Gog and Magog In Christianity 1

This post is long, but please take the time to read it all. Some of it you may know, some you may not, but considering the signs of the times, we can all use a reminder.


Both Islam and Christianity have a “Gog and Magog” in this post, I will explain what the Christian faith says about it. I will put up Islam’s Gog and Magog in the next post. There may be things that you think I have left out, trust me, I won’t leave anything out, just give me time to get everything in.


As we discussed yesterday, Ezekiel 36-37 predicts a gathering of the Jews to the nation of Israel, which will be followed by this massive invasion. For 19 centuries the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world, and until May 14, 1948 there was no nation of Israel to invade. With the nation of Israel now a reality, the stage seems set for the war that will usher in the tribulation and the rise of the Antichrist; a war that will end with the destruction of Israel’s enemies by God Himself, and lead to the signing of a peace treaty with the Antichrist.



* The rebirth of the State of Israel in the end times (both chapters)

* The return of the Jews to the Holy Land after centuries in exile (36:10-11, 36:24, 36:37-38, 37:12, 37:21)

* The rebuilding of the ancient ruins in Israel (36:36)

* The re-blossoming of desolate, desert lands to produce abundant food, fruit and foliage (36:8-9 and 36:30-35)

* The creation of an “exceedingly great army” (37:11)Such prophecies began to be fulfilled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, accelerated in 1948 and 1967, and continue to come to pass to this day.


This, of course, raises an intriguing question: If Ezekiel 36 and 37 have largely come true in our lifetime, isn’t it possible that Ezekiel 38 and 39 will soon come true as well??


Everyone should read Ezekiel chapters 38-39 in the Christian Bible, for a indept look at the Christian prophecy of Gog and Magog. Ezekiel 38 through 39 tells of a future invasion of Israel by a vast coalition of nations that surround it. I will post some of it here, but it would be too long to copy both chapters here. For those of you who are unfamiler with the Christian Bible, Ezekiel was a major prophet in the Old Testiment.

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 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: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with thee. Ezekiel 38:1-6


The NIV translation, of the same verse’s: The word of the Lord came to me; Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army - your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops - the many nations with you.’


What do those names mean/what country’s are they?? There are many theory’s, and I will be going over some of them here. I will also go over the main theory, or thought on who they are. Later (in future post), I will go over why it is important and what is going on in the world that points to it now.


Most of you know that Persia, is Iran, and what is the retoric going on by its President today (don’t jump the gun, I promise I will get to that). If you want me to go into more detail about why these names are the names below, just say the word and I will. But it may come later in the series as I want to get the main stuff out first.


* Gog is described as being “of the land of Magog” and as the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Most Bible scholars believe Gog is not a name but a title, like Pharoah or Czar. He is a dictator who will hatch an “evil plan” (38:10).


* Magog = Leading Bible scholars say this is Russia and republics of the former Soviet Union. The first century Roman historian Josephus said the “Magogites” were the peoples whom the Greeks called “Scythians.” Scythians were a fierce, blood-thirsty civilization that settled north of the Baltic Sea in what is now Russia and the European republics of the former USSR.


* Rosh = Russia* Meshech = Some Bible scholars say this is Moscow, others believe it refers to Turkey


* Tubal = Some Bible scholars say this refers to the city/region of Tobolsk in Russia along the Tobol River;
others say it refers to a section of modern-day Turkey. (Interestingly, in 1964, massive reserves of oil and gas were discovered in the Tobolsk region of Siberia and people now refer to the region as the “energy center of Russia.”)


* Persia = This was the official name of Iran until 1935


* Cush = Sudan and Ethiopia


* Put = Libya, and possibly Algeria and Tunisia


* Gomer = Turkey, but also possibly Germany and Austria


* Beth-togarmah = Armenia and the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia


* “Many peoples with you” who will attack along “the mountains of Israel” =


Other countries will be involved in the coalition as well, notably countries that border the mountains of Israel. This includes Lebanon, Syria and possibly Jordan.


Before puting these names off countries up, I researched it out and found that this was the overwhelming view, though there are some who disagree on one or more of the countries involved. I may get into that, given time, but right now I want to stick to the basic’s.


WHAT


Gogs Plan


38:7 Gog will build a military coalition and be prepared” to strike38:8 Gog will deploy the coalition against Israel39:9 Gog will use overwhelming force against Israel; he and his coalition will come like a storm….like a cloud covering the land


Gods Plan


38:2 The Lord God will bring judgment upon the enemies of Israel, beginning with Gog, the dictator of Russia

38:20 The Lord will trigger a massive earthquake in which all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence

38:21 The Lord will turn Gogs forces against one another

38:22 The Lord will subject Gogs coalition forces to:

* pestilence

* blood

* torrential rains

* hailstones

* fire from heaven

39:6 The Lord will send fire upon Magog itself and others

39:9 Israel will capture her enemies weapons and burn them for 7 years

39:12 It will taken 7 full months to bury all the bodies of Israel’s slain enemies

