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Israel cannot and will not lose
Right now Israel is being attacked in the media across the world, with many world leaders trying to outdo each other in condemning Israel. It does seem to be the in-thing to bash Israel these days. Why anyone would want to praise the murderous atrocities committed by those cowardly wimps of terrorists in Gaza I cannot fathom. Like all bullies, they seek control over all around them, even to the extent of using women and children as shields to protect the cowards in case someone actually stands up against them. And in order to reinforce their self-perceived “right’ to be dictators among their people, they use religion to convince their population that only they can be right; all others therefore must be wrong!
Those around the world who support the cowardly terrorists seem to want to focus on Israel’s alleged genocide against Palestine while trying hard to either avoid mention of the atrocities of October 7th 2023, or, in more than a few cases recently, even justifying the murder and mutilation of around 1200 people in Israel as “legitimate acts of resistance“. Adel Salman (president of the Islamic Council of Victoria) said: ” “We denounce any violence and killing of civilians. What we don’t denounce very clearly is legitimate acts of resistance,” Mr Salman said. “And for the Palestinians to rise up on October the 7th, and say, we’re no longer going to tolerate this siege, this occupation, that’s legitimate.” ” (Sky News 29/02/2024)
And that the terrorists of Gaza took around 250 hostages on October 7th seems to be considered more of an inconvenience for the world to explain, rather than the terrorists’ desired use of them as human shields to protect the bullies. What moral cowards! And by resting the rightness of their atrocities on the dictates of their religion, they have also become religious cowards.
The world has tried to negotiate an end to the strife while seemingly attempting to avoid too much condemnation of hamas. However, to use the hostages as bargaining assets in negotiations is also merely using them to protect hamas from consequences as Israel goes after them with a heavy fist to try to destroy them. And after October 7th it is clear that Israel must deal with these attacks on their sovereignty or else their enemies will just wipe them from the map (a goal the cowards have stated many times before and since Oct 7th).
In its efforts to condemn Israel, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has declared Israel’s leaders to be criminals: “The decision by the International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, to request arrest warrants for Israel’s PM and its defence minister subverts justice and finally destroys the court’s reputation.” (The Australian 21/05/24) ….. and the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to stop its “invasion” of Gaza: “The UN’s top court ordered Israel to stop its Rafah invasion, in an emergency measure imposed on Friday.” (ABC 24/05/24) Note that Karim Khan was an appointee of the UN leadership which has regularly demonstrated its biased support for Palestine; thus the ICC and the ICJ are merely pawns used in support of the cowardly terrorists who dared not attack Israel head-on but instead declared war on unarmed civilians including women, children and babies!
Yet what is Israel supposed to do after they were violently attacked on Oct 7th? Are the cowardly terrorists to be permitted to inflict all sorts of perverted atrocities upon around 1200 innocent and unarmed people in Israel, murder, atrocities, gang-rape, and mutilations (such as the beheading of children) of many of those killed, as well as taking around 250 hostages in order to use them as human shields?
“The Wall Street Journal found evidence of sexual violence on October 7 through photographs, interviews with first responders, survivors, families of victims and forensic experts. Photos viewed by the Journal taken by first responders on the scene show bodies were mutilated, including sex organs. The bodies of women and girls displayed signs of sexual assault. ….. In addition to sexual violence, the UN report found widespread mutilation of bodies, including “attempted and actual decapitation, numerous gunshot wounds, and various other forms of extensive violence”. The Wall Street Journal viewed photographs of at least four victims whose heads were partially or fully decapitated.” (The Australian 5/03/2024)
Yet some, even with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, openly dismiss this as a hoax.
“Sociology professor (Sydney University) Sujatha Fernandes told a class in April that the media was “distorting” the conflict, and the terrorist group’s mass rapes on and after October 7 were a “hoax”.
