Sunday, October 18, 2015

Gods Sword


“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?


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