The mainstream view is that the Gog and Magog prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39 is not the same as that of Revelation 20:8-9. According to them Ezekiel’s prophecy is about what may be a contemporary time frame, or else about the Tribulation Period – most futurist scholars opting for some time during that Tribulation Period. However, what this means is that this most prominent event Ezekiel prophesies about isn’t even mentioned in the book of Revelation, that book which gives us the most detail about what is going to happen during that Tribulation Period (which may be why some, such as Chuck Missler, place it before the Tribulation Period begins – though there is nothing in scripture which indicates that either). This is purely a result of not really paying much attention to what is explicitly stated in the two texts, and a compulsion to read doctrinal presuppositions and even current situations and events into the inspired text. As a result, Ezekiel’s prophecy has been applied many times throughout history to a variety of historical situations and events, including some that even happened in Old Testament times (such as Haman in the book of Esther, according to Historicist Gary DeMar).
Now it is likely that the unindoctrinated average Bible reader will object to the statement that this Gog/Magog war is not even mentioned by John in Revelation. They will probably be quick to point out that Gog is specifically named, as well as the major battle against him, in Revelation 20:7-10. And, indeed they are quite correct, but their objection would reveal that they are not yet indoctrinated but are just going by what is clearly stated in the inspired text.
However, the scholarly position, which has become the mainstream view among futurists, is that the Gog of Revelation 20 is completely different from that of Ezekiel’s prophecy. The problem as perceived by these scholars is that John puts this Gog/Magog rebellion against God in a time frame after the Rapture, after the second coming, and after the whole Millennial reign of Christ on this earth. Hence it doesn’t fit into the contemporary fulfillment template that such scholars insist must be the case for the prophecy in Ezekiel. This would undermine and even contradict the popular theories and the exciting novels that seem to be big sellers in today’s market, not to mention scare tactics that are supposedly causing people to turn to Christ.
Renown Greek scholar Henry Alford does not see these profound differences as he gives the following: “Gog and Magog (compare Ezek. xxxviii-xxxix. throughout. This which is here prophesied is the great final fulfillment of those chapters)” (Henry, Alford, “Revelation”, New Testament for English Readers)
Here again, putting first things first, we should look at what John actually wrote to compare it to what we saw from Ezekiel 38-39 above:
“7When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” (Revelation 20:7-9)
First, what is John telling us here?
- Satan is going to deceive the nations from the four corners of the earth.
- Gog and Magog will be used by Satan to gather the various nations for war.
- The hordes will be like the sand of the seashore.
- They will surround the camp of the Saints and the beloved city, Jerusalem.
- They will be devoured by fire from heaven.
The only relevant question is which of these relatively few details about this Post-millennial event is in conflict or incompatible with Ezekiel’s prophecy, such that they cannot be about the same Gog/Magog and the same event?
Problems with the Mainstream Pretribulation Rapture View
A well-known spokesmen for the mainstream view, Dr. John Walvoord, argues that the two prophecies are about two different Gog Magogs and two entirely different time frames. He gives us the following commentary on Revelation 20:
“Many contrasts can be made between this battle and that of Ezekiel in that Satan is prominent in this whereas he is not mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39. The invasion of Ezekiel comes from the north whereas this invasion comes from all directions. Ezekiel’s battle probably occurs previous to the battle of the great day of God Almighty before the millennium, whereas this occurs after the thousand years have been finished.” (Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ)
The first problem with Dr. Walvoord’s objections is that while he claims that many contrasts can be drawn, in fact he only mentions two rather insignificant differences, and a third which is strictly a matter of his own debatable interpretation based on his questionable assumptions – his presuppositions. A close look at his first “contrast” would reveal how specious such an argument is. The fact that Satan is not mentioned in Ezekiel’s prophecy is not terribly significant, since in fact Ezekiel hasn’t credited Satan with any of the wickedness which he has prophesied in his book, though other scripture tells us that Satan is working in and through the personalities involved. Surely Dr. Walvoord would not have us to believe that Ezekiel intended that his Gog of the land of Magog was acting alone in what he did, without the influence of Satan working through him. If we apply this same logic to the prophecies of others, such as Daniel for example (Daniel 9 thru 11), then we would conclude that Daniel is not talking about the same “beast,” or the “Antichrist” of which John writes in Revelation, since unlike Daniel, John clearly tells us that it is Satan. John referred to him as “the dragon,” who empowers the “beast”, which we refer to as the Antichrist – but no one makes such an absurd argument, least of all Dr. Walvoord. Clearly, it is understood that Satan is in fact the power behind Ezekiel’s Gog, whether or not it is the same Gog as prophesied by John.
The second argument is perhaps even more specious than the first, which he himself and his colleagues themselves contradict in their commentary on the subject. Contrary to what Walvoord clearly implies, Ezekiel does not say that all of these people following Gog are coming from the north. Although Ezekiel does identify “Beth-togarmah” as coming from the “remote parts of the north” (Ezekiel 38:6), and even Gog as similarly coming “from your place out of the remote parts of the north” (Ezekiel 38:15), he also mentions other nations which are known to us today, which are not in the remote parts of the north, including Libya and Sudan, which are actually south of Israel. Ezekiel also tells us that “many peoples” will be coming with Gog and his forces as they march against Israel. Even Dr. Walvoord’s colleague, Dr. Charles Dyer (both Professors at Dallas Theological Seminary and contributors to The Bible Knowledge Commentary) makes this point in his book World News and Bible Prophecy (for which Walvoord wrote the Forward):
“Ezekiel spoke of a coalition of several nations, many of whom are today aligned with, or under the influence of the Soviet Union. These include Iran (‘Persia’), Sudan and northern Ethiopia (‘Cush’), Libya (‘Put’), and Turkey (‘Meshech’, ‘Tubal’, ‘Gomer’, and ‘Beth Togarmah’). All these nations (see 38:2:5-6), possibly led by the Soviet Union, will unite to attack Israel.”(The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Ezekiel) [1]
“Many have marveled over the odd assortment of allies in Ezekiel 38-39. From Israel’s perspective, the nations span the points of the compass as they unite from all sides to attack God’s chosen people.” (World News and Bible Prophecy (for which Walvoord wrote the Forward), Chapter 11, “Turkey, Iran and the Islamic Alliance Against Israel” – emphasis added).
So, what happened to this big difference between the two prophecies, that “The invasion of Ezekiel comes from the north whereas this invasion [referring to Revelation 20:8] comes from all directions”? According to their own interpretations, what Ezekiel wrote agrees entirely with what John wrote in Revelation 20:8. In reality they have only helped make the case, albeit inadvertently, that both are about the same huge Gog/Magog event.
