And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Revelation 16:13–14, emphasis added)
Grand Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch of the Eda Charedit, a great-grandson of the Gaon of Vilna—“the saintly genius from Vilnius”[i]—recently said that the times of the Moshiach are here. According to Rabbi Shternbuch, his grandfather, Vilna Gaon, taught accordingly about the coming of Messiah.
When you hear that the Russians have captured the city of Crimea, you should know that the times of the Messiah have started, that his steps are being heard. And when you hear that the Russians have reached the city of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), you should put on your Shabbat clothes and don’t take them off, because it means that the Messiah is about to come any minute.[ii]
The Russians took Crimea in 2014[iii] and, as we have demonstrated, Constantinople is central to Islamic eschatology. In the IS’ trademark Hadith prophecy about Dabiq (which they claimed to be fulfilling) the Muslim army is divided into three groups.
The Last Hour would not come until the Romans would land at al-A’maq or in Dabiq. An army consisting of the best (soldiers) of the people of the earth at that time will come from Medina (to counteract them). When they will arrange themselves in ranks, the Romans would say: Do not stand between us and those (Muslims) who took prisoners from amongst us. Let us fight with them; and the Muslims would say: Nay, by Allah, we would never get aside from you and from our brethren that you may fight them. They will then fight and a third (part) of the army would run away, whom Allah will never forgive. A third (part of the army). which would be constituted of excellent martyrs in Allah’s eye, would be killed and the third who would never be put to trial would win and they would be conquerors of Constantinople.[iv]
The first third retreats and suffers damnation as cowards, the second third is killed in battle, and the final third goes on to become the conquerors of Constantinople (Istanbul)—today the fifth-largest city in the world. But more interestingly, the IS’ interpretation is not coherent with geopolitical reality; the prophecy seemingly assumes that Constantinople is still the capital of the eastern leg of the Roman Empire, which is no longer the case. Istanbul is a modern Muslim metropolis today. Its destruction by the IS would not advance Islam, but further galvanize the world against the IS. It’s also not internally coherent.
This section will address the term “Armageddon”—from a Hebrew Bible perspective down to how it applies in Christian eschatology. We offer an overview and then four key points of analysis. First will be a summary and overview of the Old Testament use of the “Day of the Lord” terminology. This naturally leads to the term “Armageddon” because of the book of Revelation’s detailed exposition of the Day of the Lord and mention of in “the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon” (Revelation 16:16b). Solutions to the meaning of the cryptic term will be offered on the basis of plausible Hebrew transliterations as well as contextual and geographic coherence. Then the relationship to the cosmic mountain and Antichrist figure will be explored. Finally, the battle itself will be examined and a novel solution offered in light of the Ezekiel 38 and 39 descriptions of an end-time war. The Hebrew background to the term “Armageddon” entails a confrontation over the divine mountain and a more defined picture of the prophetic scenario.
Day of the Lord
The Day of the Lord is a key theme found in the Old Testament prophetic books. It carries a context of future judgment and foreboding darkness. However, one should not read all of the passages into our future, as some have come and gone. The first appears in Amos and is speaking of the coming Assyrian invasion of the Northern Kingdom (Amos 5:18–20). Zephaniah uses the term to refer to the imminent Babylonian invasion of Judah (Zephaniah 1:7, 14). Nevertheless, other passages do refer to a time of ultimate judgment upon the nations and indicate a much wider scope (Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 3:14; Obadiah. 15). Most germane to the task, here are instances when the prophet seems to speak of an eschatological Day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5; Joel 3:2). Even more, the New Testament authors Peter and Paul appropriated the term for the future return of Christ (2 Peter 3:10; 1 Corinthians 1:8). Heiser wrote, “The Day of the Lord does not refer to a specific twenty-four hour day. Rather, it refers to a period of time, much in the way we would today say, ‘the day of reckoning’ or ‘day of vengeance.’”[v] In context, “the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14) shows this usage. Heiser also acknowledged its eschatological sense.
The term refers to a time in the far future with respect to when the prophet lived—from our perspective, to the time of Jesus’ first coming and beyond to his second coming. The reason that it can refer to a variety of time periods is that the “Day of Yahweh” indiscriminately meant “judgment was coming.”[vi]
Depending on context, the Day of the Lord denoted the “wide-sense day” covering the Great Tribulation mentioned by Jesus (Matthew 24:21) and the “narrow-sense day,” the literal day upon which Jesus returns for the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16; 19:11–21).
