I have been prodded by God over the past several weeks to read (again and again) Ez 38. Now, I was quite familiar with this chapter, as well as Ez 39. We know these chapters as the "Battle of Gog and Magog". However, God was trying to show me or teach me something specific to Ez 38. That's how He deals with me sometimes regarding reading the Bible. He prods me to read a certain chapter of the bible to show me something I had not really understood fully.So, I read and re-read Ez 38 over the past few weeks five or six times. I was beginning to think that perhaps I was simply hearing my own thoughts and was becoming fixated on this chapter. I consciously did not want to keep re-reading the same (I thought) familiar passages in Ez 38. So, I began to believe that it was my own thoughts that were having me go over this same ground again and again. I even asked God if I was really hearing Him, or whether it was simply me. I felt gently, yet firmly, prodded to read it once again -- which I did yesterday, reluctantly, out on my back porch during the afternoon of a beautiful summer day. What I finally saw in Ez 38 took me by complete surprise. Verses that I had read many, many times before somehow "jumped" up into my mind as something I should stop and ponder. This is how God deals with me when He wants to teach me something in His word. He may deal differently with you.
I previously believed that the battle described in Ez 38/39 was the "Battle of Armageddon", which will occur just before Jesus' return. I strongly believed that, based on my reading and studying Ez 38/39 -- until yesterday.
Yesterday, as I read through Ez 38 (and Ez 39, for good measure), the same familiar verses I had read previously numerous times took on a new meaning, and I was presented with a dilemma. These chapters speak of an invasion force coming against a land and people who live in safety. But, if this battle does occur, as I previously believed, not at the beginning of Daniel's 70th week (commonly referred to incorrectly as "the tribulation") as many believe and teach, but as part of the Battle of Armageddon just prior to Jesus' return, how could those in the land of Israel be living safely at that time? After all, the anti-Christ will at that time be persecuting severely Jews (and Christians too) beginning at the mid-point of Daniel's 70th week when he declares himself to be "god" and the abomination of desolation is set up, likely by him. (See, Dan 9: 27; Mat 24: 15-22) They (Jews and Christians) will be persecuted right up to the time of Jesus' return for 3 1/2 years.
I had never seen this rather sharp contradiction previously in Ez 38.
God then, as He does sometimes with me, asked me how to resolve this incongruity. Sometimes He makes me think about it to figure something out. Instantly, I remembered the description of a future battle of Gog and Magog which occurs at the end of Jesus' millennial reign, as described in Rev 20: 7-9. That battle is described as being quite short-lived, as God simply wipes out and destroys the invaders coming against Jerusalem by sending fire down on them from heaven. Not much of a battle, really.
Also, in Ez 39: 7 it describes that after this future battle God will not allow His name to ever be profaned again.
So, this presented another contradiction, since the final battle of Gog and Magog at the end of the millennial reign of Christ will most certainly involve the final rebellion against God. No doubt, during that final rebellion leading up to that final battle God's name will be profaned once again ... but for the last time forever.
Therefore, the scenario of Ez 38/39 describing a single "battle" as a single event which occurs just prior to Jesus' return at Armageddon fails for at least these two factors, which I had never before noticed. In summary, the two factors are: 1) that the people live in safety and not in persecution, and 2) that God's name will never again be profaned.
These two factors cannot be satisfied anytime prior to the end of the Christ's millennial reign, and yet, many other events described in Ez 38/39 appear to fit well as a description of the Battle of Armageddon just prior to Jesus' return.
So, this sparked the idea in me that perhaps the "battle" described in Ez 38/39 was actually two separate events -- two battles being described and interwoven through these passages. One battle occurring just prior to Christ's pre-millennial reign and the other at the end of the millennium reign. Could this be? I felt compelled to investigate further.
I felt inspired to go online and find the Septuagint version of Ez 38/39. After all, it was the version of the Old Testament in common usage when Jesus walked the earth (it is a Greek translation of the original Hebrew and Aramaic version of what we call the "Old Testament"). Perhaps there was something (hopefully) in the English version of the Septuagint online that would help me to resolve the riddle.
God reminded me, at almost the same time, how the millennium-end battle will end with fire coming down from heaven to defeat Gog and the armies with them, very quickly. Very decisive. No fighting required by those on the earth. Also, Ez 34:28 describes that when Jesus returns and gathers His people Israel to Himself, "they shall all dwell securely and none shall make them afraid." This confirms that the time of "security and safety" occurs during the millennium, which gives further evidence that Ez 38/39 also describes a millennial-end battle.
