Is The Ezek 38-39 War And Gog-Magog War The Same Or Different?
Question: Ezek 38-39 and Gog-Magog war are not one and the same. The very fact is that after the Gog's war in Rev 20 it goes on to The Great White Throne judgement and then the New Heaven and the New Earth.
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Ezekiel 39:11-16 talks about burial grounds and burying for 7 yrs. There won't be a burial ground in the New Heaven and New Earth.
This talks about Burial for 7 months.
Ezekiel 39
"11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. 14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. 16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land." (Ezek 39:11-16).
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Again Ezekiel war talks about using Gog's weapon and burning them like wood and not gathering any for 7 YEARS.
Ezekiel 39
"9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: 10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD." (Ezek 39:9-10).
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Ezekiel 39:2 says in KJV that 1/6th the army goes back.
"And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel."
In Rev 20:9b it says fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
That means NO SURVIOURS.
I can go on ad nauseam. We need to be careful when we divide the Word brother Abraham Israel. Like some say that there is no difference between Rapture and Second Coming, yet there is a huge difference.
If you compare Ezekiel 38-39 with Rev. 20:7-10 you’ll find they are not the same. Here are some examples. First, in Ezekiel 38 the attacking armies come primarily from the North and consist of several Middle Eastern nations. In Rev. 20 they come from all over the earth. Satan is not mentioned in Ezekiel 38 but is the commanding general in Rev. 20. God uses Ezekiel 38 to bring Israel back to Him (Ezekiel 39:22). In Rev. 20 Israel has been faithful to Him for 1,000 years. In Ezekiel 38 the dead are buried. In Rev. 20 they are devoured by fire. The chronology of Ezekiel places Ezekiel 38-39 before his description of the Millennium. The chronology of Rev. 20 places that battle at the end of the millennium.
Some scholars believe the use of the same names in both passages is to show that the people in Rev.20 have the same motivation as the ones in Ezekiel 38, the destruction of God’s people. Other than that, the two accounts are entirely different.
That means prince of Gog is the same as the Beast of the Revelation?
For a start, the Beast/Antichrist will come from EU and NOT Russia. Moreover you have not answered my question of 7 months of burying dead bodies and 7 yrs of burning wood.
People are confused about it and you are confusing them more. It is two separate wars and end of story.
Ezekiel war says specifically the nations Involved, Armageddon will be the whole world per se?
I am sorry I can't buy your theory. They are not the same. The Russian invasion/Ezekiel war has to take place before Antichrist comes on the world stage, so that EU can become the Last World Empire.
Since we can't agree on this, let us leave it at this.
Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name!
You said, 'There are two Gog-Magog Wars--One prior to the Seven Years Tribulation and the other at the end of the Millennium Reign of Christ.'
I stand on the same wave length regarding Ezek 38-39 as Pre-Millennial, but only I differ and say that it happens at the time of Second Coming rather than before the Daniel's 70th week (Dan 9:24, 26-27).
Armageddon happens at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ our Lord to the earth to rule for a thousand years time, the last war mentioned in Rev 20:8 is not the same like I explained in the first Gog-Magog war that happens at the time of the Second Coming which is waged by Satan against God through Antichrist. The second Gog-Magog war happens at the end of the Millennium rule of Jesus, and Satan at that time will use all the unsaved people of the earth to come against "the camp of the saints" living at that time and "the beloved city" of Jerusalem from where God and His living saints will be connected to all the believers all around the earth more closely than ever (Rev 20:8-9). So do not mix the two and get confused. I have given 50 reasons why Ezek 38-39 war to be one and the same Armageddon war that happens at the time of Jesus' Second Coming, if you can't believe then it is up to you. But dividing the Word of God, I have done by revelation (2 Tim 2:15).
What about the 7 months of Burial of dead bodies and Gog's weapons being burned like wood and not gathering wood for 7 YEARS of their existence as a nation?
Ezekiel 39:9 describes Israel burning the invading enemies weapons for seven years. Because the Gog-Magog battle will take place after the end of the Great Tribulation (Matt 24:29), the enemies weapons will be burned for 7 years in to the Millennium. At that time Messiah of Israel would be present in Israel to protect it and to judge the nations of the world. This is the reason the nation of Israel will not want to take and store the weapons as booty or spoils for future wars, but instead would choose to burn the weapons completely. This also reveals their confidence in their real Messiah Jesus Christ who will have by then saved them from the terrible and brutal clutches of the Assyrian Antichrist in this final war of Armageddon.
The next thing is, even though Jesus will provide to everyone’s needs, the curse will be partially lifted (Is 11:6-10), and the earth also will be reformatted by earth quakes (Rev 6:12-14; 16:17-21), still as the Bible says Jesus will come and only help to raise up the tabernacle of David, repair its damages, raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16-17). It took many years as the history says to rebuild the tabernacle of David which was fully completed by Solomon (John 2:20; 1 Chron 16:1; 17:5-14; 29:1-9; 2 Chron 6:5-11; 7:1-11). Jesus did not promise a new temple for the Millennium pre-built in heaven, lowered and refitted on earth like the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev 21:1-3). In this way burning the weapons in the millennium is part of the work to rebuild the Millennium temple through the surviving saints of the Great Tribulation who will be in their natural bodies. These saints who will have survived and have come out of Great Tribulation will be allowed to live on earth in the Millennium to procreate and multiply the earth. Thus because the Messiah will rule the world with an iron rod, all the nations of the earth and Israel especially will destroy all their weapons completely trusting the supernatural power of the Messiah to protect them from any harm (Joel 3:16). This massive de-weaponisation program around the world will be implemented without fail by the Messiah (Isaiah 2:2-4; Rev 19:15; Isaiah 11:4).