The broad sense encompasses a span of time known in the Hebrew Bible as “the time of Jacob’s distress” (Jeremiah 30:7) and also in Daniel as “a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time” (Daniel 12:1). Jesus referred to it as the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21; Revelation.7:14) just prior to His return. This time is described by Him in Matthew’s Gospel (24:15–28) and in detail through John with the trumpet and bowl judgments found in the book of Revelation. Prior to Armageddon, a substantial part of the broad Day of the Lord’s judgments have occurred concurrent with the trumpets and bowls. Then the armies of the nations will only begin to be gathered by the demonic hordes to Armageddon after the sixth bowl is poured out (Revelation. 16:12–16). The Hebrew Bible supplies more detail.
Joel 3:9–16 and Zechariah 14:1–5 both indicate that after the armies of the nations have gathered in Israel, then a specific day will come, e.g. the “Day of the Lord is near” (Joel 3:14) and “a day is coming for the Lord” (Zechariah 14:1). It is apparent that this narrow Day of the Lord will not take place until the armies have gathered in Israel by the miraculous sign-working, unclean frog spirits emerging from the satanic trinity: the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet.
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Revelation 16:13–14)
The “great day of God Almighty” is a special day will be within the broad Day of the Lord but utterly distinct. Both Joel 3 and Zechariah 12–14 indicate that their Day of the Lord will be the specific day when the Lord comes to fight against and destroy the armies gathered in Israel. Also, Jesus revealed to John that this will be when Jesus returns to the earth (Revelation 19:11–21). Thus, the narrow Day of Joel 3 and Zechariah 14 will be the day on which Christ comes to the earth to fight the Battle of Armageddon.
The prophecy of Zechariah 14 gives us specific details about that future day. At the end of the Tribulation, during the Battle of Armageddon, and after it, the following will occur: First, the nations of the earth will surround Jerusalem (v.2). Second, Jerusalem will be captured, plundered, and women raped (v.2b). Third, a remnant will flee via a valley created by an earthquake (v.5a). Fourth, Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives as was promised by the angel after the ascension (Acts 1:11; Zechariah 14: 4). Fifth, He comes with an angelic army to fight the nations (Zechariah 14:5b). Revelation 19 parallels this section and indicates that “from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations” (v. 19:15a). Furthermore, the text describes a horrible plague cursed upon the combatants (Zechariah 14:12; cf. Revelation 19:15). Finally, the Lord will be King and the whole world will worship him (Zechariah 14:16).
Daniel 11:40–45 is a parallel passage that suggests the Muslims turn and attack the first beast. It also focuses on Jerusalem, even specifying that “He [The Antichrist] shall enter also into the glorious land [Israel], and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon” (Daniel 11:41). No known historical sequence corresponds to that which is laid out in those verses, leading us to conclude that it describes the final battle for the mount of assembly in Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:9). Finally, the “glorious holy mountain,” indisputably Mt. Zion, is where the Antichrist dies (Daniel 11:45).
According to biblical scholar Charles Torrey, “In Hebrew eschatology Jerusalem was the center of all the predicted gatherings, whether of the people of God or of the heathen nations.”[vii] The Hebrew Bible is unequivocal in its testimony. Joel 2:32 proclaims that “in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape.” Obadiah 21 describes the culmination: “Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” Isaiah 24:23 declares: “Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders.” With this prophetic unanimity, one wonders why Armageddon is typically located on the plain of Megiddo.
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Armageddon in Revelation 16:16
A principle tenet of this treatment is that Armageddon has nothing to do with the Valley of Megiddo. The cryptic passage in question reads, “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Revelation 16:16). The term in Greek, Ἃρ Μαγεδών, is problematic in that it is a transliteration of a Hebrew term, yet we find no immediate Old Testament analog. It is better represented in English as “Har Magedon,” because in Koine Greek of the preceding rough breathing mark, Ἃρ. Biblical scholar Charles Torrey argued that the division into two words is required by the Semitic trilateral root structure. The former word Ἃρ or “Har” means “mountain” ( הַר ) in Hebrew.[viii] Accordingly, the remainder is Μαγεδών, but the last two letters ‘ών’ are merely a suffix for a place name.[ix] Hence, all that remains is a Greek transliteration of a Hebrew word for a mountain, which was written as Μαγεδ.
