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Chapter 12: The Attack From The North
At some time in the future the people that the Lord has gathered to Israel will be attacked by hostile neighbors from the north, and their allies. The sons of Japheth, son of Noah, settled in the northern areas from which the attack will come. Genesis 10:1-1 & 5 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. In the verses that follow, "Gog," is the symbolic name of the leader of armies that include the descendants of Magog and his brothers. Ezekiel 38:1-7 The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army--your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops--the many nations with you. "'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. The nations mentioned above that will attack Israel in the end times are commonly identified as Russia, (Meshech and Tubal) Iran, (Persia) Ethiopia, (Cush) Libya, (put) and Turkey, (Gomer and Beth Togarmah) Ezekiel 38:8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. As we read in the previous chapter, the nation of Israel today is a nation that has recovered from four wars and is dwelling at peace with most of it's neighbors. A peace pact with Egypt was made in 1979. In 1995 Israel has made peace agreements with the Palestinians and the kingdom of Jordan. Peace with Syria and Iraq should occur in the near future. Notice in the verses above that this prophecy, which was given before the time of Christ is for the far future, after Israel had been regathered from amongst the nations. This prophecy is for our time. Ezekiel 38:9-14 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land. "'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people--all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land." Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages will say to you, "Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?"' "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? The attack on the nation of Israel will not occur until they are living in peace and prosperity in the land they have returned to. Israel will prosper in trade and with God’s blessing become a rich nation in the near future. When this happens the attack from the north will not be far off. Ezekiel 38:15-23 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. "'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the Earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. every man's sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.' The purpose of this prophecy of the attack on Israel by the enemies from the north is stated above. God has given us this glimpse into the future so that his name will be glorified and that many nations will be shown his greatness and holiness. This spectacular rescue of the nation of Israel and destruction of the armies from the north will strengthen the faith of the believers and convert many new believers to Jesus Christ. In short, God's purpose is to use this event to promote a worldwide Christian revival before Christ’s second coming. There are always two ways to interpret things though, the right way and the wrong way. Those who reject Jesus Christ may attribute Israel’s victory to the Antichrist. Ezekiel 39:1-8 "Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD. "'I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of. The northern armies will fall on the mountains of Israel and fire will strike the countries from which the armies came. God will not only make his name known among the nations of the world, but also to his people Israel. This will be the event that will cause many of the people of Israel to turn back to the God that they worshipped when he led them out of Egypt. Israel will become a very religious nation, with most of the people believing that God is their protector. They will not yet recognize Jesus Christ as their Savior though, because shortly after this war they will be deceived by the Antichrist into believing that he is the God who rescued them from the northern armies. The first seal of Revelation, the rider on a white horse, is the Antichrist guaranteeing the safety of Israel. John 5:42-47 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" Those Who Reject The Truth About Jesus Christ Will Accept The Antichrist. Ezekiel 39:9-10 "'Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up--the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign LORD. Isaiah 9:5 every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. It will take seven months to bury the dead from the armies that invaded Israel. Israel will also burn the combustible items that are abandoned there for seven years. Besides the clothing and shoes left by the dead and fleeing armies, there will most likely be huge fuel and ammunition dumps that will be confiscated and used by the Israeli’s. Ezekiel 39:11-16 "'On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog. "'For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign LORD. "'Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. (Also a town called Hamonah will be there.) And so they will cleanse the land.' It is likely that this war will be one of the first events of the seven year tribulation period. This war is probably a detailed description of the opening of the 2nd seal of Revelation, the rider on a red horse. Notice also that there will be a town called Hamonah nearby. This town is not currently on the Israeli map so Hamonah will probably be built there soon. Hamonah means "horde or multitude," so perhaps this town will not be built or called "Hamonah" until after Gog’s armies are destroyed near the site. Ezekiel 39:17 "Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: 'Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the Earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls--all of them fattened animals from Bashan. At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,' declares the Sovereign LORD. "I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them. Again, in the verses above it is stated that "from that day forward," the house of Israel will know that the Lord is their God. This is God's way of getting Israel’s attention and is the first step in opening their eyes and beginning to lead them toward faith in Jesus Christ. It will be another six years, after they suffer under the persecution of Antichrist before most of them recognize Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Ezekiel 39:25-29 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD." In summary, the three chapters we have looked at in Ezekiel tell us of the restoration, rescue, and conversion of the people of Israel. In actuality, the war described in Ezekiel may have a double or triple fulfillment, like many other prophecies. There may be a limited war at the start of the tribulation period that meets this description, then a similar war at the end of the tribulation period, and another fulfillment at the end of the Millennium. The next chapter of Ezekiel, chapter 40, gives the dimensions for the rebuilding of the temple. This indicates that the temple will be rebuilt immediately after this war. Perhaps a missile from the invading army will destroy the Moslem mosque that now stands on the temple mount. It is also possible that the temple will be built alongside the Moslem mosque as a show of religious unity between the Moslems and the Jews. |