What about the 1/6th the army goes back?
When you say, Ezekiel 39:2 says in KJV that "1/6th the army goes back" by pointing to the verse which says in this translation, "And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel."
I can say that the 1611 first archaical words of Ezek 39:2 has not been accurately translated in its original context, it should be read like in proper place as translated by NKJV New King James Version which gives it a proper perspective by saying, "And I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel," which shows that it does not speak about any survivors of the war but rather about the event as a significant one of the end time Armageddon in which the northern army which is not a Russian one in its entirety but with a majority from Russia too that will be part of the (REU) Roman Europe Union coalition under Antichrist which will invade the mountains of Israel before the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to this present earth. If you take a map of the world and see what is to the north of Jerusalem the heart beat of the end time events, it will be European Union rather than Russia which will only be a part of it at that time of the end. Russia which now acts as a nemesis for European disintegration and division will suddenly at that time of the end will become a part of it because of its catholic tradition of orthodoxy which is closer to its European root rather than communistic China or pantheistic Hinduism of India which will be the Kings from the east by raising its profile to new heights through its prominence through a world war 3 before the time of the end comes according to the prophecies given by the apostles and Jesus himself (Rev 16:12; 9:13-21; Matt 24:26-28).
So according to the prophecy from apostle John which is the last word from Jesus Christ, we see that those who die by the sword of the word of the mouth of Jesus will be a 100% at this time of Armageddon after the beast and the false prophet were first cast alive in to the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev 19:19-20; Eph 6:17). In other words, just like it is foretold in Ezek 38-39, the invading armies of Antichrist will be burnt supernaturally by the fire of brimstone's coming out of heaven through the command of Jesus, and will die on the spot to be taken in to Sheol the prison for the unsaved through angels of fire (Ezek 38:22-23; Psa 103:20; 104:4; Luke 16:22-23).
Even in Rev 20:9b it says fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them, because originally the second war of Gog-Magog will be the time when Satan who has been on rebellion against God and imprisoned for thousand years time will be released at that time for a very short time period through which he will cause a soulish rebellion in humans which will forever be annihilated through God's final judgment upon the sinful earth, God will destroy this present earth by burning everything in it through fire, so that all things material will become a vapor and in to non-existence except that which eternally cannot be shaken which are saved saints who lived through the Millennial rulership of Jesus (Heb 12:25-26, 27-28, 29). This time Satan will be judged forever by the saints before the White Throne Judgment of Christ will start and therefore will be thrown in to the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever (1 Cor 6:2-3; Rev 20:7-10). Hallelujah!
You need to understand that I am the one who brings out always the main difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ to convince people from the Scripture that both are not the same and that Rapture can take place any time after Mid-Point but before Great Tribulation begins through Antichrist.
If you compare Ezekiel 38-39 with Rev. 20:7-10 you’ll find they are not the same, because I did not speak about the post-Millennial second Gog-Magog invasion but rather the pre-Millennial first Gog-Magog invasion which is also knows as Armageddon at the time of Jesus' Second Coming to this present earth.
There are more clear and Scriptural support for Ezek 38-39 being Armageddon and the last war before the Millennial reign of Jesus, than the evidences against it.
When you say, "First, in Ezekiel 38 the attacking armies come primarily from the North and consist of several Middle Eastern nations. In Rev. 20 they come from all over the earth", you are missing on the main point of note, which is, the war of Gog and Magog is not the war waged against individuals or even nations, it is the war of God towards Satan to prove that he is the initiator of rebellion in the heart of all people all over the world (Rev 20:1-3, 7-10), that is why Satan fights along with Antichrist and False Prophet as counterfeit Trinity to reveal his power against Jesus and his saints who are the true Trinity of God who will reveal the true Power of God which is what is the true essence of Armageddon will be (Rev 16:12-16; John 17:23; 14:23). The war which starts with the first war of Armageddon in the pre-Millennial rule of Jesus to prove to the world that Satan is the instigator of rebellion in the unsaved hearts of people, will only end at the time of post-Millennial rule of Jesus in which it will be proved to perfection through the act of releasing Satan from his Millennial prison to unleash him to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, to once again gather together the sinful man whose number will be as the sand of the sea, to come out and battle against God in open rebellion despite enjoying years of the life of God's goodness on earth during the Millennial rule of Jesus.
