Why So Much Talk About Armageddon?
“ARMAGEDDON”—what does this Bible name signify? Introduced each time by a meaningful cover, a series of informative articles on this topic is being featured in the four issues of The Watchtower for January and February 1985. It is hoped that these Scriptural discussions will comfort you with knowledge as to what is the real ARMAGEDDON.
“You know, I turn back to your ancient prophets in the Old Testament and the signs foretelling Armageddon, and I find myself wondering if—if we’re the generation that is going to see that come about.”—Ronald W. Reagan, president of the United States, October 18, 1983.
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“ARMAGEDDON” has become the talk of the world.
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In the United States alone, the word Armageddon is found in the titles of at least 15 books in circulation during 1983.
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It may seem strange that this word has skyrocketed to popularity, for the first recorded use of the word Armageddon is found in the Bible—and there it is used only once. (Revelation 16:16, King James Version)
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In the 1800’s the word Armageddon began to be used in a non-Biblical sense as well. However, it was not until the early 1900’s that “Armageddon” became synonymous with “any great slaughter” or “final conflict.”
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Since then the word Armageddon has slowly crept into the vocabulary of diverse groups of professions, each one coloring it with a different shade of meaning. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for a further term as president of the United States, gave the word a political twist. He boasted: “With unflinching heart and undimmed eye, we stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord.” Roosevelt lost that political battle for reelection.
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Nowadays it is a bad case of world jitters that is causing all this talk about Armageddon: threats of global nuclear annihilation, a long nuclear winter due to detonating those fearsome weapons, a great war in the Middle East, or a sudden collapse of the world’s economic foundation. The word Armageddon is thus popping up today even in the most unexpected places:
◆ A full-length Japanese animated feature cartoon film entitled “Armageddon in Kichijoji” depicts cartoon figures that represent good and evil in a battle to the finish.
◆ The expected 1986 reappearance of Halley’s Comet caused the Frankfurter Neue Presse to say that it “could well again presage Armageddon” for the superstitious.
But not one of these is the Armageddon. Today another voice proclaiming Armageddon is being heard—one soaring in intensity and sounded by more than two and a-half million people. Have you heard it? By listening to this voice, you will be able to learn not only what Armageddon is not but, more importantly, what it really is.
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Section heading: Armageddon—What It Is Not
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The tell, or mound, of Megiddo, the source of the word Armageddon.
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ARMAGEDDON is shrouded in mystery and misconceptions. Ideas as to its meaning abound. The word Armageddon, though, is derived from Har–Magedon, or Mountain of Megiddo. It is a Bible word found at Revelation 16:16, which states: “And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har–Magedon [or, Armageddon].”
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Who are gathered to Armageddon and why? Revelation 16:14 answers: “The kings of the entire inhabited earth” muster “to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.”
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Really, what is Armageddon?
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Armageddon could not be a geographic location. No mountain by that name actually exists—though a mound called Megiddo remains to this day. The real meaning of Armageddon casts its shadow back in history to warfare that centered in that area of Megiddo.
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Therefore, Armageddon begins to take the form of a crucial battle, with only one clear victor.
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The issue surrounding the battle of Armageddon—world rulership—is the great issue of today. But, although two opposing superpowers are now grappling for world domination, Armageddon will not be a world war, pitting one of these against the other.
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True, the world is in the most expensive and frenzied arms race in all history, prompting this comment from India Today: “All this is pushing the planet grimly to the edge of Armageddon—the ultimate war among nations.”
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Therefore, Armageddon is not man’s war. It is God’s war. Armageddon will find all earthly nations united in battling ‘the armies of heaven’ under the military command of the “King of kings and Lord of lords,” Christ Jesus.
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At Armageddon God will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth,” not scorch it in a nuclear holocaust.—Revelation 11:18.
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Some religious leaders believe Armageddon to be a running struggle between the forces of good and evil, whether worldwide or in the mind. “Armageddon is occurring in some part of the world every day,” notes one Bible commentary. How could this be when the Bible promises that Armageddon will bring swift doom for all evil nations and people? Christ, as God’s anointed King at Armageddon, “will break them with an iron scepter, as though a potter’s vessel [he] will dash them to pieces.”—Psalm 2:9; see also Proverbs 2:21, 22; Revelation 19:11-21.
