Gog & Magog

Because Israel is at war, I can tell that many Christians are 1) freaking out and 2) talking and reading a whole lot about the end of the world (as if Israel has never seen a war before).

So the big thing right now is Bible prophecy. Bring it on! I love prophecy! I just spent 65 weeks going through the End of the World in Chronological Order! I love it!

I’ve also noticed that “Gog & Magog” has returned to the greater public discourse (in a variety of new articles) about the end times.

Will the prophecies about Gog & Magog be fulfilled before our eyes?

Sure, when we’re up in our heavenly seats (Eph. 2:6).

Is Gog & Magog talking about Russia?

No.

Is Gog & Magog talking about Syria?

No.

How about Lebanon?

No

Turkey?

No, but I love a good turkey burger.

Okay, what is Gog & Magog really about?

I love this subject!

Consider the context to “Gog & Magog” in the book of Revelation.

The Lord’s kingdom crossed its thousand-year mark. Satan is loosed. Nations are deceived. Millions of mortal humans are going to rise up and try to take down Israel and Christ Himself… which just boggles the mind. They’ve spent 1,000 years with the Lord Jesus Christ. They know Him well. They know He’s the Son of God. They’ve seen what He can do. It is the very height of delusional vanity and futile stupidity for these people to think they can take on the Creator of the universe.

But they’ll try.

So we’re going to provide exegesis on the famous Gog & Magog passage in Rev. 20. Then we’ll compare all of that with Ezekiel 38 & 39.

Gog & Magog in Rev. 20:7-10.

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Satan is Loosed & Goosed

We discovered in Rev 20:7, “And when the thousand years are expired…” This takes place after they have crossed the thousand-year mark. How long after? We’re not told, but, to me, the impression is immediate.

Then what happens? “Satan shall be loosed out of his prison…” The way that is phrased, “Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,” it has that same ring as, “an animal was let out of his cage.” The Lord let him loose.

Why?

When the Lord returned at His Second Coming, why not judge Satan then and throw him in the Lake of Fire along with the beast and the false prophet? Why does everyone have to go through all this drama?

I suspect the reasoning is similar to why the Lord allowed Satan to implement the Mark of the Beast. He allowed the Mark of the Beast to happen because the end of the world has finally arrived. Time is running out. Now the saints and heavenly host are essentially saying, “You people have to make a choice. You have to take a side. The world is about to end. Your eternal destiny hangs in the balance. There is no time left. You need to make a choice right here right now. You’re either with Satan or you’re with the Lord. Choose your destiny because the Lord is coming and He’s going to establish His kingdom.”

So at the end of the Lord’s thousand-year kingdom, I suspect the reasoning will be similar. The thousand years is up. The next event on the prophetic timetable is the Great White Throne judgment. After that, the Earth is going to be burned to a crisp and completely remade. These mortals have been good little citizens filled with bad ideas in their heads. It’s time for all these mortal humans to make a choice. You’re either with Satan or you’re with the Lord.

It’s like the illustration about the plumbline in Amos 7. A plumbline helps to determine if a wall is perfectly vertical or if it’s leaning. So if a wall is leaning in a certain direction, it tends to fall in that direction it’s leaning. The same is probably true for the mortals in the kingdom. They’re undecided leaning in the direction of unbelief. They see the light, but they don’t want to accept the light. They’d rather have darkness. So the Lord offers them the chance to fall in the direction they’re leaning. As if He’s saying to them, “After having spent hundreds of years living in My kingdom and knowing Me, you still want to reject Me and embrace the darkness? Okay, here is the darkness you want.”

Satan is the catalyst to fall in the direction they’re already leaning to do works that will merit the Lord’s judgment.

Rev 20:8 talking about Satan says, “And (he) shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

The first thing John tells us is that Satan will deceive the nations. How will he deceive them? We don’t need to be told how because we already know. It’ll be the same M.O. he’s had since the Garden of Eden: “Yea, hath God said?” He will twist the Word of God, persuade the nations that God is holding out on them or holding them back just as he did in the Garden, and he’ll motivate them through covetousness. “Hey, you can be more than you are and have more than you’ve got.” And he will actually convince them to attack Israel in the Promised Land and take on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because of this wicked work, the Lord has every right to burn them all to a fair thee well. John writes that Satan will deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, an expression that means around the globe. The geopolitical landscape of the kingdom is Israel in the Promised Land and everything else around the globe is Gentile nations.

