Gog and Magog and the camp of the saints
The war of Gog and Magog and the saints’ rest
Patrick Fairbairn on Gog and Magog
Frederic Gardiner on Gog and Magog
Burying Gog and Magog, and the serpent’s flood
Ezekiel and the thousand year reign
In 2001, Ernest L. Martin published his interpretation of the prophecy of Ezekiel 38. Martin interpreted Ezekiel's prophey about Gog and Magog as a modern day invasion of the land of Israel. [1]
Martin also suggested that these invading armies will come from areas such as Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Indonesia. He said they will cross the Euphrates River, which will be dried up, and invade the land of Israel.
At that time, Martin said, there will be an organisation of 10 nations under a single government in the Middle East. These nations, he said, are the ones listed in Psalm 83, a prophecy that was never literally fulfilled. Martin identified these nations as countries in the Middle East, that surround the state of Israel.
In his article, Martin wrote, [2]
It is not yet time for the Antichrist to bring the whole of the world under his control (as he will certainly do) before the Second Advent of Christ back to this earth. Indeed, it is during the last year of the Antichrist's rule over the earth that we find this area of Afghanistan prominently featured in biblical prophecy. Let us see. Look at Ezekiel 38:1-8.
"And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 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: Persia, Ethiopia [Hebrew: CUSH or the area of the Hindu Kush Mountains, that is: Afghanistan], and Libya [Hebrew: PHUT or the area of India] 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. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years [in the time of the Antichrist] 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."
The Antichrist will at first take over control of the world in stages. The first stage will be securing the ten nations of Revelation 17 and 18 to unite to form his single government for the Middle East. This will be centered in the Middle East with Jerusalem as its capital. From there the rest of the western world will come under the Antichrist's domination (that is, Europe and the remainder of western civilization). Once this is accomplished, the prophet Daniel states that he will hear rumors from the north and the east (Daniel 11:44) -- directly from the region of Persia [Iran] and Afghanistan which will be giving audible and visible signs that the rest of the world community in the Orient (the Land of Magog) will be ready to move toward the west and to conquer Israel and the western regions of the world who will have revolted from the sovereignty of the ten kings of Revelation 17 and 18. At this time, Israel will be an unwalled country and it will be a nation without armaments (all weapons were surrendered to the Antichrist). (Ezekiel 38:8).
And then, from the very region of Iran and Afghanistan (and from the surrounding regions) the armies of Gog [the invigorated Antichrist] will bring under his control the armies of "the Land of Magog." The Book of Revelation informs us that this Gog will lead these armies from the Magog (this land will represent the far-flung regions of the earth [from all four cardinal directions of the inhabitable earth] (see Revelation 20:8-10). These vast armies will assemble in Iran and Afghanistan (and surrounding areas) to come across the Euphrates River to invade the unwalled nation of Israel (as Israel will then exist in the time of the Antichrist) (see Revelation 16:12). These armies of Gog will come from the north and east. The River Euphrates will dry up and allow them to move freely toward Israel. This is when they finally assemble in the Valley of Megiddo (at the biblical site of Armageddon). At this final assemblage to mount a war against Jerusalem, God will destroy the armies of Gog who come from the Land of Magog (Revelation 16:16-21).
Some problems with Dr. Martin's approach are:
Since the Spirit of Christ inspired John to say the armies of Gog and Magog come against the "camp of the saints," Ezekiel's prophecy must be a description of spiritual warfare, involving Christians, and their struggle to discover the truth. Paul wrote:
Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The battles of the saints are not military ones, but spiritual. These battles have to do with properly understanding prophecies of the Bible, such as the prophecy of Ezekiel 38, and whether or not it is about a military invasion of Palestine.
Looking at the invasion by the armies of Gog and Magog from the
point of view suggested by John in
Revelation 20:8-9, their assault on the "camp of the saints" pictures
vast
multitudes of people whose teachings and beliefs are contrary to the
prophets and apostles. Flawed interpretations of the prophecies of
scripture are the weapons carried by the armies of Gog and Magog, their
bows and arrows, spears, handstaves, shields and bucklers.
Ezekiel said these weapons will be burned as fuel for seven years.
The flammable nature of these weapons is emphasized by Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 39:9-10
And they
that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on
fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows
and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn
them with fire seven years:
So
that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out
of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they
shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them,
saith the Lord GOD.
Books are flammable! However, this burning is not a literal burning,
but the saints destroying the mistaken views about the scriptures and
the Gospel, and all the flawed arguments and interpretations
of prophecy, which has occurred throughout
the church's history.
The seven years that the weapons are burned as fuel may be symbolic; it may correspond to the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks, which represents the time during which Christ confirms the covenant with his church.
The horses of the army of Gog and Magog can be interpreted as people without understanding, as David wrote:
Psalm 32:9
Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding:
whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near
unto thee.
The mountains of Israel that the invaders come against are symbolic of the promises of God. They are prominent parts of the land that God promised to give to Abraham and his descendants, so they represent the word of God. There is a striking example of this in the New Testament, as Paul identified Mount Sinai in Arabia with the law of Moses and the Jewish sacrificial system, in his epistle to the Galatians.
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