THE MYSTERY OF
WHY MEGIDDO?
Why the Jezre’el Valley?
Arial view of Megiddo, from biblestudytools.com
Ancient Canaanite Gate-- View of the Jezre’el Valley
15th century BCE
[For an excellent historical overview of Megiddo, with lots of good pictures, go to bibleistrue.com, Lion Track Ministries -- “Megiddo – The Jezreel Valley, The Plain of Esdraelon, Armageddon”--]
On December 5, 2006, I was privileged to be sent by our Father on my first of several trips to the place of the last great confrontation/battle—Megiddo, in the Jezre’el Valley--and to the ruins of the ancient city of Jezre’el, traveling through much of the Jezre’el Valley that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea, just north of Haifa below the Carmel Mountains, to the Jordan River at Beit Shean. This famous valley will once again be renown as Revelation 16:13-16 comes to pass at Messiah’s return.
“And I (John the Apostle) saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan), and out of the mouth of the beast (the world ruler, called“anti-messiah), and out of the mouth of the false prophet (who causes the world to worship “the beast”), three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are spirits of demons, doing signs, which go out to the Kings of the entire world, to gather them to the battle of the great Day of Yahuweh the Almighty. `See, I (Messiah Yahushua speaking about purity and set-apartness) am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who is staying awake and guarding his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame’. And they (the demonic spirits) gathered them (the armies of the Kings of the earth) together to the place called in Hebrew: Har Megiddo.” (Italics mine)
“Megiddo” is #4023 in James Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Hebrew Dictionary. It means: “rendezvous.” It is connected to #1413, which means: “fortification, castle, fence fortress, defense, fortified city, or the most stronghold.”
“Armageddon”: #717 in Strong’s Greek Dictionary, means: “the height of Megiddo,” or “hill of Megiddo.” The final ruins of Megiddo sit on a hill today rising above the floor of the Jezre’el Valley, which have been raised up over the centuries as one civilization was built on top of another, thus raising its height.
Joshua 17:11 it says: “…Megiddo and its towns--three of the heights.”
“Jezre’el” is #3157, Hebrew Dictionary, and means: “Elohim will sow.” It is a beautiful valley, also called in Greek the “Plain of Esdraelon.” It is a major agricultural valley in Israel. But, there, on the Day of Judgment, Elohim will sow it with the slain of His enemies. (Hosea 1:11)
To silence the off-the-wall hype: From the solid reality in the Scriptures, we see that all the ridiculous sensational hype that is touted by religious and worldly writings, by movies, and by books, about a world-impacting “battle of Armageddon” is mere fantasy that has been used to make people shiver and quake over some great future battle that is actually over in a nano-second as Messiah descends. But, in modern mind-less rhetoric “Armageddon’ has come to mean a world war--a war that brings “the end of the world.” However, the Word of Yahuweh throughout, tells us: ‘world without end,” Isaiah 45:17 and Ephesians 3:21.
The army that amasses at Megiddo is a Nephilim/Rephaim army, empowered by demonic forces. They attempt to come against Messiah and His set-apart ones at His coming. From Megiddo, this army will proceed south to Jerusalem. This army is connected to Ezekiel 38-39, Joel 2, and Zechariah 14:1-5 and many, many other passages throughout Scripture. This army is comprised ofhundreds of thousands of demon-possessed hybrids of all types, beings that are not fully human. They supernaturally amass at Megiddo with the express belief that they can actually destroy Yahushua Yahuweh and all of His resurrected family. (Revelation 16:13-21 and Revelation 19, with Joel 2) They are ultimately Yahuweh’s army that He uses to judge the wicked, and separate out His set-apart ones unto Himself.At the coming of Messiah, their usefulness is over, and so they are destroyed.
In my preparatory studies to go on this intercession assignment to Megiddo, Jezre’el, and the Jezre’el Valley, Father gave me knowledge and revelation regarding this area, and why it was chosen as a meeting place for the armies of the nations, armies of the fallen ones, to amass in order tocome against Yahushua and His set-apart family.
