Follow the Lamb by Rob Dalrymple

Author:Rob Dalrymple
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bible. N.T. Revelation--Study and teaching., Bible. N.T. Revelation--Commentaries.
Publisher: Bellingham, WA
Published: 2018-03-11T16:00:00+00:00

To Gather Them Together for the War: Armageddon

One of the more debated topics in the book of Revelation is the war of Armageddon.8 Though “Armageddon” only occurs in Revelation 16:16, there are three very similar references to “gathering” and “the war” (cf. 16:14; 19:19; 20:8).9

In looking at these passages we note first that the phrase “to gather them together for the war” appears in identical form in both Revelation 16:14 and 20:8; Revelation 20 expands on Revelation 16:14, 16:

When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. (20:7–8)

In light of what we observed in chapter 7, it is possible that the identical nature of this phrase in 16:14 and 20:8 may well function as an inclusio. If so, it would have significant implications for how we read the book of Revelation.

It is important to note that this phrase also appears in 19:19, though this time it is not completely identical with the other two occurrences: “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.” This description is very similar to the previous two references. The only difference is that Revelation 19:19 adds the verb “to make” and omits the pronoun “them.” Though the language of Revelation 19:19 is not identical to that of Revelation 16:14 and 20:8, it is nonetheless very close—close enough, in fact, to suppose that the original readers would have likely connected the three passages.

There are additional reasons to suppose that John intended his original readers to connect the “war” in each of the three passages. First, we see that contextually the war in all three passages is universal. In both Revelation 16:14 and 19:19, the war is waged by the “kings” of the whole world. That the war is also universal in Revelation 20:8 is clear in that it includes “the nations which are in the four corners of the earth.” The reference to the “four corners of the earth” affirms the universal nature of this war (recall from chap. 5 that four is commonly used in connection to the fullness of creation).

That these references to the war are depicting the same war is also confirmed by the fact that the wars are waged by the kings in both Revelation 16:14 and 19:19. Though Revelation 20:8 does not mention kings, it does mention Gog and Magog, which represent pagan nations that oppose the people of God.10

In addition, in each instance the war appears to be waged against Christ and His followers. Revelation 19:19 states explicitly that the war is waged “against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.” Similarly, Revelation 20:9 tells us that those who wage the war against Christ in 20:8 “surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.

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