Wednesday, June 20
What, though, is this great battle of Armageddon? First, the name seems to mean “Mountain of Megiddo”. However, there is no mountain in the area known as Megiddo, but Mount Carmel was located in the vicinity, and scholars have seen the phrase Mountain of Megiddo as a reference to Mount Carmel.
More to the point, Bible students have seen the story of Elijah and false prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel as a symbol, a type to what is going to unfold in Revelation 13.
As seen yesterday, Revelation 16:13, with its reference to the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, points back to events in Revelation 13, the counterfeit trinity that we saw in week nine.
Issues in Revelation 13 start to come to a climax in verses 13 and 14, when the second beast performs supernatural acts, even making “fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men” (Revelation 13:13) . These events then lead to the direct confrontation between God and Satan, between those worshiping the true God and those worshiping the “image to the beast” (Revelation 13:14).
Read 1 Kings 18:1-18. What is happening in this story that reflects some of the issues that will unfold in the final events, as seen in the book of Revelation?
In many ways, what we see here is a stark portrayal of the great controversy. Elijah states the issue very plainly in verse 18: people have forsaken God’s law and are worshiping and following false gods. Has not this always been the issue, regardless of the endless forms and ways in which this evil has been manifested throughout history? We are either worshiping “Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Revelation 14:7, NKJV), or we are worshiping someone or something else. In the case of Revelation 13 and the events that unfold there, instead of worshiping the Lord, people are worshiping the beast and his image. There is no middle ground. We are either on the side of God or on the side of Satan. That’s how important the issues at stake are, now and especially in the battle of Armageddon, where, as we will see in the story on Mount Carmel, the distinction becomes very clear.
