We all have heard about the war of Gog and Magog, the war of
Harmageddon, in Ezekial 38-39. An as yet future war.
I believe that we are in agreement that this war described in
Ezekial
38-39 is yet future. Just how future is that war?
According to the common held teaching and belief of Ezekial 38-39,
is that after that war satan will be bound for 1000 years during
which time we shall reign with Christ as priests and kings during
this millenial reign of Jesus.
Let's take a look at the following passages of scripture.
Ezekial 38-39 War of Gog and Magog
Chapter 38
1. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2. Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3. And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee,
O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I
will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all
of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with
bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield
and helmet:
6. Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north
quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy
company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou
shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is
gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which
have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations,
and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a
cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people
with thee.
10. Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the
same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an
evil thought:
11. And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;
I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them
dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12. To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the
desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are
gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that
dwell in the midst of the land.
13. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the
young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a
spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away
silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14. Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt
thou not know it?
15. And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou,
and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great
company, and a mighty army:
16. And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud
to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring
thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be
sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old
time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those
days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18. And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come
against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall
come up in my face.
19. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken,
Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20. So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and
the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the
earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake
at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep
places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains,
saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
22. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I
will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that
are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and
brimstone.
23. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be
known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am
the LORD.
Chapter 39
1. Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince
of Meshech and Tubal:
2. And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee,
and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring
thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3. And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine
arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy
bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the
ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be
devoured.
5. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith
the Lord GOD.
6. And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly
in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel;
and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen
shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is
the day whereof I have spoken.
9. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and
shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the
bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears,
and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
10. So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down
any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and
they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them,
saith the Lord GOD.
11. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a
place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east
of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall
they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of
Hamongog.
12And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they
may cleanse the land.
13. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to
them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through
the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the
earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s
bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it
in the valley of Hamongog.
16. And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they
cleanse the land.
17. And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every
eathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves,
and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do
sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel,
that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the
princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks,
all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be
drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with
mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21. And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall
see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon
them.
22. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from
that day and forward.
23. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity
for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my
face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they
all by the sword.
24. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions
have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity
of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be
jealous for my holy name;
26. After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses
whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their
land, and none made them afraid.
27. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them
out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of
many nations;
28. Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them
to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto
their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out
my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
Daniel 2:41-44 Ten toes
41. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay,
and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in
it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron
mixed with miry clay.
42. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay,
so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall
mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one
to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
Much like during WWII, these toes represent two opposing forces.
The Western Alliance and the Eastern Axis.
The Western Alliance consists of:
Israel
United States
Britian
France
Germany
The Eastern Axis consists of:
Iran
Russia
China
Syria
North Korea
Revelation 17:8-11 Eighth Beast that "was", "is not", and "shall ascend"
out of the bottomless pit
Revelation 17:8-11
8. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out
of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on
the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of
life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast
that was, and is not, and yet is.
9. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven
mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the
other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short
space.
11. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is
of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
The beast itself is the eighth kingdom/empire that arises after the
seventh kingdom/empire. These seven empires are:
1. Egypt
2. Assyria
3. Babylon - Kept for a time and a season. (Dan 7:12)
4. Medo-Persia - Kept for a time and a season. (Dan 7:12)
5. Greece/Macedonia - Kept for a time and a season. (Dan 7:12)
6. Rome - Destroyed and burning flame. (Dan 7:11)
7. United States - Continues for a short space. (Rev 17:10)
8. Beast that "was", "is not" and shall ascend from (Rev 17:11)
the bottomless pit and go into perdition.
Like the sixth and seventh kingdoms/empires, this eighth kingdom/empire
shall be cast into the burning flame.
Revelation 20:1-3;7-10 The thousand year reign
Revelation 20:1-3 The beginning of the thousand year reign.
1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the
Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a
seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the
thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed
a little season.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
Revelation 20:7-10 The end of the thousand year reign.
7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed
out of his prison,
8. And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to
battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the
camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down
from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall
be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
I can't help but notice that in Revelation 20:8, the war of Gog and Magog
does not take place until "after" satan has served his one thousand year
sentence and is released from the bottomless pit. (Revelation 20:7-10).
If this is true, then we still have a thousand years to go before the war
of Gog and Magog/Harmegeddon takes place. Either that or someone has "royally"
twisted and skewed bible prophecy.
Hmmm. So who's right? The those woh teach that the thousand year reign is yet
future? Or the Bible itself?
Remember. This eighth beast (Revelation 17:8)
"was", (past tense)
"is not", (present tense)
"shall ascend", (future tense)
This is what John was told by the messenger on the Isle of Patmos.
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