There is an expression about that is similar to this: “We live in interesting times,” but it is so applicable today. Well might we rephrase that to “We live in strategic times.”
I suppose I get a bit disturbed at those who are rushing to a cataclysmic war footing right now in the Middle East, as in ushering in the Gog/Magog war. I respect your rights, but I think a tendency exists for some to jump the gun on the matter of the Gog war. More on that shortly.
The critical fact where we must stand assured is this passage: Daniel 9:26-27 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come, will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and its end will come with a flood – even to the end there will be war. Desolations are determined.
Daniel 9:27 AND HE WILL MAKE A FIRM COVENANT WITH THE MANY FOR ONE WEEK, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering, and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”
The prince who is to come is Antichrist; the people of the prince are the Romans – it points to a Revived Roman Empire = The EU or some equivalent). That covenant will bring in the remaining 7 years of the seventy weeks. It speaks about the coming powerful world ruler most call Antichrist, and he will be so cunning and diplomatic that he will be able to bring in this covenant of peace between Israel and its Islamic neighbors. No one else can possibly do that. The UN is a sick joke. The USA is powerless and overrun by ineptitude and a corrupt White House. Britain is falling apart.
Remember the last week/7 years is for this purpose: Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city – to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, etc.” Everything will come to a head in that time, not before that time.
I get emails telling me the Gog war is about to happen just because Iran is involved. Just this last week, Russia sent a plane of unknown secret equipment to Iran. Yes, things are heating up, and the nations are falling into line, all ready for the starting gun.
The starting gun will not crack away until the Rapture happens. There will be no Gog war before the Rapture. Indeed there is no Gog war before the Second Coming. I have written on this before, but I think some don’t understand the scriptures quoted.
The Gog war will see an alliance that is not yet in operation – the countries mentioned in Ezekiel. They exist now but have not come together.
Who will solve the Middle East crisis? No one today will because it is impossible to placate a satanic Islam. Only one can solve that problem, and as stated earlier, it has to be after the Rapture. In fact, I think it is the very first thing Antichrist will do when that white horse of the first seal rides forth. That makes me think he will be in some political position today, for he will have some clout to rise so rapidly to the surface. I feel it will be someone who reminds me of Macron of France.
Why am I emphatic about there being no Gog war before the Rapture AND CERTAINLY NOT IN THE CURRENT SITUATION? I have written on this, and some I think take no notice. Don’t be entrenched in something you have heard or checked out.
You will find my posts on this in the archives, but I am going to focus on just one aspect now. I encourage those who speak about an imminent Gog war to read the WHOLE of Ezekiel 38 and 39, especially the second half of Ezekiel 39.
I will now quote some of these verses –
[a]. We have here described the destruction of Gog, BUT straight after the defeat, we have verse 7 (all below). We know the LORD will not make His Name known in the midst of Israel until AFTER the Second Coming. It can’t possibly happen now or in the Tribulation. Consider all scriptures in context. Jesus will NOT LET HIS HOLY NAME BE PROFANED ANYMORE (verse 7), but in the Tribulation, it is grossly profaned. This righteous situation cannot happen until after the Second Coming.
(Gog’s destruction) Ezekiel 39:4 “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 39:5 You will fall on the open field for it is I who have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 39:6 ‘I shall send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety, and they will know that I am the LORD.
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.”
(b). Here is the next one, which is right at the end of this war again, speaking of the great mass of birds that will eat the flesh (also confirmed by Revelation 19). Take note very carefully of the timing presented here and the events.
Ezekiel 39:19 “You will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you,
Ezekiel 39:20 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.
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,
Ezekiel 39:22 AND THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD THEIR GOD FROM THAT DAY ONWARD.”
No way is it possible that the LORD sets up His glory among the nations until the Second Coming has happened. That is the truth of the matter. At the conclusion of the Gog war, the nations share the glory of the LORD. (They will be the redeemed nations.) It does not happen now. The world has to go through the darkest period in its history before that can happen.
Take special note of verse 22. The remnant of Israel will know with perfect knowledge that the LORD is their God FROM THAT DAY ONWARD. It can’t happen now before the Rapture or even after the Rapture before the Second Coming. The timing can only be at the Second Coming when Israel is redeemed and restored and will be regathered.
(c). The word “therefore” in verse 25 (all below) wraps up what has gone before. Straight after the Gog war, the Messiah restores the fortunes and blessing of Israel and shows the nation great mercy. All treachery will be gone, and they will live securely on their own land FOREVER, never to be made afraid again. (From the River to the River!)
We know in the Tribulation (read Matthew 24) that fear will grip Israel in the time of Jacob’s trouble, and they will be under great distress. Israel’s glory and restoration cannot happen until the LORD comes again. AND that glory cannot happen until Gog is defeated.
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,
Ezekiel 39:26 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.
Ezekiel 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.’”
Every single description here is definite that the Gog war can’t be before the time span of the Second Coming. I have advanced the proof that it has to be part of the great Battle of Armageddon, with special focus on Gog, and I think it is the Gog forces pictured in Zechariah 14.
Therefore, what is going on in the Middle East today? Well, much is, but in particular, it is like a chess board where certain pieces are lining up. Iran is critical but not as much so as the northern alliance comprising the Russian Federation. The nations named in Ezekiel 39 do not have an alliance today but are working towards that. Ties between Russia and Iran are strengthening. There is very little moving with Libya and Ethiopia at present.
In other words, things are starting to come together, and what does that suggest? Well, it means the starting gun is ready to fire. The Rapture has to be close because that is the trigger. It is full-on after that.
We should not advance a Gog/Magog war in isolation by ignoring the closing half of Ezekiel 39. The account is a whole. I know this might go against some teachers who are promoting an imminent Gog war. Let us hold to the scriptural timeline, not trying to fit current happenings into the biblical Gog/Magog because some things look enticing for the Gog war.
Remember this: if the Lord comes tomorrow in the Rapture, then the Gog war is just 7 years away. Of course, you’d expect events and nations and technology to be there in place and almost ready. It is in place and ready but needs some extra formation that can happen quite easily in the Tribulation as the great Gog war gets ready to annihilate Israel according to every single detail outlined in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
To close, we can NOT have a restored and blameless Israel going into the Tribulation and then under the great stress of Matthew 24, Revelation 12, and Zechariah 14.
What current events do suggest … is that the Rapture must be very close.