Revelation 19:11-21: “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to fight with Him who sat on the horse and His army. And the beast was seized and with him the false prophet…The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. And the rest were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
The “sword” is His Word--the “sword of the Spirit of Yahuweh.”
Revelation 17:14: “And they shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Master or Masters and King of Kings. And those with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
Prophetic of the near future:
Hosea 1:11: “And the children of Judah (the southern threetribes) and the children of Israel (the northern ten tribes) shall be gathered together, and appoint for themselves One Head, and shall come up out of the earth—for great is the day of Jezre’el.”(all Italics mine)
The “Day of Jezre’el” and the “Day of Yahuweh” are one in the same-- the Day Messiah descends with the wrath of His Father, the Day of the resurrection of the righteous dead. (Isaiah 34, 63:1-6; Zechariah 14:1-5,Revelation 11:15-18; Revelation 19, etc)
The ten northern tribes of Ya’cob were scattered into all nations by 722BCE. Judah was scattered in 586 BCE, then totally scattered out of the Land by 70CE. Thereturn of the ten northern tribes, the House of Israel, House of Ephraim, House of Joseph, is the most amazing thing that Yahuweh is doing now. At Messiah’s return, the whole House of Ya’cob, all the tribes, will be gathered together and returned to the Land of Israel. Here He refers to the first resurrection at Messiah’s coming (Revelation 11:15-18; Revelation 19; 20:1-6; II Corinthians 15:51-58; I Thessalonians 4:13-18, etc)
The site of Megiddo is the ancient crossroads and trade route between Mt. Carmel and the Jordan Valley, Akko and Phoenicia, Galilee and Syria, Mt. Carmel and Wadi Ara. The Jezre’el Valley is shaped like a triangle on its side--with the top touching the plain of Akko to the west, the Jordan River on the east, southern edge some 20 miles from Carmel towards the Jordan River and Beit Shean, the northern edge runs from Carmel to Tabor, from Tabor to Mt. Gilboa--7 miles.
From the book Megiddo by Graham I. Davies, page 10: “The city of Megiddo therefore stood in a position where it was to exploit rich natural resources of several different kinds, but also, as indicated at the beginning, near an important cross-country route…As a consequence it was easily accessible to traders and migrants from all directions; but at the same time it could, if powerful enough, control access by means of these routes and so direct the course of both trade and war…it was a prize often fought over and when captured, strongly defended.”
Megiddo ceased to thrive around 330BCE, but under the Romans it began to thrive again, around 334CE.
Megiddo, and the surrounding area of the Jezre’el Valley, has seen more bloody wars than any other place on the face of the earth. The spirits of war and blood, and violence, and wickedness, will draw those whose god is Lucifer (Satan) down to fight against the coming King Yahushua, whose Name means “Yahuweh is salvation.”
The first war at Megiddo was detailed in hieroglyphics on the wall of the Karnak Temple in Luxor, which describes the battle that Thutmose III fought there in 1468BCE. This is the first recorded battle ever recorded in human history. Thutmose defeated the Canaanites at Megiddo in 1436BCE. Megiddo remained a prosperous Egyptian stronghold for 150 years—holding out against the Israelites (Judges 1:27). It most likely fell to King David and was taken over by King Solomon as a “chariot city.” (I Kings 9:15) Solomon stabled thousands of horses and chariots there. After Solomon’s death, when evil Kings like Jeroboam, Omri and Ahab, ruled over the house of Israel—the northern ten tribes of Ya’cob (Jacob)--they used Megiddo as a major fortified city in their kingdom. It was a Roman stronghold until the 4th century CE.
From Sacred History Magazine, September/October 2006, pages 42-47, article written by Professor Eric Cline. Dr. Cline has written The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age, University of Michigan Press, c. 2000 hardback/2007 paperback.
