The War To End All Wars - Revelation 16
A teacher had been working with her seventh-grade students on information about World War II. On the test she asked the question, “What was the largest amphibious assault of all time?” Of course she expected to see the answer, “the D-Day invasion” on all the test papers. However, there was one particular one that caught her eye, that student answered, “Moses and the plague of frogs.”
Before World War II, and well after Moses and the Plague of frogs came a different war. Tension had been building between the European empires, and then, with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in June of 1914, almost all of Europe and the colonies of the empires, found themselves at war. It has been called the Great War, World War I, and the First World War. However, in August of 1914, years before Woodrow Wilson would use the phrase, British author H. G. Wells, released a series of articles that gave another name for this massive conflict: “The War That Will End War” or “the war to end all wars.”
Ironically, not only did World War II and its D-Day invasion come along, massive conflicts have been around almost continuously since that time. The fact is that “the War to End all Wars” is just another massive conflict in a world that has been filled with warfare for thousands of years. The world has given witness to the truth of Jesus’ statement, “…and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…”[i]
World War I was “The War to End Wars,” and World War II was also known as “The Big One.” However, the real War to End All Wars and the real Big One is a war that many live in anticipation of…the conflict known as Armageddon. You know, the final massive conflict between good and evil as the followers of Satan and the followers of Christ go at it full force with only one winner, and we know which side ends. At least this is the picture of Armageddon that we have always had, right? Well, a careful reading of what the Scriptures tell us reveals a slightly different picture.
Last week in our journey through Revelation we examined the issue of being “marked by the beast” signifying that those so marked belonged to the great dragon, or, as chapter twelve made clear, Satan. The alternative to bearing the mark of the beast is to “bear the mark of the Lamb and his Father,” thus being shown as belonging to God.
What we failed to discuss much last week or through Revelation, but that has been behind all of what we have read thus far, is the need to choose a side. In Revelation there is no grey area, a decision must be made, we are either on the dragon’s side or the Lamb’s side, Satan’s side or God’s side, marked by the beast or marked by the Lamb. There can be no mostly Lamb, but not fully committed…it is loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength…committing to God twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, not, I’m saving my Friday nights for me, but God can have my Sunday mornings. We have talked about how Revelation was written for the folks enduring persecution under Rome, and the temptation to go to the emperor’s temple to worship him as a god and avoid the persecution…but for us, there is no shrine of the Roman emperor for us to go to…yet the temptation is still there to worship something other than God…think about it…where is most of our time focused, where is most of our energy focused, where is most of our money focused, where is most of our love focused…and if it is somewhere other than God, then we have found whose temple that we are going to…and in Revelation’s good-or-evil-there-is-no-grey world, if that temple is not God’s temple, then it is the dragon’s. We have to choose a side.
And when it comes to that great battle of Armageddon, we want to be on the right side, don’t we?
Last week we read beyond chapter thirteen and into chapter fourteen to capture the image of all of God’s people being marked with the name of the Lamb and his Father. The rest of fourteen announces the judgment that will come upon those who have chosen the mark of the beast over the mark of the Lamb. Chapter fifteen prepares the reader for the last cycles of seven. Remember the first cycle of seven was that of the seven seals; following the seven seals were the seven trumpet blasts. We mentioned early on that there were three cycles of seven that accounted for the persecution of God’s people and God brining judgment upon the persecutor. In chapter sixteen we encounter the seven bowls filled with the wrath of God.
From these bowls of wrath we see sores, possibly boils, forming on those who worship the beast. We see water turned to blood. We see darkness descend upon the land of the persecutors. We see fatal hail fall from the sky. Does any of that sound familiar? It should. Revelation connects once again to the Hebrew Scriptures, to a story that we have seen it connected to before, the plagues that came upon Egypt in an effort to convince the pharaoh to let the Hebrew people go.
We also remember as we think back upon the seals and the trumpet blasts, that while there was destruction, there was not total destruction, for God desired not the death of the persecutors, but their…repentance. God’s desire is that the persecutors would come to Him and let Him replace the mark of the beast with the mark of the Lamb. This vision in Revelation connects further than just the sores, the water turned to blood, the darkness descending, and the hailstones. Remember Pharaoh’s response to the plagues, his heart was hardened, he would not budge, until a judgment of death came down upon Egypt. Here, in the face of these plagues, with a chance to come to God, we read three times:
Verse 8: “…they were scorched by the fierce heat, but they cursed the name of God…and they did not repent and give him glory.
Verses 10 & 11: “…people gnawed their tongues in agony, and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.”
Verse 21: “..they cursed God for the plague of hail, so fearful was that plague.”
Just as Pharaoh would never give in and turn from his evil intent of enslaving the people of God, so neither do those who are persecuting the people of God.
Yeah, okay, okay…we get the plagues…what about the war. Who delivered the first punch? Who delivered the last punch? We know that swords had to clash, or guns had to fire, or warheads went off somewhere in this passage from Revelation. Actually, my brothers and sisters, “The Big One,” “The War to End All Wars,” the great battle of Armageddon, if we read what the Scriptures tell us, is “The War that Never Was.” It does not matter if you are reading from the NRSV, the NIV, the KJV, the NLT, or some other translation, verse fourteen reads that these frog-like demonic spirits gather the folks “for the battle,” or “to the battle,” but there is never any battle. The folks are gathered for battle at the place that, in Hebrew, is called Harmageddon (which translates “the city or mountain of Megiddo”…a place where many battles were fought and referenced in Joshua, Judges, 1st and 2nd Kings, and 1st and 2nd Chronicles. They are gathered to do battle…but what happens next?
“The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake…
This great wartime gathering takes place, folks are on their sides, but before the first volley is launched, God intervenes and says “It is done.” And as God descends and intervenes, we see the same response from the earth that we did back in chapter six with the seven seals…the earth trembles, there is lightning and thunder…creation itself rattles and shudders as God enters the picture.
The battle doesn’t happen…evil gathers for war…comes against the people of God…and God intervenes. Chapters 17 and 18 offer a description of the judgment God brings upon the persecutors, the Roman Empire symbolized as Babylon, the harlot, and the beast. When it comes to war, it has often been said that there are no winners, only death and loss. They are right, but when there is a gathering for battle, and God intervenes, there is one definite winner, God…and those who stand against God or apart from God, are on the losing side.
There is the hope my brothers and sisters, it is the hope that David knew as he sang, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh—my adversaries and foes—they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I asked of the Lord that I will seek after; to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock…I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”[ii]
David knew it, John saw and experienced it, and so God’s people can take courage when evil comes against us…if that evil in whatever form it takes gathers for war against us…God will intervene…God will bring the evil to an end before His people are destroyed…
This morning we have a chance to give thanks and celebrate that when it comes to “The Big One,” “The War to End All Wars,” “The War That Never Was,” that plain and simple, God said “it is done,” and God wins. We remember and give thanks as we gather for this meal prepared for us by the one who said, “It is finished,” as He defeated sin on His way to defeating death…for on that cross and in that empty tomb, the war was won…and those bearing the mark of the Lamb that was slain, but lives, are on the winning side, and gather to enjoy the victory feast.
In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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