Hooks in Their Jaws

The Gog-Magog War

Ezekiel 38 NKJV

1 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you. 7 “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely. 9 You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.” 10 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: 11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— 12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ’ 14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it? 15 Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. 16 You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” 17 Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them? 18 “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face. 19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ 21 I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’

Who is Gog and Magog?

The first mention of Gog is found in Genesis chapter 10. When leaving the arch Noah’s sons and their wives sent forth to repopulate the earth. Noah’s three sons were Japheth, Ham and Shem. One of Japheth’s son was named Magog whose people according to some historians settled the areas north and surrounding the black and Aral seas and parts of Europe.

However, generally speaking in the Scriptures Gog refers to a person who is an archetypal enemy of Israel. The characteristics of Gog are that he is a wicked leader of a country who is full of human pride and is therefore subject to divine judgement. Gog personifies the evil of human rebellion against God. In particular Gog is a leader who is against God and against Israel.

Magog refers to a country or group of people aligned with Gog. The Jewish historian Josephus locates Magog from Ezekiel 38 in the area of Lydia in Asia Minor or modern Turkey as do some Bible scholars.

However other Bible scholars and also myself feel that the Magog mentioned in Ezekiel 38 is actually Russia because they are the superpower in the Middle East region not Turkey. Verse 2 tells us that Magog is the Prince or as we would say the authoritative government ruling over Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Turkey does not have power or influence over other nations in that region but Russia does.

Verse five states that Persia, Ethiopia and Libya will join Magog in attacking Israel. As I have mentioned before the nation of Persia refers to modern day Iran and may include some areas of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

Ethiopia which is mentioned is modern day Sudan and may include parts of modern day Ethiopia as well.

Libya is the third nation mentioned which may include areas of Algeria and Morocco.

Verse 6 mentions Gomer which is Turkey and some Bible historians feel are parts of Germany or Eastern Europe.

The last country mentioned is Togarmah which is northern Turkey.

Today we can see once again that the Bible is accurate and should be taken literally as all of these nations mentioned are aligned today in some way either militarily or economically or ideologically. For example, Russia is the superpower that supports Iran who is the largest state sponsor of terrorism and an open anti Israel, and anti American nation. The Turkish president and Iranian president both have openly spoke about going to war with Israel. And Syria was about to overturn it’s tyrant of a President until Russia and Iran sent in weapons, aide and troops so that now over 90% of Syria is back under control of it’s dictator.

You will hear me say this many times during our end times sermon series but the Bible is the infallible word of God. It means what it says and says what it means. We are to read our Bible literally because it is a tool in which the Lord communicates with us and His word is holy, unchangeable and has the power to change lives and to help encourage us and equip us to deal with the world around us. There are lots of religious books in the world but none of them predicts the future years in advance with specific details and is never wrong. Said simply you can trust the word of God and be encouraged that He is in control no matter what is going on in the world! Somebody give Him praise!

So now that we know who Gog, Magog and the other countries who will attack Israel are the next logical question is when will this war take place.

When Will This War Happen?

At the End of the Tribulation?

Some people believe or have been taught that Armagedon is the Gog and Magog War and it is not for several reasons we can read in Scripture.

Ezekiel 38:8 NKJV

8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.

As we just read when the Gog and Magog war happens Israel the Jewish people who have been scattered among many nations around the world will return to Israel and dwell safely. And despite the terrorist attacks and threats from neighboring nations in Israel today the citizens do live in a relative peace since the Yom Kippur War of 1973.

However after the Tribulation the world and Israel in particular will certainly not have peace as the tribulation is the worst time in human history.

Zechariah writes about the days of the tribulation in chapter thirteen verse eight.

Zechariah 13:8–14:4 NKJV

8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,” Says the Lord, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, But one-third shall be left in it: 9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ” 1 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

Verse 8 tells us that two thirds of the Jews will be killed and one third will be left. The good news is that the one third that are left will get saved and that the Lord will come back with the His bride the church to fight for them and Jesus and us as believers will rule from the rebuilt Temple on the Mount of Olives for the 1,000 year millennial reign. But the point remains that when Armagedon happens there is no peace. All the nations of the world will attack Israel, the city destroyed, the antichrist is killing Christians and the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments are pouring out the wrath of our righteous God on a wicked world lead by the antichrist. There is no way this can be described as a peaceful time. In fact as I said earlier it is the worst time in human history.

