THE BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG
EZEKIEL 38-39
INTRODUCTION:
OUR WORLD IS NO STRANGER TO WAR. HISTORY TELLS US THAT IN ALL OF RECORDED HISTORY THERE HAS BEEN LESS THAT 225 YEARS OF PEACE IN THIS WORLD. IN THE PAST THIRTY TO FORTY YEARS, MOST OF THE WORLDS WARS HAVE BEEN LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION. SO WHEN WE THINK OF GOG AND MAGOG WHAT MAKES THIS SO SPECIAL?
THERE ARE SEVERAL ELEMENTS OF THIS BATTLE THAT MAKE IT SIGNIFICANT IN HISTORY:
1. THIS BATTLE WAS PROPHECIED IN EZEKIEL CHAPTERS 38-39. IN AND OF ITSELF THIS IS NOT SIGNIFICANT, AS MANY BATTLES INCLUDING ARMAGEDDON HAVE BEEN PROPHECIED IN SCRIPTURE. WHAT MAKES THIS BATTLE SIGNIFICANT IS THIS. FIRST, IT GIVES US A LIST OF THE MAJOR NATIONS INVOLVED.
2. THIS BATTLE WAS PROPHECIED SOME 2,600 YEARS AGO. IT IS A BATTLE THAT IS SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO LAST DAYS PROPHECY.
3. THE ENORMOUS ARMIES THAT WILL BE INVOLVED IN THE BATTLE. THE SIZE OF THE ARMY ATTACKING ISRAEL, CAN ONLY BE DEFEATED BY DIRECT INTERVENTION OF GOD. THERE IS NO OTHER EXPLANATION FOR THE FINAL RESULTS OF THIS BATTLE.
4. NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A WAR. WARS CAN HAPPEN OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AND WITH MANY VENUES. THIS BATTLE HAPPENS AT ONE TIME AND ON ONE VENUE. IN FACT PROBABLY THE ONLY THING COMPERABLE TO THIS BATTLE WILL BE ARMAGEDDON.
5. I WANT TO POINT OUT THAT THIS BATTLE IS NOT ARMAGEDDON. THE LISTING OF NATIONS INVOLVED IN THIS BATTLE IS VERY SPECIFIC, BUT THERE WILL BE SOME NATIONS NOT INVOLVED IN THE BATTLE. THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON WILL INVOLVE ALL THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD.
6. THIS BATTLE, MORE THAN ANY OTHER BATTLE IN HISTORY WILL DISPLAY THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, AND HOW GOD IS DETERMINED TO PROTECT HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE.
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WHAT WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT TODAY CONCERNING THIS BATTLE ARE THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED, THE TIMING OF THE BATTLE, AND THE AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE. I’M SURE YOU WILL SEE THAT MANY ASPECTS OF THE BATTLE ARE BEING PREPARED EVEN AS I SPEAK HERE TODAY.
POINT ONE: WHO ARE THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED?
EZEKIEL IS VERY SPECIFIC ABOUT MANY OF THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN THIS PROPHECY. THE NAMES HE CALLS THEM HERE MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR TO YOU, BUT WHEN I GIVE YOU THEIR MODERN DAY NAMES I THINK YOU’LL BE SURPRISED BY SOME.
NOW LOOK AT THE FIRST SEVEN VERSES OF EZEKIEL 38. THIS IS WHERE THE MAJOR COUNTRIES INVOLVED WITH THE BATTLE ARE IDENTIFIED. IT SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISING THAT MANY OF THE NATIONS NAMED HERE CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE DESCENDANTS OF NOAH IN GENESIS 10.
LETS BEGIN BY IDENTIFYING THE ONE NAME MENTIONED THAT IS NOT A COUNTRY. THE NAME GOG IS NOT THAT OF A COUNTRY BUT OF A LEADER. THE WORD MEANS “RULER’ OR “THE MAN ON TOP.” IN VERSE 2 GOG IS EXPLICITLY CALLED “THE PRINCE”. EZEKIEL COULD HAVE BEEN IDENTIFYING THE LEADER OF THIS MASSIVE ARMY AS “GOG”.
1. MAGOG: ACCORDING TO THE JEWISH HISTORIAN JOSEPHUS, THE ANCIENT SCYTHIANS INHABITED THE LAND OF MAGOG. THE SCYTHIANS WERE NORTHERN NOMADIC TRIBES WHO INHABITIED TERRITORY FROM CENTRAL ASIA ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF MODERN RUSSIA. IT WOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES: KAZAKHSTAN, KIRGHIZIA, UZEBEKISTAN, TURKMENISTAN, TAJIKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN.
2. ROSH: THERE IS COMMON THOUGHT AMONG MOST SCHOLARS, FOR REASONS THAT WE WON’T GET INTO TODAY, THAT ROSH IS MODERN DAY RUSSIA.
