Davy said in post #96:
The Ezekiel 38 alignment of nations is happening now, in our time, Turkey (ancient area of Togarmah) being the only part left to join the Gog/Magog alliance against Israel.
Note that none of the verses you quoted says or requires that the Gog/Magog attack on Israel (Ezekiel chapters 38-39) will occur at any other time than after the future Millennium (Revelation 20:7-10).
Also, note that nothing requires that present-day Turkey will ever attack Israel. (For present-day Turkey could be taken out by a coup d'etat engineered by Western intelligence agencies, or by a "heart attack" suffered by Turkey's hostile leader, who is now very-violently going against the West and its allies in northern Syria.)
But this in no way means that present-day Israel will be safe from an all-out attack by other nations.
For the future Antichrist might not appear on the world stage until after the horrible, future, Tribulation-starting war of Revelation 6:4-8 and Daniel 11:15-17 has resulted in the total defeat and occupation of Israel, and Egypt, and the death of one-fourth of the world. It could be this war which will help open the way for the Antichrist to arise on the world stage as a great man of peace, and antitypically fulfill the "vile" person of Daniel 11:21-45.
And one way that the future, Tribulation-starting war of Revelation 6:4-8 and Daniel 11:15-17 could happen is the U.S. could undertake a massive buildup of the Iraqi Army, initially to bring about the total (and lasting) defeat of the Islamic State militant group (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) in Iraq and eastern and southern Syria, and eventually so that the Iraqi Army can serve as a proxy army, for the U.S. and Israel, for an all-out ground invasion of
Iran, in order to end Iran's nuclear weapons program, its ballistic missile program, its terrorist-group support operations, and its extremist regime. As part of the buildup of the Iraqi Army, the U.S. could reinstall much of the former Iraqi Baathist military hierarchy (which existed under Baathist Saddam Hussein), in order to run the present Iraqi Army more efficiently and ruthlessly.
And if the current, Shiite-dominated government of Iraq balks at any return of a Baathist-dominated military (which cruelly suppressed the Iraqi Shiites under Saddam Hussein), or balks at any invasion of fellow-Shiite Iran, this could lead Western intelligence agencies to bring about a Baathist coup d'etat in Iraq. For they could see a well-run, Baathist Iraqi Army and government as the only way to
permanently defeat Islamic State (and all of its successors), and the only way to eventually invade and defeat Iran, which invasion the Iraqi Baathists could agree to perform. For they see meddling, non-Arab Iran as a great enemy of Arab autonomy.
Indeed, the current military brains of the Islamic State are former Iraqi Baathist generals who cannot stand that the Iraqi government is so heavily controlled by Iran. They see (Sunni Arab) Islamic State as the only current, viable bulwark against the (Shiite, non-Arab) Iranians, and their Shiite Arab cronies, taking total control of all of Iraq and Syria. But if there are secret, Western overtures toward these Baathist generals (who are now holed up in eastern Syria), they could very well agree to defect from serving Islamic State to serving a non-sectarian, "Free Iraqi Army" drawn mainly (not exclusively) from Sunni Arab and Kurdish militias in western and northern Iraq, which Army, with secret Western assistance, could then march on Baghdad, and completely overthrow the current, Iranian-controlled, Iraqi government, which is very weak and corrupt.
Once the Iraqi Baathists (and Kurds) take back control of the Iraqi government and military, they could then also defeat all of the Iranian-controlled Shiite Arab militias in Iraq and eastern and southern Syria. Then, to help get the Iraqi masses and the world behind the idea of a subsequent, all-out Iraqi invasion of Iran itself, "false flag" operations could be managed by Western intelligence agencies by which it will be made to seem that (non-Arab, Persian) Iran is attacking the Iraqi Sunni Arabs and Kurds (and their little children) terroristically with "dirty bombs" made from Iranian-enriched uranium, so that the Iraqi masses will become enraged, and begin to call for all-out retaliation against (what they could call) "the vile Persians". And the world could see an Iraqi invasion of Iran as being completely justified by self-defense.
But then, right when Iraq is all ready to invade Iran, the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel (who by that time could be led by a great miracle-working false "Messiah": cf. Matthew 24:24) could destroy the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque (the third-holiest sites in Islam), on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, in order to clear the site for the building of a third Jewish temple (Revelation 11:1-2, Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31,36; 2 Thessalonians 2:4). This could so enrage Muslims worldwide, including the (Muslim) Iraqi Army, that the Iraqi Baathist Generals could see it as a perfect excuse to abandon the plan to invade huge Iran, and instead (pretending that they are doing so in the name of Islam), turn and send their vast army against the small territory of Israel, completely defeating and occupying it (Daniel 11:15-17; in verse 17, the original Hebrew word translated as "daughter" is "bath").
