Ezekiel 38:8-12, Revelation 16
Is This That Battle?
We are still looking at the end times, particularly the Tribulation;
and we are still looking at what man will do to mankind during that
time, particularly with wars.
1. Daniel 9 may hint at a war that will start the Tribulation.
(That one would be, at least in part, against Israel.)
2. Revelation 6, I think, tells us that one will be taking place
at or around the beginning of Tribulation. (That one
involving up to 1/4 of the world.)
3. Daniel 11 tells us that one will be taking place around the
middle of the Tribulation. (That one seemingly against the
anti-Christ.)
4. Ezekiel 38-39 seems to tell us that one will take place after
the middle of the Tribulation but before the end of the
Tribulation. (That one with the armies of the north, south,
east, and west coming against Israel.)
Maybe these are all different wars. Maybe these are different battles
within the same war. Maybe these are all separate movements with the
same battle. If the Bible tells us these things, I have not found
it. For some things, we will just have to wait until the prophecies
are fulfilled, but two things I do know.
1. There will be a lot of bloodshed during the Tribulation.
2. You do now want to be here during that time period.
I spend our last time in this study, attempting to narrow down the
WHEN, WHO, WHY, and WHERE. Tonight, let’s look at the WHAT. WHAT
is going to happen.
Please keep your Bible open and look at the many verses that I will
mention and read to you.
I. The armies of the world will come against Israel.
A. When?
Eze 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited:
in the latter years….
1. \\#Eze 38:8\\ I spend a good bit of time last week
attempting to show the reasons for why I believe it will
happen during the last half of the Tribulation.
2. Tonight, we will just leave it as "in the latter days…"
B. Who?
1. \\#Ez 38:2\\ Magog, Meshech, and Tubal - Turkey and the
"stan" countries will come from the north.
3. \\#Ez 38:5\\ Iran will come from the east.
3. Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya from the south and west.
4. \\#Ez 38:13\\ mentions that some nations may object to
these nations attacking Israel, but it does not say any
will attempt to stop these nations from attacking Israel.
5. \\#Ez 38:9, 16\\ Instead, God says these nations will come
against Israel like a storm and that Israel, a nation
then used to peace and—I believe—reliant upon a peace
treaty, will be—"unwalled" and "at rest" \\#Ez 38:11\\—
totally unprepared.
C. Why?
1. These nations will come with the intent of taking a spoil:
Eze 38:13 …Art thou come to take a spoil? hast
thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to
carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle
and goods, to take a great spoil?
a. Israel will not be their ONLY target.
b. \\#Zech 14:1\\ They will collect spoil from others as
well.
c. But Israel will be their LAST target.
2. God will have His own reason for bringing them
3. I will come back to those questions in a moment…
D. But note God takes a special interest in the ruler of Magog,
one simply called Gog.
1. Gog is given a special invitation by God.
Eze 38:4 And I will turn thee back, and put
hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth,
and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of
them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a
great company with bucklers and shields, all of
them handling swords:
2. \\#Eze 38:2-3\\ God speaks directly to Gog.
Eze 38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog….
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am
against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech
and Tubal:
3. And the two, Gog and God, seem to have something personal
between them to settle.
Eze 38:14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and
say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that
day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely,
shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the
north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all
of them riding upon horses, a great company, and
a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of
Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be
in the latter days, and I will bring thee against
my land, that the heathen may know me, when I
shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their
eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom
I have spoken in old time by my servants the
prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those
days many years that I would bring thee against
them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time
when Gog shall come against the land of Israel,
saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up
in my face.
4. Although it is possible that Gog is the anti-Christ, I
have some doubts of it.
a. Gog, himself, appears to die and be buried at this
battle.
Eze 39:11 And it shall come to pass in that day,
that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves
in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the
east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of
the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and
all his multitude: and they shall call it The
valley of Hamongog.
b. But I think the anti-Christ will be cast ALIVE into
the Lake of Fire immediately after the Battle at
Jerusalem.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him
the false prophet that wrought miracles before
him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that
worshipped his image. These both were cast ALIVE
into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
(a) Maybe Gog is the anti-Christ.