“Western media has played the role of an ideological state apparatus by suppressing coverage of the atrocities, peddling fake news (promoted hoaxes that Hamas beheaded babies and carried out mass rape, in order to shore up support for Israel), and distorting events,” Professor Fernandes said.
The UN has said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas engaged in mass and gang rape across multiple locations on October 7.” (The Australian 31/05/24)
As many commentators have noted, Israel is currently fighting for her very existence. Since Israel was declared a state on 14 May 1948, they have been involved in ongoing and never-ending skirmishes against the surrounding nations until now. This includes two major wars of 1967 and 1973. The 1967 war occurred when Egypt closed off the Straits of Tiran, blockading Israeli shipping in May 1967 and provoking Israel by depleting its supplies, and then mobilising the Egyptian army in readiness along its border with Israel. Known today as the Six-Day War, Israel took much extra land as a result.
The 1973 war was against a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria who initiated the attack, desiring the return of land taken off them by Israel in the 1967 war. It was called the Yom Kippur war after Israel’s enemies attacked on one of Israel’s holiest sabbaths. Israel’s borders were extended in each of these wars.
Since 1973 Israel has tried to avoid any full-scale war against her neighbours, in spite of its war capabilities being far superior to those of its neighbours.
While Palestine is often referred to as an Arab nation, in actual fact it is not necessarily so. The history of this land goes back to the Philistines (as noted in the Bible) who lived along the coastline much where Gaza is today (although Philistia had maybe double the coastline that Gaza currently has). Philistia was one of the nations of Canaan, the land settled by Israel after their exodus from Egypt around 1500 BC. The Philistines as part of the nations of Canaan, never had any more than the strip of coastline along the Mediterranean, when Israel took the Promised Land of Canaan in around 1450 BC. There were five cities of the Philistines: Ashdod (the northern-most city today, around 29km south of Tel Aviv), Ashkelon (south of Ashdod), Gaza (the southern-most city of the Philistines), Gath (east of Ashkelon) and Ekron (east of Ashdod). “Palestine” is believed to be the Greek form of “Philistia” as noted by Herodotus, a Greek historian of 5th century BC.
Israel commenced as a nation in the land of Canaan in around 1450 BC, continuing until the 2nd century AD when the Romans crushed the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-136 AD), establishing Jerusalem as a Roman colony (Aelia Capitolina) with the land of Judea being renamed as Syria Palaestina. Jews were banished from Syria Palaestina but many continued to dwell around the area, especially Galilee, southern Hebron Hills and the coastal plain.
If today’s Palestinians claim to have held their land for longer than Israel, then they are also claiming to be descended from the Philistines of Canaan. This people was not Arab but ultimately descended from Ham, the 2nd son of Noah.
“Ham, according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was the second son of Noah and the father of Cush (generally associated with Ethiopia), Mizraim (Egypt), Phut (probably ancient Libya) and Canaan (the land between the Mediterranean and the river Jordan). Ham’s descendants are interpreted by Josephus and others as having populated Africa and adjoining parts of Asia.” (Wikipedia) The Philistines were just one of many nations inhabiting the land of Canaan. “The Philistines were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia.” (Wikipedia)
If on the other hand, today’s Palestinians claim to be Arab by descent, then they may only go back as far as 636-640 AD when muslims conquered Palestine. As a result, many of the original inhabitants were removed, either by death or displacement, with the muslim Arabs becoming the dominant people of the area. Therefore, it is likely that today’s Palestinians are predominantly Arab and can thus trace their possession (by conquest) of Palestine no further back than 636-640 AD.
Note that if Palestine were settled by muslim Arabs in the 7th century AD, Israel therefore can trace its possession of this land over 2000 years before current Palestinians took possession of their land. And, even if they (as Philistines) claim to have possessed the land from before 1450 BC, then it always ever only included the coastal strip of land next to the Mediterranean.
In 1947 the UN proposed that Israel and Palestine accept a two-state partition. Israel agreed albeit reluctantly, but the Arab states chose to begin a war to exterminate all of the Jewish population in Palestine. Palestine had then refused to accept a two-state solution and has continued to this day to refuse a two-state solution. For them, there can only be one solution: Palestine as the only state in this part of the world, and thus Israel must be exterminated!
“When a majority of the UN General Assembly endorsed that (two-state) resolution on November 29, 1947, the major Zionist forces reluctantly accepted the proposed partition, despite it being vastly unfavourable to them. But the Arab states not only rejected the plan, they launched what the Arab League described as “a war of extermination” whose aim was to “erase (Palestine’s Jewish population) from the face of the earth”. Nor did the fighting give any reason to doubt that was the Arabs’ goal.
At least until late May 1948, Jewish prisoners were invariably slaughtered. In one instance, 77 Jewish civilians were burned alive after a medical convey was captured; in another, soldiers who had surrendered were castrated before being shot; in yet another, death came by public decapitation. And even after the Arab armies declared they would abide by the Geneva Convention, Jewish prisoners were regularly murdered on the spot.
While those atrocities continued a longstanding pattern of barbarism, they also reflected the conviction that unrestrained terror would “push the Jews into the sea”, as Izzedin Shawa, who represented the Arab High Committee, put it.”
(“Nakba, where Palestinian victim mythology began”, The Australian, 18/05/2024)
The term “a war of extermination” is attributed to “Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam, the Secretary-General of the Arab League from 1945 to 1952, in which he declared in 1947 that, were a war to take place with the proposed establishment of a Jewish state, it would lead to “a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacre and the Crusades.” (Wikipedia)
Israeli Ben Gurion paraphrased Azzam as saying: “As we fought against the Crusaders, we will fight against you, and we will erase you (Israel) from the earth.“
The Bible makes it clear that if these are the end-times leading up to Israel’s final 7-year tribulation period (Daniel 9:24-27), then it can only end with Christ their Messiah returning to slaughter the huge enemy forces gathered against Jerusalem at Armageddon, and with a victorious Israel then entering the millennial rule of Christ.
Ezekiel 37:21-28 – 21And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, [even] they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David [shall be] their prince for ever. 26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
From the moment when God brought His people Israel back from around the world to dwell in their land of Israel once again in 1947-48, Israel cannot (and will not) be removed ever again. What God has begun will now only end with Israel going into their millennium of peace ruled by Christ their Messiah.
If they are backed into a corner, they will not be defeated, for God will fight for them as He did in the long-distant past. There are so many today who hate Israel and would seek to destroy them but Israel will be standing as a nation long after the armies of their enemies have been utterly destroyed. We are approaching that time when God will say to His people Israel: I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Beware all those who might think it expedient or maybe more politically-correct, to oppose Israel today. Beware all those who think that their religion will triumph over Israel and her God. Beware all those who might think that because they seem to have the numbers to defeat Israel that it is the day of their god. Most bullies think that when they have far superior numbers that they will win. But numbers have little to do with this. As Paul wrote to the Romans: What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who [can be] against us? (Romans 8:31)
Also note that God promised Abraham that he would be the beginning of a great nation (that is, Israel). God would bless all those who blessed Israel, and would curse all those who cursed Israel. This is known as the Abrahamic Covenant.
Genesis 12:2-3 – 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
This covenant has never been revoked and therefore still applies today. To curse Israel is to draw God’s curse upon one’s self, and many are doing just that today.
Israel is fighting an intense religious warfare opposed to their very existence. But God will overcome all their enemies and establish Israel as His people for ever.
Ezekiel 39:7 – So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not [let them] pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I [am] the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
Zechariah 12:3-10 – 3And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 4In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem [shall be] my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. 6In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, [even] in Jerusalem. 7The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify [themselves] against Judah. 8In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David [shall be] as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. 9And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.
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Ezekiel’s tribulation and Armageddon timeline
Ezekiel has a lot to say when it comes to the end-times of this world as we know it. If Ezekiel’s prophesied war of Chs 38 & 39 occurs, then the world as we know it may have little more than 7 years to run before Armageddon heralds the second coming of Christ the Messiah to rule the earth. And the tribulation of the 7 years leading up to Armageddon will be more extreme than any period in history before it. That 7 years will have disasters aplenty – judgments from God – that will wipe out huge numbers of mankind, plus destroy much of the world as we know it today.
7 years remains on Israel’s prophetical timeline before her everlasting righteousness
Firstly, Daniel 9:24-27 says that there would be 490 years (70 weeks of years) after which Israel would be brought to everlasting righteousness.
Daniel 9:24 – Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
According to Daniel 9:26, 483 of these years would go by before Christ their Messiah was cut off (crucified), with the final 7-year period then being held off (because of their unbelief in their Messiah) until the times of the Gentiles (the Gentile Church) should be fulfilled, and then the Deliverer would come into Zion and all Israel would be saved. (The Gentiles here means the Christian church.)
Romans 11:25-27 – 25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
The final 7 years would be triggered by a covenant between the antichrist and Israel as per Daniel 9:27a – And he (the antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many (Israel) for one week. The antichrist will be very evil, controlled by satan; he will seek to take control of the whole world, but will be defeated by Christ at the battle of Armageddon at the end of this final 7-year period – Revelation 16:16; 19:11-21)
Note that it is futile to claim (as some do) that the Jewish year was only 360 days and therefore should be counted differently to our years, because the Jews have always added extra days and months into their years as necessary to keep the seasons in the right months. Effectively the Jewish years were exactly the same length as our years. See the Addendum at the end for further details.
The remnant of Israel will be redeemed by the end of that 7-year period
During this final 7 years before Armageddon, Israel will be back on centre-stage as God’s people once more. In order for this to happen, the Gentile church will be snatched away from this earth in an event known as the Rapture. (They will literally disappear from the face of this earth.) God will unleash on this world such tribulation as the world has never known before, nor ever will know (Matthew 24:21). At the end of this 7-year tribulation period, the remnant of Israel who call upon the name of the Lord will be called and redeemed (Joel 2:31-32), and the world will be drawn into the battle of Armageddon where Christ their Messiah (whom they now recognise) will fight for them, utterly destroying the antichrist and his huge army.
The Christian Church and the remnant of Israel will be saved, but many others will die
For those not of Israel and who do not get taken with the Church in the Rapture, most will not survive past the end of that 7-year tribulation period. And only the remnant (a part only) of Israel will be redeemed. In particular, if the end-times are coming upon us now, then those who currently oppose Israel must be aware that while the remnant of Israel will be saved, those opposed to Israel will not survive this great time of trouble brought by the God of Israel upon the world. And the Christian church will have gone to be with Christ before this 7-year tribulation period commences.
Ezekiel’s prophecy in Chs 36-39 does point to the end-times being close at hand.
Firstly, Israel must come back as a nation (Ezekiel 36)
In 1948, Israel established itself as a sovereign nation after approximately 1878 years of being scattered among the nations of the world. Ezekiel 36 says that God will gather Israel again; they will be His people and He will be their God.
Ezekiel 36:8-11; 24-28 – 8But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come. 9For, behold, I [am] for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: 10And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, [even] all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded: 11And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better [unto you] than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord. …..
24For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.25Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do [them]. 28And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
For those who claim that Israel is dead and buried and in the past without any future, these words from God surely prove their lie. Israel has come back as a nation and will continue to be a nation established by God. A saved remnant of this same Israel will rule with Christ during His millennial rule, after the battle of Armageddon.
It is the whole house of Israel, not just a part, that will be victors in the end
And it will be all Israel (that means all 12 tribes) that wins in the end. Israel has been resurrected (brought back to life as a nation) by God in order to bring them to everlasting righteousness (Daniel 9:24). Israel will be there at the end, and no nation today will be able to prevent God’s prophecy from happening just as He said it would. In Ezekiel 37:1-10 we read of a valley full of dry bones being brought back to life again, a picture of the whole house of Israel being brought back as a nation.
