Gathered "Into a Place"

NOTE: Your comments and constructive criticism are invited. Whether it be praise or disapproval, our only requirement is that it be done in the framework of a Christian spirit. All items under this heading reflect the personal views of the respective writers and not necessarily those of this journal or the denomination at large. --EDITOR.]

"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth!" Our ministry and laity alike subscribe wholeheartedly to Thoreau's statement. We thank God that He has preserved His holy Word, the very embodiment of truth for His people in these last days of earth's history. We often speak of new converts to the faith as having "embraced the truth."

That we do not yet fully understand the exact meaning of every passage of Scripture is a fact that we all recognize, and it is possible that the full explanation of some must wait until we can sit at our Saviour's feet in the earth made new. However, a statement made by Elder James White in a Review and Herald editorial of November 29, 1877, entitled "Unfulfilled Prophecy," seems worthy of consideration in this connection.

The Bible was given as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It was designed for the benefit of the people in this world and not the next. It is the sure word of prophecy that shines in this dark world. It was not designed for angels or for immortal saints. Therefore we shall not have to wait until we reach Heaven before we understand what the Lord has said to us in his word.

It is in the field of prophetic interpretation, especially those areas of unfulfilled prophecy, that expositors' views remain divided. In many cases there is reluctance even to study the points at issue or form an opinion as to the forces involved or the broad outlines of future fulfillment.

This fact reminds us of a statement by Ellen G. White in Gospel Workers, page 303: "We must not trust to others to search the Scriptures for us."

Elder James White's counsel in the editorial referred to above seems very apropos in these days when the world's attention is focused increasingly upon the Near East.

In exposition of unfulfilled prophecy, where the history is not written, the student should put forth his propositions with not too much positiveness, lest he find himself straying in the field of fancy. . . . Positions taken upon the Eastern question [Armageddon] are based upon prophecies which have not yet their fulfillment. Here we should tread lightly, and take positions carefully, lest we be found removing the landmarks fully established in the advent movement.

Armageddon

The term Armageddon is being used frequently these days, both in the religious and secular press, and from the sacred desk. The alignment of powers and maneuvering for position in the politically strategic Near East gives rise to dire pronouncements about the imminence of earth's final battle as mentioned in Revelation 16. This cataclysmic struggle may indeed be near, but a very important question at present is, Do our expositors of Bible prophecy, speaking as they do for the remnant church and presenting what certainly should be the TRUTH with respect to its spiritual import, explain this prophecy in full harmony with the Spirit of Prophecy?

God has blessed His church with a gift of inestimable value in these dark days the Spirit of Prophecy. It is at once as a brilliant light and a powerful magnifying glass upon the Scriptures. It reveals in marvelous detail the real meaning of some very brief but important passages of the last-day prophecies. Certainly it behooves us to diligently compare, correlate, and evaluate this divine revelation, and thereby arrive at an understanding that will be of great value as the final climax bursts upon us.

In the limits of this brief article I wish to deal with but one word upon which much reliance is placed in expounding Revelation 16:16 as a literal assembling of all the powers of earth the East against the West for a military battle on the broad valley of Megiddo in Palestine, which will result in their mutual annihilation. It may surprise some that this interpretation, though widely held by much of the nominal Christian world, is not to be found in the writings of Ellen White. The one word referred to is place. Revelation 16:16 reads, "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." It is argued that this word "place" solidly nails down as a literal geographical area the spot where the final battle must be fought. The mention of the "great river Euphrates" in verse 12 and the superficial similarity between the words Armageddon and Megiddo, plus the designation of that valley as the "classic battleground of Scripture" by Weymouth and other scholars seems to support this position.

The Meaning of Topon

Words in the Greek, as well as in English, often have a variety of meanings and shades of meaning. The translators have struggled with this problem, and in the main have done a wonderful job in rendering the thought of the original Greek in harmony with their best understanding of the context.

Let us look at the Greek word topos which is translated place in Revelation 16:16. Following is a listing of six different versions of the New Testament, with their respective rendering of two other texts in which the word topos appears. The entire verse will be given in the first, or King James Version, and only the phrase in which topos appears in the other versions.

Acts 25:16 "To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence [topon] to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him."

Heb. 12:17 "For ye know how that afterward, when he [Esau] would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place [topon] [margin: or, way to change his mind] of repentance, though he sought it care fully with tears."

Weymouth,

Acts 25:16: "had an opportunity [topon] of defending himself."

Heb. 12:17: "he found no opportunity [topon] for repentance."

Moffatt,

Acts 25:16: "had a chance [topon] of defending himself."

Heb. 12:17: "he got no chance [topon] to repent." ¹

Phillips,

Acts 25:16: "given the opportunity [topon] of defending himself."

Heb. 12:17: "he never afterward found the way [topon] of repentance." ²

A.R.S.,

Acts 25:16: "had opportunity [topon] to make his defence."

Heb. 12:17: "he found no place [topon] for a change of mind."

N.E.B.,

Acts 25:16: "given an opportunity [topon] of answering the charge." ³

Heb. 12:17: "he found no way [topon] open for second thoughts." (Italics supplied.)

In summary, in Acts 25:16 "topon" is rendered in four versions as "opportunity," in one version as "chance," and in one as "licence." In Hebrews 12:17 "topon" is rendered in two versions as "place" (or, way to change his mind, margin), in two as "way," in one as "opportunity," and in one as "chance."

It may be helpful to take a brief look at synonyms, other than "place," of these four English words. Roget's Dictionary of Synonyms & Antonyms gives these synonyms among others:

Opportunity: chance, occasion

Chance: fate, destiny, fortune, jeopardy

License: permit, authority

Way: road, device, scheme (as way to succeed)

Revelation 16:16

In view of the foregoing may I suggest the following paraphrase of Revelation 16:16, which seems to be in harmony with the Spirit of Prophecy:

And he, the devil (verse 14 specifies that the spirits of devils do the gathering), gathered or united them in a common destiny or fate, called in Hebrew "Armageddon," or mountain of slaughter.

Another possible paraphrasing might well be:

And the devil united them in a scheme or way that would inevitably occasion or permit "Armageddon", their complete destruction.

The scheme will be a way to accomplish the elimination, worldwide, of all of God's remnant people by the universal death decree. That is the "place" to which the enemies of God will come, and a fateful place indeed it is! (See The Great Controversy, p. 635.)

In the first paragraph on page 624 of The Great Controversy, Mrs. White mentions "the spirits of devils," as found in the first part of Revelation 16:14, and then paraphrases the last part: "to fasten them in deception; and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven." In so doing she explains the meaning of the word gather in verse 14 and gathered in verse 16.

The end will come more quickly than men expect. The wheat will be gathered and bound in sheaves for the garner of God; the tares [wicked] will be bound [united] as fagots for the fires of destruction. --Ibid., p. 631.

She presents Christ, their beloved Commander, as addressing His remnant people thus: "You are not warring against untried enemies. I have fought the battle in your behalf, and in My name you are more than conquerors." --Ibid., p. 633.

In Revelation 19:19 John "saw the beast [the one against whom all the seven last plagues of Revelation 16 are chiefly focused], and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army." This war of mankind against Divinity can only be carried on against Christ through His earthly children. It would seem that Ellen White's consistent reference to earth's last battle before Christ's coming as a struggle be tween the united enemies of God and His faithful remnant, coupled with scriptures such as Revelation 19:11-21, which she links with Armageddon, should help us to grasp the true significance of this mighty climax of rebellion against the authority of heaven.