Preparing for Armageddon-Lent 28, 2022

As we continue our study of the Book of Revelation in 40 vignettes during Lent, we see the world stage being set for the battle to beat all battles…the war to beat all other wars.

Revelation 16:12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.

There were few finer roads in the Bible era than a dried-up riverbed.  And so, the “kings from the East” or alternately translated “kings from the land of the rising of the sun” (no comment) would head to the War of Armageddon and the Great Day of the Lord of Heavenly Armies (verse 14). 

This War is demonically inspired by the “unholy trinity”
of the dragon, beast, and false prophet.

Revelation 16:13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty … 16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

Thoughts for today:

When God is in control of plagues and the Last Things of this age, why would God prepare the way, make it easier for the kings from the East (or inhabited world v 14) to arrive for the final battle of good and evil?

No one really knows where the final battle of Armageddon will take place.  Places often suggested are the Jezreel valley, the City of or Mount Megiddo (a Hebrew word that carries over to the Greek for our New Testament word Armageddon).  Other suggestions are Jerusalem, Mount Zion.  All of those locations are in what we call the Middle East.

Have you ever wondered why Israel and particularly Jerusalem are so central to the world’s political affairs when Israel is such a tiny nation, roughly the size of New Jersey?

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.