Gog & Magog

The next thing John references in vs. 8 is Gog and Magog. Notice in this verse that Gog and Magog has commas on either side. It’s an expression that’s used to clarify what came before it. John says in vs. 8 that Satan shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, (comma) Gog and Magog, (comma).

Bullinger, in his Revelation commentary, would say, “‘Gog and Magog’ denote the nations as a whole.” I love Bullinger, but I disagree. We’re going to discover in Ezek. 38 that Gog was a person and Magog was the land that made up the nations over which Gog was chief prince. Just as we would say “Africa” to reference that continent that has a number of different nations in it, Magog was used in the same sense. Imagine all those countries in Africa having one chief prince whose name was Gog, now you get a sense of Gog and Magog. Gog, the chief prince, and Magog, the land with the nations over which Gog rules.

So when John writes Gog and Magog in vs. 8, this is more than just a general expression about a collection of nations. This is about a collection of nations AND their leader. Just as Magog had Gog as its leader, so too, the deceived nations in the kingdom will have Satan as their leader.

I’m going to suggest in this article that Gog is an Old Testament type of Satan for when he shall become new leader of the deceived nations after the thousand-year reign of the Lord. Back in Genesis and 1 Chronicles, Gog & Magog were real people. Gog was a descendant of Reuben (1 Chron. 5:4). Magog was the first son of Japhet (Gen. 10:2).

But when you get to the book of Ezekiel, which is a couple thousand years later, Gog is a completely different person. Ezekiel will explain that he is the chief prince of two northern nations. Ezekiel will also explain that Magog is a land, probably named after Japhet’s first son. That land made up the two nations over which Gog was the chief prince. Gog & Magog.

Bullinger would ask an interesting question: “Do the terms ‘Gog and Magog’ (20:8) include every nation (apart from Israel) at the end of the Millennium?” Bullinger would suggest that because John writes the four quarters of the earth these are probably nations that are farthest away from the capital of the Earth, which is Jerusalem. I’m inclined to agree. Magog in Ezekiel didn’t encompass all nations. Thus, I see no reason to think Magog would encompass all nations at the end of the millennial reign either. Magog is the land with nations on it, all of whom have Gog as their chief prince. But it was intriguing to me the idea that the nations farthest away from Israel might make up the rebellion.

Look at Rev 20:9. “And they went up on the breadth of the earth…” I’d suggest this means they traveled over much of the Earth on their own in order to attack the Promised Land. The kingdom is an age in which people can travel around the globe in an instant by the Holy Spirit Crazy Transportation Service.

Except the Holy Spirit won’t be helping these guys to attack Israel. Thus, it’s significant here that nations of people united together will march across much of the Earth in order to attack the resurrected saints in the Promised Land.

Look again at Rev 20:9. “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”

They traversed the Earth. They compassed the camp of the saints about. Bullinger felt that that expression means they surrounded “the whole extent of” the Promised Land. I’m inclined to agree. The whole land is the camp of Israel, the place where the resurrected saints are encamped.

This is about destroying all of Israel but especially the Lord. These armies will also surround Jerusalem.

They have surrounded all the Promised Land and Jerusalem.

How many people are we talking about here? Millions.

And in this moment, we know, the Lord’s not worried. The saints in the Promised Land aren’t worried either. No one is breaking a sweat about the armies that have surrounded them. If anything, I’ll bet the resurrected saints feel sorry for these poor misguided mortals.

Then what happens?

God sends down fire from Heaven upon Gog and his army. This is also mentioned in Ezek. 39:6.

Plus, we’ll discover in Ezek. 38 that before the Lord brings fire down upon them, He’s going to do two things. 1) He’s going to plead with the humans to change their minds, and 2) He’s going to speak to Gog. In Ezekiel, Gog was just a man, a chief prince. In Revelation, I think Gog is Satan. He’s leader of the deceived nations, just as the man Gog was the leader of deceived nations in Ezekiel’s day.

And before their deaths, the Lord is going to speak to Gog, which means He’s going to speak to Satan. He’s going to say, “Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?”

That is jaw-droppingly brilliant.

In other words, “Did I not foretell in prophecy a few thousand years ago that you would do this, that I would allow this to happen, and that I would carry out this very judgment upon you?”

Those will be the Lord’s final words to Satan.

Then – POOF. They’re all burned to a fair thee well.

