Barry Stagner: The War of Ezekiel

this morning as I said we're going to be looking at the war of Ezekiel and I do believe that all these things are potentially things that could like the powder or the fuse to the Powder Keg we call the Middle East now we're gonna look at three different portions of Ezekiel so if you would open your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 37 and we will begin our time there now the war of Ezekiel is a frequent topic in our day and rightfully so because the events concerning the war are falling into place in an undeniable fashion and yet as is true with all unfulfilled prophecy there are a myriad of interpretations and interpreters regarding the events that were written of some 2500 years ago now Before we jump in I want to establish something I've established in previous messages concerning unfulfilled prophecy and it's based on something that was told to Daniel in Daniel 12 verse 4 where Daniel was told to shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end and then many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase now we have noted there's been an exponential increase in general knowledge technological knowledge in these last days but the knowledge that is in view here in Daniel is knowledge regarding the visions that he had received during the Babylonian captivity Daniel was told that the words of the vision were shut up to him and reserved for a future generation now that tells us that the generation to whom those words are not shut up or have become clear is the generation that is being written about and I submit to you this morning we are that generation amen now the Hebrew word shut up means to not as we would say shut up to somebody but it means to be kept secret or hidden in other words Daniel was writing about things he didn't fully understand some were things that he could calculate and speculate about but there were things that were just flat closed off to him that are only going to be visible to the generation that is going to see the whole of their fulfillment now with that in mind I want to give two rules of Biblical prophecy interpretation that we need to keep in mind whenever we look at subjects where scholars disagree now the two things are this the first is a majority opinion does not ensure accurate interpretation a majority opinion does not ensure accurate interpretation just because a whole bunch of people believe it a whole bunch of people say it doesn't mean it's so and then also from Daniel 12:4 we need to recognize a greater prophetic clarity in the last days is to be expected not rejected greater prophetic clarity in the last days is to be expected not rejected the things that were shut up to Daniel are now clear to you and I now let me give you an example of our first rule of interpretation regarding majority of opinion the majority of the church today and I would even add the vast majority of the church today believes that the church has replaced the nation of Israel due to Israel's national rejection of their Messiah and let me say this the majority of the church is wrong God is not finished with the nation of Israel here's how we know Jeremiah 31 35 to 37 says thus says the Lord who's speaking the Lord who gives the Sun for a light by day the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night who disturbs a/c and it's waves roar the lord of armies is his name or host if those ordinances depart from me says the lord then the seed of israel are the descendants of israel shall also cease from being a nation before me for ever thus says the lord if the heaven above can be measured in the foundations of the earth searched out beneath i will cast off all the seed of israel we might say descendants of Jacob for all that they have done says who says the Lord listen the ordinances established at creation the son ruling the day the lesser light the moon guarding the night skies the actions of the seas the boundaries that have been preset by God since the beginning all continue today thus the Lord has not cast off the nation Israel the church has not replaced the nation of Israel in God's prophetic plan so the majority opinion has not assured us of accurate interpretation concerning the modern State of Israel now we could look at prophecy as two people looking at the same picture one is standing a hundred feet away and the other is standing one foot away who's going to see more detail well the one closer to the picture obviously and we are closer to the picture of the last days scenario very clearly as we'll see this morning now the last of Daniels visions pertain to the same seven-year period or timeframe as those of the war of Ezekiel and the fact that we can see with better clarity the details of Ezekiel's prophecy means that we can also assume that we have better understanding of the events recorded by Daniel now regarding the Ezekiel scenario there are several major questions that all people ask who are the players in the Ezekiel war we have ancient names that are used to describe Geographic places on the face of the planet the big question that everybody wants to know is when is it going to take place since it's clearly a prophesied war that is yet in the future there are efforts this morning are going to be to identify what we can know for sure and we'll make a couple of speculations as wells and throw our hat in the ring on a couple of interpretive issues but what we want to do this morning is understand that there are things that are hard and fast so we can know for sure that tell us where we are in the prophetic chronology that previous generations couldn't see so are you ready this morning by your heads with me please let's ask the Lord to bless our time and father we are grateful for this opportunity to examine these sayings even as we pray for the Peace of Jerusalem pray that you would protect and guard the people of Israel your chosen people by birth God and that as they are back in the land fulfilling your word that you would have your hand above and over and under them Lord and it wouldn't be the Iron Dome that's just protecting them it would be your righteous right end so Lord we thank you for this opportunity this morning to get clarity on something that we can now clearly see so speak to our hearts and give us ears to hear we pray in Jesus name a man now for those who may be unfamiliar with what's happening in Ezekiel we need to set things up a bit and what we can understand is that the prophet Ezekiel was shown a valley of bones the bones were examined they were found to be in a condition that was very dry now this is symbolic in and of itself that indicates a length of time where the bones had been exposed to the elements which would be figuratively speaking of the scattering of the people of Israel into the nations around the world for an extended period of time and a time period lasted nearly two millennia now the Lord asked Ezekiel can these bones live too much very wisely Ezekiel replied you know Lord and the Lord called Ezekiel prophesied to the dry bones to hear the word of the Lord now here's the prophecy of