Satan is not mentioned in Ezekiel 38 but is the commanding general in Rev. 20, in the same way Satan is not mentioned by name in Isa 14:12-21 and Ezek 28:1-19, but yet in the light of Rev 12:1-17 that the New Testament sheds, we come to know that those passages have in the past have spoken by imagery what has happened to Satan [(i.e.) who acted as the Lucifer - 'son of the morning'] and his angels who sided with him in rebellion against God to form a rebel group of darkness to hide themselves from the light of God's truth and Sovereign power and authority, and thus use it to fulfill their own agenda of pride and the plan of their evil leader. What do we learn from it? Old Testament message is the New Testament message hidden in a imagery, New Testament message from Jesus and his apostles is the Old Testament revealed and explained further to the full extent of our understanding for the Glory of God.
Yes God uses Ezekiel 38 to bring Israel back to Him, but we see that only at the time of Armageddon they look to his nailed hands and accept Him in repentance as their Savior who had died for them already to save them from sin and death which points Ezek 38 to be the same event of the final day of Armageddon (Zech 12:9-10-11; Ezekiel 39:22). In Rev. 20 Israel has been faithful to Him for 1,000 years which points to the work of the Spirit once given through grace of the Lord Jesus, sustains these Israelite's faithfully to follow the Lord Jesus Christ their Messiah who saved them from annihilation of the entire nation of Israel by Antichrist and his troops.
In Ezekiel 38 the dead are buried who have died by fire burnt partially or died by burn wounds and left as an example to people who see it so that they may fear the Lord and walk in submission to the Lord like in the days when Korah and his rebellious group became a sign to their times and the end time of how the Lord will make the rebellious die when they rebel against the authority of the Lord Jesus on earth (Num 26:10; 16:31-33; Rev 19:19-21). In Rev. 20 they are devoured by fire and burnt completely to become vapor as the whole earth will become in to that vaporous state (2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev 20:9-10).
The chronology of Ezekiel places Ezekiel 38-39 before his description of the Millennium. The chronology of Rev. 20 places that battle at the end of the millennium.
Not only what some scholars believe as the use of the same names in both passages is to show that the people in Rev.20 have the same motivation as the ones in Ezekiel 38 and the war is waged against the destruction of God’s people in both cases, are true and match exactly, moreover the two accounts are not entirely different but rather superficially different and essentially the same which starts at the beginning of the Millennial rule of Jesus in the first war of Gog-Magog described in Ezek 38-39 [i.e. Armageddon] and ends only in the second Gog-Magog war of Rev 20 when His Millennial rule gets over. In between the Lord will rule the world with a rod of Iron and the enemy Satan who sows rebellious seeds in the heart of unsaved men to cause rebellion against God and the work of His Kingdom will be imprisoned and kept in prison for a thousand years time (Matt 13:38-40, 41-42; Rev 2:27; 19:15; Psa 2:8-9;110:6; Isa 2:4).
The leaders of the invasion in both the Gog-Magog and Armageddon battle are the same. Gog is the prince and ruler of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal (Ezek 38:3). The Antichrist is clearly described in the Book of Daniel as “the people of the prince who is to come” (Dan 9:26). Also He is clearly described as the horn before which three horns fell (Dan 7:20). The meaning of the preceding verse is “….He [i.e. the Antichrist] shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.” (Dan 7:24). In other words the prince of Gog who is the Antichrist will bring the three kings of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal under his control and will subdue them. Seeing this, the whole world will give their power over to Antichrist to form a one world government with a one world religion intertwined within it (Ezek 38:3; Rev 17:12-13). The invading leader in both Armageddon and Ezek 38-39 is the same beast Antichrist who will have a worldwide control over the whole earth. It is clearly a known fact that the Antichrist who is also called as the prince of Gog will be possessed by Satan the Dragon (Rev 13:2). This is the reason the verse in Ezekiel 38:10 says, “thoughts will arise in your mind…you will make evil plans”. In other words, just like Satan entered Judas to fulfill the purpose of God, so will be at the end time with Antichrist (John 13:27). Satan will fulfill all his wishes through the body of Antichrist before he will be locked in prison for a Millennium (Rev 20:2).
I am not confusing anybody, in fact, you did not understand and were confused about it because you did not grasp the fact that it was two separate wars and I was speaking about the resemblance and exact match of Armageddon to Ezek 38-39 rather than to Rev 20 second war of Gog-Magog which is unique in every way as you also say, it is the end of the story of humankind on this present earth, and only the new creations in the new heavens and new earth will then continue under the goodness of God and His Presence among them forever and ever after this second and final war of Gog-Magog of Rev 20 on this present old earth (Rev 21-22).
Ezekiel says that the nation of Israel will be seven months burying the dead and seven years burning the weapons. This obviously can't happen during the Tribulation time within the 2nd half of the Daniel's Seventieth Week in which everything else like the Two Prophets prophesying wrath on Antichrist and his ways that will be going on. Weapons of war will only be burned after Christ returns and once the nation of Israel lives in perfect peace under the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ. Once only when no Antichrist and False Prophet is in physical sight and Satan no longer is in the spiritual sight of humans, the weapons of war are no longer necessary. And that will only happen after the start of the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ over all the earth from Jerusalem the city of God. And, it won't just be Israel that burns weapons of war. In the beginning of the Lord's Millennial Reign we will see the fulfillment of Micah 4:3, "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." In other words, all the nations of the world including Israel will be implementing the most massive and permanent disarmament program in history.
