Question: Is Gog-Magog War related to Armageddon war? Will it be the ultimate defeat of Satan by God?
Answer: Greetings to you in Jesus wonderful name!
Every one who has gone in to a deep study of the Scriptures cannot but wonder the correlative pictures of similarity we see in the Ezekiel 38-39th Chapter and the Armageddon that we see in the Book of Revelation described by John the apostle in Rev 16:12-16 from the Isle of Patmos (Rev 1:9-11).
I have read so many different views of many people regarding the timing of the Ezekiel 38-39 war that will take place in the coming days. I have not been convinced of all of it because right from the Scripture I came to understand that Armageddon and Ezekiel 38-39 war are the one and the same. Being convinced of it, I wrote the following article with title, "50 Reasons Why Ezekiel 38-39 is the Battle of Armageddon".
A little more I would like to discuss regarding this truth, when we see contextually, the Chapter 38 and 39 in Ezekiel, comes one after the other in eschatological and chronological order regarding the nation of Israel and the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ on this present earth.
Here is how it goes roughly, God makes the dry bones of Israel scattered in all the nations of the world to live in exile for the past 2000 and more years (Ezek 37:1-14), then He regathers them from all nations to the land of Israel with a Millennial intention of God (Ezek 37:15-28), then we see a world of nations with Gog and Magog leadership come against Israel to wipe it off the map (Ezek 38:1-23), then we see God destroying Gog's armies and its burial right there in the land of Israel (Ezek 39:1-16). Then we see God conducting a festival right in the midst of Israel through victory parade (Ezek 39:17-20), and then inviting all the Jews from all the world to come back to the land of Israel without fail, to thus restore the land of Israel to its people fully (Ezek 39:21-29) and after these things God finally describes building a new city and a new temple through the Jews who will be helped and assisted by Gentile believers from all the world (Isa 60:10; Zec 6:13). Then God describes the new manner of worship to how it will be the new spiritual capital of the whole wide world, from which Jesus will rule the whole world with power and authority of God. Indeed it will take place through the Church for a Millennium from the New Heaven and New Earth where the Church will reside and oversee all of it spiritually (Ezek 40-48). But physically Israel will rule the world under God.
We see the same Gog-Magog leadership that we find in Ezekiel 38-39 over nations is also seen in the Book of Revelation 20:7-10, " 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
In the above verse we see some of the most important truth about Gog-Magog,
1) Gog-Magog are essentially in gist are not just a couple of nations that will be end time superpowers of the world coming together to form a coalition against God, being essentially evil to its core, but rather we see the very nature of evil and its sinfulness being seen, and the revelation of Satan's influence over the world through it and his anger against God which is expressed through all the people who live in unbelief being deceived "in the four corners of the earth", these who come together in their hate against God and his holiness, actually come together under the end time leadership of Gog-Magog nations.
2) In today's world, we know the communist policy of the world epicenter lies in Russia and China, which have the very characteristics of communistic ideology resembling the nation of Gog and Magog. Communist principles are entirely based on humanistic anti-christ. Islam with its anti-christ spirit as the core of its ideology, will come together to form a formidable coalition of the end time.
3) So we know that the God defined nation "far north" from the "mountains of Israel" is Russia mainly, and the nations who accompany them can be traced back to middle east and Asia in particular (Ezek 39:2). What about the Western Nations under USA? By that time reunified Roman Europe will again rise and will influence the world, as USA will diminish in power and force. As a mystery Babylon, US might even face the wrath of God for its idolatry and materialism.
4) We see the Antichrist and the false prophets were the first occupants of the "lake of fire burning with brimstone" of (Rev 19:20) which is eternal hell, and after that Satan bound for a thousand years in a bottomless pit for the very purpose that he should not deceive nations around the world till the thousand years are finished (Rev 20:2-3), thus God implying clearly that the war of Gog-Magog which starts during that time of Jesus' Second Coming to this earth actually ends ultimately only when "the devil, who deceived them [i.e. collectively all unsaved humans to act against the one and only God of heaven]" was likewise cast into the "lake of fire and brimstone" where the beast and false prophet were already in torment for a Millennium of day and night which will continue forever and ever. Amen!