Then God explains to Ezekiel what this valley of bones represents.
Ezekiel 37:11-14 – 11Then he (God) said unto me (Ezekiel), Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13And ye shall know that I [am] the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the Lord.
Some say that this has already happened when Judah returned from their captivity at Babylon many years before Christ. However, note Ezekiel 37:11: “these bones are the whole house of Israel”. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin returned from their captivity, and it says that it is all Israel here, not just Judah and Benjamin. (The 10 northern tribes did not come back to their land after their captivity.) Therefore this must be referring to a time when all Israel returns as a 12-tribe nation. This has not happened yet.
When does this prophecy of Israel’s return happen?
This picture of the valley of dead bones may refer to Israel taking possession of their land in 1948, or it may refer to the events leading directly into that final 7-year period. But at some point in time, God will take charge of Israel’s destiny and lead them to redemption (including through the great tribulation period of 7 years which ends at Armageddon). I personally consider that God has been establishing Israel, preparing them for their eventual redemption, from May 1948 when Israel was established as a nation again.
What about the 12 tribes of Israel? Who are they exactly?
Even today most people of Israel are not fully aware of their tribal background. Note that 12 tribes are listed at the start of the Tribulation in Revelation 7:4-8. Also note that in most lists in the Old Testament, Levi is not one of the tribes listed separately, yet in Revelation, the priestly tribe of Levi has been restored to that list of 12 tribes, taking the place of Dan who is assumed by many to be an apostate tribe rejected by God. The priestly tribe is no longer required, with Jesus replacing the Levitical priesthood as per Hebrews 7:11.
The valley of dry bones will become one nation under God
Ezekiel 37:21-23 – 21And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
When King Solomon died, the 12 tribes broke up into the 10 northern tribes (called Israel) and the 2 southern tribes (Judah, which included Benjamin). Judah and Benjamin returned from Babylon to the land around Jerusalem (which is known as God’s holy city).
They have never been one nation of 12 tribes since the death of Solomon. This passage defines all 12 tribes coming together as one nation. All those dead bones becoming living people again was not referring to individual people but instead the one single nation of Israel who would be God’s people, and He would be their (national) God. Therefore this event has not occurred yet; one day still in the future all 12 tribes of Israel will be united as one.
And Christ the Son of David will be their sovereign Messiah for ever
Ezekiel 37:24-28 – 24And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, [even] they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David [shall be] their prince for ever. 26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
There will be wars and strife leading up to and during this tribulation of 7 years duration
Ezekiel not only foretells the return of the whole house of Israel as God’s people one day, but also says that after they come back as a nation (which happened in 1948), they will face extreme strife and warfare. In particular, this passage in Ezekiel leads into what has to be seen as the war that triggers Israel’s covenant with the antichrist and therefore starts that 7-year countdown to Armageddon.
Ezekiel 38 mentions quite a few nations who God will put hooks into their jaws (Ezekiel 38:4) to draw them into this battle; it appears that these nations will have no choice but to face battle with an Israel whom their God will be fighting for.
Armageddon will follow 7 years after this battle of Ezekiel 39
This war will mark the beginning of Israel’s final 7-year period, 7 years before their Messiah returns to defeat their enemies at Armageddon. This war is not Armageddon; however, once this war commences, there will be no turning back from Armageddon 7 years later! The only question right now is whether or not we are currently approaching this war of Ezekiel 39. If we are, then all of us might face our Maker sooner than we planned for. The war of Ezekiel 39 will trigger the antichrist’s covenant with Israel, and the clock will commence ticking toward the destruction of Armageddon 7 years later.
Who are the nations mentioned in this army that will attack Israel?