Thus, though John in his very brief account does not mention where Gog comes from, this does not in any way mean that he could not be from the north just as well as he could be from the east (Ezekiel mentions Persia which is today Iran), or from the west (Ezekiel mentions the “coastlands”), or from the south (Sudan (Ethiopia) or Libya). Surely Walvoord would not argue with the assumption that the Gog in Revelation must come from one of the four directions of the compass, and could not be coming from all four at the same time. His followers however, the nations mentioned by Ezekiel, according to their own interpretations, are coming from all directions surrounding Israel. The simple truth is that John does not say that Gog comes from the four corners of the earth (which would be quite impossible), but that the nations which follow him are those nations surrounding Israel from all directions. By the same token, Ezekiel also tells us that the nations following Gog will come not only from the north, but from the east (Persia = Iran), south (Cush = Ethiopia), west (Put = Libya), as well as from the North (Gomer and Togarmah = Turkey). Thus again, Ezekiel is simply giving us more detail, filling in the whole picture to which John merely alludes in the briefest of terms. Of course, when John describes in two verses what Ezekiel has described in two whole chapters, John cannot include all the specific details given by Ezekiel. To suggest that there is a conflict in this respect between these two accounts is almost inexplicable apart from a rather obvious bias.
With respect to Walvoord’s third objection:
“Ezekiel’s battle probably occurs previous to the battle of the great day of God Almighty before the millennium, whereas this occurs after the thousand years have been finished.”
This is really just a theoretical proposition (hence his qualifier “probably”). There is nothing in Ezekiel, nor in Revelation, nor for that matter anywhere else in scripture, which indicates that the battle prophesied by Ezekiel is before the millennium. In fact, to suggest so is not only another indication that such men are interpreting scripture primarily to fit their doctrinal presuppositions, but also seems to indicate a rather careless approach to exegesis.
The book of Ezekiel, as with most books of prophecy, is not all written in chronological order with respect to the sequence in which the events prophesied are to occur. However, there is nothing to indicate that chapters thirty-eight and thirty-nine should be taken as occurring before all the preceding chapters describing the reign of Christ on earth, which is how they are interpreting it.
Most Bible scholars, including those cited above, interpret chapters thirty-six and thirty-seven of Ezekiel as being related to the Millennium – a kingdom which we are told repeatedly in scripture will last forever (Ezekiel 37:28). But then, ignoring the descriptions of this Millennial kingdom as being one that lasts forever on a newly recreated earth (see Isaiah 65:17-25), they have God destroying the whole world at the end of that 1000 year Millennial kingdom of God on earth.[2] According to their interpretation of Revelation 20, it is not until after the Millennium and after the Gog rebellion that the destruction of the whole heaven and earth and the creation of the new heaven and earth happens (though some, such as Tim LaHaye, disagree with that view, correctly seeing the 2 Peter 3:10-13 prophecy occurring before the Millennium at Christ’s second coming – as it must be).
This self-contradictory interpretation inverts the order given in scripture in which this perfect Millennial kingdom is set up at the second coming of Christ, when the current heavens and earth are destroyed – the judgment on the whole earth. That Edenic Kingdom of God on earth is then set up in a newly recreated heaven and earth (which is necessary given all the destruction of the 7 Seals, the 7 Trumpets, the 7 Bowls and the Battle of HarMagedon of Revelation 6-19). That perfect Millennial kingdom is not destined for destruction, but is described as an everlasting kingdom, in which Christ, and David, reign forever. It is briefly interrupted when Satan is released and uses Gog of Magog to incite a rebellion among those unsaved who were also resurrected (“the rest of the dead” of Revelation 20:5), which He then destroys physically, after which comes the Great White Throne judgment of their souls.
Some, if not most, then also interpret chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel as sequential to 38-39, related to either the Millennium, or the following eternal state (though in fact there are many reasons associated with the text itself that both the Millennium and the eternal state on earth must be in view in those chapters). Now we are told that sandwiched between all these prophecies concerning the Millennium of the preceding chapters, and the Postmillennial Eternal State of the following nine chapters, are these two chapters 38-39 which are related to the time period which precedes all of them – the Premillennial Tribulation Period, or even before that – i.e. completely out of sequence. Nothing in the text itself, or for that matter any other passage of scripture, requires it to be so interpreted. But such an interpretation requires us to either ignore the text as it is written, or devise forced interpretations of it. That in turn leads to some logical inconsistencies in the scenarios that result from such an approach, as discussed in the preceding, and more in the following. It is a classic case of taking a portion of scripture out of its context, and forcing it to fit into one’s presuppositions.
As discussed above, the situation described in Ezekiel chapter thirty-seven is one in which Israel is finally secure, and enjoying what is to be a lasting peace. In fact, Ezekiel tells us several times that they are enjoying both a physical restoration, and a spiritual regeneration, in which He is dwelling amongst them and they are His people, and that this is a situation that will last “forever” (Ezekiel 37:25-28). That will not happen until the Millennium.
Interestingly Joel Richardson in his book Mideast Beast, tries to use this to support his view that the Gog of Ezekiel is the Antichrist of Revelation, correctly arguing that such a description surely would not fit Israel’s situation either before nor any time during the whole Tribulation Period – as discussed in depth in the following paragraphs. However, he then somehow glosses over or ignores the fact that it is the situation in Israel before Gog arrives, not just after Gog is destroyed by God. He also argues that the Gog battle is the Battle of Armageddon, after which Israel will be enjoying peace and security in her land throughout the Millennium. Unfortunately, Richardson like his opponents of the “mainstream view”, such as Walvoord and LaHaye, makes the same mistake they do, failing to realize that scripture does the best job of interpreting scripture – i.e. that the timing of Ezekiel’s prophecy about Gog is explicitly set forth in Revelation 20:8-9. However, even simple logic will tell us that this situation of peace and security in Israel could only be after Christ’s second coming, and hence after at least the first resurrection of the righteous dead.
Chapter thirty-eight then progresses the narrative, as we are told concerning this Gog, of the land of Magog, that:
“In the latter days you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.” (Ezekiel 38:8)
At what other time in the history of Israel, or in the prophetic calendar of future events, will Israel be completely restored to her land, which is restored from the sword, and truly living securely in her land? Of course, many today will take only part of this prophecy to say it is being fulfilled today – and indeed we do see a partial fulfillment happening with the recent Zionist movement and Jews returning to their land, and becoming a nation again. But, that is only half of the prophecy. To suggest, as amazingly some do, that she is living securely in her land, might be laughable if it weren’t so tragically wrong (this is discussed further in the following and in a related article, “Gog/Magog Timing – Problems with the Mainstream Views”). However, it clearly is exactly the situation that Ezekiel has just described in the 36th and 37th chapter, and will not really be fulfilled until that period during and after the Millennial reign of Christ on earth.
