CHAPTERS 38 AND 39
We have been examining the invasion of Gog and Magog in the land of Israel. In PART 1 we looked at who this Gog is, the timing of the invasion, the loss of life in Revelation, and the weakened state of the world before this war that will happen in Israel. The timing was crucial, and it has to be immediately before the Second Coming of Christ, who will destroy Gog at His coming. The account continues.
GOG AND MAGOG SUMMONED
As I said, there are three groups in Israel to exterminate it. This is where they will come from – Revelation 16:12 [“The sixth angel poured out his bowl… Rev 16:13 I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, Rev 16:14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.”]
Every army is represented, but we know in three groups; however, the TIMING is what we have been thinking of. They come from all over the world for the great day of God. That day is the Second Coming when ALL the armies in Israel will be expunged by the coming Judge of all the earth. It is just a thought that these three unclean spirits may each gather the three army groups that will be going to Israel.
Therefore, the Gog/Magog confederacy of Ezekiel 38 enters Israel near the end of the Tribulation and will be destroyed along with all the nations’ armies at the Second Coming by the One with a sword, on a white horse. The armies of Antichrist and the False Prophet are in the Jezreel Valley. The armies of the Gog confederacy are on the mountains of Israel and in the Kidron Valley and attacking Jerusalem. The kings of the east have entered Israel from the east.
Before we look at some of the passages from Ezekiel 38 and 39, Zechariah speaks of this Gog army but does not name it. Here is Zechariah:
Zech 12:2 [“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around, and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. Zech 12:3 And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will be severely injured, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. Zech 12:4 In that day,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will strike every horse with bewilderment, and his rider with madness, but I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.”]
(That is the confirmation that all the world’s nations sent armies to conquer Israel after being drawn by the evil frog spirits. God will deliver His people, but they will go through harrowing times.)
Zechariah 12:9 [“And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Zech 12:10 And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.”] (God destroys all those armies, though it does say “nations” when He comes in the great battle of Revelation 19 when His feet stand on the Mount of Olives that will split in two. DO NOT MISS the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the redeemed of Israel. This is an insult to God for those who say the Gog armies come to attack Israel after they are regathered and redeemed and settled securely.)
Zechariah 14:2 [“For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Zech 14:3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. Zech 14:4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.”] (Jerusalem will be rescued at the 11th hour, just in the nick of time like Esther and Mordecai. How reassuring it is to know the Lord always defends His own, now and in the future.)
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SOME EXTRA COMMENTS ON CHAPTERS 38 AND 39
[1]. The Composition of the Armies with Gog/Magog: There is a great tendency to transliterate words into something we understand. It is said by a huge number of commentators that Rosh is Russia; Meshech is Moscow; Tubal is Turkey, Gomer is Germany, or eastern Germany (38 v 2-3; 6).
Some of the material I have read traces the origins of these places from Genesis after the flood account and even before the flood. I do not discount that, but caution must be exercised with names and locations.
Other places are mentioned, and these are definite – “Persia, Ethiopia, and Put”; that is Iran, Ethiopia and Libya (v 5). Ezekiel 38:6 “Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops — many peoples with you.” The remote parts of the north do extend right up into Russia and much of the former USSR. There is high Islamic makeup of most of these nations to the north of Israel. The term “remote parts of the north” was used by Jeremiah several times to describe Babylon, 6:22. [“Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, a people is coming from the north land, and a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.'”] However, Ezekiel seems to mean the really remote north. Russia is working to extend its influence into the Middle East, especially with Assad of Syria where a base is being established.
[2]. The Sphere of Activity. The Gog army and allies are clearly said by Ezekiel to be on the mountains of Israel. They are widespread, described this way – Ezekiel 38:9 [“You will go up, you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.” Ezek. 38:16 “and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land.”] It is this Gog army that moves through the Kidron Valley and besieges Jerusalem as declared by Zechariah.
[3]. Who Brings Them into The Land? The answer is twofold. The first one is that it will be the satanic delusion that gathered them as we have in Rev 16:13. [“I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, Rev 16:14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.”] The frog demons summoned them – Ezek 38:8 [“After many days you will be summoned. In the latter years you will come into the land….” Ezekiel 38:10 “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘It will come about on that day that thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.'”] (demonically inspired).
