Revelation 16:16

Revelation 16:16. And they gathered them together into the place which is called in the Hebrew tongue Har-Magedon. The ‘they' spoken of in these words refers to neither God nor the angel, but to the unclean spirits of Revelation 16:14. These spirits had gone forth to gather together all who had submitted themselves to the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They now accomplish their mission, but the conflict does not yet take place. The spot where the hosts assemble is mentioned only by anticipation. The battle itself is that of chap. Revelation 19:19-21.

By the mention made of the fact that the name of the place is in the Hebrew tongue Har-Magedon, we are invited to think of the meaning of that compound term, and of the associations connected with it. There can be no doubt as to the composition of the word, Har, a mountain, and Magedon, or Megiddon, or Megiddo, the name of an extensive place in the north of Palestine which has been in all ages the battlefield of the Holy Land, and derived from the Hebrew verb signifying to destroy; so that, apart from any particular associations, the simple meaning of the word is ‘the mountain of destruction.' In addition to this, however, we have to recall to mind two great slaughters at Megiddo mentioned in the Old Testament. The first is that celebrated in the Song of Deborah and Barak (Judges 5:19), and again alluded to in Psalms 83:9. The second is that in which King Josiah fell (2 Kings 23:29), a fall which produced the striking lamentation described in 2 Chronicles 35:25, and which is afterwards referred to by the prophet Zechariah (chap. Revelation 12:11). It is not easy to say which of these two slaughters is most probably present to the mind of St. John in the words before us. In one respect the first may seem most suitable, because there the enemies of Israel were completely overthrown. In another the second appears to be the more appropriate, owing not only to the fact that the mourning is recorded with so much pathos in 2 Chron., but that it becomes in Zechariah the type of mourning on that day when the Lord ‘will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem' (chap. Revelation 12:9). There is no improbability in the supposition that both slaughters may be in the mind of the Seer; and it is at least evident that Megiddo was a name associated with the thought of the sudden and terrible defeat of the enemies of God. In this sense then the word Har-Magedon is to be understood. No particular place either in Palestine or elsewhere is pointed at; nor is any particular event referred to. The word, like Euphrates, is the expression of an idea, the idea that swift and overwhelming destruction shall overtake all who gather themselves together against the Lord. In Joel 3:2 we have a similar use of the name ‘Jehoshaphat.' The meaning of Jehoshaphat is ‘God judges;' and, when the heathen are summoned to that valley, they are really summoned to meet God in judgment.