Revelation 16:12-16
The Battle of Armageddon
Although we do not know how far into the Tribulation we are, time
continues to advance. In today’s text, for the first and the only
time in the Bible, the Battle of Armageddon will be mentioned.
Even most who do not know much about the Bible, if they are literate
at all, have heard the name Armageddon and know it has something to
do with God’s judgment of the earth and that it is coming. It is
amazing how much the word "Armageddon" is used, not just among the
saved but among the lost as well. Armageddon has become the theme of
books, movies, and folklore.
To the lost: It is the code word for any destruction that is beyond
the norm whether it be caused by wind, fire, water, or war. This
past week, the Weather Channel sent out a push-notification
describing the effects of Hurricane Salley as "Armageddon-like."
To the saved: Armageddon is often thought to be the last battle of
the devil with mankind against God. While I think it may be the
beginning of the last battle, we know it will not be the last battle
because the last battle clearly happens at Jerusalem
\\#Zech 14:1-21, Rev 19:11-21\\. Even so, the Battle of Armageddon
will be one of the last battles and one of the bloodiest battles to
occur on this planet.
If you will remember in the earlier part of this chapter, we saw
God’s angels dressed in golden girdles holding seven golden vials
filled with the wrath of God. the first five angels poured their
vials upon the earth, causing pain and death to spread across the
planet like it has never done before.
Today, the sixth angel pours his vial.
Rev 16:12 And 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.
13 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.
14 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.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that
watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk
naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place
called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
I. The Message - It is twofold.
A. I told you from the beginning that we would take the writing
of John literally when we could.
1. Part of today’s verses would be difficult to do that.
2. So we will take what we can literal.
B. \\#12\\ First Message - The Euphrates River will be dried up.
1. I take this part of the message literally.
2. Perhaps you are not a geography buff—neither am I—so
let me give you some information about this river.
a. It is not in Israel a little over 600 miles north of
Israel.
b. The Euphrates River is the largest river in the
Middle East.
c. One commentator writes that its source is the snow
covered mountains of Turkey.
d. It runs generally from east to west between the
mountains of Turkey and the Persian Gulf, forming a
natural road block to the nations to the north of it
who might want to come down and do Israel harm.
3. \\#12\\ The sixth vial may not seem drastic when compared
to the others, but it’s repercussions are very great.
a. With the intense heat of the fourth vial, the
Euphrates should be flooding and would probably
prohibit travel across it.
b. Yet, the water will "dry up" making it possible for
the "kings of the East" to prepare for a coming
battle.
4. I find it interesting that the Euphrates has been
dwindling for years.
a. Not because of a lack of water but because their
neighbors are damning the water up before it gets
to Iraq!
(1) Five years ago, Wikipedia listed 12 damns on the
Euphrates on a page that is no longer present.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Dams_on_the_Euphrates_River
(2) Today, they list 22 dams on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atat%C3%BCrk_Dam#:~:text=Centerpiece
%20of%20the%2022%20dams,of%20the%20world’s%20largest%20dams.
(3) The New York Times in a 2009 article entitled
"Iraq Suffers as the Euphrates River Dwindles"
indicated that Iraq’s neighbors had no treaties
with Iraq and so they stopped the water flow.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/world/middleeast/14euphrates.
html?_r=0
(4) Another article produced by CNN in June of 2015
showed video of Isis terrorists walking across
the bed of the Euphrates Rivers to travel in
and out of other countries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4fRIG5np_M
(5) In an article dates Aug 23, 2020, the Fair
Observer says without international diplomacy,
the Middle East is going to run out of water.
https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/middle-
east-water-security-scarcity-euphrates-turkey-syria-iraq-news-28014/
b. While God does not need man’s help in fulfilling this
prophecy, it is easy to see how it might come to
pass.
c. Of course the anti-Christ could and might fix this
international problem in his quest to rise to world
leader, but no matter how much water is flowing
in the Euphrates, this prophecy will be fulfilled.
