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(May 30, 2010)  Recently a commenter on one of my blog articles brought up the issue of the War of Gog and Magog mentioned in the Books of Ezekiel and Revelation. They were of the opinion that the prophesied War of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel chapters 38-39 is the same prophetic event as the one John saw at the end of the Millennium in Revelation chapter 20. Are the two Gog/Magog passages speaking of a single event or two separate ones?

An interesting question which has called for little discussion amongst prophecy students. I think the best way to answer it is to look at the Ezekiel prophecy of Gog and Magog separately from the Revelation prophecy and see if they are indeed separate prophetical events.

The only biblical references to the name Gog are found in the Books of 1 Chronicles, Ezekiel, and Revelation. The reference in 1 Chronicles chapter 5 is of a minor genealogical nature and irrelevant to the Gog of our discussion. It is in Ezekiel we discover that Gog is a name or title of a ruler:

“1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.” (Ezekiel 38:1-3)

It is in this same verse that we see Gog is a ruler over the land of Magog. Genesis chapter 10 tells us that the land of Magog refers to lands settled by the descendents of Noah’s grandson Magog:

“1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras…5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.” (Genesis 10:1-2,5)

Generally, Western prophecy students believe various regions of the former Soviet Union constitute the land of Magog. The First Century Jewish historian Josephus wrote that the Scythians inhabited the land of Magog in the regions of what is now Russia and the various Islamic countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Empire. Therefore, some prophecy students believe that the Gog invasion of Israel mentioned in Ezekiel will be led by a leader from this region.

Ezekiel also lists an alliance of nations that will accompany Gog in this invasion. They consist of several Middle Eastern countries which are now governed by Islamic leaders. Many Western prophecy students believe this invasion will occur prior to the Battle of Armageddon.

Eastern prophecy commentator Walid Shoebat has a different perspective on Ezekiel’s Gog and Magog prophecy. He believes that Magog includes Turkey and the southern Islamic countries of the former Soviet Union but not Russia proper. Mr. Shoebat also believes that the leader Gog is actually the Antichrist and that the prophesied invasion of Israel is part of the Battle of Armageddon. You can find his reasoning for this belief in his excellent book God’s War on Terror (my article Islam and End-Times Prophecy is a synopsis of this book and contains a section on Gog and Magog).

I believe the difference between the Gog and Magog prophecy of Ezekiel and that of Revelation can be ascertained by looking at the circumstances surrounding the invasion of Israel and the results from it.

Ezekiel gives a limited list of nations that will invade Israel. They all seem to be located in the Middle East and Northern Africa. It appears that countries north of Israel will begin the invasion and then the other countries in the alliance will join in: “4 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: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee…14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? 15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: 16 And thou shalt come up against My people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against My land, that the heathen may know Me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 38:4-6,14-16) Conversely, in Revelation God’s servant John saw that the Battle of Gog and Magog will involve all the nations of the world: “7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.” (Revelation 20:7-8) Thus, the Millennial armies of Gog and Magog will arrive from the four corners of the earth whereas Ezekiel’s invasion limits the number of countries involved. Although the Millennium will be a kind of Utopia on earth for a thousand years with Jesus reigning from Jerusalem, there are prophetical passages that allude to sin as still being part of the human experience during that time, “19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” (Isaiah 65:19-20) This may seem strange that God would allow sin to exist during His Millennial reign but it is consistent with God’s creation of the first Edenic Utopia. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve in the midst of God’s paradise on earth still had the capacity for sin, one which they exercised a the behest of the Devil. Likewise, this Millennial army of Gog and Magog will consist of those humans who are still intent upon rebelling against God. After being loosed from his chains, Satan will rally these men and women for one final battle against God.

The description of Ezekiel’s Battle of Gog and Magog sounds extremely similar to God’s judgments that are to occur during and at the end of the Battle of Armageddon:

“18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that My fury shall come up in My face. 19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 38:18-23)

The Bowl or Vial judgments of Revelation chapter 16 occur at Armageddon. They include a great earthquake (Ezekiel – “great shaking in the land of Israel”), fish and animals dying from the ecological devastation (Ezekiel – “the fishes of the sea…”), Armageddon ends with “flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake…and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven” (Ezekiel – “and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone”).

Chapter 39 of Ezekiel continues describing the results of the Gog and Magog invasion:

“1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 2 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: 3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.” (Ezekiel 39:1-4)

Notice that God declares that He will leave a remnant of the invasion force (“and leave but the sixth part of thee”). In Revelation God destroys the entire enemy force and casts the Devil into Hell for eternity (“9 And they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever”). Also, Ezekiel mentions that the birds of the air will devour Gog’s defeated army. This parallels the description of the aftermath of the Battle of Armageddon:

“17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great…21 And the rest were slain by the sword of Him who sits upon the horse, the sword that issues from His mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh”. (Revelation 19:17-18,21)

There is one parallel between the Gog and Magog prophecy of Ezekiel and and that of Revelation which does match, “6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD. 7 So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let them pollute My holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” (Ezekiel 39:6-7) Revelation states, “9 And they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire came down from heaven and consumed them.” (Revelation 20:9) However, I don’t think it would be unusual for God to use the same form of fiery judgment in separate events. The bible makes it clear that fire is a purifying agent and that “God is a consuming fire”. (Hebrews 12:9)

Ezekiel states that after the Gog and Magog invasion Israel will be burying the dead for seven months:

“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.” (Ezekiel 39:12-15)

The Gog and Magog uprising in Revelation occurs at the end of the Millennium. There is no more Israel after that because John declares what he saw next:

“10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it; from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.” (Revelation 20:10-11)

One final observation on the difference between the two prophecies concerns the salvation of Israel. After Ezekiel’s prophesied invasion, the nation of Israel knows who the true God is:

“7 So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let them pollute My holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” (Ezekiel 39:7)

The salvation of the Jews occurs at the second coming of Jesus Christ:

“1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it…9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:1-3,9-10)

There will be no more chances for salvation after the Millennial defeat of Gog and Magog because the Great White Throne judgment occurs after its over.

I believe there are obvious differences between the prophesied events of Ezekiel chapters 38-39 and Revelation chapter 20. The fact that the terms Gog and Magog are used in both instances can be confusing. Whether or not Ezekiel’s Gog is the Antichrist, it is the Devil who wants to destroy the Jewish nation of Israel hoping to defeat the Lord’s plans. The Bible refers to the Devil by various names throughout (i.e. “Prince of Tyre, King of Babylon etc.) and so it may be that the title/name of Gog is just another appellation describing the diabolical force which has fought against the Lord since the Garden of Eden and will continue to fight Him until the culminating Battle of Gog and Magog at the end of humanity’s history on the earth.

May 30, 2010

[Update: June 4, 2010] - (Rabbis: Flotilla Clash Similar to Gog and Magog Prophecy) – “The Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria issued a statement Thursday in which it said that the results of the incident in which Israel intercepted a flotilla trying to break the naval blockade of Gaza seem like the Biblical description of “the beginning of the Gog and Magog process where the world is against us, but which ends with the third and final redemption.”