There is uncertainty over who many of these names actually refer to, but in general it does strongly appear to refer to nations to the north of Israel, especially north and east of modern-day Ukraine and nations to the east and south-east of the Black Sea, plus many of today’s Arab nations. It could also include Ukraine itself, but this is uncertain.
It does appear to include the Moscow area of Russia, and the nations to the east of Ukraine and the Black Sea, plus many of the Arab nations such as Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and many of the nations in the north of Africa (most of which are muslim nations). In fact, apart from Russia and some other northern nations, this huge army that attacks Israel will be largely muslim by belief. This army would most likely include Palestinian peoples, many of whom are currently involved in, or in support of, warfare against Israel.
The list of nations comes from the north down, plus some from Africa
While many of the nations in Ezekiel’s list are not easy to define, it is clear that in general, it will involve many nations to the north and east of Israel, plus another group from northern Africa. Most of these nations are already opposed to Israel.
Ezekiel 38:1-2 – 1And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
Gog – It is suggested that Gog is the nation which derives from Magog. Others say Gog was Gyges (a king of Lydia – Turkey)
Magog – Often associated with Lydia which today is Turkey. Josephus, though, says that they were the Scythians on the north of the Black Sea (they took up the area of Ukraine and much of the lend to its east). The name of one of the sons of Japheth.
The word “chief” is “ro’sh” which some say means Russia but cannot be proven. However, Meschech does appear possible to refer to the area around Moscow in Russia.
Meshech – Originally said by some to be Meskheti (a province of Georgia which is just south of Russia, on the east side of the Black Sea (or in that general area). Later opinions say it is Moscow. There was a son of Japheth named Meshech, and some Russian tradition claims that Moscow was founded by King Mosokh son of Japheth (that is, Meshech) which was named after him and his wife, Kva. (Moscow is properly known as Moskva.)
Tubal – Also the name of a son of Japheth. Said to be Tabal, an Anatolian state also associated with the area of modern-day Turkey. They were said to be the neighbours of the Mushki (of Meshech).
Ezekiel 38:3-4 – 3And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
It won’t be left up to these armies from the north to decide if they want to come, because God will give them no choice.
Ezekiel 38:5 – 5Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
Persia – Iran
Ethiopia and Libya – Some say that this is Egypt and surrounding countries, but Ethiopia here is Cush. Cush was the oldest son of Ham, and Mizraim (= Egypt) was his brother. Libya would be much the same as Libya today.
Ezekiel 38:6 – 6Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with thee.
Gomer – The name of Japtheth’s oldest son. Said to be the Cimmerians of southern Russia, to the east of the Black Sea. Josephus placed Gomer and the “Gomerites” in Anatolian Galatia. Anatolia is mostly the same as Turkey today and Galatia is in this area. (Galatia was an area of Anatolia settled by the Gauls of Europe, thus the name Galatia.)
Togarmah – A descendant of Japheth, he was associated with Anatolia; his descendants may include Armenians and Georgians.
Note Genesis 10:2-3 – 2The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 3And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
Ezekiel 38:7 – 7Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
This appears to be spoken to all these armies gathering together against Israel: Be ready, be prepared (all you nations and peoples) for the time when God draws you into battle against Israel.
Other nations will see Israel’s riches as spoils of war
Israel has been gathered out of the nations (probably referring to 1948) and has gathered much goods and possessions, which the enemy will see as spoils of war. (Ezekiel 38:11-12)
Ezekiel 38:13 – Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
Sheba and Dedan of Arabia, and Tarshish possibly a Phoenician port in Spain and associated with the Phoenicians, are all trading nations. These are merchant nations seeking to take a share of the spoils.
