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Our Past in Present Tense

Is Armageddon near?

Dr. Yehuda Shabatay                                                                            .
San Diego Jewish Times, June 16, 2006

On several occasions, when the world was enwrapped in a seemingly endless turmoil, a few individuals foresaw the coming of a new era in history. While prophets like Isaiah and Micah, who lived around 700 BCE, looked forward to an age in which “nation shall not lift up sword against nation” (Is. 2:4, Micah 4:3), others predicted a major catastrophe. Already the first “classical” prophet Amos (c. 750 BCE) wrote about “the day of the Lord” that would be “not light, but darkness, blackest night without a glimmer” (5:20).

In the same spirit, the War Scroll that was found near the Dead Sea tells about an extended battle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness in which good would triumph over evil only after several major upheavals. But the best-known expectation of a cataclysmic end of time is in the Book of Revelation, which constitutes the last section of the New Testament. Someone named John, who probably lived toward the end of the first century CE, foresaw the day in which “demonic spirits ... assemble the kings of the world for battle on the great day of God the Almighty ... And they [would] assemble them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon” (16:14, 16).

Thus Webster’s Dictionary defines Armageddon as “the place where the last, decisive battle between the forces of good and evil will be fought before the Day of Judgment.” Where is Armageddon located? For the overwhelming majority of the Christian faithful, that makes no difference at all, because the concept of a final warfare has far greater significance than the site on which it will occur. Still, in past centuries several people have been curious about the actual location of the fight and have researched the origin of the term Armageddon — which is spelled in various ways in different translations, including Harmagedon. Keeping in mind that spelling, the majority of modern day scholars maintain that it is the Greek version of Har (or Mount in Hebrew) Megiddo, a town located in the Valley of Jezre’el, southeast of present day Haifa. That interpretation is logical because there is no letter H in the ancient Greek alphabet, and the letter N is a usual suffix in the names of numerous locales in Greece.

But why would such a decisive fight take place near Megiddo? The answer to that question can be found both in earlier biblical books and in the history of the region in which Megiddo can be found. The Book of Joshua specifically mentions the defeat of the king of Megiddo by the Israelites and the allotment of his territory to the tribe of Manasseh (12:21). Judges 5:19 tells about a battle by the “waters of Megiddo,” and other historical books, too, mention the town’s name, mostly in connection with armed conflicts (e.g., I Kings 9:15; II Kings 9:27, II Chron. 35:22, etc.). Even more important is the fact that Megiddo was located on a major superhighway called Via Maris (Road to the Sea — in Latin) through which Mesopotamian armies marched to the Mediterranean and Egyptian forces to the northeast. Thus, in the course of its 6,000 year long history, Megiddo experienced innumerable battles by a wide variety of large and small powers.

The last and most difficult question is, “When will Armageddon occur?” It is important to note that none of the biblical prophets — with the exception of Daniel — ventures to give even the slightest indication of the time in which the “end of days” will take place. As a matter of fact, Daniel, whose book is not in the prophetic section of the Hebrew Bible, but in the so-called Miscellaneous Writings (Ketuvim), makes extremely vague calculations. He speaks about “a time, times, and half a time,” and the closest he gets to specifics is when he states that the end will come “after the time the regular offering is abolished… 1290 days” (12:7, 11). No wonder that Daniel expects to witness the new era only after his death and resurrection. Similarly, the Book of Revelation’s forecast is subject to virtually any interpretation. Although the author anticipates Jesus’s second coming “soon” (22:12, 20), he foresees the ultimate redemption in a period of “thousand years” (20:4-6).

One wonders whether the author’s forecast of a “thousand years,” should be taken literally or figuratively. Only a short while ago, as we approached 2,000 CE (then 2001 CE), many Christians anticipated that the millennium to which Revelation refers will arrive. A large number of visitors still come to modern Megiddo, “drawn both by the site’s dramatic history and its apocalyptic mystique…” An innovative on-site multimedia program offers them a vivid perspective on the reality “that lies behind Armageddon’s grim image” (N. A. Silberman, Secrets of the Bible, p. 86). But, whether or not the concept of the “millennium” is interpreted precisely, it is “often seen as the fulfillment of the promise of Abraham that he would inherit the land,” contained in chapter 15 of the Book of Genesis (Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible, p. 900).

In that context, the resurrection of the Jewish State, the ingathering of the exiles, and most obviously, Israel’s conquest of all the Promised Land in 1967, signaled to many Christians — and to some Jews as well — that the “end” is near. Another important sign of the fulfillment of ancient prophecies is the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Someone, to whom we refer as “Isaiah,” who lived in the Babylonian exile, was convinced that God promised to “[re]create Jerusalem as a joy and her people as a delight” (65:18). Similarly, the Book of Revelation anticipates a “new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (21:2).

No wonder that the rapidly growing, reunited city of Jerusalem is considered by a large number of our contemporaries an exciting development that assures us of the forthcoming “end of days.” When that occurs, “never again shall be heard there the sounds of weeping and wailing” (Is. 65:19), or in Revelation’s words: God “will wipe every tear from [His peoples’] eyes and death will be no more” (Rev. 21:4; cf. Is. 25:8). The only problem is that all those who look forward to Armageddon believe in a terrible warfare in which most of humankind will be destroyed, including “the beloved city” of Jerusalem (Rev. 20:9) — before reaching the ideal conditions described in the Book of Revelation. Frankly, I would rather opt for our prophets’ vision whereby the “end of days” will arrive when we “beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks” (Is. 2:4; Micah 4:3).

Dr. Yehuda Shabatay received rabbinical training in Budapest, a master of jurisprudence degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and his doctorate in Hebrew literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York. He was engaged in Jewish educational administration over most of his career and now teaches Jewish studies and history at Palomar College and San Diego State University.