Look at Rev 20:10. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Bullinger would write, “Not now is Satan merely to be ‘bound.’ At length he receives his final doom. This is reason of Satan’s hatred of this book of the Revelation. It is the book which tells of his doom; as Genesis foretells it (Gen. iii. 15). That lake of fire was prepared for him and his angels (Matt. xxv. 41). His dupes are devoured by fire from above… [and] he is to be tormented by fire from beneath.”

Ezekiel 38

Just consider that a bedrock principle of Bible study is that we compare scripture with scripture (1 Cor. 2:13). That’s God’s design for hermeneutics. In Rev. 20, John references Gog and Magog. The only other place in the Bible that talks about Gog and Magog is Ezek. 38 & 39. You have no choice but to make a connection. We have Gog and Magog in Rev. 20, and we have Gog and Magog in Ezek. 38 & 39. You have to compare and contrast the two. We have in Rev. 20:9 God sending fire down upon Gog and Magog. We have in Ezek. 39:6 God sending fire down upon Gog and Magog.

Yet, there is quite a variety of thoughts about Ezek. 38 & 39.

I’m sure we can all agree that what Ezek. 38 & 39 isn’t talking about is modern-day Russia as most Christians think. Why not? Because the Evangelical Industrial Complex fails to rightly divide their Bibles (2 Tim. 2:15). They refuse to accept what is plainly explained Romans 11 – we’re living in an interruption of the prophetic program, a period of grace before God’s wrath.

Yet, I know pastors who think these chapters are talking about the end of the millennial reign. I know a pastor who thinks Ezek. 38 & 39 are two separate events. I also know pastors who think that this is talking about Armageddon. In fact, Bullinger would strongly insist that this cannot be talking about the end of the millennium but only Armageddon. And I love them all!

So I tried to put all of that stuff out of my mind. I would for weeks sit down and read over and over Ezek. 38 & 39. I would just let these chapters say whatever they wanted to say, and I would just accept literally at face value whatever those verses are saying. I’d suggest that these are not difficult chapters. We’ll just go through them together.

I’m going to suggest that these chapters are about a situation taking place in Ezekiel’s day with few occasional verses that foreshadow future events.

But you decide for yourself. I’m reminded of something someone said to me on a recent podcast: “So, Joel, you’re going to tell me that everyone else is wrong and you’re right?” Well, I wouldn’t sit down and write all these things if I thought I was wrong. But in grace, it’s not “my way or the highway.” In grace, you just consider what is said and study for yourself and be a good Berean.

Let’s read Ezek. 38 with commentary.

Eze 38:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Eze 38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him…

Let’s stop right there. The Lord tells Ezekiel to prophesy against him. One man. His name is Gog. Chief prince over two nations in the land of Magog. Magog is the land.

When the Bible says “the land of” it’s usually talking about the name given to a piece of real estate. The land of Canaan, the land of Egypt, etc. Gog is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, two northern countries. In fact, vs. 15 will tell us that they come from their place out of the north parts. I tried to find Meshech and Tubal on Bible maps but there was no consistency anywhere.

There’s no consistency about where the land of Magog is either. Nobody really knows. A couple writers suggested that could be where the Scythians ruled, which isn’t even in Russia. It’s south of Russia in the northern parts of Iran and Iraq west of the Caspian Sea. Nobody knows. All we know is it’s out of the north parts. Somewhere north of Israel.

Notice what’s going on here. This is an issue taking place in Ezekiel’s day. The Lord told Ezekiel, basically, “I want you to go to Gog and I want you to prophesy against him.”

Gog was a real person in Ezekiel’s day. He was the chief prince over Magog, which is the land that has the two nations of Meshech and Tubal.

What is Ezekiel supposed to say to him?

Look at Eze 38:3. And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: Eze 38:4 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: Eze 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Eze 38:6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Eze 38:7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

That last verse is hilarious. The Lord is telling Gog, “Hey, you want to amass this great army against my land? You better prepare yourself. And you better be a good guard for your army, because I’m going to let you come and I’m gonna take you out.”

Notice here that the Lord is speaking to Gog through Ezekiel. Gog is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, but he has an alliance with Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, and others.

This doesn’t align with anything we studied about the Tribulation. That’s not the antichrist alliance before he gets his kingdom. Based on Psa. 83, I’ve suggested before that the antichrist makes an alliance with nations bordering Israel.

