Timing Gog and Magog - When will the Ezekiel 38-39 war be fulfilled? By Nathan E. Jones

https://christinprophecy.org/articles/timing-gog-magog/

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Introduction

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“If biblical prophecy teaches us anything, it is that God is in complete control of human history and its culmination.”

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That quote by Dr. Ron Rhodes highlights one of the greatest benefits of studying God’s prophetic word—fulfilled Bible prophecy provides an indisputable apologetic for the existence of God. “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21 NKJV). Intertwined with that apologetic is an evangelistic message that effectively proclaims the triune God of the Bible alone stands apart the one true God, and only as revealed in Scriptures.

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While Bible prophecy constitutes a whopping 27% of the Bible, God’s overall plan for the ages appears to be rather like a 100 piece puzzle, and so far, He has only provided 75 pieces. One can definitely make out the outline of a picture, but until certain events unfold, which then adds another new piece to the puzzle, the picture remains incomplete.

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These absent proverbial puzzle pieces have been a stumbling block for the apologist wielding Bible prophecy as an evangelistic tool and those to whom they are witnessing, causing both to not properly see the big picture of God’s redemptive plan for mankind. And so, to use Bible prophecy as an effective apologetic in one’s evangelistic efforts, the student of the Bible must dive into the complete Word and utilize that one dirty word so missing in much of today’s “newspaper exegesis” so unfortunately equated with the field of Eschatology—study. The proclaimer of God’s Word must be able to study a particular biblical prophecy, and much like a diamond, carefully examine the many glistening facets in order to discern exactly what revelations the Bible desires to impart.

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One such “incomplete” prophecy can be found in Ezekiel chapters 38-39 which concerns what is called the Gog-Magog Battle or the War of Gog and Magog. At first read, as one theologian so colorfully commented, the book of Ezekiel can appear as if a “perplexing maze of incoherent visions—a kaleidoscope of whirling wheels and dry bones that defy interpretation,” causing readers to “shy away from studying the book and to miss one of the great literary and spiritual portions of the Old Testament.” And, he would be right.

 

That is why this study will evaluate the research provided by Dr. Ron Rhodes of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries in his authoritative book on Ezekiel 38-39 titled Northern Storm Rising. Dr. Rhodes earned his Th.M. and Th.D. degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary, has long served as a professor at that seminary, and has authored an incredible 80-plus books mainly about the doctrine of Eschatology. Northern Storm Rising focuses on discerning who the Gog-Magog players are and examines the clues as to when this prophesied war will occur. Dr. Rhodes’ work will be evaluated in light of the research of other esteemed theologians. In the process of mining the book of Ezekiel for its “rich spiritual truths that strike with peculiar force upon the hearts of men,” the hope is the reader will be “brought face to face with a transcendent God, a self-existent being who has absolute power and is constantly revealed in glory.”

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The Battle

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The Prophecies

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A long 2,600 years ago, the great Hebrew nabi, Ezekiel ben Buzi of the priestly family of Zadok, was exiled to Babylon in 597 B.C. There he unveiled a prophecy the Lord God had divulged to him concerning the future of the nation of Israel. Recorded in the book of Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37, the prophet revealed that God would fulfill His promise to regather the Jewish people “out of all [the] countries” of the world where they had been dispersed “and bring you into your own land” that had been promised to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ezekiel 36:24; Geneses 17:7; 1 Chronicles 16:17-18; Psalm 105:8-11; Romans 9:4 NKJV).

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Like dry bones reanimated into a living person, Israel did indeed become a nation once again on May 14, 1948, after nearly 1,900 years since the Romans in 70 A.D. destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the Jewish people across the globe. But, this reanimation would still lack a soul—the national belief in Yahweh and His Son. As one commentator noted: “The bones came together. The flesh crept up over them. They were ready for life, but as yet there was no life in them. It was still a congregation of corpses.” After all of these centuries, this prophecy found its fulfillment in our modern generation. But, God was not done unveiling the future of Israel to Ezekiel and the world, for the following two chapters portray a great trial for the newly established nation of Israel—the Gog-Magog Battle—a trial that would lead towards granting that reanimated body a soul.

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The Details

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The Gog-Magog Battle is set between a massive coalition of nations descended from Noah’s sons Japheth and Ham against Israel (Genesis 10:2-7). The nations are from the territories of ancient Rosh, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Gomer, and Beth-Togarmah (Ezekiel 38:2-6). Their leader is called “Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2-3 NKJV). The battlefield is on “the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate” (Ezekiel 38:8 NKJV). The purpose of the invasion is to “plunder and to take booty” and attack the people of Israel (Ezekiel 38:12-16 NKJV).

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The end result of such a massive invasion by a seemingly invincible army on an unprotected Israel ends up surprising the invaders and shocking the world. The invading nations are, in truth, being manipulated by God, pulled out of their lands as with “hooks in your jaws,” so that those nations feel the Sovereign Lord’s fury (Ezekiel 38:4,18 NKJV). God drags these specific nations to the “mountains of Israel” to “bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed… flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone” (Ezekiel 38:21-22 NKJV). God’s ultimate purpose for supernaturally obliterating the invading coalition is so: “Thus, I [God], will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 38:23 NKJV).

