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Some Ideas About Gog and Magog
By Jack Kelley
Those who labour to understand
the nuances of the battle described in Ezekiel 38-39 quickly
identify two major puzzles. One is the timing of the battle and
the other is the identity of Gog, from Magog. Suffice it to say
here that almost no scholar, certainly none I’m aware of,
believes the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 has already taken place.
Some believe it will occur just before the beginning of Daniel’s
70th Week, while others believe Ezekiel is actually describing
the Battle of Armageddon, which would put it at the end of the
Great Tribulation. But all place it sometime in our future.
In my opinion, there are several reasons why Ezekiel 38 can’t be
part of the Armageddon scenario. First, only some nations are
involved in Ezekiel 38. For example, Saudi Arabia and Western
Europe are said to be on the sidelines observing and others you
would expect to see, like Egypt and Jordan, are not mentioned at
all, although both appear later on. But Zechariah 12:3 says that
in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon all the nations of
the Earth will come against Jerusalem.
Second, how is Israel going to burn the left over weapons for 7
years as Ezekiel 39:9 indicates unless there are 7 years left in
which to burn them? Rev. 21:24. says the nations will walk by
the light of the New Jerusalem in the Millennium, so they won’t
need fuel for energy then. And then you have Ezekiel 38:11
telling us that Israel will be a peaceful and unsuspecting
people when the Moslem coalition strikes. Could that be possible
near the end of the Great Tribulation when all the nations are
gathering to attack? I don’t think so.
But most importantly, Daniel’s 70th week can’t start until
Israel is back in covenant with God and the battle of Ezekiel 38
is what causes the covenant to be re-instated. (Ezek. 39:22)
Armageddon comes at the end of Daniel’s 70th week, not the
beginning.
As for Gog and Magog, the first thing to note is that while
Magog is listed in Genesis 10, Gog is not. The list of 70 names
in Genesis 10 is often called the Table of Nations because each
of the men named there was the original ancestor of an ethnic
group that grew to become a nation of people. For instance,
Magog was the 2nd son of Japeth, one of Noah’s three sons, and
bore the children who in time became known to the ancient world
as the Scythians. They lived in central Asia and are believed to
be the forefathers of today’s Russians. Many historical
references support this view. For example, Josephus Flavius
wrote “Magog founded the Magogians, thus named after him, but
who were by the Greeks called Scythians.” And in some ancient
Arabic documents, the Great Wall of China is called the Ramparts
of Gog and Magog. It was built to keep the Scythians out of
China.
So while the Russian people of today are likely descended from
Magog, there is no such biological connection for Gog to either
Magog or any other ethnic group. There is an unrelated mention
of a man named Gog, a grandson of Reuben, in 1 Chronicles 5:4
but there doesn’t seem to be any connection between him and the
land of Magog either. Clearly, while Magog refers to the
millions of his descendants in today’s Russia, Gog remains a
single individual.
Some say he’s a king or leader, and in a real sense I think
that’s true but I don’t believe he’s of the human variety. The
time spanned by his three appearances in scripture make that
impossible.
The first one is in the first verse of Amos 7, but you have to
be reading Amos from the Septuagint translation to see it.
There, Gog is identified as a king, but of a swarm of locusts.
To further shroud him in mystery Proverbs 30:27 states that
locusts have no king, and observers of locust swarms agree that
no obvious leader directs them, as a queen would direct a hive
of bees for example. The swarm of locusts led by Gog in Amos
7:1-2 was symbolic of a judgment that was to come upon the
Northern Kingdom, but the Lord relented because of Amos’
intercession.
(This hint also lends insight to another appearance of locusts,
by the way. I’m referring to the one in Revelation 9, where a
swarm of locusts comes out of the Abyss to afflict those on
Earth who lack the seal of God on their foreheads. These locusts
have a king named Abaddon in the Hebrew or Appolyon in the
Greek. Here again, the Proverbs passage would indicate that
these locusts are of supernatural origin like the ones in Amos
7, not ordinary locusts.)
The next time Gog’s mentioned is in Ezekiel 38:1, where he is
called by name as the leader of a coalition of what are now
primarily Moslem nations attacking Israel. His final mention
comes from the Book of Revelation where he again leads the
people from Magog against the Lord’s army at the end of the
Millennium (Rev. 20:8).
Even if you’re among those who place the battle of Ezekiel 38 at
the end of the Great Tribulation, the span of time between Gog’s
last two biblical appearances is at least 1000 years, and while
I believe that some born in that era will have long life spans,
there isn’t any indication that natural humans born before the
Millennium begins will live to see its end. This is especially
true of God’s enemies, since all surviving unbelievers are
removed from Earth at the beginning of our Lord’s reign.
So I’ve come to the conclusion that Gog is a supernatural
figure. The Bible clearly states that behind the human seats of
government stand supernatural figures manipulating the thoughts
and actions of the world’s leaders. These figures are in Satan’s
employ, helping in his effort to wrest ownership of Planet Earth
from its Creator. Gog is at least the supernatural figure behind
the throne of Russia, and perhaps is even Satan’s counterpart to
the Archangel Michael, who commands the Lord’s armies.
In Daniel 10:13 Michael is identified as one of the Lord’s chief
princes who in 536 BC came to Daniel’s aid in a supernatural
struggle with the Prince of Persia, a nation barely emerging on
the world scene having conquered Babylon just three years
earlier. At its conclusion Michael told Daniel that he’d soon be
battling the Prince of Greece, a nation that didn’t even exist
at the time. In Daniel 12:1 we’re told he’ll protect Israel at
the end of the age. And in Rev 12:7 he’s seen leading the
angelic host in a great battle in heaven when Satan is defeated
there and cast down to Earth at the outset of the Great
Tribulation. Michael is clearly a supernatural warrior leaping
across the pages of history in defence of the Lord’s interests.
It makes sense that Satan would have a military commander
leading his forces as well, since everything he does seems to
mirror the actions of his Creator. With his multiple mentions in
Scripture and the long span of time between appearances, Gog
could easily be this commander.
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Only time will tell if this view is correct. But one of the
great advantages of living in our day is that we won’t have long to wait till we find out. You can almost hear the footsteps of
the Messiah.
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