Dr Paul Allen

The place called “Armageddon” is mentioned only once in the Bible. John explains that demonic spirits assembled the kings of the world for battle on the great day of the Lord “to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon” (Rev. 16:16 NIV). The outcome of this battle between the forces of evil and the almighty God is described in Revelation 17:14 and 19:11–21 (and, some argue, in 20:7–10). Although not explicitly connected with the name Armageddon, a final battle between the assembled wicked nations and Israel’s God is mentioned repeatedly in the Old Testament. The battle of Armageddon brings the final defeat of the evil forces that rebel against God and resist Jesus Christ. It is not an actual military battle in Israel. A literal fulfillment would have been theoretically possible in the first century when armies fought on horses with swords and spears and arrows. However, even then it would have been impossible to picture all the people of the earth assembled at Megiddo in the...

In Revelation 13, John describes the incarnation of evil, a figure inspired by Satan who opposes Jesus Christ and who seeks to usurp his place among the inhabitants of the earth as an object of worship and loyalty. He parodies Jesus’ death and resurrection in order to hide the fact that he has lost the battle against God. He deceives people with false teaching and seeks to validate his claims to divine authority with signs and wonders. He persecutes Christians who refuse to acknowledge him through economic discrimination and death. He will be defeated when Jesus returns. There are reasons to regard John’s description of the Beast from the sea as prophecy of a future historical figure, patterned on “prototypes” in Jewish history and in contemporary history. And there are reasons to understand John’s description of the Beast from the sea as a symbolic portrayal of the world system—past, present, and future, from Jesus’ first coming to Jesus’ second coming—that idolizes human authority...