(b) Maybe he doesn’t die at Ezekiel’s battle, but
he seems to do so.
(c) We will just have to wait and see.
E. All of this Old Testament invitation lines up with God’s New
Testament prophecy:
Rev 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his
vial upon the great river Euphrates (That is
NORTH of Israel); and the water thereof was dried
up, that the way of the kings of the east might
be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of
the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of
the false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the
earth and of the whole world, to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
16 And he (God) gathered them together into a
place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
1. Armageddon means the "hills of Megiddo.
2. Ezekiel makes it clear that this battle takes place in
the hills and mountains of Israel—which is also the
answer to WHERE?
Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against
him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord
GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his
brother.
Eze 39:2 And I will turn thee back, and leave
but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee
to come up from the north parts, and will bring
thee upon the mountains of Israel:
Eze 39:4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of
Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people
that is with thee….
3. I will remind you that Armageddon is NOT the place of the
last battle.
a. The last battle will be at Jerusalem \\#Zech 14:2\\.
b. Our Lord will put His feet on the Mount of Olives
\\#Zech 14:4\\.
c. That seems to be what is recorded in
\\#Rev 19:11-21\\, although I have just noticed that
no location is actually given in Revelation 19.
4. It is possible that Ezekiel’s battle starts in the
mountains of Israel MOVES to Jerusalem.
a. I think that is very probable.
b. \\#Eze 39:2\\ indicates 1/6 of this great army will
survive.
c. 1/6 of an innumerable host of soldiers is still a lot
of soldiers.
5. Is Ezekiel giving us the details of the Battle of
Armageddon?
a. I think he is.
b. But even if he is, this is not man’s final battle.
II. WHAT HAPPENS? God moves against the armies of the world.
A. Daniel 12:1 prophesied a "shift" in the plan of God toward
Israel.
1. Specifically, it prophesied that God will begin defending
Israel once again.
Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand
up, the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy people: and there shall be a
time of trouble, such as never was since there
was a nation even to that same time….
2. We are not sure exactly WHEN or HOW God will deliver His
people, but Ezekiel 38-39 details at least one time when
He does.
B. God’s Deliverance comes through three miracles:
1. God will send a great earthquake.
Eze 38:19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of
my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there
shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls
of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and
all creeping things that creep upon the earth,
and all the men that are upon the face of the
earth, shall shake at my presence, and the
mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep
places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to
the ground.
a. Revelation records several earthquakes.
b. One immediately after the spirit of the frogs invite
the armies of the world to Armageddon.
(1) The sixth angel pours out the judgment which
called the nations to Armageddon.
(2) The seventh angel pours out the judgment which
will shake the world.
Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his
vial into the air; and there came a great voice
out of the temple of heaven, from the throne,
saying, It is done.
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and
lightnings; and there was a great earthquake,
such as was not since men were upon the earth,
so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
2. God will cause the armies of the world to fight among
themselves. (A lot of nations can certainly provide a
lot of people, but it also provides the potential for a
lot of internal strife.)
Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against
him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord
GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his
brother.
3. And God will send natural and supernatural plagues against
the army. (Rain and hail are certainly natural, but fire
and brimstone are not—at least not today.)
Eze 38:22 And I will plead against him with
pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon
him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people
that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great
hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
C. The Results
1. And the result will be that most of the army of nations
will perish in those mountains.
Eze 39:4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of
Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people
that is with thee: I will give thee unto the
ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts
of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I
have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
a. So many will die that God will call the birds of the
air and the beasts of the field to eat their bodies
\\#Eze 39:17-19\\.
b. So many will die that grave diggers will be hired to
bury them for seven months \\#Eze 39:14\\.
2. And through it all, God will be exalted both in Israel and
around the world.
Eze 39:21 And I will set my glory among the
heathen, and all the heathen shall see my
judgment that I have executed, and my hand
that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I
am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
There is at least one more battle to look at, but even if every
reference to fighting is a different aspect of the same battle—and I
don’t think it all is—the Tribulation will require an awful lot of
fighting and killing. I don’t want to be here for it, but that is not
important. The Bible makes it clear that God does not want me to be
here for it. You and I just have to make sure we are ready when the
rapture occurs.
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