An Army of 200 Million

Could it be true that an army of 200 million will cross the Euphrates and invade Israel? To put it in perspective, 200 million is more than half the population of America. This invasion will be the start of the great battle of Armageddon, a catastrophic battle at the end of the age, detailed repeatedly in the book of Revelation. The invading army has a history of hatred for Israel, going back several millennia, which helps explain the massive size. But the actual number of 200 million may have a more accurate translation from the Greek, something like “infinity, doubled".

The term, Armageddon, conjures up visions of the end of the world. The modern use of the word Armageddon to describe major catastrophes has reduced the Biblical Armageddon to a fictional horror story rather than a actual future war. But it will be a very real battle – World War 3, in modern vernacular. It is described in the sixth trumpet warning (Rev 9:13-16), and mirrored in the sixth bowl judgment (Rev 16:12-16). The armies that engage in this future battle are the massive army of the eighth beast and the army of the Lamb (Rev 17:14), that is, the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:11-21).

The army that wages the war is extremely large. In the sixth trumpet warning most translations say that the mounted troops that John sees in his vision numbered 200 million. That number, in the Greek, is written as “ten thousand times ten thousand times two,” or “two myriads of myriads” (Rev 9:16).  Ancient civilizations did not use numbers in the hundreds of thousands, or millions, or billions, like modern culture is accustomed to. They did not even have the vocabulary for numbers larger than ten thousand. Most likely the number is not literally 200 million, but rather figurative, like many details in Revelation, including other details of the sixth trumpet. The vast size of the army is what is intended to be conveyed. Use of the number, as it is in the Greek, is similar to two Junior High boys talking about their discovery of the concept of infinity. But in this case, it is further emphasized by saying that the size of the army is “infinity times two” – something that isn’t mathematically possible, but it sure gets the point across.

This army will be under the leadership of the Lawless One (II Thes 2:3-4; aka Antichrist), who will unite ten kingdoms (“ten horns”, Rev 17:12), that is, ten Arab-Islamic nations, to rise up in Jihad against the Jews and their coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. This alliance is the eighth beast of Revelation 17.

When we see the buildup to Armageddon, as described in the sixth trumpet warning and the sixth bowl judgment, then we can know that the return of Christ is very, very soon. Until that time keep your seat-belts fastened, it is going to be a rough ride. And let your heart not grow faint, but rather take courage and find strength in the faithfulness of God’s steadfast love and eternal purposes.