What is Armageddon?
For Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians, Armageddon is symbolic—a metaphor for the struggle between good and evil, with good eventually prevailing in some undefined way at some unknown future time. These old, established churches do not require Armageddon to be a literal end-of-days war between good and evil. They feel secure because their congregations are vast, spanning nations and continents.
For smaller Christian groups, however, such as Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, and various evangelical sects, Armageddon serves as a powerful recruitment tool: “The end is at hand! Join us or die!”
Doctrinal details differ, but the essential teaching is the same: to survive Armageddon, you must remain loyal to your church leadership. This is the position of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who teach that Armageddon will bring eternal death to everyone who is not loyal to “Jehovah God and his Organization.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught that the great tribulation will begin with the destruction of all other religions—except their own, of course. Then, after a short period of respite, Jehovah will turn his attention to the governments of the world. They once taught that when the great tribulation began, it would be too late for anyone to change their mind. Recently, however, that doctrine was amended. Now they claim that wayward ex-Witnesses and unbelieving family members will still have a brief opportunity to “come to their senses” and return to the Organization before it is too late.
What Jehovah’s Witnesses have always taught, and continue to teach, is that God will eternally destroy the billions of earth’s inhabitants who are not loyal Witnesses. Only a few million will survive to enter the “New World.” Here is how they expressed it in their own publication:
Pay Attention to Prophecy
“However, is it not a shocking thing for Jehovah to destroy this entire world system, with no part of it ever to be restored? Perhaps some feel as Abraham felt about Sodom and Gomorrah, that if only 50, or 45, or 30, or 20, or even 10 righteous persons could be found out there in the world, then ‘the Judge of all the earth’ should not sweep it all away. (Genesis 18:23–33) But the prophetic word makes it plain that Satan’s world is unrighteous from top to bottom and that it will be completely wiped out! (Jeremiah 25:31–33; Zephaniah 3:8) The only flesh saved out of that ‘great tribulation’ will be, as Jesus himself stated, the dedicated ‘flesh’ of his chosen anointed ones and of their sheeplike companions. No others are counted righteous in Jehovah’s sight.” (The Watchtower, November 15, 1983, page 24, paragraph 19)
The Organization selects isolated verses from Jeremiah and Zephaniah to support their teaching of worldwide annihilation. But we no longer trust cherry-picked texts, do we? We now rely on context and sound reasoning to lead us to truth.
Let’s examine the first reference, Jeremiah 25:31–33. Reading from the beginning of that chapter, we find:
“The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the king of Judah, which was the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. This is what Jeremiah the prophet spoke concerning all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” (Jeremiah 25:1, 2 NWT)
That is quite specific, wouldn’t you agree? Jeremiah was not foretelling a global destruction that would take place thousands of years later. He was speaking about events that would soon befall Judah, Jerusalem, and the surrounding nations.
Turning to Zephaniah chapter 3, we see the same thing—a prophetic appeal directed to ancient Israel:
“Woe to the rebellious, the polluted, the oppressive city!” (Zephaniah 3:1)
This refers to the Jerusalem of old, not the modern city.
So, what does the Bible actually say about Armageddon? Surprisingly little. The name occurs only once in all of Scripture.
Let’s look carefully at that passage, using a translation based on the oldest complete Greek manuscript, the Codex Sinaiticus, from the fourth century C.E. The following is from the 2001 Translation:
“Then three unclean breaths [that looked] like frogs were produced out of the mouths of the dragon, the wild animal, and the false prophet, because there are demonic breaths. Performing signs, they go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth in order to assemble them to the battle of the Great Day of The God, the Almighty.
‘Look! I arrive like [a] thief!
The one who stays awake and keeps his clothes on will be blessed, for he will not have to walk around naked and have others see his shame.’
And they assembled all the earth’s kings in a place that’s called Armageddon in Hebrew.”
(Revelation 16:13–16, 2001 Translation)
Do you see any mention of worldwide genocide here? Does God declare his intention to wipe out humanity, leaving only a select few?
The text speaks of the kings of the earth. The conflict is about authority—a change of government. The kings will not wish to surrender their power, but for Christ to rule as King, rival kingdoms can’ t remain.
Now ask yourself, what king wages war with the intent of killing every man, woman, and child, leaving no one to govern? The goal is to eliminate political opposition so that the rightful ruler may reign unchallenged. Genocide is not the objective.
You might ask, “But didn’t God once commit genocide in Noah’s day?” A good question. What happened in Noah’s time actually disproves the Witness interpretation of Armageddon.
After Noah left the ark, God made this promise to him—and by extension, to all humanity:
“As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth. I will establish my covenant with you: All flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:9–11 WEB)
Some may argue that this promise applies only to destruction by a literal flood of water. But really, how reassuring would such a promise be if God were merely playing with words—pledging not to destroy humanity with water, but reserving the right to do so by fire, plague, or some other means? That would make his covenant a cruel joke.
Remember, these words were spoken to Hebrews, and Hebrew expression thrives on the use of metaphor. For example, consider this prophecy:
“And the city and the holy place the people of a leader that is coming will bring to their ruin. And the end of it will be by the flood. And until the end there will be war; what is decided upon is desolations.” (Daniel 9:26 NWT)
This was fulfilled when the Roman army under General Titus destroyed Jerusalem, leaving “not a stone upon a stone.” The “flood” was figurative—a poetic way of describing the Roman forces sweeping through the city.
If Armageddon were to result in the destruction of all humanity, it too would represent a figurative flood—the very thing God promised never to do again.
And one more point: the Flood of Noah’s day was not true genocide. Can it be called genocide if those who perished are later resurrected, as they will be when the second resurrection occurs?
“Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out…those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28, 29)
So, here is a scenario that aligns with what the Scriptures actually say. Jesus returns, and at the manifestation of his presence, he first resurrects all the faithful who have died and transforms those still living “in the twinkling of an eye.” Then, with the faithful safely gathered, he wages war against the human authorities that oppose him. He wins, of course, but has no need to destroy all humanity. Once the kings of the earth are gone, Jesus and his glorified brothers and sisters will establish the Kingdom to rule over Armageddon’s survivors. After that, the second resurrection—the resurrection of the unrighteous mentioned in John 5:29—will begin.
Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses reject this understanding? Why insist that God will annihilate all non-Witnesses at Armageddon when Scripture provides no support for such a view? The answer is obvious: control.
If people knew that survivors would exist outside the Organization, there would be no incentive to remain under its heavy yoke.
Think about it. According to Watchtower doctrine, most Witnesses have an earthly hope—surviving Armageddon as imperfect humans and laboring for a thousand years to achieve perfection. But if non-Witnesses also survive and experience the same future, what advantage do Witnesses truly have? None. Therefore, the Organization must teach total annihilation at Armageddon to maintain the illusion of exclusive favor and reward.
Finally, notice something curious about the Armageddon passage itself. It begins with the demonic expressions that incite the kings of the earth, and ends with their gathering at Armageddon, but sandwiched in between we read this:
“Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one who stays awake and keeps his outer garments, so that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness.” (Revelation 16:15 NWT)
Why is that verse inserted there? How does it relate to the prophecy of Armageddon? And what does it mean that Christ comes “as a thief”?
That will be the subject of our next discussion, where we will examine the prophecy concerning “Peace and Security.”
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