viii-b ezekiel 38+39

IX:EZEKIEL 38+39

IN WHICH WE CONTEMPLATE JUST WHERE, IN A SEQUENCE OF END TIMES

EVENTS, GOG AND MAGOG MAY INVADE AN ISRAEL RESTORED TO THE

LAND

This set develops the final element in this

sequence, focusing on Ezekiel 38+39:

Covenant Set: Testimony from Abraham to Moses and

Joshua establishes the sequence of Jewish history.

Timeline Set: Testimony from Daniel and Jeremiah lays out

the basic time frame of Jewish history.

Diaspora Prophesied: Jesus, Moses, Ezekiel trace the

trajectory of Jewish diaspora and return.

Mechanics of the End: Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah

take the witness stand and describe the final acts

of Jewish history.

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Prophecy Series: 33 Presentation Set

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Ezekiel 38 + 39 describe an invasion of Israel by an entity called “Gog of the land of Magog . . .” The descriptions

are powerful, graphic, compelling and they attract lots of attention from people like me: End-Times prophecy

addicts/nerds/students/obsessives and etc.

A key question:Just WHEN does/did this invasion occur?

Way, way back in time. Think Antiochus

EpiphanesNo, gotta be

just before the 70th Week, you know,

pre-Trib!

What??? This is definitely mid-Trib,

buster!

C’mon, Gog is the AntiChrist and this is all about Armageddon, you

know, post-TribNope! Check out

Revelation 20-that’s where you’ll find your Gog and Magog, end of the

Millennium!

There are direct statements and strong implications in Ezekiel 38

and 39 you can use to get a picture of:1. THE SITUATION: Pre-existing economic and

geopolitical fortunes of Israel and her neighbors.2.THE PLAYERS: What groups or countries are involved in Gog’s attack? Which are not?3.THEIR MOTIVES: Why-and why not!-do the

attackers invade?4.THE OUTCOME: What happens as

a result of this invasion?

With this information in hand, we can see which time period, if any, best suits Gog’s invasion and

which times, if any, cannot play host to it!

TIME AND SEQUENCE CLUES IN THE TEXT

“After many days you will be

summoned; in the latter years you will

come into the land that is restored

from the sword, whose inhabitants

have been gathered from many

nations to the mountains of Israel which

had been a continual waste; 38:8

This verse gives us our one time reference. The phrasing (after many days . . . latter years . . . land restored . . . gathered from many nations . . . had been a continual waste) would rule out any deep, historical fulfillment. Conversely, a post-1948 time frame reflects precisely

each and every element in the verse.

Way, deep back in time. Think Antiochus Epiphanes

THE ECONOMIC SITUATION:

land restored . . . no longer a waste . . .

(38:8)

This material states clearly that the inhabitants of the land have amassed great wealth. In a word, Israel on the eve of Gog’s invasion

has existed in the land productively enough to have become very

RICH

a land rich with potential spoil and plunder . . . a people who have acquired cattle and goods . . . (38:12)

a land worth plundering for silver and gold, cattle and goods and great spoil . . . (38:13)

THE GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION:

living securely, all of them. (38:8)

This suite of references depicts an Israel so used to peace that it has allowed its defenses to lapse on the eve of Gog’s invasion . Perhaps in connection with its

great wealth, our Jewish ‘the center of the world’ has become very . . .

PEACEFUL

a land of unwalled villages . . . people at rest, living securely . . . without walls and having no bars or gates.

(38:11)

the center of the world . . . (38:13)

THE INVASION FORCE

THE ONLOOKERS: Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish (38:13)

THE INVASION FORCE

THE OVERLORD: Gog, of the land of Magog,

prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. (38:8)

THE HANGERS-ON: Persia, Ethiopia and Put; Gomer

and Beth-Togarmah from the remote parts of the north .

38:5+6

THE ONLOOKERS: Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish (38:13)

THE INVASION FORCE

THE INVASION FORCE

There exist way too many attempts to map out just who the players are here. Gog

and Magog can represent a Russian confederacy or Turkey or the EU or . . . sheesh! Beth-Togarmah and Gomer are Eastern Europe or the remnants of the

Scythians or the Duke Lacrosse Team. I have my favorite and wildly speculative

designations but do not want to bother you with them right now.

