| Gog/Magog View
Alright, well I was going to start a thread on this but since it has already been started I will just add my view.
I think that the Gog/Magog event of Ezekiel 38/39 and Armageddon of Revelation 19 are the same event. However, the Gog/Magog event of Revelation 20 happens 1000 years after. I will present Scripture in an attempt to prove this.
First, something that may or may not be of significance:
"And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." Rev. 6:2
"And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand." Ezek. 39:3
It could be that the bow of the white rider (AC) in Revelation is a reference to the bow of Gog in Ezekiel. There is no other reference to a "bow" in Revelation, and the weapon must have some significance.
Alright, anyways, note the abundance of similarities between Gog's destruction and Armageddon:
"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. 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; 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." Eze. 39:18-20
"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. 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. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell:...And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." Rev. 16:17-19...20
So we can see the similarities between earthquakes.
"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. 38:21
"Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts." Hag. 2:22-23
"Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle...And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour." Zech. 14:3...13
Notice how in Zech. 14, when Jesus Christ returns (Rev. 19) every man's hand is against his neighbour, and also when Gog is destroyed, every man's hand is against his brother.
More:
"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." Eze. 38:22
First off, we have the mention of pestilence, something also talked about in Zech. 14, with the "plague" God smites the nations with that fight at Jerusalem (Armageddon). Then, we have the mention of blood:
"Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll:..." Isa. 34:3-4
The next mention we have is of a great rain (storm) along with great hailstones. Obviously, in order to have great hailstones you would have to have a tremendous storm (overflowing rain). This event is mentioned in Revelation during the destruction of the beast:
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev. 11:19
Obviously this is the return of Jesus Christ, as proven by these next two verses:
"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." Rev. 16:21
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake;...And the kings of the earth, and the great men,...hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:12...15...16-17
They are hiding themselves in the dens/rocks of the mountains to cover themselves from the plague of HAIL, which, "coincidentally" also happens when Gog is destroyed. So, a plague of great hail happens both when Gog is destroyed, and also when the beast of Revelation is destroyed.
More similarities:
"And, thou son of man, thus said the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD." Eze. 39:17-20
"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great...And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." Rev. 19:17-18...21
Something else:
"So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward." Eze. 39:22
The problem is that if Eze. 38/39 is referring to the Gog/Magog destruction in Rev. 20, Christ would already have reigned 1000 years, so the house of Israel would already have "known" for the past 1000 years. This verse, then, must be dealing with the return of Jesus Christ and the beginning of his 1000 year reign in Jerusalem. Same with these verses:
"When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemes' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD." Eze. 39:27-29
As we can see from the above verse, if it were talking about the destruction of Gog PRIOR to the return of Christ, it would make no sense, because the verse says that God will no longer hide his face from the "house of Israel" (the saved). Therefore, the verse must be talking about the return of Christ and His subsequent 1000 year reign.
So, from the above verses, we can plainly see that there is a remarkable similarity between the destruction of Gog in Ezek. 38/39 and the destruction of the beast in Revelation:
1. great earthquakes which move mountains
2. every man's sword is against his brother/neighbour
3. pestilence/plague/blood
4. a tremendous storm which causes great hail
5. fowls devour Gog and fowls devour the beast
We can also see that directly after the destruction of Gog the house of Israel knows that "I am the LORD their God from that day and forward", and directly after the destruction of the beast Christ reigns 1000 years in Jerusalem.
We should be careful of taking two events to be the same just because of several similarities in the Bible, but in this case I believe that the preponderance of evidence indicates that the destruction of Gog/the beast are one and the same event.  |
Linear Mode