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God’s supernatural victory over the Gog-Magog invaders allows Him to reintroduce Himself to the world and declare in no uncertain terms that Yahweh is personally defending Israel. Should the people of the world doubt, they only have to look on Israel who “will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons… and they will make fires with them for seven years” (Ezekiel 39:9 NKJV). As for the invaders’ corpses, “for seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land” in the newly named “Valley of Hamon Gog” by a newly built “town called Hamonah” (Ezek. 39:11-12,16 NKJV).

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The Leader

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Ezekiel provides the prophetic name of the leader of this coalition of nations—“Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2-3 NKJV). Whether Gog is a real name as was used of a descendent of Reuben in 1 Chronicles 5:4, or is a title for a supreme position such as king or president, remains to be seen. Some historians even point to King Gyges of Lydia, who asked King Ashurbanipal of Assyria for help in 676 B.C. but then joined an Egyptian-led rebellion against Assyria, as a historic type. Gyges’ name in that era became synonymous with terror, bloodshed, and homelessness. Others point to Genghis Khan who, during the 1200s, ruled the Mongol empire which covered a fourth of Asia, as another historic type. Whether Gog is either historical or the prophesied Antichrist that is yet to come, depends on when one places the timing of the Gog-Magog Battle. Either way, the identity of Gog truly lives up to the meaning of his name—”hidden or covered.”

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The Nations

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Ezekiel 38:1-6 provides the ancient names of those territories which comprise the invading nations: Rosh, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Beth-Togarmah. If only Ezekiel had gone the extra mile and given the names of the invading nations contemporary to the battle, a lot of debate over their modern identities would have been saved. Nevertheless, God prefers students of the Bible to do their historical research, and the following list of equivalent names is the fruit of that research.

 

Magog

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Some historians point to the former Soviet nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, as well as including Afghanistan, as encompassing the land of Magog. Historian Edwin Yamauchi explains that Magog was the “ancient Scythian northern nomadic tribes who inhabited territory from Central Asia across the southern steppes of modern Russia.” These nations, today consisting of a population of 60 million, are united by one commonality—Islam.

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Meshech

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The ancient Moschoi or Muschki or Musku tribe settled in Cilicia and Cappadocia, which is now part of modern-day Turkey. Ezekiel 27:13 notes these people traded in slaves to Tyre and Ezekiel 32:26 refers to them as an ancient bandit nation.

 

Tubal

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The people of Tubal would have hailed from the ancient Tibarenoi tribe. For those who have equated Tubal as the Serbian city of Tobolsk, along with Meshech as the Russian city of Moscow, Hebrew Scripture experts claim there is “no etymological, grammatical, historical, or literary data in support of such a position.” This land also resides in modern-day Turkey.

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Gomer

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The Jewish historian Josephus identified Gomer who “founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians [Galls], but were then called Gomerites. Some theologians point to Germany as the land of Gomer, leading one theologian to ask, “What if a united and anti-Semitic Germany were to seek its future fortunes while allied to an anti-Semitic Russia?” The Jewish Midrash Rabbah and Talmud also call Gomer “Germania” indicating today’s Germany.  Not a commonly held view, but one Oxford historian even suggested Gomer’s son who became the ancestor of the Celtic people necessitates including the Cymry of Wales and Brittany, meaning Great Britain. Gomer most popularly looks to reference the Gimirrai of the Assyrians, or Cimmerians, who lived in the Black Sea area adjacent to Turkey. 

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Beth-Togarmah

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Togarmah, or Beth-Togarmah, which means the “house of Togarmah,” contains an etymological connection between the name Togarmah and the names Turkey and Turkestan. The Tilgaimmu resided between ancient Carchemish and Haran, which is modern-day Turkey and possibly the lands of Azerbaijan and Armenia. 

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Persia

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The land of Persia is ancient and long-running and the easiest to identify, only having changed its name to Iran during the last century in 1935.

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Cush

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Cush is another area easy to identify, having split into Ethiopia and the Sudan in more recent history.

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Put

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While the Midrash Rabbah claims Put is not Libya or Lub, but rather Somaliland or Somalia bordering on Ethiopia, the scholars reviewed all claim that Put is indeed Libya with the possibility that the land also includes Algeria and Tunisia. 

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Many Nations

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Ezekiel describes “Sheba and Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions” as just observing the battle (Ezekiel 38:13 NKJV). Sheba and Dedan were Shem’s descendants who settled in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Tarshish could refer to Tarsus located just northwest of Israel, or the island of Sardinia located just north of Carthage in the Mediterranean Sea. But, more than likely, the inhabitants of Tartessus, located on the southwest coast of Spain, denotes the Phoenician merchants who sailed as far as Britain. The “young lions” could then be referring to Spain and Great Britain’s colonies in the New World.

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Noticeably absent from this list of Middle Eastern nations are those surrounding modern-day Israel, such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, and the Arabian peninsula nations. Why these “many nations” are not also actively involved in the Gog-Magog Battle is open to speculation, but a Psalm 83 scenario where the seer Asaph foresaw Israel subjugating their surrounding neighbors could be the scenario that grants Israel the peaceful precondition Ezekiel describes that precedes the Gog-Magog invasion (Ezekiel 38:11).

 

Identifying Rosh

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The final nation to be explored in Ezekiel’s list is Rosh. Could it be modern-day Russia? As one author queried, “Will the old Russian Bear come out of its quarter-century hibernation and again sound a roar that shakes the world?” Properly identifying Rosh is important for identifying the timing of the Gog-Magog Battle.