There won’t be any new alliances of nations in the second half of the tribulation. They won’t have any chances to make new alliances because they’re all going to be doing their best to just survive the great wrath of God. After those final seven judgments, there are only two basic groups in the Tribulation: those who took the Mark and those who didn’t.

I say all of this to reinforce that Ezekiel is writing about an alliance that existed in his day. Notice the references to shields and swords. Again, an alliance that existed in his day. This was a conflict taking place in his day. This is not yet about future prophecy.

But look at Eze 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

Now here, the Lord has made a clear reference to the future. He says, in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword. He’s making a comparison between something they’re wanting to do now to something they will be doing in the latter years.

He talks about the land that is brought back from the sword. They are coming into land that has already been delivered from war. Isaiah wrote in Isa 2:4 …and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The Promised Land has been brought back from the sword. All kingdom land has been delivered from the ravages of war. That can’t be said of Meggido. That real estate was never delivered from war, and at Armageddon, it’s about to experience a great war at the Lord’s Second Advent.

Notice also how the Lord said that the mountains of Israel… have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

This could never be said of any moment of any location on planet Earth in the Tribulation. Everything is laid waste in the Tribulation. What the Lord says can only be descriptive of the kingdom.

You remember how Ezekiel wrote a few chapters earlier in Eze 34:27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they (His people in the kingdom) shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke (all suffering in life because of the sin curse), and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them (the Gentile dominions who ruled over them.). Eze 34:28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid…

Thus, Ezek. 38:8 has to be speaking of an attack AFTER Israel has already been delivered from war, AFTER they’ve already been brought into the Promised Land, and AFTER all of them spent a long time dwelling safely in that land.

Look at Eze 38:9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Eze 38:10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: Eze 38:11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, Eze 38:12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Let’s stop here. Notice first how He says in Eze 38:11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.

He’s describing the land and the setting that exists before Gog’s great invasion. They are living in unwalled villages, no walls, no bars, no gates. One of the titles of the Lord in the kingdom is that He’s called the Wall Breaker in Mic. 2:13. The people are all at rest. They dwell safely in their land. They have no walls, no bars, no gates. The Lord has already brought His people into their land to dwell safely.

Notice how the Lord spoke in vs. 12 of the desolate places that are NOW inhabited. That is a total kingdom reference. Isa. 51:3 and Ezek. 36:35 told us that in the kingdom people will be comparing the once desolate places to Eden. At no point could this ever be said of any place on Earth before Armageddon. This is descriptive of life for the saints in the Promised Land AFTER the kingdom had been established. Perfect rest. Perfect peace. No walls.

And notice the motivation that brings these northern armies into the land. They came for spoils. There is absolutely NO CHANCE that Russia is going to invade Israel at Armageddon just so they could take Israel’s spoils. No one is thinking that way at Armageddon. There are no spoils to take! Everything is destroyed! The sun, the moon, the stars are gone! There’s thick blackness everywhere. What they want is water. Food. Light.

Is it possible that armies will be entering Megiddo from the north before Armageddon? Of course! People will be pouring in from all directions.

But they aren’t there to collect spoils.

They’re there to try to fight the Lord when He returns.

All of this is to say that there’s no possible way the Lord could be talking about Armageddon here. They are coming down from the north into the Promised Land – why? To collect spoils. This is a situation taking place in Ezekiel’s day that is also being used to occasionally foreshadow a similar invasion led by Satan after the thousand-year reign. In Ezekiel’s day, these northern countries, Gog and Magog, wanted to come into Israel and steal all the spoils after Babylon had taken everyone away into captivity. And the Lord is taking this opportunity to cast judgment on them, too. He’s going to allow them to come and He’s going to then send fire upon them from Heaven, all of which foreshadows the final showdown after the millennial reign.

Look atEze 38:13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Eze 38:14 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? Eze 38:15 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: Eze 38:16 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. Eze 38:17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

Notice what happened. The Lord had made a comparison to what they want to do now to a future event at the end of the millennium. And here, He brings everything back into the present, back into Ezekiel’s day. And he tells Ezekiel, go talk to Gog and tell him this prophecy about the future.

Why is Ezekiel telling Gog about something someone else will be doing at the end of the millennium?

