GOG AND MAGOG - PART ONE

For those of you who feel that the Bible has little influence over our world, let me point out a name that appears only once in the Bible, and yet is part of our vocabulary and vernacular. There was even a movie made with that title, Armageddon. This name is of a place described in the Revelation where all the nations of the earth will be gathered to fight against tiny Israel. It is in northern Israel near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Lord Jesus described the Tribulation Period as a time like no other. (Mark 13:19) Our Heavenly Father has been very patient and gracious, but mankind continues to deny that He is Lord of all things and continues in their evil ways. The anger of God will be shown during the Tribulation. “See, the day of the LORD is coming, a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.” (Isaiah 13:9) “Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty ...” (Isaiah 13:13) I don’t want to be around during the Tribulation.

The Tribulation is described as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). The Battle of Armageddon is the last battle of the Tribulation Period. The purpose of this battle, which will be ended by the Lord, will be to show all peoples of the earth that God is Lord of all. As a result of this time the Jews will realize that Jesus is Messiah. “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” (Zechariah 12:10) The entire world will know Who is in charge. In the Revelation we are told that rebellious men will know that God is the cause of the troubles, and yet they do not repent. In the end, however, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Romans 14:11).

The early part of the Tribulation Period will be a time of peace. The anti-Christ will “confirm a covenant” (Daniel 9:27) and will arrange for the Jews to build a place of worship (Temple or Tabernacle?). Because the anti-Christ is able to cause the place of worship to be built, the Jews will think that he is the Messiah. That is already built into their mindset; the Messiah will build the Temple, and prophetically speaking, there must be a Temple or Tabernacle, because after 3 ½ years the anti-Christ will go into the Temple and declare himself god (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15). Then things will get ugly. This will be the Great Tribulation. (Revelation 7:14)

I give this background because of a personal struggle I have had with Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. In these chapters the Lord prophesies about and against Gog and Magog. Gog is named as leader of a people called Magog. The Battle of Gog and Magog is against Israel and seems to be separate from the Battle of Armageddon. Many Bible prophecy scholars think the Battle of Gog and Magog will occur before the Tribulation Period. I do not agree and in the next lesson I will explain why.