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The pretribbers teach Ezekiel 38 & 39 is not Armageddon. They’re separate.
July 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment
In the 1800′s, most or nearly all commentaries on Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 taught this northern invasion was the Battle of Armageddon. Then in the 1900′s, some Christians, mostly pretribbers like J. Dwight Pentecost, John Walvoord, Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, Thomas Ice, Grant Jeffery, etc. began to write that Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 is not the Battle of Armageddon but is another battle that takes place before or during the seventieth week of Daniel for reasons we will soon discuss. You may believe this way also. If I left your name out, you can put it right here_________. However, you won’t want it there after you read this.
Most pretribbers teach that the battle of Ezekiel 38 &39 takes place in the middle of the Tribulation Period and then Armageddon takes place three and a half years later. Here are seven reasons out of a total of 23 reasons why that’s not true:
(1) Another reason the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon is because both invasions (if there were two) have the same purpose. Therefore, only one invasion is needed. “…In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes” (Ezek.38:16; NIV). God, to show Himself holy to the nations, has chosen Gog, a leader of many nations, to come against Israel to show His holiness by using His power to destroy those nations. God wants the nations to know He is God by destroying their armies. “And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD” (Ezek. 38:23; NIV). “I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel’ (Ezek. 39:7; NIV). The Lord again restates this purpose in Ezek. 39:21-29.So the stated reason God brings Gog against Israel is so He can display His power, which will show the nations of the earth that He is God. And that is what God does at Armageddon. Why would God do the same thing two times within three and a half years? If He has to do it again, then He didn’t accomplish what He set out to do the first time. In other words, God failed at His stated purpose and had to bring these same nations back again in three and a half years to get the nations to “…know that I am the LORD” (Ezek. 38:23; NIV) again! In fact, in the pretrib scenario, their teachings make God look like a liar. If this battle takes place in the middle of the Tribulation like the pretribbers teach, then God said those nations would know and honor Him, but now three and a half years later, these same nations continue to profane His name and dishonor Him by coming to Armageddon to fight against Him and His people a second time. Is this going to happen? No! Is God a liar? No! Does God have to bring them back again so they will know Him? No! If He does, He is a liar. Therefore, this battle is Armageddon.
(2) Another reason the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon is because these nations could not possibly forget what just happen to them. If this invasion happens during the middle of the seventieth week of Daniel as the pretribbers teach and if the nations learned God’s stated purposes (that they would know Him and respect Him), how could these same nations in just three and a half short years forget what God just did to them? Maybe they could forget in fifty or a hundred years, but three years, no way. If God’s stated purpose and will was totally manifested just like He decreed in the above verses, how could these same nations even dare lift a finger against the Lord? It’s unimaginable! In simple terms, no nation would forget what just happened to them and come back again.
You might think, they didn’t forget, that they are mad at God for defeating them and that’s why they come back. However, God cannot lie, “I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel” (Ezek. 39:7; NIV). Therefore, the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon. They would profane God’s name and make Him a liar if they came back. Now you have to make a choice here. You have two choices. (1) Either God word is not true in these passages and you choose to keep believing what you have been taught that the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is not Armageddon or (2) God’s word is true and He made a very strong statement that His name will no longer be profaned, which means this has to be Armageddon.
(3) Another reason the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon is because the Lord wants His people, the Jews, to know Him through this invasion. “I will make known my holy name among my people Israel” (Ezek. 39:7; NIV). Now the purpose of the seventieth week of Daniel (most Christians agree) is to deal exclusively with Israel, to deal out judgment upon the Gentile nations and the Jews, and to get the whole world to recognize who the true God is, Jesus. The seventieth week of Daniel or the Tribulation Period as most Christians call it is the end of an age. After this seven year period, a new millennium will begin with Jesus as King for a thousand years on this earth. As the Tribulation Period unfolds and Armageddon begins, Israel will go through a terrible crisis where two-thirds of Jews will be killed (Zech. 13:8). In this time of crisis, Israel cries out to their God for deliverance. After Israel’s repentance, He answers their prayers by coming to destroy the nations who come against them. And this is God’s stated purpose for this invasion. The Lord is bringing the nations from the north, east, and south of Israel so He can let them know He is the sovereign God of Israel by destroying their armies on the mountains of Israel.After God destroys those nations, then Israel will recognize their God. “From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God” (Ezek. 39:22; NIV). Therefore, there are two stated purposes for the Lord bringing about this invasion. (1) God wants the nations of the world to know who He is. He is Jesus. (2) God wants Israel to know who He is and from that day forward the house of Israel will know He is Jesus.