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The Translations

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The word “Rosh” or “Ros” appears noticeably absent from the list of nations provided by Ezekiel 38:3 in the King James Version, the New International Version, the English Standard Version, and others. Rosh can be found in Ezekiel’s list of nations in the New King James Version, the New American Standard Version, the Amplified Version, the Darby Translation, and others. Why the difference in translations?

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The difference is the challenge for the translators to either interpret the Hebrew word “Rosh” as a noun indicating an actual landmass, or as an adjective that according to the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible means “an exalted one” such as a king, sheik, captain, chief, or prince. The NAS translators chose the noun form of “Rosh,” while the NIV translators chose the adjective form. Translations based on the Greek Septuagint (LXX) follow the noun form, while those based on the Latin Vulgate follow the adjective form.

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Support for Rosh Equaling Russia

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Support for the use of the noun interpretation of “Rosh” as a distinct landmass identifiable as modern-day Russia points to the validity of this interpretation for several reasons:

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1. Various Hebrew scholars, such as G.A. Cook, believe the noun form of “Rosh” is true to the original Hebrew.

2. Other scholars, such as John Walvoord, explain that: “In the study of how ancient words came into modern language, it is quite common for the consonants to remain the same and the vowels to be changed. In the word ‘Rosh,’ if the vowel ‘o’ is changed to ‘u’ it becomes the root of the modern word Russia.”

3. The Septuagint (LXX) translation predates the Latin Vulgate by 700 years and is only three centuries removed from the time of Ezekiel, making it a translation more contemporary with Ezekiel.

4. Tenth Century Byzantine writers, such as Ibn-Fosslan, identified a group of Scythians dwelling in the northern parts of Taurus upon the river Volga as the Ros.

5. Ninth Century B.C. Assyrian texts predating Ezekiel’s time also refer to the Rosh or Rashu.

6. Even farther back as early as 2600 B.C., ancient Egyptian and other Middle-Eastern inscriptions and texts, such as in Sargon’s inscriptions, on a cylinder by Assurbanipal, in an annul by Sennacherib, and five times in Ugaritic tablets, all record the existence of the Rosh/Rash/Reshu people.

7. The early Byzantine Church claimed that the Ros were the people who lived far north of Greece in the area today known as Russia.

8. Rosh is supposed to be “from the remotest parts of the north” (Ezekiel 39:1-2 NKJV). No other nation exists more directly north of Israel and is more remote than modern-day Russia.

9. Current news reports repeatedly show that Russia has very quickly solidified economic and military ties with the nations involved in the Gog-Magog coalition. Russia is building a nuclear reactor in Iran and arming Islamic nations. Russia has gained a foothold in Syria due to the Syrian civil war for the purpose of controlling the Middle East’s vast oil reserves. Israel’s Mediterranean gas deposits are seen as a direct threat to Russia’s monopoly of the natural gas supply to Europe.

10. Russia nationally has held a long and historic anti-Semitic violent streak that God would not leave without a response.

 

When all arguments for Rosh being Russia are put on the table, it is clear that Russia descended from the Rosh people.

 

General Timing

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While there is much debate over the specific timing of the Gog-Magog Battle, the student of the Bible can be positive about the general timing. General timing is clearly spelled out in Ezekiel’s account as events that must happen to set the stage for the battle.

 

1. The first general timing clue is Ezekiel’s use of the terms “latter years” and “last days” (Ezekiel 38:8,16 NKJV). The Gog-Magog Battle must happen in the prophetic scheme of the end times as it relates to the nation of Israel. The key verse which unlocks the understanding as to what these terms mean can be found in Deuteronomy: “When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice” (Deuteronomy 4:30 NKJV). “Distress” is also translated as “Tribulation.” It is the Tribulation, also called Daniel’s Seventieth Week prophecy (Daniel 9:20-27), that brings the Jewish people as a nation back to a belief in Yahweh and later to accept Yeshua as their Messiah. The Tribulation leading up to the Millennial reign of Christ is what the Old Testament prophets consistently and repeatedly taught. And so, these key phrases point to the Gog-Magog Battle happening in relation to the Tribulation and the Millennial Kingdom.

 

2. The second general timing clue rejects the claim that the battle has already happened in history. Never in the history of the Middle East have the nations described in the coalition been united in a concerted attack against Israel. In no time has such a specific group of nations been destroyed by inclement weather. And, in no time in history has Israel named a valley Hamon Gog, nor has the adjoining town called Hamonah, existed where the Jews buried their invaders’ dead bodies (Ezekiel 39:11-12,16). Lack of historical support leaves only a future timing for the battle to occur.

 

3. The third general timing clue is given in Ezekiel 36 and 37 and involves the regathering of the Jewish people back into their homeland “from out of all countries” of the world (Ezekiel 36:24 NKJV). Like the valley of dry bones reanimated into a living person that Ezekiel envisioned, Israel did indeed become a nation once again. Out of the 14.5 million Jewish people in the world today, 47% reside in Israel, making up 6,841,000 (74%) of the population dwelling in the Holy Land. And, the Jews must have control of “the mountains of Israel,” which they gained when they took control of the mountains from the Jordanians during the Six Day War (Ezekiel 38:8 NKJV). 

 

4. The fourth general timing clue involves the developments nationally that have to occur to make the nations of the coalition unite in an invasion of Israel. Two factors have made this coalition possible today. The first is the religion of Islam uniting these nations in satanic hatred of the Jewish people. The second is the economic bounty that Israel now has with its revitalized land and newly discovered gas deposits.  The coalition nations now see a viable motivation to unite for the singular purpose of plundering Israel’s wealth.

