There are few prophecies in the Bible that are both as perplexing and yet, irrefutable as the coming war of Gog and Magog. This 2,500-year-old prophecy had appeared all but impossible for at least 2,000 of those 2,500 years, primarily because Israel did not exist as a sovereign nation. Furthermore, the geopolitical confederation described in Ezekiel 38-39 has never happened before historically. However, since the turn of the 20th century, the evolving geopolitical landscape appeared to be unfolding in such a manner that seemed to be laying an undeniable (or inescapable) foundation for this particular prophecy to come to pass. Even heads of state were wondering, albeit erroneously, if they were not in some manner, fulfilling this particular event.
Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East… The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled… This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.
Quote attributed to Pres. George W. Bush by French Pres. Jacques Chirac circa 2003 (Source)
First, some basic clarification about the intent of this particular joint effort between Randy and me. We both believe we should always exercise discernment between the knowable and unknowable prophetic events described in Scripture. For instance, even though we know and agree that the Rapture of the Church will happen before the Tribulation (Daniel’s 70th Week), we are not going to know when exactly (i.e., day or hour), because Jesus Himself said as much (Matt. 24:36). However, that is the only prophetic event we are specifically told we cannot know the day or hour. Nevertheless, we are told that we can and should know the season (years) of the Rapture based on the biblical signs given to us (1st Thess. 5:1-4). In other words, we know we are close, but we cannot see exactly how close. Since the Rapture sets in motion the rest of the events surrounding Daniel’s 70th Week, it makes our attempt here our best theory.
Secondly, there are the issues of logistics and realism. The simple fact of the matter is that certain prophecies take a considerable amount of geopolitical/ technological/ economic/ political/ military muscle-movement to go from concept to reality. In other words, prophetic fulfillment does not usually happen in a vacuum. Granted, with God, all things are possible, so I am not saying He cannot or does not do the impossible. However (with few exceptions), God has chosen to use/allow natural processes to come to their own prophetic fulfillment often without direct divine intervention. More often than not, the divine intervention usually comes after a prophetic event is already in motion, as we will see concerning Ezekiel’s prophecy. Thus, if Ezekiel 38-39 falls into the knowable category (I believe it does given the necessary geopolitical groundwork), then we can move from the how/why it happens, to simply, when.
(Map created by Lamb/Lion Ministries)
Assessment
While this article primarily deals with the Gog-Magog war as a fulcrum of sorts, it is unquestionably tied into the prophetic events both preceding and succeeding it as well. I believe the Gog/Magog war of Ezekiel 38 – 39 takes place shortly after the Rapture of the Church, but before the seven-year Tribulation (aka Daniel’s 70th Week). However, if true, then it must occur at least seven years before the “in the midst’ moment of the abomination of desolation as described in Matthew 24:15-22. This is because, according to Ezekiel, the Jews would burn the weapons of the armies of the nations that attacked them for a period of seven years (Ezekiel 39:9-10).
Simultaneous to and juxtaposed with this same period of time is the warning Jesus gives in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:15-17). Here, He warned that when they (that generation) see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, they should flee to the mountains. He said that the Jews living in Israel should not waste time getting items out of their house, not even their clothes, but to flee for their lives. Now, if this is the case, then the Jews that are fleeing will not be bothering to burn weapons or continue doing any type of cleanup operations in a post-Magog War world. The weapons should have already been burned up by this time.
While we cannot be dogmatic about the exact timing of this certain event, we must consider some things. Bear in mind two things: logistics and pattern. Wars are extremely logistics driven. You have to have soldiers, equipment, and motive all in check and ready to go long before you can actually pull the trigger. Secondly, this prophecy is concerning the nation of Israel. Almost everything biblically comes to some pattern concerning national Israel and her feast days. These feast days are divinely appointed events that affect national Israel, and given the propensity for God to use holy feast days as done in the past, we can look over the next decade to see which dates align the best.
“The Gog/Magog war will start on Kislev 24 of the Jewish calendar. Haggai describes this war in a very similar way that Ezekiel does with the Gog/Magog war. Haggai even gives the date… the 24th day of the 9th month. Compare Haggai 2:18-22 with Ezekiel 38:18-22.
