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From Megiddo can see large swaths of history. Much of the
Jezreel Plain is in the form of an isosceles triangle. The apex is the perfectly
rounded Mt. Tabor. On one line of the triangle, northwest of Tabor, is the
Nazareth ridge. To the right of Tabor is The Hill of Moreh (on the triangle's
other line). Megiddo, eleven miles west of Tabor, lies near the midpoint of the
triangle's base, which is twenty miles long. To the right
of Moreh appear the mountains of Gilboa. Between Moreh and Gilboa the Jezreel
Valley begins its gradual eastward descent to the Jordan. The mountains of
Gilboa are the northern tip of the central mountain range, which includes most
of the well-known First Testament sites.
To these locations one can link a whole series of battles,
which form the background of the prophecy concerning Armageddon.
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The first battle in history to
be recorded in detail: Pharaoh Thutmose III puts down a rebellion led by the
Canaanite king of Megiddo, 1468 BC. (On dating.) The gate through which one
enters the tell was built at about this time. It includes the first ashlars
to appear in the land: a result of Egyptian influence.
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The Israelites, led by Deborah
and Barak, defeat the Canaanites "at Taanach near the waters of Megiddo" (Judges
5:19). Before this battle, a belt of Canaanite city-states controlled
the Jezreel plain. (These cities, in a southerly curve from west to east,
were Yokneam, Megiddo, Taanach, Ibleam, and Beth Shean). The Israelite
tribes were cut off from each other. ("Travelers went by roundabout
ways." Judges 5:6.) Deborah's victory loosened the Canaanite hold -- but
then came the Midianites.
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Gideon, starting from the
spring of Harod at the foot of Gilboa, defeats the Midianites, encamped at
The Hill of Moreh. (Judges 7)
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The Philistines come up via
Aphek on the main trade route and encamp on The Hill of Moreh. From here
they defeat Saul and the Israelites on Mount Gilboa. (1 Samuel 8-31.)
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Following the conquests of his
father David (2 Samuel 8), Solomon builds up Megiddo, along with
Hazor, Gezer and other cities (1 Kings 9:15). (The stone gatehouse,
half of which is visible on the tell of Megiddo, may be Solomonic.)
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In 932 BC, the northern tribes
secede from the Davidic union and form "Israel." About sixty years later,
Ahab, king of Israel, establishes Megiddo as a major military base,
including accommodations for horses and chariots. The remains of the stables
and exercise ground are visible. (The big public grain silo, though from a
century later, may have provided feed for the descendants of Ahab's horses.)
The water shaft is likewise attributed to Ahab.
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In 735 BC, the Assyrians
conquer Megiddo and establish a city here. They exile and disperse the
northerners (or at least their leaders), who lose their national identity. (2
Kings 17:5-6)
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In 609 BC, Josiah, King of
Judah (twelve years after putting through his great religious reform in
accordance with the Book of Deuteronomy) encounters Pharaoh Neco nearby.
(The latter has come up through the pass to join the Assyrians in an
alliance against Babylon.) Neco executes Josiah at Megiddo. (2 Kings
23:29-30) This traumatic event -- the good king dying at the hands of
the wicked -- makes a tremendous impression. Something has gone awry, and it
is waiting to be set right. For centuries the singers of Judah chant laments
for Josiah, including one composed by Jeremiah. (2 Chronicles 35:25)
The laments are probably what the prophet Zechariah refers to as "the
mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo." (Zechariah 12:11 )
Hadad-rimmon was likely a pomegranate plantation, perhaps the Arab village
of Rumaneh, four miles south of the point where the Megiddo pass (Wadi Ara)
enters the Jezreel plain.
All the battles that occurred here, culminating in the trauma of Josiah's
execution, formed the background to the vision of the ultimate battle on
"the great day of God, the Almighty," which would set right all that had
gone awry. According to the Book of Revelation, the event is to take place
at the mound (Heb. ar-) of Megiddo: Armageddon (Revelation 16: 12-16).
At the time Revelation was written, Megiddo itself had not existed for more
than three hundred years.
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The last city at Megiddo dates
to the end of the Persian period, roughly at the time when Alexander the
Great swept through (332 BC). After the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the sixth Roman
legion established itself at a Jewish village on the end of the pass. The
Romans could build and defend aqueducts, so they did not have to sit
directly over the springs. This fact made possible a new form of
urbanization.
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We should mention three more
significant battles that occurred in this plain. In 1260 AD, at the spring
of Harod where Gideon had tested his men, the Mamlukes stopped the Mongols,
who had advanced for two generations undefeated. In 1918, General Edmund
Allenby marched through the pass and drove the Turks and Germans from Afula,
their main base in the area, thus taking lower Galilee for Britain. He then
received the family title, Allenby of Megiddo. During the war of 1948, a few
miles north of Megiddo, the Israelis inflicted a decisive defeat upon the
Iraqi army. That has been the last major battle, so far, 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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