ARMAGEDDON

The word "Armageddon" is used only once in the bible at Revelation 16:16: And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (King James Version). Some versions use the term "Har-Magedon" instead: (New World Translation, American Standard Version, The Bible in Living English). What does the bible say concerning this Armageddon? To get the whole picture we need to read the passage which deals with this word. (Using the New World Translation):
Revelaton 16:13-14 And I saw three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the wild beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they 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. Verse 15: Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments, that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness. Verse 16: And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.

The "them" in verse 16 is the kings of the earth as spoken of in verses 12-14. Since verse 14 speaks of these "kings" as being gathered to the war of God, and verse 16 says they're gathered to a place called Armageddon, it stands to reason that the war of God is Armageddon. A few pages later Revelation continues this thought: Revelation 19:11,19,21: And I saw the heaven opened and Look! a white horse. And the one seated upon it is called Faithful and True and he judges and carries on war in righteousness... And I saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war with the one seated on the horse and with his army...were killed off with the longsword of the one seated on the horse... These verses confirm Armageddon is a war between God's Government and all the earthly governments. The one seated upon the white horse is Jesus Christ leading God's army, as Revelation 17:14 indicates. Since Yahweh is God, His rulership will prevail, as shown in Daniel 2:44 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite." Therefore, Armageddon is when God causes what is essentially a universal revolution: His Kingdom overthrows human government and becomes the sole government, reigning in love and kindness forever. Yahweh's ridding the world of all human government and establishing His own is a theme that ties the entire bible together. Some scriptures showing this are: 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Isaiah 9:7, Daniel 2:44, Romans 14:17, 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, James 2:5, Revelation 11:15.

Will there be any indication of when this war is about to occur? Yes. The scriptures give us signs to look for when the time period just before Armageddon draws near. People refer to this period as "The End Times", "The Last Days" or "The Great Tribulation".

GREAT TRIBULATION / END TIMES
The End Times are referred to in only a few places in the bible. In Matthew chapter 24, Christ's disciples asked him to tell them what the signs of his impending return will be (24:3). Jesus started out by telling them the precursory signs that happen just before the end times: The existence of false Christs, increase of wars, food shortages, earthquakes, pestilence, famine, etc. (24:4-8). Then he goes on to say others will deliver his faithful people into persecution and kill them on account of his name (24:9). Many will betray one another, false prophets will mislead many, and the good news of Yahweh's coming kingdom will be preached worldwide (24:10-14). Further, he warns us to keep praying for endurance because it is after these things that a Great Tribulation, such has never occured before nor will occur again, will commence (24:19-22). Many believe this Great Tribulation period will last about 3 1/2 years, basing this on Daniel 7:23-25, 12:6-7, and Revelation 11:2, 13:5, along with Luke 21:24.

To our knowledge the bible does not indicate how long this pre-Tribulation time period will be. We must keep on the watch, for the day of Yahweh will come as a thief in the night upon us (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Therefore we must keep watch for the Great Tribulation that precedes Armageddon. When the people start saying "Peace and security", that is when destruction will fall upon them (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

We are forewarned that during this time of Great Tribulation there will continue to be false Christs and false prophets performing great signs and wonders and misleading many, so we are not to listen to these no matter how genuine they may seem (24:23-26). (some people believe false religion will be destroyed at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, however this passage shows false religion will still be in full swing during this period) Also we can look at the scriptures at 2 Timothy 3:1-5 to learn more things to watch for: Perilous times will come (3:1), greed, pride, blasphemy and disobedience will prevail (3:2), people will lose their natural affection for each other, break treaties and agreements, lie about each other, hate those who do good (3:3), betray one another, greedily pursue pleasures, be overly prideful (3:4), and have a shallow form of godliness (3:5). The scriptures tell us God will pour out some of His spirit onto the people during the last days and people will prophesy and see visions and such (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:16-19). This is supported by the verses at Daniel 12:4,9-10. Keeping in mind that Christ also warned us that there will be false prophets during this time, we can deduce that there will be both true prophets and false prophets during this time. How will we know one from another? Scripture says we are to test the inspired words to see if they are true (1 John 4:1) and make sure of all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and to keep testing whether we are still in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). For more information about this situation you can refer to the page titled "False Prophets" . In 2 Peter 3:3-4 we are told that in the Last Days there will arise ridiculers and those who won't believe the time is nearing the end. Immediately after this Great Tribulation, Jesus tells us to watch for signs such as the sun being darkened, the moon not giving its light, stars falling and the powers of the heavens being shaken (24:29, which corresponds with Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, and Revelation 6:12). Next is when the sign of the Son of Man appears to everyone worldwide (Matthew 24:30); this is when the genuine Christ arrives. This is paralleled at Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:1-37. To read more information regarding Christ's Return, please refer to the page on this website titled "Christ's Return".

Now, one thing we'd like to bring out is some believe God will protect them from harm during the Great Tribulation. Is this true? According to the bible, those who are true followers of God and Jesus will have even more danger during the Great Tribulation, not less! For example, true believers will be delivered into death by family members (Luke 21:16), delivered into courts and kicked out of places of worship (Matthew 10:17, Mark 13:9), killed (John 16:2) and other such misery. The bible also warns we will be hated and persecuted just like Christ (John 15:18-20). It is necessary for true followers of God and Jesus to have these trials, for this is what tests the quality of our faith and sifts out the false followers (Romans 5:3, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:7).

So let us all continue in constant prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and encourage each other as we see the day coming near (Hebrews 10:25). Search for the narrow gate to life (Matthew 7:13-14) and call upon the name of our God so as to be concealed from His anger (Zephaniah 2:3).