ARMAGEDDON IS commonly thought to be a battle between the forces of Antichrist and a loyal to God at Megiddo, an ancient city in Israel located at a strategic pass through the Carmel range of mountains. We disagree.

While it makes sense from a human perspective, as Megiddo was the site of key battles in history as far back as Pharaoh Thutmose III—probably the pharaoh with whom Moses was raised.

But the prize of the war led by Antichrist is the mount of assembly, mentioned in Isaiah 14:12 as the place from which the divine rebel plans to rule over God’s creation. In the context of the final war of the age, that refers to Zion—the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

It is the Hebrew phrase translated as “mount of assembly” or “mount of the congregation,” har mo`ed, that John transliterated into Greek as har magedon, which in turn was rendered in English as Armageddon.