“I will
call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord GOD.
“Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
Ezekiel 38:21 NKJV
As
you might expect, this past week has seen more and more people comment about
the situation occurring in the Middle East and many articles are being written,
even in secular publications, which refer to the conflict described in the book
of Ezekiel as the Gog Magog War. Now I
must confess, I too have often referred to this event by using the term “war”,
but as I studied this past week I have found my perspective altered a little bit, and I
believe that in the future I will refrain from calling this event a war,
because in all honesty, it is not.
If
you look up the definition of the word war in any dictionary, you will most
likely find something along the lines of “an
armed conflict between two opposing forces or nations”. Now that sounds fine on the surface, and
most would agree that it accurately describes what we have come to know as war,
yet I believe that in situations where God is on one side of the two opposing
forces, history shows this might not be an entirely accurate description of
what occurs on the battlefield. Why is
that you ask? Look closely at the
account in the passage from Ezekiel and tell me what “arms” are used by God to
defend His people?
“Every
man’s sword will be against his brother.”
As
I thought about what we read here, I could not help but wonder exactly how this
is going to play out in the eyes of the world when it occurs? You have a massive army of Israel’s enemies
led by Gog who descend upon the mountains of Israel with the intent to
annihilate and take spoil. Israel will
no doubt be preparing to defend itself by moving massive numbers of troops and
materiel northward in anticipation of the invasion. The world will be watching with all too many
hoping to see Israel finally defeated, when suddenly the entire army of Gog
begins to fight against each other!
Now if this sounds a little unbelieveable, I can assure you it is not the first time God
chooses to use this method to defeat His enemies. When Israel went to war against the
Midianites, led by Gideon, God employed the same “tactic” allowing Israel to be
victorious using only three hundred men!
When
the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every man’s sword against his
companion throughout the whole camp;
Judges 7:22 NKJV
Later
in Israel’s history, when Saul was king, once again God uses the same “sword”
to defeat the Philistines.
Then
Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the
battle; and indeed every man’s sword was against his neighbor, and there was
very great confusion. 1 Samuel
14:20 NKJV
As
I thought this week about God’s sword being a method of confusion causing His enemies to
fight against each other, my first thought was exactly how could the “media”
today put a spin on this when it happens in Israel? A new biological weapon engineered by Israel
which causes “hallucinations and paranoia” when released above the
battlefield? If you think about it, do
you really believe the world would admit “God” actually exists and is defending
Israel? Obviously that thought has
already occurred to God because He goes on to make it clear that the entire
world will know exactly who is making this all happen.
“And it
will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,”
says the Lord GOD, “that My fury will show in My face. “For in My jealousy
and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a
great earthquake in the land of Israel, ‘so that the fish of the sea, the birds of
the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the
earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence.
The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall
shall fall to the ground.’ “I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My
mountains,” says the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
“And I
will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on
him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain,
great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. “Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify
Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know
that I am the LORD.” ’ Ezekiel
38:18-23 NKJV
Most
scholars agree that the battle described in this passage occurs just
immediately before the seventieth week of Daniel, otherwise known as the
tribulation, begins. It is this conflict
that not only turns back the nation of Israel to Him, it allows the antichrist
to enforce the peace between Israel and its enemies which is described in the
book of Daniel. Of course, no one can
agree as to exactly when the rapture will occur in light of all of these events
but since that is the case, let me share a thought I
had while studying and meditating on this subject this past week.
“Then
they shall know that I am the LORD.”
Think
carefully about what God says here. The
entire world will know! Now I am not sure
how you see it, but to me, this removes everyone’s
excuse that they didn’t know. If the
rapture were to occur after these events, and I am not saying that this will be
the case, would that not mean that everyone left on earth after the rapture made the choice to
ignore or reject God revealing Himself to them?
The Word makes it clear that no one will have an excuse. Does it not make sense that by revealing
Himself through the events in this passage from Ezekiel, God removes every excuse from those who choose to disbelieve?
No
one knows when the rapture of the Church will occur, but it certainly seems obvious from this account in Ezekiel that God has a plan to reveal Himself in such a way as to remove anyone’s
claim that they did not know He exists, and that it is incumbent for mankind to
make a choice to believe or not believe.
Seen in that light, it seems clear that all those left behind will be
faced with making a choice to accept or reject what God will reveal to them on
the day of His deliverance of Israel from Gog and his armies. I have no doubt that this world will come up
with some sort of explanation for the events described in this passage of
scripture, but even if it does make some sort of sense and the media does its
best to propagate it, we are told by God Himself that the world will know the
truth.
As
we see this day approaching, and the day of our deliverance is imminent, have you made your choice yet?
Keep
watching.
