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Introduction
Audio Link: https://whengogcomes.com/audio/02-introduction-wgc.mp3
Timing. The Bible proclaims it everywhere, and it acts as a centerpiece of prophecy. The order of Creation. The Exodus. The coming of Messiah. The Last Days. They all center on timing, while also illustrating the price for getting it wrong.
As I discovered when I wrote Ezekiel's Fire, many will die when Gog and Magog come. Those who survive will suffer greatly, and preparing for it will give us a greater chance of survival and even prosperity. The title of Ezekiel's Fire comes from this verse:
And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
- Ezekiel 39:6 (ASV)
It's a fire described in Ezekiel, so it's Ezekiel's Fire. And, it's not just a bad bit of lightning. That fire is a solar event so big that it will make the sun seven times brighter and the moon as bright as the sun (Isaiah 30:26). Cars and trucks will cease working (Zechariah 12:4), and there will be a global earthquake that will knock down every building of any size (Isaiah 30:25). And, a vast cloud of dust will be ejected from the sun out into the solar system, obscuring the stars as it spreads outward (Revelation 6:14). And, every single bit of that will be connected to:
The coming of Gog and Magog.
Oh, and there's one other thing that this event is connected to, something that we have struggled to understand for two thousand years:
The Return of Jacob to God
The salvation of Israel is tightly woven into the prophecies of the Last Days. Since very few dispute that fact, the only question in our mind should be about WHEN. This 'when' should consume our interest because When Gog Comes and when the children of Jacob return will also tell us when Ezekiel's Fire will flatten our civilization.
Our Assumptions
Unfortunately, I have discovered that most Christians assume that Gog and Magog come at some point after the Rapture and/or around the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Because the Millennium which follows has a geographical focus on Jerusalem, it is easy to see why so many make this assumption. All of us tend to latch on to such similarities and move on to deal with the other challenges of life. But, these assumptions will be fatal, if Ezekiel's Fire catches us unprepared.
If I'm right, at some point in our future, the lights will go out, buildings will collapse and many many people will die. Some places will fare better than others. But, there's no way that our current civilization can survive such a catastrophic event. It will be that bad. And, it also looks like this might be the deadly wound that the Beast System suffers (Revelation 13).
When looked at carefully, the description in the Bible is pretty clear. There's no other way to view the events of Isaiah 30, Zechariah 12 and Ezekiel 39, when you understand that those three chapters describe the same moment in time. Worse, there is evidence that an event like Ezekiel's Fire has already happened at least once before. But...
The issue is timing.
Errors
Unfortunately, well-meaning commentators in the 1800s muddied our understanding by inserting their own ideas. The return of the Jews to the Land of Israel seemed utterly impossible to them, let alone the idea of some guy named Gog, gathering an army and attacking Israel. So, they either cut Gog out or shoved him into the Millennium. They could not even envision the fall of the Ottoman empire, much less the idea of computers, electricity, telephones, flush toilets and the Internet. And yes, it is common for people to interpret the Bible according to what they see around them. We do it all the time.
The good thing is that we are better able to imagine what 19th century Bible teachers could not. The bad thing is that many of us are still caught up in ideas that were introduced two centuries ago. So, we need to look again at our assumptions and ask if they are as true as we thought they were.
However, we are not done with error, and there's one that sits underneath these badly formed theories - bad translations. I don't understand why, but our Bibles are full of translation mistakes. Big ones. The majority of these errors must have been made in good faith. But, far too many appear to be deliberate distortions of what the Bible actually says.
Let me be clear that the Bible itself is without error. The errors only crop up when we translate or interpret the Bible. I will talk about those errors as we come to them, but you need to know that what you think of as The Bible, is only a translation. The true Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek and a smattering of Aramaic.
Unfortunately for most English speakers, the vast majority of End Times Prophecies were written in Hebrew. And Hebrew is a hard language to learn. I know this, because I had to. Living and working in Israel is difficult if you can't speak the language. But, being immersed in a Hebrew-language environment definitely gives a boost to anyone's ability to understand the Old Testament. I highly recommend it.
I think that we all owe a great debt of gratitude to Eliezer ben Yehudah, who made Biblical Hebrew the modern language that is today. He was a fanatic in his devotion to its accuracy and tireless in his efforts to make it the language of Israel. We should sing the praises of Eliezer, and in Israel... they do.