39:17-20 Birds and beast will feast on the bodies of Israel’s slain enemies


WHEN


38:8 Israel will be a country again and Jews will be regathered to the Holy Land

38:11, 14 My people Israel are living securely before the “War of Gog and Magog”

38:12-13 Israel will have economic prosperity

38:16 It will come about in the last days (before the return of Christ)


WHY


39:21 I shall set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment

39:22 the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God

39:29 I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel


These events will not only be a judgment of Israel’s enemies in keeping with Genesis 12:1-3, in which God says those who bless Israel


He will bless, and those who curse Israel He will curse. The events will also be the beginning of a great spiritual awakening. God will literally and metaphorically shake people out of spiritual apathy and lethargy to realize there is a God in heaven. He will also shake people who are following false religions and turn them to Himself. Moreover, He will shake those who are followers of Christ but not serious about their faith. It should be noted that ours is the first generation in human history in which all the nations on earth will be able to watch the “War of Gog and Magog” unfold because of the emergence of television and satellite technology.** Note: All verses are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB)


Verse 8 proclaims that these nations will “invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate.” The land that is invaded can only appear to be Israel, a nation whose people have been gathering from all over the world for 50 years.


God has intended this invasion however. In vs. 16 he declares, “In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy though you before their eyes.” Verses 17-23 describe the exact catastrophes that will befall the invading nations. They are supernaturally destroyed and no harm is done to Israel. God will not let his people be harmed. The miraculous Six Day War of 1967 should have taught everyone that, but the world has turned a blind eye.


Ezekiel 39:9 begins the description of the aftermath. It is gruesome but also amazing in its detail when looked at in comparison to today. “Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up – the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. This statement is remarkable for two reasons.


First is the nature of the weapons. In the time that Ezekiel wrote this, burning weapons made perfect sense because they were made of wood. What of today’s weapons however? How do you burn warplanes and other metals? Amazingly, Russia has been using Lignostone in the production of its weapons. Lignostone “is a special kind of wood used for ‘coke breakers.’ It is stronger than steel, is very elastic… and it burns better than coal.” (90 LaHaye Are We Living in the End Times?) You can read more about Lignostone on its website at http://www.lignostone.com/.


The second important part of this passage is the fact that it will take seven years to burn all the weapons. The tribulation will be seven years, so this gives us some sort of timeline with which to place this event. This event would either have to come at the very beginning of the tribulation or before to allow seven full years.


However, this event cannot happen at the beginning of the tribulation because the tribulation begins with the antichrist signing a peace treaty with Israel. This treaty is not going to immediately be broken with this battle. It won’t be until 3 ½ years that the treaty is broken.
This means that this battle occurs before the tribulation. While it is purely speculation on my part, I believe that this is the final straw that leaves everyone crying out for peace and the perfect setting for the antichrist to step in and give it to the nations.


Chapter 39 continues with the clean up of these armies that are supernaturally destroyed. Verse 12 says that for seven months people will work nonstop to cleanse the land. This isn’t hard to imagine after seeing the devastation caused by the destruction of the World Trade Center. The cleanup took longer than half a year with crews working around the clock and the best equipment available. Imagine such destruction spread over forty miles, or an area the size of New Jersey .


Even after the seven month period, there will be people employed full time in cleaning up the land. Every bone will be marked and carried to the Valley of Hamon Gog, a mass grave for all the invaders. The name simply means hordes of Gog.


The reason for all of this destruction is for God to be glorified. In verses 21-22 he says, “I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God.”


After these events, the Israelites return to their native land in force. Verse 25, “The Sovereign Lord says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name.”


Even in such destruction, God has a purpose. The nations will fear Him and Israel will return to Him and their homeland. All of this could happen soon. The world situation is one where any number of Middle Eastern nations could easily lead a coalition against Israel . Israel has nothing to fear from their enemies though, because they are protected by the Lord of Hosts.


So the main thing we see here is that several nations will come against Israel and when they do, God will defend Israel. Pretty powerful stuff when you think about it. We have covered the who, what and where, but we will cover much, much, more in coming posts.


There is another mention of Gog and Magog in Revelations, which is the battle of Armageddon. I don’t believe it is ‘that’ battle, many scholars feel the same way. I totally agree with the above statement, I think that the war of Gog and Magog will cause people to be fed up, I think it will be at this time that we will see the 7 year treaty with Israel. I will get into this in more detail later. By understanding the pre-tribulation stuff, you will be able to identify what is playing out around you. We will also go over the ‘Rapture’, I know that not all Christians believe in the Rapture, but I will go over it anyway. That way, should it occur, everyone will know what it is/was.


There is more on this subject that I will be getting to, as I have already said. We will also go over the Gog and Magog in Islam, or, Yajuj wa Ma’juj. There is so much information, and how to write it, and keep it is some kind of order is difficult. I want to encourage you to let me know if there are things you want me to go over in more detail, but also keep in mind that I have left some stuff out on purpose and will address later.



http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/2005/05/war-of-gog-and-magog-understanding.html



http://www.spreadinglight.com/prophecy/gog.html