THE TRUTH BEHIND ARMAGEDDON
©2020 Daniel Joseph Zawada
Chapter 1. Armageddon
The Truth Behind Armageddon is the heart of eschatology and the DNA that defines the future of all humanity.
If you’ve seen the numerous Hollywood movies and television shows about the Apocalypse and Armageddon then you probably have an idea that it means the end of the world and all human life as we know it.
Armageddon is not an event it’s a place. The word Armageddon stems from the Hebrew Meggido or har Megiddo, where “har” means a mount or hill and “Megiddo” a place to invade.[1]
Historical reference in Nevi’im Rishonim lists Yehoshua ben Nun (1355-1245 BC) as a mighty warrior who defeats thirty one kings, one being the King of Megiddo.[2] The location is just South East of Mount Carmel, or Haifa in Israel, the Northern port city situated on the Mediterranean Sea. Currently Megiddo is an archaelogical dig site called the Megiddo Expedition.[3]
Below are goals of the Tel Aviv excavations according to their website:
- Recheck stratigraphy and chronology and strengthen the role of Megiddo as the key site for deciphering the history and culture of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Levant and beyond.
- Re-investigate monuments exposed in the past: their date and cultural affiliation.
- Make Megiddo a laboratory for advancing new methods and techniques, especially those related to the exact and life sciences, such as physics-related dating methods, ancient DNA and geo-archaeology.
We know a great deal more about the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine) than we did twenty years ago thanks to dig sites like the Megiddo Excavation. Historically there have been many battles around the Megiddo location where millions of lives have ended through sword and war.
Armageddon is not the end of the world, but an end of society as we know it. Found in the book of Revelation, the location is notorious for where the worlds armies gather together for the final cataclysmic battle. This event, called by many “the tribulation period,” includes many theories of when and how this occurs and the characters involved in the fate of such.
As I write this I am combing through a Time magazine article from 2002 called, “The Bible and the Apocalypse,” where the discussion centers around the widely popular End Times book series by Evangelist pastor Tim LaHaye and author Jerry Jenkins. Some fifty million copies of the books were sold sparking new interest in Bible prophecy and eschatology (end times) discussion.[5]
Although a fictional portrayal, many of the beliefs today in the Christian mindset emanate from the theory of the books twenty years ago.
As in any portrayal of events, people will literally believe what they read, or see, without knowing or researching the history or facts surrounding the topic. As a child I believed that light sabers from Star Wars were real. My mind knew that space battles and Chewbacca were fake, but my enormous enjoyment of the story overpowered my sense of reality.
I remember late one night… I must have been nine years old at the time, a beam of light peering through the shade of my room and reflecting on the wall, appearing as if it were – a light saber. While standing on my bed in my super hero jammies, I physically tried to grab the light saber off the wall several times. You can imagine my disappointment as I grabbed at the empty hologram of light. I wanted it to be real. I wanted that light saber to fight Darth Vader!
Similarly, much is true for American society. We believe the history of America we learn in grade school and we believe the commercial propaganda that is fed to us daily by corporations intent on maximizing profits for NYSE stability. Companies advertise to sell products whether the information is legitimate or not.
All that matters is that you believe in the advertising, the story, or whatever is being sold to you. The end result is the same concerning Armageddon and tribulation, a belief based on fictional stories and theories that sell books and accentuate the imagination.
The book of Revelation vividly depicts the horrors of judgment upon mankind during the Armageddon days with direct intervention by HaMashiach Eashoa (Jesus the Messiah) to stop the total annihilation of all cultures. The events leading up to this devastating battle are overwhelming, and what you read may very well change the way you view your future. This chain of events could very well happen in your lifetime.
Therefore, let’s investigate Armageddon from written prophecy, not fictional theory. All the information herein is laid out as accepted historical fact with new insights based on thorough research previously unknown. Any personal theory on the authors behalf will be stated as such. In other words, if I have a personal opinion, I’ll make note that it’s my speculation, rather than fact.