Now here is a very serious problem. If this invasion take place in the middle of the Tribulation Period like the pretribbers teach, and “From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God” (Ezek. 39:22; NIV), then why does Israel fall away again and worship idols? If this invasion takes place in the middle of the Tribulation Period and if all of Israel knows their God after it, then why do we need Armageddon three and a half years later? Do they all backslide? Do they go back to unbelief? If they know their God, then why does God kill two-thirds of the Jewish people for being unfaithful?
The answer is: Israel does not repent in the middle of the Tribulation Period like the pretribbers teach, it’s at the end of the Tribulation Period. Here’s why. In the Armageddon passages at the end of the Tribulation Period, the people of Israel are worshiping idols which is being unfaithful to the God of Israel. Therefore, Israel did not repent in the middle because two-thirds of the Jewish people follow the antichrist and that’s why God kills them.
The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, [the Day of the Lord] ISA 2:18 and the idols will totally disappear. ISA 2:19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. ISA 2:20 In that day [the Day of the Lord] men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship. (Isaiah 2:17-20; NIV)
Throughout the ages, men have not been very smart. They make an idol with their own hands and then bow down to it. However, at the end of the Tribulation Period, most (if not all) of the idols will be of the antichrist who declared himself to be God and demands worship from all or be killed. Isaiah says the Jewish people put their trust in the antichrist. “In that day [the Day of the Lord] the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him [antichrist] who struck them down but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 10:20; NIV). So when the Lord comes back, He will cleanse the land from idols of the antichrist. The antichrist will have his image in the temple and many of the Jews, along with the whole world will have his idols.
On that day [the Day of the Lord] a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. ZEC 13:2 “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the LORD Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. 3 And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother, to whom he was born, will say to him, `You must die, because you have told lies in the LORD’s name.’ When he prophesies, his own parents will stab him. (Zech. 13:1-3; NIV)
If Israel knows their God in the middle of the Tribulation Period like the pretribbers teach, then Israel drastically backslides in three and a half years to idols. And then, of course, the Lord lied when He said, “From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God” (Ezek. 39:22; NIV). However, when you put these words at the battle of Armageddon, then everything fits perfectly.
I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. 23 And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them. (Ezekiel 39:21-24; NIV)
Once Israel has been dealt with by the hand of the Lord, then the Lord pours out His Spirit on those who are left. It’s the remnant who will be saved, two-thirds will perish “because they were unfaithful to me.” Once the unfaithful have been dealt with and once those who are left repent, then the Holy Spirit is poured out on the remnant.
And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me [Jesus], the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him [Jesus] as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 11 On that day [the Day of the Lord] the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo” (Zechariah 12:10; NIV).
After Israel’s terrible judgments (by the hand of the Lord for their unfaithfulness), then they will know their God and He will bring restoration. Therefore, this battle is Armageddon.
(4) Another reason the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon is because Jesus lives in Israel after this invasion. “I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel’ (Ezek. 39:7; NIV). If you take this verse at its literal meaning, which we are suppose to do, Jesus is in Israel. Jesus lives “in” Israel after the battle of Armageddon for a thousand years. Therefore, this is Armageddon.
(5) Another reason the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon is because the nations will learn a history lesson from the Lord. Now that Jesus is living in the land, He teaches the nations a history lesson. What they learn would never make them want to attack Israel again. In Ezekiel 39:23, God will teach these nations this lesson. “… the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them [Israel] and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them” (Ezek. 39:23; NIV).
What will the nations learn after they are defeated by God? The nations will know or learn that “Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me.” If this battle took place in the middle of the Tribulation Period like the pretribbers teach, then the nations would learn that Israel’s sin was that they made a covenant with the antichrist. God calls it a covenant with death in Isaiah 28. God wants Israel to trust in Him, but they rejected Him and make a covenant of death with the antichrist. You cannot get more unfaithful. That’s the history lesson that God will teach the nations.