Even Dr. Dyer (cited above) states this rather matter-of-factly in his commentary on that 37th chapter of Ezekiel. There he declares that this restoration of Israel of chapter 37 is not fulfilled by what we are seeing today, the return of many Jews to Israel, but he says:
“…it will be fulfilled when God regathers believing Israelites to the land (Jer. 31:33; 33:14-16), when Christ returns to establish His kingdom (cf. Matt. 24:30-31).” (Dyer, Charles, The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Old Testament, “Ezekiel 37:11-14,” pp. 1298-1299)
He is of course referring here to the Millennial kingdom. Yet incredibly, when it comes to chapter thirty-eight, and we have the same situation alluded to, with Israel restored and regenerated and living securely in their land, he suddenly comes up with a whole different interpretation:
“It seems best to place Ezekiel’s battle of Gog and Magog in the Tribulation period. Other internal markers indicate that it should be placed in the first three and one-half years of the seven-year period. The attack will come when Israel is at peace (Ez. 38:8, 11). When Israel’s covenant with the Antichrist is in effect at the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week (Dan. 9:27a), she will be at peace. … This will provide time to bury the dead (Ezek. 39:12-13) burn the weapons of war (39:9-10). … Possibly the battle will occur just before the midpoint of the seven-year period.” (Dyer, The Bible Knowledge Commentary – Old Testament, p.1300)
Here again we have a theologian who has come up with several objections to why Ezekiel and Revelation cannot be both describing the same event, which he also mistakenly places “at the end of Christ’s Millennial reign on earth.” His first objection is that:
“Some think that this attack on Israel should be identified with the attack of Gog and Magog at the end of the millennial reign (Rev. 20:7-9), but this has several flaws: (1) The results of Ezekiel’s battle do not coincide with the events that follow the battle in Revelation 20. Why bury the dead for seven months after the battle (Ezek. 39:9-10) when the next prophetic event is the resurrection of the unsaved dead? (Revelation 20:11-13) Why would the people remain on earth after the battle to burn the weapons of war for seven years (Ezek. 39:9-10) instead of entering immediately into eternity?” (Dyer, p.1300)
The problem with this argument is it is again based on a presupposition which involves a misinterpretation of the text to which he alludes, Revelation 20:11-13. First, he attempts a little slight of hand by changing the wording of the preceding text, to have the Gog rebellion in Revelation occurring during, albeit “at the end” of the Millennium. But the actual wording inspired by God doesn’t really allow such an interpretation:
“5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. 7When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore” (Revelation 20:5-8)
In other words, the Millennial reign is already over and we have entered a Postmillennial era when Gog appears on the scene. But Dyer maintains that the next prophetic event after the Millennium is over is the resurrection of the unsaved dead, and then immediately after that the eternal state. Is this what we see in John’s revelation? In fact, John tells us that the resurrection of the “rest of the dead” happens after the thousand years of the Millennium are over, and before the Gog rebellion. While Dyer does not explain himself in this commentary, he apparently reverses the order of events given in scripture (see Endnote [i]), having the resurrection of the unsaved dead occurring after the Gog rebellion instead of before it, as we find in the scriptural account. John does not tell us that immediately after the Gog rebellion there is a resurrection of the unsaved dead, and immediately after that the eternal state. In fact, nowhere is that even suggested in scripture. Nor are we told that the Gog rebellion will be during the Millennium with people that lived during that 1000-year reign doing the rebelling against God – and that in massive numbers. Such a scenario not only contradicts explicit scripture, but is entirely illogical.
However, this is not the only questionable interpretation articulated by Dr. Dyer. He also makes the following statements, as cited above:
“It seems best to place Ezekiel’s battle of Gog and Magog in the Tribulation period. Other internal markers indicate that it should be placed in the first three and one-half years of the seven-year period. … This will provide time to bury the dead (Ezek. 39:12-13) burn the weapons of war (39:9-10).”
Now granted we can’t expect theologians to be mathematicians, but this isn’t advanced Algebra or Calculus. One has to wonder if Dr. Dyer is reading the same text we are. As cited above, Ezekiel clearly wrote that the burning of the weapons will go on for seven years. Now Dr. Dyer has a scenario involving the following major developments: Israel disarming herself because of the security she is enjoying due to a treaty made with the Antichrist at the beginning of that seven year period; the marshalling of massive armies (like the sand on the seashore) from the four corners of the earth (i.e. north, east, south and west of Israel), but not under the control of the Antichrist, which will surround Jerusalem (which will be under the Antichrist’s domain); a major conflagration involving the total destruction of that massive army; then 7 years of cleaning up. All this is happening in less than a 7 year time frame. According to Ezekiel it takes the whole seven years just to clean up the mess – that doesn’t leave much time for all the rest – especially if it is to occur just prior to the mid-point of that 7-year period as Dr. Dyer indicates it will. How does he get 7 years of burning into a little over 3½ years?
Another of Dyer’s objections to interpreting the Gog of Revelation twenty and that of Ezekiel 38-39 is his assertion that “In Ezekiel the battle is the catalyst God will use to draw Israel to Himself”, (citing Ezekiel 39:7, and 22-29 as his proof texts on this point). However, Ezekiel himself has not indicated that God is using this battle to draw Israel to Himself. What he does say is: “…My holy name shall I make known in the midst of My people Israel ... (39:7a). And in fact He also says there: “…and I shall not let My holy name be profaned anymore; And the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel” (39:7b). Isn’t Ezekiel saying here that God is going to use this battle to bring all of the other nations to Himself? And if so, just exactly when and where and how does this fit into the so-called seven-year “Tribulation Period”? And if it is to be occurring during that time of great tribulation, as at the midpoint as Dyer postulates, is it true that God stops His holy name from being profaned anymore at that point in time? Isn’t the worst period of profaning of God’s name to take place in that last half of that very “tribulation period” Dr. Dyer is writing about? Indeed, according to the Bible the last half of the 70th week of Daniel (the “Great Tribulation Period”) is when God’s name is profaned the worst it has ever been in all of human history. How then can Ezekiel be writing here about that period of time? Perhaps the real question is, how does Dr. Dyer miss this part of Ezekiel’s prophecy, when it is in the same verse? Why does he selectively take out of context the part about Israel, which he also has to reword to fit his scheme of things?
