In Part 1, we began looking through Ezekiel 38 and 39 in detail, showing that the internal evidence cannot possibly support any Gog/Magog invasion of Israel before the Rapture. It would turn all prophecy against itself and create such confusion. We will see how that invasion happens just before the Second Coming. Now for Part 2.
(f). [[Ezekiel 38:18-19 “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. 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.”]] Now take note of this as well. God’s fury mounts up in His anger when Gog is in Israel, and there will be blazing wrath. You who think the Gog war must be before the Rapture, how can you say that with this apocalyptic language that just does not belong to this age of grace. The great earthquake could very well be connected with the one that is coming – Revelation 16:18 (quoted in the next reference (g).)
(g). HONESTLY LET’S BE REAL. Consider this verse – [[Ezekiel 38:20 “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.”]]
Tell me, is this going to be the case BEFORE the Rapture? This is what is going to happen when God rises against Gog/Magog. A God in judgment and blazing wrath is NOT God before the Rapture. A Gog war before the Rapture is an impossibility. Every wall falling down and mountains collapsing are connected with the earthquake of [[Revelation 16:18-19 “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, and 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.”]]
(h). LET’S KEEP BEING REAL. Consider these verses – [[Ezekiel 38:22-23 “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. I shall magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations, and they will know that I am the LORD.”]]
Who among those who think there is a Gog war before the Rapture can justify the section I have underlined? All that apocalyptic language is NOT of our age. It is post-Rapture. It is God in open display. This war cannot be before the Rapture. Why do people believe such a thing? Why is there an entrenched opinion that is not open to scrutiny? The same principle applies to Matthew 24.
(i). [[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.”]] That is God in openness with judgment. Just further proof it is post-Rapture. GOD TAKES UP ISRAEL’S CAUSE AFTER THE RAPTURE.
The predatory birds parallel this reference to Armageddon at the Second Coming, as we have just had – [[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.'”]]
(j). [[Ezekiel 39:5-6 “You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD. I shall send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the LORD.”]] That thing will not happen before the Rapture. That is judgment and wrath from heaven, not of the Church age.
(k). ANOTHER CONCLUSIVE PROOF – [[Ezekiel 39:7 “My holy name I shall make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I shall not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.“]] The Lord WILL NOT MAKE KNOWN HIS NAME TO HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL BEFORE THE RAPTURE so that His Name is profaned no longer. The Church must be removed first before He takes up His people again. God never works with the Church and Israel at the same time. A redeemed Israel WILL NOT HAPPEN this side of the Rapture, and in fact, it will not be until after the Second Coming.
Look at these statements (a) God will make His Name known among His people in Israel. That will not happen before the Second Coming (which ends the Tribulation). Read the last few chapters of Zechariah. That is a strong reason for placing Gog right at the end of the Tribulation. (b) God will not allow His Holy Name to be profaned anymore. That would be an utter impossibility if the Gog war was pre-Rapture because after the Rapture come the great blasphemies of the world leader and False Prophet, and by the people of the earth.
Look at these – [[Revelation 13:5 “There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.” Revelation 16:9 “Men were scorched with fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues and they did not repent, so as to give Him glory.”]] Those blasphemies will continue right up until the Battle of Armageddon when these two evil men are removed to the lake of fire.
When God says He will NOT let His name be profaned anymore, it would have to be after the Gog war (Ezek 39:7). Every true student of prophecy knows that would be an utter impossibility before the Rapture. That can only happen after the Second Coming. If the Gog war was to happen before the events of Revelation 16 (see verse above), then God’s word would be speaking lies. The Gog war has to be after Revelation 16! (c) The nations will know that God is JEHOVAH, the Holy One in Israel.
(l). [[Ezekiel 39:8 “Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘That is the day of which I have spoken.'”]] Most certainly, this is referring to the Day of the LORD. It is that day, and God spoke about it often. The Day of the LORD does not begin until after the Rapture.
(m). Now we come to the cleansing of the land, Gog’s burial and the Lord’s glory. [[Ezekiel 39:9 “Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them.” Ezekiel 39:11 “It will come about on that day that I shall give Gog a burial ground there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea, and it will block off the passers-by, so they will bury Gog there with all his multitude, and they will call it the valley of Hamon-gog.” Ezekiel 39:13 “Even all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I glorify Myself,’ declares the Lord GOD.”]]
Surely it is painfully obvious here that God is not going to glorify Himself to Israel before their restoration, and He does that with Gog’s destruction. This is in line with the latter chapters of Zechariah. Their (Israel’s) restoration will come when He sets up His kingdom on the earth and He is glorified in Israel. There is NO WAY these things happen in the Church age. It is so incorrect to maintain that the Gog war can be anytime now. It cannot happen while the Church is still on earth. Please, people, think into these things.
The Jews will be very busy cleansing their land after this war, and they know that it is God who delivered them who has glorified Himself in Israel.
(n). Then will come the call to all the scavengers of the earth to feed on the corpses of the Gog alliance scattered all through the land of Israel. The passage is verses 17-20, but here is verse 17 – [[Ezekiel 39:17 “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.'”]] Again, for the purpose of emphasis, compare the parallel passage in Revelation, which is just after the great Battle of Armageddon in which Gog has a part –
[[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.'”]] Those two verses go together so closely. Gog must be part of the Revelation 19 great conflict where the frog spirits have assembled all the nations for war. It is not feasible that this could happen now in the land with the way it is. This happens at the Second Coming, and the first 7 months at least will be spent in cleaning up the land.
To be continued in Part 3.