 

5. The fifth general timing clue reads, “You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates'” (Ezekiel 38:11 NKJV). Israel must be living without walls, peacefully, and unsuspecting of an attack. Israel today lives in constant fear of attack and is always prepared for an invasion by the 60-plus million hostile Muslims surrounding their borders. Because of this turbulent climate, this part of the prophecy can be argued to have yet to be fulfilled.

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Discarded Timings

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As the question as to when the Gog-Magog Battle will occur, two obvious answers can be eliminated from the onset. The first presupposes the battle has already occurred in history, but that would be historically incorrect. That the Gog-Magog Battle was fulfilled in Ezekiel’s day by an invasion of the Scythians, Babylonians, or Greeks fails to fulfill the roster of nations that compile the Gog-Magog invasion force. Also, it fails to address Ezekiel chapters 36-38 which prophesy a regathering of Jews to Israel from all over the world using the end-timing clues given as the “latter years,” or “last days” (Ezekiel 38:8,16 NJKV). A past historical invasion just does not fit the Ezekiel 38-39 description.

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The second concludes that the Gog-Magog Battle will never occur and also can be discarded as incorrect. A literal interpretation being replaced with a metaphorical interpretation that postulates that Ezekiel 38-39’s description is somehow “apocalyptic symbolism” representing a struggle between good and evil is Replacement Theology spiritualizing. As Semitic languages expert Charles Feinberg once said, “It is either the grammatical, literal, historical interpretation or we are adrift on an uncharted sea with every man the norm for himself.” Prophecy fulfilled is always prophecy fulfilled literally, and the prophecy concerning the Gog-Magog Battle should be interpreted no differently.

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Before the Tribulation

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The following timing views are founded on the Premillennial interpretation of Scriptures as they relate to the order of future events. Premillennialism was the dominant view during the first three centuries of Church history and was later reinstated by German Calvinist theologian Johann Heinrich Alsted in his book The Beloved City (1627). The first two timings rest heavily on the Pre-Tribulation Rapture viewpoint, which sees the Church removed from the earth before God pours out His wrath during a seven-year Tribulation period.

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Before Both the Rapture and the Tribulation

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Some theologians believe the Gog-Magog Battle will occur before both the Rapture of the Church and the seven-year Tribulation. A few of the supporters of this view are Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins of the popular Left Behind series of books, and Joel Rosenberg who wrote Epicenter. Another supporter, David Cooper, noted with confidence back in 1940, years before Israel had even become a nation again, that “there will be a time between now and the beginning of the Tribulation when the Jews will be dwelling in the Land in unwalled cities and will be at rest” after the Church has been raptured. The pros and cons of this timing viewpoint are as follows:

 

Pros:

1. Israel burning the invader’s weapons takes seven years, equal to the seven-year length of the Tribulation (Ezekiel 39:9; Daniel 9:27).

2. With Islam’s severe defeat and her coalition nations lying in ruin, many a Muslim’s faith in Allah would be shattered. The Islamic world would no longer impede the Jewish people from removing the Dome of the Rock off of the Temple Mount and begin rebuilding the Third Temple in its place, the very Temple which the Antichrist is prophesied to desecrate during the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

3. God revealing Himself to the world so dynamically is in character with His willingness to warn before implementing global judgment and to call people to repentance. A resulting great multitude, therefore, may come to then know Christ and be included in the Rapture and avoid God’s wrath during the Tribulation.

 

Cons:

1. Placing the invasion before the Rapture could contradict the first general time clue of the terms “latter years” and “last days,” that is if this “time of Jacob’s trouble” is reserved only for the seven-year Tribulation (Jeremiah 30:7; Ezekiel 38:8,16 NKJV).

2. Placing the invasion before the Rapture would contradict the fifth general time clue which tells of Israel living unsuspecting and in peace before the attack. Unless peace is derived by Israel subjugating its surrounding neighbors or by the peace covenant made with the Antichrist which starts the seven-year countdown, Israel yet to have attained that peaceful precondition (Daniel 9:27).

3. The New Testament indicates that no prophetic event has to occur before the Rapture, which is called imminency. Imminency precludes such prophetic events such as the Gog-Magog Battle happening before the Rapture.

4. The removal of “he who now restrains” coincides with the Antichrist emerging on the world scene (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 NKJV). Because the Church is the temple of the Holy Spirit and so, therefore, could be identified as the Restrainer, the Rapture would have to happen before the Antichrist is revealed (1 Corinthians 3:16). Should the peaceful precondition be tied to the Antichrist’s peace covenant, then the Gog-Magog Battle follows both the Rapture and the onset of the Tribulation.

5. A timing problem exists for Israel in that midway through the Tribulation the Antichrist’s abomination in the newly built Temple will cause the Jews to flee into the desert (Matthew 24:15-16). Some argue the Jews would no longer then have access to the Gog-Magog invader’s weapons to burn. And so, the seven years of Tribulation no longer matches the seven years of burning the weapons.

 

After the Rapture But Before the Tribulation

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Popular supporters of this view are professors Ed Hindson and Tommy Ice, both associated with the Pre-Trib Research Center. Also, Arnold Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries, who reasons the Russian invasion as taking place “some time before the Tribulation,” because “God will punish Russia for her sins” for “the key sin is her long history of anti-Semitism, a problem that persists in Russia to this day.” 