What Dyer is really saying is that this passage in Ezekiel thirty-nine is speaking of a future day of repentance of Israel when she as a nation will turn to God. He proposes that this will occur after this attack by Gog, during the tribulation period, before the Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel. However, what is entirely lacking is any kind of scriptural support for this view (except by very circuitous logic, forcing scripture to fit certain presuppositions). This interpretation is fraught with glaring discrepancies.
First scripturally, if the Jews are turning to God at that time (the first half of the “Tribulation Period”), as Dyer contends, why is there no mention of it anywhere in the book of Revelation? For that matter, how could God, writing through John, overlook to mention in the whole book of Revelation such a significant event as this massive rebellion that Ezekiel has described, with Israel turning to Him? This becomes especially curious in light of the position so emphasized by these men that the main message of Revelation is supposed to be about God’s program for Israel since they insist that the church “is not in Revelation”, having been supposedly raptured out already? If God’s program for Israel is the only, or the main theme of the book, how could He omit such a major event in Israel’s future from that account?
But even more problematic with respect to their logic, is the following self-contradiction. According to their view God is primarily judging Israel (not purging the church) in the whole Tribulation Period, especially the last half, after Antichrist breaks his covenant with her. However, Dyer is telling us here that Israel will “be drawn to Himself [God]” (not judgment), referring to what Ezekiel describes as Israel’s repentance and restoration/ regeneration by God, after He pours out His judgment on Gog/Magog in the first half of this Tribulation period. Here is what Ezekiel tells us in that passage to which Dyer is making reference:
“‘22And the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God from that day onward. 23The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword. 24According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them.’25Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. 26They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. 27When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. 28Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. 29I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 37:22-29)
Why would He be judging Israel with all the horrors and catastrophes of the 7th Trumpets and Bowls, after they have repented and He has restored/regenerated them? Clearly Ezekiel’s prophecy does not fit where Dyer et al are trying to place it – during the Tribulation Period. Such are glaring discrepancies in the explanations of Dyer and Walvoord and their like-minded colleagues.
However, again there is a time of just such repentance of all of Israel and it is specifically addressed as such by Ezekiel in the thirty-sixth chapter. There, God makes it clear that this repentance will come as a result of his salvation and restoration and putting His Spirit within them (see Ezekiel 36:22-32). Nothing in scripture suggests that this is going to happen during the “time of Jacob’s Trouble”, or the “Great Tribulation”, nor any time before that. Nor does Ezekiel tell us that they will repent when they come under attack. As of the event being prophesied in the 38-39th chapters this repentance and restoration and spiritual renewal has already happened, per the language of the text, and the context of the previous chapters. On the other hand, Dyer and Walvoord and Pentecost all seem to agree that this restoration is going to happen when Christ their Messiah comes, and that Ezekiel describes in this thirty-sixth chapter what happens to Israel during that period of time.
As Dyer puts it in his commentary on the first 15 verses of that 36th chapter:
“This will take place when Israel possesses her land during Christ’s millennial reign.” (Dyer, The Bible Knowledge Commentary on Ezekiel 36:8-12, p. 1297)
Interestingly, kept in context Ezekiel does make it very clear that this repentance and spiritual regeneration and restoration of Israel will happen after they are back in their land living securely with God’s blessing on them, not before. This is what God does in showing His mercy and unconditional love to Israel, not just for Israel’s sake, but for His own names sake (Ezekiel 36:22-32).
Another noted Dispensationalist/Pretribulation Rapturists, Dr. Dwight D. Pentecost makes a similar point to one of Dyer’s discussed above, in his book Things to Come (XX. I. B. 4.(4)), pointing out that according to our text in Revelation the forces of Gog are “devoured” by the fire, which means there would be nothing left to bury. Once again, on the surface there would seem to be some truth to their arguments, and some valid logic. John, in his very brief allusion to this event in Revelation 20, does not mention the burying of the dead, and it doesn’t make much sense to have people being buried which are also being resurrected, or that are completely consumed by fire from heaven. But such arguments mostly only reveal the authors’ mistaken assumptions, presuppositions and interpretations to which they hold in the first place, rather than what the two texts actually say.
Pentecost’s argument betrays one of the weaknesses of the mainstream Pretribulation Rapturists approach – he reads into the text something that isn’t there at all (this is known as eisegesis). Nothing John or Ezekiel has written suggests that this fiery judgment is going to consume everything such that there will be nothing left to bury. Where does he find this in Revelation? His point about the wording of our text is based on false assumptions driving incorrect exegesis of the passages involved. It is true that if John were saying that the huge army of Gog and Magog were completely consumed by fire, then we would have a real problem equating it to Ezekiel’s account, as there would be no one and no thing left to bury or burn. Certainly, most modern popular translations seem to render the Greek word used here as “devour” or “consume,” which is one possible translation of the word, as it most literally means to “eat up” something. However, according to Arndt and Gingrich in Walter Bauer’s Lexicon, that same Greek word, “katesthiō”, is also used to simply mean destruction of something. For example, it is used in ancient literature to refer to someone who is consumed (katasthio) by jealousy. In Luke 20:47 it is used in reference to what the scribes in Jesus day were doing to “widow’s houses.” In Galatians 5:15 it is used to refer to how Christians sometimes treat each other, as in “devour one another,” which in that passage is distinguished from another Greek word, “analiskw” (analisko) which is only rendered “consume.” If God had meant in our text to designate a total consummation by the fire, it seems that He would have been wise enough to use the better word, “analisko”. Rather, what He chose was a word that could just as well mean simply “destroyed,” as opposed to the more extreme sense in which Dr. Pentecost seems to be taking it, interpreting it to mean completely “consumed”, or “devoured”.
Here again, what is needed is good exegesis rather than trying to support a doctrinal position based on a word used to make one’s point, without really examining objectively the word being used. The fact is that Ezekiel also refers to this same fiery judgment from heaven as John has mentioned, and because Ezekiel gives more detail we learn what John meant. As stated by John, and further explained by Ezekiel, God’s judgment at that time will involve fire being poured out from heaven, but that is not all that it will entail:
“‘Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. 23I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the Lord…. I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand. 4You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. 5You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken’, declares the Lord God. 6’And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the Lord.’” (Ezekiel 38:21-39:6)
Here we see that even though it involves fire and brimstone being rained down on Gog’s troops, there will still be something for the predatory birds and beasts to prey on. Hence there will also be a need to clean up the mess after that huge battle, and Ezekiel describes that cleanup as taking up to seven years.