Will they forget this history lesson in three and a half years and come against the God of Israel again at Armageddon? No, of course not. That’s why this battle is Armageddon. They will now understand that Israel has always been the apple of God’s eye. And that God had a sovereign plan for the seventieth weeks that they (these nations) will be a part of. These nations will help God destroy the unfaithful Jewish people and then God will turn against them. “Very soon my anger against you [Israel] will end and my wrath will be directed to their [the nations] destruction” (Isaiah 10:25; NIV).
But according to the pretribbers, the nations obviously didn’t like God’s history lesson and chose to dishonor the Lord’s name and come again at Armageddon. Do you see how ridiculous this is? Therefore, this invasion is Armageddon. At Armageddon, the whole world and Israel will recognize for the first time Jesus is God. And they will not forget the Lord’s stated purpose and declaration: “I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel’ (Ezek. 39:7; NIV).
When Israel became a nation in 1948, the Arabs attacked Israel to destroy it. Through God’s help Israel won the war. Did the Arab nations recognize God was helping Israel? No, of course not. If they had, they would not have attacked again in 1969 to be defeated again. How can you win against God? The nations in this present world don’t recognize the God of the Jews and they hate the Jews. Most nations in the U.N. vote consistently against Israel and/or God. The only people who recognize God helped Israel in these wars are Christians and we are a minority in the earth. We control no nations. But in Ezekiel 38 & 39, Israel and the nations know without a doubt the God of Israel. They learn the history lesson the Lord teaches them and they won’t forget it in three and a half years. Therefore, the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon.
(6) Another reason the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon is because of the amount of people who come against Israel. The language is consistent with other Armageddon passages. “You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land” (Ezek. 38:16; NIV). These are not just northern troops. These troops come from the south and east, just like they do at the time of Armageddon. Ethiopia and Put are just some of the nations who come from the south. Ancient Persia takes in the area of present day Iraq and Iran. Both these nations from the east come against Israel at the time of Armageddon. If these countries’ troops are almost totally destroyed, how can they come back again in a few years for the Battle of Armageddon? “…with your whole army…with all its troops–the many nations with you…” Most, if not all of the men are dead. What are they going to do, send women?
(7) Another reason the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion is Armageddon is because God has prophesied this Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion before through His other prophets before Ezekiel’s time. “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them” (Ezek. 38:17; NIV). “This is the day I have spoken of…” (Ezek. 39:8; NIV). The prophets of Israel prophesied for years that Gog would come against Israel. Two things we must consider: (1) These prophets will have to be before Ezekiel’s time so that limits the prophets because some prophesied after Ezekiel. (2) These prophets have to speak of a future war with Israel that has not yet been fulfilled up to this time.
There are four prophets who declared a war that is still future with Israel, but not one of them speak of Gog. Let me repeat that: not one of them speak of Gog. Is God a liar? Did God get confused? The answer is: No! God is not a liar and He is not confused. The only war that these prophets predict in the future, that has not been fulfilled, dealing with these nations in Ezekiel: Magog, Put, Meshech, Rosh, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Gomer, Beth and Togarmah is during Armageddon. In fact, Gog is not ever mentioned in any of the prophets but some of these same nations are. Therefore, the Lord is telling us that Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion that He prophesied through earlier prophets is Armageddon because their prophesies are only about Armageddon. The battle of Gog is the same as Armageddon. Here’s the proof:
(1) The book of Joel written in 830 years before Christ (roughly 200 years before Ezekiel) gives us the first prediction of a war with Israel that has not already been fought.
“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, JOEL 3:2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. JOEL 3:3 … JOEL 3:9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. JOEL 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!” JOEL 3:11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, O LORD! JOEL 3:12 “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side. JOEL 3:13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow–so great is their wickedness!” JOEL 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. JOEL 3:15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. JOEL 3:16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. JOEL 3:17 “Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her. JOEL 3:18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD’s house and will water the valley of acacias. JOEL 3:19 But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood. JOEL 3:20 Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.
Is this Armageddon? Yes! Is this the Gog invasion? Yes! This is one of the many passages the Lord was referring to when He said, “Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them” (Ezek. 38:17; NIV). However, none of these prophets ever speak of Gog, but they do speak of Armageddon. Gog invades at Armageddon.
