Armageddon is Both Spiritual and Physical

Armageddon is Both Spiritual and Physical (Rev 19:20-21)

Revelation 19 closes with two separate and dramatic scenes of warfare between good and evil as the Second Coming nears its completion. John identifies two battles chronologically in two different dimensions in Revelation 19:20-21. He first describes a spiritual battle behind the veil called Spiritual Armageddon in verse 20, followed by a worldwide physical battle on earth in verse 21 called Physical Armageddon. During Spiritual Armageddon (v. 20), all disembodied spirit sons of perdition led by the beast (Cain) and the false prophet (Judas Iscariot) are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (hell, outer darkness, and second death). During the end of Physical Armageddon (v. 21), the remnant of all telestial-worthy people are destroyed during Christ’s third and final appearance of the Second Coming and the fowls feast upon the bodies of the dead. John’s chronological account describes Armageddon‒not as a single earthly event‒but as a sequence of Second Coming battles that cleanse both the spiritual and physical realms of the earth in preparation for the millennium.

A Closer Look at Spiritual Armageddon (Rev 19:20)

The preparation for Spiritual Armageddon begins during the sixth Vial Plague in Revelation 16:12-16, when three classes of evil spirits gather to Armageddon under the leadership of the Dragon (the unembodied spirit of Satan), the Beast (the disembodied spirit of Cain) and the False Prophet (the disembodied spirit of Judas Iscariot). In Revelation 19:19, the “kings of the earth” make war against Jesus Christ and his heavenly armies (Rev 19:14). Christ’s heavenly armies are exaltation-worthy saints that have been redeemed. They are variously called the bride of Christ (Rev 19:7-8), the 144,000 Servants (Rev 14:1) and the kings of the east. (Rev 16:12). The kings of the earth, by contrast are all disembodied spirit sons of perdition. They are mortals who lived upon the earth and became mortal sons of perditions with kingship in Satan’s earthly kingdom. John calls these evil disembodied spirits “kings of the earth” because they had kingship and dominion in Satan’s earthly kingdom during their mortal lives. During Spiritual Armageddon, they are not mortal kings. They are disembodied spirits led by Cain and Judas as their spiritual heads and they fight against Christ and the kings of the east.

These kings of the earth do not include the unembodied spirit sons of perdition who rebelled with Lucifer during the Grand Council in heaven and never receive mortal bodies. These unembodied spirits were cast down to this earth at the physical creation (Rev 12:9), which means they are on the earth but they are not of the earth. Hence, they are not kings of the earth. Their spiritual battle with Christ occurs in a second stage of Spiritual Armageddon in Revelation 20:1-3.

A Closer Look at Physical Armageddon (Rev 19:21)

Immediately after the first phase of Spiritual Armageddon, John’s account returns to the physical realm. Revelation 19:21 describes Christ’s third appearance of the Second Coming to all the world when he slays the “remnant” of all telestial-worthy people. During Christ’s second appearance to the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem, he slays the gentile armies gathered against the Jews in that location. (Rev 19:14-16) The remnant in Revelation 19:21 is slain by the sword (word of God) proceeding from Christ’s mouth. At his word, the remnant is destroyed by the greatest earthquake in human history and enormous hailstones. (Rev 16:18-20) This ends Physical Armageddon during the seventh and final Vial Plague of the Third Woe. This is the final physical cleansing of the earth in preparation for the new heavens and new earth of the millennium.

For more details on the Spiritual and Physical Battles of Armageddon, check out my podcasts from September 13 and 15, 2026.

September 13, 2026 — Podcast

September 15, 2026 — Podcast