Ezekiel 39:9 describes Israel burning the invading enemies weapons for seven years. Because the Gog-Magog battle will take place after the end of the Great Tribulation, the enemies weapons will be burned for 7 years in to the Millennium. At that time Messiah of Israel would be present in Israel to protect it and to judge the nations of the world. This is the reason the nation of Israel will not want to take and store the weapons as booty or spoils for future wars, but instead would choose to burn the weapons completely. This also reveals their confidence in their real Messiah Jesus Christ who will have by then saved them from the terrible and brutal clutches of the Assyrian Antichrist in this final war of Armageddon.
The next thing is, even though Jesus will provide to everyone’s needs, the curse will be partially lifted (Is 11:6-10), and the earth also will be reformatted by earth quakes (Rev 6:12-14; 16:17-21), still as the Bible says Jesus will come and only help to raise up the tabernacle of David, repair its damages, raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16-17). It took many years as the history says to rebuild the tabernacle of David which was fully completed by Solomon (John 2:20; 1 Chron 16:1; 17:5-14; 29:1-9; 2 Chron 6:5-11; 7:1-11). Jesus did not promise a new temple for the Millennium pre-built in heaven, lowered and refitted on earth like the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev 21:1-3). In this way burning the weapons in the millennium is part of the work to rebuild the Millennium temple to establish peace and security through the surviving saints of the Great Tribulation who will be in their natural bodies. These saints who will have survived and have come out of Great Tribulation will be allowed to live on earth in the Millennium to procreate and multiply the earth. Thus because the Messiah will rule the world with an iron rod, all the nations of the earth and Israel especially will destroy all their weapons completely trusting the supernatural power of the Messiah to protect them from any harm (Joel 3:16). This massive de-weaponisation program around the world will be implemented without fail by the Messiah (Isaiah 2:2-4; Rev 19:15; Isaiah 11:4).
When you say, 'Ezekiel war says specifically the nations Involved, Armageddon will be the whole world per se?', to that my answer is:
The invaders in to the nation of Israel in both the Armageddon and Gog-Magog battle are a global coalition of nations with their one world powerful charismatic leader Antichrist leading them (Ezek 38:11; Rev 19:19). Not realizing that the Messiah of Israel will come to defend the people who fear Him in Israel, the kings of the earth will come to completely destroy the nation of Israel. The army under Antichrist will openly declare a war cry against the Messiah of Israel to come and fight to rescue the nation of Israel, if its Messiah is truly God Almighty (Rev 13:4, 6-10; 17:12-14; 19:19; 6:15-17). Thus unexpectedly they will see Christ and His armies of saints from heaven supernaturally come and fight for Israel (Rev 19:11-21). As a result of this final war, the nation of Israel will be protected from annihilation. Jerusalem will become the capital city of its Messiah Jesus Christ. From the city of Jerusalem the Great King and the Messiah of the world will rule the nations for a Millennium (Matt 5:35). Praise the Lord!
We see only the Antichrist and false prophet being cast alive in judgment "in to the lake of fire burning with brimstone", then those armies that followed him and the people who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image were struck with "the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him [i.e. Jesus Christ] who sat on the horse", which will make them die in the battle of Armageddon with 5th and 6th degree fire burns (Rev 19:20-21). Then the unsaved people in all the world will be separated by Jesus Christ during the 'Judgment of nations' as goats and will be judged by their works to be sent to everlasting punishment to be condemned eternally on the day of White Throne Judgment of Christ (Matt 25:31-46; Rev 20:11-15). Those who enter physically on earth from all the nations around the world in to the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ over the world will only be believers who are represented as sheep's.
We see a lot of nations who had power to resist the force of Antichrist by joining in with an opposite coalition of most likely United States and its allies, not joining the camp of Antichrist coalition, some initially and some even to the end against him at the time of the end (Dan 11:44, 45), Kings of the east will only support his cause at the very end, that is, only during Armageddon as they too will become rebellious against heaven's control over them as sovereign nations and will want to sever God's Kingdom control over their individual national status to join the global coalition (Rev 16:12-16). So Ezekiel war is not a list of all the nations assembled as a global army but rather the main list of nations that will support the cause of Antichrist voluntarily initially, and along with them "many peoples" (Ezek 38:9) will join some by force of submission and others by deceit of Antichrist as the only alternative to a global cause of safety and peace (Ezek 38:38:1-9; 1 Thess 5:3-6; 2 Thess 2:8-12). We know that a traditional Christian north of Russia which has in the past has a bent towards communism, and a godless and a pantheistic east of China and India will trouble him because of holding great prosperity and power during the time of the end. Only before Armageddon they will all join hands together for a global cause of 'safety and security' to stop aliens from taking over the earth according to their godless explanation to the world which will be deceived by such talk.
Thus the Russian invasion is not separate from Ezekiel's 38-39 war but rather they are one and the same, and does not have to take place before Antichrist comes on the world stage, but rather the (EU) European Union can become the Last World Empire after which the powerful nations of the world will join the bandwagon and march towards the first Gog-Magog war of Armageddon against Christ and his armies of heaven.
Much Blessings....
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Ezekiel 39:11-16 talks about burial grounds and burying for 7 yrs. There won't be a burial ground in the New Heaven and New Earth.
