The Gog-Magog War
Here is another message to me from the Lord: “Son of dust, face northward toward the land of Magog and prophesy against Gog* king of Meshech and Tubal. Tell him that the Lord God says: ‘I am against you, Gog. I will put hooks into your jaws and pull you to your doom. I will mobilize your troops and armored cavalry and make you a mighty host, all fully armed. Peras, Cush, Put shall join you too with all their weaponry, and so shall Gomer and all his hordes and the armies of Togarmah from the distant north, as well as many others. Be prepared! Stay mobilized. You are their leader, Gog!”
Ezekiel 38:1-7 (TLB)
In the previous article, we talked about a warning from Jesus that as we move closer to the return of Christ to this earth, we will see an increase in number and intensity of wars and rumors or threats of wars. But the prophet Ezekiel talks about a very specific war that appears to happen right around the time of the Rapture of the church called the Gog-Magog war. Although we touched on this in the article “Russia Vs. Israel” I want to look at this particular war in more detail.
In the reading above, we see a lot of “hard to pronounce” names of people and places that require translation so let’s begin there.
The Players
Magog: This is a place or country that will initial the war. Consisting of Rosh (Russia), Mesheck (Moscow) and Tubal (Region of Tobolsk in Russia). Magog essentially encompasses Russia and parts of the Republics of the former Soviet Union.
Gog: This is a general term for a leader, similar to terms such as Pharoah, President, or King. The Gog referred to here is the leader of Magog or Russia. If this war were to occur today, Gog would be Vladimir Putin.
Ezekiel tells us that the leader of Russia will form alliances with several other countries to launch this war. Here are their modern names:
Persia: Iran
Cush: Ethiopia
Put: Libya and possibly parts of N. Africa
Gomer: Turkey
Togarmah: Armenia
The three primary players appear to be Russia, Iran, and Turkey. So if we are closing in on this war, we would expect to see a strengthening alliance between Russia and these countries, particularly Iran and Turkey.
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Armenia has a unique position in the Ukraine-Russia war – opinion
Until now, Turkey has been the big question mark in this conflict. A member of NATO, Turkey seemed to be the outlier in this prophecy, but even that is starting to change.
Seeking ‘Axis of Good’ Against U.S., Russia Taps Allies of Convenience
Putin meets with leaders of Iran, Turkey to show Russia has allies
The Target
“‘A long time from now you will be called to action. In distant years you will swoop down onto the land of Israel that will be lying in peace after the return of its people from many lands. You and all your allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down upon them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud. For at that time an evil thought will have come to your mind. You will have said, “Israel is an unprotected land of unwalled villages! I will march against her and destroy these people living in such confidence! I will go to those once-desolate cities that are now filled with people again—those who have returned from all the nations—and I will capture vast amounts of loot and many slaves. For the people are rich with cattle now, and the whole earth revolves around them!”’
Ezekiel 38:8-12 (TLB)
The Outcome
“But when you come to destroy the land of Israel, my fury will rise! For in my jealousy and blazing wrath, I promise a mighty shaking in the land of Israel on that day. All living things shall quake in terror at my presence; mountains shall be thrown down; cliffs shall tumble; walls shall crumble to the earth. I will summon every kind of terror against you,” says the Lord God, “and you will fight against yourselves in mortal combat!I will fight you with sword, disease, torrential floods, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone! Thus will I show my greatness and bring honor upon my name, and all the nations of the world will hear what I have done and know that I am God!”
Ezekiel 38:18-23
The Jews are special to God. He made an everlasting promise to them that he fully intends to keep. For centuries, the Jews have lived in rebellion and God punished them as he said he would. But in this war, God will fight for the Jews and quickly destroy their enemy.
The Timing
In Ezekiel 38:8-12 above, the prophet gives us a hint as to the timing of this invasion. He tells us that it will be “a long time from now”, but he also tells us that at that time, the Jews would return to Israel after being scattered. Ezekiel was written around 592-570 BC while Israel was in captivity in Babylon. They remained captives until ultimately being scattered in AD70. Israel did not become a nation again until May of 1948, and since that time, they have been returning from all over the world. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is further hastening their return.
Over 20k immigrants to Israel since Ukraine war began; almost half from Russia
But we see more clues to the timing. In verses 18-23 above, God tells Ezekiel that there will be mountains thrown down and cliffs tumbling. This is remarkably similar to descriptions of the tribulation in Revelation. In Ezekiel 39:9-16 we see that once the war ends, the weapons used against Israel will serve as fuel for them for seven years. This is the same length of time as the tribulation which suggests that this war likely occurs at the beginning of the tribulation.
“Thus I will demonstrate my glory among the nations; all shall see the punishment of Gog and know that I have done it. And from that time onward the people of Israel will know I am the Lord their God.”
Ezekiel 39:21-22 (TLB)
Here we see that once this occurs, Israel will know that God is God. This will not happen until the tribulation.
Based on all of this, I would estimate the start of this war either immediately before or soon after the Rapture of the Church.
The Cleanup
It will take seven months for the people of Israel to bury the bodies. Everyone in Israel will help, for it will be a glorious victory for Israel on that day when I demonstrate my glory, says the Lord. At the end of the seven months, they will appoint men to search the land systematically for any skeletons left and bury them, so that the land will be cleansed. Whenever anyone sees some bones, he will put up a marker beside them so that the buriers will see them and take them to the Valley of Gog’s Army to bury them. A city named “Multitude” is there! And so the land will finally be cleansed.’
Ezekiel 39:12-16 (TLB)
This is an interesting passage because it suggests that there will need to be people specifically hired to bury the bones and cleanse the land. This suggests the strong possibility of nuclear fallout.
In the next article, we will continue looking at the warnings Jesus gave to us in Matthew 24.
Songs of Victory
Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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