This mighty army will seek to destroy Israel with superior numbers
Israel will consider that she can protect herself safely because of her superior weaponry and tactics. But this mighty army will attack in such huge numbers that they will cover the land. (“as a cloud to cover the land” Ezekiel 38:16) in order to overwhelm Israel’s perceived superiority. And God says that this is all according to His plan which He spoke to the prophets, and that the other nations will know that this is the hand of God (Ezekiel 38:14-17). It is clear that many of Israel will die when the enemy attacks, but this mighty army from the north will cause great fury with God who will oppose them in demonstration of His sovereignty so that many nations will see the hand of God and know that He is indeed God. (Ezekiel 38:18-23)
Psalm 2:4 – He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
It is when Israel is attacked by this huge army that will draw the antichrist with his forces (most likely from Europe) to make a covenant to protect Israel – see below.
This army attacks and 5 out of every 6 of them will die
(alternatively it could mean that the whole army is drawn to total extermination)
Ezekiel 39:1-2 – 1Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 2And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
This army that attacks Israel from the north will be huge but only one sixth of this army will ever return to their land again. 83.3% will die on the mountains of Israel. This will literally be a slaughter!
Some commentaries say that it actually reads “I will turn you around and lead you on.” The term used is shawshaw. It is only used once in the OT and could be based on the number six (= shishshah), or it could be based on being led or drawn into a situation (note that shabah = to be led captive). However, we do read further down that there will be so many corpses that they will take 7 months to bury them all (Ezekiel 39:11-16).
Also note Ezekiel 39:3-4 – 3And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 4Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that [is] with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and [to] the beasts of the field to be devoured. This does indeed suggest that all in that army that attacks Israel shall be killed on the mountains of Israel.
Ezekiel 39:5 – Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord God.6And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I [am] the Lord.
There will be corpses everywhere!
Israel will burn the weapons left by the enemy for 7 years
Israel will be burning the weapons of the enemy for 7 years (Ezekiel 39:9-10). This is significant because this battle appears to be the trigger that sets this final 7 years counting down toward the end (at Armageddon). It is uncertain how they will burn modern weapons, but possibly this is symbolic of the utter defeat of the enemy, or symbolic of the destruction of all the enemy’s weaponry.
It could involve nuclear or similar weaponry
Ezekiel 39:6 – And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles (or coastal regions): and they shall know that I [am] the Lord.
This does seem to suggest that God causes fire to be sent upon the countries from where these armies came. This may explain Damascus (capital of Syria) being turned into a heap of ruins as prophesied (Isaiah 17:1). It hasn’t happened yet, and it does suggest atomic warfare.
The heathen will know that God is the God of Israel and they are His people
Ezekiel 39:7 – So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not [let them] pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I [am] the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
God has prophesied this and it will happen in order to prove that God is sovereign and that Israel is still His people. Therefore God is saying to take note, all you heathen!
God will purify Israel by subjecting them to extreme affliction
This final 7-year period (yet in the future) will be the greatest tribulation that they will ever face, purifying them in the fire so to speak. Israel being purified in the furnace of affliction to be acceptable to holy God.
Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall say, The Lord [is] my God.
Isaiah 48:10 – Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Psalm 66:10-12 – 10For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. 11Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. 12Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy [place].
Israel will be God’s people forever after this
In spite of their sin, God has covenanted to bring them back as a nation (note Daniel 9:24) and therefore it will certainly happen (Ezekiel 39:25-29).
Ezekiel 37:24-28 – 24And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, [even] they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David [shall be] their prince for ever. 26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
The antichrist will lead a European army into battle to save Israel.
The antichrist will lead a “ten-kingdom” army from the revived Roman empire. This revived empire will be largely based upon the nations ruled by the Roman empire of the past. See Revelation 17:9-14 (where the seven mountains refers to Rome which is known as the city of Seven Hills) and Daniel 2:40-44 (where the ten toes of clay and iron are the ten kingdoms that will serve the antichrist). The antichrist will be a ruler (or prince) of the same nation that destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. “and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; ….. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week” (from Daniel 9:26-27). That is, the nation of the coming prince (the antichrist) will be that nation (the Romans) that destroyed the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the Temple), and he (the antichrist) will make a covenant with Israel for one week (in the context of this passage this clearly means a week of years, or 7 years). The antichrist will arise from the old Roman Empire, therefore most likely from Europe, and will make a covenant with Israel for 7 years.