(2) The next prophet is Isaiah written 700-680 B.C. (roughly a 100 before Ezekiel). He writes:
An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: Raise a banner on a bare hilltop, shout to them; beckon to them to enter the gates of the nobles. ISA 13:3 I have commanded my holy ones; I have summoned my warriors to carry out my wrath–those who rejoice in my triumph. ISA 13:4 Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war. ISA 13:5 They come from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens–the LORD and the weapons of his wrath–to destroy the whole country. ISA 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. ISA 13:7 Because of this, all hands will go limp, every man’s heart will melt. ISA 13:8 Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame. ISA 13:9 See, the day of the LORD is coming –a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger–to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. ISA 13:10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. ISA 13:11 I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. ISA 13:12 I will make man scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. ISA 13:13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger…ISA 13:19 Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah. ISA 13:20 She will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks there. (NIV)
There are thousands of Arabs living around Babylon which propels this prophecy into the future.
Grant Jeffrey (a pretribber) writes this about this passage. “Isaiah’s prediction that no Arab will pitch a tent in that region (13:20) has not been fulfilled yet in history and therefore must refer to Babylon’s final destruction when Christ returns to defeat the forces of Satan at Armageddon.” (Grant R. Jeffrey, NIV Prophecy Marked Reference Study Bible, page 747.)
This is the Day of the Lord (verses 6 & 9) when the battle of Armageddon takes place and all the nations come against the Lord. The people of the land of Babylon allow the kings of the east to come through their land to go to Armageddon (Rev. 9:12-16). This is one of the passages the Lord was referring to when He said, “Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them” (Ezek. 38:17; NIV). Under Gog’s leadership, Babylon will be one of “the many nations with you” (Ezek. 38:6; NIV) that come against God from the east.
(3) Here’s another passage of Armageddon that God in Ezekiel 38 & 39 refers to.
The LORD is angry with all nations; his wrath is upon all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter. ISA 34:3 Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will send up a stench; the mountains will be soaked with their blood. ISA 34:4 All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree. ISA 34:5 My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed. (Isaiah 34:2-5; NIV)
Is this Armageddon? Yes! Is this the Gog invasion? Yes! It has to be or the Lord is a liar. Why? Because there are no other battles that take place in the future in Isaiah, except Armageddon. Is Edom one of the many nations with you (Ezek. 38:6; NIV). Yes, Edom is east of Israel. This passage in Isaiah is Armageddon. Verse 4 refers to the second coming when the sky is rolled up like a scroll. This is one of the prophecies the Lord was referring to when He said, “This is the day I have spoken of…” (Ezek. 39:8; NIV) through my prophets. At Armageddon Edom becomes a perpetual wasteland just like Babylon does.
(4) Here’s another passage of Armageddon that God in Ezekiel 38 & 39 refers to.
Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” ISA 63:2 Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? ISA 63:3 “I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them [the nations] in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. ISA 63:4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. ISA 63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me. (Isaiah 63:1-5; NIV)
Is this Armageddon? Yes! Is this the Gog invasion? Yes! It has to be or the Lord is a liar. This passage is another word picture of Armageddon. “This is the day I have spoken of…” (Ezek. 39:8; NIV). Isaiah 63 resembles how Jesus comes riding on His white horse in Revelation 19. The pretribbers write of this passage: “If there was any doubt as to the identity of this person, it should be resolved by now. Only one man can say, “I who speak in righteousness.” Only one man has the power that is “mighty to save.” This figure is Jesus the Messiah, who is marching toward Israel from the land of Edom and the city of Bozrah…Both Isaiah 34:1-7 and 63:1-6 state that the initial place of the second coming will be the city of Bozrah.” (Tim LaHaye, Ed Hindson, general editors, The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary, page 147)
(5) Here’s another passage of Armageddon that God in Ezekiel 38 & 39 refers to.
