In Parts 1 and 2, 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. My conclusion is that it has to be at or just before the Second Coming, and those reasons I have been exploring. I know there are varying views, but it is important for me that all fits carefully and not with bits poking out.
(o). LOOK MOST CAREFULLY AT THESE VERSES – [[Ezekiel 39:21 “I shall set My glory among the nations and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them, 22 and the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.”]] These are critical verses and destroy the position of those who want to continue with the fallacy of the Gog war being this side of the Rapture.
If the Gog war happens just after the Rapture, as some think, verse 22 above could not possibly fit. Look at the wording of that verse. Once the Gog war happens, then “the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God FROM THAT DAY ONWARD” would be all through the Tribulation, and that is an utter impossibility. We are speaking of the Restoration of Israel here, and that does not happen before the Second Coming. Therefore, the Gog war happens just before and at the Second Coming. Lock in other verses from Ezekiel, and we know the LORD is with His people in righteousness, having been redeemed.
There is NO WAY God will set His glory before the nations in our time. The next thing on God’s calendar is the Rapture, not the unveiling of His Glory! It tells us the nations will see His glory and His judgment on Gog that His hand has executed. The Church age is the silence of God in national declarations.
The next verse, 22, is even more striking. The house of Israel will know that Jehovah is their Messiah from that very time of Gog’s destruction, and forever. That is what verse 22 affirms. You can’t twist it. It is an absolute impossibility in this, the Church age. To say so is so wrong. It can only make sense if the Gog war happens right before the Second Coming, and at that Coming, the great war of Armageddon happens. The Gog conflict is part of the Armageddon war along with the forces of Antichrist and the kings of the east.
(p). Now we have a summary proof of this great conflict and the outcome of it. There is overwhelming proof again that it can’t be before the Rapture. The LORD explains His position and what happens from Gog’s defeat onwards – [[Ezekiel 39:24 “According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them and I hid My face from them.”
Ezek 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, 26 and 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. 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.'”]]
- Verse 24. God hid His face from Israel because of their rebellion and sinfulness. That will continue through to the Rapture as taught by Romans 11 in the olive tree. That fact cannot be disputed. The Jews will not be grafted back until the Gentile Church shoots are removed in the Rapture. That cannot be disputed from Romans 11.
The verses above also refute the idea of a war just after the Rapture. When you look at 24-27 and what is described there, you cannot possibly say this happens at the start of the Tribulation. The fortunes of Israel will not be restored until the Messiah comes to dwell with His people after the Second Coming. In verse 26, “they shall forget their disgrace and all their treachery,” that just will not be any part of the Tribulation. Israel will have a tough time in the Tribulation.
- Verse 25. Note carefully the “Now,” which is the first word God speaks in verse 25. It connects with the defeat of Gog for the two chapters are progressive. THEN God will restore the fortunes of Jacob/Israel.
We know that will happen at the Second Coming when Jesus returns to Olivet and regathers the Jews and restores their fortune and Kingdom, over which He reigns as Messiah. The Kingdom is not going to be set up this side of the Rapture (this side of the Second Coming), so to teach of a Gog invasion of Israel at any time is just so wrong. We need proper exegesis of each Bible verse in this chapter to see that.
- Verse 26. God will wipe away all disgrace and guilt from Israel. The prophets teach this very clearly, as they do with the restoration of Israel’s fortunes. It says there they will live securely on their land, and no one will make them afraid. This does NOT happen now, and it will NOT happen in the Tribulation. It can only happen in the Millennium. Therefore, the God/Magog war happens immediately before the Second Coming, and then Messiah establishes the nation of Israel securely in its own land. It all happens logically.
- Verse 27. Israel is restored and brought back from many lands, back to the land of Israel. I have done a series on “The Restoration of Israel” on Rapture Ready, where all the Old Testament passages for restoration were done. It is on this Rapture site. God will be sanctified before restored Israel in the sight of the nations. Israel restored, glorified, and the nations know, and that is at the start of the Millennium, but all this has proceeded from the Gog war. It can only happen just before the Second Coming, and that is where this account fits exactly.
The verses just done show clearly the timeframe for the Gog war, and that absolutely excludes the very wrong notion that it has to be/could be in our time, before the Rapture (and soon after the Rapture). Before anyone promotes the wrong notion of a now Gog/Magog war, read all of Ezekiel 38 and 39 carefully, looking at the context.
(q). AND IF THERE IS STILL ANY RESERVATION – then study these last two verses – [[Ezekiel 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. 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.”]]
This is what verses 28 and 29 are teaching us.