But this would not be the ultimate reason for the Baathist attack, which could continue on south to also defeat and occupy Egypt (Daniel 11:15). For Egypt is ruled by the U.S.-supported Egyptian Army, which the Baathists could see as being a puppet of the U.S., just as they could see Israel as being like a 51st state of the U.S. Baathism's ultimate aim is to unite all Arab lands from Oman to Morocco into one massive, powerful United Arab States, free from all foreign (including U.S.) hegemony.
The all-out Iraqi attack on Israel could be joined by the entire (Baathist) Syrian Army (with all of its missiles, many still secretly tipped with nerve agents), as well as by all of Iran's long-range missiles, and all of Hezbollah's and Hamas' missiles and guerrillas. Israel could find itself suddenly attacked from three directions at the same time (from the east, north, and south), with thousands of missiles raining down on its cities and military bases, and a thousand Iraqi tanks (meant to defeat and occupy Iran) pouring across its borders. As Israel starts to see its small area of land overrun, and sees that its total defeat and occupation is imminent and assured, in retaliation it could drop nuclear bombs on Baghdad, Damascus (Isaiah 17:1), Tehran, and other major cities of Iraq, Syria, and Iran.
There could be so many nuclear explosions, sending so much radioactive dust and ash so high into the atmosphere, that they could be blown eastward and fall on hugely-populated South Asia, ruining so many crop fields and immune systems there with radiation that one-fourth of the world's population could end up dying from the war, and its aftermath of famines and epidemics. This could fulfill the horrible war which will begin the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, which war will, with its aftermath of famines and epidemics, end up killing one-fourth of the world (Revelation 6:4-8). The "great sword" of this war (Revelation 6:4) could be Israel's nuclear weapons. This war could be blamed not only on the religious fundamentalism of Islam and Judaism, but also on religious fundamentalism in general, and so could lead to a worldwide crusade against all forms of religious fundamentalism, including Christian fundamentalism, that is, the (correct) idea that the Bible is wholly true (2 Timothy 3:16, Matthew 4:4), and that all other religions are cursed, doubly cursed (Galatians 1:8-9, John 14:6, John 3:36, Acts 4:12).
After an Iraqi Baathist General who could lead the defeat and occupation of Israel and Egypt mysteriously disappears from the scene (Daniel 11:19), the Antichrist, who could be an Arab, could arise peacefully out of Lebanon (from the modern city of Tyre: Ezekiel 28:2; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4). And he could take up the mantle of Baathism, and vow to (in his words)
"complete the great work of Arab liberation and unification". The first thing that the Antichrist could do once he is given control (Daniel 11:21) of a Baathist federation of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and a "United Palestine" (that is, a defeated and occupied Israel), is to perform a small and localized attack against an army of ultra-Orthodox Jews holed up in the walled Old City of Jerusalem, and led by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish false "Messiah" (Daniel 9:26a, Daniel 11:22).
These ultra-Orthodox Jews could have managed to hold off the first Baathist attack, even as it overran the rest of Israel, because the walled Old City of Jerusalem is considered holy to the Muslims, and so it is not to be bombarded or destroyed. The Antichrist could manage in some way to take the Old City without doing it much harm, such as by incapacitating its Jewish defenders with huge clouds of tear gas, while tens of thousands of Arab soldiers wearing gas masks take control of the city by climbing over its walls on thousands of tall ladders.
But then, instead of imprisoning or executing all of the ultra-Orthodox Jews, and their false Messiah, the Antichrist will do an amazing thing. He will "cut" a peace treaty with them, and their false Messiah (Daniel 9:26a, Daniel 11:23), permitting them to keep a third Jewish temple (Revelation 11:1), which they will have built on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, and to keep control of the Old City for at least seven years (Daniel 9:27a), so long as they give up the outer court of the temple (Revelation 11:2a) to the Muslims, so that the Muslims can rebuild the (by that time destroyed) Al Aqsa Mosque on the southern end of the Temple Mount and resume worship there. By this peace treaty, the Antichrist could present himself to the world as (in his words):
"A reasonable man, a man of peace. I am no Hitler. I do not desire a second Holocaust. I am willing to give the religious Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem seven years to show that they are willing to live peacefully with others, that they are different than the Zionist Jews who have just destroyed the world with their nuclear weapons".