Well, low and behold. Every English version of Ez 39: 6 in various versions of the Bible that I have read to date says that God will send fire on Magog -- meaning the land of Magog, and not Gog. Indeed, many teach that the description of fire coming on Magog signals the destruction of Russia -- who those who teach this idea say Russia is the land being referred to as the land of Magog.
However, the Septuagint version of the Old Testament (which Jesus knew and read, since it was the prevalent version of the Old Testament when He walked the earth) translates Ez 39: 6 to say that God will send fire on Gog. This lines up perfectly with Rev 20: 7-9, discussed above, where God will destroy Gog and his armies the end of the Millennium with fire -- not the land of Magog. Wow! This understanding also frees up the timing of the first battle of Ez 38/39 so that it can take place ANYTIME prior to Jesus' return. Perhaps prior to Daniel's 70th week, perhaps during the 70th week, or perhaps at the time of the Battle of Armageddon immediately prior to Jesus' return.
So, I then felt further inspired to be sure and to again "analyze" Ez 38/39 verse by verse. I read carefully each single verse of Ez 38/39 of the Septuagint version, verse by verse, and coded each verse individually as referring to the "pre-millennium" time period or to the "millennium end" time period, or to "both".
I created two Word documents and simply copied and pasted every verse I coded into one, or both, of these two documents -- one document for "pre-millennium" verses and the other for "millennium-end" verses. I put each verse coded as "both" into both documents. I did not read either document until I had analyzed and moved each and every verse of Ez 38 and 39 into one or both of the two documents. What I read in each document after I finished this work was, quite frankly, God-given and amazing.
I have provided the text of each of the two documents below for your review. I had simply analyzed and sorted verse by verse, as I felt led by God.
When you read the two documents, you can see that the verses applicable to one time frame or the other, or both, which were indeed describing two separate events that were interwoven in Ez 38/39 read as separate and distinguishable events even though the verses are not all consecutive!
So, I believe God was fine-tuning my prior understanding of Ez 38/39 to show me that I had missed a few major points which were hiding in plain sight.
My conclusion: Ez 38/39 describes two battles involving Gog of the land of Magog. The first battle occurs any time prior to Jesus' return. The second battle occurs at the millennium-end just prior to the Great White Throne Judgement found in the Book of Revelation.
See for yourself, below. Let it bless you. God rewards those who seek Him. Praise be to God.
Ez 38/39 Pre-Millennium Prophecy
38:1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying
38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, and the land of Magog, Rhos, prince of Mesoch and Thobel, and prophesy against him
38:3 and say to him, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Rhos prince of Mesoch and Thobel
38:4 and I will gather thee, and all thine host, horses and horsemen, all wearing breast-plates, with a great multitude, shields and helmets and swords
38:5 Persians, and Ethiopians, and Libyans; all with helmets and shields
38:6 Gomer, and all belonging to him; the house of Thorgama,
from the end of the north, and all belonging to him; and many nations with thee
38:7 Be thou prepared, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy multitude that is assembled with thee, and thou shalt be to me for a guard
38:7 Be thou prepared, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy multitude that is assembled with thee, and thou shalt be to me for a guard
38:9 And thou shalt go up as rain, and shalt arrive as a
cloud to cover the land, and there shall be thou, and all that are about thee,
and many nations with thee
38:10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass in that day, that thoughts shall come up into thine heart, and thou shalt devise evil devices
38:10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass in that day, that thoughts shall come up into thine heart, and thou shalt devise evil devices
38:13 Sabba, and Daedan, and Carthaginian merchants, and all
their villages shall say to thee, Thou art come for plunder to take a prey, and
to get spoils: thou hast gathered thy multitude to take silver and gold, to
carry off property, to take spoils
38:15 and come out of thy place from the farthest north, and
many nations with thee? all of them mounted on horses, a great gathering, and a
large force?