 

Pros:

1. With the world in chaos due to a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, Russia and its Islamic coalition could seize the opportunity to attack a friendless Israel.

2. With the Muslim Gog-Magog nations out of the picture just before the Tribulation, the Antichrist would have an easier time making a peace covenant with Israel.

3. With the more Christianized nations in tatters due to a Pre-Tribulation Rapture and the Islamic world in ruins from the Gog-Magog Battle, the remaining European world power could fill the vacuum in the Middle East. By making a peace treaty with Israel and easily conquering the lands of the once Middle-Eastern Islamic countries, the Roman Empire could truly be revived once more as Daniel 2 and 7 prophesy. The only remaining world powers would be East-Asian, and the Bible records their continued existence, though under the control of the Antichrist and revolting at the very end of the Tribulation (Revelation 16:12).

4. With the Muslim world in tatters, Israel would have no resistance to rebuilding the Temple.

5. The Rapture does not start the Tribulation, but rather the signing of the peace covenant between the Antichrist and Israel does (Daniel 9:27). This fact would allow a three-and-a-half-year or more time delay between the Rapture and the Tribulation, giving Israel the full seven years to burn the weapons from the Gog-Magog Battle before being forced to flee into the desert (Matthew 24:15-16).

 

Cons:

1. Placing the invasion before the Rapture could contradict the first general time clue of the terms “latter years” and “last days,” that is if this “time of Jacob’s trouble” is reserved only for the seven-year Tribulation (Jeremiah 30:7; Ezekiel 38:8,16 NKJV).

2. The peaceful precondition of Ezekiel 38:11 in which Israel has to be living unsuspecting and in peace before the Gog-Magog Battle may only occur because of the peace covenant with the Antichrist, who cannot be revealed until the Tribulation begins.

 

During the Tribulation

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The following timings place the Gog-Magog Battle during the Tribulation. The pros and cons of each timing viewpoint will continue to be addressed.

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In the First Half or Middle of the Tribulation

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Supporters of this view are John Walvoord, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, Herman Hoyt, Charles Dyer, and Mark Hitchcock. As Pentecost explains, “To place the events in the middle of the week is the only position consistent with the chronology of these extended passages (Isaiah 30-35 and Joel 2-3).” 

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Pros:

1. The fifth general timing clue that requires Israel living unsuspecting and in peace before the Gog-Magog Battle could easily be attained by the peace covenant the Antichrist makes with Israel that starts the seven-year countdown of the Tribulation (Ezekiel 38:11; Daniel 9:27). 

2. With the more Christianized nations in tatters due to a Pre-Tribulation Rapture and the Islamic world in ruins from the Gog-Magog Battle, the remaining European world power could fill the vacuum in the Middle East. By making a peace treaty with Israel and easily conquering the lands of the once Middle-Eastern Islamic countries, the Roman Empire could truly be revived once more as Daniel 2 and 7 prophesy. The only remaining world powers would be East-Asian, and the Bible records their continued existence, though under the control of the Antichrist, rising at the very end of the Tribulation (Revelation 16:12).

3. By placing the timing of the Gog-Magog Battle early in the Tribulation, the defeat and disillusionment of Muslims worldwide would destroy the strength of Islam. With the Church removed in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, Christianity would also be removed. The resulting polytheistic and pantheistic religions would integrate well into the apostate one-world religion that the False Prophet promotes (Revelation 13:11-15). The only monotheistic religions left to reject the Antichrist would be Judaism and the newly growing Jesus movement, both of which the Antichrist persecutes greatly during the second half of the Tribulation (Revelation 6:11).

 

Cons:

1. Ezekiel describes Israel burning the invading enemy’s weapons for seven years (Ezekiel 39:9). Placing the Gog-Magog Battle at any time during the Tribulation would push the burning right into the Millennial Kingdom. With Jesus then present to provide everyone’s needs, the curse partially lifted, and the earth reformatted by earthquakes, there would be no need for Israel to have to burn any weapons for fuel (Isaiah 11:8; Revelation 6:12-14; 16:17-21).

2. The tremendous persecution of the Jews during the second half of the Tribulation would not grant them the freedom to bury the invaders’ dead bodies for seven months unless the Gog-Magog Battle occurred earlier than the mid-point (Ezekiel 39:12).

3. If the Gog-Magog Battle happened closer to the mid-point, the question is raised as to why God would rescue Israel so dramatically from the Gog-Magog nations only to hand Israel immediately over to the intense persecution by the Antichrist.

 

At the End of the Tribulation (Armageddon)

 

Supporters of this view, such as Louis Bauman and Charles Feinberg, believe the Gog-Magog Battle and the final battle of Armageddon are one and the same. 

 

Pros:

1. Both the Gog-Magog Battle (Ezekiel 38-39) and the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:19) are described as taking place during the first general timing clue “latter years” and “last days” of the Tribulation (Ezekiel 38:8,16 NKJV).

2. Ezekiel and Revelation both describe dead invaders being eaten by birds and wild animals (Ezekiel 39:4,17-20; Revelation 19:17-18).

3. Ezekiel declares that due to the defeat of the Gog-Magog invasion Israel will again acknowledge God (Ezekiel 39:22,29). These references, if coupled with Zechariah 12:10, explaining an acknowledgment by Israel of their true Messiah at the end of the Tribulation, would make the Gog-Magog Battle and Armageddon one and the same, if the acknowledgment of God the Father and Jesus the Messiah are also one and the same.