Why This Is Difficult
However, Hebrew isn't the biggest barrier to understanding the prophecies of the Last Days. God specifically laid out prophecy in a way that requires us to fit the pieces together properly. And yes, this was God's intent:
For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.
- Isaiah 28:10 (ESV)
Of course, that verse is for those who love God and are led by the Holy Spirit. For those who are in rebellion, God has this to say:
But the word of the Lord was to them,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,”
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.
- Isaiah 28:13 (NKJV)
That was true for the Jews who rebelled against their Messiah and crucified Him, and it will be true for us if we are not careful with the prophecies about the time in which we live. Think of this book as my best attempt at embracing verse ten and avoiding verse thirteen.
Now, this doesn't mean that the Bible teachers of bygone eras were rebels. There is a time and place for understanding the Last Days. Even Daniel was denied the ability to understand:
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
- Daniel 12:4 (NKJV)
There was just no way that any of us were going to understand The Time Of The End, until it came. It just wasn't going to happen. And, even now, I must ask myself if what I have written is correct. If we are not living in the The Last Days, the prophecy that we are talking about here is still sealed, and I got it all wrong. And, I would actually love for that to be so. You'll understand why, as you read on.
Having said that, the attempt still needs to be made, because Daniel 12 also says this:
9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
- Daniel 12:9-10 (NKJV)
I think that it's pretty clear that we live at 'the time of the end', so I think that we need to do our best to get this right. But as we do that, we need to remember that there have been many times over the past 2000 years when people felt the same way. Even though we might feel a strong conviction about this, we could be wrong.
How To Unravel The Difficulty
However, as difficult as this is, we have a strong guide for building our understanding:
Precept upon precept.
That is the basis upon which this book stands. Each decree by God (precept) is laid upon another decree by God until an accurate picture of the Last Days emerges. If all of the precepts have been laid down properly, the conclusion will be structurally sound. If not, it will fall apart.
We can see an example of doing this incorrectly, with this verse:
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
- 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (KJV)
That verse gets quoted a lot, and it's definitely true - but not in the way that most use it.
Why?
Because, we ARE appointed to wrath, if we are in rebellion to God. The Bible is full of God's wrath upon His people who are sinning against Him. And, I believe that a lot of what is coming is precisely due to the carnality and wickedness within our churches. We have become indistinguishable from the world, and the price that we will pay for this will be terrible. So, let's describe God's decrees carefully.
One of the precepts that we will use to build our understanding is the acknowledgment that we have corrupted ourselves, and that God is angry with our sin. The shocking statistics about how sinful we have become, should be more than enough to convince anyone of what is in our future.
Another decree of God will be the coming of Gog and his armies to attack Israel. And, on top of that one will be the prophecy that Jacob would Return to God after this attack. Furthermore, since they happen at the same moment in time, wherever we see one of them, we know that the other is also there - even if we don't see it in that passage. If a passage refers to the Return of Jacob, we know that Gog and Magog are included - even if they aren't mentioned.
This allows us to assemble and compile many passages that add a lot of detail to the picture that we are trying to bring into focus - along with the timing of these events. If we are thorough enough, we should see the future of what will happen when Gog comes and the salvation of Israel occurs.
Unfortunately, this montage comes with a host of horrifying imagery. Our cities will die. The technology that we depend upon will become useless. Those who survive the earthquakes will often die of violence, thirst and starvation. And, I shudder at this thought.
The Great Blessing
Just remember that good things will come of this. God will be glorified. The words of the Bible will be validated. People will have a chance to see the power of God and the opportunity to choose eternal salvation. It will also be a kind of final warning of the judgment that is coming - a final chance to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. And, in this moment of truth, there will be a great need for us to proclaim the gospel.
This will be the greatest moment in the history of the world, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At no other time will there have been so much visible evidence of the truth of the Bible, as this. And there will be a tremendous need for brothers and sisters to share the Light of Christ.
We will all be needed, wherever we are, to help the injured and to ease suffering. And when I talk about the need to prepare, I say that not just for ourselves - but for everyone around us. In this time that is coming, we will have opportunities to serve God in ways that few have ever seen.
But, you can't serve God in this life...
...if you're dead.
