The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

by Michael S. Heiser

It is crystal clear that the final conflict occurs at Jerusalem, not Megiddo. Megiddo is referenced only to compare the awful mourning that will result.1 Not only does Zechariah 12 place the final battle where the nations see the risen, pierced Christ at Jerusalem, but verse 11 tells us explicitly that Megiddo is a plain, not a mountain! So where does this leave us? Does magedon point to Jerusalem? It would seem that it has to, in light of (1) the term har-magedon, which describes this final battle, and (2) Zechariah 12:9–11, which plainly sites the conflict at Jerusalem. THE SUPERNATURAL MOUNT OF ASSEMBLY In fact, magedon does indeed point to Jerusalem, in an especially dramatic way. Har-magedon is Jerusalem. The key is remembering that the term derives from Hebrew. To those who do not know Hebrew, “Megiddo” seems like an obvious explanation for magedon since both words have m-g-d. But in Hebrew there are actually two letters that are transliterated with “g” in Greek (and English translations). Here are the Hebrew letters behind “Megiddo”: mem – gimel – daleth M – G – D The same “m-g-d” can be represented another way, with a different Hebrew letter in the middle: mem – ʿ ayin – daleth M – ʿ – D Neither Greek nor English has a letter (other than hard “g”) that approximates the sound of ʿayin. That is why it is represented in academic transliteration as a backwards apostrophe. The sound of the letter ʿayin is made in the back of the throat and sounds similar to hard “g.” Pe...