3. MESHECH AND TUBAL: ARE IDENTIFIED IN ANCIENT HISTORY WITH THE MUSHKI AND TABAL OF THE ASSYRIANS, AND THE MOSCHI AND TIBARENI OF THE GREEKS WHO INHABITED TERRITORY THAT IS NOW PART OF THE NATION OF TURKEY.
4. PERSIA: THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THIS COUNTRY. IT HELD IT’S NAME UNTIL MARCH 1935 WHEN IT BECAME THE NATION OF IRAN.
5. CUSH: THIS WORD IS OFTEN TRANSLATED ‘ETHIOPIA’ IN MODERN VERSIONS. BUT IT IS MORE THAN THAT. SECULAR HISTORY LOCATES CUSH DIRECTLY SOUTH OF ANCIENT
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6. EGYPT EXTENDING DOWN PAST THE MODERN CITY OF KHARTOUM., WHICH IS THE CAPTIAL OF MODERN DAY SUDAN. THIS MEANS THAT CUSH INCLUDES THE COUNTRIES OF ETHIOPIA AND THE SUDAN.
7. PUT: IT IS CLEAR FROM ANCIENT SOURCES THAT PUT WAS A NORTH AFRICAN NATION. FROM THE ANCIENT BABLYONIAN CHRONICLE IT APPEARS THAT PUT WAS THE “DISTANT” LAND TO THE WEST OF EGYPT, WHICH WOULD BE MODERN DAY LIBYA.
8. GOMER: JOSEPHUS NOTED THAT GOMERITES WERE IDENTIFIED WITH THE GALATIANS WHO INHABITIED WHAT TODAY IS CENTRAL TURKEY. THUS GOMER THEN IS PART OF WHAT IS NOW, TURKEY
9. BETH-TOGARMAH: THIS COUNTRY ALSO HAS IT’S ORIGIN IN CERTAIN PARTS OF WHAT IS NOW CALLED TURKEY.
EZEKIEL IS ALSO CLEAR ON TWO OTHER ASPECTS CONCERNING NATIONS. HE CLEARLY STATES THAT THERE WILL OTHER NATIONS INVLOVED BUT REMAIN UNNAMED. EZEKIEL ALSO POINTS OUT IN V. 13 COUNTRIES THAT WILL NOT BE INVOLVED IN THE INVASION: NAMELY THE COUNTRIES AROUND THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, AND SOME WESTERN COUNTRIES, THAT SOME THEOLOGIANS INCLUDE ENGLAND, AND SOME COUNTRIES RELATED TO HER I.E. THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.
ALL OF THESE COUNTRIES ARE GOING TO BE ALLIED IN AT LEAST THREE AREAS.
1. THE MAJORITY OF THESE COUNTRIES HAVE OIL RESERVES AND ARE OIL PRODUCING COUNTRIES.
2. OF ALL OF THE COUNTRIES MENTIONED, ONLY TWO GEORGIA AND ETHIOPIA, ARE NOT DOMINATED BY THE ISLAM RELIGION. KEEP TWO THINGS IN MIND ABOUT ISLAM. RADICAL MOSLIMS BELIEVE THAT THEIR MESSIAH WILL COME BACK AT A TIME OF GREAT KAOS IN THE WORLD, AND WILL DO ALL THAT THEY CAN TO CREATE THIS KAOS. SECOND, INSTILLED IN THE ISLAM RELIGION IS AN INTENSE HATRED FOR ISRAEL AND ANY NATION THAT SUPPORTS HER. THEY WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE NATION OF ISRAEL WIPED OFF THE MAP AND ALL JEWISH PEOPLE KILLED.
3. SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO BRING ABOUT A TIME OF PEACE FOR THE NATION OF ISRAEL. IT WILL INFURIATE THESE COUNTRIES SURROUNDING ISRAEL, AND INSTILL THE DESIRE TO ATTACK. A DISCOVERY OF OIL IN ISRAEL COULD BE JUST SUCH AN EVENT TO BRING THIS PEACE FOR ISRAEL AND THE INSTABILITY OF THE ECONOMY OF
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COUNTRIES SURROUNDING IT.
POINT TWO: THE BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG
NOW LETS TALK ABOUT THE BATTLE. WE KNOW THAT THE BATTLE WILL BE A SURPRISE ATTACK FROM THE NORTH (V.7-11).
NOW WE ALSO KNOW THIS. ISRAEL WILL STAND ALONE IN THIS BATTLE. THERE ARE TWO REASONS FOR THIS. FIRST THERE WILL BE NO TIME FOR FRIENDLY NATIONS TO REACT TO THIS INVASION, NOR WOULD THEY BE ALLOWED TO IF THEY COULD. THE RISE OF ISLAM IN THE WORLD OF COUNTRIES THAT ONCE ALLIED THEMSELVES WITH ISRAEL WOULD KEEP THEM OUT OF THE FIGHT.
