Biblical problems with these Mainstream Views  

            Ironically the futurists’ claim to superiority in their interpretation of scripture is based on the fact that they take scripture more literally than do others.  However, when it comes to such issues as this one has to wonder, what happened to taking the scripture literally?  Prominent advocates of the Pretribulation Rapture (PTR) view, including Tim LaHaye and co-author Jerry Jenkins, often cite a quote from a Dr. David L. Cooper, who wrote:

“When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense, but take every word at its primary, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context clearly indicates otherwise.”  (Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins, Are We Living in the End Times? Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1999).

            Indeed, what they recommend and propose is essential if we want to get the message that God is trying to communicate. The rule needs to be that we let scripture interpret scripture, not scholarly men who want to tell us what the scripture really means.  The assumption being made here is that God was an excellent communicator, and chose His words intentionally and well.  He has written it clear enough that the average lay reader can understand it accurately, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When a passage is not very clear, there is always another passage which sheds light upon it and makes it understandable.  Most of the problems men have with “difficult passages” is a result of trying to make a passage fit their presuppositions, which are not really so biblical.

            Perhaps it is most appropriate to first actually look at what Ezekiel and John wrote.  Maybe we should pay close attention to what the text actually says, even with respect to the details, before we try to find fulfillment in events that either have already happened, or we think are happening, or speculate will happen in the near future.

            There are two very important elements in Ezekiel’s text which are indicators to us as to when what he is prophesying are to be fulfilled.  First, we have the setting in which this is supposed to occur, the situation in Israel at that time.  Second, we have the outcome of this rather salient event, not only with respect to Israel, but the rest of the world as well.

The Situation and Setting as described by Ezekiel 

            With respect to the setting in which this battle with Gog will occur, Ezekiel actually gives us some very informative and discriminatory information to which we must pay careful attention:

“in the latter years thou [Gog] shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them. ^…11and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates; ¹²to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people that are gathered out of the nations, that have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the earth…. ^.14Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In that day when my people Israel dwelleth securely...” (Ezekiel 38:8-14)

            One might note that Ezekiel does not say that Israel “feels” secure, with a false sense of security (as Chuck Missler contends[1]), or that she is just foolishly failing to protect herself with those walls around her cities, because she thinks she has a peace treaty with all her enemies which surround her. He is writing about a time when she will in reality be living in peace and security with no need for such defenses – until the arrival of this Gog/Magog on the scene at least.  Such is clearly not the situation of Israel today, nor has it ever been true of Israel since she has come back into existence, nor is it at all foreseeable in today’s world until Christ returns to destroy her enemies. She has made peace treaties with her enemies, most notably the Camp David Accords during the Carter era, and many since then, and will undoubtedly make many more which will be broken in short order. But we are supposed to believe that she will suddenly feel so secure that she will immediately disarm (in less than 3 ½ years as they must contend) because of a peace treaty with a hostile world leader, the Antichrist – really?           

            While Mr. Missler introduces some very interesting information about the current situation in the world at that time,and the fact that the shelf life of nuclear warheads is also seven years, it seems that he is trying to force Ezekiel’s prophecy to fit what he sees as a contemporary situation.  While one might share his enthusiasm for the concept of imminence of these end-time events, one must nonetheless be constrained by established hermeneutic principles in interpreting scripture, and pay close attention to what God’s word is saying, and what it is not saying  (It is noteworthy that Mr. Missler has long maintained that Iran already has nuclear weapons – something apparently not known to intelligence agencies around the world including Israel’s Mossad or Aman; this oft repeated but questionable assertion may be symptomatic of Missler’s whole approach to seeking and proclaiming truth).