This seven years of clean-up is not a problem for the view that it is to occur during that Postmillennial period when scripture clearly indicates this whole Gog rebellion and final judgment on earth will occur, to be followed by the Great White Throne judgment, and the commencement of the eternal state. The eternal state on earth does not begin after the Great White Throne judgment, it actually begins with the creation of the New Heaven and earth and the beginning of the Millennial age on earth. Again, that Millennial earth is described as being itself eternal (see Ezekiel 37:24-28 where the word “everlasting” is used and the word “forever” appears 4 times) – not just temporary for only 1000 years. The change from the Millennial age to the eternal state is not about earthly condition or situation, but only about the state of the earthly inhabitants: the saved remaining in that everlasting kingdom of God on earth, as in the earthly New Jerusalem – the unsaved condemned to their eternal destiny, which is Hell (along with Satan and his angels). Thus, this cleansing of the physical earth after the final judgment on the Gog rebellion, and after the final heavenly/spiritual Great White Throne judgment, is not a problem during that eternal state. It would be a problem however, if it were occurring before the Day of the Lord second coming of Christ, either trying to fit it into the 7 year Tribulation Period, or having it carry over into the Millennial age, since the destruction of the whole heaven and earth and creation of the new heaven and earth occurs at that time, at that second coming (Isaiah 65:17-25, 2Peter 3:10-13).
Problems with the Gog/Antichrist View
While it is neither a new nor a widely held view, there are those who see Ezekiel’s Gog/Magog of Ezekiel 38-39 as one and the same with the Antichrist, or the eighth beast of Revelation 17. Perhaps the latest arrival on the scene, who has broken ranks with those Bible prophecy gurus cited above on some of the major issue and interpretations of end-times prophecy, for whom this author has the greatest respect, is Joel Richardson. Richardson along with others such as Walid Shoebat, are leading proponents of the Islamic Antichrist view, discussed in a companion work by this author, The Beast, the Antichrist and the Harlot Babylon – Popular Theories Revisited.
When it comes to identifying the Beast of Revelation his interpretations are for the most part far more consistent with scripture and the reality of what is actually transpiring in our world today, than any of the others mentioned above. However, when it comes to this subject of Gog/Magog he is in some respects in the same camp with the others (except for Gary DeMar), and his arguments also need to be considered, and critically examined. While Mr. Richardson is quite emphatic in arguing that the Gog of Ezekiel is not the Gog of Revelation (though admittedly no more so than this author opposing that view), his arguments might be worthy of closer scrutiny. He has written the following:
“Over the past several years, I have argued extensively for the view that the invasion of ‘Gog of Magog’, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is simply another retelling of the many Antichrist prophecies found throughout the Bible. In other words, Gog is simply another name for Antichrist. My most thorough argument for this view is found in my most recent book Mideast Beast, though several articles addressing this view can be found in the articles section of this website as well. Although many students of prophecy today believe that the ‘Gog of Magog’ invasion of Israel as described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 takes place either just before or just after the beginning of the final seven years leading up to the return of Jesus, a much smaller number believe that this invasion takes place at the end of the Millennium. This is the view which I seek to address in this brief article.
Most who view the Gog of Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38,39 as being a post-millennial event, arrive at this position because they assume that Ezekiel’s Gog of Magog invasion must be the same as the ‘Gog and Magog’ invasion that takes place at the end of the Millennium as described in Revelation 20:7-9. Let’s look at that text:
‘When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.’ Revelation 20:7-9.
The first observation is that this invasion will be an utter failure. Before the invaders even begin to accomplish their desire, they are consumed by fire. But as we will see, the invasion described in Ezekiel 38-39 is far from a failure. By the time that Ezekiel’s Gog Magog invasion is defeated, a majority of Israel is actually exiled as captives among the nations. Second, Revelation’s Gog Magog invasion doesn’t even actually enter the ‘camp of the saints’, but is devoured by fire as they surround the ‘camp.’ On the other hand, the invaders of Ezekiel are destroyed in the actual land of Israel.” (“When does the Gog of Magog Invasion take place?” Posted on January 10, 2014 by Joel (https://joelstrumpet.com/when-does-the-gog-magog-invasion-take-place/,)).
Supposed Differences Between Revelation 20 and Ezekiel 38-39
It is interesting that Richardson quotes the passage in Revelation, which is not too difficult since it only involves three verses. However, he fails to quote from Ezekiel to substantiate the points that he makes to refute the notion that both Ezekiel and John in Revelation are describing the same event and the same Gog/Magog. This is quite understandable since there are no verses in Ezekiel 38-39 that would support his claims.
There is nothing in those two chapters which tell us that “the invasion described in Ezekiel 38-39 is far from a failure” or that “By the time that Ezekiel’s Gog Magog invasion is defeated, a majority of Israel is actually exiled as captives among the nations”, as he claims. One should ask, where is that found in these two chapters? Nothing suggests that so much as one of God’s people in Israel is killed, or even actually attacked. Rather we are told that the forces of Gog begin to fight each other, and they fall on the mountains of Israel, and God rains down fire and hail from heaven to destroy the rest. There is no mention in either of these two passages of any one in Israel being taken captive, or killed at the time of this Gog battle.
Possibly what Richardson is alluding to is the 23rd and 24th verses and possibly even the 28th verse of chapter 39. We need to actually read these passages, keeping them in their proper context:
“23‘The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword. 24According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them.’ 25Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. 26They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. 27When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. 28Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. 29I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 39:23-29)
What we find here is a brief mention of the fact that God had turned His back on Israel for many years (since AD 70 at least) during which time there was a mass slaughter – “all of them fell by the sword.” Obviously this is a reference to Israel’s history leading up to the time of this Gog event, including the total destruction of AD 70. But what He is doing at this time, as Gog tries to invade their land again, is protecting them because He has restored them – “the whole house of Israel”. Surely not even Mr. Richardson would argue that when it says “all of them (Israel) fell by the sword” that it applies to this Gog invasion attempt in Ezekiel. Clearly God is recounting how He has dealt with Israel in the millennia leading up this time (as described in the preceding chapters in Ezekiel) when He is going to restore them, having forgiven them, and gathering them back into their land, to show the whole world His glory by what He does in and through His people. Clearly this won’t happen until the Millennium, and won’t be completed until after the Millennium exactly as we are told in Revelation 20.
Other than that, if anything could be possibly misinterpreted as supporting Richardson’s contention it might be the 10th verse:
“10‘They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,’ declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 39:10)
If he is interpreting this verse to say that Gog took spoils and plundered Israel before God intervened then he might use it to support his argument. But the verse does not say that, but rather says that because God intervened Israel took the spoils and plundered these enemies, who historically for many centuries had despoiled and plundered her. If there was any mention anywhere else in these two chapters of Gog even actually attacking, let alone overcoming Israel at any point in the battle, then such an interpretation of that 10th verse may be justified – but there is nothing in the entire passage to even suggest it.