I want you to notice something else of possibly deeper interest. 1. Notice who’s NOT listed as attackers and where they lie in relation to Israel.

2. Notice the attackers’ relative distance away from Israel.

THE INVASION FORCEWHO IS LISTED:

1. Libya (Put)2. Sudan/Ethiopia (Cush)3. Turkey (Name your

favorite entry-mine’s ‘Magog’)

4. Iran (Persia)5. Remote northern lands

RELATION TO ISRAEL:At least one tier of nations removed

THE INVASION FORCEWHO’S NOT LISTED:

1. Lebanon2. Syria3. Jordan4. Gaza5. Saudi Arabia6. Egypt

RELATION TO ISRAEL:Her Immediate Neighbors

WHO IS LISTED:1. Libya (Put)2. Sudan/Ethiopia (Cush)3. Turkey (Name your



RELATION TO ISRAEL:At least one tier of nations removed

THE INVASION FORCEWHO’S NOT LISTED

1. Lebanon2. Syria3. Jordan4. Gaza5. Saudi Arabia6. Egypt

RELATION TO ISRAELHer Immediate Neighbors

WHO IS LISTED1. Libya (Put)2. Sudan/Ethiopia (Cush)3. Turkey (Name your



RELATION TO ISRAELAt least one tier of nations

removed

This comparison underscores the strength of the peace Israel enjoys with her neighbors: They do not join the invasion!!The comparison suggests to me that Israel’s neighbors share in the prosperity Israel has obtained for itself and that they see their fate bound up in hers at this point.This comparison raises the question: What happened to Islam? How did the Palestinian question find a solution? What of the common bond of AntiZionist fervor that gives this region its only point of unity? How did the inner core of Islamic states dare to break faith with their co-religionists?

MOTIVATION OF THE INVADERS:

to capture spoil and seize plunder . . . (38:12)

Greed motivates this invasion force-nothing remotely religious occurs to their minds!! They do not contest God or seek revenge or land or the conquest of a

powerful antagonist. God inflames their imaginations with the thought of how easy it will to be to get insanely rich by plundering an unprepared and unsuspecting Israel

GREED

Have you come to capture spoil . . . carry away gold

and silver . . . cattle and goods (38:13)

the villages are unwalled and people are at rest . . .(38:11)

OUTCOME OF THE INVASION:

I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand. . . (39:3)

God supernaturally defends His people. Earthquakes and hail and brimstone and blood! God has summoned Gog and company for judgment by putting visions of the

plunder of a rich, undefended Israel in their greedy minds.

DEFEAT FOR GOG AND HIS ALLIES

You will fall down on the mountains of Israel (38:13)

I will call for a sword against him (Gog). . . every man’s sword

will be against his brother. With pestilence and with blood I

will enter into judgment with him (Gog) (38:21-2)

I will give you as food for every predatory bird and beast. You

will fall on every open field . . .(39:4)


I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel . . . for 7 months the people of the land will bury them . . . They will set apart men who will constantly pass through, even those left on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it . . . So they will cleanse the land. (39:11-16)

Ezekiel spends 6 verses describing the elaborate and thorough process by which the land will be cleansed of corpses. God wants the land thoroughly cleansed of bodies!!

RITUAL BURIAL FOR THE AGGRESSORS

Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make

fires with the weapons . . . and for seven years they will make

fire of them (39:9)


They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from

the forests, for they will make fires of the weapons . . . (39:10)

Israelis use Gog’s fallen weapons for fuel. There’s so much of it that for seven years they satisfy their need for fuel with this material!

ISRAEL PLUNDERS HER FOES

. . . And they will know that I am the Lord! (39:6)


My holy name I will make known in the midst of my people

Israel and I will not letMy holy name be profaned anymore and

the nations will know that I am the Lord . . . (39:7)

God makes Himself known in the world, establishes Israel in security for evermore.

GOD SANCTIFIES HIMSELF AMONG THE NATIONS AND IN ISRAEL

Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel and I will be jealous for My holy name . . . I will leave none of them there (in dispersion) any longer. (39:7)

In locating the eve of Gog’s invasion, we’re looking for a time when the Bible pictures Israel as:1. RESTORED TO THE LAND2. RICH AND ECONOMICALLY POWERFUL3. AT PEACE WITH HER NEIGHBORS, 4. AT ODDS WITH MORE DISTANT NATIONS

In identifying a biblical parallel for God’s invasion, we’re looking for a prophecy passage that depicts Israel as:5. ATTACKED BY GREEDY NON NEIGHBORS6. DIVINELY PRESERVED IN VICTORY7. LIVING OFF THE SPOILS OF INVASION FOR 7 YEARS8. RITUALISTICALLY BURING THE BODIES OF THE INVADERS

9. RECEIVING, AT GOD’S HAND, AN EXPERIENCE OF PERPETUAL PEACE AND SPIRITUAL PURITY.

I think we’ve scratched-with reason!-the possibility of some historical fulfillment for this prophecy.

The question still remains:Just when DOES this invasion occur?

Way, way back in time. Think Antiochus

EpiphanesNo, gotta be

just before the 70th Week, you know,

pre-Trib!

What??? This is definitely mid-Trib,

buster!


know, post-Trib

Nope! Check out Revelation 20-that’s where you’ll find

your Gog and Magog, end of the Millennium!

MY DILEMMA HERE:

Items 1-8 work together to ELIMINATE any 70th Week time slot for Ezekiel 38+39.

Item 9 locates the vision’s only possible fulfillment AFTER Armageddon at the end of the 70th Week.

WUWT? http://www.flickr.com/photos/esm723/3336905639/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/esm723/3336905639/


Ezekiel 38+391. Israel at Peace

2. Israel Rich

3. Neighbors remain peaceful

4. Aggressors non-neighbors

5. Motivated by greed

6. God defeats aggressors

7. Aggressors ritually buried

8. Israel plunders foes for 7 years

9. God blesses Israel with perpetual peace

ON THE OPENING OF THE 70TH WEEKSure-Daniel 11:21 says the despicable one comes in a time of tranquility.

I’ll ok that one on general principles

NO-Egypt immediately goes to war against the AntiChrist in alliance with Israel (Dan 11:25)

NO-there’s no record of non-neighbor conflict here at this time acc. to Daniel 11

Daniel’s despicable person uses greed as a tool but not necessarily as a reason for international conflictNo-this ‘king’ does as he pleases-for this period of time

No mention of this-no aggressors defeated, just random piles of combatants here and there

No.

No way! Israel stumbles into the Time of Jacob’s Troubles from this point in time!


2. Israel Rich














No.


MY CONCLUSION:

Nothing we can learn from Daniel 11’s

exhaustive treatment of the opening

of the 70th Week or, as we Christians

like to call it, the Tribulation,

supports seeing the events of Ezekiel

38+9 as being even remotely

connected to that time.


2. Israel Rich














No.


MY CONCLUSION:

Nothing we can learn from Daniel 11’s

exhaustive treatment of the opening

of the 70th Week or, as we Christians

like to call it, the Tribulation,

supports seeing the events of Ezekiel

38+9 as being even remotely

connected to that time.No, but it

could be just before the 70th Week, you

know, pre-Trib!


2. Israel Rich








IN THE MIDDLE OF WEEK 70No way. Daniel 11:29-39 depicts an enraged AntiChrist oppressing the faithful in IsraelImmaterial here. Not even an issue one way or another NO-whole area in conflict. Chaos rules.

Unclear-hard to tell

The AntiChrist is in psychosis-he believes he’s god and seeks worship, not cattle and goods.No-this ‘king’ does as he pleases-for this period of time


No. Israel is plundered herself!

No way! Israel fully involved in the Time of Jacob’s Troubles now!


2. Israel Rich














MY CONCLUSION:Nothing we can learn from Daniel 11’s exhaustive treatment of the middle of the 70th Week or, as we Christians like to call it, the Tribulation, supports seeing the events of Ezekiel 38+9 as being even remotely connected to that time.