 

Cons:

1. The peaceful precondition in which Israel has to be living unsuspecting and in peace before the Gog-Magog Battle cannot exist under the Great Tribulation of Israel by the Antichrist (Ezekiel 38:11).

2. The nations in the two battles do not match. The Gog-Magog Battle involves the specific nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and possibly Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Algeria, and Tunisia against Israel (Ezekiel 38:1-6). The references to Armageddon include every nation from across the entire earth set against Israel (Joel 3:2; Zephaniah 3:8; Zechariah 12:3; 14:2).

3. The locations described in the two battles do not match. Armageddon takes place in the valley of Jezreel by the plain of Megiddo (Judges 5:19; 2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chronicles 35:22; Zechariah 12:11). Ezekiel describes the Gog-Magog Battle as taking place on the “mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 38:8 NKJV).

4. The leaders of the armies are not the same. Gog is the prince and ruler of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:3). The invading leader at Armageddon is the Beast who controls the whole earth (Revelation 13). While it is known that Satan possesses the Antichrist, it is unknown if Gog is possessed by Satan (Revelation 13:2).

5. The armies find themselves fighting two different opponents. The Gog-Magog invaders look to conquer a peaceful and unsuspecting Israel (Ezekiel 38:11). The Armageddon invaders gather to make war against the returned King—Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:19).

6. The accounts of the defeat of the invaders do not match. The Gog-Magog invaders are defeated by God who uses “flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone,” as well as in-fighting (Ezekiel 38:21-22 NKJV). The invading nations at Armageddon are defeated by Jesus who uses “a sharp sword” from His mouth, meaning mere words (Revelation 19:15 NKJV).

7. Ezekiel describes several nations protesting why the Gog-Magog invasion is happening (Ezekiel 38:13). At Armageddon, all the nations of the world are involved in the invasion of Israel, and none protest (Joel 3:2; Zephaniah 3:8; Zachariah 12:3; 14:2).

8. Ezekiel describes Israel burning the invading enemy’s weapons for seven years (Ezekiel 39:9). Placing the Gog-Magog Battle at the end of the Tribulation would push the burning right into the Millennial Kingdom. With Jesus then present to provide everyone’s needs, the curse partially lifted, and the earth reformatted by earthquakes, there would be no need for Israel to have to burn any weapons for fuel (Isaiah 11:8; Revelation 6:12-14; 16:17-21).

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In Relation to the Millennial Kingdom

 

Three views exist that place the Gog-Magog Battle in relation to Jesus Christ’s thousand-year reign on earth, often called the Kingdom of Christ or the Millennial Kingdom.

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Between the Tribulation and the Millennium

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This least popular view places the events of Ezekiel 38 and 39 into an interlude period between the Tribulation and the Millennial Kingdom.

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Pros:

1. This is a consistent argument with the view that an interlude period could exist between the Rapture and the Tribulation.

2. The fifth general timing clue that requires Israel living unsuspecting and in peace before the Gog-Magog Battle could easily be attained after Christ’s Second Coming (Ezekiel 38:11).

3. An interlude time could be any length of time, granting the seven years given to Israel to burn the invading enemy’s weapons for fuel (Ezekiel 39:9).

 

Cons:

1. With Jesus having defeated all of the armies of the world at Armageddon, no army would be left to invade Israel so soon (Revelation 19:19).

2. With Jesus Christ’s return at the Second Coming, no Gog-Magog invasion would be needed to lead Israel to again acknowledge God (Ezekiel 39:22,29).

3. Only one interlude period is given in the Futurist prophetic timeline as it relates to the Tribulation. Daniel reveals, “Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days” (Daniel 12:12 NKJV). Revelation also explains that the Gentiles “will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months” (Revelation 11:2 NKJV). Revelation continues, “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” (Revelation 11:3 NKJV). The difference between these two accounts is 75 days. The 75 days will most likely be used by Jesus to judge the world in the Sheep-Goat Judgment and rebuild the planet after the seven-year Tribulation (Matthew 25:31-46).

4. The interlude time limited to 75 days does not give Israel the seven months they need to bury the dead invaders’ bodies from the Gog-Magog Battle (Ezekiel 39:12).

5. With Jesus present to provide everyone’s needs, the curse partially lifted, and the earth reformatted by earthquakes, there would be no need for Israel to have to burn any weapons for fuel into the Millennium (Isaiah 11:8; Revelation 6:12-14; 16:17-21).

 

At the Beginning of the Millennium

 

Supporters of this view, such as Arno Gaebelein, place the Gog-Magog Battle at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ. 

 

Pros:

1. The fifth general timing clue that requires Israel living unsuspecting and in peace before the Gog-Magog Battle could easily be attained after Christ’s Second Coming (Ezekiel 38:11).

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Cons:

1. With Jesus’ return at the Second Coming, no Gog-Magog invasion would be needed to get Israel to again acknowledge God (Ezekiel 39:22,29).

2. With Jesus having defeated all the armies of the world at Armageddon, no army would be left to invade Israel so soon (Revelation 19:19).

3. No wicked people will have survived the Sheep-Goat Judgment to enter into the Millennial Kingdom to start a war (Jeremiah 25:32-33; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 19:15-18). Only believers who survive the Tribulation enter into the Millennial Kingdom, and they have no reason to declare war on Christ.

