Revelation 16:12-21 ...'And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 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 tongueArmageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.'
We know there isn't a literal place in the world today called "Armageddon". So what does the word mean? Well, Strong's translates it as"The Hill or city of Megiddo - In Rev. 16:16 the scene of the struggle of good and evil."... Now remember what it says in Ephesians about what we are battling against? ...
Ephesians 6:12 ...'For we wrestleNOTagainst flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,againstspiritualwickedness in high places.'
As a Christian, our life becomes a spirit filled life, which means our battles then become spiritual battles, as our enemy, Satan, is a spirit being. So why would the Bible say that we battle NOT against physical forces, but against spiritual ones, and then say in Revelation that the final battle for us will be a physical one? It doesn't make sense, and we know that God is not the author of confusion. Satan knows he has a short time left, so he is mustering all his spiritual forces (remember, he has millions of fallen angels on his side) which will climax with this great battle of Armageddon. The battle of Armageddon will be Satan's final attack upon the people of GodALL AROUND THE WORLD. Remember that point. It isn't going to be focused just in the middle east, it will be a worldwide battle.

When did Jesuseversay His people would be involved and fight in a physical war?
Something that many Christians do is that they mistakenly take certain words in Bible prophecy and apply them literally. Like the mark of the beast. Many think that this is going to be a physical, literal mark on our hand or forehead. They say the word means a mark, so it must be a physical mark. And yet the word beast in Revelation 13 means a beast. So are we now to believe that we will have literal beasts causing the world to worship them? No! We are to apply them in a spiritual sense, not a physical, because there are many things in Revelation that are symbolic, not literal. So if we look at the root meaning of Armageddon, we will see what this actually means. The Hebrew term 'har - megiddon' means'a mountain of crowds or congregation'. Now there is another mount in the Bible, mount Zion, the place where God dwells:
Psalm 48:2 ...'Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.'
Psalm 9:11 ...'Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion.'
Now the prophet Joel also mentions mount Zion as being the place where God's people are gathered.
Joel 2:15,16,23,32 ...'Blow the trumpetin Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Be glad then, yechildren of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.'
Did you see what Joel said? ..."whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered"... Now that the literal nation of Israel is no longer God's chosen special people, the term 'Zion' is applied to Christians. Zion is no longer applied to a physical location on earth, like Jerusalem, or the temple. It is now applied spiritually to God's people. And who are they? ...Galatians 3:28 ...'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all ONE in Christ Jesus.'... Which is why Joel says'Whoever'calls on the Lord will be delivered. The New Testament says clearly that WE (Christians) are now the temple of God. The physical temple of Jerusalem AND the city was destroyed in AD70 because the Jews rejected Christ Jesus and were no longer His special people. Therefore, the place of Jerusalem in Israel lost it's significance also. So applying the prophecy of Joel above in a spiritual way, we learn that God's people who are scattered all around the world are"GATHERED"and are in His presence to receive His protection.

Jesus said ..."the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father ... But the hour cometh, and now is, when the TRUE worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."
Do you see the significance of this? Jesus knew that the Jews would reject the gospel message, and He knew that the literal city of Jerusalem in the nation of Israel would not longer hold any special significance with God. Instead, the TRUE people of God would be worshipping God in spirit and truth ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Now God is not the only one who is gathering a people around the world. As we read in Revelation 16 above, Satan is also gathering his people for the last great battle (the battle of Armageddon) between good and evil. Satan gathers the wicked to fight against God's people scattered around the earth. Did you see that it says"unclean spirits like frogs"come out of the mouths of the dragon, beast and false prophet? What do frogs use to catch their pray?THEIR TONGUES!So the unclean spirits like frogs out of the mouths of the dragon, beast and false prophet, arefalse apostate doctrines. Please note, the dragon is satan (see Revelation 12:3,4,9), the beast is the Papal Church of Rome, and the false prophet is protestant America, which we learned from the Bible study to do with America in prophecy.