”Megiddo…is widely regarded as one of the most important sites in the entire Middle East…From its advantageous location Megiddo controlled one of the most important roads in the ancient world, the Via Maris. This was an international military and trade route that ran between Egypt…and Syria, Phoenicia, Anatolia and Mesopotamia…Sitting astride the chief north-south trade route, as it came through the Musmos Pass (Musmos Pass is also called Wadi Ara) and meandered through the Jezre’el Valley. Megiddo had great strategic significance, for the Jezre’el Valley runs nearly across the breadth of Israel, connecting the coastal regions with the Jordan Valley. Whoever controlled the city and maintained an army there would dominate this vital international route. Thus…it is no wonder that nearly every invading force from 2350BCE to 2000CE has fought a battle in the Jezre’el Valley…It is no surprise, then, to learn that the area surrounding the ancient site of Megiddo…has already seen more fighting and bloodshed over an extended period of time than virtually any other spot on earth—during the past four thousand years, at least thirty four bloody conflicts have been fought at…Megiddo, and in the adjacent areas of the Jezre’el Valley…Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites, Midianites, Amalekites, Philistines, Hasmonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Muslims, Crusaders, Mamlukes, Mongols, Palestinians, French, Ottomans, British, Australians, Germans, Arabs and Israelis—all have fought and died here…Warring Generals to name a few: `Thutmose III, Deborah and Barek, Sisera, Gideon, Saul and Jonathan, Shishak, Jehu, Joram, Ahab’s family, Josiah, Antiochus Ephiphanes, Ptolemy, Vespacian, Saladin, Napoleon, and Allenby. (Ahab had 2,000 chariots and 500 horse stables in Megiddo).
Megiddo is not a mountain. Revelation calls it Har Megiddo--the mountain,hill, or rising Megiddo. It is indeed a man-made mountain--sitting up 70 feet from the surrounding plain--build up during the Iron Age. It appeared higher during the Greek and Roman days because the valley below sunk lower. Now at least 10’ of soil has washed in, but at the time of the writing of Revelation, the city of Megiddo sat higher than at any other time--thusJohn reported it correctly...Zechariah 12:11 mentions Megiddo in context of the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom, and is concerned with the final battle between Elohim and all the nations that came against Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:9)…Israelite history shows all the bloody battles already fought there by John’s time…Throughout history Megiddo and the Jezre’el Valley have been ground zero for battles that determine the very course of human history…Winston Churchill said regarding battles in the Jezre’el Valley: `Never in the field of human conflict have so many fought so often over so little space.’ ”
The question was asked of Professor Cline: “What is it about this area that prompts such a continuous state of warfare?” His answer:“Thus who ever controlled the Jezre’el Valley, whether it was through occupation of Megiddo, Jezre’el, Mt. Tabor…by default, also controlled the trade and traffic…be it merchants, warriors, nomads of Kings…The Jezre’el Valley is a place of firsts: Here Thutmose II fought the first battle ever recorded anywhere in the world. Gideon conducted the first known night campaign ever recorded…Napoleon said: `There is no place in the whole world more suited for war than this…it is the most natural battlefield of the whole earth.’ ”
From Lester Sumrall’s study book: Israel, The Miracle on the Mediterranean, page 26: “Megiddo, probably the bloodiest spot on earth, will be the sight of history’s final battle. More wars have been fought here than any other place in the world. George Adam Smith said: `What a plain! Upon which not only the greatest empires, races and faiths, East and West, have contended, but each has come to judgment.’ ”
Megiddo was an organized community by 3,500BCE. The best Canaanite water system is at Megiddo. Megiddo achieved its greatest wealth under Solomon.
From bible-history.com
The script shows it to be from the Babylonian period, during the reign of Jeroboam II in the 8th century. The roaring lion with the curved tail is a symbol of Judah. The seal was found in 1904 by Gottlieb Schumacher. As in the quote below, it somehow got into a private collection of a Sultan in Istanbul, but ended up in Jerusalem at the Rockefeller Museum.
