Ezekiel 38:1-6 “Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, (2) "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, (3) and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. (4) I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. (5) Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; (6) Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops--many people are with you.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit reveals to us the type of weaponry that will be available to the armies of Gog and Magog, for He speaks about horses and horsemen all splendidly clothed, with bucklers, shields and swords. Clearly this is not an army that has access to modern weaponry that is commonplace in the armies of this current age. The reason for that is obvious; for we have already stated that the technology available to mankind during the millennium will be similar to that which was available when Jesus first came to the earth. Therefore the weaponry that will be available to Gog’s army will be similar to the armies of that era i.e. horses, bucklers, shields and swords.
Ezekiel 39:8-10 “Surely it is coming, and it shall be done," says the Lord God. "This is the day of which I have spoken. (9) "Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. (10) They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them," says the Lord God.”
The above quoted passage of scripture confirms to us the types of weaponry that will be available to Gog’s army, i.e. shields, bucklers, bows and arrows, javelins, and spears. In other words the weaponry used in Gog’s army will be similar to the weaponry used in the anti-Christ’s army. There are two points of interest to note in this passage; Firstly, after the battle the saints will use Gog’s weaponry for firewood, which is something the saints would be unable to do if Gog’s army used modern weaponry (tanks and missiles cannot be used as firewood). Secondly, the amount of substitute firewood that these weapons will provide will last the saints (250 million) for seven years, again confirming the enormous size of Gog’s army.
Ezekiel 38:18-23 “And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," says the Lord God, "that My fury will show in My face. (19) For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: 'Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, (20) so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.' (21) I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains," says the Lord God. "Every man's sword will be against his brother. (22) And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. (23) Thus, I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord."”
The battle of Gog and Magog will prove to be just as one sided as the battle of Armageddon, for the passage of scripture quoted above describes God destroying Gog’s army with flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. You will recall that when the Lord Jesus destroyed the anti-Christ’s army at the battle of Armageddon, that the saints did nothing but stand and watch. It will be the same on this occasion, i.e. the saints will simply stand and watch Gog’s army being destroyed before their eyes. The only difference on this occasion however, is that whereas God the Son destroyed the army of the anti-Christ, it will be God the Father who will destroy the armies of Gog and Magog.
Ezekiel 39:11-12 “It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore, they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. (12) For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.”
The aftermath of this final battle, once again reinforces the enormous size of Gog’s army, for the above quoted passage of scripture declares that it will take the saints seven months to bury all of Gog’s army after the battle. In the previous section we have seen that the saints will still be using this army’s weapons for firewood seven years after their destruction. Clearly that indicates to us that our Lord’s reign in the earth will continue for a short time after this event. Nevertheless this battle will be the last major event that will occur in the earth before our Lord’s millennial reign draws to a close, after which God will create new heavens and a new earth.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments