In an age of ever-increasing violence and horrifying acts of terrorism, bewildered people ask: Where is God? Why did the Almighty not intervene and prevent the outrages of Sept. 11?

Those events were so unexpected, so awful, as to cause some people to even doubt God's existence.

For the believer in God, these humanly devised traumatic events are seen as forerunners to Armageddon, a biblical term applied to the Old Testament prophet Joel's description of the end-time battle between God and evil men and the climactic conflict between good and evil related in the book of Revelation. This fearsome word refers to a future time of worldwide upheaval, as seen through the eyes of the biblical prophets, when man's chaotic and conflicting experiments with self-rule will come to a swift and dramatic end.

The name itself, taken from Revelation 16:16, comes from two words, har ("mountain" or "hill" in Hebrew), and magedon or Megiddo, Hebrew for "to cut off"). Two kings of Judah, Ahaziah and Josiah, died by the sword at Megiddo (2 Kings 9:27; 23:29).

Armageddon is used to describe a horrendous time when the forces of evil will, for a while, be given free rein. How near are we to that apocalyptic time described by Christ—a time when, "unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved [alive]"? (Matthew 24:22). Jesus' words are a stark warning for humanity. Thankfully, He stated in the same verse that "for the elect's sake those days will be shortened"—that is, for the sake of His chosen followers, those who have chosen to follow Him.

Indeed, God cares for all humanity, "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

We can rest assured that God isn't about to abort His rescue operation to save mankind from annihilation. The prophet Isaiah was inspired to give us God's answer as to whether He will intervene as He has promised: "For I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand . . .'" (Isaiah 46:9-10).

God will intervene and stop humanity from destroying itself. But first mankind must learn that rejecting God's way of life, as so clearly and repeatedly spelled out in His Word, doesn't pay. Rebellion against God leads man to the abyss, to Armageddon. But, thankfully, man's Creator will put a stop to it all. God's Word, from Genesis to Revelation, confirms this fact. GN