The inscription reads “shema’ (top), and `servant of Yarob’oam’ (Jeroboam) bottom… The word for servant is “ebed.” The inscription actually proclaims the rank of its owner, one of the ministers of Jeroboam II, who reigned from 787-747 BCE.
II Kings 14:23-25: This was Jeroboam II, son of Joash, King of Israel. “Jeroboam” means “the people grow numerous.”
From Megiddo by Graham I. Davies, page 102-103, regarding a significant find in Megiddo:
“Seals are widely used in the ancient world to authenticate documents (I Kings 21:8; Isaiah 29:11) or to stamp official stores or consignments of goods. Large numbers of seals are known from Palestine and neighboring countries, but relatively few have come from controlled excavations. Pride of place among those from Megiddo must go to the splendid jasper seal inscribed lsm’bd’vrb’m, `Belonging to Shema, the servant (or minister) of Jeroboam,’ around a representation of a roaring lion. This was found …above the courtyard of the Palace 1723…It passed into the private collection of the Sultan of Istanbul, because Palestine was under Turkish rule at the time of discovery…Both the find-place and the script indicate that `Jeroboam’ is the powerful King of that name who ruled the northern kingdom of Israel in the mid-eighth century BC (c 784/3-753/2, i.e. Jeroboam II. `bd’, which can mean `slave’ or `servant,’ is here an honorific title, so that `minister’ is a better translation (compare II Kings 22:12 for thetitle)…Megiddo as an important royal city would be a natural place for him to visit, or even live in.”
Megiddo must have been a center of much paganidolatry and sin against Yahuweh, for Jeroboam caused Israel to sin greatly against Yahuweh by putting golden calves in Beth El and Dan.
Reviewing: From Revelation 16:12-14, we learn about the army that amasses at Megiddo--Satan’s choice for the final confrontation, “battle,” against Messiah.From the description of this army, it is an army empowered by demonic spirits. In Revelation 17:14, we learn that this army comes to fight with Yahushua Messiah and His army of resurrected set-apart ones (Revelation 19; Zechariah 14:1-5; Jude 1:14-15). In Revelation 19:19. This nano-second battle is fought in the supernatural realm, as well as the natural. To destroy His creation is Satan’sgoal, but to destroy Yahuweh and Yahushua is his ultimate and greatest goal. Remember, the tower of Babel contained technology that would open a portal, “star gate,” a “wormhole,” into the realm of the fallen ones, so that they might come freely to earth, and to open a portal so that the Nephilim in Tartarus might return (i.e. a premature Revelation 9), but also to open the dimensional portal into Yahuweh’s realm, to go up and destroy Him. Basically, this is CERN’s intent.
One of the top elite leaders of the world government under Lucifer’s Illuminati was John D. Rockefeller, Jr. In 1928, he gave great financial help to archeologists to excavate Megiddo. Rockefeller arranged for a compulsory purchase of the whole mound for the “government of Palestine,” under England.
From the Lonely Planet Travel Guide, Israel: “On being awarded his peerage, General Allenby, took the title `Lord Allenby of Megiddo’ – 1918.”
The great final harvest of the earth by Messiah to eliminate the forces of Satan is described in Revelation14:14-20; 19:16-21.
Today, major government programs, like America’s NASA program, are working for ways to stop Messiah when He comes. They know He is coming, because their god Lucifer-Satan knows it. NASA created a division called “SETI”--Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence a few years back. NASA’s telescopes are positioned to look at the outreaches of the universe, to pick up any thing that might indicate His coming. But also the Vatican Jesuits at Mount Graham in Arizona, at their powerful observatory, are looking for extra terrestrial life to make friends with.
Megiddo was in the inheritance of the tribe of Manasseh. At Megiddo the tribe of Manasseh was confronted with an obstacle in obtaining their inheritance. They feared because of the iron chariots of the Canaanites in Megiddo, so they did not conquer them as Yahuweh instructed them to do. They compromised. (Judges 1:7-28)