What we do find explicitly stated is that the setting of these two chapters in Ezekiel is a time when God’s people Israel have already been regathered and is living securely in her land – not just going to be. Contrary to another of Richardson’s arguments God is telling us here that they are in fact living securely – not that they mistakenly think they are secure (as discussed previously). And indeed, seeing the outcome of this last attempt to destroy them, they were more secure than they probably even believed they were. To say that they only felt secure – a false sense of security – is simply to rewrite scripture to fit one’s presuppositions.
Richardson’s second point was that “Revelation’s Gog Magog invasion doesn’t even actually enter the ‘camp of the saints’, but is devoured by fire as they surround the ‘camp’” but “On the other hand, the invaders of Ezekiel are destroyed in the actual land of Israel”. Apparently, we are supposed to understand “the camp” as being outside the land of Israel, in order to get his interpretation, which apparently fits his presuppositions.
However, it seems much more likely that surrounding the camp means that Gog leads his forces right to Jerusalem, and is intent on taking what will then surely be the capitol city, the Holy City – which historically and even today is the coveted prize of Israel’s enemies. Just as Ezekiel describes, they muster their forces on the mountains surrounding Israel, possible even again in the valley of Megiddo, historically the valley of Jezreel where so many historic battles were fought. God destroys them there – not back in their homelands, or out somewhere outside the borders of Israel – as Richardson seems to be arguing. Again, we have another argument based more on forced interpretations driven by presuppositions, involving circular reasoning, than either scripture or logic.
The facts would seem to be that both Ezekiel and John are describing an invasion attempt by Gog and his followers, which will happen in the land of Israel and will be an utter failure. And in fact, once we put presuppositions aside, there is no reason to think that the two accounts are about two separate events a thousand years apart led by two separate world leaders who just happen to be given the same name (unless God is after all the author of confusion).
It seems that Richardson may still be influenced by previous indoctrination, or a case of tunnel vision focused on his Islamic Antichrist theory, and feels compelled to support his view that the Beast of Revelation is essentially Islam, or a coalition of Islamic nations. I am somewhat in agreement with him on this very important and pivotal point about Islam fulfilling much of the end-time prophecy, except that one does not need to have these Islamic nations following someone named Gog (by Ezekiel) showing up before the second coming of Christ, for his scenario to work. The fact is that Ezekiel’s description of this Gog invasion does not match up to either John’s or Daniel’s descriptions of the Antichrist or the Beast and the battle of HarMagedon (or Armageddon) in many respects, even though there are to be sure some similarities (as discussed in detail above in 2.2, and in the following).
Supposed Similarities that are Actually Mismatches
Admittedly there are some similarities between Ezekiel’s account of Gog, and John’s description of the Antichrist. One of those striking similarities would be the fact that both seem to involve the same or similar Islamic nations. But this is not so surprising nor indicative inasmuch as those are mostly the nations which surround Israel geographically, and have been her enemies throughout history. Even if there were three Gogs (which is of course absurd) it would be likely it would involve those same historic enemies, the surrounding Islamic nations. The fact is that the Gog of John 20 is a much better match with Ezekiel’s Gog, than the Antichrist. If they were the same, surely God would have told us that, calling the Antichrist Gog – but He did not. What he does tell us in Revelation is that this personage called Gog, of Magog, appears after the Millennium is over, at that release of Satan and the resurrection of the unsaved dead of Revelation 20:5.
Ironically, the most troublesome elements that seem to be the most obvious mismatches between Ezekiel’s Gog and Revelation’s Antichrist and the battle of Armageddon, are cited by Richardson as similarities. But as discussed above, the situation in Israel when Gog arrives on the scene described by Ezekiel, doesn’t come anywhere close to matching that of the situation when the Antichrist comes to fight at the Battle of Armageddon. Furthermore, the most significant outcome between the two is not the same. This along with the fact that there are many other mismatches, and reasons why the Antichrist does not match Ezekiel’s Gog when one examines closely both Ezekiel’s and John’s prophecies, are discussed in more detail in a companion work on the subject (The Beast, the Antichrist, the Harlot Babylon – Popular Theories Revisited).
The challenge to the reader would be to actually study Ezekiel 38-39 in its context, keeping in mind that it follows 34-37 and there is a logical flow, which happens to concur with and parallel the flow of events as revealed in Revelation 20 (see following chart). The restoration of Israel begins in the 34th
| Prophecy | Ezekiel | Revelation |
| Restoration | 34-36 | 20:4 |
| Resurrection | 37 | 20:5-6 |
| Gog/Magog | 38-39 | 20:7-9 |
| Final judgment | 39 | 20:10-13 |
| Millennium thru the Eternal State | 40-49 | 20:14-15 |
chapter of Ezekiel, and then after that there is a detailed description of a physical bodily resurrection in chapter 37. Revelation 20:4 opens with the mention of the beginning of the Millennial age, which is when Israel is restored in her land (as per Ezekiel 34-36). The 5th verse tells us that there will be a resurrection of “the rest of the dead” (all those who were not raptured or resurrected at the second coming of Christ) – which will happen after the 1000-year Millennial age has run its course (parallel to Ezekiel 37). Then chapters 38-39 of Ezekiel are dealing with a resurrected and restored Israel, as well as Israel’s enemies who have also been resurrected, led by a Gog of Magog. Those enemies are defeated once for all, and God is glorified once for all. In Revelation 20:7-9 after a resurrection of the unsaved we suddenly have a multitude like the sand on the seashore being led by a Gog of Magog (vv. 7-9), marching against God’s “camp” in Israel – an enemy which is destroyed supernaturally by God, once for all (exactly as described in Ezekiel 38-39). Then in the ensuing chapters of Ezekiel (40-49) we have descriptions of the earthly kingdom of God taking us into the eternal state. Similarly in the rest of Revelation 20 we have the final judgment and the descriptions of the eternal state – the New Jerusalem in heaven and earth (parallel to Ezekiel 40-49).
There is no need to play the word games with scripture that men seem compelled to do to make it fit their presuppositions – “living securely” means living securely. Gog of Magog is still Gog of Magog whether it appears in Ezekiel or Revelation. The brilliance and wisdom of scholarly men notwithstanding, God gave the scripture for the common man to read and understand – not the intellectually lazy man, but the man who will search the scriptures diligently and put aside his own presuppositions to let the Holy Spirit guide him through the scriptures – as they stand. Letting scripture speak for itself is always the best approach – and scripture does explain itself. Of course, there are rules of interpretation (Hermeneutics) and exegesis, and there are rules of logic that must be adhered to if one is to get the right interpretation. Taking a passage such as Ezekiel 38-39 out of its context, or reading into the text something that isn’t really stated there, are clear violations of such rules, and the results are not those for which one should be striving. However, to err is human, and probably no man, including this author, is always right on every point in their interpretation of scripture. This is one reason why each person needs to study the scripture for themselves, rather than trusting what other men tell them.
