Strangely, I tried to convince them that Judaism was the best religion, even though I had rejected it. Then the man started telling what the Witnesses believe. In 15 minutes he went from Adam to Armageddon. I was overwhelmed! That’s it! That’s the truth!
Awake! March 22, 1983 p. 21
In Britain the BBC screened A Guide to Armageddon, showing the damage a single megaton bomb exploded over St. Paul’s would do to London.
Awake! August 22, 1983 p. 4, 5
Says historian Hans Herzfeld: “The condition bordering on ecstatic excitement with which the peoples of Europe, spoiled by a long period of peace, entered the ‘Armageddon’ of World War I is only too easily passed off today as incomprehensible, both in substance and psychologically.
Awake! September 22, 1983 p. 20
So many people today are saying, “I want to grow up, not blow up.” This is because they believe that the threatened nuclear holocaust is the same as Armageddon.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 2
No Nuclear Armageddon! 4
Armageddon Clears the Way for a New Start! 8
Prepare Now to Survive Armageddon 10
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 2
A word often used to describe such a nuclear holocaust, particularly in English-speaking countries, is one borrowed from the Bible. It is “Armageddon.” For example, in 1961 former U.S. President Eisenhower said that the growing nuclear threat put Chicago “but thirty minutes from Armageddon.” And of the early 1970’s, Henry Kissinger, former U.S. secretary of state, wrote: “No previous generation of statesmen has had to conduct policy in so unknown an environment at the border line of Armageddon.”
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 3
Is an “Armageddon” nuclear war inevitable? Are our young people doomed to blow up before they grow up?
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 4
Section heading: No Nuclear Armageddon!
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 4
Interestingly, Francis Cardinal Spellman at the beginning of the 1960’s called “for prayers to spare the world from ‘thermonuclear Armageddon.’”
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 4
The word “Armageddon” appears only once in the Bible, although many other scriptures speak of it in other terms. Do these scriptures show Armageddon possibly to be a nuclear holocaust, which, it is hoped, can be avoided? Is Armageddon a war man can start?
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 4
ARMAGEDDON IS GOD’S WAR
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 4
The Bible says: “Expressions inspired by demons . . . go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty . . . to the place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon [or, Armageddon].”—Revelation 16:14, 16.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 4
Section heading: ARMAGEDDON IS TO BE A RIGHTEOUS WAR
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 5
Section heading: AT ARMAGEDDON ALL NATIONS WILL BE ALLIES
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 5
Section heading: AT ARMAGEDDON ONLY THE WICKED WILL BE DESTROYED
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 5
Section heading: ARMAGEDDON SURVIVAL IS ASSURED FOR SOME
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 6
Section heading: ARMAGEDDON WILL NOT RUIN THE EARTH
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 6
What do we learn from the above scriptures? We learn that God’s war at Armageddon will be quite different from what a man-made nuclear holocaust would be. Armageddon is not designed to destroy the earth. It is designed to destroy those who are threatening to ruin the earth. To speak of a possible nuclear holocaust as being Armageddon, therefore, is a misapplication of the term.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 6
A nuclear holocaust would not rid man of the Devil and his demons. Armageddon will open the way for Christ Jesus, at the direction of his Father, to do this.—See Revelation 20:1-3.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 7
Now you may wonder of what benefit it is to be relieved of the fear of nuclear holocaust only to be faced with the new fear of “sudden destruction” at Armageddon? Let our next article explain.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 7
ARMAGEDDON WILL BE
—God’s war
—A righteous war
—A war to destroy only the wicked
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 7
Section heading: Armageddon Clears the Way for a New Start!
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 8
WHEREAS a nuclear holocaust would clearly be a cause for fear, the war of Armageddon does not have to be.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 8
Just as people respond to the threat of a nuclear holocaust in various ways, so it is with Armageddon.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 8
Armageddon Cannot Be Prevented
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 8
Since Armageddon means “the war of the great day of God the Almighty,” no one can prevent it. (Revelation 16:14)
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 8
Included among “fighters actually against God” today are religious clergymen who deny the real Armageddon message of the Bible. They lead people to believe that Armageddon is a man-made nuclear holocaust that political negotiations and peace movements can prevent
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 8
Jonathan Schell points this out in his book The Fate of the Earth, writing: “A closely related, and more serious, perversion of religion is the suggestion, made by some Christian fundamentalists, that the nuclear holocaust we threaten to unleash is the Armageddon threatened by God in the Bible.”
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 8
The clergy that thus confuse the two are overlooking the far greater danger of Armageddon. By becoming involved in movements to prevent a “thermonuclear Armageddon,” as they mistakenly call it, they are actually fighting to preserve a wicked system of things that God has purposed, with good reason, to destroy. Their attempt to prevent Armageddon is ill-advised and futile.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 8
Why should they want to pray for the world to be spared an Armageddon that God considers necessary?
Awake! December 22, 1983 pp. 8-9
Section heading: Do Not Ignore Armageddon
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 9
Equally dangerous is any attempt to ignore the Bible’s message about Armageddon.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 9
It will be the same with those today who ignore the Bible’s warning about Armageddon.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 9
Those few, comparatively speaking, who seek to follow God’s instructions for surviving Armageddon do not view that war as a cause for fear.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 9
Section heading: Prepare Now to Survive Armageddon
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 10
But preparations for surviving Armageddon, a conflict
—that is sure to come,
—that offers you opportunity for survival if you act promptly and
—that you should want to survive because it holds promise of a better life afterward.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 10
Since Armageddon is the time and place for God’s action against his opposers, he is the one to determine the requirements for survival.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 10
Their survival preparations are clearly not the kind that will ensure protection at Armageddon. For example, they purchased membership in a secret mountain hideaway for $12,500 plus annual dues of $300. Jehovah, however, puts no price tag on Armageddon survival, nor does he charge rent for being concealed “in the secret place of his tent.”
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 11
Section heading: Blessings of Armageddon Survival
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 11
The battle of Armageddon will clear the way for the restoration of righteous conditions on the earth.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 11
If you would enjoy living in such a world, we encourage you to learn more about the requirements for Armageddon survival.
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 11
What a blessing to survive Armageddon!
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 11
Armageddon—Nuclear Holocaust?
Awake! December 22, 1983 p. 31