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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20).
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September 3, 2017
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Contents:
1) Armageddon (Tom Edwards)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
Armageddon
Tom Edwards
To the premillennialist, Armageddon will be where the final decisive
battle of the world will take place. According to their doctrine, it
will occur when Jesus returns at the end of the seven-year Great
Tribulation to set up His kingdom on earth for a thousand years. Of
course, if it were to be a literal warfare, as they teach, would not
a weaponless ant, in comparison, have more probability in defeating
a mighty herd of stomping elephants than for the forces of evil to
have any success in triumphing over Christ in this final conflict
between good and evil?
Armageddon is mentioned just once in the Bible: “And he gathered
them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon”
(Rev. 16:16, KJV).
It is rendered in the New American Standard Bible as “Har-Magedon.”
“Har” is a Hebrew word used in 497 verses of the Old Testament and
translated as "mountains" (161), “mountain” (156), “mount"
(118), “hill country” (91), “hill” (18), and “hills” (6), to mention
most of them. “Magedon” is referring to “Megiddo.” So together it
can mean the “hill of Megiddo.”
Some archaeologists today refer to the “tell of Megiddo.” For a
“tell,” as Daniel Webster points out, is “an artificial mound
consisting of the accumulated remains of one or more ancient
settlements (often used in Egypt and the Middle East as part of a
place name)” (Random House Webster's College Dictionary). And
at Megiddo, 25 layers of settlement, which have been built atop each
other over a period of many centuries, have been discovered!
According to the Jewish Virtual Library, “The city of
Megiddo...ceased to exist after the Persian invasion of Palestine
some 2,300 years ago and, today, nothing is left but the ruins of
what once was a regional administrative and military center during
the reign of King Solomon.”
So though the city of Megiddo no longer is, yet the area still
remains; and it is being used symbolically in Revelation 16:16
because of what that region, down through the centuries, has been
noted for. For it is where many armed combats and deaths have
occurred. “In the history of Israel it had been the scene of
never-to-be-forgotten battles... These low hills around Megiddo,
with their outlook over the plain of Esdraelon, have witnessed
perhaps a greater number of bloody encounters than have ever stained
a like area of the world's surface” (International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia).
Interestingly, if you do a Google search for Megiddo, you might
first of all find mention of the “Battle of Megiddo” way back in the
15th century B.C., which involved Pharaoh Thumose III and his army
against “a large rebellious coalition of Canaanite vassal states led
by the king of Kadesh.” It is said to be “the first battle to have
been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.”
The HistoryChannel.com not only mentions of it being the first in
that, but also "the first recorded battle with a body count, and the
first use of the composite bow.”
Megiddo, Jezreel, Esdraelon (which is the Greek rendition of
“Jezreel”), and Mount Gilboa are all places near the same area.
Others battles fought in that area:
* The King of Megiddo was one of the many kings that Joshua and the
children of Israel had fought against and defeated (Josh. 12:7,21),
and that latter verse is where we first see mention of “Megiddo” in
the Bible.
* The judge Deborah, along with Barak, had defeated Canaanite kings
“near the waters of Megiddo” (Judges 5:1,19).
* It was in the area of Megiddo where Gideon, with just 300 of his
men, had defeated the large Midianite army (Judges 7).
* Israel's first king, Saul, and three of his sons (Jonathan,
Abinadab, and Malchishua) were all killed in the area of Megiddo (1
Chron. 10:6; 1 Sam. 31:1-3, 8).
* Ahaziah, the 6th king of Judah, and a wicked one at that, had fled
to Megiddo, after being struck by an arrow; and there he died (2
Kings 9:27).
* The archers of Pharaoh Neco had mortally wounded Josiah, a good
king of Judah, at Megiddo (2 Chron. 35:22-23), who had come out to
battle against him (vv. 21-22); and all Jerusalem and Judah mourned,
and Jeremiah chanted a lament (vv. 24-25). (The account in 2
Chronicles indicates that the "death" of King Josiah, recorded in 2
Kings 23:29, must have been a fatal wound he received in Megiddo
that led to that death, though not immediately.)
The great mourning that was coming to Jerusalem is likened to “the
mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo” (Zech. 12:11),
which is referred to as the national mourning over the death of King
Josiah.
It has been said that there were no fewer than 34 wars that were
carried out in the area of Megiddo, much which had to do with the
invading army's attempt to control the plain of Jezreel for their
own financial gain.
So all of this adds to the symbolism of the area of Megiddo and
should not be thought of as the specific geographical location where
a literal, physical battle will take place, sometime in the future,
between Christ and those opposed to Him. For much in the
Revelation letter is highly symbolic. This can also be inferred from
the word “signified” in Revelation 1:1. The verse says, “The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto
his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and
signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (KJV). Daniel
Webster shows the primary meaning of “signify” to be “1. to make
known by signs, speech, or action.” So those signs are the symbolic
imagery often used in the Revelation letter to convey God's message.