Many respected dispensational scholars (Missler; Pentecost; Walvoord; Fruchtenbaum) identify Armageddon with the area of the Galilean city of Megiddo and believe that a literal military battle will be fought or staged in that area (known as the Megiddo Plains). Arnold Fruchtenbaum argues:
Megiddo was a strategic city located at the western end of the Valley of Jezreel, guarding the famous Megiddo Pass into Israel’s largest valley. One can see the entire Valley of Jezreel from the mount upon which the city of Megiddo stood. So what is known as the Valley of Armageddon in Christian circles is actually the biblical Valley of Jezreel. The term Armageddon is never applied to the valley itself, but only to the mount at the western end.[x]
This sounds convincing at first. Yet the western end of the Jezreel Valley consists of Mount Tabor and Mount Gilboa. It is flanked on the south by Mount Carmel. There is no such “Mount Megiddo.” Apparently, this idea became widely accepted in dispensational scholarship since it appeared in the New Scofield Reference Bible notes for Judges 5:19 and Revelation 16:16.[xi] Modern scholars no longer assume it to be Megiddo.
The word “Armageddon” in Hebrew is har-mĕgiddôn, meaning “the mount of Megiddo.” The city of Megiddo was strategically located in northern Palestine on a plain in the Valley of Jezreel or Esdraelon. Although Megiddo was not a “mountain,” it was the site of many significant battles in Israel’s history (e.g., Judg. 5:19; 2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron. 35:22; Zech. 12:11).[xii]
The difficulty is that there are no scholarly sources that corroborate a “Mount Meggido” convention prior to modern-era dispensationalism.
The main assets of the Megiddo rendering is that the Greek appears as if it could be a possible transliteration for מְגִדֹּו (meḡid∙dô), and that it was the site of some important battles in Israelite history (Joshua 12:21; Judges 5:19, 2 Kings 9:27, 23:29–30).[xiii] However, the problems demonstrably outweigh the advantages.
The ten-thousand- pound elephant in the room is that there simply is no such place as Mount Megiddo. In the Bible, Megiddo is twice represented as “the plain of Megiddo” (Zechariah 12:11; 2 Chronicles 35:22). The only mountains near it have their own well and established names like Mount Hermon. In truth, during the apostle John’s day, the only actual hill at Megiddo was a measly seventy-foot high artificial mound known as a “tell” in archaeology.[xiv] Furthermore, by using Google Earth for geographic investigation, one can see that the town of Megiddo is a full fifty-four miles in a straight line from the Mount of Olives where the Lord defeats the armies in Zechariah 14. Thus a rendering of Megiddo makes the Day of the Lord passages centering on Jerusalem unrealistically distant. In contrast, the Mount of Olives where the Lord lands with His army is a mere one-third of a mile from Mount Zion. Because of the geography and the fact that the text specifies a mountain, the Megiddo Plain or Jezreel Valley is not a viable option. We now explore the more plausible alternative that has been suggested for a Hebrew source term that renders as the Greek term Μαγεδ.
The reference is cryptic and has long evaded unambiguous definition. In effect, scholars must now attempt to reverse transliterate from Greek back to Hebrew. The early commentators Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome did not even think Armageddon was the name of an actual place.[xv] R. H. Charles ventured, “it is possible that Ἅρ Μαγεδών may be a corruption either for הַר מִגְדּוֹ = ‘his fruitful mountain.’”[xvi] This connects it to Jerusalem and coheres nicely to Old Testament “Day of the Lord” texts. Another suggestion is that the Hebrew gādad (“a marauding band, troop”)[xvii] appended to har (“mountain”) would mean “marauding mountain” and would perhaps allude to Jeremiah’s “destroying mountain” (Jeremiah 51:25).[xviii] Another similar idea suggested by Johnson stems from the secondary sense of the Hebrew gādad, which means “to gather in troops or bands,” because one can make a noun form a verb in Hebrew by adding the prefix ‘ma,’ rendering magēd, “a place of gathering in troops.” [xix] This coheres nicely with the context of Revelation 16. While these all seem plausible, in seeming frustration, Robert Mounce surmises:
When it takes place, Armageddon is symbolic of the final overthrow of all the forces of evil by the might and power of God. The great conflict between God and Satan, Christ and Antichrist, good and evil, that lies behind the perplexing course of history will in the end issue in a final struggle in which God will emerge victorious and take with him all who have placed their faith in him. This is Har-Magedon. (Mounce 1997, 302)
While this is surely correct, God has given us this strange name for some purpose, albeit enigmatic. Still yet, there is a solution that offers more explanatory scope than the above.
