What is the battle of Armageddon? When will it come?

The Battle of Armageddon

“¹² Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. ¹³ And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings ^[g]of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

¹⁵ “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

¹⁶ And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, ^[h]Armageddon.”

Revelation 16:12-16

Armageddon represents the last battle of the great controversy between Christ and Satan fought out on the battlefield of this earth. The Euphrates represents the people over whom mystical Babylon holds sway and the drying up of its waters represents the eventual withdrawal of their support from Babylon. This removal of human support from mystical Babylon will be the last barrier to her ultimate defeat and punishment. They do so right before God destroys the armies of the Antichrist as predicted in Bible prophecy (Revelation 16:16; 20:1-3, 7-10).

Note the following summary points about the battle of Armageddon from Revelation chapter 16:

1. It is the last great battle of earth’s history and it is still future (verse 16).
2. It is the battle of that great day of God (verse 14).
3. “The great river Euphrates” is symbolic of human beings (verse 12).
4. The three “unclean spirits” (verse 13) represent the papacy, apostate Protestantism, and spiritualism (or paganism).
5. These three spirits constitute the agencies that will summon the nations to battle (verse 13).
6. The gathering agencies—three unclean spirits—are religious in nature and the forces gathered are political and military.
7. The preparations for the battle take place under the sixth plague, but the battle itself is fought under the seventh plague (verse 12).
8. In one phase it will be a real battle between real people employing real weapons (verse 14).
9. There will be bloodshed on an unprecedented scale (verse 14).
10. All the nations of earth will be involved (verse 12).
11. Eventually Christ and the armies of heaven intervene and bring the battle to a close (verse 15).
12. The living saints will witness the battle, but not as direct participants.

In His service,
BibleAsk Team