Armageddon - what is it? The meaning of the word "armageddon"

Armageddon scares us from year to year. The media just give an excuse to raise people's ears and force them to flee to supermarkets for stocks of strategic goods. But, fortunately, we have successfully survived many different "armageddon" according to the version of impressionable journalists and psychics. Now, living in our wonderful time, let's analyze the concept of "Armageddon": what is it, where to wait and many more interesting things about it.

Armageddon: the concept of

We heard it in colloquial speech, and on the screen, for certain, had time or several to catch a film about the epic end of the world with the same name - "Armageddon." So let's, after all, analyze the sonorous word "Armageddon." Value we are interested in first and foremost, as well as historical realities associated with it.

So, originally Armageddon is not a common noun, but the name of a place where, as the Apocalypse says, the decisive battle between good and evil is to be accomplished.

The origin of the modern word form is attributed to the Hebrew name of one of the mountainous areas - Har Megiddo, which means literally "the mountainous terrain of Megiddo". Geographically, it is located in the Haifa area (now Israel). Will help to see with my own eyes what Armageddon is, a photo of the map and from the site of the excavation of the city.

With Haifa, more than a dozen historical events are connected, mostly battles. According to the Christian scriptures, these "mountains of Israel" will come together in a battle "the kings of the whole earth." The battle will outweigh the forces of evil, and the satanic hordes will destroy the divine heavenly fire. This is the original mention of Armageddon as a geographical point, and it belongs to John the Theologian.

Neo-mysticism about Armageddon

Over time, the version of the battle near the area of Megiddo was transformed. Basically, the meaning shifted from the designation of the geographical object to the determination of the decisive battle. It was overgrown with new and new definitions, mystical assumptions, superstitious fears.

Armageddon firmly entered the doctrines of various sects. Among them are the well-known "Jehovah's Witnesses", and the less common "Living Ethics". The intimidation of the parishioners by Armageddon has become an integral part of their teaching, pushing for voluntary donations for the sake of salvation.

Technogenic Armageddon

In an era of active technology development, Armageddon began to acquire technogenic definitions. Thus, the news of the emergence of nuclear weapons caused the corresponding fears - "nuclear Armageddon." During the confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States, similar fears began to spread across the planet.

With the advent of novelties in the field of technology, almost everyone is played by the science fictionists as a prerequisite for a "decisive battle". From the mobile phone to the Internet, the andron collider and other high-tech discoveries.

Armageddon in Protestantism

Protestant doctrine tells us that the decisive battle will take place at the Megiddo Mountains, and Jesus Christ will again come to earth to overthrow the Antichrist (he is also Satan, he is also the Beast). After this miracle, Satan will be closed for a thousand years in prison.

Megiddo and the locality referred to in the Scriptures as "the mountain of Israel" are also identified. The biblical Armageddon, as we see, is a very unambiguous concept, but it has also over time passed into other contexts of meanings. And today it is used for various purposes as a bright and challenging turn.

Mass culture and Armageddon

Today, the mystical fear of Armageddon poured out, and the word began to be used in various contexts. Do not be afraid to take it for the names of various projects and social phenomena. Since the true meaning (both direct and symbolic) is taken as a basis, and not invented by mystics, the interpretation can be very different.

For example, in Moscow there is a historical and philological almanac, called "Armageddon." The meaning of the name is interpreted by the creators as an attempt to gather all available forces for a decisive war for beauty and truth in this world.

Cinematography pleased us with a fantastic film "Armageddon" in 1998. Events unfold epic: over mankind there is an inevitable cosmic threat in the form of a meteorite. You can not turn her around anyway, than Bruce Willis does. As you can see, there is a direct appeal to the meaning of Armageddon as the end of the world, and no relation to the primary. The film became the reason why Armageddon began to attribute the significance of extinction of mankind precisely because of the threat of a meteorite falling.

Now we know what Armageddon is in its original version and modern realities.

Megiddo and the battles of his walls

In its history, the city of Megiddo experienced many wars, more and less important. At least, such data is provided to us by various historical and philosophical scientific sources.

For example, historian Eric Klein reports in his study of The Battles of Armageddon some data. Thus, the Mongols, who managed to brilliantly capture a significant part of Asia in the 13th century, were defeated at the walls of the city of Megiddo for the first time.

The 20th century was also marked by the battle of Megiddo. The British army with Edmund Allenby at the head defeated the Turkish.

In the Biblical writings, Megiddo appears in many significant events besides the Apocalypse. Thus, for example, the army of Judge Varak won a victory over Sisera, the Canaanite commander. Gideon and his small army (only 300 men) wrested from the fate of the victory over the Midianites.

The fact that so many times the area near the city of Megiddo was becoming the center of significant battles is due to its strategic position. For 4 thousand years, battle paintings by Megiddo occurred with a noticeable periodicity. This confirms the time-based meaning of the word Armageddon as an event that affects the fate of all people on Earth.

Conclusion

So, in our article we touched upon a very ominous term: dismantled what Armageddon is, in what sense it is used today and in history.

For many, the discovery was that the word came from the name of the area in Israel - the city of Megiddo. Throughout history, there have been dozens of battles, because the location of the terrain is strategically important.

The biblical Armageddon is mentioned in the Revelation of John the Theologian and nowhere else in Scripture. However, the pictures imagined by people when reading his texts, made a rumor about the end of the world after the battle of Good and Evil.