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The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the
great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be
prepared for the kings from the east.
And I saw coming out of the mouth of the
dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false
prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons,
performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them
together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. ("Behold, I am
coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes,
so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.") And they
gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
("Ar-", from the Hebrew har, meaning hill, "-mageddon" from
megiddo.)
In order to control the ancient world, one had to control
Megiddo. Or in the words of Pharaoh Thutmose III (15th century BC), "The capture
of Megiddo is the capture of a thousand cities" (Campaign of Pharaoh Thutmosis
III.) Why was this particular city so important?
Answer: Megiddo sat near the end of a level pass, rich in
springs, which slices through the hills from the coast to the Jezreel Plain.
Ancient travelers between Egypt and Damascus preferred the
Jezreel plain: it gave them a flat stretch across most of the country, whether
they were aiming for Damascus, Acco, Beth Shean and the King's Highway, or
Samaria. A slight basalt ridge, terminating at Megiddo, enabled them to avoid
the muddier parts of the plain in winter.
The archaeological site, a tell, includes an upper city of
twelve acres and a lower city of eighteen.
Archaeologists count up to 22 major strata, from the
Chalcolithic period to the Persian (4th century BC). These include Solomon's
Megiddo (1 Kings 9:15), as well as Ahab's. Later the Assyrians executed
Judah's king Josiah here. This traumatic event resulted in ceremonies of weeping
for Josiah. (2 Chronicles 35:25.) They were probably the rites that the
prophet Zechariah referred to as the "mourning of Hadadrimon in the plain of
Megiddo" (Zechariah 12:11). As prophetic tradition, this reference lies
behind the vision in Revelation concerning Armageddon. (More
on the background of Armaggedon )
There are three major attractions at Megiddo:
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(r),
(c) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The
Lockman Foundation. (www.Lockman.org)
© 2003 Near East Tourist
Agency (NET)
Text © 2003 Stephen Langfur
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