Armageddon is a step closer to reality. USA today has a report that should disturb anyone concerned about the mad mullahs of Tehran getting their hands on nuclear weapons. Their avowed goal is Armageddon, that could usher in the 12th Mahdi. More here…
We see these news items almost every day using the figurative use “Armageddon” (even some evangelical scholars, sadly, think the battle will not be real, believing that it is only a “symbol”). If it is not environmental extremists warning of “Gaia-Armageddon” it is some other form of impending global disaster.
Recently, my friend Mike wrote me saying, “News articles like this one always mention ‘Armageddon’ with mankind destroying itself.” He further made the correct point that it is God that brings about Armageddon, not Man. In the same vein, I wrote this in my book Antichrist Before the Day of the Lord:
The sixth bowl is unique from the other bowl judgments because there is no expressed wrath. However, it describes the preparation for God’s climactic judgment on the nations and the Antichrist at the battle of Armageddon. There is irony in this preparation. Demonic forces will draw the kings of the earth together, but the battle of Armageddon is not so much a battle as it is a divine summons for the nations to come and receive their judgment. . .
This transition, however, will not go unopposed by the Antichrist. He will refuse to accept Jesus’ authority as king at the seventh-trumpet pronouncement. The Antichrist is not going to raise the white flag and hand over his kingdom just like that. After his authority of 42 months expires, he will attempt (unsuccessfully) to keep his authority, kingdom, and followers by waging war against Christ. He is going to fight it out, even though his divinely given authority has expired. The first act of King Jesus, therefore, is to wipe out his enemies who oppose his kingdom through the bowl judgments and the battle of Armageddon, where the Antichrist’s ultimate destruction is realized (Rev. 19:20).
The next time you hear someone use the figurative “Armageddon” take that as a witnessing wedge to proclaim the gospel of God’s grace and his coming judgment. God just may save that person’s soul.
The real Armageddon is coming. It will be a divine action: God against Man, not Man against Man.
