Revelation 16:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

NIV: Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

NASB: And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

CSB: So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

NLT: And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon.

KJV: And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

NKJV: And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

This verse gives the location to which the demons mentioned in verse 14 assembled the international armies. They collect these fighters at a place called Armageddon. This name transliterates the Hebrew words har Megid'do, meaning "the hill / mount of Megiddo." Mount Megiddo is close to the city of Megiddo, a former royal Canaanite city (Joshua 12:21), and close to the plain of Esdraelon. Megiddo is also mentioned in Zechariah 12:11 as a reference to the mourning for Josiah who was killed by Egyptian archers in that area (2 Chronicles 35:22–25). The Lord enabled Barak to overthrow the Canaanites at this site (Judges 5:19).

While this event is commonly referred to as the "battle of Armageddon," it looks to be an extended series of ongoing fights. Zechariah prophesied in Zechariah 14:1–2 that, before the Lord returns, the war of Armageddon will include plundering and raping in Jerusalem. Half of the city will be taken into captivity. "Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle" (Zechariah 14:3). This means that there will actually be something of a "war of Armageddon," ending in the return of Christ at the second coming.

Revelation 16:8–16 reports what happens when the fourth, fifth, and sixth angels emptied their bowls of God's wrath. It continues the apostle John's description of the bowl judgments which began in Revelation 16:1–7. The fourth and fifth bowl judgments resemble some of the events of the trumpet judgments, but are much more intense. These events occur just prior to the return of Christ to subdue His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth (Revelation 17—19).

This chapter explains the bowl judgments, which are the last and most severe of God's outpouring of wrath on earth. The first three bowls bring sores, seas of blood, and rivers of blood. After a declaration of God's justice come the next three bowl judgments, involving scorching sunlight, darkness, and a drying of the Euphrates to clear the way for an invading army. In the final, seventh bowl judgment, an earthquake tears Jerusalem into three parts, levels cities worldwide, and displaces islands and mountains. Hundred-pound hailstones fall, but unbelievers refuse to repent and instead continue to curse God.

Revelation 16 resumes the account of God's judgments on the wicked. It describes the bowl judgments, the third and final series of judgments. The seven seal judgments of Revelation 6:1–17 and 8:1 are the first series of judgments. The trumpet judgments of Revelation 8:1—9:21 and 11:15 are next. All of these judgments vent God's wrath and are recognized as the day of his wrath and the wrath of the Lamb (Revelation 6:17). Chapters 17 and 18 further describe the destruction caused by the judgments. Revelation 19 and 20 will describe the culmination of God's wrath and the final events of the end times.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''