Day 5: A Kingdom will come and kingdoms will go...

"Build up, build up the highway"

As we leave the "eye of the needle" (a description given to the "Sea of Galilee" that looks like the eye of a needle with the "thread" - the Jordan River - running through it) to journey towards our next destination, the Dead Sea region, we find ourselves back at the triangular field - the Jezreel Valley. On the southwestern side of this fertile valley, conveniently shaped like an arrowhead, lies Megiddo. The layout and location of this valley have made it the ideal spot for several of history’s great battles and will one day be the stage on which the great drama of the end of the age will play out - the great battle of Armageddon (the name "Armageddon" comes from a corrupt spelling of the Hebrew "Har-megiddo" - "mountain of Megiddo"). "I will bend Judah as I bend My bow and fill it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you like a warrior's sword. Then the LORD will appear over them; His arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign LORD will sound the trumpet; He will march in the storms of the south, and the LORD Almighty will shield them. They will destroy and overcome with slingstones. They will drink and roar as with wine; they will be full like a bowl used for sprinkling the corners of the altar. The LORD their God will save them on that day as the flock of His people. They will sparkle in His land like jewels in a crown" (Zechariah 9:13-16).

The excavations of the mound of Megiddo ("Tel Megiddo" - a "Tel" is a hill or mound created over hundreds of years as cities were conquered and destroyed and another city was built upon the existing one) have uncovered more than twenty different layers of previous occupation. These layers provide archaeologists a three-dimensional history book to read through as they dig into the various layers of civilizations that make up the mound. The story of Megiddo unveils the c. 1469 BC Battle of Megiddo in which Egypt defeats Canaan and makes it a major Egyptian base; during the conquest of Canaan, led by Joshua, the king of Megiddo was one of the thirty-one kings he defeated entering the Promise Land (Joshua 12:7, 21); Megiddo was allotted to the tribe of Manasseh, but they failed to drive out the Canaanites (Judges 1:27); during the period of the Judges, Deborah and Barak defeated Sisera and his armies here (Judges 5:4-19); King Solomon turned Megiddo into an important defense post and built elaborate stables and administrative buildings (1 Kings 4:12); the battle of Megiddo in 609 BC between Egypt and Judea, led by the last good king of Judah, Josiah, ended in defeat and resulted in king Josiah's death (2 Kings 23:29-30; 2 Chronicles 35:20-24). Today, Megiddo (as well as our last stop for today, the ruins of Beth Shean, located to the east of the Jezreel Valley, is an area that boasts beautiful Greco-Roman architecture and was itself almost continuously occupied throughout history (Joshua 17:11, 16; Judges 1:27; 1 Samuel 31:1-13; 1 Kings 4:12)) stands as a testimony that God rules over the kingdoms of men and "He sets up kings and deposes them" (Daniel 2:21a; 4:17). Kingdoms will come and kingdoms will go, but only One Kingdom will remain in the end.

"Proclaim this among the nations:

Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors!

Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.

Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears.

Let the weakling say, ‘I am strong! Come quickly, all you nations

from every side, and assemble here.

Bring down Your warriors, O LORD!

Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,

for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.

Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow-

so great is their wickedness! Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!

For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision..."

(Joel 3:9-14)

The final battle of Megiddo will hardly be a battle at all, as the Eternal King will turn the battlefield into a great supper for the birds of the air who will feast on all the kingdoms of the world who have set themselves up in opposition to the Lord (Ezekiel 39:17-20). "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East...they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty...Then they gathered the kings together in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon" (Revelation 16:12, 14b, 16). "Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and His army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf...the two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh" (Revelation 19:19-21).

The stage has been set for this last great battle to play out as we look at the political scene today and see that the nations of the world have risen up in opposition to the Lord and have taken it upon themselves to divide His Holy Land. The Lord, however, will soon raise His mighty sword and make the final cut between good and evil and the end will come. Today, we are exhorted not be fearful, but to put our trust in the Lord. The Lord's purposes will prevail and all His plans will play out as He has predetermined. "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nations will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains" (Matthew 24:6-8).

Heavenly Father,

We praise You that You are Sovereign

over the kingdoms of men and that You

have appointed a day when all their evil

plotting and deception will be brought to an end.

"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples

plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their

stand and the rulers gather together against the

LORD and against His Anointed One.

'Let us break their chains,' they say, 'and throw

off their fetter.' The One enthroned in heaven

laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then He rebukes

them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath,

saying, 'I have installed my King on Zion, My holy hill.'

May we heed Your warnings and seek You with reverence,

giving You the glory and honor You deserve.

"Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers

of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with

trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be

destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in

a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him."

Lord, conceal us in Your quiver and send us out like

arrows in the land to speak Your truth so that many

will come to Your salvation before that great and

dreadful day of the Lord arrives.

In Jesus' Name. Amen.

(Daniel 4:17; Psalm 2:1-6, 10-12; Isaiah 49:2)

[My Israel journal, June 2008: "...during one of our stops today we had the opportunity to view a video that was given in tribute to the six million who died in the Holocaust. The room was heavy with emotion as our pastor shared from his heart a burden for the people of Israel and his desire that all our hearts would be so knitted to God's chosen nation that we would rise up and take action to engage the culture today...Lord, may we not forsake the time we have been given to share Your truth...may we avail ourselves to the work of Your hands that Your purposes might be accomplished through us and for Your people Israel..."]