This covenant will most likely be made after the huge army tries to wipe Israel out, and the ensuing massive death toll of that enemy army will probably be largely due to the antichrist coming to the aid of Israel.
Current world politics suggest that these end-times may be almost upon us
When we look at current world politics, we see that Russia is trying to take Ukraine, probably the port of Odessa on the Black Sea, which would make it easier to attack Israel. Its principal ally is Syria with Iran (Persia) providing a lot of weaponry, especially drones etc. All the nations listed in Ch.38 are strongly opposed to Israel, with many being islamic. Last year Turkey was staying neutral on the Ukraine situation, but this year a warning has gone out, especially in Israel, strongly advising tourists to avoid Turkey due to militancy. The current Israel/Palestine unrest is increasing dramatically now, and some extremist Israeli politicians are calling for Israel to use atomic warfare to wipe out Gaza. The current Israeli govt is refusing to use such extreme measures. Syria and Iran also play a large part in assisting with opposing Israel, and Iraq is likely to join them. Is it possible that Israel might try to hit Syria’s capital, Damascus (Isaiah 17:1) with a bomb, in retaliation for terrorist acts, especially if Syria is seen to be behind a massive terrorist action maybe in the near future? Ezekiel 38-39 might be happening soon, if not already! It wouldn’t take much for Iran to come into the action, with Russia and her northern allies joining in, noting that Russia already works closely with both Syria and Iran.
And God will draw them by their jaws (Ezekiel 38:4), indicating that when the time comes they will be drawn to their defeat whether they like it or not.
News reports today are suggesting that if Israel were to provoke Gaza (or the Arab world in general) more severely than she has already, it might draw islamic fighters from other nations around the world, drawing them in to a holy war (as many of Israel’s enemies see it).
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Addendum
The Anderson timeline calculations are grossly incorrect!
Anderson calculated that if we assume the old Jewish calendar year to be 360 days (and not the solar calendar year of 365.25 days), then he could adjust the number of days to determine the exact day (as long as he had exact starting and completion points). He decided on a certain date of the commandment in 445 BC, then, by assuming 32 AD as the year of the crucifixion, claimed the date of Palm Sunday to be April 6th 32 AD. Then by certain mathematical manipulations, he then claimed to have established the exact number of days involved, and then claimed that they ended exactly upon the date of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem in 32 AD.
But he made two gross errors of judgment here.
Firstly, he assumed that Jesus was born at zero years (effectively meaning that 1 AD was His first year). But the Herod who ordered the death of boys up to 2 years old in Bethlehem, died in 4 BC, according to historical records. Thus Jesus could not have been born after 4 BC. This would put Anderson’s calculations out by at least 3 years.
Secondly, his assumption of 360 days per Jewish year failed to take into account that the Jews in the Old Testament regularly added a month to their year when their seasons began going out of time with the calendar (noting that the Passover, a spring festival, typically commenced on the first full moon after the northern vernal equinox). So, every 5 or 6 years they would add an extra month of 30 days, making those years 390 days instead of the 360 days. Effectively, their Jewish years in the long term were no different in length to our solar year calendars.
Even today the Jewish calendar works on 6 x 29-day months plus 6 x 30-day months, a total of 354 days in their year. “The solution is to periodically insert an extra (thirty-day) month into a year, creating a thirteen-month year. Such a year is called a shanah meuberet (“pregnant year”) in Hebrew; in English we call it a leap year, and it makes up all the lunar calendar’s lost days. It happens about once every three years.” (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/526875/jewish/The-Jewish-Calendar-Year.htm)
So we may correctly assume that 483 Jewish calendar years were the same as (equivalent to) 483 of our solar years of 365.25 days each today.