Mountain Doom (Ezekiel 39v1-29)

TITLE: MOUNTAIN DOOM
PASSAGE: EZEKIEL 39:1-29

Ezekiel 39:1  “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal;

Chapter thirty-nine one reads just like chapter thirty-eight three.  The wording is the same.

Arnold Fruchtenbaum is a name you should remember.  He writes extensively on the place of Israel in evangelical thought and theology.  There is an interpretative principle he calls The Law of Recurrence and he says it occurs in chapter thirty-nine.  He describes it as follows:

This [law of recurrence] describes the fact that in some passages of Scripture there exists the recording of an event followed by a second recording of the same event giving more details to the first.  Hence, it often involves two blocks of Scripture.  The first block presents a description of an event as it transpires in chronological sequence.  This is followed by a second block of Scripture dealing with the same event and the same period of time, but giving further details as to what transpires in the course of the event.

The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is like that.  There is a clear chronology of events if you follow the opening of the seven seals.  In-between there are chapters that fill-in the details.

Ezekiel thirty-nine goes deeper into certain details of chapter thirty-eight.

Ezekiel 39:2  and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel.

Once again I would remind you of our finding that the magnetic north pole is shifting rapidly toward Russia.  The invaders come from “the far north” and that is clearly Russia even without the pole shift, but I find it amazing anyway.

Ezekiel 39:3  Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand.

This could be figurative language, using “bow” and “arrows” to stand for whatever weapons the invaders possess.  Or, as we have suggested, the unusual times in which the invasion occurs may call for just such weaponry to be employed as this army comes on horseback.

Either way it is clear that God personally intervenes.  This is not a victory for the Israeli forces or any human defender of Israel.  God Himself fights for His elect nation.

It’s an important point because often we read into the text our own ideas of what might occur.  No human means or implements are going to be involved.  It’s all God defeating Gog because through it God will be magnified and get the glory.

Ezekiel 39:4  You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
Ezekiel 39:5  You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord God.

Arnold Fruchtenbaum has an interesting comment about the mountains of Israel:

They extend the length of the center of the country, beginning at the southern point of the Valley of Jezreel at the town of Jenin in Galilee (biblical Ein Ganim), and continuing south until they peter out at a point north of Beersheha in the Negev.  These mountains contain the famous biblical cities of Dothan, Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, Bethel, Ai, Ramah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Debir, and most importantly, Jerusalem, which seems to be the goal of the invading army.

Here is another example where the Six Day War has set the stage for the fulfillment of prophecy.  Up to the Six Day War in 1967 all of the mountains of Israel, except for a small corridor of West Jerusalem, were entirely in the hands of the Jordanian Arabs.  Only since 1967 have the mountains of Israel been in Israel, thus setting the stage for the fulfillment of this prophecy.

The phrase in verse four, “I will give you,” literally translated is, “I have given you.”  It doesn’t mean it has already happened.  It’s in a tense scholars call the prophetic perfect.  Even though it is future, since it is the Lord making the prophecy then it is certain to take place.  God can talk about events future to us as having already happened because He knows He will bring them to pass.

Ezekiel 39:5  You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord God.

The invaders never get very close to Jerusalem.  They are slaughtered when still some distance away.

Ezekiel 39:6  “And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.

This seems to be “fire” from Heaven, a la fire and brimstone.  Not only are the invaders attacked, but God attacks their homelands as well.

I should mention that there are those who see this as some sort of nuclear exchange.  But the text clearly says indicates it is God who brings this fire.  God is not going to need a nuclear bomb, or help from human technology or armies, to defeat Gog and his forces.  In fact, as I indicated, any such help nullifies the fact God gets the glory for all this.

Ezekiel 39:7  So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.

God makes His name “holy” through these events.  All the nations “know” that the God of Israel is God.

It doesn’t mean that all the nations are saved.  Only that they have irrefutable evidence to the fact that God exists, the God of the Bible, the God of Israel.

