When I was five years old, I learned to swim during a family vacation in Hawaii; but the training wasn’t fun. Standing on the edge of a pool at our hotel, I was suddenly tossed into the water beside my instructor, who stood in the shallow end.
I’m drowning! I thought to myself.
Fighting for dear life to keep my head above water, I fixed my eyes on my instructor and wildly stroked with all my might to reach her outstretched arms, yet she kept backing up.
Obviously, I didn’t drown that day. Instead, eventually, I learned to swim. At age 66, I still enjoy swimming laps in pools to boost my health.
why the obsession with Jerusalem?
As we pass through the turbulent waters of these last days, millions of Bible-believing Christians now have their eyes fixed on Jerusalem. Why? Because they have been instructed by countless prophecy teachers that this ancient, war-torn city is the place to look. “If you want to understand end-time Bible prophecy,” they often claim, “Jerusalem is ground zero—the predicted place where the final battle of Armageddon will be fought against the Jews.”
Just like I energetically swam in that Hawaiian pool when I was a child, as a grown man I have been earnestly studying Bible prophecy for more than 40 years—especially the book of Revelation. Yet in the course of my prayerful research, I have discovered something astonishing. While it is certainly true that “Jerusalem” is mentioned many times in God’s last book, the earthly city now located northeast of Egypt, west of Jordan, and west of Iran isn’t specifically mentioned there—no, not even once.
You read that right.
I repeat: The earthly city of Jerusalem now located in the historic land of Israel isn’t mentioned even one time in the last book of the Holy Bible. Instead, the focus of that monumental prophetic masterpiece is the New Jerusalem, which presently isn’t sitting anywhere on Earth. See for yourself.
Jesus told His followers, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God” (Revelation 3:12; emphasis added).1
John, the writer of Revelation, also wrote, “I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2; emphasis added).
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Revelation 21:9, 10; emphasis added).
Armageddon
The same prophecy teachers who focus on the earthly Jerusalem are similarly misguided about Armageddon. They contend that “it’s a final, military, bloody battle led by the armies from Russia, China, Iran, and the Antichrist against Israelis.” But does the book of Revelation really support this teaching?
The answer may surprise you.
The exact word, Armageddon, appears only once in the entire Bible, in Revelation 16:16. If you open God’s Book and read this passage for yourself, along with the verses immediately before and after it, you will be amazed at what you find—and not find. Here is the word of the Lord.
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. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found (Revelation 16:13–20, KJV2; emphasis added).
First, notice carefully that neither Russia, China, Iran, Muslims, Hezbollah, Hamas, Jews, Israel, or Jerusalem are mentioned in this entire passage. This is striking, especially since the common belief is that Armageddon is a Middle East–centered, military conflict against Israelis and earthly Jerusalem.
Second, at least some of the words in the preceding quotation are clearly symbolic, such as verse 13’s mention of “the dragon” and “the beast”—both of which have “seven heads and ten horns” (Revelation 12:3; 13:1). Will a literal, seven-headed, fire-breathing dragon trot across the globe before Jesus returns? Obviously not. These are inspired symbols that must be interpreted correctly.3
On the side of the enemy, Revelation pinpoints the combined forces of the “dragon,” “beast,” “false prophet” (verse 13), “spirits of devils” (verse 14, KJV), an “great Babylon” (verse 19)—not Russia, China, or Iran. These are the real bad guys crushed at Armageddon.
On heaven’s side are “God Almighty” (verse 14), our Lord Jesus Christ (verse 15), and individual, faithful Christians who “watch and keep [their] garments” (see verse 15), representing the spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness (Revelation 3:18; 7:9–14), which He places on individuals—Jew and Gentile—who repent of every sin and trust His grace. According to Revelation 16:15, they alone survive Armageddon.
Those gathered are “the kings of the earth and of the whole world” (verse 14), not merely Middle East dwellers. When Armageddon hits, God’s voice thunders from “the temple of heaven,” saying, “It is done!” (verse 17). Thus, Revelation 16’s focus is the heavenly temple where Jesus Christ our great High Priest now ministers His precious blood in our behalf (Hebrews 8:1, 2), not a supposedly future rebuilt Jewish temple on Earth.
How about the effects of Armageddon? A massive earthquake rocks the globe (Revelation 16:18), “the cities of the nations” crumble into dust (verse 19), and “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” (verse 20). Thus, Armageddon is global, not local. The entire earth is decimated.
According to Revelation 16, Armageddon is vastly bigger than a military conflict in the region of Tel Aviv. Its scope is global, Satan’s forces are worldwide, and the deliverance of God’s people is universal. Ultimately, it’s Lucifer’s entire Babylonian empire (representing all false religions and deceptive doctrines) that gets smashed to pieces when King Jesus descends from the sky with His heavenly army of holy angels to rescue His loyal followers (Matthew 24:27, 30, 31; Revelation 17:12–14; 19:11–16, 19).
getting ready for the end
The most important question is: Will we be ready for the day of the Lord? In the verse right before the only time Armageddon is mentioned in Scripture, Jesus Christ has told us exactly how to get ready. His specific counsel is, “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” (Revelation 16:15, 16, KJV).
There it is. Jesus Christ’s get-ready-for-Armageddon appeal is for all true Christians to “watch” an “keep” their garments of His righteousness (see also Revelation 3:18) by forsaking all sin, trusting Him fully, following Bible truth, and daily walking in obedience by His grace. Again, these alone will be prepared for Earth’s last conflict.
In conclusion, yes, present-day Middle East conflicts are heartbreaking. Deadly skirmishes involving Israelis and Muslims, in which innocent people suffer, sicken the soul. Is peace possible? I don’t know; but whatever happens, we do know that the battle of Armageddon itself is worldwide, not Middle East–centered and that the primary enemies are Lucifer, his invisible army of devils, and Babylon the Great. Jesus Christ is now appealing to each of us (Jew and Gentile) to personally prepare for “the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14, KJV) by repenting of our sins, trusting His grace, and being clothed with His righteousness. According to Revelation 16:13–21, these are the real players and end-time issues.
Discovering truth isn’t always easy, just like it wasn’t easy when I first learned how to swim in Hawaii. Nevertheless, learning how to safely glide through water has been a blessing to me ever since.
As the end of the world approaches, let’s be found among those who are “looking to Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2), our heavenly Instructor. Let’s also set our sights, not on any earthly city but on the New Jerusalem, where we will someday live forever with God, the holy angels, and His blood-bought people.
This is no time to be duped by Armageddon illusions.
Stay close to Jesus and His Word.
Steve Wohlberg is the speaker/director of White Horse Media and the author of nearly 50 books, including Israel and the End of the World: Separating Fact From Fiction. He can be reached at whitehorsemedia.com.
1. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this article are from the New King James Version®.
2. Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version.
3. To discover the meaning of these symbols, see the author’s book The Light at the End, published by Pacific Press®.