5) Why then does God give a gap of thousand years for humanity without Satan's influence over the nations? When humanity fell in to sin, the first time God asked Adam why did he commit sin, he pointed towards Eve and told God that the women that He had given was the reason for his fall. When God asked Eve what was the reason for her fall in to sin, she then pointed to the serpent Satan and told Him that it deceived her to sin (Gen 3:12-13). So no human wanted to take responsibility for their sin. In other words, humans have always pointed to their evil environment for their sin, pointed others for their sin and finally Satan for their sin. So in the millennial rule of Jesus Christ, because only believers will enter it and no human can ever blame others for their sin (Matt 25:31-46), no humans can ever be able to blame their environmental condition for their sin because the whole earth will once again be liberated through restoration as at the beginning of creation of all things, in to the liberty of the children of God through the sons of God [i.e. the resurrected Church] which will be operating from the New Heaven and New Earth (Rom 8:19, 21). Finally no sinful human can be able to blame Satan for their sin as he will be bound and sealed for a thousand years (Rev 20:1-3). So what God is trying to prove to humans? God will show through His Millennial rule how much useless it is for humans to try to point to all other things for their sins except themselves, who do not realize that they are deceived by the sin nature inside them that can deceive them as long as they trust themselves (1 Cor 11:31-32; Prov 3:5-7; 21:2)? No matter how much goodness the Lord shows [i.e. even for a Millennium], yet the un-regenerated heart of all humans will take side with Satan, the moment he is left loose and unleashed in to the world (Rev 20:7-10). This is the true Gog-Magog alliance of all nations (Rev 20:8).
6) Almost all religions come inline with the frequency of the "spirit of Antichrist" (1 John 4:1-3), this very spirit will create a son of perdition on earth in Antichrist, who will take over the whole wide world to create a army of Gog-Magog alliance in the last days to fight against God who is the only rightful owner of this world (Rev 16:12-16; Matt 17:24-27; 22:15-22; 21:33-42), right before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus who will come to rule this earth for a thousand years time as God and the one and only the first and the last messenger of God (1 John 2:18). The real Antichrist will never accept that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:3), as the real god for Antichrist is his own self and no one else. The same with the father of Antichrist who is Satan himself.
So what have we clearly understood from the Gog-Magog reference of Rev 20:7-10?
(i) Gog-Magog war starts before the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ and it will end after the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
(ii) Armageddon and Gog-Magog war are not only related with each other by similarity of narrative and events unfolding in it, but also it is one and same war that is described in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
(iii) Armageddon war is focused through the eyes and ears of the Church to reveal its spiritual meaning hidden for it. Gog-Magog war is focused through the eyes and ears of the nation of Israel to reveal the physical aspect of the nations around it that will come mainly against it, though there is a spiritual reason of the spirit of Antichrist which wants to prevent the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as King and Messiah of the world, which is the reason for such a hatred of the world against the nation of Israel [i.e. Antisemitism] for no know reason.
(iv) Ezekiel 38 and 39th Chapter of the Old Testament Gog-Magog war is one and the same war described in the New Testament war of Armageddon in Rev 16:12-16, which continues to get culminated in Rev 19:11-21. Both of these are the same physical war against the nation of Israel, which happens before the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ get established on earth. But Rev 20:7-10 happens after the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ, which is the place where this spiritual war of Satan gets ended forever (1 Cor 15:46).
(v) Finally, the Gog-Magog War will be the Ultimate Defeat Of Satan By God for the glory of His mighty name forever and ever (Ezek 38:23; Rev 20:9-10; Isa 66:22-24; 65:17-25).
Much Blessings....
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