Many men today have decided they can interpret each of these two passages better in light of what they see in the world today, and then force both of those passages of scripture to fit into their scenarios. So we have book after book with exciting and scary scenarios about a coalition of Muslim nations led by Russia (Dyer says the “Soviet Union”) getting ready to attack Israel, either before the beginning of the Tribulation Period, or shortly after it begins. While such may well be the case in our world today, it does not match up to Ezekiel’s prophecy. It is quite possible that after the Millennium and the resurrection of the unsaved dead, that Satan after his release from his 1000 year imprisonment, will pick up where he left off, using the same false religion and enlisting the same age-old enemies of Israel as we see now, to follow him in that last great rebellion. But that does not change the facts, that the time frame of Ezekiel’s prophecy is rather clearly spelled out as postmillennial, and matches exactly that of John’s prophecy in Revelation.
What is critically important is to note that what John does tell us, does agree precisely with what Ezekiel tells us about the outcome of this battle. Both describe the fiery judgment of God being poured out on Gog and Magog and their huge army. Other than that John simply doesn’t give us any more information about what the aftermath will be, and certainly doesn’t tell us anything that conflicts with what Ezekiel has written. The fact that John does not give us as much detail as Ezekiel does not constitute a conflict between the two accounts. Again, such an argument is what is known as an argument from silence. To suggest such an argument is a clear indication that the author is on pretty shaky ground and is grasping at straws. Like all the rest of end-time prophecy, we would never be able to make sense of any of it without letting scripture interpret scripture. Revelation doesn’t tell us everything we need to know about this whole end-time period, or the Beast, or when it is all to occur. Without Daniel, for example, we would be at a total loss to understand it at all. But not everything revealed by Daniel is repeated in Revelation, and not everything revealed in Revelation is to be found in Daniel’s prophecies. Similarly, without Ezekiel’s prophecy we don’t know much about this Gog Magog event, but without Revelation we don’t know when it is to occur. They are meant to be taken together, not just repetitive but complementary, letting the one interpret the other. This is called “letting scripture interpret scripture”, which both Historicists and Futurists claim to be doing, but in fact many fail to do in this case (which unfortunately is not an isolated incidence).
Answers to the Arguments Based on Explicit Scripture and Logic
The reality is that there is a very simple, logical and rather clear explanation of this whole Gog/Magog issue. It is in fact completely spelled out explicitly in God’s word. The truth is that both John in the New Testament, and Ezekiel in the Old, are on the same page. For the unindoctrinated Bible reader who simply devotes himself/herself to searching the scripture, there are no contradictions or difficulties. Nor is there any need for human genius or inventions or even sophisticated scholarship to understand what God was communicating. But there is a prerequisite commitment to letting God’s Word speak for itself. That means taking it as literally as the text allows, and letting scripture interpret scripture – something many claim to do, but few actually practice consistently. There is a need to put aside one’s own presuppositions, and even preferences. One must apply the disciplines of logic and exegetical and analytical techniques objectively. And most importantly one must let the Holy Spirit guide in the diligent search for what God was trying to communicate through his revealed word. When we do so, lo and behold it is amazing how things seem to fall into place and make perfect sense – and this case of prophecy concerning Gog/Magog is no exception to this rule.
First, our scenario that represents fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy must account for and include all of the details of that prophecy, just as they are, without manipulations – not a few cherry-picked details that are massaged to fit our preconceived scenario. When we do so we find that there really is only one time period in the whole prophetic picture which is laid out for us in scripture, when all of these conditions and outcomes can possibly be fulfilled. Only during a future Millennial reign of Christ on earth will Israel ever be living again, regathered and restored in her own land, securely, without walls around her cities or the need for defensive armament. This is actually a “no-brainer” as they say, a rather obvious fact that would seem irrefutable, either logically or biblically.
Can anyone identify a time in the past (as per Gary DeMar’s contention), or in this present age (as per Chuck Missler), or during the Tribulation Period (as per Drs. Walvoord, Pentecost, Dyer or Grant Jeffrey), when Israel is so filled with God’s Spirit and aware of who He is that she never again forgets or falls away from that kind of relationship? Can they identify another time frame when all of Israel’s enemies will be vanquished once for all and recognize and acknowledge her God for who He is? Certainly, it won’t be until after that Millennial reign that all of Israel’s foes will be once for all vanquished, and will all have to recognize her God for who He is. Only then can it truly be said that she will never again fail to know Him as her God from that day forward. That is what Ezekiel prophesies about this Gog/Magog event – or would someone like to argue that point?
A much more reasonable interpretation of all of the relevant scripture on the subject, which is actually supported by explicit scripture, gives the following rather uncomplicated scenario:
- After the Millennial age is over Satan is released and all the unsaved dead are bodily resurrected – both happening at the same point in time;
- Satan working through a personality named Gog from the land of Magog (located in the region to the far North of Israel) will amass a huge following from among the resurrected unsaved masses from all around Israel, particularly Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Ethiopia, Put, Gomer and Beth-togarmah (whatever they will be at that time);
- He will lead them in an invasion of Israel until God intervenes supernaturally to physically destroy him and all his followers in the last great battle on this earth;
- God’s people, and Israel in particular, will be delivered from the threat, and will go on living in peace and safety just as they had been for the preceding thousand years of the Millennium, before Satan was released and the unsaved were resurrected;
- The souls of all those who followed Satan in the last rebellion and whose bodies were slain in that last physical earthly judgment, will then appear before the Great White Throne to be judged and to receive their eternal sentence to that place which God had prepared for Satan and his fallen angels – which is called hell; it will be a place of eternal punishment for spirits and souls of those who reject Christ.
There are some related points of confusion that bear reiteration. First, there is no other resurrection after this last and final judgment, which is called the “second death”. Nor is the resurrection of the “rest of the dead” of Revelation 20:5 the same as the gathering of the souls for the Great White Throne judgment of Revelation 20:11-15, as some would have us believe. The first is a bodily resurrection back to life on this earth. The latter is a spiritual gathering of souls to stand before God in judgment. If we interpret the gathering of the souls for judgment of the latter passage as being a physical bodily resurrection, as some do, then we have a logical absurdity. It would mean that people would be resurrected again for the third time, given physical bodies again, just to be condemned to hell forever. If hell is a literal physical lake of fire it would quickly consume such physical bodies. Alternatively, if it is not a literal physical “lake of fire” then we would have physical bodies in a spiritual place of punishment. The logical and biblical problems with such an interpretation are even more troublesome and are beyond the scope of this study.
If we let Ezekiel provide the commentary to fill in the details, and paint the whole picture about what John barely mentions, we discover something that is vitally important. Ezekiel tells us that this Millennial Kingdom does not disappear, nor is it in any sense done away with after the Millennial age is over:
“And they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons, and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant shall be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.” (Ezekiel 37:25-28).
We see then further developments, and descriptions of the earthly situation, which apply to that Postmillennial kingdom described in the last nine chapters of his book (Ezekiel 40-48). Contrary to apparent assumptions of some, entering into eternity, or the eternal state does not mean the cessation of everything earthly, or the termination of Israel’s enjoyment of her restoration and regeneration and the situation that began in the Millennial kingdom. It is only the end for Satan, and Gog, and all of their followers, and all the dead, and all those in Hades. Even that does not occur before the thousand years are over, nor immediately upon the completion of that Millennial age. We aren’t told how long it will take after the Millennium to complete all these things that are supposed to happen, including the rebellion of Gog of Magog, and the judgment afterwards, other than the limitation that it will be “for a short time” (Revelation. 20:3). One might assume that this will be something on the order of a few months or a few years, though we are also told that Christ would be returning soon, and that has now stretched out to almost 2000 years (the explanation given for the latter is that a thousand years is like a day with the Lord (2 Peter 3:8)).
We are, however, told that the cleanup operation will take at least seven years. There is no way that we can fit that seven years in during the 70th week of Daniel (the so-called “Tribulation Period”), or any time before Christ’s second coming. Furthermore, it clearly isn’t supposed to happen during the Millennium, which has to begin with a recreated heaven and earth (unless one is to believe that Christ’s perfect kingdom on earth will be set up in a world that is in utter chaos, completely destroyed by the judgments associated with the seals, trumpets and bowls and the battle of Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation Period). Thus, logically it must occur after the Millennium in which case the rebellion of Gog/Magog in Ezekiel would in fact be that mentioned in our text in Revelation.
There are a few other points of confusion and controversy, which become somewhat immaterial or are resolved in this explanation. Much is made of the list of nations in Ezekiel, trying to relate them to present day nations, and in particular the mention of “Rosh”. Many futurists have found ways to make “Rosh” to be our modern-day Russia, though as DeMar and many others including Joel Richardson point out, the Hebrew word used there appears hundreds of times in the Old Testament and is always translated as “chief” or “head” or something similar, but never as a people group. Objectively the evidence seems to support the rendering of a number of translations, “the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”
However, the whole debate is based on a rather false premise. The fact is that the nations which will follow Gog are not necessarily nations which are in existence as such today. This event will not occur, according to a literal understanding of scripture, until after the known world of today has been destroyed during the time of great tribulation, and upon the second coming of Christ to earth in judgment. It will not occur until after there has been a thousand years of Christ’s reign on a perfect earth, in which no enemies of Israel will even be present, let alone a Russia and a coalition of Islamic nations. It will however occur after the general resurrection of the “rest of the dead” of Revelation 20:5, when all the unsaved dead will be brought back to life on this earth. It is quite possible that resurrected people brought back to where they lived when they lived or died the first time will give us a number of people groups that will be identifiable at least historically with those biblical nations named by Ezekiel. What Ezekiel is identifying for us is the geographical area, and perhaps the cultural origins from which at least some of this huge multitude will be coming, to follow Satan in his last hurrah against God and God’s people.
In the case of the Islamic enemies of Israel, the modern-day cultures and geographic locations of those people groups are not that much different from their ancestors of Ezekiel’s time. Hence the more recent decedents may blend in well with their ancestors of early antiquity, joining forces to follow Gog in attacking their common enemy, Israel. They may even all recognize the Star and Crescent banner and the Moon God, which transcends the millennia from Noah’s grandson Cush and Cush’s son Nimrod, and early Sumer, Akkad and Babylon to modern day Islam. Certainly, the powerful nation of Russia as we know it today will not exist as such after the second coming of Christ, the Millennium, and the general resurrection of the unsaved dead.
Another issue raised by men such as Gary DeMar in pointing out the departure of the Futurists from their professed literal approach to interpretation, are the weapons mentioned by Ezekiel. Again, putting it in the literal biblical time frame, it is very unlikely that modern high-tech weaponry such as airplanes, missiles and tanks or even guns, will exist at that time. Having just lived through a thousand years of the perfect and peaceful Kingdom of God on this earth, after the destruction of the present earth at the second coming of Christ, there won’t be any sophisticated weaponry, and probably no modern machinery such as we have today, certainly no nuclear weapons. The only weapons the followers of Gog will have will be what they can make by hand from the elementary natural resources available to them. Clubs, bows and arrows, and spears are what one would expect in such a scenario. Furthermore, such weapons could be used for firewood as per Ezekiel’s prophecy, whereas it is unlikely that airplanes and tanks would be used in place of firewood.
Hence, contrary to DeMar’s argument that Ezekiel’s prophecy must have been fulfilled in a more contemporary time frame (contemporary to Ezekiel’s time) – such as in the time of Esther – because of the weapons named, a post-millennial fulfillment is even more feasible given a strictly literal interpretation not only of the weapons cited, but of all of the rest of what Ezekiel describes.
[1] Obviously, the references to the Soviet Union were ill-advised as it no longer exists, but more significantly the nations they identify are not all from the north but east and west and south – i.e. surrounding Israel as pointed out by Dyer.
[2] See Dr. Walvoord’s commentary on Revelation 20:11 (The Revelation of Jesus Christ), where he identifies “the heaven and earth fled away” at the Great White Throne Judgment, with the prophecy in 2 Peter 3:10-13 about the complete destruction of the present heaven and earth and the creation of the new heaven and earth.
[i] The only other possibility would be that Dyer makes the assumption that there is another physical resurrection of all of the dead just to appear before the Great White Throne for judgment so that they can be cast into the Lake of Fire – Hell. This would of course mean that there would be two physical resurrections almost back-to-back, one actually articulated in Revelation 20:5, the other not articulated at all as such but only assumed by the men who believe it. It would also mean that the unsaved would again be given physical bodies for the second time, which this time will immediately be entirely consumed in the burning fires of hell, if we take “the lake of fire” literally. Believing God’s Word takes faith, but not faith in interpretations and scenarios that rearrange scripture or are full of logical contradictions and make no sense.
end times revisited 