The Rapture will precede the Gog/Magog war. I believe it will only be a small gap of time of months and not years. Of course, this is just an educated guess, as the Bible doesn’t speak on this issue. After the Rapture, the U.S. of America will no longer be militarily capable to protect Israel against Russia and her allies. They will only be able to give a mild protest to the U.N. regarding this invasion (Ezekiel 38:13).” {1}
If this is true, that means there will be four years between this war and the start of the Tribulation. The years of 2022-2029 for the 2nd Coming does not fit within these parameters as there is not enough time for the seven-year interval (Gog/Magog war-Abomination of Desolation) to occur. The earliest this seven-year interval could happen is 2024-2031. For this date to be correct, the Gog/Magog war would have to begin on Dec.9, 2020. While it is possible, I think it is highly unlikely it could happen this soon.
The years 2025-2032 allow for a little more time for this war to occur, but there is nothing prophetically significant about the dates in this time period. The one that really “stands out” is 2026-2033. The dates line up well with the Feasts of the Lord and other important Jewish historical anniversaries. Of course, the most important aspect of this seven-year timeline is that the year 2033 will commemorate the 2000th year since Jesus was last seen on planet Earth. In addition, the years A.D. 33 and 2026 align up perfectly on both the Jewish and Gregorian calendar as described in In the Midst: Part III. This alignment also correlates with the Church’s conception in A.D. 33 and with the start of the future Tribulation in the year A.D. 2026, when the Antichrist signs/confirms the peace covenant with Israel and the many for seven years.
Here are the end-time events and dates for this period, as well as some pre-Tribulation events and their speculative dates. Of course, these dates are best guesses, but they seem to make sense as God has frequently orchestrated certain important events for Israel to occur on the same day of the month (Jewish calendar). That will be an article for another time. I have listed the events in what I believe to be chronological order.
PRE-TRIBULATION EVENTS – A.D. 2020-2026
- Rapture – The date is unknown, but in this example, it will come before the Gog/Magog war and possibly in conjunction with the Isaiah 17 war, which occurs in the latter part of 2022.
- Worldwide chaos and panic will ensue. Deaths will ensue due to car, bus, truck, and plane crashes. Accidents and murders will skyrocket. Babies, toddlers, small children, and adults (mostly older Christian men and women) will disappear. If you think the rioting is bad now, just wait (no don’t) until the Rapture occurs. Of course, the worst will be in the United States, as we have more Christians spread throughout our social strata than in any other nation. This will be the beginning of the demise of America as the dominant power in the world.
- A one-world-government, presumably led by the United Nations, will emerge, with the financial backing of the Central Banks and their owners, as well as the super-rich globalist elites, such as George Soros, Bill Gates, Rockefellers, etc. The United States will have no choice but to join and become part of this global government. If you think our government is bad now, just wait (no don’t) until you experience the ineptitude and mismanagement of this socialist and technocratic nightmare. It will get so bad that illegal immigrants will try to sneak out of the United States to get back to their home country. America will soon become just another third world country. The experiment known as the United States of America will have failed, as all governments and countries have because of their sins against God.
- Pre-Tribulation birth pangs (Matthew 24:8) occurring after the Rapture but before the Tribulation:
- Wars, mostly regional conflicts, will break out throughout the planet. China – India, India – Pakistan, China – Japan, North Korea – South Korea, Turkey – Russia, Iran (Hamas, Hezbollah) – Israel, are a few examples. These could start as early as
- Isaiah 17 War between Syria and Israel. Damascus will be obliterated by some sort of weapon of mass destruction (possibly nuclear) and will forever cease to be a city. Thus, the oldest inhabited city of the world will be no more. I believe this will occur in the “dog days of summer,” replicating the Six-Day War between Israel and her enemies, Egypt and Syria, that occurred in 1967. For more information go here. It took the Israelites only six days to defeat their old foes…June 5 -10. I believe the Isaiah 17 War could occur on this anniversary date: June 5-10, 2022. The Rapture could happen any time between now and this date, approximately 20 months.
- Psalm 83 War between Israel and the neighboring Arab nations. This war may or may not occur, as this chapter is a prayer from Asaph, King David’s seer, to God regarding destroying the enemies that surrounded Israel at the time. There is no answer from God that is recorded in the Bible regarding the acceptance of this prayer.
- Ezekiel 38-39 War between Israel and a confederacy of nations that include Russia, Iran, and Turkey. This war must occur seven years before the Abomination of Desolation that takes place “in the midst” of the Tribulation as described above. This God-intervening, supernatural event may occur on Kislev 24 of the Jewish calendar and December 17, 2022 on our modern Gregorian calendar.