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The world’s most powerful governments fear that a Third World default on debt would propel the global economic situation into what Business Life magazine calls an “Economic Armageddon.” A collapse of the world’s banking institutions would truly be tragic, but it would not be Armageddon. The Bible Armageddon is a worldwide situation involving war, not economics.
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“Somewhere in time, the last conflagration will take place in the Middle East,” preaches world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham. On this matter, he echoes the views of many of his religious colleagues. Graham also believes that Armageddon can be delayed. “I think that the world is heading right now toward Armageddon,” he says, “and that unless there is a spiritual awakening and we turn to God, the world may face its Armageddon in this decade.”
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Therefore, would this not rule out any fundamentalist teaching that Armageddon will be a world war squeezed into the literal plain of Megiddo? The prophet Jeremiah indicates that Armageddon will encompass “the remotest parts of the earth” and that the casualties will be seen “from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth.”—Jeremiah 25:32, 33.
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And since Armageddon means “the war of the great day of God the Almighty,” no one can prevent it.
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Armageddon is not to be feared by people who love righteousness.
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The battle of Armageddon will wipe the earth clean of all wickedness and pave the way for the restoration of righteous conditions.—Isaiah 11:4, 5.
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Especially since the year 1925 the Witnesses have had a clear view of what Armageddon is and they refuse to keep silent about it. Their desire is to help people to become Armageddon survivors, not casualties.
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Some, though, may still wonder: Although Armageddon is global in scope, will it start in the Middle East? How could a God of love allow an Armageddon? Will true peace follow Armageddon? Read the next three issues of The Watchtower, for they will address those questions.
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What Is Armageddon?
Armageddon IS NOT. . .
◆ a geographic location
◆ a battle between nations
◆ a nuclear holocaust
◆ a global economic collapse
◆ a struggle between good and evil
◆ a Middle Eastern conflict
Armageddon IS. . .
◆ the worldwide situation where all earthly nations will battle against God’s Son, Christ Jesus, and his angelic army in “the war of the great day of God the Almighty”
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At Armageddon God’s King, Jesus Christ, ‘will break all evil nations with an iron scepter, as though a potter’s vessel he will dash them to pieces.’—Psalm 2:9.
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During the early part of 1985, Kingdom publishers all over the earth will be giving a rousing, united testimony concerning Armageddon!
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The Middle East—Site of Armageddon?
“ARMAGEDDON”—what does this Bible name signify? Introduced each time by a meaningful cover, a series of informative articles on this topic is being featured in the four issues of The Watchtower for January and February 1985. It is hoped that these Scriptural discussions will comfort you with knowledge as to what is the real ARMAGEDDON.
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So declared theologians John F. and John E. Walvoord in their book Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis.
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Escalating Middle East tensions have worked to give seeming credence to their startling predictions that Armageddon is soon to take place in that vicinity!
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But a typical ‘Armageddon scenario’ goes like this: The starting of the ‘doomsday countdown,’ they say, was the establishment of the State of Israel.
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God will miraculously halt this invasion, say these fundamentalists. Soon to follow, however, will be another attack from the “Antichrist,” triggering all-out war in the Middle East—Armageddon.
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After all, the Bible does predict a gathering of nations for war at “Armageddon.” (Revelation 16:14-16, King James Version
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Armageddon, the Middle East, and the Bible
“THE center of the entire prophetic forecast,” claims author Hal Lindsey, “is the State of Israel.” (The 1980’s: Countdown to Armageddon) Critical to the fundamentalists’ ‘Armageddon scenario,’ therefore, is their belief that God has special dealings with Israel.
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Are present events in the Middle East harbingers of Armageddon?
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Is Jehovah God thus obliged to protect the land of Israel from invasion? If so, a Middle Eastern “Armageddon” could be imminent.
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Section heading: Armageddon—Where?
