Ezekiel 38

The chapters of Ezekiel 38 and 39 concern the war in which the antichrist invades Israel and conquers it and sets up his complete antichrist government, anti-God government, in which he proclaims himself as God and sets up his image to be worshipped.

"And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog." The land of Magog is the ancient name of Russia.

He said, "Set your face against Russia and against Gog, that's the leader of Russia,” the chief prince of Meshech," the ancient name of Moscow,"and Tobolsk," the ancient name of Tobolsk, one of the chief cities of eastern Russia. "and prophesy against him”.This Gog who will be the coming leader, the coming antichrist leader.

"And say thus saith the Lord God; behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tobolsk!" These are the major centers of the two most important parts of Russia! Moscow, the major center and capital of Russia, and Tobolsk, the major center of eastern Russia and Siberia! 4th verse: "And 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 sounds pretty ancient and antiquated and antique to be fighting an army with horses and swords and shields and armour! That doesn't sound like anything modern. Well, what could the prophet say? What kind of words could he use for our modern armies and soldiers? In fact, if you see some of these riots and the riot police marching out today to try to control the riots, you see that they've gone back to helmets and armour and shields and swords or batons, and on horses as well.

How else could the prophet describe them? He no doubt saw these things in his visions and he saw these strange carriages and chariots puffing away smoke and everything else and probably thought they were some kind of dragons, not only horses. He must have really been mystified! He also saw these great birds flying in the air spitting fire. They are all described in Revelations. What else could he call them?

The prophet Naham said that the chariots shall jostle one another in the broadways. "They shall run like lightning, and jostle one another in the broadways." (Na.2:4.) Cars at night with their headlights look like lightning, and they're chariots, and they certainly jostle one another in the broadways.

The prophet has to use words and terminology he knows. He never heard of a tank, he never heard of a plane, he never heard of a gun. He has to say they are chariots, or horses with horsemen.

“Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.” (Verses 5-6)

Verse 5 starts telling us about some of the countries that will be involved. Who is going to be on the side of the antichrist and who is going to fight against him. Here is Persia. Persia is modern day Iran. Ethiopia, that's part of ancient Abyssinia. "and Libya with them." Which way is Iran going to go, eventually with Gog, the Antichrist.

When the forces of Russia begin to invade the near east to capture Israel, Palestine, Jerusalem, and put down this war between the Jews and the Arabs and settle the whole issue Iran, Ethiopia, Libya are going to be with them.

Who else is going to be with Russia? Here we have the 6th verse now: "Gomer, and all his bands." Gomer is the ancient name of Germany. Germany and all the Germanic peoples, "all his bands." Most of the Germanic people and the Germanic languages are the Scandinavians, Dutch, and the countries bordering Germany.

"The house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands." There is a controversy between some students of ancient history and geography and the Bible as to whether that means Russia or Turkey. Since in this passage Russia is already called Magog, I am inclined to believe it means Turkey.

We have already heard about some of these countries Daniel 11

He (the antichrist) shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. (Daniel 11:41-43)

"Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon!" is modern Jordan.

"He”, this anti-christ leader of Russia, Gog,"shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt."

It says, "the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps." This is what we just got through reading in Ezekiel. The Ethiopians and the Libyans are going to be with him, along with the Persians, the Iranians and the Turks.

"Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them."

Notice in the 7th verse that Russia is going to be a guard unto them. They are going to be a great company assembled together, Russia and all the nations that work with Russia.

“After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. (Verse 8)

He is talking to Gog, the Antichrist leader of Magog, Russia. You're going to "come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel."The Jews certainly have been brought back from throughout the World and gathered out of many people, many nations all over the world and into the mountains of Israel.

"Which have always been waste, but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them." Israel was just a wasteland, just a desert until the Jews began to come back about 60 years ago and improve it and irrigate it and water it and cultivate it, and they have caused the desert to blossom like a rose! (Is.35:) He is again speaking to Gog, this anti-christ leader who will come and who will invade Israel.

"Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, and thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee." Thus saith the Lord God; it shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:" (Verses 9-10)

This next verse is speaking of the Antichrist. He is talking directly to the Antichrist himself. "And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages: I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations." (Verse 11)

This is a very strange thing that's happening here, because up until this latest day, the day in which you and I live, all villages and towns and cities had walls and gates until the last hundred years or so. Even after the invention of gunpowder and cannons, walls were still an effective protection against enemy forces, walls were still used and gates and such protections, fortifications, forts, various bastions of that kind were still used as protection against enemies.

Today walls are no protection at all. Today walls are no help whatsoever because the planes can fly right over and drop bombs inside the walls, or the big guns can shoot right over the walls. The rockets can be fired over the walls. Even little bazookas can be fired over the walls or hand grenades thrown over the walls. So there's no use even building walls around towns and villages today.

This is the first time in man's history for 6000 years that cities and towns and villages have been built without walls for protection. It describes how the Jews have come back to Israel, rebuilt the land and rebuilt villages and towns and cities without walls. It is talking about this day and age. This is the day of this prophecy! This is the day in which this prophecy is going to be fulfilled! Now is the time that Ezekiel is talking about, because this is the first time in World history, just within the past 100 years or so that towns have been built without walls. So he has to be talking about the present day and the immediate future.

He is saying, Gog, I know what you're going to do. I can read your mind. You're thinking, 'I am going to go down into that little country that is causing me so much trouble here in my new worldwide kingdom. I am just going to go down there and invade them and I am going to take it over by force. And so he does.

Is anybody going to object to this invasion? Is anybody going to object to Russia's deciding to go down there and take Israel over because she keeps causing him so much trouble? Would you like to know who the enemies of Russia are going to be? Who is going to object and fight against Russia's invasion?

“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? (Verse 13)

Sheba and Dedan are Arabia, Saudi Arabia, the Princes of Arabia, the various Oil States, these Arabian princes. So apparently very conservative Saudi Arabia who is getting military help from the United States, as well as Egypt, are going to side against Russia.

"The merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof." Tarshish has for a long time been interpreted by most Bible students as being the British and the British Isles. Interestingly the animal symbol for Britain is a lion. What does Great Britain have scattered throughout the World? All kinds of former colonies, all kinds of former possessions known today as the British Commonwealth, who used to be known as the British Empire. Even the United States is one of her young lions, Canada is one of her young lions, Australia is one of her young lions.

All the various former British colonies, the commonwealth, former parts and partners in the British Empire are the young lions of Tarshish, the young lions of Britain, and they are the ones who are going to oppose this Russian invasion. Britain, the U.S., Canada and the British Commonwealth, former British Empire, all of them are going to be against this Russian invasion of Israel.

They are going to object to this invasion. Now actually here it doesn't say that they do very much, and that's rather strange. Maybe they are really not going to do very much at first. Perhaps they are just going to diplomatically object in the United Nations and they are going to send in diplomatic protests: "We don't like this!"

What do they say? "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?

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:” (Verses 14-15)

He is talking to Ezekiel, His prophet, "You tell the Antichrist, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?" Yes, he knows it right now! And he knows also how vulnerable Israel is, despite all the U.S. help. "Thou shalt come forth from thy place out of the north parts." What direction is Russia from Israel?--Due North! (Verse 14)

"A great company and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against My people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days."

"And I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes." (Verse 16) Why is God bringing Russia up against Israel? To let the World know that God is righteous. He is a good God, a fair God, He is a just God, and therefore the World knows that Israel needs it! The World knows that Israel is being very stubborn and rebellious and is bucking the entire Earth in her selfish possession of Palestine, refusing to share it with its original inhabitants and occupants, the Arabs, the Palestinians, and the Christians.

God has to send Russia down to straighten things out and to force Israel to share the land with the Palestinians, and to force the religionists to stop fighting over Jerusalem and to share that as well. So it is a part of the judgements of God!. He is saying here that He is bringing Gog, the Antichrist, and Magog, Russia, down there to conquer Palestine, or Israel, and make a just and peaceful settlement, to fairly settle this major and most dangerous problem in the World today which is more apt to precipitate the World into another World War than any other question aside from the oil!--And oil's part of it!

"Thus saith the Lord God"--He is talking to the antichrist--"Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel?" We have seen that some of the other prophets predicted the Antichrist. Daniel talks about him time and time again all through the Book of Daniel. I am not only telling Ezekiel, I have told many of My prophets about you, Gog." He is talking to Gog. He says, "I have prophesied about you for centuries," in fact, for thousands of years now, "that I would bring thee against them." He is going to judge Israel with Gog and Magog!

"And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the LORD GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel." (Verses 18-19) First we are told very specifically that the Antichrist leader of Russia is going to invade Israel as a judgement of God against the Jews.

In this passage it is dealing primarily with Gog and Magog, the antichrist and Russia, and their war with Israel. It does not tell you, as it does more clearly in other passages in God's Word, how long they stayed there after the invasion and what they did while they were there. He is primarily interested in just talking to Gog and Magog. He is primarily interested in just talking to the Antichrist and Russia and telling them that He brought them down there as a judgement upon the Israel for their wickedness and their sins. Then He is warning them that He is going to then judge them as well, Gog and Magog, the Antichrist and Russia for their sins.

This is a procedure God has so often followed. He has used the heathen, the Godless, the anti-Christ, the wicked of the World to judge and punish His Own people. He then has turned right around and He has judged their enemies as well. God is just and everybody that deserves to get punished, gets punished and gets judged! God is not only going to punish Israel, He is also going to punish Russia for her sins, afterward.

According to God's word Gog, the antichrist, is going to be there a little while, about three-and-a-half years! The Antichrist and the Russians are going to invade and are going to take over the land of Israel. As we have already studied in Daniel 11, the Bible says that he will set up his palace, his tabernacle there in Jerusalem. (Dan.11:45)

The antichrist, the leader of Russia, will not only invade Israel but he will make Jerusalem his capital! He will set up his headquarters there, his palace, and he will rule the whole World from there for three-and-a-half years. He makes this invasion right in the middle of his reign, at the end of the first three-and-a-half years.

God permits Russia to come in and the antichrist to take over Israel for three-and-a-half years, 42 months, 1260 days according to the Jewish year, and rule the World from Jerusalem for three-and-a-half years. The Lord says that it is going to be a time of such great trouble as the World has not known since the World began, and never will be again. The time of Jacob's trouble, Israel's trouble. The time of Great Tribulation for all the World, because the Antichrist will then try to force the whole World to worship him and obey him and take his Mark and kill those who will not. It is going to cause a lot of trouble, because the Jews will not like it, the Christians will not like it, the Muslims will not like it and many people will not like it.

A good deal of this passage then from here on tells about what God does afterward, at the end of this time of terrible trouble in which the Antichrist is trying to run the World and dominating Israel. We will find out the fate of Russia in the end.

God says there is going to be a great shaking when God finally decides to judge after the antichrist has taken over Israel. The Antichrist has been there for three-and-a-half years, it has been his headquarters. He has been running the World from Jerusalem, but finally he has caused so much trouble, he has gone much further than he should have. God finally has to put a stop to it.

God starts judging the Antichrist and his worldwide kingdom, his anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-religious kingdom of which he has made himself god. God is going to send great earthquakes to Israel, because it has become his capital. It is his head city.

"So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God; every man's sword shall be against his brother." (Verse 20-21)It is going to be a horrible chaotic Worldwide War! Nation against nation!

"And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood." These are the things He is going to rain upon the Antichrist and his kingdom, his worldwide government. "I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone!" (Verse 22) It sounds like it could be an atomic war,or it can be volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hailstones from Heaven, etc.

When Krakatau exploded there in the Sunda straits between Java and Sumatra in 1883, it exploded with such a tremendous force, that it was heard around the World. Tidal waves washed the shores of four continents and the jungles of Java and Sumatra were buried under 100 feet of ash. It completely covered the trees, and 4000 people were killed! The sun looked blue from the ashes that had been cast up into the stratosphere!

"Thus will I magnify myself and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord." (Verse 23) God is going to manifest His justice, His righteousness to the World. The World by this time will know that the Antichrist has gone too far, and if there is a God in Heaven, that Antichrist should be punished. So God is going to punish him. Just like the [Israelis] have gone too far, so God punishes them with the Antichrist, with the Russians. Then when the Antichrist goes too far, God is then going to judge them and punish them. Then the whole World will know that it is the true, just, righteous, fair judgements of God.

Taken from the informal talks of David Brandt Berg

Edited by Almondtree Productions