That's a big reason why this book exists - to show you what is coming, so that you can still serve God in the midst of apocalyptic disaster. Hopefully, this will be a starting point for your own search into these events.
Laying Out God's Decrees
In this book, we begin with:
And then add:
The Core Chapters are those that directly describe the events that we want to examine. They provide the most detail and give us the most context. They lay the foundation that other chapters will build upon.
The Supporting Passages provide additional detail that help us verify what we see in the Core Chapters. These passages show us different viewpoints and add evidence that the Core Chapters do not include.
We Start With The Antichrist
In our first 'core chapter', we begin with the Antichrist. He is called many things - Man of Sin, Son of Perdition, Man of Fierce Countenance, etc. He is also called the King of the North in Daniel 11. The problem is that many theologians believe that he is also Gog. And, there's no way that we can even begin talking about When Gog Comes, until we have laid to rest the question about any connection between Gog and the Antichrist.
For those who understand the fundamental nature of this question, once we show that Gog cannot be the Antichrist, we could stop right there and go home. Once you prove that the King of the North cannot be the Gog of Gog and Magog, almost all of the other theories about the Last Days collapse. Not only that, but...
If Gog is not the Antichrist...
...then Gog must come years - even decades - before the Antichrist.
That might not seem like an obvious truth to you now, but keep reading. By the time that we're done, it will be so clear and undeniable that you will wonder why you didn't see it before. I understand this process, since it took me a while to understand the significance of this point. And, I have less excuse than almost anyone else. I was in the perfect position to see all of what I am talking about, and still didn't get it. But, God is gracious and will not leave His children in darkness, if they seek Him with a faithful heart - and when the time is right.
Then We Look At Gog And Magog
Once we have deconstructed the question of the Antichrist - as he relates to Gog - we can then move on to talking about who Gog is, and the best place to begin is Ezekiel 38 and 39. Those two chapters are a single prophecy that give us the most comprehensive description of Gog and Magog and when they descend upon Israel. They will also be the chapters that introduce us to the global catastrophe that happens, When Gog Comes. And, like what I said before, you could probably stop there once you understand that something awful was coming.
Unfortunately, the details of this fire in Ezekiel 38 and 39 are somewhat vague. Again, this fire is why I call the coming cataclysm, Ezekiel's Fire. But, you could have called it Zechariah's Horses or Isaiah's Sun, because Zechariah and Isaiah are key witnesses to the same event described by Ezekiel.
The Great Catastrophe In Zechariah And Isaiah
If you are already familiar with what I wrote in Ezekiel's Fire, it will be extremely clear about what we are talking about. Zechariah shows us that electricity, communications and modern transportation will cease to function. Isaiah will show us that it will be our sun that causes it, while telling us that every building of any size will be knocked down - all over the world. And, there is a tremendous amount of science that supports what the Bible says about this.
We have seen stars just like our own sun, flash brightly with superflares thousands of times bigger than anything that we have ever seen from our own sun. But, when Isaiah describes our sun as becoming seven times brighter, with our moon becoming as bright as the sun, we've gone well beyond something like a superflare and straight into the idea of a small nova event.
A small nova that blasts away the outer shell of a star, is less common than a superflare, but the description fits extremely well with what is said in Isaiah 30. More importantly, it helps us understand why every building of any size around the world will be knocked down. In fact, of all the deadly events that we will describe, that earthquake will probably kill more people than any other.
My hope is that you will grasp the enormity of this. Major cities around the world will be destroyed by the earthquake, and those trapped under the rubble will not have anyone to rescue them. Those who survive, will be without electricity, running water or transportation.
It will be the worst catastrophe since The Great Flood.
(And yes, the Great Flood may have also been a nova event)
We Prove That Jacob Must Return Before The Antichrist
At the same time that this global cataclysm engulfs the world, we'll see the Return of the Children of Jacob to God. And, we have absolute proof that this moment of salvation must come long before the Antichrist rises. After looking at just this evidence alone, there can be no way that anyone would believe that Gog is the Antichrist. Israel must be saved many years - even decades - before the Antichrist invades Israel. There cannot be any doubt of this, once you see the proof for yourself. There is a mountain of evidence that shows this happening, exactly as the Bible describes. And when you get to it, you will wonder why you didn't see it before.
