrew, but it is thought to represent the Hebrew words Har
Megido, meaning "Hill of Megiddo". Megiddo was the location of many
decisive battles in ancient times. Before the Second World War, the
First World War was commonly referred to in newspapers and books as
"Armageddon", in addition to "the Great War".
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Armageddon in the Bible
In Revelation, angels pour "seven bowls of the wrath of God" upon the Earth.
Armageddon follows the pouring of the sixth bowl:
“ The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water
was dried up in order to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw
three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the
mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet. These 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. And they
assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.”
This passage is ambiguous whether any event actually takes place here, or
whether the gathering of armies is only to be seen as a sign.
In fact, a gathering of the Roman army occurred at this place as a staging
ground for one of their assaults on Jerusalem in AD 67. This is consistent with
the preterits interpretation that seventh bowl of wrath refers to events
culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. However, one indication
that the book predicts a future event is the mention of an army from the east of
200 million, a number that would not have been possible in any battle of that
period.
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Albrecht Dürer's woodcut, The Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse |
Another interpretation is that the sudden
death of Josiah, a religious reformer in his early 30s who showed great promise
of renewing a theocratic Jewish state, resulted in myths of his triumphant
return. Josiah is said to have died at the hands of the Egyptian pharoah Necho
II just as the Davidic monarchy was in ascendancy after a period of disarray and
corruption. His death precipitated the decline of a strongly monotheistic
faction in Judea in the years prior to the Babylonian captivity. The idea that a
Davidic king would return someday to fight and win at Megiddo is an example of
the myth of eternal return.
Megiddo is mentioned various times in the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Kings and
Chronicles describe a battle that took place there in 609 BC. This resulted in
the death of Josiah, a young and charismatic ruler whose quick and untimely
death precipitated the decline of the dynasty of David and may have inspired
stories of the return of a Messiah from this lineage. The valley is marked by
the presence of the archaeological mound or tell, representing the accumulated
ruins of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements that flourished between 5,000 years
ago and 650 BC. Some would argue that the word "Armageddon" is an early example
of a mondegreen.
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The evangelist John of Patmos writes the Book of
Revelation. Painting by Hieronymus Bosch (1505).
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