4. No weapons would be available to the invaders of the Gog-Magog Battle, nor be left to burn for seven years, for as Isaiah states, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2:4 NKJV).

5. No war exists until the end of the Millennial Kingdom. Isaiah describes the Millennial Kingdom as being a time of world peace where “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4 NKJV). Revelation describes the only war that will happen during the Millennial Kingdom, and that is at the end of the thousand years when Satan is let loose from the Bottomless Pit to rally unbelievers in that age against Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:7-9).

6. With Jesus present to partially lift the curse and reformat the earth from the ravages of the Tribulation, the Millennial Kingdom will begin in an almost holy state (Isaiah 11:8; Revelation 6:12-14; 16:17-21). Ezekiel describes the land after the Gog-Magog Battle needing cleansing because of its defilement due to the invaders’ dead bodies (Ezekiel 39:12). Defilement contradicts the pristine condition that characterizes the Millennial Kingdom.

7. Islam will not exist during the Millennial Kingdom. The unifying theme today among the coalition of nations that attack Israel in the Gog-Magog Battle is their satanically inspired Islamic hatred of Israel and jealousy of its wealth. Since Satan will be bound while Jesus reigns in person over the entire earth, no opposing satanic religion such as Islam will exist to unite those nations during the Millennium Kingdom (Revelation 20:1-3).

8. With Jesus Christ’s ruling the world from Jerusalem with “a rod of iron,” no invader would dare invade Israel (Psalm 2:9).

 

At the End of the Millennium

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Henry Halley is a proponent of this view. So are George Knight and Rayburn Ray. Frank Gaebelein also places the Gog-Magog Battle at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. But, as Dr. Rhodes notes, the majority of supporters for this view tend to come from a non-evangelical background. 

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Pros:

1. Revelation’s timeline places a Gog-Magog Battle at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. The passage reads, “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea” (Revelation 20:7-8 NKJV).

2. Similar terminology exists between Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20 concerning the great number of invaders involved.

3. The prosperity that Israel possesses as described in Ezekiel 38-39 would be fulfilled by God’s blessings on Israel during the Millennial Kingdom.

4. God uses supernatural weather in both accounts to destroy the invaders.

 

Cons:

1. Ezekiel’s chapters would be chronologically out of order with this view. Ezekiel 33-39 covers the national restoration of Israel and is followed by chapters 40-48 which describe Israel’s spiritual restoration entering into and enduring throughout the Millennial Kingdom. 

2. Revelation 20’s chronology does not harmonize with Ezekiel’s chronology. Revelation 20 describes the Millennial Kingdom, which is immediately followed by chapter 21 concerning the Eternal State.

3. The Gog-Magog invaders would no longer have bodies that require Israel to bury over seven months, as the Revelation account records the invaders being incinerated by fire coming down from the heavens (Ezek. 39:12; Revelation 20:9).

4. Israel would have no reason to need seven months to bury the dead invaders if God is just going to resurrect them at the end of the Millennium, judge them at the Great White Throne Judgment, and then throw them into the Lake of Fire (Ezekiel 39:12; Revelation 20:11-15).

5. Israel would have no reason to burn the invaders’ weapons into the perfect Eternal State.

6. Ezekiel’s and Revelation’s descriptions of the invading armies do not match. Ezekiel describes a coalition of Russia and Muslim nations attacking Israel. Revelation describes a much larger scope, with the invaders coming out of the “nations which are in the four corners of the earth” (Revelation 20:8 NKJV).

7. Ezekiel’s and Revelation’s descriptions of the battlefields do not match. Ezekiel describes the Gog-Magog Battle taking place on the “mountains of Israel,” while Revelation’s account states the battle takes place “on the broad plain of the earth” (Ezekiel 38:8; Revelation 20:9 NASB).

8. Ezekiel’s and Revelation’s descriptions of Israel’s rulers do not match. Ezekiel 38-39 follows chapters 36-37 which describe the rebirth of Israel, a nation not yet in belief in God nor having accepted Jesus as Messiah. The Revelation 20 account has Jesus already ruling from Jerusalem for a thousand years.

9. Ezekiel’s and Revelation’s descriptions of the invader’s leaders do not match. Gog is in control of the coalition against Israel in Ezekiel’s account, whereas Satan is in control of the coalition against Jesus in Revelation’s account. While Satan is clearly mentioned in Revelation’s account, it is unknown if Gog is possessed by Satan or is a man possessed by Satan.

10. Ezekiel’s and Revelation’s descriptions of Israel’s faith do not match. In Ezekiel 38-39, God uses the Gog-Magog Battle to make Himself known to Israel and the world. In Revelation 20, Israel has already long acknowledged Yahweh as God and King going on a thousand years.

11. The unbelieving children of the Tribulation saints who have survived to live into the Millennial Kingdom will be the ones who wage war against God at the end of the thousand years, as opposed to the children from the age of the “time of the Gentiles” who wage war in Ezekiel and Jesus’ accounts (Luke 21:24 NKJV).

12. John’s use of “Gog and Magog” in Revelation 20:8 is more likely to draw a comparison between Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog Battle and the one John is describing at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. In other words, the labeling acts as a kind of shorthand saying, “It’s going to be Gog and Magog all over again.” 

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Final Analysis

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I will conclude by analyzing the various timing views and then state when I believe the Gog-Magog Battle will take place.

