To Armageddon
Day 714, Sunday, July 26
Revelation Chapter 16
The plagues poured out of the bowls of wrath sound familiar. They are similar to the plagues of Egypt and the disasters that accompanied the sounding of the seven trumpets in chapter 8 of Revelation.
Even as the plagues are poured out we are reminded of the power of faithfulness. In verses 5-6, the angel in charge of the waters says, “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were; for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
Then, in verse 7, John says that the altar responds, possibly referring to the souls of the martyrs who cried out from under the alter in Revelation 6:9, “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”
But even as the angel and the altar are praising God, we see that the plagues don’t have the intended response from those who most need to respond. In verse 9 we read, “They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but refused to repent and glorify him.” Even at this late time, God was looking for repentance, not just vengeance.
In verses 14-16, the kings of the whole world are gathered together for battle. This isn’t about a particular battle as much as it is a recognition that in the end the whole world will descend into violence. The place of the battle is called Armageddon.
The location of Armageddon (also Har Megiddon or the Hill of Megiddo) is now Megiddo National Park in northern Israel, near Haifa. Its strategic location has made it the site of many battles over the ages, including in Judges and 2 Kings. Napoleon fought there. Allied and Ottoman forces fought there in World War I. Not all nations of the earth have fought there, but quite a few have.
The amount of blood that has been spilled at Armageddon over the centuries is a tragedy, but perhaps the greatest tragedy is that, as verse 21 says, people have continued to curse God, and they have refused to repent.
-Rev. Mark Fleming
Sunday meditation
Song of Solomon 4:1-15
He
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone. Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. Your neck is like the tower of David, built with courses of stone; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors. Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense. You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of leopards. You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume more than any spice! Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices. You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.
Prayer focus
Even as judgment closes in, Lord, we pray those who have rejected you in the past will recognize their error and repent.