See, the LORD is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. ISA 66:16 For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the LORD. (Isaiah 66:15-16; NIV)
Is this Armageddon? Yes! Is this the Gog invasion? Yes! There are no other battles that take place in the future against Israel in Isaiah that the Lord speaks about. This is an Armageddon passage. “For with fire and with his sword the LORD will execute judgment upon all men...” (Isaiah 66:16; NIV). Now notice how similar this verse is with Ezekiel’s invasion. “I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD’ (Ezek. 39:6; NIV). “This is the day I have spoken of…” (Ezek. 39:8; NIV). There are only four passages in Isaiah referring to a future war that has not been fulfilled yet and not one of them speak of a Gog invasion, unless the Gog invasion is Armageddon. And of course they are the same, or the Lord is lying.
(6) The next prophecy of Armageddon in our time frame is Zephaniah written 635-630 B.C. (roughly 60 years before Ezekiel).
Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out my wrath on them–all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger. ZEP 3:9 “Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder. ZEP 3:10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings. ZEP 3:11 On that day you will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from this city those who rejoice in their pride. Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill. ZEP 3:12 But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD. ZEP 3:13 The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.” ZEP 3:14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!… ZEP 3:20 At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the LORD. (Zep. 3:8-14 & 20; NIV)
Is this Armageddon? Of course it is! Grant Jeffrey writes, “This prophecy looks forward to the tribulation and final Battle of Armageddon when Jesus Christ will destroy the armies of the antichrist and his allies.” (Grant R. Jeffrey, NIV Prophecy Marked Reference Study Bible, page 1056.) This is one of the prophecies God spoke of about Gog because there are no others.
(7) Now let’s look in the book of Jeremiah written 585-580 B.C. (roughly 10 years before Ezekiel) to see where the Gog invasion or Armageddon is discussed.
See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword upon all who live on the earth, declares the LORD Almighty.’ JER 25:30 “Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them: ” `The LORD will roar from on high; he will thunder from his holy dwelling and roar mightily against his land. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, shout against all who live on the earth. JER 25:31 The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth, for the LORD will bring charges against the nations; he will bring judgment on all mankind and put the wicked to the sword,’ ” declares the LORD. JER 25:32 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from the ends of the earth.” JER 25:33 At that time those slain by the LORD will be everywhere–from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. (Jeremiah 25:29-33; NIV)
This of course is Armageddon, a picture of the Day of the Lord bringing judgment on all mankind. This is one passage out of two that is still future in Jeremiah. “This is the day I have spoken of…” (Ezek. 39:8; NIV). Therefore, it has to be when Gog invades Israel. Gog comes against Jerusalem and the people of the whole world will be destroyed because the Lord take vengeance on them.
(8) Here’s the last passage of Armageddon.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. 3 The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, `when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,’ says the LORD.” JER 30:4 These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah: 5 “This is what the LORD says: ” `Cries of fear are heard–terror, not peace. JER 30:6 Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? JER 30:7 How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. JER 30:8 ” ` In that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, `I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave them. JER 30:9 Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. JER 30:10 ” `So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,’ declares the LORD. `I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. JER 30:11 I am with you and will save you,’ declares the LORD.`Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’ (Jeremiah 30:1-11; NIV)
God said through Ezekiel, “This is the day I have spoken of…” through My prophets in the past (Ezek. 38:17 and 39:8; NIV). These eight prophecies coming from four prophets are the only prophecy passages that describe a great war on the Day of the Lord, a day of great wrath and vengeance on the world, and a day of restoration for Israel that is still future before Ezekiel’s time. These passages are the only prophecies that God can be referring to because there are not any others before Ezekiel’s time that refer to a future war with Israel. The pretribbers in their writings have confirmed these passages are about Armageddon. And for your information, the rest of the prophets who came after Ezekiel only speak of one battle in the future and that is Armageddon.
What do the pretribber’s write about these past prophets? “In the opening verse of this section about the defeat of God, [Gog] God mentions that the prophets had foretold this last-days invasion (verse 17). Though Gog is not named by the prophets, the other prophets did make reference to the future defeat of the enemies of Israel.” (Tim LaHaye, Ed Hindson, general editors, The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary, page 193)
That’s it! The pretribbers acknowledge other prophets who prophesied of the future defeat of Israel’s enemies, but do not give one prophecy. Why? Because all the prophecies are about Armageddon. You have just read them. There are not any more. They didn’t quote any, because there are none to quote, beside Armageddon passages. Therefore, the Ezekiel 38 & 39 invasion whom the prophets prophesied about is Armageddon. Gog is leading Armageddon.
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