            The word or words to which Mr. Missler is referring which are translated “secure” or “securely,” are variations of the Hebrew root word “batach.”  That word appears in various forms forty-one times in the Old Testament. Of those forty-one occurrences it is indeed used nine times (five passages) where a false security is intended or implied.  However, what Mr. Missler seems to overlook is that the reason why we know that it is a false security is because of the context, and has nothing to do with the word itself. The word alone simply means to have confidence in, or to be secure in, with no connotation of any false hope, or false security. But in those nine verses it becomes quite clear that the confidence, or hope, or sense of security is misplaced.  This is clear because we are told that what those people are trusting in is not something real, or trustworthy, or reliable, and hence it is obvious that their confidence is misplaced.  However, such is not the case in our text in Ezekiel, as it is the Almighty God of Israel, the true God, in which Israel is trusting.  From the context of our passage (including the preceding chapters) we see that it is because of what God has done that they are living securely in the land.  Surely no one would seriously suggest that such would be a misplaced trust, giving rise to a false security.

            In reality if one only examines what Missler is proposing one will see that there is a logical contradiction just in his own theory.  On the one hand he tells us that Israel is feeling secure because of the treaty she has made, or will be making with the Antichrist, which treaty marks the beginning of the Tribulation Period.  At the same time, he is saying that this is all happening before the beginning of the Tribulation Period, which means that she is feeling secure because of a treaty that hasn’t even been made yet. How does that work?

            Tim LaHaye (of the “Left Behind” series fame) is obviously  not living in Israel, nor is he paying much attention to what people are saying who are living there, when he says that Israel is living “securely … even though not always peacefully.”[2]He is also choosing to ignore the fact that in Ezekiel 38-39 they are living without fortifications (“without walls… bars or gates”), which is clearly not the case now – not even in the most literal sense of the words.  Interestingly while LaHaye argues that the Gog of Ezekiel 38-39 is not the same as Antichrist and the battle of Armageddon (a fairly easy case to make), he makes no mention there of the Gog of Revelation 20.

            However, some nevertheless claim that the “unwalled cities” are already the situation today, such as Grant Jeffrey:

“Ezekiel’s reference to ‘dwell safely’ and ‘without walls . . . neither bars nor gates’ refers precisely to Israel’s current military situation, where she is dwelling safely because of her strong armed defense and where her cities and villages have no walls or defensive bars.” ((Grant R. Jeffrey, The Next World War: What Prophecy Reveals About Extreme Islam and the West).

            These men are apparently unaware of the raging controversy over the actual physical walls being built by Israel to keep out the Palestinian and other Islamic terrorists (Israel has built hundreds of miles of walls to protect her cities). However, it is unlikely that God had Ezekiel mention the walls around the cities just to tell us about actual physical walls.  Those walls are meaningful because their absence meant that they weren’t needed because of the secure and peaceful environment in which Israel will find herself in the time about which Ezekiel is prophesying.  They are probably more symbolic of the military defense systems normally needed throughout Israel’s history – which of course is more a matter of sophisticated weapons systems such as missile shields, if we are to apply it to today’s world (though admittedly in this case Jeffrey’s interpretation is more literal, as actual physical walls).

            Many commentators, such as those mentioned above (Walvoord, Dyer, and LaHaye) and discussed further in the following, would seem to agree at least implicitly with Mr. Missler that Ezekiel is writing about a false security. According to these “scholars” once the world leader known to us as the “Antichrist”, makes his treaty with Israel (for the first 3 ½ years of the “Tribulation Period”) she suddenly becomes a nation described by Ezekiel as dwelling securely in the land in unwalled villages (This they base on Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 11:1-2). That would seem to be a bit of a stretch, if not outright ridiculous. Certainly, she is not now living in a secure nor peaceful environment in which such defenses are deemed unnecessary (as argued by LaHaye and Jeffries),[3]nor will she be until Christ returns and sets up His Millennial kingdom on this earth.  To suggest that a short-lived peace treaty with anyone, especially her most feared enemy, will suddenly change all that, seems a little naive stretching the imagination a little too far. Thus, in contrast with Missler, they try to put Ezekiel’s Gog rebellion in the seven-year period known as the 70th week of Daniel, the “Tribulation Period”  (as discussed above). This of course creates an immediate, and what should be an obvious problem for them, explaining how we get the seven years of clean-up after the whole event as mentioned by Ezekiel, into 3 ½ or even 7 years – especially in light of everything else we are explicitly told is going on then.