Now let us take hold of the mystery of the Revelation of John. The calamity that will take place is called Yom YHWH in Hebrew and translated as the Day of the Lord. This is the fear and joy of all humanity. Take to heart what is said for ¾ of the prophecy is history, what remains will come to pass.
Calendars & Analytic Dating
BEFORE we jump into the historical aspects of places and events we first need to define the dating system that expose the era. There are three dating systems employed for historical use:
- Anno Domini (Julian & Gregorian Calendar): BC / AD [6]
- Common or Current Era: BCE / CE
- Jewish Calendar based on Hebrew Lunar Year
Now there are differences in dating terminology and belief of such. If you are secular, anti-religious, or simply do not believe in God you stick to the CE (Common Era) phrase of dating, which is fine, but historically inaccurate. This is a 20th century practice by anti-religious academia.
Reading any prominent university reference to the term CE and the date in which the term CE came about, generally say, “before the 18th century,” which is absolute rubbish. The only historical reference of CE before the 19th century relates to the following:[7]
- Anno Salutis (the year of salvation)
- Anno Salutis Humanae (in the year of the salvation of men)
- Anno Reparatae Salutis (in the year of accomplished salvation)
- Era Vulgaris (common people, by which we compute the years from Christs incarnation)
All CE terms above reference a time frame when a savior was born. The term Common Era is found in use within the 20th century by academia who oppose the belief in a deity or Jesus as the Son of God. The term is taken from vulgar people referencing common people from the birth of Christ.
Either way you have it, all dates from Gregorian or Julian Calendars reference the birth of Christ as the historical measure of all events in time since the 6th century and indisputable as such. The Gregorian Calendar merely updates the Julian Calendar and leap years by the 16th century.[8]
Now there are two sides of the fence when it comes to the Gregorian calendar. Of course with anything defining Jesus at the center of all things there will be controversy. Secular and anti-Christian academia is currently at war with history, as the Gregorian dates all events in time based on the birth of the Messiah – they don’t like that.
On one side of the fence you have the secular world who do not believe in a creator God and are offended that all dates pertain to that which they do not believe. You also have anti-Christian Judaism who prefer the secular BCE/CE based on rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. I being of Jewish lineage, understand the fact that Orthodox Judaism rejects the historically accurate B.C. / A.D., due to saying, “Year of our Lord.”
Common sense tells you that Jewish scholars reject writing “Year of our Lord” based on prejudice to the fact this points to the birth of Christ, of which they reject. It’s much easier to say, “BCE/CE is more accurate,” rather than say, “as Orthodox Jews, we reject Jesus, and reject any calendar dating all events of time from His birth.”
To which the only other method is to reference the Roman Julian Calendar as decreed by Julius Caesar; the very culture that massacred the Jews and destroyed the Beit HaMikdash or Holy Temple in Jerusalem. You see the quandary here.
On the other side of the fence you have those who believe in Jesus as HaMashiach (the anointed Messiah) and the dominant dating system of mankind (accepted since AD 1582), the Gregorian Calendar, which revolves around this fact and belief.
The majority of the world lives and dies under the Gregorian Calendar. The state of Israel today recognizes and uses both the Jewish Calendar alongside the Gregorian Calendar as YHWH has made it that way – indisputable.
For the human timeline that maps history there is only one significant historical event and is why the worlds dating system revolves around this time – it was the birth of the savior of mankind, Eashoa, or the English translation, Jesus the Mashiach of YHWH.
Anno Domini designates all dates preceding the birth of Christ as BC, (before Christ) and from birth as AD within this documentation. All events in time, Julian/Gregorian are based from the birth of Jesus, the anointed Son of YHWH.
Furthermore, in the English world, everyone must use Jesus’ timeline for all events in history regardless if you say CE or AD, unless you are referencing an ancient calendar previous to two thousand years ago. At any rate, no one would know what you were referencing even if you did.
If you wish to discuss any topic in time, you lack the luxury of dating from Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, King Tut, or Moses. In the modern world the only date acceptable on paper is from the birth of Jesus the Messiah, whether you agree to it or not.
