Revelation 16:16

"And" (Gr. kai) resumes the exposition of the sixth bowl judgment from Revelation 16:14. The demons will assemble the kings of the earth and their armies. They will go to what in Hebrew is called "Har-Magedon" (lit. mountain of Megiddo, Megiddo meaning either "place of troops" or "place of slaughter"). John was writing to Greek-speaking readers who were generally unfamiliar with Palestinian geography (cf. Revelation 9:11).

This mountain may refer to the small hill on the south-central edge of the Jezreel (Esdraelon) Valley in northern Palestine on which the town of Megiddo stood. Alternatively, "Har-Magedon" may refer to the mountain closest to Megiddo, namely, Mt. Carmel. There God humiliated the host of prophets of Baal who gathered to oppose Him in Elijah’s day (cf. 1 Kings 18:16-40). God and Elijah slaughtered them in the Valley of Jezreel. Mt. Tabor is another prominent hill (1,850 feet high) at the east end of this valley. Some believe it is the mountain in view here. [Note: Newell, p. 260.] Probably Har-Magedon refers to the hill country surrounding Megiddo that includes all the mountains that border the approximately 14 by 20-mile Valley of Jezreel. Earlier Deborah and Barak had defeated the Canaanites in this valley (Judges 4-5), and Gideon had routed the Midianites (Judges 7). King Josiah also died there when he opposed Pharaoh Neco (2 Chronicles 35:22-23).

"The plain of Megiddo is admittedly not large enough to contain armies from all over the world, so this must be the assembly area for a much larger deployment that covers a two hundred mile distance from north to south and the width of Palestine from east to west (cf. Revelation 14:20). Some decisive battles against this massive force will probably occur around Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:1-3)." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, pp. 270-71. Cf. Walvoord, The Revelation . . ., pp. 238-39; and William Sanford Lasor, The Truth about Armageddon, p. 146.]

Ironically, the first battle in the history of military warfare took place at Megiddo, and the last one will take place there too. Less literal views see the name standing for an event rather than any single locality. [Note: E.g., Beasley-Murray, p. 246.] Some see it as representing the entire world. [Note: E.g., Beale, p. 838.]