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Is Jerusalem the key to the events leading to Armageddon?
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“Har–Magedon,” or “Armageddon,” must therefore be a symbolic location. Symbolic of what?
Ezekiel’s prophecy shows that Armageddon is precipitated by the attack of a multinational army upon “Israel.”
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Armageddon—What Is It?
In a televised debate, U.S. President Ronald Reagan said that no one knows whether Bible prophecies mean “that Armageddon is a thousand years away or day after tomorrow.” But summing up some of Reagan’s statements, Andrew Lang, research director of the Christic Institute, an ecumenical public-policy center, says: “What we have are a series of repetitions that Armageddon may happen in our generation, that Armageddon may happen in the Middle East and that Armageddon may involve Soviet forces.”
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The Bible indicates that “the kings of the entire inhabited earth” will be gathered to Armageddon for destruction, though a “great crowd” in God’s favor will survive. (Revelation 7:14, 15; 16:14, 16; 19:19-21) Armageddon (Hebrew, “Har–Magedon,” meaning, “Mountain of Megiddo”) is not an actual site in the Middle East.
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Armageddon is, therefore, a situation, that is, the world’s assembling or lining up in opposition to Jehovah God. This situation will follow the “sign,” which we are presently witnessing. Armageddon will occur in our generation.—Matthew 24:3-15, 21, 34.
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Armageddon—From a God of Love?
“ARMAGEDDON”—what does this Bible name signify? Introduced each time by a meaningful cover, a series of informative articles on this topic is being featured in the four issues of The Watchtower for January and February 1985. It is hoped that these Scriptural discussions will comfort you with knowledge as to what is the real ARMAGEDDON.
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WHAT do you think of when you see the word “Armageddon?”
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Yet, contrary to such popular opinions, that is not what Armageddon is at all.
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The word “Armageddon” finds its source in the Bible. And there it occurs only once—in the 16th chapter of the book of Revelation.
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After telling how “all the kings of the world” will be gathered together “for the war of the Great Day of God the Almighty,” the prophecy states: “They called the kings together at the place called, in Hebrew, Armageddon.”—Verses 13 to 16, The Jerusalem Bible.
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“The war of the Great Day of God the Almighty”! Clearly, Armageddon is God’s war.
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So devastating will Armageddon be that the carnage is referred to as a reaping of “the harvest of the earth” by means of a sharp sickle.
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The 69 million deaths of two world wars will pale in comparison to those slain in God’s war of Armageddon.
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Would a God of love really bring about such a war as Armageddon?
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Section heading: Why Armageddon Must Be Fought
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Particularly do portions of the book of Revelation come in for censure where God’s judgments upon the wicked are described, culminating in the battle of Armageddon.
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Still, the battle of Armageddon will bring untold suffering and hardship to humankind and will be the most sanguinary war ever fought. (Matthew 24:21, 22; Revelation 14:20; 19:17, 18)
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Actually, it is because of God’s love that the battle of Armageddon must be fought.
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So the battle of Armageddon must be fought to break this stalemate and forever settle the issue of who has the right to rule the earth.
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Jehovah’s actions at Armageddon will be with mankind’s best interests in mind.
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The battle of Armageddon must be fought!
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These have always been products of war. They will occur at Armageddon only because the nations entrench themselves in opposition to theocratic rule.
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Armageddon is actually the best thing that could happen to our globe! It will put an end to the nations’ selfish suicidal course.
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Yes, in order to remove all traces of wickedness forever, end injustice, oppressive false worship, even the cause of sin, and fully sanctify God’s holy name—Armageddon must be fought.
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ARMAGEDDON . . . . . . paves the way for peace
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Since the symbolic goats will be cut off in destruction at Armageddon, the surviving “sheep” will give a righteous start to the post-Armageddon system of things on a Paradise earth.
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19. What kind of start will the post-Armageddon system of things have on earth?
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“ARMAGEDDON”—what does this Bible name signify?
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It is hoped that these Scriptural discussions are comforting you with knowledge as to what is the real ARMAGEDDON.
