by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
A number of kidnapped Israeli hostages (mostly women and children) were released and exchanged for jailed Hamas terrorist prisoners last week while a pause/ceasefire was observed. A 2nd Filipino hostage was also released. Unfortunately, her Israeli partner was killed in the October 7 Hamas attack. Now, apparently ceasefire has ended and the fighting has resumed. But about a hundred (~100) hostages are still held inside Gaza. We continue to pray for the release of all hostages and a just end to this war.
Megiddo is mentioned 12 times in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (OT). It is found 2x in Joshua (12:21 and 17:11); 2x in Judges (1:27 and 5:19); 2x in 1 Kings (4:12 and 9:15); 3x in 2 Kings (9:27, 23:29 and 23:30); once in 1 Chronicles (7:29); once in 2 Chronicles (35:22); and once in Zechariah (12:11). In all instances, the name Megiddo is מְגִדּוֹ in the Hebrew, except for the one instance in Zechariah 12:11 where מְגִדּוֹן (“Megiddon”) is written. It seems reasonable to assume that this is where Revelation 16:16 gets the Greek Ἁρμαγεδών (“Harmagedon”) from the Hebrew “Har-Magedon.” But as pointed out last time, Megiddo is not a mountain and the place was a flat plain and did not have mountain as I have personally seen.
That ancient Megiddo did not have a mountain and was described as a plain can in fact be read in Zechariah 12:11. In context, Zechariah 12:9-11 speaks about the nations attacking Jerusalem in the last days and sees the one “whom they pierced” at Jerusalem and mourn heavily. In these verses, Jerusalem is mentioned several times as clearly the place where the final conflict occurs. In Zechariah 12:11 Megiddo is called a plain and referenced only as a comparison to the mourning at Hadad-Rimmon for the death of King Josiah (see 2 Chronicles 35:20-25; see also 2 Kings 23:29-30). King Josiah of Judah was slain in 609 BC when he tried to stop the Egyptians from coming to the aid of the remnant of the Assyrian forces against the Babylonians.
The Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the OT on Zechariah 12:11 (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/kad/zechariah/12.htm) says that “Hadad-Rimmon” was a place near Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley. They quote Jerome (the translator of the Latin Vulgate): “Adad-remmon is a city near Jerusalem, which was formerly called by this name, but is now called Maximianopolis, in the field of Mageddon, where the good king Josiah was wounded by Pharaoh Necho.”
Megiddo is also described as a plain in 2 Chronicles 35:22 where King Josiah was mortally wounded by the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho’s archer. The LXX version of 2 Chronicles 35:22 also says in the Greek: ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ Μαγεδών (“in the plain of Megiddo”). The king died in Jerusalem and was mourned by the entire nation. This was the mourning spoken about in Zechariah 12:11. The Hebrew word בִּקְעָה (“biqah”) used for plain can also be for a valley. A website check in https://biblehub.com/zechariah/12-11.htm shows 21 English translations use “plain” (including “flatlands” in the CEV) while 11 use “valley.” Either way, it is definitely not a mountain. And so it seems Megiddo or Megiddon is not the “Magedon” of Revelation 16:16.
From another perspective, that Zechariah 12:1-11 prophesied about Jerusalem as the place the nations attack in the last days for the final battle has parallels in Joel 3:1-2, 12, and 14. In context, Mount Zion, Jerusalem, and the Valley of Jehoshapat are spoken of as part of the judgment on the day of the LORD starting in Joel 2:28-32. We can immediately recognize that a major part of this passage is quoted by the Apostle Peter at Pentecost in Acts 2:16-21. Joel 3:1-2 continues with the judgment of the nations and identifies the Valley of Jehoshapat as the place of judgment. Joel 3:12 and 14 further emphasizes that the nations advance against Mount Zion and Jerusalem into the valley of decision.
There is no identified specific place in Jerusalem called the Valley of Jehoshapat but the meaning of this name and the context of the account of King Jehoshapat as narrated In 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 give most commentators a very weighted view. Valley here, עֵמֶק (“emeq” meaning vale, valley) is a different word from בִּקְעָה (“biqah”) and is not used to describe a plain. Jehoshapat in Hebrew is יְהוֹשָׁפָט (“Yehoshapat”) and it means “the LORD judges” or “the LORD has judged.” This judgment of the LORD is the idea behind the “valley of decision” used in Joel 3:14 where the Hebrew חֲרוּץ (“charuwts”) would mean in this context a sharp, strict decision. Joel 3:14 is a Hebraic-style synonymous parallel to Joel 3:2 and 12.
In the account of King Jehoshapat in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, the LORD God himself fought against the combined invading armies from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir (Edom). The LORD let the enemy armies slaughter one another in the desert of Jeruel (southeast of Tekoa in Judah, “on the ascent from the valley of the Dead Sea towards Jerusalem” according to Easton’s Bible Dictionary; https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/jeruel/). The prophet Joel’s citing of the Valley of Jehoshapat looks back to this great act of the LORD to save the king, his people and Judah.
Other parts of the Bible weigh in. Revelation 20:9 points to the final battle after the thousand year reign of the Messiah when armies surrounded the camp of God’s holy ones and the beloved city, Jerusalem. Zechariah 14:3-4 says the LORD will go out and fight against the nations and even specifies the Mount of Olives (Hebrew הַ֨ר הַזֵּיתִ֤ים “har hazetim”) where his feet will stand. The Mount of Olives is of course overlooking the Kidron Valley across the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is the location of the Olivet Discourse in the Gospels.
Considering this mosaic of ideas from many different yet converging scriptural sources, we can certainly believe that this Valley of Jehoshapat, this valley of decision, would be in the environs of Jerusalem and not at Megiddo. But then what about “Har Magedon,” as specified in Revelation 16:16? Dr. Michael Heiser posits that the key to knowing this place is in Isaiah and the Hebrew letter ע, “ayin” we have learned earlier.
We will continue next week.
God bless us all.