THIS LEAVES ISRAEL ON HER OWN AGAINST THIS ATTACK. ISRAEL IS 260 MILES AT ITS LONGEST POINT, 60 MILES AT ITS WIDEST, AND BETWEEN 3AND 9 MILES AT ITS NARROWEST. IT HAS A POPULATION OF 7, 424,400 PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THE UNITED NATIONS IN 2009. WE ALSO KNOW THAT ISRAEL HAS ONE OF THE FINEST IF NOT THE FINEST MILITARY FORCE IN THE WORLD.
BUT ITS FORCES WILL BE NO MATCH FOR THIS FOE. CONSIDER THIS. ACCORDING TO THE UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS THE TOTAL POPULATION OF THE COUNTRIES ATTACKING ISRAEL COMES TO 513,581,706 PEOPLE. NOW IF EVEN A TENTH OF THE POPULATION OF THESE COUNTRIES MADE UP THEIR ARMIES, THEY WOULD TOTAL 51,358,170 SOLDIERS. THIS IS SEVEN TIMES THE TOTAL POPULATION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL. USING THE SAME TENTH FOR ISRAEL IT WOULD MEAN THAT THEIR ARMY OF 742,400 WOULD HAVE TO DEFEND AGFAINST OVER 51 MILLION, OR A RATIO OF 70 TO 1 AND THESE ESTIMATES ARE CONSERVATIVE. ADD TO THAT THE NEUCLEAR CAPABILITIES OF RUSSIA AND IRAN, THE MASSIVE FINANCIAL AND MATERIAL RESERVES OF THESE COUNTRIES, ISRAEL WOULD NOT STAND A CHANCE. ISRAEL WILL NOT EVEN BE ALLOWED TO PUT INTO OPERATION THE SAMSON OPTION.
HOW IS THE BATTLE TO BE FOUGHT:
THIS BATTLE WILL PROVE THE OLD SAYING “ONE PLUS GOD IS A MAJORITY.” THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS BATTLE IS THAT NOT ONE ISRAELI WILL BE KILLED. IN FACT THE ISRAELI ARMY WILL NOT FIRE A SINGLE SHOT DURING THE BATTLE. THEY WON’T HAVE TIME TO SET UP A DEFENCE.
ISRAEL’S PROTECTION WILL COME FROM GOD IN FOUR AWESOME WAYS. THEY ARE WAYS
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THAT NO PERSON COULD MISTAKE THEM AS BEING ANYTHING BUT COMING FROM GOD.
1. MASSIVE EARTHQUAKES (38:19-20): THIS EARTHQUAKE WILL BE USED TO CONQUER AND CONFUSE THE INVADERS
2. INFIGHTING AMONG THE TROOPS OF THE VARIOUS NATIONS. IN THE CHAOS AFTER THE POWERFUL EARTHQUAKE, THE ARMIES OF EACH OF THE NATIONS WILL TURN AGAINST EACH OTHER. (V.21)
THIS IS NOT A NEW TACTIC FOR GOD TO USE. HE USED IT IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES IN CHAPTER 7-8 WHEN 135,000 MEN MARCHED AGAINST ISRAEL. BY THE TIME THAT BATTLE WAS FINISHED, GOD HAD KILLED 120,000 MEN.
IT’S LIKE THIS. SAY YOU WERE IN A SWORDFIGHT AND THE LIGHTS GO OUT. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF. KILL ANYTHING THAT MOVES AROUND YOU. THERE ARE NO FRIENDS OR COMRADES AT THAT POINT. TODAY WE WOULD REFER TO IT AS “FRIENDLY FIRE.”
3. DISEASE: (38:22A) GOG AND HIS TROOPS WILL EXPERIENCE A HORRIBLE LETHAL PLAGUE THAT WILL ADD TO THE MISERY AND DEVASTATION ALREADY AFFLICTED. THIS PLAGUE WILL NOT BE LIKE ANYTHING WE HAVE SEEN BEFORE. IT WILL BE EXTREMELY LETHAL AND QUICK. THEY WILL NOT KNOW HOW NOR HAVE THE TIME TO COME UP WITH AN ANTIDOTE.
4. TORRENTIAL RAIN: HAILSTONES, FIRE, BURNING SULPHUR (38:22), JUST AS IN SODOM AND GOMORRAH, WILL BE POURED OUT FROM HEAVEN ON THE INVADING ARMY.
POINT THREE: THE RESULTS OF THE BATTLE
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE AFTERMATH OF THIS BATTLE THE WORDS OF GENESIS 12:3 SHOULD COME TO MIND.
GOD CERTAINLY WAS IN CONTROL AND CURSED THOSE COUNTRIES THAT ATTACKED ISRAEL. KEEP IN MIND WE ARE NOT TOLD THE NUMBER OF CASUALTIES IN THIS BATTLE. WHAT WE ARE TOLD IS THIS.