C. \\#13-14\\ Second Message - The unholy trinity (devil, anti-
Christ, and False Prophet) will then utter lies that will
cause the kings (and the armies) of the "east" to prepare.
1. The Bible uses the image of "frogs" coming out of their
mouths.
a. I am not certain why God would use frogs for that
image.
(1) Frogs were used in the judgments of Egypt.
(a) What the unholy trinity does will cause a
judgment but not of Israel.
(b) While the nations think they are coming
to Armageddon to destroy Israel, God is
actually bringing them to Armageddon to
destroy them.
(2) And maybe frogs sound good in the cool of a
hot summer night croaking.
b. I think the frogs maybe a symbol for a lie that these
three will spread.
c. The lies will sound good, be attractive, and
effective to draw those kings to the Battle of
Armageddon.
2. Keep two things in mind about the Battle of Armageddon:
a. It will not happen at this point in the chronology
of Revelation.
(1) John said this judgment causes the kings to
"prepare" \\#12\\ and "to gather" \\#14\\.
(2) Preparing and gathering are going to take some
time.
(3) We do not know exactly when the battle will take
place, how long it will last, or when it will
end.
b. John will not record any of the details of this
battle.
(1) He mentioned the battle here, but the next battle
he mentions will be the Battle at Jerusalem
\\#Rev 19:11-21\\.
(2) As far as we know, John never mentioned anything
else related to this battle.
3. What we do know about Armageddon from Revelation.
a. …the source of the frogs is the unholy trinity.
(1) The unholy trinity want Israel destroyed.
(2) They are drawing armies of the world to Israel
for that purpose.
b. …the purpose of the frogs. It is twofold:
(1) \\#13\\ First it tells the kings of the "east"
to prepare.
(2) \\#14\\ Ultimately, it tells the kings of the
whole world to gather "to the battle of that
great day of God Almighty."
(3) The unholy trinity think they are bringing that
army to destroy Israel, but actually, God is
bringing that army to destroy it.
c. …the location of that battle.
Rev 16:16 And he gathered them together into a
place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
(1) As I mentioned to you a few weeks ago
\\#Rev 14:8\\, the word Armageddon means "hill
of Megiddo.
(2) Megiddo is a strategic valley through the
mountains of Carmel in northern Israel.
(3) This will be the place to which God gathers the
armies of the world.
(4) Megiddo is around 60 miles from Jerusalem so
although this battle could lead to the last
battle on the earth, it isn’t the last battle
on earth.
4. Question: Is it possible to know more? Maybe.
II. The Battle
A. There are some battles which have been prophesied which have
not occurred yet, some in the Old Testament and some in the
New Testament.
1. I have a "my list" of Scriptures that I THINK prophesy
future battles, but "my list" is just my opinion.
a. \\#Revelation 6:1-8\\ describes what could be a war
near the beginning of the tribulation.
b. \\#Psalm 83:1-18\\ seems to be a future battle in
which all of Israel’s neighbors come against her.
c. \\#Dan 11:40, 44\\ seems to describe a war between the
anti-Christ and the nations south and east of Israel
near the middle of the Tribulation, although Israel
probably will not be involved in it at all.
d. Revelation 16 speaks of the Battle of Armageddon
beginning sometime during the last half of the
Tribulation.
e. \\#Ezekiel 38-39\\ speak of a great army of nations
coming against Israel and being destroyed on the
mountains.
f. \\#Zechariah 14:1-15\\ and \\#Revelation 19:11-21\\
speak of the Battle of Jerusalem which will end the
tribulation.
2. Of my list of battles, I believe the most likely future
battle that might be the Battle of Armageddon is recorded
in Ezekiel 38-39.
a. Nothing tells us for certain that the battle of
Ezekiel 38-39 is the Battle of Armageddon, but there
are some things that make me think it might be.
(1) The nations that are NOT mentioned in Ezekiel 38.
(2) \\#Eze 38:11\\ Israel will be unwalled an
unprotected, a condition that can only happen
AFTER the treaty with the anti-Christ is signed
and their defenses have time to be torn down.