It’s like the Prince of Tyre back in Ezekiel 28. The Lord was talking to Satan in His message to the Prince of Tyre. He is again talking to Satan here but through Gog. Gog thinks he’s in charge but he’s not. Satan is pulling the strings, which makes Gog in Ezekiel’s day a type of Satan after the kingdom ends. Satan will be Gog at the end of the millennium. And when Satan makes his last ditch effort to take down the Lord, the Lord is only going to tell him, “Didn’t I already prophesy to you that all this would happen?”

Then fire will come down upon the armies, just as it did in Ezekiel’s day, and Satan will finally be sent to the Lake of Fire.

Look at Eze 38:18 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.

Why does the Lord talk about the fury that’s in His face?

Because the people in the kingdom WILL SEE with their own eyes the fury that’s in His face.

When the Lord said at the same time, He’s again making a comparison. The fury He’s feeling now about them is similar to the fury He’ll be feeling about Gog and Magog at the end of the millennium.

And what the Lord describes next to the end of the chapter is what will happen at the end of the thousand years when Gog and Magog, Satan and his mortal rebel nations, surround Jerusalem and all His people. Eze 38:19 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; Eze 38:20 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. Eze 38:21 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. Eze 38:22 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. Eze 38:23 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.

Astonishing to me that before He sends fire down a lot of time will be spent with the Lord pleading greatly with the people. And while He’s pleading with them, He’s sending rain and hailstones to warn them of the judgment to come. And they still reject him.

Ezekiel 39

Notice how this chapter, like the last chapter, begins with instructions to Ezekiel.

Eze 39:1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say (again, present day, Ezekiel will speak these words to Gog the man), Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: Eze 39:2 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: Eze 39:3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Eze 39:4 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. Eze 39:5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. Eze 39:6 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.

I would suggest that none of this has the distant future in view but the near future in Ezekiel’s day. The Lord doesn’t say, in the latter years. This is still in Ezekiel’s day. Ezekiel is speaking to the real man Gog about real consequences that will befall him for daring to steal the spoils out of Israel.

Yet, God makes a connection here between what He’s going to do to them in the near future and what He’s going to do to Gog in the distant future. He’s going to send fire down from Heaven upon them.

How can you not make this connection to Rev. 20:9?

We have Gog and Magog here and Gog and Magog in Rev. 20. In both scenarios, they’re attacking Israel. In both scenarios God brings down fire upon them.

Look at Eze 39:7 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. (Again, a reference to the present circumstance in Ezekiel’s day) Eze 39:8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken. (I love this line. What God wills to do, in His mind, it’s already a done deal.) Eze 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: Eze 39:10 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. Eze 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.

We have not left the present circumstance in Ezekiel’s day. The Lord only made one connection to the future and that was the one reference to fire. This is about the near future when the people will spend months doing cleanup in Ezekiel’s day after the Lord takes out Gog and his armies.

What would be the point of doing all that cleanup for months after the thousand-year kingdom when God’s going to soon be burning the Earth?

The horrible rotting smell of death in a massive burial site will not happen in the kingdom. That’s part of living in a sin-cursed world.

Look at Eze 39:12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Eze 39:13 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. Eze 39:14 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. Eze 39:15 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. Eze 39:16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. Eze 39:17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Eze 39:18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

Again, we have not left Ezekiel’s day. When God carries out His judgment on Gog and Magog in Ezekiel’s day, Ezekiel himself will call the birds to feast on the carcasses of the dead. No question that what is happening in Ezekiel’s day foreshadows all the fowls eating the flesh after Armageddon. That doesn’t bother me. It’s not uncommon to see different events on the prophetic timeline foreshadowed in the same story.

Look at Eze 39:19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you (the birds, not the people). Eze 39:20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD. Eze 39:21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. Eze 39:22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward. Eze 39:23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

Notice how the Lord said, And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity. There’s no question he’s talking about the present time in Ezekiel’s day. He certainly never put Israel into captivity in the Tribulation. All the unbelieving Jews were killed at the Abomination of Desolation.

What captivity is He talking about?

He’s talking about how He just put Israel into Babylonian captivity. Look at Eze 39:24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. Eze 39:25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; This was a verse Bullinger stressed to make the case that prophesies about Gog and Magog take place at Armageddon, but he’s wrong. We have not once in this chapter left the situation in Ezekiel’s day. This verse has nothing to do with the future. This verse has to do with present day Israel in Ezekiel’s time.

But the Lord closes this chapter out with a glimpse into the distant future.

Look at Eze 39:26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. Eze 39:27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Eze 39:28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Eze 39:29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.