Podcast Introduction

Today our reading is Ezekiel 37-42. Afterwards, I’ll have some thoughts to share with you, and I’m calling today’s episode “Gog and Magog.”

Comments on Ezekiel 38-39

As I write this, Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin is very much in the news because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I will not comment on this action because it is outside the scope of the Lifespring Family Audio Bible.

Today I will talk about Ezekiel 38 and 39, its possible meaning and possible references to modern nations and the end times.

Let me start by reading the first six verses of chapter 38:

1And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2“Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. 4I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; 5Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.

Ezekiel 1-6 NASB

 But before I talk about the things we can know from these chapters, I’d like to share something written by Bible commentator Warren Wiersbe: “It’s tempting to identify Rosh with Russia and therefore Meschech with Moscow and Tubal with Tobolsk, both cities in Russia; but we would have a hard time defending this on linguistic grounds. This doesn’t rule out the participation of modern Russia, since it is located in the north (vv. 6, 15; 39:2), but neither does it demand it.” 

So from the scriptures, we cannot know for sure that modern Russia is the land spoken of in these scriptures. 

Let’s look at what we can know.

14“Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? 15You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; 16and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”

17‘Thus says the Lord God, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? 18It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord God, “that My fury will mount up in My anger.

Ezekiel 14-18 NASB

From verse 16, we know that this will happen in the last days. I have said many times on the show that I believe we are in the last days. I have also said that I am not dogmatic about that, but so many things have happened in the world since Israel again became a nation in 1948 that it is hard to avoid the thought that we are living in the closing days of history. We don’t have time here to list all of the events. Entire books have been written on the subject. This is an area that has a myriad of rabbit holes into which one could invest a lot of time.

I’ll just give you a list of what we can glean from chapters 38 and 39.

38:1-6: Gog, a leader from the north of Israel, will lead an alliance of nations to attack Israel. Those nations include Persia, Ethiopia, Put, Gomer, Beth-togarmah and many peoples. These lands encompass modern Iran, Turkey, Libya, Ethiopia, and possibly Armenia and Germany.

38:10: His motivation will be twofold – his own evil desires and God’s compulsion. 

38:4-6: They will attack swiftly with a very powerful army.

38: 8, 12: The attack comes when Israel has become a nation and when they are experiencing security, safety and prosperity

38:12-13: Other nations, not involved in the attack will try to see how they might benefit from Gog’s victory over Israel

38:16: God will defeat Gog in a way that will bring glory to Himself.

To be clear, we are not given enough information to have any certainty when this will happen. We cannot say that the present hostilities from Russia are the precursor to this battle. It is possible that the battle spoken of here in Ezekiel takes place before what is known as the Great Tribulation, the final literal seven year period before Jesus returns to Earth. It could take place in the middle of that seven year period, or it could take place at the end of the seven years. Interestingly, Revelation 19:17-18 and Ezekiel 39:17-20 are very similar. Revelation speaks of the time at the end of the seven years.

17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”

Revelation 19:17-18 NASB

17“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

Ezekiel 39:17-19 –

The battle might even happen after Jesus reigns on Earth for 1,000 years after His return in Revelation 19.

The fact is we just do not know many of the details that God has in mind. For reasons known only to Him, He gave us a very rough sketch, with just enough details to know that these events will happen, and they will all be for His glory. We are told in the book of Revelation that at the end of it all, we will praise Him for all that is done.

9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying,

“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

13Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 7:9-17 NASB

Beloved, I do not know when these things will happen. No one knows but the Father. But whether it begins today or at some distant time in the future, they will happen as surely as you are hearing my voice right now. The question is, are you ready? Are you prepared? 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 tells us, “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” In other words, once it happens, it will be too late to make preparations.

So how do you prepare? How will you escape destruction? How can you be sure that you will be one of those standing before the throne of the Lamb (Jesus)? 

If you have put your faith in Him, if you have asked Him to forgive your sins, if you have asked Him to be your Lord and your Savior, you have nothing to worry about. You have a place prepared for you in Heaven. 

Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3 NASB

If you are not sure that you are prepared, if you don’t know that there is a place for you in Heaven, why not decide right now that you want to be sure? Why wait? What is there to gain by waiting? Or let’s turn the question around…what is there to lose by waiting? Everything. If you wait, there is everything to lose. When you decide now to follow Jesus, you have everything to gain. 

All you have to do is ask Him. Just a simple prayer. Are you ready? Right now? Then pray with me:

Dear Jesus, I want to know that you are my Savior and my Lord. Please forgive me of all the sins I’ve done. I am sorry for them, and I turn from them now. I give my life to you, and I ask You to be my Savior and my Lord. Please take my life from this moment on, and help me to become the person you made me to be. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, and meant it, congratulations. You have begun a new life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” That’s a promise. Hang on to that promise. No matter if you felt anything or not, when you prayed that prayer just now, that promise applies to you.

I have a New Testament that I would like to send to you. It’s my gift. It’s called the New Believer’s Bible, and it is filled with hundreds of notes that will help you get started in your new life. I want you to have it. It’s free. Just send me an email at st***@*************ia.com and tell me you just prayed that prayer. And tell me where to send it. I won’t use your email or your mailing address for anything else. I won’t spam you and I won’t give or sell anyone else your information. I only want you to have this New Believer’s Bible. No strings at all. I’m just so happy that you have made this, the best decision you’ll ever make in your life.

So beloved, what do you think about what I’ve said today? Does it make sense to you? I invite your comments at the bottom of this page.

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 37-41 GNT; Ch. 42 NKJV

Music From the Show

Darrell Mansfield “Get Ready”

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The Team

Transcript Correction: Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Denise
Podcasting 2.0 Chapters: Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Sean of San Pedro and Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Michael Haner
Show Art: Lifespring Family Berean, Brother Scott Snider and Lifespring Family Berean Jason Paschall
Newsletter Publisher: Lifespring Family Berean, Sister Brittaney