- Verse 28. When will Israel know that the LORD is their God? Well, it certainly won’t be before the Rapture or even in the Tribulation. It will be when Messiah returns to the nation. [[Zechariah 12:10 “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.”]]
The nation will weep over Him, and they will know Him. That happens just after the Second Coming when the Lord gathers them to their own land (verse 28 above). Just after the Gog destruction, Israel will know the LORD, and His Name will be among His people – Ezekiel 38 and 39 teach that most clearly. Israel does not know the Messiah until He comes in the Second Coming to destroy the Gog forces about to strangle Jerusalem described in Zechariah 12 and 14.
- Verse 29. No more will the Lord be absent from Israel but dwells as their Messiah-King forever. They shall be with Him and see Him. God will pour out His Spirit on Israel exactly in line with what Joel teaches in detail, where the Spirit is poured out when Israel is redeemed and settled gloriously in its own land. It is impossible that that will happen before the Second Coming, and in NO way before the Rapture.
[[Joel 3:1 “For behold, in those days and at that time when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat [That is Armageddon]. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and they have divided up My land.”]]
That is Armageddon, and it is there in that great battle that Gog and Magog will have their role. That is not going to happen twice. The Gog forces will enter Jerusalem as we have here – [[Zechariah 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, 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.
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. 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us, are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the LORD of hosts, their God.'”]]
The next two verses from Joel speak about the Spirit being poured out on Israel, AND THAT IS IN LINE WITH [[Ezekiel 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.”]] Underneath, Joel clearly states that when the Spirit is poured out, then Israel will never again be put to shame. WHAT? So Israel is perfectly redeemed and shameless and purified all throughout the Tribulation? [which is the case if the Gog conflict is before the Rapture or a bit after]. We know that is not so. This happens just after the Second Coming. Please read through Joel – all of it.
[[Joel 2:27 “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is no other, and My people will never be put to shame. 28 (and) It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind, and your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions.”]] [The pouring out of the Spirit here on the redeemed Jews is the same as EZEKIEL 39 VERSE 29]
NONE OF THESE GLORIOUS EVENTS CAN HAPPEN before the Lord’s return for the restoration of Israel. The Gog war is linked so closely with the Second Coming, as I have tried to show, so the only logical conclusion is that it must immediately precede the Second Coming.
The Gog/Magog War. Those who say it is pre-Rapture are VERY WRONG. It is ludicrous to think such things that are so contrary to the Bible. This is because set ideas are passed along without any examination. I lament the lack of proper teaching and exegetical preaching from the ministers and pastors of churches. I have tried to examine the subject to show it just cannot happen before the Second Coming after the 7 years’ Tribulation.
Of course, it is legitimate now to see developments happening as a possible groundwork being laid for the invasion at the time of Armageddon. For example, Russia has established a military base in Syria. Putin has expansionist aims.
If you think I am wrong about the timing, then defend your position and show my timing is incorrect. I am not being arrogant at all but seek scriptural truth, and I am open to documented argument. If anyone thinks the Gog war has to be before the Rapture, then prove it from Ezekiel 38 and 39, and refute each of my arguments. I only wish for correct exegesis. The same thing applies to Matthew 24 when I wrote to prove it is not the Rapture in any way. No refutation was given to me.
God bless you all. We are in the last days of the Church age, but in the “last days” (of human government), we will be in heaven while the horrible Tribulation plays out on earth.
Blessings
Ron
WE ARE ON THE LAST PAGE OF THE CURRENT CHURCH AGE
We have concluded, the world is deluded.
It struggles to find the right course.
Men don’t understand what’s the lie of the land,
And don’t know what things to endorse.
Extinguish the light, then impaired is the sight,
So incorrect things they enforce.
God is abolished; decency demolished,
And for evil, there’s no remorse.
Good now is compressed; what’s righteous is transgressed.
That’s part of the nation’s downturn.
All too rapidly we have hugged apathy,
And people no longer discern.
Our leaders are weak; they are no longer meek;
Anything godly they adjourn.
We know in review that the Bible stands true.
To its truths, people must return.
In darkness men grope, while they’re looking for hope,
Because they live in sin’s dark blight.
The heart that is cold is unable to hold
The truths that we clasp to be right.
God’s seeking repentance to end the sentence
Of man’s journey into death’s night.
One true Bible verse says that things will get worse,
For men love darkness, not the light.
Like a sharp prickle in man’s self-made pickle,
The Christian is one they besmear.
The righteous they hate, and their goodness castrate;
To Satan’s rule they adhere.
The world’s in decline; wickedness they enshrine,
But it’s God the Christians revere
We’re are on the last page of the present Church age;
Don’t be deceived by false veneer.
R E Ferguson January 2022