This talks about Burial for 7 months.
Ezekiel 39
"11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. 14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. 16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land." (Ezek 39:11-16).
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Again Ezekiel war talks about using Gog's weapon and burning them like wood and not gathering any for 7 YEARS.
Ezekiel 39
"9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: 10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD." (Ezek 39:9-10).
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Ezekiel 39:2 says in KJV that 1/6th the army goes back.
"And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel."
In Rev 20:9b it says fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
That means NO SURVIOURS.
I can go on ad nauseam. We need to be careful when we divide the Word brother Abraham Israel. Like some say that there is no difference between Rapture and Second Coming, yet there is a huge difference.
If you compare Ezekiel 38-39 with Rev. 20:7-10 you’ll find they are not the same. Here are some examples. First, in Ezekiel 38 the attacking armies come primarily from the North and consist of several Middle Eastern nations. In Rev. 20 they come from all over the earth. Satan is not mentioned in Ezekiel 38 but is the commanding general in Rev. 20. God uses Ezekiel 38 to bring Israel back to Him (Ezekiel 39:22). In Rev. 20 Israel has been faithful to Him for 1,000 years. In Ezekiel 38 the dead are buried. In Rev. 20 they are devoured by fire. The chronology of Ezekiel places Ezekiel 38-39 before his description of the Millennium. The chronology of Rev. 20 places that battle at the end of the millennium.
Some scholars believe the use of the same names in both passages is to show that the people in Rev.20 have the same motivation as the ones in Ezekiel 38, the destruction of God’s people. Other than that, the two accounts are entirely different.
That means prince of Gog is the same as the Beast of the Revelation?
For a start, the Beast/Antichrist will come from EU and NOT Russia. Moreover you have not answered my question of 7 months of burying dead bodies and 7 yrs of burning wood.
People are confused about it and you are confusing them more. It is two separate wars and end of story.
Ezekiel war says specifically the nations Involved, Armageddon will be the whole world per se?
I am sorry I can't buy your theory. They are not the same. The Russian invasion/Ezekiel war has to take place before Antichrist comes on the world stage, so that EU can become the Last World Empire.
Since we can't agree on this, let us leave it at this.
Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name!
You said, 'There are two Gog-Magog Wars--One prior to the Seven Years Tribulation and the other at the end of the Millennium Reign of Christ.'
I stand on the same wave length regarding Ezek 38-39 as Pre-Millennial, but only I differ and say that it happens at the time of Second Coming rather than before the Daniel's 70th week (Dan 9:24, 26-27).
Armageddon happens at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ our Lord to the earth to rule for a thousand years time, the last war mentioned in Rev 20:8 is not the same like I explained in the first Gog-Magog war that happens at the time of the Second Coming which is waged by Satan against God through Antichrist. The second Gog-Magog war happens at the end of the Millennium rule of Jesus, and Satan at that time will use all the unsaved people of the earth to come against "the camp of the saints" living at that time and "the beloved city" of Jerusalem from where God and His living saints will be connected to all the believers all around the earth more closely than ever (Rev 20:8-9). So do not mix the two and get confused. I have given 50 reasons why Ezek 38-39 war to be one and the same Armageddon war that happens at the time of Jesus' Second Coming, if you can't believe then it is up to you. But dividing the Word of God, I have done by revelation (2 Tim 2:15).
What About Burial Of Dead Bodies And Burning Of Weapons In To Millennial Rule Of Jesus?
What about the 7 months of Burial of dead bodies and Gog's weapons being burned like wood and not gathering wood for 7 YEARS of their existence as a nation?
Ezekiel 39:9 describes Israel burning the invading enemies weapons for seven years. Because the Gog-Magog battle will take place after the end of the Great Tribulation (Matt 24:29), the enemies weapons will be burned for 7 years in to the Millennium. At that time Messiah of Israel would be present in Israel to protect it and to judge the nations of the world. This is the reason the nation of Israel will not want to take and store the weapons as booty or spoils for future wars, but instead would choose to burn the weapons completely. This also reveals their confidence in their real Messiah Jesus Christ who will have by then saved them from the terrible and brutal clutches of the Assyrian Antichrist in this final war of Armageddon.
The next thing is, even though Jesus will provide to everyone’s needs, the curse will be partially lifted (Is 11:6-10), and the earth also will be reformatted by earth quakes (Rev 6:12-14; 16:17-21), still as the Bible says Jesus will come and only help to raise up the tabernacle of David, repair its damages, raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16-17). It took many years as the history says to rebuild the tabernacle of David which was fully completed by Solomon (John 2:20; 1 Chron 16:1; 17:5-14; 29:1-9; 2 Chron 6:5-11; 7:1-11). Jesus did not promise a new temple for the Millennium pre-built in heaven, lowered and refitted on earth like the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev 21:1-3). In this way burning the weapons in the millennium is part of the work to rebuild the Millennium temple through the surviving saints of the Great Tribulation who will be in their natural bodies. These saints who will have survived and have come out of Great Tribulation will be allowed to live on earth in the Millennium to procreate and multiply the earth. Thus because the Messiah will rule the world with an iron rod, all the nations of the earth and Israel especially will destroy all their weapons completely trusting the supernatural power of the Messiah to protect them from any harm (Joel 3:16). This massive de-weaponisation program around the world will be implemented without fail by the Messiah (Isaiah 2:2-4; Rev 19:15; Isaiah 11:4).
Will There Be Survivors Of The Invading Army Left?
What about the 1/6th the army goes back?
When you say, Ezekiel 39:2 says in KJV that "1/6th the army goes back" by pointing to the verse which says in this translation, "And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel."
I can say that the 1611 first archaical words of Ezek 39:2 has not been accurately translated in its original context, it should be read like in proper place as translated by NKJV New King James Version which gives it a proper perspective by saying, "And I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel," which shows that it does not speak about any survivors of the war but rather about the event as a significant one of the end time Armageddon in which the northern army which is not a Russian one in its entirety but with a majority from Russia too that will be part of the (REU) Roman Europe Union coalition under Antichrist which will invade the mountains of Israel before the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to this present earth. If you take a map of the world and see what is to the north of Jerusalem the heart beat of the end time events, it will be European Union rather than Russia which will only be a part of it at that time of the end. Russia which now acts as a nemesis for European disintegration and division will suddenly at that time of the end will become a part of it because of its catholic tradition of orthodoxy which is closer to its European root rather than communistic China or pantheistic Hinduism of India which will be the Kings from the east by raising its profile to new heights through its prominence through a world war 3 before the time of the end comes according to the prophecies given by the apostles and Jesus himself (Rev 16:12; 9:13-21; Matt 24:26-28).
So according to the prophecy from apostle John which is the last word from Jesus Christ, we see that those who die by the sword of the word of the mouth of Jesus will be a 100% at this time of Armageddon after the beast and the false prophet were first cast alive in to the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Rev 19:19-20; Eph 6:17). In other words, just like it is foretold in Ezek 38-39, the invading armies of Antichrist will be burnt supernaturally by the fire of brimstone's coming out of heaven through the command of Jesus, and will die on the spot to be taken in to Sheol the prison for the unsaved through angels of fire (Ezek 38:22-23; Psa 103:20; 104:4; Luke 16:22-23).
Even in Rev 20:9b it says fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them, because originally the second war of Gog-Magog will be the time when Satan who has been on rebellion against God and imprisoned for thousand years time will be released at that time for a very short time period through which he will cause a soulish rebellion in humans which will forever be annihilated through God's final judgment upon the sinful earth, God will destroy this present earth by burning everything in it through fire, so that all things material will become a vapor and in to non-existence except that which eternally cannot be shaken which are saved saints who lived through the Millennial rulership of Jesus (Heb 12:25-26, 27-28, 29). This time Satan will be judged forever by the saints before the White Throne Judgment of Christ will start and therefore will be thrown in to the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever (1 Cor 6:2-3; Rev 20:7-10). Hallelujah!
You need to understand that I am the one who brings out always the main difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ to convince people from the Scripture that both are not the same and that Rapture can take place any time after Mid-Point but before Great Tribulation begins through Antichrist.
What Are The Evidence Against Ezek 38-39 Not Being Armageddon?
If you compare Ezekiel 38-39 with Rev. 20:7-10 you’ll find they are not the same, because I did not speak about the post-Millennial second Gog-Magog invasion but rather the pre-Millennial first Gog-Magog invasion which is also knows as Armageddon at the time of Jesus' Second Coming to this present earth.
There are more clear and Scriptural support for Ezek 38-39 being Armageddon and the last war before the Millennial reign of Jesus, than the evidences against it.
When you say, "First, in Ezekiel 38 the attacking armies come primarily from the North and consist of several Middle Eastern nations. In Rev. 20 they come from all over the earth", you are missing on the main point of note, which is, the war of Gog and Magog is not the war waged against individuals or even nations, it is the war of God towards Satan to prove that he is the initiator of rebellion in the heart of all people all over the world (Rev 20:1-3, 7-10), that is why Satan fights along with Antichrist and False Prophet as counterfeit Trinity to reveal his power against Jesus and his saints who are the true Trinity of God who will reveal the true Power of God which is what is the true essence of Armageddon will be (Rev 16:12-16; John 17:23; 14:23). The war which starts with the first war of Armageddon in the pre-Millennial rule of Jesus to prove to the world that Satan is the instigator of rebellion in the unsaved hearts of people, will only end at the time of post-Millennial rule of Jesus in which it will be proved to perfection through the act of releasing Satan from his Millennial prison to unleash him to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, to once again gather together the sinful man whose number will be as the sand of the sea, to come out and battle against God in open rebellion despite enjoying years of the life of God's goodness on earth during the Millennial rule of Jesus.
Satan is not mentioned in Ezekiel 38 but is the commanding general in Rev. 20, in the same way Satan is not mentioned by name in Isa 14:12-21 and Ezek 28:1-19, but yet in the light of Rev 12:1-17 that the New Testament sheds, we come to know that those passages have in the past have spoken by imagery what has happened to Satan [(i.e.) who acted as the Lucifer - 'son of the morning'] and his angels who sided with him in rebellion against God to form a rebel group of darkness to hide themselves from the light of God's truth and Sovereign power and authority, and thus use it to fulfill their own agenda of pride and the plan of their evil leader. What do we learn from it? Old Testament message is the New Testament message hidden in a imagery, New Testament message from Jesus and his apostles is the Old Testament revealed and explained further to the full extent of our understanding for the Glory of God.