            By placing it before that period begins Missler avoids this contradiction associated with the seven-year cleanup operation going on during the time of Israel’s worst persecution ever, and into the perfect Millennial kingdom.  However, his explanation has this same cleanup operation carrying over into (or followed immediately by) the 70th week of Daniel, which is when we are told that God is about to use the Gentile nations to judge Israel – not a time when He is going to supernaturally intervene miraculously to rescue and save her from her enemies, as in Ezekiel’s prophecy. One might ask also where is the scripture to support Missler’s theory – but the answer could easily be given that there is just as much explicit scripture to support Missler’s view as there is for any other version of the Pretribulation Rapture!

            What Ezekiel is describing as the situation which follows in the wake of the judgment of God on this Gog rebellion, does not in any way correspond to what John describes, or Daniel describes, or for that matter Jesus describes as the situation for Israel, or the rest of the world as they enter into the 70th week of Daniel. Nothing in scripture tells us Israel will either be secure, or feel secure, anytime before or during that Tribulation Period. We are only told that the Antichrist will make a covenant with her, apparently promising not to war against her.  The rest is the conjecture of men trying to make everything fit into their end-time scenarios – but do they really fit?  Clearly the situation in Israel as described by Ezekiel – restored in her land, secure, and unarmed  – does not fit the situation in Israel now, nor any time before or during the 70^th week of Daniel known as the Tribulation Period.  So, what about the outcome of this rather momentous conflagration?      

The Outcome as described by Ezekiel  

            Probably an even bigger problem for these popular mainstream interpretations, biblically speaking, is the outcome of this Gog Magog event, if we pay attention to what Ezekiel is actually describing. Ezekiel’s prophecy gives us the following facts about the ultimate outcome:

“And I will call for a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. ²²And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. ²³And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. …” (Ezekiel 38:21-23)

“⁶And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. ⁷And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I suffer my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, the Holy One in Israel. ⁸Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,’ declares the Lord GOD. That is the day of which I have spoken. ⁹Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them.” (Ezekiel 39:6-9)

“²¹And I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. …

²⁵Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. ²⁶And they shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid; ²⁷when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. ²⁸And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; ²⁹neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.” (Ezekiel 39:21-29)

            According to Ezekiel’s prophecy the outcome is that the threat of Gog is really an empty threat. While he gathers a massive army to come up against Israel, God supernaturally intervenes, destroys Gog and his forces once for all, and Israel’s security is unaffected – she will still be living securely in her land without any need for walls, or defensive armament. However, the destruction of Gog and his forces is not the only outcome of this event according to Ezekiel. We see that at this time God avenges Israel, upon whom He has shown mercy, fulfilling His promises to Jacob of complete restoration and blessing, not only physically but spiritually.  As of this point in time he is said to have poured out His Spirit on her (v. 39:29). Would anyone seriously suggest that this is going to happen before, or any time during the Tribulation Period? For the intellectually honest truth seeker, this should end the discussion.

            With regard to all the other nations – the rest of the world – He makes Himself known to them such that they have to recognize Him as Jehovah God, “the Holy one of Israel”. He also asserts His sovereignty such that from that point on no one will ever again profane His name. Will this be true of the Tribulation Period any time before Christ second coming? Isn’t that whole period the time when His name will be the most profaned – according to scripture?

