Thursday, July 2, 2015

Is the prophetic battle of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20 the same as Ezekiel 38?

The battle that occurs in Revelation 20 is the final battle in the Millennium between the satanically inspired nations of the earth that come against “the beloved city” (Rev. 20:7-9). The text reads:

Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison  and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.  They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.  The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.  Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.  (Rev 20:7-11)

 This is not the same battle that is spoken of in Ezekiel 38-39. Why? Because in Ezekiel, the nations are from the north, and there are a limited number of nations not, as Revelation says, “the nations in the four corners of the earth” (Ezek. 38:15; Rev. 20:7).

The reference to Gog (“the prince“) and Magog (“the people“)  in Revelation 20 is metaphoric. How can one tell when something is used metaphoric? When the thing spoken of cannot be the literal, then the author seeks to relate some attribute of the literal to the thing spoken of. What is the characteristic that is brought out in both Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20 concerning Gog and Magog? The literal Gog is from the Hebrew meaning “mountain,” and in Ezekiel 38 the prince of Gog is the great rebel who gathers the people together against Israel. In the Old Testament a “mountain” is synonymous with a kingdom.  In Daniel 2:45, the great stone cut out of the mountain (the stone or rock is Christ) destroys the statue (the future world empires). The mountain of the Lord represents the Messiah’s millennial kingdom. Thus, in Ezekiel and Revelation, the end-times ruler desires to be exalted above the Lord’s kingdom. The metaphor of Gog (the mountain)  and Magog (his people) has to do with world power and control over the whole world!   

As the great Dr. J. Vernon McGee writes, “Because the rebellion is labeled ‘Gog and Magog,” many Bible students identify it with the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38-39. This is not possible at all, for the conflicts described are not parallel as to time, place, or participants – only the names are the same. The invasion from the north by Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39 breaks the false peace of the Antichrist and causes him to show his hand in the midst of the Great Tribulation. That rebellion of the godless forces from the north will have made such an impression on mankind that after one thousand years, that last rebellion of man bears the same label –Gog and Magog.”  (J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible) 

Dr. Couch writes concerning Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20, “Though some of the participants are the same (Gog and Magog), the time frame is not. The invasion of Israel mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39 seems to come at the beginning of the tribulation. There, for a short time, the Jews appear to be victorious, and the world is stunned by the defeat of the great northern power and its alliance. By contrast, the battle in Revelation 20:7-9 comes at the end of the kingdom period.” (Mal Couch, Revelation, in Tim Lahaye & Ed Hindson gen. ed., The Popular Bible Prophesy Commentary)

Gog and Magog then, is metaphor for the last days attitude that the devil of old possess concerning his desire to rule the world. The battles are satanically driven in order to rule the whole world and to bring everything under his control in a last attempt to usurp the world wide millennial rule of Messiah Jesus. Since the fall, Satan has been the ruler of this world, but with God's people and Word present his rule is limited. With these last days battles to rid the world of God's people and Word he hopes to gain total dictorial control of a Satanic kingdom. The antichrist is his instrument, just like the serpent was his instrument in the fall. Gog ("the prince of the mountain") and Magog ("the people of the prince") will fail as it is written, but even knowing that he will fail, self-deception and pride rules Satan but that does not get in the way of his desire to be the prince of the world controlling the people of the world.