38:16 And thou shalt come up upon my people Israel as a cloud to cover the land; it shall come to pass in the last days, that I will bring thee up upon my land, that all the nations may know me, when I am sanctified in thee before them
38:16 And thou shalt come up upon my people Israel as a cloud to cover the land; it shall come to pass in the last days, that I will bring thee up upon my land, that all the nations may know me, when I am sanctified in thee before them
38:17 Thus saith the Lord God, to Gog; Thou art [he]
concerning whom I spoke in former times, by the hand of my servants the
prophets of Israel, in those days and years, that I would bring thee up against
them
38:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day when Gog shall come against the Land of Israel, saith the Lord God
38:19 [that] my wrath and my jealousy shall arise, I have spoken in the fire of mine anger, verily in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel
38:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day when Gog shall come against the Land of Israel, saith the Lord God
38:19 [that] my wrath and my jealousy shall arise, I have spoken in the fire of mine anger, verily in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel
38:20 and the fish of the sea shall quake at the presence of
the Lord, and the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the field, and all
the reptiles that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are on the face of
the earth; and the mountains shall be rent, and the valleys shall fall, and
every wall on the land shall fall
38:21 And I will summon against it even every fear, saith the Lord: the sword of [every] man shall be against his brother
38:22 And I will judge him with pestilence, and blood, and sweeping rain, and hailstones; and I will rain upon him fire and brimstone, and upon all that are with him, and upon many nations with him
38:21 And I will summon against it even every fear, saith the Lord: the sword of [every] man shall be against his brother
38:22 And I will judge him with pestilence, and blood, and sweeping rain, and hailstones; and I will rain upon him fire and brimstone, and upon all that are with him, and upon many nations with him
38:23 And I will be magnified, and sanctified, and
glorified; and I will be known in the presence of many nations, and they shall
know that I am the Lord
39:1 And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say,
Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, Rhos prince of Mesoch
and Thobel
39:2 and I will assemble thee, and guide thee, and raise
thee up on the extremity of the north, and I will bring thee up upon the
mountains of Israel
39:3 And I will destroy the bow out of thy left hand, and thine arrows out of thy right hand, and I will cast thee down on the mountains of Israel
39:4 and thou and all that belong to thee shall fall, and the nations that are with thee shall be given to multitudes of birds, [even] to every fowl, and I have given thee to all the wild beasts of the field to be devoured
39:5 Thou shalt fall on the face of the field: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord
39:3 And I will destroy the bow out of thy left hand, and thine arrows out of thy right hand, and I will cast thee down on the mountains of Israel
39:4 and thou and all that belong to thee shall fall, and the nations that are with thee shall be given to multitudes of birds, [even] to every fowl, and I have given thee to all the wild beasts of the field to be devoured
39:5 Thou shalt fall on the face of the field: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord
39:8 Behold it is come, and thou shalt know that it shall
be, saith the Lord God; this is the day concerning which I have spoken
39:9 And they that inhabit the cities of Israel shall come
forth, and make a fire with the arms, the shields and the spears, and bows and
arrows, and hand-staves, and lances, and they shall keep fire burning with them
for seven years
39:10 and they shall not take any wood out of the field, neither shall they cut any out of the forests, but they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall plunder those that plundered them, and spoil those that spoiled them, saith the Lord
39:10 and they shall not take any wood out of the field, neither shall they cut any out of the forests, but they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall plunder those that plundered them, and spoil those that spoiled them, saith the Lord
39:11 And it shall come to pass [that] in that day I will
give to Gog a place of renown, a tomb in Israel, the burial-place of them that
approach the sea: and they shall build round about the outlet of the valley,
and there they shall bury Gog and all his multitude: and [the place] shall then
be called the burial-place of Gog
39:12 And the house of Israel shall bury them, that the land may be cleansed in the space of seven months
39:13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a [place] of renown in the day wherein it was glorified, saith the Lord
39:12 And the house of Israel shall bury them, that the land may be cleansed in the space of seven months
39:13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a [place] of renown in the day wherein it was glorified, saith the Lord
39:14 And they shall appoint men continually to go over the
land, to bury them that have been left on the face of the earth, to cleanse it
after the space of seven months, and they shall seek [them] out
39:15 And every one that goes through the land, and sees a man's bone, shall set up a mark by it, until the buriers shall have buried it in the valley, the burial place of Gog
39:15 And every one that goes through the land, and sees a man's bone, shall set up a mark by it, until the buriers shall have buried it in the valley, the burial place of Gog
39:16 For the name of the city [shall be] Burial-place: so
shall the land be cleansed
39:17 And thou, son of man, say, Thus saith the Lord; Say to every winged bird, and to all the wild beasts of the field, Gather yourselves, and come; gather yourselves from all [places] round about to my sacrifice, which I have made for you, [even] a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, and ye shall eat flesh, and drink blood