No other person in history claimed to be the savior of all mankind, perform miracles, raise the dead, come back to life, and start a worldwide religion that includes over two billion followers today – I would say it was a significant date in time and why the universal calendar agrees.[9]
Moreover, I find it quite childish that modern academia argue reality through updating historical books to fit the Before Common Era narrative. Those in the business of historical novel are constantly manipulating educational text book through changing the dating terminology to suit their personal view.
Why do it?
It changes nothing.
Many attempts have been utilized to eradicate the BC/AD terminology, such as changing the timeline to reference Roman dominion, rather than Jesus of Nazareth – to no avail. Sure, college institution and academia generally do not use BC or AD, but this in no way negates the fact that each era anyone authors or describes is based on time going forward, or backward, from the birth of Christ.
It doesn’t matter if you use CE or AD – either way, you are referencing the time from the birth and resurrection of the Messiah. No amount of arguing, manipulating or changing date abbreviations, will eradicate this truth and reality. That’s the way YHWH made it – unbreakable.
In this documentation, I am merely using the historically accurate designations (used for over a thousand years regardless of what academia tells you) and may reference the newer anti-religious secular CE designations.
The Jewish calendar is used alongside the Gregorian Calendar and lunisolar. The calendar revolves around Jewish holidays, festivals, and events based within Tanakh or Old Testament to the Christian community.
“The Jewish calendar is based on three astronomical phenomena: the rotation of the Earth about its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon about the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (a year).”[10]
Unlike Anno Domini, the historical reference of the year in the Jewish calendar is based on adding up the ages of people within Tanakh and arriving at a creation point. The date of creation of the world has changed multiple times in Jewish history, of which will be discussed in later chapter.
Today in the Gregorian calendar it is June 18, 2019. In the Jewish calendar it is Sivan 15, 5779. According to Jewish philosophy, creation began 5,779 years ago. Some believe this literally, others have a more theory of relativity approach to it. Regardless of belief, archaeologically the earth is about 4.5 billion years old according to measuring radioactive element decay.[11]
Radiocarbon dating was discovered in the 20th century. Laboratory analysis is performed through methods such as Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and Liquid Scintillation Counter (LSC) and known as Carbon 14 dating.[12]
Carbon 14 is an unstable, radioactive isotope of the element Carbon which forms into Carbon Dioxide and assimilated by plant life. The decay of the plant after it dies can be measured through the law of radioactive decay as disintegrations per second as seen in Table 1.[13]
Table 1. [14]
(Number of nuclei) N = N.e-λt (Activity) A = A.e-λt (Mass) m = m.e-λt
| Isotope | Half Life | Decay Constant (s-1) |
| Uranium 238 | 4.5×109years | 5×10-18 |
| Plutonium 239 | 2.4×104 years | 9.2×10-13 |
| Carbon 14 | 5570 years | 3.9×10-12 |
| Radium 226 | 1622 years | 1.35×10-11 |
| Free neutron 239 | 15 minutes | 1.1×10-3 |
| Radon 220 | 52 seconds | 1.33×10-2 |
| Lithium 8 | .84 seconds | .825 |
| Bismuth 214 | 1.6×10-4 seconds | 4.33×103 |
| Lithium 8 | 6×10-20 seconds | 1.2×1019 |
Bottomline, the time frame it takes for an element to break down can be measured through the Bateman equations, formulated by Henry Bateman in 1910. Bateman defined his equations as nuclide serial decay, of which is measured computationally through ORIGEN computer code.[15]
In 1960, Willard Libby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry as a result of his detection of radiocarbon in organic samples and his establishment of 5,568 years (half life) as a rate of decay.[16] Unlike religion, there is not much room here for debate. God gave us gravity and the ability to date rocks and bones, of which all can be measured.
The three dating systems will be referenced for all topics discussed based on the event of occurrence, archaeological significance, and calculating past/future prophecy. Carbon 14 dating will be addressed for any related physical discovery, such as bladed weapons or existing ancient manuscript.