2. Israel Rich














MY CONCLUSION:Nothing we can learn from Daniel 11’s exhaustive treatment of the middle of the 70th Week or, as we Christians like to call it, the Tribulation, supports seeing the events of Ezekiel 38+9 as being even remotely connected to that time.What??? This is

definitely mid-Trib, buster!


2. Israel Rich








ARMAGEDDON?No way! AntiChrist has been on a 3 ½ year rampageNO–Israel in ruins!!!

NO–there’s no peace for anyone now!

NO-there’s no peace for anyone-everyone’s an aggressor or a target

Israel is under direct attack by Satan’s man on the ground-the AntiChrist. Greed is the least of it.Yes! God defeating Israel’s enemies is what Armageddon is all about!

Jeremiah 25:33, Isaiah 66:24–no one’s buried. Corpses displayed as reminder

Zechariah 14:14 talks of Israel plundering the surrounding nations. A match? Nah . . .

Yes!!! NOW, at last, here on the eve of the Millennium, God and Israel are at peace!


2. Israel Rich















MY CONCLUSION:

Numbers 6+9 make Armageddon seem a match for Gog and Magog invasion. But

every other item on the checklist, especially numbers 1 and 7, oppose that

finding. What am I going to do now?


2. Israel Rich















MY CONCLUSION:

Numbers 6+9 make Armageddon seem a match for Gog and Magog invasion. But

every other item on the checklist, especially numbers 1 and 7, oppose that

finding. What am I going to do now?


know, post-Trib


2. Israel Rich








AT THE END OF MILLENNIUMSure–for the last 1000 years!.

Absolutely

NO-Satan seduces people from all over (Rev 20:8)

NO-Not a determiner of relevance-everyone’s sucked into this attack!

Satan is motivated by hatred of God

Yes, big time!

No mention of this

No.

Israel as an earthly entity swallowed up in eternity


2. Israel Rich









Absolutely




Yes, big time!

No mention of this

No.


MY CONCLUSION:The mere mention of ‘Gog and Magog’

as representatives of nations from the

four corners of the earth cannot

successfully connect Revelation 20’s

account of Satan’s final fling with the account in Ezekiel 38+9.


2. Israel Rich









Absolutely




Yes, big time!

No mention of this

No.


MY CONCLUSION:The mere mention of ‘Gog and Magog’

as representatives of nations from the

four corners of the earth cannot

successfully connect Revelation 20’s

account of Satan’s final fling with the account in Ezekiel 38+9.

Nope! Check out Revelation 20-that’s where you’ll find

your Gog and Magog, end of the Millennium!

MY SOLUTION HERE:

Majority rules. Items 1-8 WILL guide my choice of any time slot.

Item 9 I will treat as separate. It FORECASTS Israel’s ultimate (and somewhat later) spiritual restoration.

Let me illustrate this way: http://www.flickr.com/photos/esm723/3336905639/


2. Israel Rich






8. Israel plunders foes weapons for 7 years


SOONER THAN YOU THINKIslam crumbles if/when Mecca falls. Neighbors pacified as Jehovah seems to dominate Allah.Huge off-shore gas reserves, Arab labor/markets merge with Jewish managerial/technical expertiseCommercial allegiance cemented by spiritual superiority of Jehovah.

Second tier of nations, those at distance watch, jealously as Israel/neighbors prosper

Naturally! Outlying nations want what Israel has

Yes, big time!

A natural consequence of this conflict

No problem-if such an event occurs when I think it might

This aspect serves as a post-script, a forecast, a look forward a la Luke 4:21’s use of Isaiah 61:1


2. Israel Rich






8. Israel plunders foes weapons for 7 years


SOONER THAN YOU THINKIslam crumbles if/when Mecca falls. Neighbors pacified as Jehovah seems to dominate Allah.Huge off-shore gas reserves, Arab labor/markets merge with Jewish managerial/technical expertiseCommercial allegiance cemented by spiritual superiority of Jehovah.

Second tier of nations, those at distance watch, jealously as Israel/neighbors prosper

Naturally! Outlying nations want what Israel has

Yes, big time!

