Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
Gog and Magog
“And the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying, son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus
saith the Lord GOD; behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of
Meshech and Tubal: And I will put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee
forth…”[1] All of the chess pieces of mankind will be
set upon the table of the earth to play the last hand of man’s dramatic
history. But it will be the hand of God
that will be playing the pieces at the end.
Mankind has had thousands of years to make his move, only to play the
war, violence and rebellion against his God moves. It’s always been funny how man has the
audacity to think that the earth is his and he is the only player. But in the “Last days,” God will “putting the
hooks” and dragging human pieces into place to end our sinful and rebellious
history His way. Understanding this
endgame is very important for all of us, but especially among the saints of the
Most High. I receive a great deal of
comfort knowing that I am in God’s majestic hands. I feel safe knowing that my
future is already planned out.
Magog, Meshech and Tubal are all in
the present land of Turkey.[2] With Gog being their leader and these lands
being mentioned first in the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel, this leads me to
believe that the leader of Turkey will form an alliance to attack Israel. Turkey currently has a half million man army
that is a NATO member and is a first world military. Turkey currently has seven million military
aged men that could be quickly drafted for a larger operation. With Russian allies (Gomer), they could form
a formable Northern Alliance. Persia, which is currently in Syria, which also
has a half million man military with eight million men that could be drafted.
Both of these countries mentioned in the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel would
form a very powerful Northern Alliance. A million man army with potential
millions behind them. Add a few more allies like the Russians, Syrians and
maybe the Lebanese we have a potent force.
The Southern Alliance, controlled by
Gog of Magog (Turkey) would consist of Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Palestine and
Ethiopia, would form a much smaller and less powerful force than the Northern
one. On its own it would form a definite
threat to “land of unwalled villages (Ez 38:11), but not a fatal one. But
combined with the Northern Alliance, this would be an overwhelming attack of
the land of Israel.
This major military conflict would
come before the unveiling of the anti-Christ and the beast. Satan will have us
ignorant and prideful man to do his bidding and use them to try and destroy
God’s people. The anti-Christ and the
beast will be revealed just after this large military campaign that God will
win for His people. Then we will have
the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the two witnesses, the seven bowls. The anti-Christ and the beast will team up
for the final battle at the end of the tribulation period. The final battle,
the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:16), will usher in the thousand year reign of
Christ upon the earth.
Before God’s entire plan for the
last days, God will catch away His saints upon the earth for the marriage
supper of the Lamb. God’s people have
suffered enough on this earth and in this life and He will see to it that His
people are caught up to be with Him.
Some have said that the rapture is mentioned in the fourth chapter of
Revelation. “After this I looked, and,
behold, a door was opened in heaven: and
the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me;
which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be
hereafter.”[3] But, this is a revelation of John’s vision;
this does in no way refer to all saints on the earth. It would be nice if it was but I do not see
it in the context. Just because John was
caught up to heaven does not mean that we will be caught up at the same time as
this vision is in the book of Revelation.
In Isaiah chapters eleven and twelve
we read Isaiah’s prophecy about the eventual return of the Jewish captives back
to Israel. This is actually a juxtaposition of the Jewish return to Israel and
the return of Jesus Christ to Israel to save His people and return as their
King. We can see this in the chapter.
“…and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath
of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”[4] Also, “The wolf also shall dwell with the
Lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young
lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”[5] This is clearly a scene in the future
Millennium Kingdom, not during the Tribulation period. As Isaiah painted a hopeful future for the
eventual returning Jews in Israel, he also was showing us our future in the
distant Millennium Kingdom.
So, Satan will try to use man to
destroy Israel in the beginning of the Tribulation period and will be defeated
by our Lord. At the end of the Tribulation period Satan will try again to
invade Israel and Jesus Christ will return in person to destroy the armies of Satan
and the world and usher in the Millennium Kingdom.