(3) That the flesh of the defeated army will be eaten
by animals \\#Eze 39:17-20\\ in like fashion as
the Battle at Jerusalem \\#Rev 19:17-18\\.
(4) Some verses imply that Israel will be saved by
this time, a condition which only occurs in the
last half of the Tribulation.
(a) \\#Eze 38:7\\ God promised Israel would not
be allowed to pollute His name anymore.
(b) \\#Eze 39:22\\ God says "from that day and
forward" Israel will know He is God.
b. However, the battle described there is most definitely
future to us, and it is big enough to easily be
Armageddon.
B. \\#Eze 38:1-6\\ Countries Involved
Eze 38:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land
of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal,
and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am
against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech
and Tubal:
1. Bunches will be mentioned, but they are mentioned by names
we no longer use.
2. We do not have time to try to prove who the nations are,
but if you will accept that I have researched them and I
think I know who they are, I’ll just give them to you.
3. Changes are you will be like me and won’t know where they
are anyway without a map.
a. \\#2-3\\ Gog is not a country. He is the prince of
Meshech and Tubal \\#3\\.
b. \\#2\\ Meshech and Tubal both belong to modern-day
Turkey.
c. \\#2\\ Much of Magog belonged to Russia, but broke
away in 1991, forming five new countries.
(1) Today, those and two more are commonly referred
to today as the "Stan" countries because they
all end in with the syllable "stan."
(a) There are seven in all: Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (kEEr-ga-stan),
and Ta-jik-i-stan (Ta-jek-i-stan).
(b) Since those countries are now separated from
Russia, it is possible that Russia will not
be in this battle at all.
(2) \\#38:5\\ Persia - Iran
(3) \\#38:5\\ Ethiopia and Libya - Africa, but
Ethiopia would probably include modern-day
Sudan as well for Sudan was once part of
Ethiopia.
(4) \\#38:6\\ Gomer - More of Turkey
(5) \\#38:13\\ Sheba - part of Yemen
(6) \\#38:13\\ Dedan - part of Saudi Arabia
(7) \\#38:13\\ Tarshish - Spain
4. I wonder about these nations?
a. They look like the B string. Where’s the A string?
b. Understand, the Bible is not limiting the armies to
these. There could be others. These are just the
ones mentioned.
D. Look at some of the details:
1. They will come like a flood against Israel.
Eze 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited:
in the latter years thou shalt come into the
land that is brought back from the sword, and
is gathered out of many people, against the
mountains of Israel, which have been always
waste: but it is brought forth out of the
nations, and they shall dwell safely all of
them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm,
thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land,
thou, and all thy bands, and many people with
thee.
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land
of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are
at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling
without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn
thine hand upon the desolate places that are now
inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered
out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and
goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
2. But God will intervene.
21 And I will call for a sword against him
throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD:
every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence
and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and
upon his bands, and upon the many people that
are with him, an overflowing rain, and great
hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify
myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many
nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
3. What is really interesting is the way God describes the
dead after He has destroyed them.
Eze 39:17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the
Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and
to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves,
and come; gather yourselves on every side to my
sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a
great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel,
that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
4. That is exactly what will happen at the end of the Battle
at Jerusalem.
Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the
sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to
all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven,
Come and gather yourselves together unto the
supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the
flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit
on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and
bond, both small and great.
III. The Invitation
A. There is one more verse we need to note, the most important
of all.
Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is
he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest
he walk naked, and they see his shame.
B. Through this book, we have been reading a message that is not
primarily for us, but to the future saints who will live
during the Tribulation.
C. However, this is a message not to them but to us.
1. How do I know?
2. Because of the way Jesus describes His return.
a. The only time Jesus will come to the earth like a
thief is when He comes for the church.
b. When He comes at the end of the Tribulation every eye
will see Him and every lost soul will fear His wrath.
D. What is Jesus tell us?
1. That we better wake up and watch because He is coming.
2. Jesus’ next coming is the rapture of the church, and He
does not want you to be left behind!
3. No one does and you do not need to be left behind.
You need to trust Jesus as your Savior today.
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