The second answer is that God brought them into Israel. Ezekiel 39:2 [“and I shall turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel,”] and Ezek 38:16 [“and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It will come about in the last days (end of the age which ends with the Second Coming) that I shall bring you against My land, in order that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”] Now, I know there seems almost a contradiction there that Gog is drawn from two opposing sides into the land, but that is not a problem with God.
[4]. The Start of The Retribution. The Gog armies are in Israel, on the mountains, and invading Jerusalem, but just before the great judgment of God falls on them with the appearing of the Lord of glory, this happens – Ezekiel 38:18-20 [“It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘that My fury will mount up in My anger, and in My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence. The mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.”]
When Jesus comes in Revelation 19, He will deal with all these armies (those from all over the world who have gathered in Israel, not just Gog), but this earthquake corresponds with the one in Revelation 16, the last of all the judgments poured out in the 7 years of Tribulation – Rev 16:17 [“The seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, ‘It is done,’ Rev 16:18 and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty, Rev 16:19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.”]
[5]. The Full Judgment Against Gog And His Allies. Any who dare lift up the hand against God and Israel will endure the full wrath of God. Gog will know it to the fullest extent. Here are the passages that will apply to how God deals with this horrible amalgamation of evil people who thinks it can overthrow the eternal purposes of God:
Ezekiel 38:21-22 [“and I shall call for a sword against him on all My mountains,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘Every man’s sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and with blood I shall enter into judgment with him, and I shall rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain with hailstones, fire, and brimstone.”]
Ezekiel 39:3-4 [“and I shall strike your bow from your left hand, and dash down your arrows from your right hand. You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops, and the peoples who are with you. I shall give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field.”]
Ezekiel 39:17-20 [“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field. Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of mighty men, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. You will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you, and you will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,’ declares the Lord GOD.”]
Revelation 19:17-18 [“I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven, ‘Come, assemble for the great supper of God, in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.'”]
Zechariah 14:12-13 [“Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. And it will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another.”]
[6]. The End of This Section: This whole account is part of the study on “The Restoration of Israel.” In chapter 39, after the defeat of Gog’s combined forces, the Lord then sets about with the restoration of His people in the land of Israel that we have been considering through all the Major Prophets. At the Second Coming in Revelation 19, the Lord returns and then gathers His Jewish saints, settles them in the land, and nevermore will they know war or harm or fear; this is consistent with all the passages we have studied.
Ezekiel 39:25 [“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Now I shall restore the fortunes of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I shall be jealous for My holy name, Ezek 39:26 They shall forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. Ezek 39:27 When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. Ezek 39:28 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. Ezek 39:29 I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD.”]
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GOG AND MAGOG OF THE DISTANT FUTURE
There is one passage we need to mention: this one – Revelation 20:7 [“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, Rev 20:8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war. The number of them is like the sand of the seashore. Rev 20:9 They came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. Rev 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”]
Here we read of Satan’s final assault on God and His people. After the 1,000 years of Millennial rule by the King over the whole earth has ceased, we are on the edge of the eternal state, but one more thing has to happen. Satan is released from his confinement for one last endeavor. His hatred and malevolent attitude have grown worse while contained in the abyss, and he comes out determined to overthrow God. It says in verse 8 that he comes out to deceive the nations over the entire earth, to gather them together for war against the saints and Jerusalem, and it is said their number is as the sand on the seashore. This account of Gog and Magog has nothing to do with the ones 1,000 years earlier in Ezekiel. This here means a great horde of them.
Well, the question is asked, from where do these people come, seeing as they lived under the rule of the King of Kings for centuries in millennial bliss? (Remember, this Isaiah verse relates to the Millennium – Isaiah 65:20 [“No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred, and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred shall be thought accursed.”)].
The point is that at the start of the 1,000-year reign, the righteous enter the Kingdom, but sin and the old nature are still present. People are born throughout, and the deceitfulness of sin and the old nature will ensure many will not follow the King reigning in Jerusalem as time progresses. They pay lip service, but their hearts are far away. It will be easy for Satan to round them up, these malcontents who are not as one with their God. We have to say these are from the Gentile nations, not Israel.
In verse 9, God disposes of them very quickly, and in verse 10, Satan becomes the third being to enter the lake of fire.
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