A natural consequence of this conflict

No problem-if such an event occurs when I think it might

This aspect serves as a post-script, a forecast, a look forward a la Luke 4:21’s use of Isaiah 61:1

WAIT A MINUTE!

Two questions arise:

1. How is it that Islam disappears?

2. What’s up with Luke 4:21 and . . .

and . . . whatever that Isaiah thing

did?

As powerful and unstoppable as Islam seems, the religion has a glass jaw.Mecca exists as Islam’s glass jaw. Mecca represents the ONE place where heaven meets earth, the ONE focus (qibla) of islamic prayer, the ONE place every muslim must visit if he is to go to heaven and avoid hell, the ONE place Allah cherishes, the ONE place where muslims can go to receive absolution from sin.If Allah cannot preserve Mecca from destruction, his one attribute-sovereignty-

dissolves. His very existence becomes questioned. Imagine if the tomb of Christ were discovered–and His bones were there!!! Shock and dismay beyond tolerance.New Arab governmental entities, fueled with Islamic fervor, may soon go all out

on Israel, an Allah vs. Jehovah contest (think Elijah and Baal!). Israel, using the ‘Samson Option’, will nuke Mecca and Islam will crumble. All Allah’s pretenses to existence, sovereignty and unstoppable power will disappear. Muslims lose all confidence in jihad as the path to heaven, for Allah could not endure direct assault on his city by Jehovah’s scorned minions.“Jehovah and Isaac’s offspring, not Allah and Ishmael’s lineage,” Abdul concludes sadly. Peace settles unexpectedly on a once turbulent scene.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Option









As powerful and unstoppable as Islam seems, the religion has a glass jaw.Mecca exists as Islam’s glass jaw. Mecca represents the ONE place where heaven meets earth, the ONE focus (qibla) of islamic prayer, the ONE place every muslim must visit if he is to go to heaven and avoid hell, the ONE place Allah cherishes, the ONE place where muslims can go to receive absolution from sin.If Allah cannot preserve Mecca from destruction, his one attribute-sovereignty-

dissolves. His very existence becomes questioned. Imagine if the tomb of Christ were discovered–and His bones were there!!! Shock and dismay beyond tolerance.New Arab governmental entities, fueled with Islamic fervor, may soon go all out

on Israel, an Allah vs. Jehovah contest (think Elijah and Baal!). Israel, using the ‘Samson Option’, will nuke Mecca and Islam will crumble. All Allah’s pretenses to existence, sovereignty and unstoppable power will disappear. Muslims lose all confidence in jihad as the path to heaven, for Allah could not endure direct assault on his city by Jehovah’s scorned minions.“Jehovah and Isaac’s offspring, not Allah and Ishmael’s lineage,” Abdul concludes sadly. Peace settles unexpectedly on a once turbulent scene.

Please let this speculative piece have no more weight than your comfort with speculation allows!










Seemingly continuous prophetic texts can disguise the

reader’s movement across huge gaps of time.

In Luke 4:17, Jesus stands in his home town’s synagogue. He is handed the scroll

of Isaiah and He reads aloud: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He

anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release

to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord . . .” And He closed the book . . . and

said to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus closed the book-in mid sentence. He had to close the book, for the next

phrase in Isaiah’s scroll, “. . . and the day of vengeance of our God,” belonged to

another, much later era and was NOT fulfilled in the hearing of the Nazarenes that

day.

Jesus knew what to do that day; I can only contemplate the possibility of such a

gap lying before Ezekiel 39:21. Allowing for such a gap, the earlier segments of 38

and 39 provide uncontested clues as to possible timing of Gog’s invasion.”

“That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!”

MAY I SUGGEST . . .

For a more detailed and extensive treatment of this subject, may I recommend a full blown essay on the matter? You can find it at:

“Getting Here From There”

INSERT GAP HERE!

Ezekiel 38:1-39:20


Ezekiel 39:21-29

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A supremely confident Israel foolishly signs a seven

year covenant with the “prince who is to come.” This

despicable political figure will metastasize into what

we call the AntiChrist half way through this covenant’s

run. What can Israelis expect of their evil shepherd?









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viii-b ezekiel 38+39

Spiritual