And if the Antichrist gets flak from his fellow Baathists for letting the ultra-Orthodox Jews keep the Old City of Jerusalem, he could explain to them privately that (in his words)
"It's all a temporary ruse, meant to keep world opinion off guard while we consolidate our position". The Baathists could consolidate their position by becoming so well dug-in, and so well-equipped and advised militarily by the Russians (in the name of "Arab self-determination"), that a U.S. counter-attack to "restore" (that is, to take back) Israel and Egypt could fail, and leave the Baathists in control, and in a position to extend their power over all of the rest of the Arab nations. For if the Baathists defeat and occupy Israel, they will be hailed by the Arab masses across the Arab world as magnificent heroes, so that the Baathists could have no problem persuading the Arab masses to support them. And the Baathists could justify their defeat of the Egyptian military regime, and then their subsequent defeat of other Arab regimes, such as in Jordan, by railing against them as being (what they could call):
"These vile cronies of the Americans. These cronies pretended to be for the Arab people, while in fact they were taking American bribes in the billions, completely selling out our Palestinian brothers to the endless cruelties of the Zionist occupation, and keeping you, the great majority of the Arab people, in poverty. These cronies, like the Zionists themselves, were the American bulwarks against our glorious Arab unification and return to world power. Join now with us, the Baathists, that we might bring about the long-awaited Arab Renaissance, the long-awaited Arab Resurrection [the Arab word 'Baath' can mean 'Renaissance' and 'Resurrection'], that we Arabs might all rise up together and unite, from Oman to Morocco, into one great United Arab States, one great Arab Empire, shaking off completely all the shackles of the West, placed upon us so long ago, and return to our former glory, as we had during the Middle Ages, when we were free and far superior to the West".
The Baathists could also rail against the kings, sheikhs, and innumerable princes of the Arab Gulf States for (in their words)
"Hoarding the huge oil wealth given by Allah to all of the Arabs, the Prophet's own people, and keeping the Arab masses in poverty and subjugation to Western, infidel interests". The Baathists are socialist, and so could call for the distribution of the Arab oil wealth to the Arab masses (Daniel 11:24). In this way, and by their defeat and occupation of Israel, the Baathists could easily turn the masses to their side in every Arab nation.
During the first few years of the seven-year peace treaty referred to earlier, the Antichrist could employ Baathism as the means by which he will gradually and peacefully put together a truly-federal, United Arab States, stretching from Oman to Morocco. Once he has accomplished this, he could then begin to downplay Baathism, and start speaking of: "World peace and the unity of mankind". He could convince an oil-thirsty European Union to let the oil-rich United Arab States join it, thereby forming a massive Mediterranean Union, which he could manage to peacefully gain control of, and use as his base of power to eventually exert his hegemony over the entire world (Revelation 13:7b).
Then, only some 3.5 years after making the seven-year peace treaty referred to earlier, the Antichrist will break it, attack the third Jewish temple in Jerusalem, stop the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices offered in front of it, and sit (at least one time) in the temple and proclaim himself God (Daniel 11:31,36, Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4). He will then rule the whole world, by the power of Lucifer (Satan, the dragon: Revelation 12:9), for 3.5 literal years (Revelation 13:4-18, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7, Revelation 12:14), or 1,260 literal days (Revelation 12:6).
The return of Jesus Christ from heaven (Matthew 24:30, Revelation 19:11-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) may not occur immediately after the 1,260 days of the Antichrist's worldwide reign, but could occur 75 days later, on the 1,335th day after the Antichrist and his followers set up the abomination of desolation (possibly a standing, android image of the Antichrist) in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of the third Jewish temple (Daniel 12:11-12, Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15). These 75 days could be taken up by the vials of God's wrath, which will be poured out on the Antichrist's worshippers (Revelation 16).
When Jesus Christ returns, He will completely defeat the Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") (Revelation 19:20; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9), and He will have Satan bound in the Bottomless Pit (Revelation 20:1-3). Then the returned Jesus, and the physically resurrected Church (of all times, including those in the Church who had been beheaded by the Antichrist), will reign physically on the earth for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29, Psalms 66:3-4, Psalms 72:8-11, Zechariah 14:8-21).