Jesus also describes those days in Matthew chapter twenty four verse fifteen.

Matthew 24:15–22 NKJV

15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

As we just read Jesus tells us that when the abomination of desolation happens which is when the Antichrist sets himself up as god in the rebuilt temple 3 1/2 years into the Tribulation that the beginning of sorrows meaning the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation ends and the great tribulation or the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation begins. And Jesus clearly states that had He not shortened the days of the Great Tribulation for the sake of the elect that nothing would have survived.

Again scripture makes it clear that these days are not at all peaceful in fact they are the complete opposite of peace therefore we can based on the Bible confidently say that the Gog and Magog War does not come after the great tribulation.

At the End of the Millennium

Another possibility that some people have been taught is that the Gog and Magog War will happen at the end of the millennial rule of Christ but I do not believe so based on Scripture.

Ezekiel 38:3–6 NKJV

3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.

We see here that the Gog-Magog War is a regional war between certain specific nations not a global war. Even though the whole world will see the mighty hand of the Lord fight for Israel the actual countries involved are in a region not the entire globe.

In addition, Ezekiel’s prophesy is saying that God Himself is the causal factor in the Gog and Magog war. Verse four tells us that clearly when the Lord says He will put hooks in their jaws and lead them out to battle.

In times past people would put a hook into the jaw of a donkey or livestock so that they could use a pole attached to the hook to lead the animal where they wanted it to go. The Lord is telling these evil armies which hate Israel and also Himself that He as the Lord God is going to make them go to war with Israel and that He is going to fight on Israel’s behalf to defeat them because they are not only Israel’s enemy but they are the Lord’s enemy and He is going to show the world that He is God almighty when He gives Israel the victory over them by His mighty hand.

We can compare that to Revelation chapter twenty verse seven which describes the end of the Millennium.

Revelation 20:7–10 NKJV

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.

First off we can see that Satan is the causal factor in the last battle. When he is released from prison then he goes out to deceive the nations.

The other thing we can see is that the last battle is not a regional war but is again a world wide war between satan and nations from the four corners of the world.

Another point to know here is that the Gog and Magog which is being mentioned in the last battle is an idiom referring to nations with the spirit of Gog and Magog meaning nations that are in rebellion against God. Gog is the wicked leader in this case Satan and Magog is the nation or in this case those who follow him in the last battle.

Lastly, we know the Gog and Magog war is not after the Millennial reign because in Ezekiel he says the armies come to take plunder and in the last battle the devil is again seeking to control people and make them follow and worship him and reject the Lord not for material resources.

Ezekiel 38:11–13 NKJV

11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— 12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ’

So based on the Bible I think we can now confidently say that the Gog and Magog war will not happen neither at the end of the Tribulation or at the end of the Millennium.

So you may be asking yourself ok Pastor Rich then when does it happen? Well I am glad you asked!

At the Time of the Rapture

It is my belief based on Scripture that the Gog and Magog War is going to occur just after the Rapture of the Church.

During the God and Magog war the Lord is going to defeat Israel’s enemies in completely overwhelming fashion.

Ezekiel 39:1–7 NLT

1 “Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am your enemy, O Gog, ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north. 3 I will knock the bow from your left hand and the arrows from your right hand, and I will leave you helpless. 4 You and your army and your allies will all die on the mountains. I will feed you to the vultures and wild animals. 5 You will fall in the open fields, for I have spoken, says the Sovereign Lord. 6 And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 7 “In this way, I will make known my holy name among my people of Israel. I will not let anyone bring shame on it. And the nations, too, will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

I can only imagine what the world will say as they see the powerful nation from the north which again I believe is Russia being pushed into a conflict with Israel. The Lord says He will knock the bow from their left hand and the arrows from their right hand. I believe Israel has the most technologically advanced military in the world next to the United States and perhaps the Lord will use that to make the enemies rockets and weapons useless and leave them helpless to defend themselves. Verse 6 says fire will rain down which can be literal fire from heaven or perhaps it is rockets, missiles and air power the Lord uses I cannot say other than the Lord will move on Israel’s behalf to give them total and absolute victory over the armies of Gog and Magog and that the world will know it is because of God’s supernatural power helping Israel.