Notice God says “I will not let them profane My holy name anymore.”  Up until that point in history God is allowing Himself to be profaned by mankind.

One way God is allowing His name to be profaned has been the scattering and persecution of His elect nation.  I mean, just on the surface if you tell a nonbeliever that the Jews are the apple of God’s eye, and they are at all familiar with the history of Israel from the sixth century until the twentieth century, they’re going to think God is either unloving or that He is not all-powerful.

Another way God’s name is profaned is by scoffers who say, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’  They say that everything is continuing just as before and that God is not at work in human history.  Some would go so far as to admit He may have been at work at one time, but not any longer.

God has told us exactly what He is doing.  The apostle Paul tells us at the end of the Book of Acts that because the nation of Israel has rejected Jesus Christ, the Gospel will go out into the world, to the Gentiles, and we will hear it.

Israel was set aside, but only temporarily and partially.  And in their setting aside, the Gospel was turned to the Gentiles.  After the Gentiles fullness has come in, after the church is complete (that’s what that means) God will go back and redeem Israel.  Zechariah tells us exactly how. He says, “They will look on Him whom they have pierced and they will mourn for Him as an only son.”

When God defeats Gog, then all the nations will know He is God.  It will be a major end times event.

By the way, this is another reason why I think that the invasion by these opponents of Israel must occur before the end of the Great Tribulation and not in or at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.  When Jesus Christ returns to earth in His Second Coming and establishes the Kingdom, it will be pretty clear to the nations that He is God!  They still do not all receive Him, but they’ll know.
Ezekiel 39:8  Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord God. “This is the day of which I have spoken.

God is really, really emphasizing this prophecy.  Chapter thirty-nine is already a restating of chapter thirty-eight.  As if the repetition isn’t enough, God says, I’m really going to do this!

Ezekiel 39:9  “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.
Ezekiel 39:10  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.

Some see the “seven years” as a clue that this invasion must take place prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  Here is their argument:

If this battle takes place after the Rapture but before the [Great Tribulation] begins, there would be ample time and the freedom of movement even through the first half of the Tribulation (the time of pseudo-peace for Israel under the Antichrist’s covenant) to accomplish this job.  Moreover, the statement about not needing to gather firewood from the forests (verse 10) would make more sense than after the first trumpet judgment when one-third of the trees were burned up (Revelation 8:7).  If this battle were to take place at any point in the Tribulation the people would run out of time to complete this task, before the intensified persecution of the final 42 months (Matthew 24:16-22) that drives the Jewish Remnant into the wilderness to escape the Satanic onslaught (Revelation 12:6).  While there is no reason why the burning of weapons for firewood could not continue into the Millennial Kingdom, since during this time other weapons will be converted to peaceful and productive uses (Isaiah 2:4), the renewal of nature and increased productivity of this age (Isaiah 27:6; Zechariah 8:12; Micah 4:4) could argue against this necessity.

Notice those who hold this position are willing to concede “there is no reason why the burning… could not continue into the Millennial Kingdom.”

I feel that the more important clue as to the timing of this event is that Israel will be dwelling in peace when this invasion occurs.  It seems to me the most likely time for that is during the first part of the Great Tribulation as the antichrist guarantees the peace of Israel.

If that is true, then the invasion will occur after the Rapture, sometime after the peace treaty is signed but before the antichrist defiles Israel’s Temple right at the mid-point of the Great Tribulation.

As far as burning these weapons into the second half of the Great Tribulation, just because Jews will flee from Jerusalem it doesn’t mean there will be no people in Israel to continue the burning.  The antichrist and his forces will obviously be there.

I don’t see a problem if the burning continues into the Millennial Kingdom. It’s not the creation of a new earth but the restoration of an earth ravaged by the judgments of the Great Tribulation.  It seems to me that the restoration of the earth will be somewhat gradual.

Ezekiel 39:11  “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.
Ezekiel 39:12  For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.
Ezekiel 39:13  Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,” says the Lord God.

