The Gog-Magog Invasion of Israel

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Understanding Bible Prophecy

Israel, Russia, Iran and Certain Arab / North African Nations in Prophecy

March 27, 2018

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"... Art thou come to take a spoil? ..." (Ezekiel 38:8-13 KJV)

   Ezekiel chapters 38-39 prophesy that several Arab and North African nations will rally together in the Latter Years and mount a massive military operation against the Nation of Israel.  Despite the fall of the Berlin Wall and the "collapse" of communism, Ezekiel prophesies that a "hook in the jaw" will be placed in Russia's mouth and she will be dragged into this war virtually against her will.  It will not be her smartest move.  It will be the end of her armed forces.

    As with most of Bible Prophecy, Ezekiel's prophetic language is symbolic, requiring an enlightened view of all Scripture.  Therefore, we must carefully examine the prophetical books of the Bible and compare them with other Scripture.  Prophetical books are not meant just for "filler" material ... they are intended to guide generations by revealing the future *before* it occurs.  All of Bible prophecy will be fulfilled.  The only question is when?

    Generally prophecy books are arranged in chronological sequence.  Occasionally, prophecy will take quick jumps backwards or forwards to make a point.  In this case, the prophecies in Ezekiel 38-39 are dependent on the prophecies of Ezekiel 36-37 being already fulfilled.  In other words, Russia and the Arabs cannot attack the Nation of Israel until after the Nation of Israel had been restored.  In the 20th century, the Nation restored, just as prophesied in Ezekiel 36:24, Ezekiel 37 and Isaiah 66:8.

    Although the Russian-Arab invasion of Israel is foretold in the prophecy of Ezekiel (38, 39) after Israel is restored as a nation (Ezekiel 36, 37) this invasion is not the Battle of Armageddon.  While the prophetic language in Ezekiel seems to describe Armageddon in many ways, there are several reasons to differentiate this invasion from the Battle of Armageddon (Prophecy Watch, 212-214).  Drs. Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy quote Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum in assessing the Ezekiel invasion as a pre-tribulational event, though not necessarily pre-rapture:

First, in Ezekiel there are definite allies mentioned and they are limited in number while other nations stand in opposition. In the Campaign of Armageddon all nations are allied together against Jerusalem without exception. 

Secondly, the Ezekiel invasion comes from the north, but the Armageddon invasion comes from the whole Earth. 

Thirdly, the purpose of the Russian [38:6] invasion is to take spoil; the purpose of the Armageddon Campaign is to destroy all the Jews.            

Fourthly, in the Ezekiel invasion there is a protest against the invasion; in the Armageddon Campaign there is no protest since all the nations are involved.

Fifthly, the Ezekiel invasion is destroyed through convulsions of nature; the Armageddon invasion is destroyed by the personal second coming of Jesus Christ. 

Sixthly, the Ezekiel invasion is destroyed on the mountains of Israel; the Armageddon Campaign is destroyed in the area between Petra and Jerusalem

Seventh, the Russian invasion takes place while Israel is living securely in the land; but the Armageddon Campaign takes place while Israel is in flight and in hiding.

(Ice and Demy, Prophecy Watch, 1998, p.213, reformatted for emphasis)

    Now Israel is back as a viable nation once again.  An internal meltdown in Russia and trouble occurring in many former Soviet republics like Kosovo and Chechnya are creating unstable, unpredictable situations.  North Africa has no shortage of issues, from war in Sierra Leone, to the battles between Ethiopia and Eritrea, to ongoing persecution in Sudan, Algeria, Togo and Burkina Faso.  Libya is busy constructing chemical and perhaps biological weaponry.  And now, due primarily to AIDS, most South African teenagers have an average life expectancy of just 33 years; down from 70 years a scant 5 years ago.

    The winds of war are blowing once again in the Middle East.  Iran is developing and testing a Medium Range Ballistic Missile with Russian assistance.   Iraq is defiant to weapons inspectors once again.  Iran and her prot�g� Syria have purchased several Soviet fight-bomber aircraft in 1997.   Syria has also purchased 1000 Kornet anti-tank weapons.  Israel has not been idly watching their neighbors arming.  Israel is currently accepting delivery of advanced American F-15I fighter-bombers.  An anti-missile missile system is being deployed.  Israel has received 3 new German Dolphin-class submarines to augment their navy.   And Israel is now launching their own spy satellites.   What is the outcome of all this military buildup?  Here is the answer ...

Ezekiel Chapter 38 (KJV)

Ezekiel 38:1-7 Here God directs Ezekiel to prophesy against the land of Russia.  Several nations are named such as Persia (mostly Iran but includes parts of Iraq), Ethiopia and Libya:

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.

Ezekiel 38:8-13 In these passages, reference is made to Israel being restored from the nations she was scattered to by the Roman armies under Titus Vespasian in 70 A.D.   Russian armies and their allies are massed for a swift invasion of Israel, being likened to a storm cloud.  A former desolate land, Israel is now blooming again, and the temptation is too much.  The nations of the West apparently offer diplomatic protest only, as no military action in response to this invasion is noted:

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?

Ezekiel 38:14-23 Ezekiel is once again instructed to prophesy against Russia for her forthcoming attack upon Israel. God will use this attack to bring glory to His Name by unbelievers. Since no nation will come to Israel's defense, God will send a fiery earthquake (perhaps nuclear war?) upon the attacking armies, confusing them, causing them to fight against one another:

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.

Ezekiel Chapter 39 (KJV)

Ezekiel 39:1-8 The next prophecy of Ezekiel is delivered against Russia predicting that less than 17% of her armies will survive the vengeance of God.  Also, an unknown "fire" (volcanic earthquake or nuclear war?) shall descend upon the land of Magog and others.  Israel shall worship God for delivering her:

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.

Ezekiel 39:9-16 After Russia's devastating defeat, Israel cleanses their land by burning the weapons that were intended for use against her.   The bodies of the attacking armies will be buried, in the place where they fell, over a seven-month period:

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.
12 And 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.

Ezekiel 39:17-20 Before the bodies are completely buried by Israel, predatory birds and wild animals enjoy a human buffet as they dine on the fallen warriors of the Gog-Magog war (yuck!):

17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered 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.

Ezekiel 39:21-29 The final outcome of this event is that God receives glory from Israel and others:

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.

Have you noticed the current exodus of the Jews from the former Soviet Union back to Israel?

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