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Section heading: Armageddon—A War That Leads to True Peace
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He has promised that this will be “the war of the great day of God the Almighty,” the Biblical Armageddon!—Revelation 16:14, 16.
Armageddon, therefore, will be much more than just another war to resolve the present-day political deadlock.
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It therefore provides us with a dramatic preview of Jehovah’s total victory in the forthcoming battle of Armageddon.
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The pressing question is: Will you survive the destruction at Armageddon to enjoy the endless peace? You may ask, ‘What must I do to survive?
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In that case, Armageddon will turn out to be for you, not a war that brings total destruction, but a war that leads to true peace.
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“Jehonadab represented or foreshadowed that class of people now on the earth during the time that the Jehu work is in progress who . . . are out of harmony with Satan’s organization, who take their stand on the side of righteousness, and are the ones whom the Lord will preserve during the time of Armageddon, take them through that trouble, and give them everlasting life on the earth.”
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On the basis of previous mandates given to humans, one of these discourses, entitled “Fill the Earth,” suggested that the “Jonadabs” surviving the great tribulation may, at least for a time, marry and bring forth children in the New Order after Armageddon.—Genesis 1:28; 9:1, 7; see The Watchtower, October 15 and November 1, 1938.
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All prideful worldly nations and other opposers will be humbled at Armageddon.
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Secular publication: “There, under the door at home the other day, was another familiar message in the form of a religious leaflet. ‘Are we nearing Armageddon?’ read the words superimposed over a lowering sky and a bolt of jagged lightning bearing down on us. There was a time when that sort of message would bring indulgent smiles. Suddenly, it no longer seems funny.”—Haynes Johnson, The Washington Post
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Our hope for early deliverance by God’s Kingdom is fortified as we see Bible prophecies being fulfilled in the relentless countdown to Armageddon.
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He stated: “They are expecting the coming change in the world by God after the war of Armageddon,” and not by any human intervention
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□ What is Armageddon?
Armageddon is the worldwide situation where all earthly nations will battle against God’s Son, Christ Jesus, and his angelic army in “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” (Revelation 16:13, 14, 16)—1/1, page 6.
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He added: “Everything possible should be done to remove that threat, so that the Armageddon with which people have been scared for centuries should not happen.”
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On a number of occasions, President Ronald Reagan of the United States has also referred to Armageddon. The New York Daily News of October 30, 1983, quoted him as saying: “I turn back to your ancient prophets in the Old Testament and the signs foretelling Armageddon, and I find myself wondering if—if we’re the generation that is going to see that come about.” More recently, on February 8, 1985, The Wall Street Journal reported: “President Reagan says he thinks and talks about Armageddon, . . . but he isn’t planning for it.”
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Yes, world leaders are talking about Armageddon. But do they realize what that Bible word means? Apparently not, for Armageddon is no man-made holocaust.
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1, 2. (a) What grave danger now threatens mankind? (b) What are world leaders saying about Armageddon?
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3. (a) What really is Armageddon? (b) What is meant by “the final part of the days”?
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And it is this “King of kings” who goes into action at Armageddon to consign all “the kings of the earth,” including those of the “north” and the “south,” to destruction.—Revelation 12:7-10; 19:11-19.
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That will spark the “great tribulation” that Jesus spoke of, culminating in the battle of Armageddon.
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By modestly walking with God, however, we can be led safely through the oncoming storm of Armageddon and survive into a promised new order.
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Therein, he showed from Revelation chapter 17 that, contrary to the expectation of many, World War II would not culminate in Armageddon.
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Sadly, that distracts them from the reality that the inevitable war of God the Almighty at Armageddon is what threatens destruction of all the nations.
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John immediately started to attend the Witnesses’ meetings, and in 1936 three of us brothers, John, Tom, and myself, Stan, motored to Glasgow, Scotland, to hear the then president of the Watch Tower Society, J. F. Rutherford, speak on the subject of Armageddon.
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Armageddon—A War That Leads to True Peace, 2/15
Armageddon—From a God of Love? 2/1
Armageddon, Middle East, and the Bible, 1/15
Armageddon—What It Is Not, 1/1
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