39:17 And thou, son of man, say, Thus saith the Lord; Say to every winged bird, and to all the wild beasts of the field, Gather yourselves, and come; gather yourselves from all [places] round about to my sacrifice, which I have made for you, [even] a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, and ye shall eat flesh, and drink blood
39:18 Ye shall eat the flesh of mighty men, and ye shall
drink the blood of princes of the earth, rams, and calves and goats, and they
are all fatted calves
39:19 And ye shall eat fat till ye are full, and shall drink wine till ye are drunken, of my sacrifice which I have prepared for you
39:20 And ye shall be filled at my table, [eating] horse, and rider, and mighty man, and every warrior, saith the Lord
39:19 And ye shall eat fat till ye are full, and shall drink wine till ye are drunken, of my sacrifice which I have prepared for you
39:20 And ye shall be filled at my table, [eating] horse, and rider, and mighty man, and every warrior, saith the Lord
39:21 And I will set my glory among you, and all the nations
shall see my judgment which I have wrought, and my hand which I have brought
upon them
39:22 And the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from this day and onwards
39:23 And all the nations shall know that the house of Israel were led captive because of their sins, because they rebelled against me, and I turned away my face from them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword
39:22 And the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from this day and onwards
39:23 And all the nations shall know that the house of Israel were led captive because of their sins, because they rebelled against me, and I turned away my face from them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword
39:25 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Now will I turn back captivity in Jacob, and will have mercy on the house of Israel, and will be jealous for the sake of my holy name
39:26 And they shall bear their reproach, and the iniquity
which they committed when they dwelt upon their land in peace. Yet there shall
be none to terrify [them]
39:27 when I have brought them back from the nations, and
gathered them out of the countries of the nations: and I will be sanctified
among them in the presence of the nations
39:28 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, hen
I have been manifested to them among the nations
39:29 And I will no more turn away my face from them, because I have poured out my wrath upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God
39:29 And I will no more turn away my face from them, because I have poured out my wrath upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God
Ez 38/39 Millennium-End Prophecy
38:1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying
38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, and the land of Magog, Rhos, prince of Mesoch and Thobel, and prophesy against him
38:3 and say to him, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Rhos prince of Mesoch and Thobel
38:4 and I will gather thee, and all thine host, horses and horsemen, all wearing breast-plates, with a great multitude, shields and helmets and swords
38:7 Be thou prepared, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy multitude
that is assembled with thee, and thou shalt be to me for a guard
38:8 He shall be prepared after many days, and he shall come
at the end of years, and shall come to a land that is brought back from the
sword, when [the people] are gathered from many nations against the land of
Israel, which was entirely desolate: and he is come forth out of the nations,
and they shall all dwell securely
38:9 And thou shalt go up as rain, and shalt arrive as a
cloud to cover the land, and there shall be thou, and all that are about thee,
and many nations with thee
38:10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass in that day, that thoughts shall come up into thine heart, and thou shalt devise evil devices
38:11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the rejected land; I will come upon them that are at ease in tranquility, and dwelling in peace, all inhabiting a land in which there is no wall, nor bars, nor have they doors
38:10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass in that day, that thoughts shall come up into thine heart, and thou shalt devise evil devices
38:11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the rejected land; I will come upon them that are at ease in tranquility, and dwelling in peace, all inhabiting a land in which there is no wall, nor bars, nor have they doors
38:12 to seize plunder, and to take their spoil; to turn my
hands against the desolate land that is [now] inhabited, and against a nation
that is gathered from many nations, that have acquired property, dwelling in
the midst of the land
38:14 Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, Thus
saith the Lord; Wilt thou not arise in that day, when my people Israel are dwelling securely
38:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day when
Gog shall come against the Land of Israel, saith the Lord God
38:19 [that] my wrath and my jealousy shall arise, I have spoken in the fire of mine anger, verily in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel
38:19 [that] my wrath and my jealousy shall arise, I have spoken in the fire of mine anger, verily in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel
39:1 And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say,
Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, Rhos prince of Mesoch
and Thobel
39:7 And my holy name shall be known in the midst of my people Israel; and my holy name shall no more be profaned: and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy [One] in Israel
** Please share this message with others to bless them and let them know that God has everything under control. How amazing is He? Just trust in Him and watch what He will do for you.
Time is short. Repent, and prepare your heart for God.
2015 - True Believer
To check out my other blogs, please navigate through my Blog Archive
2015 - True Believer
To check out my other blogs, please navigate through my Blog Archive