Now have a good think about this point: Is satan going to gather all the wicked of the world and God gather all the saints of the world to a relatively small mount in Israel for a physical fight? We are talking of billions of people. This just isn't possible. No, the battle of Armageddon is one that is fought throughout the whole earth, not just in the nation of Israel.
But what about the drying up of the great river Euphrates mentioned in Revelation 16:12? Well, in the Old Testament, we have an actual account of God using Cyrus to divert the Euphrates river in order to capture literal Babylon, to end the 70 years bondage of God's people. And notice how God describes Cyrus ...Isaiah 45:1 ...'Thus saith the LORD tohis anointed, to Cyrus.' ... Isaiah 41:2 ...'Who raised upthe righteous man from the east.'... God calls Cyrus His"anointed one"and"rightoues one"from the East. This is to be applied in a spiritual way to the end times and the battle of Armageddon.
Revelation tells us of another Babylon who captures God's people and oppresses them. But this is spiritual Babylon, an apostate religion that deceives the world into bowing down to her (The Roman Catholic Church). Throughout the dark ages, this Babylon captured, tortured and murdered tens of millions of Christians who would not bow down to her. But in the last days, God will cause her surrounding waters (the river Euphrates) to be dried up to deliver His people. But remember, the Old Testament account was a physical, local account of Babylon that happened, whereas this account in Revelation has aspiritual, worldwide application. Water in bible prophecy represents peoples and nations .....Revelation 17:15 ...'And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the LovePeddler sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.'... The "LovePeddler" is spiritual Babylon (Roman Catholic Church) and the waters represent the people and nations that support her.
Whereas the literal water surrounding Babylon (Euphrates) was just that, literal water, that had to be dried up or diverted, the water surrounding Babylon the Great in Revelation represents people. So how are these people (those who support and protect Babylon) going to be "dried up"? ...Revelation 17:16 ...'And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the LovePeddler, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.'... The world kingdoms and people who once supported and protected Babylon will turn on her. Why? Because the seven last plagues will start falling on them and they will realize that they were deceived by her (Roman Catholic Church) and will turn on her and destroy her. When the sixth plague falls (Rev. 16:12), the people will then realize that they have been tricked by Babylon and thus the "water" (people), the surrounding protection that Babylon once had will dry up to her destruction.
This then prepares the way for the Kings of the East (Rev.16:12). Now remember we learned that Cyrus in the Old Testament who diverted the river Euphrates to capture Babylon, was called the 'anointed one' and 'righteous one' from the east? The spiritual application of this points to Christ Jesus at His second coming with all His angels. Take a look at the following verses:
Revelation 7:2 ...'And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.'
Matthew 2:2 ...'Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.'
Matthew 24:27 ...'For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.'
Revelation 17:14 ...'These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.'
Revelation 19:16 ...'And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'
Matthew 25:31 ...'When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.'
So who are the "kings of the East" that Revelation 16:12 describes? They are Christ Jesus, the KING OF KINGS and all His holy angels at the second coming. It's sad that so many Christians have their eyes fixed on the Middle East, the literal nation of Israel, where the hate filled sons of Abraham (in the flesh) destroy each other with American and Russian weapons. The Jews of the flesh are no longer God's chosen special people, please understand that vital point. Study the 70 weeks of Daniela few times to grasp this important issue, which will open up your understanding of the role of Israel in the end times. What is the battle of Armageddon? It will be a worldwide spiritual war between those who support Babylon and those who follow Christ Jesus and His true Word, which is described in Revelation 13 ..."And he gave power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads."(Rev. 13:15-16)
So yes, there will be physical aspects of the battle of Armageddon, like the saints being captured and killed for not taking the mark of the beast. But ultimately, it is a spiritual battle that we are fighting against, not flesh and blood. So please take your eyes off the nation of Israel, as the battle of Armageddon is not going to be fought soley in the Middle East. It will be fought all around the world. Instead, fix your eyes on the eastern skies, where our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will return with the armies of Heaven to deliver us.