The sixth vial Revelation 16v12-16.
"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up; that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame). And He gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."
We first of all have to consider the terms of reference.
We first of all have to consider the terms of reference.
- The river Euphrates. - This river has played a pivotal role in the history of the world. It appears twenty one times in scripture and is first mentioned in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2v14). The last mention is here in (Revelation 16v12), so it features in the bible from beginning to end. It is called "the great river" in many portions of scripture. It is great because of its size, being approximately eighteen hundred miles long, beginning at the foot of Mount Ararat and ending in the Persian Gulf. It is also great because of its associations in scripture in the divine purposes; it is a key river in the history of the world. It is generally considered to be the division between east and west. It is defined as the northern border of the land given to Israel through Abraham. Solomon's kingdom briefly stretched as far as this river (1st Kings 4v21; see also Deuteronomy 1v7; and Genesis 15v18). It appears twice in the book of the revelation, here and in chapter 9v14 and is the area around which the end of the world as we know it will take place. The importance of this river in Holy Scripture can be seen in reading the following; Deuteronomy 11v24; Joshua 1v4; 2nd Samuel 8v3; 2nd Kings 23v29; 1st Chronicles 18v3; Jeremiah 13v4-7; Jeremiah 46v10 & Jeremiah 51v63.
- The kings of the East. - This is the first and only time the kings of the East are mentioned in Holy Scripture. The expression can be rendered the "kings from the lands of the rising sun". In strict geographical terms this would mean all kingdoms east of the river Euphrates. The fact that they have never been mentioned before suggests they have been in the background of world history hitherto. There is mention in Daniel of "the kings of the north" and "the kings of the south" (Daniel chapter 11 also Jeremiah 26). It is universally accepted that the kingdom of the beast is a predominantly western alliance and so the emergence of the kings of the east in these end times is very significant. In modern times the countries involved may be Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Burma, and countries in this area of the world. None of these have so far been involved greatly in world events, the Japanese were involved in World War 2, but because of Hiroshima, and the happenings there, they vowed they would never again in their language "awaken the sleeping bear." However, as we shall see, in the end times things will change.
- Armageddon. - Armageddon refers to both a place and a principle. The actual place is the valley of Megiddo in Northern Israel. This is an extremely flat plane some twenty miles long by fourteen miles wide but would not be large enough to contain a world gathering of super powers in terms of military personnel, so Armageddon is simply typical of a number of places where this final battle will be fought. A comparison with other scriptures would reveal that the actual extent of the battlefield is two hundred miles long and would extend from south of Edom as far as the Euphrates river. Armageddon is "Har -Megiddo" known as the mountain of a great multitude or the mountain of slaughter. This war to end all wars is described as Armageddon because it was in the valley of Megiddo that many fierce battles have taken place; in Judges chapter 4 in connection with Barak and the Canaanites and in Judges chapter 7 in connection with the Midianites. Also King Saul and King Josiah lost their lives in the valley of Megiddo. Not only does Armageddon refer to many places it will also involve many end time battles as Isaiah chapter 63, Joel chapter 3, Zechariah chapter 14 would indicate. Armageddon will bring the world as we know it to an end, but it will be the most one sided war ever. It will be the ultimate show of man's pride and hatred and tendency to violence, and therefore exposure of the true nature of sin involving all nations on earth.
Amazon bookshelf George Neilly
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