1. (V.4) THE BODIES WILL BE EATEN BY THE BIRDS OF THE AIR AND WILD ANIMALS.
2. (V.9) FOR SEVEN YEARS THEY WILL BURN THE BOWS AND ARROWS SPEARS AND ALL THE OTHER WEAPONS USED IN THE BATTLE.
3. FOR SEVEN MONTHS A SPECIAL DETACHMENT FROM THE ARMY WILL BE BURYING THE DEAD. (V.11-16)
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POINT FOUR: THE TIMING OF THE BATTLE
THE IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS BATTLE FOR US IS THE TIMING. IT IS ALSO THE ASPECT THAT WE CANNOT BE DOGMATIC ABOUT. WHILE WE CANNOT SAY SPECIFICALLY WHEN THIS BATTLE WILL TAKE PLACE, WE CAN SAY SOME THINGS ABOUT IT.
1. IT WILL HAPPEN WHEN ISRAEL IS AT A TIME OF PEACE.
2. IT WILL HAPPEN IN THE LAST DAYS. NOW THIS IS THE MOST DISCUSSED ASPECT OF THE PROPHECY. SOME PLACE THIS PROPHECY JUST BEFORE THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. OTHERS PLACE IT JUST AFTER THE RAPTURE AND BEFORE THE TRIBULATION BEGINS. THEY SUGGEST THAT THIS BATTLE MIGHT BE WHAT BRINGS THE ANTI-CHRIST TO POWER. THERE ARE OTHERS WHOS SAY IT WILL BE A COMBINATION OF BOTH. IT WILL HAPPEN BEFORE THE RAPTURE AND THE AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE WILL BE FELT AFTER THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.
THE EXACT TIMING OF THIS BATTLE IS UNIMPORTANT. WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THIS. WE KNOW THAT IT WILL HAPPEN IN THE LATTER DAYS.
3 WE KNOW THAT MOST OF THE DETAILS NECESSARY FOR THE BATTLE ARE IN PLACE NOW. ISRAEL HAS BEEN A NATION NOW FOR THE LAST SIXTY YEARS. WITH THE RISE OF ISLAM AND THE OIL CRISIS THE IDENTIFIED NATIONS NOW EXHIBIT A HOSTILITY FOR ISRAEL TO THE POINT WHERE THEY ARE WILLING TO ANNHILIATE THEM FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH. THE ONLY THING THAT NEEDS TO OCCUR FOR THE STAGE TO BE SET FOR THISW BATTLE IS FOR SOMETHING TO OCCUR TO BRING ISRAEL INTO A TIME OF PEACE. PERHAPS THE DISCOVERY OF OIL IN ISRAEL COULD BE JUST SUCH AN EVENT.
4. WE KNOW THAT WE ARE CLOSER TO THIS BATTLE THAN WE HAVE EVER BEEN BEFORE. ITS NOT JUST LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS AS A GENERALITY. WE HAVE THIS EVIDENCE TO POINT TO THE FACT THAT JESUS’ COMING FOR HIS CHURCH IS INDEED SOON, PERHAPS WITHIN OUR LIFETIMES.
CONCLUSION:
SO WHAT CAN WE AS CHRISTIANS DO WITH THIS INFORMATION?
REALIZE THAT AT SOME POINT THIS BATTLE IS GOING TO HAPPEN AND THE LORD IS COMING BACK FOR HIS CHURCH.
WE SHOULD BE LIVING OUR LIVES AND RUNNING OUR CHURCH IN SUCH A WAY AS TO LEAD AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE INOT THE KINGDOM.
LASTLY, KEEP LOOKING UP, FOR THE TIME OF OUR REDEMPTION IS AT HAND. LIVING IN THE
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LAST DAYS IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE FEARED BY THE CHRISTIAN, BUT SOMETHING TO BE EMBRACED. IT MEANS THAT VERY SOON WE’LL BE LEAVING THESE TEMPORAL CONDITIONS OF LIFE AND ENJOY OUR SALVATION AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE WITH OUR LORD.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NOT MADE A DECISION FOR CHRIST UNDERSTAND THIS, TIME IS RUNNING OUT. VERY SOON THE TRUMP OF GOD IS GOING TO SOUND AND HIS CHURCH WILL RISE TO MEET HIM. YOU NEED TO BE A PART OF THIS FOR IF YOU ARE NOT, THEN THE TRIBUALTION AWAITS YOU, AND I DOUBT MANY PEOPLE WILL SURVIVE THIS AS IT WILL BE UNRESTRAINED HELL ON EARTH.
MAKE YOUR ETERNITY SURE BY MAKING A DECISION FOR CHRIST TODAY. DON’T IGNORE THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
