Prophecy Against Gog
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: Eze. 38:3
chief prince of... Two Modern Fallacies About Russia
1. That Gog will come from Russia. This is certainly not stated here in Ezekiel 38-39; even if Gog has been plainly declared as the leader of Russia, it would not necessarily mean that he would come from there.
Three Proofs Gog Not From Russia:
(1) If Gog is the same as the future Antichrist (and he is, as proved below), he cannot possibly come from Russia, for Scripture reveals that he will come from inside the old Roman Empire territory. Dan. 7:8, 7:19-25 plainly shows that he will come from among ten kingdoms inside that territory; and since Russia was never a part of the Roman Empire and will not be one of these from which Antichrist must come, then it is definite that he will not come from Russia. In fact, Dan. 7:8, 7:23-24 not only proves that he will come from inside the Roman Empire territory, but that Russia must be defeated in order that the ten kingdoms may be formed. At the present time (1962) Russia controls Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and other parts of the old Roman Empire territory; and these must be liberated from her for the 10 kingdoms to be formed.
(2) In Dan. 8:9, Dan. 8:20-25 we have proof that Gog, or the future Antichrist, will come from one of the four original divisions of the old Grecian Empire which itself became a part of the Roman Empire; that is, from Greece, Turkey, Syria, or Egypt. Since Russia never was a part of the old Grecian Empire we see again that the Antichrist or Gog could not come from that country.
(3) Dan. 11:35-45 reveals that Gog, or the future Antichrist, will come from the Syrian division of the four sections of the former Grecian Empire. See Dan. 7:1-28, 8:1-27, 11:1-45. This also proves that he cannot come from Russia.
2. That Russia will invade Israel before Armageddon. There is not the slightest proof of this in Ezekiel 38-39, which passages deal exclusively with Gog leading many nations, including Russia, down from the north into Israel at the battle of Armageddon. Antichrist, not Russia, will make an invasion before this. If Russia ever does invade Israel before Armageddon, it will not be in fulfillment of any particular prophecy, especially not these two chapters—Ezekiel 38-39.
Fourteen Proofs Armageddon Is Referred to Here:
(1) Not one statement in these two chapters mention a war in Israel before Armageddon.
(2) The battle of Armageddon is the only war predicted by the prophets that could possibly be referred to in these chapters (Eze. 38:17). Armageddon is mentioned many times by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and other prophets before the days of Ezekiel (Isa. 1:25-31; 3:25-26; 13:1-16; 24:21; 63:1-6; Jer. 25:30-33; 30:11, 30:20-24; Joel 2-3; Oba. 1:15-21; Mic. 1:3-4; 2:12-13; 5:5-15; etc.).
(3) The destruction of Gog and his armies (Eze. 38:18-23; 39:1-6, 39:17-20) compares with similar statements about Armageddon in Joel 3:1-21; Zec. 14:1-21; Rev. 19:11-21.
(4) Gog will not fall upon the open field until Armageddon (Eze. 39:3-5; Rev. 19:11-21).
(5) The great supper for the fowls and beasts will only be at Armageddon (Eze. 39:4, 39:17-20 with Mat. 24:27-28; Rev. 19:17-21).
(6) The presence of God (as pictured in Eze. 38:18-21; 39:1-6, 39:17-24) will not be until Armageddon (Isa. 63:1-6; Zec. 14:1-5; Rev. 19:11-21).
(7) The supernatural destruction of Gog and his armies (as described in Eze. 38:21-23) will not be until Armageddon (Isa. 63:1-6; Joel 2-3; Zec. 14:1-21; Rev. 19:11-21).
(8) God will not magnify and sanctify Himself and set His glory among the heathen (as stated in Eze. 38:23; 39:21-24) until He comes at the second coming of Christ—at Armageddon (Zec. 14:1-21; Mat. 24:29-31; Rev. 19:11-21).
(9) Gog will not bring the many armies of the nations into Israel to be destroyed until the time of the second coming of Christ, at Armageddon, as referred to in Eze. 38:18-23; Eze. 39:1-7 and proved in Zec. 14:1-5; Rev. 16:13-16; 19:11-21.
(10) The great earthquake of Eze. 38:20 will not take place until the seventh vial and the second coming (Zec. 14:1-5; Rev. 16:17-21; 19:11-21).
(11) God’s presence will not destroy Gog and his army until the second coming, at Armageddon (Eze. 38:20; 39:2-7 with Zec. 14:1-5; Rev. 19:11-21).
(12) Gog and his army cannot be destroyed in a war in Israel before the second coming, at Armageddon, to fulfill Eze. 38:18-23; 39:1-7, 39:17-20, and then be destroyed again at Armageddon to fulfill Isa. 63:1-19; Joel 2-3; Zec. 14:1-21. We must therefore recognize all these passages as referring to the same destruction—at Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-21).
(13) The burial of Gog and all his armies destroyed in the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38-39 will be at the second coming of Christ (Eze. 39:11-16 with Dan. 7:11; 2Th. 2:8-12; Rev. 19:11-21).
(14) It is at the second coming of Christ that God’s glory will be set among the heathen and Israel will be completely gathered and blessed (Eze. 39:21-29; Zec. 14:1-21; Mat. 24:29-31; Rom. 11:24-29; Rev. 19:11-21).
This statement is easily understood. God is against them, because they have been against God.
“Meshech and Tubal”: Two peoples were recognized in ancient Assyrian monuments: one called Mushki (Mushku), and the other Tubali (Tabal). Both were in Asia Minor, the area of Magog, modern day Turkey. Summing up, a chief prince, who is the enemy of God’s people, will lead a coalition of nations against Jerusalem. The details of the enemy force and its destruction are given by Ezekiel (in the rest of chapters 38 and 39).
If the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 is not at the end of the Millennium, could it be at the beginning of the Millennium? This also seems extremely doubtful. Everyone who enters the Millennium will be a believer (John 3:3), and will have demonstrated his faith by protecting God’s Chosen People (cf. comments on Mat. 25:31-46). At the beginning of the Millennium all weapons of war will be destroyed (Mic. 4:1-4). Thus it seems difficult to see a war occurring when the unsaved warriors have been eliminated and their weapons destroyed.
It seems best to place Ezekiel’s battle of Gog and Magog in the Tribulation period. Other internal markers indicate that it should be placed in the first three and one-half years of the seven-year period. The attack will come when Israel is at peace (Eze. 38:8, 38:11). When Israel’s covenant with the Antichrist is in effect at the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week (Dan. 9:27), she will be at peace. But after the covenant is broken at the middle of the seven-year period, the nation will suffer tremendous persecution (Dan. 9:27; Mat. 24:15-22). This will provide the time needed to bury the dead (Eze. 39:12-13) and to burn the weapons of war (Eze. 39:9-10). So the battle described by Ezekiel may take place sometime during the first three and one-half years of the seven-year period before Christ’s second coming. Possibly the battle will occur just before the midpoint of the seven-year period (see the “Outline of End-Time Events Predicted in the Bible,” between Ezek. and Dan., point I.D.).
Ezekiel was describing a battle that will involve Israel’s remotest neighbors. They will sense their opportunity to attack when Israel feels secure under the false protection of her covenant with the Antichrist sometime at the beginning of the seven-year period. The nations involved in the attack will include the Soviet Union, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya. Ezekiel first pictured the invasion by Gog and his allies (Eze. 38:1-16), and then described the judgment of Gog and his allies (38:17-39:29).
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