            So how does anyone find fulfillment for Ezekiel’s prophecy any time in history, or in today’s world, or any time leading up to the Tribulation Period, or during the Tribulation period described in the Bible?  How can Ezekiel’s prophecy, if taken at all literally, be made to fit in the futurists’ scenario for the Tribulation Period, or any time before that?  Can anyone really claim that God has or is going to make all the other nations bow to Him and stop profaning His name forever anytime in history, or at the beginning of the Tribulation Period, or before it begins, or anytime during that period?  Or would anyone suggest that God is going to restore Israel fully even pouring out His Spirit on her and fulfilling His promises to her through Jacob, before or at the beginning of, or any time during the Tribulation Period before the very end at the second coming of Christ? 

            If anyone can give a rational explanation as to how all of this fits into the Tribulation Period, much less before the Tribulation Period, they will deserve credit for performing a linguistic feat of miraculous proportions (the operative word here is rational).  The simple fact is that it is impossible to take Ezekiel’s prophecy literally as it stands in scripture, and make it fit into the scenarios men have contrived, without logical inconsistencies and contradictions that are insurmountable, much less making it fit somewhere in Revelation (other than chapter 20 where we indeed find it).  Furthermore, it almost seems a little disingenuous of men (Futurists, Dispensationalists, Pretribulation Rapturists), who claim superiority in their understanding and interpretation of Bible prophecy on the premise that they take scripture more literally than do others (such as the historicists, Amillennialists, and Postmillennialists) to seriously even suggest that:

            a)  a very unique personality and global event of such magnitude and importance as this Gog/Magog attempt to invade Israel, and God’s incredible divine intervention on her behalf, happens twice – once before Christ returns and sets up His Millennial kingdom, and again after the Millennium;  

            b)  an event of such magnitude and importance as Ezekiel’s Gog, is not so much as mentioned in John’s rather detailed revelation about the very time period when it is supposed to occur;  did God just forget to mention it, or did John fail to get the message – how do they propose to explain such a glaring discrepancy, if their theories and scenarios are the real truth?

Logical Problems with the Mainstream Interpretations

            First, most of these Bible scholars agree that Gog is not the Antichrist (with some notable exceptions addressed in the following), but Israel’s treaty will be with the Antichrist, not Gog.  How then is Israel supposed to be secure, or even feel secure, since this peace treaty which is supposed to be making her so secure, is not a treaty with the Gog/Magog and that bloc of nations (named in Ezekiel 38) which will be part of that coalition.  How could she be “secure in her land” when all these hostile nations which are her enemies and threatening her today, become even more threatening then during the Tribulation Period, and she has no treaty with them?  Obviously if Ezekiel’s Gog is arising during the Tribulation Period he will not be under the control of the Antichrist.  Hence a treaty with the Antichrist would do little to enhance Israel’s security, realistically speaking, until after Gog is gone. Most contemporary scholars seem to agree that such a coalition would be the mid-eastern bloc of Arabic, Persian, Slavic and North African or Islamic nations, which some believe will be led by Russia (which they used to refer confidently to as “the Soviet Union”), and/or China.

            Furthermore, the peace treaty which that end-time world ruler will make with Israel, which futurists recognize as the beginning of this Tribulation Period, will be broken after 3½ years.  At that time he will invade Israel and Jerusalem, desecrate the temple (the “abomination of desolation”), and set himself up as God.  According to Revelation from that point on he kills (beheads) anyone who does not accept his mark – 666 the “Mark of the Beast.”   This is the scenario derived mostly from a Dispensationalist’s interpretation of Daniel and Revelation, to which these futurists subscribe.  Therein lies the problem – or another of many problems.  How does anyone find fulfillment for Ezekiel’s prophecy in today’s world, or during the Tribulation period as described in the Bible?  How can Ezekiel’s prophecy, if taken at all literally, be made to fit in the futurists’ scenario for the Tribulation Period, or before it?  The situations are very different, and the outcome for each is entirely different – as discussed above. 