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Biblical scholar Charles C. Torrey proposed a solution based on Hebrew mythology back in 1938 that is gaining wider acceptance. Torrey refers to an article in the Hastings Dictionary of the Bible that posited an alternate rendering by Hommel. As far back as the nineteenth century, German scholars had made a connection to Isaiah 14:13 and the “Mount of Assembly,” but ancient Near Eastern scholarship and archaeology were still in their infancy. Torrey aptly pointed out that interpreters lacking an intimate knowledge of both Hebrew and Greek miss that the Greek letter gamma, ‘γ’ in Μαγεδών or the Hebrew letter gimel, in מְגִדּוֹן or the ‘g’ in the English Megiddo can also represent the Hebrew consonant ayin, ע.[xx] In other words, English Bible readers only consider “Megiddo” being unaware of the possibility that John was Hellenizing as well as transliterating. Heiser explained:
Neither Greek nor English has a letter (other than hard “g”) that approximates the sound of ʿayin. That is why it is represented in academic transliteration as a backwards apostrophe. The sound of that letter ayin is made in the back of the throat and sounds similar to hard “g.” Perhaps the best example of a Hebrew word that begins with the letter ayin is “Gemorrah” (ʿamorah). That familiar word is not spelled with the Hebrew “g” (gimel) like the “g” in “Megiddo.” It is spelled with ʿayin.[xxi]
Accordingly, Torrey postulated מֹועֵד (mô∙ʿēḏ) which harkens the “Mount of Assembly” language used in Isaiah 14:13, an actual mountain corresponding to John’s transliteration. American theologian and Old Testament scholar, Meredith Kline, concurred by stating “Representation of the consonant cayin by Greek gamma is well attested. Also, in Hebrew -on is an affirmative to nouns, including place names.”[xxii] The “Mount of Assembly” rendering was also suggested by Mathias Rissi in his Revelation study Time and History published in 1966.[xxiii] Because of its scholarly support and convincing explanatory scope, the “Mount of Assembly” interpretation is the focus of this presentation.
The Cosmic Mountain
The “mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north” (Isaiah 14:13) was originally a mythological meeting place for the pagan gods and corresponds to Mount Zaphon in Ugaritic texts. These texts describe Mount Zaphon as Baal’s “holy mountain,” “beautiful hill,” and “mighty mountain.” [xxiv] According to John Walton:
Saphon/Zaphon is identified with a mountain, Jebel al-ʿAqra, or Casius in classical sources (deriving from the Hittite Chazzi), which lies north of Ugarit. It is considered holy because it is capped by Baal’s palace in the Baal Epic and is also the site of his burial. [xxv]
Isaiah was drawing on imagery from Baal-Athtar mythology to make a point about the king of Babylon as well as a divine usurper. It may seem odd that Isaiah would reference a Canaanite holy mountain, yet the Hebrew prophets were famous for juxtaposing Yahweh against the Canaanite deities. For instance, the biblical account of Elijah pronouncing a drought on the land was an assault on Baal as fertility god (1 Kings 17:1). His subsequent showdown with the prophets of Baal was a further demonstration of their god’s impotence (1 Kings 18:38). In the same way, the prophets appropriate the property of a foreign god to assert Yahweh’s superiority.
Jerusalem was located at a higher elevation than much of the surrounding region. The Temple was on a conspicuous summit in Jerusalem, his holy hill Mount Zion (Psalms 2:6; 99:2, 9). Psalm 48 is an explicit example of the connection to Zaphon: “His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King” (Psalm 48:1b–2). This “far north” reference connects to the Isaiah taunt song. Heiser notes:
Yahweh’s sanctuary is on a mountain, Mount Zion (Ps. 48:1–2) which is located in the “heights of the north (saphon),” or on a “very high mountain” (Ezek. 40:2). Zion is the “mount of assembly” again located in the “heights of the north (saphon),” (Isa. 14:13). (Heiser, 2004, 42)
It is important to note that it is described as “in the far north,” yet Jerusalem is hardly the extreme geographic north. There is something much bigger going on. The ancient Near Eastern cosmology was a tripartite conception in which the abode of the gods was “the heights of the north.” Thus, the cosmic north is being alluded to designating the divine Mount Zion.[xxvi]
Yahweh was associated with a holy mountain from the very beginning in Eden.[xxvii] Ezekiel 28:13–16 equates the Garden of God with the Mountain of God. Then during in the interim, He relocated to Mount Horeb or Sinai (Exodus 3:1). The assembly or mô∙ʿēḏ terminology alludes to the “tent of meeting,” which served temporarily, and then later the Temple proper in Jerusalem on Mount Zion is associated with the mô∙ʿēḏ terminology (Psalm74:4; Lamentations 2:6).[xxviii] According to Ezekiel, Yahweh vacated the mountain prior to the Temple’s destruction by the Babylonians (Ezekiel 10:18). Lamentations 5:16 describes Mount Zion as utterly desolate. Jesus was the fulfillment of Yahweh’s return for the Second Temple period. However, the Second Temple was also destroyed. Still yet, Yahweh’s glory is promised to return to a new Temple in the end time after the nation has repented and been cleansed (Ezekiel 43:1–9). We argue that this corresponds to what we know about the resolution of Armageddon and the Day of the Lord.