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Let me go on the record, though, by stating that I am not dogmatic about this end time topic, nor should anyone be. The study of the end times (Eschatology) is a non-primary doctrine. Since God has given mankind merely an overview of His future plans, He has left us with nothing concrete enough to pinpoint the exact timing, probably so that we Christians will not just sit quietly by, but get out there and witness with all our energy until the Lord’s return. The study and debate over when the Gog-Magog Battle will take place should never divide the brethren.

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Analyzing the Views

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Each of the Gog-Magog Battle timing views appear to revolve around dealing with two yet-to-be fulfilled key prerequisites:

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1. Israel is in a state of unsuspecting peace before the invasion (Ezekiel 38:11).

2. Israel has seven months to bury the dead invaders’ bodies and seven whole years to expend the leftover fuel and weapons (Ezekiel 39:9,12-16).

 

Walking backwards through the list, the three views that time the Gog-Magog Battle in relation to the Millennial Kingdom do great justice to the first prerequisite in putting Israel at a time of peace due to Jesus’ victory and reign, but cannot overcome the obstacles of the second prerequisite. With Jesus having subjected all of His enemies before the start of the Millennial Kingdom, there would be no more invaders left to organize another invasion. With no invaders, there are no bodies to bury nor weapons to burn.

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The best of the three Millennial Kingdom views is the one placing the timing at the end of the thousand years, which Revelation describes as an uprising of unbelievers born during that era who are led by Satan and share in his final defeat (Revelation 20:7-8). While there are some similarities to Ezekiel’s account of the Gog-Magog Battle, the dissimilarities prove Ezekiel is talking about a different Gog-Magog Battle than the battle the Apostle John described. I agree that John’s use of “Gog” and “Magog” in Revelation 20 is more likely to draw a comparison between Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog Battle as a type of what the battle will be like at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.

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For the two views that place the timing during the Tribulation, both wrestle with the same prerequisites. While similarities exist between Gog-Magog and Armageddon, their differences far outweigh their similarities. Also, placing the battle at the end of the Tribulation violates the first prerequisite that Israel is living in peace, a condition which would be impossible under the intense persecution by the Antichrist and Israel’s subsequent flight into the desert.

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Placing the timing at the beginning, but not by the middle, of the Tribulation gives Israel the seven months to bury the dead invaders and the full seven years to burn the fuel, should they have a reserve stored where they flee. This view would then need to settle the peaceful precondition of Israel by resting it on either a Psalm 83 subjugation of Israel’s surrounding hostile neighbors or the peace covenant made with the Antichrist (Psalm 83; Daniel 9:27).

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The two views that place the timing of the Gog-Magog Battle squarely before the Tribulation perfectly grants the full seven years’ time needed to burn the weapons. Even if the Jewish people must flee into the wilderness at the midpoint of the Tribulation, they could have already stored the fuel in the location where they end up fleeing. Or, there could be a gap of three-and-a-half years or so between the Gog-Magog Battle and the beginning of the Tribulation so that the fuel expires by the middle of the Tribulation just as the Jews flee. Since the Tribulation begins with the peace covenant forged between the Antichrist and Israel, the only viable scenario for a peaceful prerequisite would be a Psalm 83 subjugation of Israel’s hostile bordering neighbors or to take Ezekiel’s description of Israel being at peace to mean militarily secure, which as one of the most powerful militaries in the world today, could certainly provide a false sense of security.

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My View

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Obviously, all of the timing views struggle over some particular point. Which view a person holds rests more on what they see as the view which provides the most logical harmonization of the prerequisites. I have to agree with Dr. Rhodes that the timing of the Gog-Magog Battle after the Rapture of the Church but just before or at the very onset of the Tribulation best fulfills these prerequisites and makes the most logical sense in the prophetic timeline. This is how I see the timeline most likely playing out:

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1. The Rapture of the Church removes the Restrainer.

2. Israel subjugates her surrounding neighbors in fulfillment of Psalm 83.

3. The Gog-Magog Battle destroys the Russian and Muslim influence in the Middle East, makes the world aware of God’s presence, and restores Israel’s belief in the God of the Torah.

4. The Antichrist makes a peace covenant with Israel which starts the seven-year Tribulation, then conquers what is left of the Middle East, and birth’s his Revived Roman Empire.

5. Israel spends the seven years of the Tribulation burning the weapons.

6. Jesus returns at the end of the seven years to defeat His enemies at Armageddon resulting in Israel acknowledging that Jesus is God’s Son.

7. Jesus gathers the people from all over the world for the Sheep-Goat Judgment, which results in only believers entering the Millennial Kingdom.

8. At the very end of the Millennial Kingdom, a final battle takes place that is reminiscent of the first Gog-Magog Battle.

 

Time will tell when the Gog-Magog Battle will truly take place. But, Israel is a nation once more as prophesied, and the coalition of invading nations are already working together for the first time in history. The scene is pretty much all set for this epic battle to be waged and in the not-too-distant future.

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Conclusion

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With a more secure handle on exactly what nations are involved in Ezekiel 38-39 and when the Gog-Magog Battle will occur, the evangelist can better approach the apologetic of fulfilled Bible prophecy more confidently. While this epic battle and prophecy remain future, various aspects of it demonstrate that events are quickly ramping up leading to the complete fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, so it is not so distant in the future. With that sense of urgency in mind, the evangelist can precede to show those to whom he is witnessing how God’s prophetic order of events is playing out even in our day and age and encourage them towards surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ and in holy living.