The Gog and Magog War

After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them.

Ezekiel 38:8

The prophecy of the Gog and Magog war is one that produces many speculations in Christianity. People tend to be generally confused with the time lines of Biblical prophecy. I certainly do not have all the answers, but Scripture is quite clear about these events. This war is mentioned in the books of Ezekiel and Revelation.

Eze 38:1 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 38:2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the head leader of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.
Eze 38:3 And you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against you, Gog, the head leader of Meshach and Tubal,
Eze 38:4 and I will turn you around, and I will place hooks in your cheeks, and I will bring you out and all of your horses and horsemen fully armed, all of them, a great crowd, holding a shield, and small shield, and holding swords, all of them.
Eze 38:5 Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them, with a small shield and helmet.
Eze 38:6 Gomer and all of its troops, Beth Togarmah, the remote areas of the north, and with all of its troops and many peoples with them.
Eze 38:7 Be ready, and prepare yourselves, you and all of your assembly, the assembling around you, and you must be for them as a guard.
Eze 38:8 After many days you will be mustered; in the last years you will come to a restored land from the sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as permanent ruins but from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell in safety, all of them.
Eze 38:9 And you will advance like a storm; you will come, and you will be like a cloud covering the land, and all of your troops and many nations along with you.”
Eze 38:10 “‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And then on that day, things will come up on your mind, and you will devise evil plans.
Eze 38:11 And you will say, ‘I will go up against a land of open country; I will come to the people being at rest in safety, all of them dwelling without a wall and crossbars and without doors,
Eze 38:12 to loot loot, and to plunder plunder, to assail inhabited ruins and a people gathered together from various peoples and who are acquiring livestock and goods and dwelling at the center of the world.

The key phrases in these verses are the “people in the center of the world” and “are at rest in safety”. There are currently no people resting in safety in the center of the world. These are those who were gathered from the four corners of the world. Christianity tends to misunderstand where they belong in eschatology due to the error of dispensational theology. These gathered people are those who endure to the end of this current age, or are part of the first resurrection. Gog is attacking the Millennium kingdom, “to assail inhabited ruins and a people gathered together from various peoples”.

Zec 14:9 And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; on that day Yahweh will be one and his name one.
Zec 14:10 All the land will be transformed into a desert plateau from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But it will rise up high and it will stay in its place from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, up to the Corner Gate and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.
Zec 14:11 And they will dwell in it, and there will be no more ban imposed, and Jerusalem will dwell in security.

This gathering of people, sometimes referred to as the second exodus, is spoken about all through the Bible. Please read all of chapter eleven in Isaiah to see the references to the Messiah.

Isa 11:11 And this shall happen on that day: The Lord will again extend his hand a second time to acquire the remnant of his people that is left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea,
Isa 11:12 and he will raise a signal for the nations. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four corners of the earth.
Isa 11:13 And the jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not be an enemy of Ephraim.

Yahusha, transliterated to “Jesus“ in modern English, made reference of this event as well. Those expecting a pre-tribulation rapture of “the church”, practicing lawlessness and pagan rituals, are going to be disappointed.

Mat 24:30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other end of it.

During this time the survivors of the great day of Yahuah will be required to come for the Feast of Booths, and Ezekiel’s Millennium temple will be in operation.

Zec 14:16 And then every survivor from all those nations coming against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:17 And then whoever of the clans of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the king, Yahweh of hosts, it will not rain on them.
Zec 14:18 And if the clan of Egypt will not go up and come in, on them will be that plague Yahweh inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zec 14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

The Gog and Magog war is after these events. It is the final chance the adversary will have to gather people of the nations against the holy mountain of God.

Eze 38:14 “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and you must say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Will you not realize on that day when my people Israel are dwelling in safety,
Eze 38:15 and so you will come from your place, from the remote areas of the north, you and many people with you, horsemen all of them, a great crowd and a vast army,
Eze 38:16 and you will advance against my people Israel like a cloud covering the land; it will be in the last days, and I will bring you against my land, so that the nations know me, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes, O Gog!”‘

This war will happen when Israel will be dwelling safely in the last days. It is at the end of the Millennium reign of the Messiah. We still have the gathering of of the two houses, Israel, also know as Ephraim, and Judah, ahead of us.

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
Rev 20:8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
Rev 20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Once the nations attack the Kingdom of God one last time, with the satan leading, it will be the end of heaven and Earth.

Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
Rev 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

I view our current time in prophecy as still being in the birth pains. We have the fifth seal in front of us.

Mat 24:3 And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you!
Mat 24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And you are going to hear about wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Mat 24:8 But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.
Mat 24:9 “Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name.
Mat 24:10 And then many will be led into sin and will betray one another and will hate one another,
Mat 24:11 and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many,
Mat 24:12 and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold.
Mat 24:13 But the one who endures to the end—this person will be saved.
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

We have to endure wars and rumours of wars, witness the gathering of the elect, see Israel and Judah reunited, and living in the land in peace and safety with those who are grafted in from the nations. After all of this, the people remaining on the Earth will once again rise up against the Kingdom of God and be defeated, ushering in the new heavens and new earth.

The featured image is by Khashayar Kouchpeydeh on Unsplash.