I believe the victory of Israel in the Gog and Magog war is going to be so powerful it will bring about the seven year peace treaty prophesied about in Daniel 9:27

Daniel 9:27 ESV

27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

You may wonder why would Israel make a peace treaty when the Lord has just given them victory and it is because they are deceived by the antichrist offering something they have greatly desired for years which is to build the third temple. They should have just trusted the Lord but prophesy has to be fulfilled.

This peace treaty is made between Israel and the antichrist in which he breaks the treaty mid way through at 3 1/2 years and sets himself up in the temple claiming himself as God which begins the great tribulation.

Well in order for the peace treaty with the antichrist to be signed that means he is already in power and he cannot come to power until after the rapture of the church because the church is the restraining power holding back his rule because as Christians we have the Holy Spirit of God inside of us who is more powerful than the evil spirit of the devil in this world. The work of the church is to fulfill the great commission and continue the work of Jesus. Contrary to popular belief it is not to limp into church for a pick me up because we are too weak in faith to claim our victory let alone help anyone else. Our job, our commission, our mandate from Jesus is to actively share the Gospel in love and service to others so that they too can be saved. Everything else we do is to support that work. We must meditate on God’s word, pray without ceasing, love others even when they are being unlovable and be the spiritual first responders in a lost and dying world. Praise the Lord for His trust in us for such an important work! Hallelujah! Somebody give Him praise.

So once the church is removed the world will be in chaos and the antichrist is a satanically empowered man who will gain worldwide control with promises of peace. He will be aided by another man called the false prophet who heads up a religious system that requires worship to the antichrist.

Revelation 19:20 NKJV

20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

God is in Control

I know studying end times prophesy can be difficult to understand or believe at times because we have all heard so many different opinions from so called experts over the years. But the Bible is about 28% prophecy and part of God’s word so we should know it and be encouraged by it. Remember to read and interpret it literally and it will be come easier to understand and avoid confusion.

My last sermon was on the rapture of the church and if your recall I said it could literally happen at any moment so we need to be ready. So you may be wondering am I saying that the Gog and Magog war will happen at any time as well. My answer is yes and that situations have already started aligning to make it happen.

For example, no matter what your political background we can all see with our current government the global power and influence the United States once had is now declining. The Afghanistan withdraw for example was handled so poorly that a power vacuum was created which lead the way for the Taliban to now declare Afghanistan a Muslim Republic and they have openly said they want good relations with all countries except Israel. Without US influence in that region Iran and it’s terrorist militias are growing not just in Iran but also in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen. Though not widely covered by the news approximately three weeks ago Israel stated that Iran could have nuclear weapons in as little as 10 weeks and would take decisive action to make sure they don’t get nuclear weapons. Israel operates on a strike first method meaning to attack enemies that are presenting a clear and present danger before they physically attack Israel.

While we should not have anxiety or focus too much on world events I am just making the point that the nations which the Bible said the Lord will bring against Israel are already aligned. As the church we could be raptured at any moment as we see the evil in the world growing before our very eyes. But until the time which the Lord calls us to meet Him in the clouds we must keep our eye on the prize that greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world. And take comfort knowing that the Bible has already told us events to come but Jesus because of His love and faithfulness is already preparing a place for His people in paradise.

God loves you and no matter what is going on in the world or what judgments are to come we are blessed with to know Jesus and experience His love and His peace every day of our lives.

Prayer

Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope to see you next week when I preach on part 4 of our sermon series. Have a great week and remember that our joy is in Jesus.