It seems likely that Armageddon refers to the end-time battle for Yahweh’s holy mountain. Mounce comments, “Still others interpret the term in reference to some ancient myth in which an army of demons assault the holy mountain of the gods.”[xxix] And indeed, various texts support the idea that this will be a war with divine, demonic, and earthly soldiers. Zechariah describes the Lord returning with his “holy ones” (Zechariah 14:5). Other Old Testament passages also support the idea (Isaiah 13:16; 24:1–21; Joel 3:9–12). The book of Revelation describes the involvement of demonic hordes (Revelation. 16:14) and armies from heaven dressed in white linen who accompany the Lord (Revelation. 19:14). Finally, the Dead Sea Scrolls also support this future event. Heiser argues, “The conflict described in the War Scroll involves both men and heavenly beings fighting side-by-side and against one another.”[xxx] Accordingly, it seems appropriate to believe that just as Jesus leads an army, the Antichrist or Beast is Satan’s incarnate general.
UP NEXT: The Divine Usurper
[i] Marius Povilas Šaulauskas and Alfredas Bumblauskas, “The Threefold Step of Academia Europeana: A Case of Universitas Vilnensis,” (Universite to idėja, 2009), 24, http://www.zurnalai.vu.lt/problemos/article/viewFile/1946/1179, accessed October 15, 2015.
[ii] “Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch: We Hear the Footsteps of the Moshiach,” Lazer Beams, March 30, 2014, http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2014/03/rabbi-moshe-sternbuch.html#sthash.PjoWhtfa.dpuf, accessed November 25, 2015.
[iii] Matt Smith and Alla Eshchenko, “Ukraine Cries ‘Robbery’ as Russia Annexes Crimea,” CNN, March 18, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/18/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/index.html, accessed October 15, 2015.
[iv] Sahih Muslim by Imam Muslim, translation by Abdul Hamid Siddiqui, Volume: The Book Pertaining to the Turmoil and Portents of the Last Hour, http://www.theonlyquran.com/hadith/Sahih-Muslim/?volume=41&chapter=9, accessed November 25, 2015.
[v] Heiser, Islam and Armageddon (Self-published book, 2002), 83.
[vi] Ibid., 84.
[vii] Charles C. Torrey, “Armageddon,” Harvard Theological Review 31, 3 (1938): 246.
[viii] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament), electronic ed (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
[ix] Meredith Kline, “Har Magedon: The End of the Millennium.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 39, 2.I (1996): 208.
[x]Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events, Rev. ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 311.
[xi] Alan F. Johnson, “Revelation,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 12: Hebrews Through Revelation, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 551.
[xii] “Armageddon” in Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times, ed. J. Daniel Hays, J. Scott Duvall, and C. Marvin Pate (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2007), 43.
[xiii] Johnson, “Revelation,” 551.
[xiv] Robert H. Mounce, “The Book of Revelation,” The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 301.
[xv] Torrey, “Armageddon,” 238.
[xvi] R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John (Edinburgh: T&T Clark International, 1920), 2:50.
[xvii] R. Laird Harris, Robert Laird Harris, Gleason Leonard Archer and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, electronic ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999, c1980), 150.
[xviii] Johnson, “Revelation,” 552.
[xix] Ibid.
[xx] Torrey, “Armageddon,” 245.
[xxi] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible (Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2015), 371.
[xxii] Kline, “Har Magedon,” 208.
[xxiii] Mathias Rissi, Time and History (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1966), 84–85.
[xxiv] John H. Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament) Volume 5: The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 362.
[xxv] Walton, 2009b, 73.
[xxvi] H. Niehr, “Zaphon” in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible DDD, 2nd extensively rev. ed. K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking and Pieter Willem van der Horst (Leiden; Boston; Grand Rapids, MI: Brill; Eerdmans, 1999), 927.
[xxvii] Michael S. Heiser, “The Divine Council in Late Cannonical and Non-Cannonical Second Temple Jewish Literature,” (Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2004), 43.
[xxviii] Torrey, “Armageddon,” 246.
[xxix] Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 301.
[xxx] Michael S. Heiser, Islam and Armageddon, (Self-published book, 2002), 111.
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