This is a very important question, and one I believe that many in the world do not truly understand.  ARMAGEDDON is the name in Scripture for that place where all the armies of the earth will be gathered to fight against the Lord Jesus when He returns in power to destroy all who oppose Him in the Great Day of the Lord.  It is a Hebrew word which I believe to mean “mountain of slaughter,” and this I read in the Moresh Bible Dictionary. The word “Megiddo” appears to refer to the same place.  We read of ARMAGEDDON in Revelation 16:16-18: “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great”.

Now, I have heard people refer to ARMAGEDDON  as “the end of the world,” or the cataclysmic result of  an accidental  war among countries resulting in multiple nuclear launches which once begun, no one can contain—the uncontrolled war between the nations of men that no one wins, resulting in the destruction of life as we know it. We see world events seemingly spinning out of control, and the specter of nuclear holocaust looming before us.  I well remember the “fallout drills” of the 1960s, and all the fear of the Cold War, but technically this is not at all a random event.  This battle is not men against men, but rather men against the Lord Jesus.  This is a judgment that will surely come to pass, given the history and course of mankind.  It will result from man’s rebellion against God’s rule, and it  was prophesied by the Holy Spirit, relating to  things that will come to pass in the end times, which God will allow to unfold at a time yet to come in the history of this earth.  All we really know is that wickedness among the inhabitants of the earth will become more blatant and much worse, until a time referred to as the Tribulation.” The great storms and wars we see now, the killings and diseases that seem so out of control that we can witness today are only the preliminary signs, or “birth pangs” of the times of the Tribulation. This period of time, seven years long, will occur after the church, composed of true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, have been taken up to Heaven to be with the Lord, and their positive effect on the world has been removed.  Then, the nations of earth will no longer follow the Lord at all and will at length welcome the Antichrist spoken of in Revelation and other places in Scripture. Then, in the last years of the tribulation when wickedness has reached its climax, the judgments of the Lord will be poured out upon the earth, and the final one is this 7th bowl which we have just read about; it is the last of the judgments of God during the tribulation period. And yet, the world does not repent. 

Then comes that great day of the Lord, when the Lord Jesus will come back to the earth in power and destroys those who oppose him in a great battle here at ARMAGEDDON. To read about this battle, we go to Revelation 19:11-21 as follows: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon Him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war…And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 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;

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. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

What a frightening scene! Now, you might be wondering whether Christians need to be fearful of such terrible events as those judgments of God on the earth up to and at ARMAGEDDON?  Actually, I believe that in Luke 21, the Lord Jesus was speaking to His disciples of these very same events.  However, instead of a dreadful time or event that His disciples should fear, He instructed them to take courage—to look up, as their redemption was nigh at hand when they see these things come to pass.  Here in Luke 21, in verses 25-28, the Lord Jesus tells us, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man (this is the Lord Jesus –my emphasis) coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. If you continue reading in Revelation beyond chapter 16, you will soon see that rather than the end of things, it is the beginning of the earthly reign of Christ Jesus, His thousand-year reign marked by peace and righteousness.

And so, my dear friend, the question now becomes this: do you find the events in the world frightening, and wonder what will be the outcome? Or, are you a child of God and can take courage in the knowledge that God is completely in control, and that the Lord Jesus will in fact come in power and glory and set things right?  To be a child of God, you must be a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Have you been born again—saved from the judgment for your sins by the Grace of God?  In Acts 17:30, 31  the Apostle Paul tells us, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.”  (402.6)  (SF)