            Again, it is almost as far-fetched as Mr. DeMar’s interpretation of Gog as Haman of the book of Esther (in some respects the latter is more believable).  While DeMar’s interpretation seems almost laughable to the literalists, he may be credited with more integrity.  He at least makes little pretense to be interpreting most of prophetic scripture literally.  Hence anyone’s interpretation can be almost as good as anyone else’s depending only upon their presuppositions and meanings they attach to what they see as symbols and allegories or hyperbolic literature (in which case there is little point in debating or discussing the whole subject matter as there is little if any objectivity in such an approach).

            What could be more foolish than to try to argue that a very small country is living securely in her land while sandwiched between very hostile enemy nations, some of whom openly express their hatred for her and their intention to annihilate her.  Especially in light of the fact that those neighboring nations are filled with religious fanatics who are commissioned by their God (Allah) to eradicate them (Israel and all Jews) from the face of the earth?  How gullible are we thought to be to believe that when a world leader, who is not even the leader of these hostile forces, chooses to make another of a long succession of treaties with her, promising her peace, that she will disarm and tear down all of her walls within 3½ years of such a treaty, and think that she is living securely in safety because of it?  Why should we believe that when God inspired Ezekiel to write “dwelling securely in the land” that he really only meant that she very mistakenly thinks she is secure because of a false promise of the Antichrist – just because it fits their preferred scenarios?  Or, we are supposed to believe that she is secure because she is well armed, with powerful allies (such as the U.S. and some weak European nations), when her enemies are also very well armed, and their allies (such as Russia, China, and the United Nations) are more reliable than Israel’s allies are proving to be (as in the West’s attempts to play both sides in the war with Hamas). No one in Israel today is claiming to be secure, and certainly not feeling secure, and it will not get better under the global reign of the Anti-Israel, Anti-Christian, Antichrist. Such explanations surely need to be re-evaluated.

            And what about the outcome of Ezekiel’s Gog rebellion, which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the scenario they propose?  The Tribulation Period is the time when Satan and wicked men are allowed almost free reign as the restrainer will no longer restrain him (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7).  It is the climatic culmination of evil and wickedness and rebellion against God.  How can it also be a time described by Ezekiel when God’s sovereignty is recognized and His name no longer profaned?  Are we just supposed to take pieces of Ezekiel 38-39 out of context so that it will fit the template of what our astute Bible scholars authoritatively all agree is going to happen, and when it is going to happen?   

            Furthermore, Dyer’s interpretation (cited above) reveals a real problem logically with his own explanation.  According to his view this battle occurs some time around the middle of the seven-year tribulation period.  This means that there is at that point only 31/2 – 4 years or so left until Christ returns and establishes his Millennial kingdom on earth (after destroying the whole earth).  But Ezekiel tells us that the aftermath of this war includes a seven-year clean-up period, in which they will still be making fires of the weapons of war.  This means that Israel would be doing this clean-up operation while all of the events of the last half of the tribulation period is going on, including her own persecution, and all of the globally catastrophic terrestrial and cosmic events of that period – the sixth Seal, the seven Trumpets and seven Bowls and the Battle of Armageddon.  In fact, it will extend at least three to four years past the time that God is going to destroy the whole heaven and earth at the second coming of Christ, and carrying over for years into the Millennium.  How much sense does that make? 

            It is particularly questionable in light of the understanding that God recreates the heaven and the earth before setting up that Millennial kingdom on earth, which would be necessary after the total devastation of the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls.  Thus, not only are Dyer’s objections themselves flawed, and based on very flawed assumptions, but his alternative explanation is quite incompatible with what is clearly stated in scripture, or is even logical according to his own scenario.

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[1] Missler, Chuck, “The Swords of Allah”,  produced by Koinonia House in 1993)

[2] LaHaye, Tim, LaHaye & Ice, Charting the End Times.

[3] As of this writing in 2024 Israel is in a war for her very existence with Hamas over the Gaza Strip, which involves Hezbollah to the North in Lebanon, which are both operating as proxies of Iran – strange kind of “security”.