“For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the north country, And they shall array themselves against her; From there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; None shall return in vain.” Jeremiah 50:9 NKJV
Since the beginning of the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, speculation has run rampant about the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. To be sure, these questions are legitimate, especially considering the rhetoric coming from Russia itself and their threats to use them if they feel they are justified in doing so. While the world waits to see what tomorrow brings, many believers have asked if the Bible has anything to say about the possibility of these types of weapons being used in regards to end time prophecy. After much study, and speaking on this subject for many years, my conclusion on the use of these types of weapons is that it is not a question of if, but when.
While this may come as a surprise to some, what I will attempt to do today is simply share just a few of many passages in the Bible which I believe will shed some light on what the future holds. The first question that I had when I started my study was simply how in the world would a prophet from the Old Testament describe the weaponry and technology from the twenty first century? The truth is, he could only describe what he saw based on what he knew from the times he was living in. If you keep that in mind, much of what we read can begin to make sense when applied to our current situation.
A perfect example of this is the passage above from the prophet Jeremiah. Here we find a prophecy of the end times when Babylon will be judged and Israel restored. The tools God uses to judge Babylon consist of an “assembly of great nations from the north”. Since the setting is the end times, it seems logical we can assume Russia might be a large part of this alliance. What is interesting here though, is that we are given a strange description of the weapons used rather than the men who use them. The following is an excerpt from some notes I have from Chuck Missler teaching on this passage many years ago.
“Smart weapons” are implied in Jeremiah 50:9, where: … their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. The word “arrow” is chets, which can mean a dart, arrow, or javelin; or, “any missile fired from an engine of war.” In the Septuagint, the Greek boli.j can mean anything thrown: a missile, such as an arrow or javelin. Notice, however, that the adjective clause “as of a mighty expert man” is a descriptor of the arrow, not the shooter of the arrow. The key Hebrew word is sakal, which means prudent, wise, circumspect; with insight and comprehension. It is the arrow itself that has the intelligence! This, indeed, is further emphasized in the final clause: “...none shall return in vain.” They can’t miss! Sounds like “smart weapons”-guided missiles or smart bombs. And this was written over two thousand years ago!
While this description of the delivery method is certainly intriguing, our question today is about the payload and if it could possibly be nuclear. An interesting passage whose meaning has been debated for years is found in the book of Ezekiel and his prophecy of the coming conflict with the nation of Israel. Many believe, and I tend to agree, that what Ezekiel is trying to convey is a nuclear exchange between Magog and an unnamed country.
“And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.“ Ezekiel 39:6 NKJV
The term “send fire” in the Hebrew is “shaw-lakh’ aysh” and is used to describe judgment, and in the context of this verse it obviously comes from God. Yet the first interesting thing about this passage is that it makes clear that the fire falls on two nations, not just Magog. The debate has, for the most part, always surrounded the possible identification of the unnamed country being the United States considering that this conflict occurs in the end times, and that by using the term coastlands Ezekiel is describing a country unknown at that time and located at the farthest reaches of the world.
The most interesting part of this passage, however, comes next.
“It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. “For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. “Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,” says the Lord GOD. “They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. “The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog.” Ezekiel 39:12-15 NKJV
I probably am not alone in thinking this may be one of the strangest passages in scripture. I often wonder if Ezekiel also thought these words didn’t make a lot of sense to him when he wrote them, trying to describe something he couldn’t possibly understand. Look carefully with me as I try to explain what I believe we are being told here. The first, and most important fact to consider, is that these events have yet to take place. That means we must think in terms of the world’s current technology to understand what is being described. “Fire” falls on Magog and his allies as they attempt to invade the nation of Israel. In verse 4 of chapter 39 Ezekiel tells us that “all” of the troops will fall implying none will survive the fire that falls, which obviously makes one wonder exactly what is this fire?
The next clue is the statement that the dead will be given their own special burial place rather than being buried where they fell. This place will be so large as to “obstruct travelers” implying a detour around the valley. It will take seven months just to gather the dead and bury them in this valley but even more interesting is what comes after. Israel will employ a special force of men whose job is solely to search for remains. Even stranger is the fact that when they find bones or remains they do not touch them but set a marker by them so that other specialized “buriers” can collect and bury them.
Many believe what Ezekiel is trying to describe here is the cleanup in the aftermath of a nuclear weapon being used on the battlefield. While some might disagree, I think it is more than just coincidence that the procedures Ezekiel describes here are almost identical to the standard operation of collection and disposal of nuclear or biological contaminated remains on the battlefield as laid out by the US Army in their Operator’s Manual for Marking Set Contamination: Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC).
Still not convinced? Consider then another prophecy given by another Old Testament prophet, Zechariah, and ask yourself just what he may be trying to describe.
“And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.” Zechariah 14:12 NKJV
What must Zechariah thought when God gave him this vision and told him to write what he saw. What possible explanation could he have had for watching people die in this manner? The Hebrew word translated dissolve here is “maqaq” which literally means to melt. In other words, Zechariah watched people melt away and dissolve while standing on their own two feet. Again, considering that this prophecy is yet future, I can only come up with one possible explanation for what could cause this to happen.
Returning to our question of does the Bible predict the use of nuclear weapons, I believe there is really no other explanation for the passages we looked at today. One more thing to consider is this passage from Matthew where Jesus is talking to the disciples about the tribulation.
“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” Matthew 24:22 NKJV
Most scholars agree that what Jesus is referring to is that unless the tribulation was “shortened” to seven years, mankind would eventually kill itself off. That scenario is not too farfetched if one considers the number of nuclear weapons which exist today and what the effect would be if enough of them were used. Is it really possible nuclear weapons will be used at some future point in time? My conclusion is not if, but when.
If you have never taken the step of making a decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and allow His forgiveness and sacrifice to grant you eternal life in Heaven with Him and to deliver you from this time that is coming I encourage you to do it today. All you need to do is ask Him for forgiveness, believe that His Son Jesus Christ died for your sins, and invite Him to come into your life. The result will be that you will join the rest of Christ’s bride, the Church, when Jesus returns in the air to take us home.
Keep watching.
