The first time I heard the word Armageddon was not in a Hollywood production, but from the lips of a childhood friend, Colin, on a patio in Belmont – we were 16 years old.
That night, the events he read from the Bible sounded like the happenings from a frightful place, and the quick succession in which it rattled off his lips was more explosive than any movie I had ever seen. He was in shock and I was amazed.
After all, we were talking about the end of the world - who wouldn’t be amazed.
Decades later, the entire world is at the front end of the worst pandemic in over 100 years. Fear and uncertainty reign throughout the earth, and men’s hearts are failing them, literally and figuratively.
On this very day as fate would have it, I am in Israel - a land that defies description. For millennia, people have made once-in-a- lifetime pilgrimages to experience this place for themselves. To some it’s mystical or magical, mysterious and meaningful. To me, it’s home, and it’s never boring. Today is no exception.
The scene on the roads is surreal – eerie. There are few cars driving the highways at midday on Saturday. This is not a normal day and my plan is also unusual, I’m on my way to a place that needs no description – Mount Megiddo. I want to see The Valley of Decision (Tel Megiddo) for myself. Why? Because I can.
On the way I drive past the intersection taken by millions of people in recent years, Bethlehem, but I keep my eyes focused on the road ahead of me – I can visit that place at some other time. The picture-perfect spring day is unlike any I have ever seen, even this highway is deserted, there’s not another car in sight.
Thirty minutes later my car delves deeper into a lush green valley and I feel the quality of the air change - it’s warmer but refreshing. If I continue down the road I will descend below sea level to the vast and expansive agricultural breadbasket called Beit She’an, but that journey will have to wait for another day.
I pull the car off the road and silently breathe a sigh of relief. I am at my destination, Tel Megiddo. I clearly recall Colin’s words:
“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”
“And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
That great battle will be waged at another time. Today, all is well. The gates to the ancient archeological sites are locked and there are no crowds or tourists. I take a few pictures and a couple selfies as my proof of life. A part of me is relieved to know that shalom fills the hills and valleys.
I know to some it feels like the end of the world has come upon us but absorbing the scene before me I can gladly report, there are no armies and no battles, no Gog or Magog.
It’s certain Armageddon will be put off for another day. The evidence suggests that rumors of the demise of the human race have been greatly exaggerated.
When you get here, we'll explore it together. In the meantime, social distancing works. Show your love by being careful.
John Q.
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