Ezekiel 38 & 39

Discuss world empires past, present, and future. What does the Bible say about the empires of the world?
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David
Posts: 132
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:38 pm
Location: Charleston, SC

Ezekiel 38 & 39

Post by David »

Hello brothers, I figured seeing as we are discussing end times and how I am coming to understand it may very well be a revived Ottoman (Islamic) Empire I would begin with what I've read in Ezekiel 38.

In my church many agree with the pastor that a Rivived Roman Empire is on the horizon as final empire. I've been taught by those with a RRE point of view that the prophecy in Ezekiel 38 & 39 cannot be part of RRE equation and therefore a separate event which will occur sometime before Armageddon. So let us search the scriptures to see if these things are so. I am will provided my own commentary to certain verses I pray we might come to an agreement.

Ezekiel 38

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 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:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Here we see specific nations listed who will come against Israel all can be traced back in history to today. Some have the same names others have changed, such as Magog. But that can be traced to Turkey and possible the southern provinces of the former Soviet Union which are all now Islamic states like Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 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. This I believe is talking about the formation of todays Israel in 1948. Reading literature about Israel I found that before it was given over to the Jews it was nothing more than unfertile desert waste land. Arabs or the U.N. didn't have any interst in such a land. It was also as we all know established after world war II
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10 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:
11 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, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
12 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, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 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?
14 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? See commentary verse 8
15 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: Read about the fourth and final beast empire in Dainiel 7, 8 where the little horn comes from who pushes southward.
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of 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.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 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.
19 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; Here I believe God is speaking about 'the day of the Lord'. I just can't imagine what other it could be. Continue reading and tell me if this doesn't sound like that day is being described. Also compare other refernces to the day of the Lord Isa. 13:6, Isa. 13:9, Isa. 58:13, Jer. 46:10, Ezek. 13:5, Ezek. 30:3, Joel 1:15, Joel 2:1, Joel 2:11, Joel 2:31, Joel 3:14, Amos 5:18, Amos 5:20, Obad. 15, Zeph. 1:7, Zeph. 1:14, Zech. 14:1, Mal. 4:5, Acts 2:20, 1Cor. 5:5, 2Cor. 1:14, 1Ths. 5:2, 2Ths. 2:2, 2Pet. 3:10
20 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.
21 And 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.
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and 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.
23 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. What other day could this be. Is the RRE point of view telling us this is going to happen again when Rome arises? Egads man I think once is enough. :shock:
Last edited by David on Sat Feb 10, 2007 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
David
Posts: 132
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:38 pm
Location: Charleston, SC

Post by David »

Ezekiel 39 appears to me a continuation of events from the last chapter.

1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. This is the verse I mentioned earlier about Ishmael the archer and the archer riding the white horse in the Revelation to John. Now having an archer here named Gog and Gog mentioned in Revelation AND the rider on the white horse holding a bow has got to be more than just coincidence!
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Revelation 19:17,18 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. So those with a RRE point will say this is an event that comes before the end? Why then does the God of Israel say he will not let His name be polluted again. But the RRE point of view says it will come again and persecute the children of Israel and allow the abomination of desolation to pollute God's name? The RRE no longer makes sense here.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken. Again I believe this is talking about the Day of the Lord.
9 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:
10 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.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog.
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. It looks like Revelation 19 again
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;
26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. God says He will not hide His face from them anymore. But again a RRE point of view forces you to disregard this because I was taught apparently Israel will be persecuted again when the RRE arises. Ezekiel 38& 39 is to a RRE point of view a separate event. I DO NOT see how anymore and when I ask questions of them I get no answers. :cry:
David
Posts: 132
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:38 pm
Location: Charleston, SC

Post by David »

So after all these things written of in Ezekiel mountains thrown down, every creature on earth shaking at thje presence of God, great hailstones, fire and brimstone, Israel returning to God from that day foward, all the heathen know God judged them, God's name being known in the midst of Israel, God not hiding his face from them anymore, and pouring His spirit out on the house of Israel. After God does all of these things for Israel they still say He allows the Anti-Christ to persecute Israel? This is what I don't understand about the revived roman empire point of view it makes absolutely no sense. It seems clear when you compare scripture with scripture this is the Day of the Lord.

Unless there is anything further On to Daniel! Where we find scripturally the little-horn leader of the fourth kingdom shall rise up from.
Last edited by David on Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
jimbaum
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Post by jimbaum »

Brother David,

I respect your diligence! You're going to make me study the Bible more. Hallelujah!

Love,

Jim
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