MEGIDDO AND NAZARETH
Rev. 16:13-16
Morning Meditation 9/28/16
Verses 13-16 say, “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. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
This is a parenthetical statement inserted between the sixth and seventh vial in the Revelation. It is describing the scene of the last campaign that will be made up of the kings of the East (vs. 12) and all the nations. God is gathering them together for Judgment.
On our recent trip to the Holy Land, we were taken to the ancient hill called Megiddo. This hill has increased in size because of the many times it has been destroyed and rebuilt. I have forgotten how many civilizations are discernable in the strata of the earth revealed by excavations. This was my second time to see it. It was my wife’s first. The tour guide took us up a trail to the top and showed us the remains of the stables that Solomon built for his horses. He described how the defenders survived. They had storage for food in the form of giant grain bens. The water supply was down at the bottom and on the side that an army would attack. That presented a problem. The ones who went to get water were losing their lives. You cannot live long without water. So what they did was to tunnel down from the top and through the mound so that they could get access to the water from within the mount. We were taken down the many many steps and through the route the water carriers traveled. Then up and out on the other side. My wife took every step I did. Now you need to know we have been talking about replacement knee surgery for her. Arthritis has made it necessary for knee replacement soon. But I never took a step on the Holy Land Trip that she wasn’t there taking it with me. Megiddo was a real test to anyone’s knees. I have an idea that the women were the ones who had to make this trip after water on a daily basis. This tunnel made it safe for those who made the trip..
The hill of Megiddo is located west of the Jordan River in north central Palestine, some ten miles south of Nazareth and fifteen miles inland from the Mediterranean seacoast. The valley that surrounds it is called the valley of Jezreel (Judges 6:33), the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2, 13), and the plain of the valley of Jordan (Gen. 13:11). The Bible teaches plainly that this beautiful massive fertile valley will be the gathering place of the armies of all nations (Joel 3:2) for the last battle. It also predicts their utter defeat. Rev. 14:20 says, “And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” This is 1600 furlongs and is the entire length of Palestine. It is hard to conceive of the magnitude of this battle and the awful results. I have heard many say that there is not enough blood running in the veins of all mankind for blood to be to the bridles of the horses in this valley. I would like to say that God is not a blow hard. He does not exaggerate. He predicts then brings it to pass. If you try to adjust your beliefs to keep from looking like a fool to the world, you won’t believe much of the Bible. This Book is about a God who can speak and worlds appear suddenly and perfectly. Do you know of anyone who can sculptor a man out of the dust of the earth and after he has made him, breath into his nostrils the breath of life, and that man get up a grown mature man from the first day of his life? That is exactly what God did in the Garden of Eden. You say, “That’s crazy.” Yeah, it don’t sound reasonable does it? Well, its not. But its true. My advise is to go ahead and believe the Bible and suffer the reproach of the so-called educated world. I would look like a fool as to be one. The last word has already been said and we are on the winning side.
Well, after we left Megiddo we went to Nazareth. This is the town were Jesus was brought up. We were taken to a synagogue in which Jesus could have read the passage recorded in Luke 4:16-21. Jesus was not a stranger to the synagogue. Verse 16 says, “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.” The key words in this verse is “as his custom was.” The word “custom” is a perfect active participle. The perfect tense is completed action in the past with the result that it continued to be true at the time, i.e., He was doing something that had been his habitual practice in the past. He took the scroll to read. This was a habit with Jesus. This is one of those passages that gives us some insight into the life of Christ between the age of twelve and the time He entered His public ministry. Jesus was no stranger to the religious life of those in His home town. It was good to stand in Nazareth somewhere near the place where Jesus was reared as a boy and attended the synagogue. The remains of the ancient synagogue is the result of excavations. There is also a catholic church there that has the control of the site.
Jesus was limited in His ministry in Nazareth. The Scripture that Jesus read was, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:18-21). When Jesus told them that this Scripture was fulfilled in their ears that day, it was the same as saying, “I am the one of whom this Scripture speaks.” Their reaction is stated in verses 28-29, “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way.” There is a cliff on the edge of this city from which they probably were going to throw Him. Matthew 13:57 says, “And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.” He was talking about Nazareth. Then in the next verse Matthew comments, “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Have you ever wondered why you accept the Word a whole lot better from a stranger than one of your own? I guess there is something to the saying “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Jesus adopted Capernaum after this as His home town. But He continued to be known as “Jesus of Nazareth.” I am told that Capernaum was the RED LIGHT DISTRICT for Tiberias which was across the Sea of Galilee. This town was the sight of a Roman Garrison. There are always red light districts where there is an army camp. It is amazing that Jesus would be received by outright sinners before He would by so-called Bible believers.
Israel was religious but lost when Jesus came on the scene. A religious man can know his Bible and the rituals. But until he knows the Author, he is spiritually blind and cannot discern the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14). I am afraid that the church has become like that today. Some say they believe that there are scores of people in fundamental churches who have never come to know Christ in the New Birth. They are just members of the church. I want to tell you that when Jesus comes in the rapture, He is not going to come to the church and get the church roll to find out who to rapture. He has a book all of His own. And no one is in that book except those who are true believers. Nazareth was religious and believed in God to the point to where they were ready to thrust Jesus over the cliff to his death because of what they perceived to be blasphemy. They were so religious that they were not about to tolerate one of their own to claim to be the Messiah. Their preconceived ideas about the Messiah blinded them to Him when He came..
We are entering to that season where the emphasis will be on the birth of Jesus. Let’s make room for Him in our hearts and lives. Lets pray that many will come to know Him during this Christmas season.
May God bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