The Supporting Passages
We could end at these main points and feel satisfied that we have completed our task of proving that Gog and Magog are coming before the Antichrist, and that we need to start working on preparing for this event. But, there is more to be said.
Isaiah 17 and Isaiah 19 will give us another snapshot of this moment in time. Chapter 17 will talk about how and why Damascus will be destroyed, never to rise again as a city. Chapter 19 will show us an Egypt turned upside down, but also turning to Christ and becoming our brothers and sisters.
Jeremiah 30 and 31 emphasize the connection between the great catastrophe and the salvation of Israel. But, those two chapters will add detail to Isaiah 30's global earthquake. And there will be no doubt that we will be talking about the same moment in time, with every building of any size around the world being knocked flat.
Micah 5 will reinforce all that we've seen. In it's own way, that chapter in Micah will put it all together. But, you might not have seen it as clearly, if you hadn't looked at the other prophets first.
Then, we get a bit out into the weeds with the Seven Seals of Revelation 6 and 7. It was a late addition to this book, and I wasn't sure if I should discuss these seals, but Seal Six is unmistakable proof of what we are talking about. If you were wondering where the coming of Gog lies in the Book of Revelation, it's the last part of Revelation 6 - the Sixth Seal.
Feel free to try and prove any and all of this wrong. In fact, I would be profoundly relieved if you did so. I did not enjoy writing any of this book, and I would love to find that I was wrong.
Why I Say 'The Children Of Jacob'
Now, why do I keep referring to Israel and the Jews as the Children of Jacob?
The simplest reason is that this is the correct response to those who teach Replacement Theology (aka, Supersessionism). Replacement theologians claim that every reference to Israel in the Bible is now pointed right at them - at Christians. That is a patently illogical position, but many Christians still hold this idea. So, it helps a bit to clarify my point by referring to the physical descendants of Israel as the children of Jacob - just as the Bible also does, many times. However, there is a far deeper, more spiritual reason for referring to them as The Children of Jacob.
When Jacob left his father and mother and went searching for a wife, he was not a follower of God. That might surprise you, so I hope that you were sitting down when I said that. But, it's true. To put it in Christian terms:
Jacob was an unsaved man, when he left his parents and the land of Canaan.
God still promised to bless him, and in the dream of Jacob's Ladder (Genesis 28), God said that He would give Jacob the land upon which he slept and make his descendants so numerous that they could not be counted. God went on to say that He would be with Jacob, everywhere that he went and would bring Jacob back to the land that he was leaving.
Unfortunately, Jacob wasn't completely convinced:
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.
- Genesis 28:20-21 (NKJV)
That IF-THEN statement is not something that any man with faith in God would say - at least, not like that. Those who have faith in God would never say, "IF God does such-and-so, THEN I will follow Him." But, each of us had a moment in time in which we did not believe. And, all of us needed a nudge or two from God to put us on the path of salvation. Jacob was no different.
The good thing is that Jacob did come to faith in God, and our Lord changed his name to Israel.
Great Hope
Then, as we dive into the time of this horrifying disaster that is coming, we need to see something very important coming out of this:
Yes, many peoples and strong nations
Shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem,
And to pray before the Lord.’
- Zechariah 8:22 (NKJV)
Many theologians would have you believe that this is the Millennium. It isn't. The proof that they are wrong is in this book. But, proving theologians wrong is less important than understanding that, something wonderful is going to happen, and some of us will have an important role to play in that.
After Gog comes...
...and after Ezekiel's Fire...
...many nations will join themselves to Christ.
As much as it pains me to see how terrible these events will be, the fact that millions upon millions of people will know Christ as their Lord and Savior will be a great compensation for what many of us will go through.
I don't like suffering. Not even a little. But, if it means the salvation of many people, I will embrace it, and I hope that you will be with me in this.
Back To Our Topic
Now, let's get on to proving the identity and timing of Gog and Magog. And, we will start by examining the military campaigns of the Antichrist. Then, we will look at what the Bible says about Gog and Magog - chapters that also talk about the salvation and spiritual transformation of the Children of Jacob. It will be clear that Gog is NOT the Antichrist and that their armies are not the same.
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© 2022 John Little. All rights reserved.
May God preserve the words that are true
and cast away those that are not.