I’m thinking this burial of bodies occurs as soon as the slaughter is over and then continues for seven months.  This slaughter ends during a time when travelers are still on the roads.  This would be true if the invasion occurs either before the Great Tribulation or in its opening years.  I don’t see it being true during the last part of the Great Tribulation, after the antichrist has started his persecution of Israel.  Jews will be fleeing for their lives, not worrying about cleansing their land or keeping the roads clear for travelers.

Ezekiel 39:14  “They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.
Ezekiel 39:15  The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog.
Ezekiel 39:16  The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.” ‘

Even after the initial cleanup, squads of men will be employed to search the land for additional remains.  As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it.  Then as gravediggers see the markers they will take the remains to the Valley of Hamon Gog for burial.  The operation will be so vast that a town will be set up in the valley at the gravesites to accommodate those cleansing the land.

Why all this detail about the bodies?  If you were a Jew hearing this for the first time, and it was in the context of God working to restore both the land of Israel and Israelites, you’d have questions about how the land could be cleansed because dead bodies and blood on that scale will ceremonially defile the land.  You’d think of this through the Law with its requirements for cleansing things that came into contact with death and with blood.

Ezekiel 39:17  “And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: “Assemble yourselves and come; Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you, A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, That you may eat flesh and drink blood.
Ezekiel 39:18  You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of Bashan.
Ezekiel 39:19  You shall eat fat till you are full, And drink blood till you are drunk, At My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you.
Ezekiel 39:20  You shall be filled at My table With horses and riders, With mighty men And with all the men of war,” says the Lord God.

This expands upon verse four.  It pictures an inglorious end to the invaders.  As gross as it will be, it will be evident that something supernatural is taking place.  God must be bringing these birds and beasts to do His bidding.  It will be understood as a divine intervention in nature.

As the chapter closes God tells us His purposes in all these things.

Ezekiel 39:21  “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.
Ezekiel 39:22  So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.
Ezekiel 39:23  The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.

Remember that Ezekiel is addressing Jews in exile in Babylon in the sixth century just as Jerusalem is falling and the Temple is being burned.  From that time continuing even now is the times of the Gentiles.  God has been using Gentile world powers to discipline His people.

When the events of Ezekiel 38 & 39 break out, Jew and Gentile are on notice that God is going to absolutely fulfill His unconditional promises to Israel.

Ezekiel 39:24  According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ‘

That’s an accurate assessment, is it not, of God’s dealing with Israel the past several centuries?

Ezekiel 39:25  “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name –
Ezekiel 39:26  after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.

God is describing a time in which He regathers Jews to their land, AND they “dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.”  Again I see this as future to us, in the Great Tribulation’s very beginning, when their safety is guaranteed by a peace treaty.

Ezekiel 39:27  When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations,
Ezekiel 39:28  then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.

The hallowing is referring to God’s destruction of Gog.  The Jews themselves will realize that their centuries of suffering were a deserved discipline.
Ezekiel 39:29  And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”

The ultimate end of these events is the total salvation of Israel.  All the Jews who survive the Great Tribulation will believe, be born-again, and receive the Holy Spirit.  God’s historical work in disciplining them and regathering them and restoring them will result in them being regenerated.

So that’s the famous passage from Ezekiel – 38 & 39.  At some point in history future to us God is going to draw a coalition of nations led by Russia to attack Israel when she is dwelling in peace.

I’ve suggested a certain timing but we’re not certain exactly when this event will occur.

It is interesting, fascinating, to see nations aligning against Israel just as predicted in this passage.

And it’s amazing, mind-blowing to read about the magnetic north pole shifting more towards Russia, making the predictions of Ezekiel that the invasion comes from the north extremely literal.

God is on the move!

Quake Boss (Ezekiel 38v14-23)

TITLE: QUAKE BOSS

TEXT: EZEKIEL 38.14-23

You gotta love submarine movies.  The Hunt for Red October.  K19.  Run Silent, Run Deep.  U-571.

Crimson Tide is certainly one of the best.  I’m pretty sure it’s in Crimson Tide where there is some dialog between characters about what is the best submarine movie.

Then there’s Das Boot.  I heard from experts it was a classic.  We rented it.  Didn’t know it was in German with sub-titles (no pun intended!).  To this day Pam won’t let me forget that I fell asleep during most of it.

The parts I recall are of a German sub trying to complete it’s mission in WWII.  They go from a storm to depth charges to a surface attack by a fighter plane.  At one point they dive and cannot surface.  Just before reaching crush depth they land on a shelf.  Just before running out of oxygen they resurface and limp home.

They return on Christmas Eve to an attack on their facilities.  Finally the captain, suffering from multiple bullet wounds, watches as the sub sinks.  He collapses and dies.

Reading about what is going to happen to the armies of Gog when they invade from the north reminded me of the futility of Das Boot.  It’s a doomed invasion from the start.  Before ever getting near Israel there is a mighty earthquake.  It’s so disorienting that the soldiers turn upon one another and kill one another.  If you think you can escape the earthquake or being hacked to pieces, you’re wrong, because next comes “pestilence and bloodshed” and “flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone” from out of the sky.

God will defeat Gog and all the world will watch in awe.

Ezekiel 38:14  “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it?

The idea here seems to be that you will know this invasion is imminent “on that day” when Israel is dwelling “safely” in her land.  This idea of her safety has been our litmus test for when this invasion might occur.  It doesn’t mean Israel will be without enemies.  It means she will have a sense of safety.  That’s why I tend to think the invasion is after the world leader we know as the antichrist enters into a peace treaty with Israel guaranteeing her safety.

The only other time this would make sense is at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, just before the final revolt against God led by Satan.  Indeed, some scholars see this invasion by Gog as the one spoken of in the Revelation at the end of the Millennium.  But we’re skeptical of that for reasons we’ve already discussed, e.g., the opposition is much more broad and inclusive at the end of the Millenium than the invasion described here.

Ezekiel 38:15  Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army.

Gog’s “place, we learned earlier, was the remotest parts of the north.  I’m told that if you draw a line from Jerusalem to the North Pole it will come very close to modern Moscow.

Do you know that the North Pole is shifting?  The magnetic North Pole, that is – not the geographical one.  Listen to this quote from National Geographic:

Over the past century the pole has moved 685 miles (1,100 kilometers) from Arctic Canada toward Siberia, says Joe Stoner, a paleomagnetist at Oregon State University.
At its current rate the pole could move to Siberia within the next half-century, Stoner said.

“It’s moving really fast,” he said. “We’re seeing something that hasn’t happened for at least 500 years.”

Lorne McKee, a geomagnetic scientist at Natural Resources Canada, says that Stoner’s data fits his own readings.

“The movement of the pole definitely appears to be accelerating,” he said.

Another NatGeo article said, “Earth’s magnetic North Pole is racing towards Russia at almost 40 miles a year due to magnetic changes in the planet’s core.”

I’m not making this stuff up!

In fact, the only possible country that is to the extreme north of Israel is Russia.  The country of Russia begins north of the Black Sea in Southern Russia and is the only country north of the Black Sea.  Since we do not have many choices, one out of one, it is clear that Gog’s country is Russia!

We’ve already talked about the size of the invading force that comes against Israel and why we believe they will literally be on horseback.  If it’s near the middle of the Great Tribulation, certain geophysical changes will have occurred making traditional warfare impossible.

Ezekiel 38:16  You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”

God claims ownership of the land and relationship to the Jews.  Both are His.

Let me go off on a tangent here for a minute.  It’s suggested by the fact that Israel plays so prominent a role in the Bible.

Israel is one of the Bible’s main subjects, mentioned well over 2500 times.  Any system of theology that suggests God is through with Israel as an ethnic people, or that another group has somehow replaced Israel, is wrong.  And if it is wrong on Israel, such a huge and important subject, it will be wrong in other areas as well.

There is a lot of theological discussion about God’s foreknowledge, about election, about predestination.  I think we need to keep Israel in that discussion.

Paul says of Israel in the New Testament, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:2).  The nation of Israel is often described as God’s elect (e.g., Isaiah 45:3).

Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary has this entry regarding Israel and predestination:

From the call of Abraham his descendants, in particular the progeny of Jacob/Israel, are predestined to fulfill the purpose that God has for them. They are to be seen in the world as his people (Psalm 33:11-12 ), holy and obedient to him, living to his praise, a priestly nation bringing the knowledge of God to other nations.

There are systems of theology that focus on very particular definitions of predestination, election and foreknowledge.  Those same systems of theology deny or ignore the place of Israel as a nation in God’s plans.

If they are clearly wrong about Israel’s predestination, election and foreknowledge, then why would we think they are right when discussing those doctrines in relation to us?

Back to our text:

Ezekiel 38:17  Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?
Ezekiel 38:18  “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.

Hmm.  This begs the question, ‘Where in the Old Testament has God spoken of this before?’
Truth is, Gog isn’t directly mentioned in any other Old Testament passages, so scholars have a hard time with this.  I haven’t found their answers very satisfying.  They say, for example, that other nations in other prophecies are ‘typical’ of Gog.  Seems a stretch.

My own suggestion would be this.  There are a lot of prophets and their prophecies that did not make their way into the Old Testament.  For example: We know that Enoch was a prophet who prophesied, but we don’t know everything he said.

The text may be referring to an oral tradition of prophecy that would have been well known to the Jews in exile that Ezekiel was addressing.

How is God going to show His wrath and defeat this invading army?

Ezekiel 38:19  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,
Ezekiel 38:20  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.’
Ezekiel 38:21  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.

A divinely appointed earthquake will be so severe as to disorient Gog’s forces and cause them in the confusion to fight each other.  Remember that they come from many nations and it’s not at all hard to envision them turning on one another.

Whenever there’s an earthquake, what do you always ask?  Two things:

Did you feel the earthquake?
Where was it centered?

The earthquake will apparently be felt just about everywhere!  The entire world’s attention will be focused on it.

It is clear from this passage that Israel and their excellent, modern military (including nuclear weapons) have nothing to do with the destruction of Gog and his allies.

In addition to the earthquake and all that goes with it, the Lord will use other means of defeating His enemies as indicated in verse twenty-two.

Ezekiel 38:22  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.

The first half of the verse tells us that the Lord will bring a pestilence that will cause the bloodshed or death of those in Gog’s army.  The second half of the verse describes things raining down on them.

Likely hailstones will target certain individuals.  You wouldn’t want to be anywhere near that field of battle!  Everywhere you turn there is some terrible way of being killed.

Ezekiel 38:23  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.” ‘

Three things will result from God’s defeat of Gog:

First,  God shall “magnify” Himself.  It will focus the attention of the nations of the world on Israel and when the invaders are miraculously defeated God will suddenly be magnified.
Second, God will “sanctify” Himself.  He will demonstrate to all the watching world that He is separate from the laws of nature and rules over them to affect history in our space and time.
Third, the nations shall “know” the God is the Lord.  In context it means that everyone on earth will know that God is the God of Israel, the Lord of the earth, just as He’s been revealed through the Bible.

Though we don’t anticipate being around to see this massacre, believing we will be resurrected and raptured long before it occurs, we can still see signs it is drawing near.
These are the last days.  God is getting nations lined-up according to His centuries old prophecies.

Keep looking up!

Captain Hooked (Ezekiel 38.1-13)

TEXT: Ezekiel 38.1-13

TITLE: Captain Hooked

It’s going to be God versus Gog.

Ezekiel was told to “prophesy against him,” against Gog, the captain of these would be conquerers.  We might call him ‘Captain Hooked,’ because God says He will “put hooks into [his] jaws, and lead [him] out.

We’ve seen the participants in this end-times invasion.  We’ve discussed the various theories as to it’s timing, choosing as our current favorite around the middle of the seven year Great Tribulation.  Now we get into some of the other details.

Ezekiel 38:3  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.

God is active in the affairs of human history.  He raises up nations to serve His purposes.  He sees that nations are destroyed to serve His purposes.

What are His purposes?  One important one is to discipline His chosen nation, Israel.  Keep that in mind as you see the Lord dealing with Gog and his allies.

Ezekiel 38:4  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.

God will “turn [Gog] around.  The captain of this host will be heading in a different direction when God will “put hooks into [his] jaws, and lead [him] out…”  A practice common to warfare in those days was for the conqueror to literally put hooks through the jaws of captives, chain them together, and lead them wherever they were taking them.

The imagery leaves no doubt that God is in control of these events.  In His sovereignty and by His divine providence, God draws these enemies of Israel away from their prior plans and down towards the Promised Land.

There are different hooks for different purposes.  Fisherman utilize a variety of hooks.  You might hang your bicycle in the garage on hooks.

What will be the hook God uses to draw this force down against Israel?  We can only speculate.

Years ago the prevalent speculation was that oil and gas would be found in Israel, and the northern coalition would come down to destroy Israel wanting to claim her resources.  Interestingly, vast oil and gas reserves have just recently been discovered in Israel.
Today there is speculation that Gog and his forces will act towards Israel the way the U.S. acted towards Iraq – invading to end an evil and achieve a greater purpose.  In the case of Gog it will be to destroy any non-Muslim influence in the region.

The hook will undoubtedly be something we haven’t considered that shows us how much smarter God is than we are!

Critics of a literal futurist understanding of this passage point to the fact that the text says that the invaders will be horsemen riding on horses and using weapons like swords and spears.  These are certainly not what we would expect given the current state of the military.

One argument is that the invasion force was being described in terms Ezekiel could comprehend with the understanding that whenever this invasion took place in the future the hostiles would be equipped with all the best modern weaponry of their era.
One problem which that explanation cannot account for is that the weaponry is said to be burned for seven years after the battle.  We don’t normally think of modern weapons fueling a bonfire.

Another solution is the obvious one.  That this really is an invasion mostly by cavalry, literally on horseback.

According to the American Museum of Natural History,

Though cavalry charges are now a thing of the past, there are still places where a horse is more useful than a truck.  In 2002, for example, during the war in Afghanistan, some U.S. Special Forces rode horses in areas where the rugged terrain and lack of fuel made automobiles impractical.

A 2006 web article called Don’t Hang Up Your Spurs Yet stated, “Russia is turning over guarding sections of its border to newly re-formed Cossack units.”

Another snippet from the world-wide-web confirms that, stating,

According to the press service of Russia’s FSB border guards division, in North Ossetia, in each border region of the Republic, Terek Cossack detachments of up to 20 armed fighters each have been formed.  After a quick training course, the Cossacks begin to protect the state border, as part of the border detail.

Following this thread I came across these comments:

For patrol and response in many parts of the Continental United States a horse-mounted infantry/border guard force makes a lot of sense.

Another quote:

In Russia, where horsemanship is part of the every-day life of many thousands of people, the Red Army is able to maintain one of the finest horse-mounted components in the world.

Interesting that Russia is at the forefront of mounted cavalry!

A guy by the name of Randall Price has this to say:
There is no reason why these basic weapons might not be used in a future battle, if the conditions or the stage of battle prevent the use of the more advanced technology.  Wars fought in certain rugged Middle Eastern terrains such as the mountainous region of Afghanistan (cf. 39:2-4) have required modern armies to use horses, and bows and arrows continue to be employed in various combat arenas.  In addition, if the battle takes place in the Tribulation period, the conditions predicted for that time, such as seismic activity, meteor showers, increased solar effects,and other cosmic and terrestrial catastrophes would so disrupt the environment that present technology depending on satellite and computer-guided systems as well as meteorological stability would utterly fail.  Under such conditions most of our modern weapons would be useless and more basic weapons would have to be substituted.

For now I take Ezekiel’s prophesy literally.  Let’s move on!

Ezekiel 38:7  “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.

Scholars agree this is sanctified sarcasm.  Gog and his forces are coming against God.  How can they “be ready”?  How can Gog “be a guard for them”?

Ezekiel 38:8  After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.

“After many days,” that is, “in the latter years.”  As we’ve established in previous studies, this is still future to us.

We also described how only modern Israel, born in our own age, could fulfill the remaining descriptions of verse eight.

And we talked at length about the phrase, “and now all of them dwell safely.”  We used it as a kind of litmus test to show when this prophecy could and could not be fulfilled, concluding it must be at least some time after the antichrist enforces a peace treaty with Israel.

Ezekiel 38:9  You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”

It’s a massive invasion force that breaks like a “storm, covering the land like a cloud.”  Lot’s of recent films, like The Lord of the Rings, have captured this kind of imagery.

Verses ten through thirteen reveal the thoughts of the invaders.

Ezekiel 38:10  ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan:

I discovered this week that the Hebrew language does not have a word for “mind.”  It is the Hebrew labeb that has the basic meaning of “inner man” or “heart,” used the way we use mind.

Even though God puts a hook in Gog’s jaw, He simultaneously attributes his behavior to Gog’s own “evil plan.”  God is sovereign.  Man is free and responsible for his choices.  Always.  You cannot emphasize one over the other.

Ezekiel 38:11  You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’ –

This has never been true of Israel, and it is not true today.  This is obviously future even to us.  I’ve been suggesting that it is only possible after the antichrist guarantees Israel’s peace in the region.

Just imagine, for a moment, the elation if a genuine, albeit tentative, peace could be achieved in the Middle East.  Especially if guaranteed by a military defense agreement by a powerful force in the region.

The antichrist will be the head of a revived Roman Empire.  It’s more than just Europe or the European Union.  Much more.

Ezekiel 38:12  to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.

They come to “take plunder” and to “take booty.”  Sounds like the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie!

Ezekiel 38:13  Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ‘

Who are “Sheba” and “Dedan”?  They are located in the modern country of Saudi Arabia.  Randall Price locates Sheba as modern Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula and Dedan as Saudi Arabia.

Regardless of their precise location on the Arabian peninsula, there appears to be no doubt that it is a reference to Saudi Arabia and perhaps some of the other Arab nations currently occupying that peninsula.

“Tarshish is ancient Tartessus in the present-day nation of Spain.  There does appear to be a significant historical basis to support the notion that the merchants of Tarshish are connected with the seafaring Phoenicians of 3,000 years ago.

Mark Hitchcock concludes,

Tarshish, or modern Spain, could be used by Ezekiel to represent all of the western nations which Saudi Arabia will join with in denouncing this invasion… It is highly probable that Ezekiel used the far western colony of Tarshish to represent the end-time empire of the Antichrist.

Is Tarshish the United States?  The merchants of Tarshish, during the last 500 years, developed into the modern mercantile nations of Western Europe like Spain, Holland, and Britain.  It’s a stretch of enormous proportions to further identify Tarshish with the United States.  And if we are included, we’re sure not a dominant nation anymore by the time of this invasion.

Is Israel really all that wealthy?  Remember, this is looking to the future.  But even now we’d have to say that Israel is very well-off.

Thomas Ice1 writes,

There is no doubt that Israel is by far the richest country in the region. Today she has developed a productive economy via research and development in the area of technology.  Also, she is perhaps the most productive country per capita in the world agriculturally.  Israel has long controlled the diamond business and is the world leader in generic pharmaceuticals.

Wikipedia says

Israel is considered one of the most advanced countries in the Southwest Asia in economic and industrial development… It has the second-largest number of startup companies in the world (after the United States) and the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies outside North America.

While we believe this invasion will occur after we, the church, have been removed from the earth, it’s fascinating to see it all setting up.

More than that, it’s energizing!  While the rapture could occur at any moment, it’s clear we’re closer to it with every passing moment.

To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, “God is on the move!”