Yes God uses Ezekiel 38 to bring Israel back to Him, but we see that only at the time of Armageddon they look to his nailed hands and accept Him in repentance as their Savior who had died for them already to save them from sin and death which points Ezek 38 to be the same event of the final day of Armageddon (Zech 12:9-10-11; Ezekiel 39:22). In Rev. 20 Israel has been faithful to Him for 1,000 years which points to the work of the Spirit once given through grace of the Lord Jesus, sustains these Israelite's faithfully to follow the Lord Jesus Christ their Messiah who saved them from annihilation of the entire nation of Israel by Antichrist and his troops.
In Ezekiel 38 the dead are buried who have died by fire burnt partially or died by burn wounds and left as an example to people who see it so that they may fear the Lord and walk in submission to the Lord like in the days when Korah and his rebellious group became a sign to their times and the end time of how the Lord will make the rebellious die when they rebel against the authority of the Lord Jesus on earth (Num 26:10; 16:31-33; Rev 19:19-21). In Rev. 20 they are devoured by fire and burnt completely to become vapor as the whole earth will become in to that vaporous state (2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev 20:9-10).
The chronology of Ezekiel places Ezekiel 38-39 before his description of the Millennium. The chronology of Rev. 20 places that battle at the end of the millennium.
Not only what some scholars believe as the use of the same names in both passages is to show that the people in Rev.20 have the same motivation as the ones in Ezekiel 38 and the war is waged against the destruction of God’s people in both cases, are true and match exactly, moreover the two accounts are not entirely different but rather superficially different and essentially the same which starts at the beginning of the Millennial rule of Jesus in the first war of Gog-Magog described in Ezek 38-39 [i.e. Armageddon] and ends only in the second Gog-Magog war of Rev 20 when His Millennial rule gets over. In between the Lord will rule the world with a rod of Iron and the enemy Satan who sows rebellious seeds in the heart of unsaved men to cause rebellion against God and the work of His Kingdom will be imprisoned and kept in prison for a thousand years time (Matt 13:38-40, 41-42; Rev 2:27; 19:15; Psa 2:8-9;110:6; Isa 2:4).
Is Gog The Same Beast Of Revelation?
The leaders of the invasion in both the Gog-Magog and Armageddon battle are the same. Gog is the prince and ruler of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal (Ezek 38:3). The Antichrist is clearly described in the Book of Daniel as “the people of the prince who is to come” (Dan 9:26). Also He is clearly described as the horn before which three horns fell (Dan 7:20). The meaning of the preceding verse is “….He [i.e. the Antichrist] shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.” (Dan 7:24). In other words the prince of Gog who is the Antichrist will bring the three kings of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal under his control and will subdue them. Seeing this, the whole world will give their power over to Antichrist to form a one world government with a one world religion intertwined within it (Ezek 38:3; Rev 17:12-13). The invading leader in both Armageddon and Ezek 38-39 is the same beast Antichrist who will have a worldwide control over the whole earth. It is clearly a known fact that the Antichrist who is also called as the prince of Gog will be possessed by Satan the Dragon (Rev 13:2). This is the reason the verse in Ezekiel 38:10 says, “thoughts will arise in your mind…you will make evil plans”. In other words, just like Satan entered Judas to fulfill the purpose of God, so will be at the end time with Antichrist (John 13:27). Satan will fulfill all his wishes through the body of Antichrist before he will be locked in prison for a Millennium (Rev 20:2).
I am not confusing anybody, in fact, you did not understand and were confused about it because you did not grasp the fact that it was two separate wars and I was speaking about the resemblance and exact match of Armageddon to Ezek 38-39 rather than to Rev 20 second war of Gog-Magog which is unique in every way as you also say, it is the end of the story of humankind on this present earth, and only the new creations in the new heavens and new earth will then continue under the goodness of God and His Presence among them forever and ever after this second and final war of Gog-Magog of Rev 20 on this present old earth (Rev 21-22).
Seven Months Of Burying Dead Bodies And Seven Years Of Burning Wood As Fuel?
Ezekiel says that the nation of Israel will be seven months burying the dead and seven years burning the weapons. This obviously can't happen during the Tribulation time within the 2nd half of the Daniel's Seventieth Week in which everything else like the Two Prophets prophesying wrath on Antichrist and his ways that will be going on. Weapons of war will only be burned after Christ returns and once the nation of Israel lives in perfect peace under the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ. Once only when no Antichrist and False Prophet is in physical sight and Satan no longer is in the spiritual sight of humans, the weapons of war are no longer necessary. And that will only happen after the start of the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ over all the earth from Jerusalem the city of God. And, it won't just be Israel that burns weapons of war. In the beginning of the Lord's Millennial Reign we will see the fulfillment of Micah 4:3, "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." In other words, all the nations of the world including Israel will be implementing the most massive and permanent disarmament program in history.