And note, too, that God revealed to John things that “must shortly
come to pass” (Rev. 1:1).
The Revelation letter was written mainly to help Christians at that
time who were undergoing an intense persecution for their faith.
Life was difficult for them. Some were boycotted and no longer able
to make a good income from their businesses; some were being
persecuted in other ways; some were being imprisoned; some were
being tortured; and some had even died as martyrs for the cause of
Christ. But the message of the Revelation letter was to bring hope
to all of them. That they could know that regardless of what they
would have to endure for the Lord – even if it meant losing their
own lives – they would ultimately be the victors! And their victory,
because of Jesus, would eventually lead to its fullness in heaven's
glory for all eternity!
The battle of Armageddon mentioned in Revelation 16:16 is seen more
of in Revelation 19:11-21: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a
white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of
fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on
Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe
dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the
armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp
sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will
rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the
fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh
He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’
“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a
loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, ‘Come,
assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh
of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and
the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of
all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.’
“And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies
assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against
His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet
who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those
who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his
image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns
with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came
from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were
filled with their flesh.”
This quote from Revelation 19 is not referring to the time of the
final judgment. Rather, it pertains to many centuries ago, when
Rome, the "beast" of Revelation 19:19, was still that ruling empire
that was bringing persecution upon the Lord's people. As
Rodney M. Miller writes, "Thus, the bowls of wrath in Revelation 16
represent God's judgment on this wicked empire that has
single-handedly sought to destroy God's people. ...the bowls of
wrath described not an end of the world scene, but a coming of
Christ on the Roman Empire. ... The meaning of the battle is a
decisive conflict between truth and evil. The Judgment of Christ on
a pagan empire who sought to remove the force of Christianity from
the world will in truth be a decisive struggle. ...Revelation
19:1-10 shows the rejoicing of the saints when the truth has
triumphed and the cause of the Lord has been vindicated. Rome
has been brought down" (The Lion & the Lamb on Planet Earth, pp.
200, 201).
To an intensely persecuted people of that day, God’s word gave hope
— and it can do the same today! As Paul writes to the Romans:
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? Just as it is written, 'FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO
DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.'
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who
loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35-39).
The Christians of John's day could receive encouragement through the
Revelation letter. Its principle of the Lord triumphing over evil
and, thus, enabling His people to also have that victory because of
Him, is still true for all of God's children today!
(All Scriptures from the NASB, unless otherwise indicated.)
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-2-
News & Notes
Let us continue in our prayers for all who have been affected by
Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey; and now also for those that
Irma has reached and others who will be in its path, along with the
ongoing situation of fires in Montana covering more than a million
acres.
We extend our condolences to all the family and friends of LaDonna
Andrews who passed away September 7, after battling with
cancer for about a year. Though her passing is sad for all her
loved ones, yet they can have comfort in their grief by knowing that
she was a Christian, along with all their good memories of her.
Doctors are trying to determine how to help Kelli Fleeman be
more alert and keep awake. It has been difficult to bring her
out of a sleep state. She had another MRI on the 6th and an
EEG all night. On the 7th, following a lumbar puncture to the
spine, she was able to keep awake more so then she had been over the
last couple weeks. She knew all the senders for the fifty or so
birthday cards that she had received and had the lengthiest
conversation in weeks with her husband. She was also able to be on
the phone with her sisters, which was her first use of the phone in
a couple weeks. Her husband writes, "As we know, she's in there; if
they can just find a way to waken her without jamming needles in
her."
Shirley Davis is now back home, following the surgery she
had on her shoulder and a temporary stay with one of her
sisters. The shoulder pain, as she heals, has been difficult
for her.
Charles Crosby is still healing from his recent knee surgery
and continues on strong antibiotics.
Doyle Rittenhouse is having some back trouble, which occurs
from time to time, and is on a muscle relaxer. He has also
been experiencing "spinning" for several days, which causes
imbalance.
Joyce Rittenhouse, who had been having bad reactions to
medication for kidney infection, following a stone that had passed,
has also been down with a virus and sinus allergies.
Also for prayer: Cedell Fletcher, Ronald Renfrow, Judy
Daugherty, Pat Joyner, Misty Thornton, Michelle Rittenhouse,
Rachael Gerbing, Cheryl Crews, Cicily Thompson, and Mary
Vandevander.
WordPress version for this week's bulletin:
https://thegospelobserver.wordpress.com/2017/09/09/the-gospel-observer-september-3-2017/
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17;
John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins (Mark
16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith, living for the Lord; for, if not,
salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday services: 9:00 a.m. (Bible class); 10 a.m. & 5 p.m.
(worship)
Tuesday: 7 p.m. (Ladies' Bible class)
Wednesday: 7 p.m. (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 614-8593
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://thegospelobserver.wordpress.com (Gospel Observer
website with pictures in WordPress)
http://thomastedwards.com/go (Older version of Gospel Observer
website without pictures, but back to March 1990)
http://tebeaustreetchurchofchrist.org/
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html (audio sermons)