- Breakup of the U.N.-led global government and the formation of the ten kings/ten kingdoms government (the Beast). This could be as early as 2023. Ten of the kings will rule until 2030. Seven of the ten will rule until 2033. These ones survive the Antichrist’s attacks and relinquish their authority to him before the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation. Some wars will continue, but eventually, the Ten Kings will have relative peace for a year or two.
- Arrival of an “eleventh” king, the Antichrist, onto the world scene in 2025. He is probably a great general from some European country and is expanding his territory into three of the king’s lands. They will have battles and wars for several years into the fall of 2026. He shall be different from the first 10 kings, and shall eventually subdue three of them, per Daniel 7:24.
- Beginning of 144,000 Jewish evangelical’s ministry of Revelation 7:1-8 on the Day of Atonement, Tishri 10, 2026. The date on our Gregorian calendar will be September 20, 2026. The duration of their ministry is not given in the Bible.
- The beginning of the Two Witness’s ministry. I believe it is Moses representing the law, and Elijah representing the prophets. Revelation 11:3-6 describes their powers that God gives them over their enemies; “I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. If any man tries to hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.”
These verses describe the miracles that these two Old Testament prophets performed during their ministry… calling fire from heaven (Elijah) and tuning blood to water (Moses). God always has commanded for the truth of the matter to be determined by at least two witnesses. These two witnesses will preach the gospel and truth to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the world for 1,260 days. I believe the start of their ministry will occur one month before the start of the Tribulation on November 10, 2026/ Heshvan 21, 2026. The reason for this date will be made known as we continue with our timeline of end-time events. This is the last Pre-Tribulation event to occur before Jacob’s Trouble/Daniel’s 70th Seven officially starts.
TRIBULATION EVENTS – A.D. 2026-2033
- The official start of the seven-year Tribulation (Jacob’s Trouble, Daniel’s 70th Week, Day of the Lord, etc.) occurs when the Antichrist signs a peace covenant with Israel for seven years. The Antichrist will “sweeten the deal (of the century)” for Israel by allowing the Jews to build their Temple in Jerusalem. In return, Israel will give up some land for the Palestinians and possibly relinquish their nuclear weapons. I expect this will happen on November 29, 2026 or Kislev 20 on the Jewish calendar. This date is 19 days after the start of the two witness’s ministry. There is that weird 19 number again that keeps popping up for the Jewish people.
According to Revelation 6:2, the Antichrist is considered powerful as he is given a crown and is carrying a bow, which represents a weapon. However, he has no arrows, so he is seen as a “man of peace.” This event coincides with the first seal being opened by Jesus in heaven. The Antichrist is the rider on the white horse who comes to take peace from the world.
- After the worst deal of the century with the Antichrist, the Jews begin construction on their new (third) Temple in Jerusalem. This begins on December 3, 2026, which is Kislev 24 in Israel. This is the day before Hanukkah, Kislev 25. Three very important events for the Jews have occurred on this date regarding the two Jewish Temples of the past.
- The abolition of the Temple sacrifice and desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes on Dec. 11, 167 B.C.
- The recapture of the Temple and the cleansing of the Temple Sanctuary on Dec. 9, 164 B.C. This is exactly three years to the day (Jewish calendar) after Epiphanes desecrated it in 167.
- The foundation of the Second Temple was laid on Dec. 11, 520 B.C.
- The Antichrist continues his campaign against the three Kings. It will take him three years (2027-2030) before he subdues and kills them. Presumably, these would be leaders from the three most powerful nations who remained intact after the Rapture. He is then made Emperor of the World by the remaining seven kings. They will give their authority to him at this time, and he will become the absolute ruler of the world (for a little while).
- The Jews will complete construction on their third Temple on 17, 2029, Kislev 24, exactly three years (Jewish calendar) to the day that it had begun. The next day on Hanukkah, they will begin the daily sacrifices on their new altar. As it took 3 years for the Jews to reclaim and cleanse their Second Temple (from Antiochus Epiphanes’ desecration) in the past, so it will take three years to complete the Third Temple of Jerusalem. The Jews will not get in a hurry to build this most prized structure.
- The Antichrist defeats the forces of the three Kings and is given his crown. The date is Nisan 1 (first of the year), which occurs on April 2, 2030. He now, finally, has absolute control (or so he thinks) over the whole world.