Ezekiel 39:9 describes Israel burning the invading enemies weapons for seven years. Because the Gog-Magog battle will take place after the end of the Great Tribulation, the enemies weapons will be burned for 7 years in to the Millennium. At that time Messiah of Israel would be present in Israel to protect it and to judge the nations of the world. This is the reason the nation of Israel will not want to take and store the weapons as booty or spoils for future wars, but instead would choose to burn the weapons completely. This also reveals their confidence in their real Messiah Jesus Christ who will have by then saved them from the terrible and brutal clutches of the Assyrian Antichrist in this final war of Armageddon.
The next thing is, even though Jesus will provide to everyone’s needs, the curse will be partially lifted (Is 11:6-10), and the earth also will be reformatted by earth quakes (Rev 6:12-14; 16:17-21), still as the Bible says Jesus will come and only help to raise up the tabernacle of David, repair its damages, raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old (Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16-17). It took many years as the history says to rebuild the tabernacle of David which was fully completed by Solomon (John 2:20; 1 Chron 16:1; 17:5-14; 29:1-9; 2 Chron 6:5-11; 7:1-11). Jesus did not promise a new temple for the Millennium pre-built in heaven, lowered and refitted on earth like the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev 21:1-3). In this way burning the weapons in the millennium is part of the work to rebuild the Millennium temple to establish peace and security through the surviving saints of the Great Tribulation who will be in their natural bodies. These saints who will have survived and have come out of Great Tribulation will be allowed to live on earth in the Millennium to procreate and multiply the earth. Thus because the Messiah will rule the world with an iron rod, all the nations of the earth and Israel especially will destroy all their weapons completely trusting the supernatural power of the Messiah to protect them from any harm (Joel 3:16). This massive de-weaponisation program around the world will be implemented without fail by the Messiah (Isaiah 2:2-4; Rev 19:15; Isaiah 11:4).
Were Only Some Nations Involved In Ezek 38-39 And Whole World In Armageddon?
When you say, 'Ezekiel war says specifically the nations Involved, Armageddon will be the whole world per se?', to that my answer is:
The invaders in to the nation of Israel in both the Armageddon and Gog-Magog battle are a global coalition of nations with their one world powerful charismatic leader Antichrist leading them (Ezek 38:11; Rev 19:19). Not realizing that the Messiah of Israel will come to defend the people who fear Him in Israel, the kings of the earth will come to completely destroy the nation of Israel. The army under Antichrist will openly declare a war cry against the Messiah of Israel to come and fight to rescue the nation of Israel, if its Messiah is truly God Almighty (Rev 13:4, 6-10; 17:12-14; 19:19; 6:15-17). Thus unexpectedly they will see Christ and His armies of saints from heaven supernaturally come and fight for Israel (Rev 19:11-21). As a result of this final war, the nation of Israel will be protected from annihilation. Jerusalem will become the capital city of its Messiah Jesus Christ. From the city of Jerusalem the Great King and the Messiah of the world will rule the nations for a Millennium (Matt 5:35). Praise the Lord!
We see only the Antichrist and false prophet being cast alive in judgment "in to the lake of fire burning with brimstone", then those armies that followed him and the people who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image were struck with "the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him [i.e. Jesus Christ] who sat on the horse", which will make them die in the battle of Armageddon with 5th and 6th degree fire burns (Rev 19:20-21). Then the unsaved people in all the world will be separated by Jesus Christ during the 'Judgment of nations' as goats and will be judged by their works to be sent to everlasting punishment to be condemned eternally on the day of White Throne Judgment of Christ (Matt 25:31-46; Rev 20:11-15). Those who enter physically on earth from all the nations around the world in to the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ over the world will only be believers who are represented as sheep's.
We see a lot of nations who had power to resist the force of Antichrist by joining in with an opposite coalition of most likely United States and its allies, not joining the camp of Antichrist coalition, some initially and some even to the end against him at the time of the end (Dan 11:44, 45), Kings of the east will only support his cause at the very end, that is, only during Armageddon as they too will become rebellious against heaven's control over them as sovereign nations and will want to sever God's Kingdom control over their individual national status to join the global coalition (Rev 16:12-16). So Ezekiel war is not a list of all the nations assembled as a global army but rather the main list of nations that will support the cause of Antichrist voluntarily initially, and along with them "many peoples" (Ezek 38:9) will join some by force of submission and others by deceit of Antichrist as the only alternative to a global cause of safety and peace (Ezek 38:38:1-9; 1 Thess 5:3-6; 2 Thess 2:8-12). We know that a traditional Christian north of Russia which has in the past has a bent towards communism, and a godless and a pantheistic east of China and India will trouble him because of holding great prosperity and power during the time of the end. Only before Armageddon they will all join hands together for a global cause of 'safety and security' to stop aliens from taking over the earth according to their godless explanation to the world which will be deceived by such talk.
Thus the Russian invasion is not separate from Ezekiel's 38-39 war but rather they are one and the same, and does not have to take place before Antichrist comes on the world stage, but rather the (EU) European Union can become the Last World Empire after which the powerful nations of the world will join the bandwagon and march towards the first Gog-Magog war of Armageddon against Christ and his armies of heaven.
Much Blessings....
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