Naylor Community
Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- if you have your Bibles with you
this morning, please join me over in Ezekiel 38 -- Ezekiel is one of the major
prophets in the Old Testament, and you’ll find his book after Psalms and
Proverbs -- after Isaiah -- and after Jeremiah -- if you start running into
Daniel, Hosea, Micah, and some of the others, you’ve gone too far
-- while you’re turning over to
Ezekiel 38, I want to share this thought with you today -- on one of their
trips, Jeri and Ricky shared that they went to a church and the preacher told
them that he was a preacher and not a teacher -- and the message he shared was
an exhortation for the people
-- well, this morning, I’m going to
be a teacher and not a preacher -- in light of the situation currently going on
in Israel -- with their war against Hamas entering its second month and with
the concerns that the military engagement might spread beyond the borders of
Israel to Lebanon or beyond -- a lot of people are looking at the end times
prophecies in the Bible and are concerned that we may be entering into those
end times now as we can literally see prophecy fulfilling before our eyes
-- so, we’re going to take a look at
the prophecy from Ezekiel here in chapters 38 and 39 that speak of a great war
that is going to come against Israel at some point in the future
-- now, before we begin looking at
this passage, let me remind you again of what we’ve emphasized in the
Revelation Bible Study -- anyone who tells you that they have the one and only
true interpretation of these prophecies -- whether we’re talking about the end
times prophecies from Revelation or Daniel or here in Ezekiel -- don’t listen
to them
-- the truth is that faithful men
and women have struggled to understand these prophecies throughout the years --
and good and faithful Christians have disagreed about them for thousands of
years
-- when it comes to prophecy, we
have to lean on what the Holy Spirit is revealing to us in our day -- and we
have to approach prophecy with open minds and open hearts -- and we have to
realize and accept that, even though we are doing our best to understand and
interpret these scriptures faithfully, we may be wrong
-- so, the bottom-line is that we
can’t be dogmatic about these prophecies and say, “This is exactly what this
passage means” for events that are going to occur in the future -- we have to
accept that we may not be able to fully understand what God has planned or what
the passage means as we read it in our day and our time -- and this is true
whether you take a literal and conservative approach to the reading of
Scriptures or whether you take a progressive and more historical approach to
the reading of Scriptures
-- it’s like the story of the blind
men who try to describe what an elephant is based on what they touch -- one man
touches the elephant’s tail, and he describes the elephant as a rope -- another
touches the elephant’s trunk, and he describes the elephant as a large snake
-- one touches the elephant’s side,
and he thinks the elephant is like a wall -- another touches a leg, and says
the elephant is like a tree trunk
-- one touches the elephant’s ear,
and says the elephant is like a fan -- the last one touches the elephant's tusk,
and says the elephant is like a spear
-- who was right in their description?
-- all of them were right in describing the parts of the elephant they touched,
but they all failed to grasp what the whole creature looked like
-- that’s the way it is with interpreting
Scripture and prophecy sometimes -- despite our training -- despite our best
efforts, we still read Scriptures through a biased lens -- we read Scripture
based on who we are and where we live and the times we live in -- and that can
influence the interpretation of the passages we are trying to understand and
apply to our lives
-- so, keep that in mind as we go
through this teaching from Ezekiel 38-39 or as you read any prophecy in the
Bible -- keep an open mind -- open heart -- and open eyes throughout
-- I’m going to give you this from a
literal interpretation of this passage, and I’ll let you know that I am relying
heavily on the work of Joel Rosenberg -- a writer and historian who speaks
about Israel and the end times prophecies -- his interpretation lines up
closely with that of Tim LaHaye, best known as one of the authors of the Left
Behind series, but who was a serious scholar of end times prophecy
-- so, with that long introduction,
let’s get to it
II. Scripture Lesson: Ezekiel 38-39
-- Ezekiel 38:1
Ezekiel
38:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog,
of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against
him 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog,
chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your
jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully
armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing
their swords. 5 Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and
helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north
with all its troops—the many nations with you.
7
“‘Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take
command of them. 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years
you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered
from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate.
They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.
9 You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing
like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
-- so, here’s what we know from this
passage as a certainty -- at some point in the future, God is going to stir the
hearts of several nations to rise up together and attack the nation of Israel
unprovoked -- at a time when the Jews are living safely and securely in the
land of Israel
-- and we know that this has not
happened yet -- there is no historical record of an attack against the restored
nation of Israel coming from these united nations -- so, this is a future event
-- at some point in the future, a
coalition of nations is going to attack Israel when they are living safely and
securely in the land -- notice that it doesn’t say they are living in peace --
but they are living in safety and securely in the land
-- the first question we need to ask
is when is this going to happen -- what is the timing of this event?
-- Ezekiel was written as the people
of Israel were being taken into exile -- Jerusalem has been utterly destroyed
-- the temple is no more -- for all intents and purposes, their nation no
longer exists -- they are a people without a home -- dispersed among other
nations
-- this prophecy from Ezekiel, then,
is meant to encourage the Jews as they are living as the diaspora -- dispersed
among the nations -- in Ezekiel Chapters 36 and 37, Ezekiel prophesies that the
people are going to come back into the land -- that one day they will be
gathered from all the nations where they have been exiled and will once again
establish the nation of Israel in the land promised to Abraham
-- in verse 8, it says that “in
future years” or “in latter days,” -- in other words, the last days -- the end
of the age -- the nations would attack a “people who were gathered from many
nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate -- they had
been brought out from the nations and now all of them live in safety”
-- there have been three gatherings
of the people of Israel in history such as Ezekiel describes here -- the first
was after the exodus, when God brought them out of Egypt and into the Promised
Land -- the second was after their exile into Assyria and Babylon -- the people
returned to their land but never established themselves as an independent
nation again -- they were always under the rule of other nations
-- the last gathering of the people
of Israel that has occurred to this point in history was after World War II --
when the Jewish nation of Israel was created in May 1948 and the people were
finally established in their historical land as the rightful owners and leaders
of their own nation
-- so, in our day -- for the first
time since the Exodus and the kingdoms of Israel that began under David and
Solomon -- we see the people of Israel gathered together in their land, under
their own rule, which does line up with the prophecy from Ezekiel
-- keep in mind that we’re looking
at this passage from our modern times -- it may be that in the future, the
people of Israel will be scattered again, and what Ezekiel is prophesying may
be a fourth gathering of the people in the future at some point
-- but the creation of the nation of
Israel in 1948 seems to line up with the timing that Ezekiel gives here in this
prophecy
-- moving on -- once the people are
gathered again in the land, living in safety and security, they will be
attacked by a coalition of specific nations
-- based on a literal interpretation of
this passage, there are four main views as to the timing of the events of
Ezekiel 38-39:
-- View 1:
This attack will take place near the midpoint of Daniel’s 70th
week -- the 70th week of Daniel is the Tribulation Period that we
read about in the Book of Revelation -- so, the midpoint of the Tribulation
Period in Revelation is the point where the Antichrist turns on Israel, stops
their worship in the newly built temple, and sets himself up as god in that
place
-- View 2:
This attack will take place near the close of Daniel’s 70th
week -- at the end of the Tribulation Period -- as part of the war of
Armageddon when the nations fight against Christ and His armies
-- View 3: This attack will take place at the close of
the millennial kingdom -- the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth -- as Scripture
says, Satan is going to be bound for these 1000 years, but he is going to be released
from captivity at the end of the thousand years to make one final and futile
assault against God, raising up the people to fight against Christ --
Revelation 20:7-8 seems to support this view -- these verses read, “When the thousand
years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive
the nations in the four corners of the earth -- Gog and Magog -- to gather them
for battle.”
-- View 4: This attack will take place near the timing of
the rapture of the church and the coming of the antichrist -- so, before the
start of the Tribulation period described in the Book of Revelation -- this is
where Joel Rosenberg and Tim LaHaye believe it will occur -- so they believe
that this attack on Israel will either be right before or right after the rapture
of the church -- and then we will see the rise of the antichrist who promises
peace to the world -- you can see how the timing of this view would make sense
for the coming of the antichrist because in the chaos of this major Middle
Eastern war, a charismatic leader comes on the scene with a plan to bring
world-wide peace
-- the truth is that we don’t know for
certain when the events of Ezekiel 38 will occur -- it could be any of these
times that Bible teachers have proposed -- it could be a different time
altogether -- but we know it is in the future and that it hasn’t happened yet
and it is something that we are watching for because, with the establishment of
the nation of Israel in 1948 and the current political situation in the world,
there is no reason it couldn’t happen in our day -- everything that Ezekiel
describes in this prophecy is in place -- and I believe we are living in the
latter days -- at least, in the beginning of the end
-- so, that’s the timing
-- the next question we have to ask is “who
are these nations that are going to unite militarily against Israel?” -- the
text tells us in verses 1-6 -- it will be Gog, from the land of Magog -- the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal -- and he will have with him the military
from Persia, Cush, Gomer, and Beth Togarmah -- so, who are these people?
-- some we know for sure and some we
have to guess at -- first, who is this Gog and where is the land of Magog? -- according
to the first century Roman historian Flavius Josephus in his book, “The Antiquities
of the Jews,” the people of Magog are the descendants of the Scythians -- these
were a people group that migrated from the Middle East northward and settled
north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea -- this is the region that is now
Russia and the former Soviet Republics
-- Meshech is believed to be Moscow
-- and Tubal is believed to be Tobolsk, a city in Russia -- so, understand this:
Gog is a person -- the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal -- in other words, Gog
is the leader of the Russian people, with his capital cities being Moscow and
Tobolsk
-- we tend to think of Moscow and
Russia as being in the east, but if you take out a world map and look for
Moscow, you will find it almost directly north of Jerusalem -- so, modern-day
Russia is Magog and Gog is the leader of the people in that land
-- Persia is easy -- Persia is the
former name of the country that we now know as Iran -- so, we are talking about
the region where Iran currently is located
-- Cush is a little harder -- it is
technically the upper region of the Nile River in Africa, keeping in mind that
the upper part of the Nile River is south of Egypt -- so, we’re talking about
the region of Ethiopia or Sudan -- and we know that Sudan is predominately a
Muslim country who is hostile towards Israel, along with most of the other
Muslim countries in our world today
-- the nation of “Put” will be part
of the alliance -- Josephus identifies Put as ancient Lybios -- that would be
the area that is currently Libya and Algeria -- the countries and region along
the Mediterranean, just west of Egypt
-- and, finally, we have Gomer and
Beth Togarmah -- these are the areas north and east of Israel, just south of
Russia -- primarily, we’re talking about what is now the nation of Turkey and
the former republics of Russia to the east of Turkey that are predominately
Muslim -- the region of the “stans” -- Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, etc. -- we
don’t know exactly which countries Ezekiel might be referring to or what
countries will exist when this prophecy finally comes to pass, but Gomer and
Beth Togarmah refer to Turkey and the countries east of Turkey towards China
-- of interest are the countries not
mentioned by Ezekiel -- Egypt isn’t mentioned, which is curious because Egypt
has warred with Israel throughout history, right up to our modern era -- the
same with Jordan, which is on the east bank of the Jordan River and adjacent to
Israel -- but Israel signed a peace treaty with both Egypt and Jordan in 1979,
so their absence in this list may -- big emphasis on “may” -- may be because
they have a peace treaty with Israel and have agreed not to attack the nation
-- similarly, you don’t see Iraq on
here -- Iraq is located on the historical nations of Babylon, Shinar, and Mesopotamia
-- all nations that have had conflict with the Jews throughout history -- but
currently, as you know, Iraq is living peacefully with Israel because of the
U.S.’s liberation of the country in 2003 and the installation of a new peaceful
regime
-- so, picking out the larger and
more powerful nations in our day from this list, we are talking about a
coalition of countries led by, what is today, Russia, Turkey, and Iran -- the countries
in these regions will unite together to attack Israel unprovoked and without
warning at some point in the future, in accordance with God’s will and God’s
timing
-- it might be in a 1000 years -- it
might be in 100 years -- or it might be sooner -- but this prophecy has not
been fulfilled yet and its fulfillment is coming at some point in the future
-- skip down to verse 14
Ezekiel
38:14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety,
will you not take notice of it? 15 You will come from your place in the far
north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great
horde, a mighty army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud
that covers the land. In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land,
so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their
eyes.
-- so, the prophecy that God gave
Ezekiel about a future war in Israel is repeated here -- God will stir the
hearts of these people and they will come on Israel in a day when they are
living in safety -- note once again, not when they are living in peace -- when
they are living in safety and securely in the land -- Israel is certainly not at
peace now with the war going on in Hamas and the regular attacks from both the
south and the north on their people -- but they are safe and they are secure
because they are prepared militarily for whatever might come
-- so, at some point in the future, when
the people are living safely and securely in the land and not expecting a major
attack, Gog and Magog will come down from the far north along with all the
nations they have assembled -- and they will come against the nation of Israel
in a brutal attack
-- why? -- why does God allow this? -- he
tells us there in verse 16 -- He allows this to happen so that He might show Himself
holy before Israel
-- as we’ve discussed before, sometimes
God lets trials and tribulations come our way -- He allows us to walk through
storms -- but He always has a reason -- it is to draw us near to Him -- especially
for those who don’t know Him -- it is to grow our faith -- to help us learn to
trust in Him and lean on Him in the difficult times of life so that we will
surrender ourselves to Him - -body, mind, soul, and spirit
-- and that is why God hardened the heart
of Pharoah -- so that His people would see His mighty works on their behalf and
come to Him and receive Him as their Lord and their God and their Savior
-- and when the people rebelled against
God and followed foreign gods and erected idols in the land, God raised up the
Assyrians and the Babylonians to conquer the land, so that they might see the
error of their ways and repent of their unfaithfulness and seek Him and cling
to Him in the lands where they lived in captivity
-- in the same way, even though the Jews have
been firmly established in the land of Israel since 1948, they are not
necessarily a religious people -- they are a secular nation, although there are
many in the land who do believe in God -- however, by and large, the nation of
Israel -- the Jewish people as a whole -- still have not accepted Jesus as
their Messiah and Savior yet, so they are not where they need to be in their
relationship with God
-- this war that is described here is instigated
by God so that they people might see Him and know Him and turn to Him with
their whole hearts and minds and souls -- this war is allowed so that the
people might see the holiness and glory of God as He fights against Gog and
Magog on their behalf
-- skip down to verse 18
Ezekiel 38:18 This is what will
happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be
aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare
that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20
The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every
creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the
earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs
will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword
against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword
will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and
bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on
him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show
my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many
nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
-- so, when the nations attack Israel and
they feel hopeless and isolated and alone, God will intervene supernaturally --
He will send a great earthquake into the region that will affect the entire
face of the earth -- He will summon swords against the armies of Gog -- He will
support the people of Israel as they fight against the armies of Gog and Magog
-- and He will rain down plague and
torrents of rain -- hailstones and burning sulfur -- reminiscent of His
judgment on Egypt and Sodom and Gomorrah
-- the end result will be that the
greatness and holiness of God will be known -- that the world will witness God’s
supernatural protection of Israel and the defeat of the armies of Gog and Magog
-- then, the nation of Israel will know
that He is the Lord -- He is Yahweh -- the Lord God Almighty -- their Creator
-- their Sustainer -- their Deliverer -- their Messiah
-- the defeat of the nations of Magog and
Persia and Gomer and their allies will result in a great repentance in Israel
and the turning of many hearts to the Lord for salvation and deliverance
III. Closing
-- so, what does all of this mean to
us? -- what should we do in response to this prophecy or when we see war
breaking out in the Middle East, as we are seeing today?
-- turn over towards the back of the
New Testament to 2 Peter 3:10-18, and we’ll answer those questions there
2
Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will
disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth
and everything done in it will be laid bare.
11
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you
to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day
of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the
heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with
his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where
righteousness dwells.
14
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort
to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our
Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you
with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his
letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things
that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as
they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so
that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your
secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
-- so, what do we do when it feels
like we are living in the end times? -- as Peter says here in verses 11-12a, “since
everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?
-- you ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God
and speed its coming”
-- to live a holy and godly life
means you are living for Christ -- that you are standing firm on His promises
and that you are trusting in Him, no matter what
-- so, if you’ve been anxious about the
state of the world and about all the wars and rumors of wars that are going on,
find peace in Christ -- regardless of when these prophecies will be fulfilled,
the take-home message is that Christ wins -- and that’s true whether we’re
talking about the prophecies from Ezekiel or Daniel or the Book of Revelation
-- Christ wins -- Christ has already
won the victory over sin and death -- and no matter how dark this world might
look -- no matter what happens politically or socially or culturally or even
militarily in our days
-- stand on this fact -- the battle has
been won -- Christ is victorious -- and through Him, we are all overcomers and
look forward to His blessed return and the establishment of His kingdom on the
new earth and the new heavens -- and we live our lives in all holiness and
godliness as we look forward to that time
-- next, be aware of what’s going on
in Israel right now and pray for both Israel and the Palestinian people -- if
you feel called, there are ways to help financially and materially -- you can
donate to relief efforts and to groups who are there on the ground, ministering
to the people affected by the war -- both in Israel and in Gaza
-- know this -- the current war is
not the war that Ezekiel was talking about in Ezekiel 38 -- this is a localized
war caused by a group of terrorists -- and it was not supported by the majority
of the people living in Gaza -- they are innocent bystanders in a conflict they
didn’t start -- so pray for them and pray for Israel and pray for a swift end
to the conflict and a return of all the hostages taken by Hamas
-- finally, live as Peter exhorts us
to live here in this passage -- live holy and godly lives, no matter what is
going on around us -- in verse 14, he tells us to make every effort to be found
spotless, blameless, and at peace with Christ
-- we are to bear the image of
Christ to this world -- to show His love to all -- and to share the good news
of the gospel with those who don’t know Him
-- we should constantly be growing
in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus as Peter says in verse 18 -- giving Him
the glory in all that we do and all that we say and all that we are
-- that is how we should respond to
wars and rumors of war -- to the state of our country and our world -- in faith
and in trust that God’s will will be done -- and that in the end, His name will
be glorified and that every knee will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
-- don’t become discouraged or
worried or anxious about the future -- but trust in God and live holy and
blameless lives so that the world may come to know Him through us
-- let us pray
No comments:
Post a Comment