- The infamous “in the midst” (middle) event of the Tribulation is, of course, called the Abomination of Desolation. This will occur 1,230 days (some say 1,260) after the start of the Tribulation. In this example, the date is April 12, 2030/Nisan 10. Nisan 10 is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, humbly, on the back of a donkey as the King of the Jews. However, his own people rejected Him, and he was crucified four days later on Nisan 14, A.D.33.
The unholy trinity of Satan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet will attempt to imitate these same events. The Antichrist will be killed on Passover, April 16, 2030/Nisan 14, and resurrected three days later on April 19, Nisan 17 as Jesus was in A.D.33 (Jewish calendar). His first act after the Abomination of Desolation as “King of the Jews” will be to kill the Jews and try to finish the job that Hitler began. Whereas Hitler killed one-third of the Jews, the Antichrist will kill two-thirds. The Jews will flee to Petra, Jordan, where the Lord will supernaturally protect them for 1,260 days (until Jesus returns at the Second Coming).
Empowered by Satan, the Antichrist will kill the two witnesses on this day, fulfilling the prophecy of their 1,260 day (Nov. 10, 2026 – April 12, 2030) appointed ministry. What a tragic day it will be indeed! This is the day of decision for the peoples of the world to accept the “mark of the beast” or not. To not accept the mark is a sure death sentence. To accept it means you will go to the Lake of Fire for eternity. Once this “tattoo” (or whatever kind of mark it is) is on you, it remains with you forever. This is the point in human history where literally “all Hell breaks loose” on earth, and the judgments of God become intensely severe. It is known as the “Great Tribulation.”
- On April 23, 2030/Nisan 21, three and one-half days after the Antichrist kills the two witnesses, they are miraculously resurrected and raptured into heaven with the whole world watching. The cameras watch them as they come back to life and slowly rise into the atmosphere until they can no longer be seen.
- 1,260 days after the abomination of desolation, Jesus will return (Second Coming) to the earth at the Battle of Armageddon. The date will be 23, 2033 or Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar. He will return on the Feast of the Lord known as Trumpets, thus fulfilling the sixth Feast of the Lord. It will have been 2,000 years since Jesus last walked the earth. 2,000 years is as two days for the Lord and two days is as 2,000 years. (Hosea 6:2, Psalm 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8)
- On the Day of Atonement, 2, 2033/Tishri 10, the Jewish people will mourn for the one they pierced and will atone for their national sin against the Lord. “And I will pour my spirit….” (Zechariah 12:10). This will be the ultimate fulfillment of the sixth Feast of the Lord, the Day of Atonement.
- Jesus will tabernacle (reside) with his people during the eight days of the seventh Feast of the Lord known as Tabernacles. This is the ultimate feast of great joy for the people and is a prelude to the Millennium Kingdom, which will officially start in eight more days. The date is October 7-15, 2033 /Tishri 15-23.
- The sheep and goat judgment of Matthew 25:31-46 takes place the last week of the last week of Daniels’ 70th seven from 16-23, 2033/Tishri 23-30. All living believers of the Tribulation will be judged and either condemned to Sheol or rewarded to enter the Kingdom of God/Millennium Kingdom. The last day of October 23, 2033, will have concluded 6,000 years of human history.
- The next day, October 24, 2033, will be the first day of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. It will be Heshvan 1 on the Jewish calendar. Satan and his demons will not be found on earth, nor their hideous influence felt for a thousand years. The earth will become like the Garden of Eden again; Eden 2.0 will commence. This will last for one-thousand years until, at the end, Satan is loosed for a short season.
We do not know how long this season is, but it is enough time for him to attempt one last rebellion against God and His chosen people (Rev. 20:7-10). Gog and Magog 2.0 (this millennial confederation of the unregenerate wicked) attempts to surround Jerusalem and wipe Jesus off the face of the earth. However, the battle is over before it even begins, as fire comes down from heaven and consumes the wicked. After this, the Great White Throne Judgment, where the wicked from all ages are judged and condemned to the Lake of Fire for all eternity.
Beyond this is the realm of the eternal. Although the Bible does go into some detail (Revelation 20-21), the former things are passed away. God destroys our old heaven and earth and makes an even better one that will last for eternity. It will not take Him six days to create but will be instantaneous. Reality will finally become the way it was always intended to be, with God physically dwelling amongst His people. Moreover, we, as His children, will inherit it all!
Amen; even so, come, Lord Jesus.
End Notes: