Gog and Magog - The Last Battle
The 1,000 year reign of Christ will end, however, right on time.
Revelation
20:7-10 – When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his
prison 8 and will go out to
deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth —Gog and Magog —and to gather them for battle. In number they
are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across
the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city He
loves. But fire came down from
heaven and devoured them. 10 And
the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where
the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and
night for ever and ever.”
After the Millennium, Satan will get one more chance to turn people
against Christ. Just as He was given the opportunity to test people’s free will
when God was reigning over the world at creation, so at the end, he will again
be given the chance to test our free will when Christ is reigning over the world.
Those who choose to reject Christ will march on Jerusalem and try to dethrone
Him, just as Satan once tried to dethrone God in Heaven. But the outcome will
be the same as it was before. Satan will not succeed. In fact, there won’t even
be a battle! God will simply send fire down from Heaven and will destroy
Satan’s army. Then, Satan will be thrown into Hell.
Zechariah 12:1-9 – A prophecy: The word of the Lord concerning Israel.
The Lord, who
stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms
the human spirit within a person, declares: 2 “I am going
to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah
will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when
all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an
immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure
themselves. 4 On that day I will strike every horse with
panic and its rider with madness,” declares theLord.
“I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the
nations. 5 Then the clans of Judah will say in their
hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’
6 “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile,
like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding
peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.
7 “The Lord will
save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and
of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. 8 On
that day the Lord will
shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be
like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of
the Lord going before
them. 9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the
nations that attack Jerusalem.”
When Satan leads the nations into attacking
Jerusalem once again, God will save it. But who are these nations that Satan
will lead, and who is Gog and Magog?
Ezekiel 38 – 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.
10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil
scheme. 11 You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a
peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without
gates and bars. 12 I will plunder and loot and turn
my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations,
rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land” 13 Sheba
and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all her village will say to you,
“Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off
silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?”’
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.
17 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
You are the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of
Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against
them. 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.’”
Satan very rarely acts openly or on his own. He usually recruits others
to his cause so that he can hide in the shadows. During the last battle, he
will make no exception. Just as he used the Anti-Christ to lead his armies
before, during the final battle, he will use a man named Gog. He will be the
leader of a land called Magog. This is the man who will lead the nations one
last time in an effort to overthrow Christ from His throne in Jerusalem.
Also notice that Gog will attack “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” and “a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a
peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without
gates and bars.”
This is the picture of Israel during the 1,000 year reign of Christ. It
will have recovered from Christ’s war with the Anti-Christ, and, as we saw
before, so many people from all over the world will have come to see and be
with Christ that Jerusalem will have overflowed beyond its gates and walls. The
land will be at peace because Christ has united the nations under His rule, and
they no longer have a reason to suspect any enemy to attack.
But as God has said, “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.” The end is written and
decided ahead of time. Satan is not and will never be powerful enough to defeat
God. The creature cannot overthrow the Creator.
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This blog post is included in my book, Last Days: A Biblical Guide to the End Times.
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