Ezekiel and I'm gonna ask you as we always do to stand and read together at least our opening verses from Ezekiel 37 and we'll read verses 5 through 14 here is what the Lord told Ezekiel initially to prophesy to the bones verse 5 thus says the Lord God to these bones surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live then you shall know that I am the Lord so I prophesied as I was commanded and as I prophesied there was a noise suddenly a rattling and the bones came together bone to bone indeed as I looked the sinews and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered over them but there was no breath in them and he said to me prophesy to the breath prophesy Son of Man and to the breath thus says the Lord God come from the four winds o breath and breathe on these slain that they may live so I prophesied as he commanded me and breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceedingly great army then he said to me son of man these bones are the whole house of Israel they indeed say our bones are dry our hope is lost and we ourselves are cut off therefore prophesy and say to them thus says the Lord God behold all my people I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the Land of Israel then you shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves all my people and brought you up from your graves I will put my spirit in you and you shall live then I will place you in your own land then you shall know that I the LORD have spoken and performed it says the Lord somebody say Amen you may be seated now the emphasis on Israel and the land is clear here and let me just say something because we have the fake news and I love how a mere Sarfati refers to the media today he calls them the media Knights and indeed they are quite a group of misinformation purveyors and the truth is there's no such thing as occupied territories and the way the term is used today in regard to Israel Israel is in a land that God had given them by everlasting covenant as we mentioned in previous messages there's no such thing as a Palestinian those people are Arabs most of them Syrian Arabs that like to call themselves Palestinians and this was an easy easily provable fact if you want to talk about Palestinians being an ancient people then asked what the names are of some of their ancient architects what is the style of their architecture what kind of coinage did they exchange who were some of their authors and poets from days gone by and the answer would be I don't know I don't know I don't know because there's no such thing as ancient Palestinians now this is the land of Israel it is a land God gave them as their eternal homeland and the eternal capital of Israel is Jerusalem now we also need to note something here in that there is an incremental progression that is pictured in the rebirth of the nation of Israel first the dry bones came together then the sinews of flesh came upon them and then skin and then breath now this tells us that the progression or series of events we're going to lead up to the rebirth of a nation and but a single day and time won't allow us to cover all of these Saints but when we do note that in 1892 when the awliyas are the returns began to the nation of Israel that from 1892 on up into the 1940s there were a lot of things that happened that were leading up to the rebirth of the nation beginning with the breakup of the Ottoman Empire the Balfour Declaration written in 1917 the San Remo resolution in 1929 Hitler and his Nazis many other components happened during this 50-plus year period that were bringing the dry bones back together that we're putting the sinew and flesh on the nation of Israel and finally breath came into the long-dead nation on May 14 1948 and Israel as a nation once again today now Ezekiel 37 21 to 23 the Lord says then say to them thus says the Lord God surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations wherever they have gone and will gather them from every side and bring them into next three words their own land and I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel and one King shall be king over them all they shall no longer be two nations nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again they shall not defile themselves any more with their idols nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned and will cleanse them they shall then they shall be my people and I will be their God now listen Amos adds this in Amos 9 14 to 15 where the Lord said I will bring back the captives of who my people Israel they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them I will plant them in whose land their land and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I had given them says who the Lord your God now the rights to the land the boundaries of Israel continue to be a hot topic today even within the church but let me just say this here's one thing that we know for sure that cannot be disputed and is beyond debate listen this morning the rebirth of the nation of Israel initiated an unstoppable sequence of prophetic events the rebirth of the nation of Israel initiated an unstoppable sequence of prophetic events now consider this in light of what we have read thus far from Ezekiel 37 on May 14 1948 there were six hundred and fifty thousand Jews living in Israel today there are over six million the land of dry bones is now teeming with life and in Ezekiel 36 30 the Lord said and I will multiply the fruit of your trees and increase your field so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nation's the Lord said he's going to multiply their fruit the Lord said he's going to increase the crop of the field and today Israel is one of the leading fresh producers of citrus products and exporters of them as well Isaiah 35 once said the wilderness and wasteland shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose Israel is the tenth largest exporter in the world of cut flowers adding 200 million dollars a year to their national economy their second largest exported flower is interestingly the Rose now the reason we need to highlight this is because the geography is of Israel is not naturally conducive to agriculture more than half the land area is desert their climate and lack of water resources don't favour farming only 20% of the land of Israel is arable meaning suitable for plowing and farming many of you have probably heard that Mark Twain in 1867 visited the land of Israel and he published his impressions and book called innocence abroad he described Israel as a desolate country he said it's devoid of both vegetation and human population he said it's a desolate country whose soil is rich enough but he's given over wholly to weeds it's a silent mournful expanse it's a desolation we never saw a human being on the whole route hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere even the olive tree and the cactus those fast friends of a worthless soil had almost deserted the country end quote listen I have been to Israel and that is nowhere near the description of that land today it is a beautiful country it is a lust country it is rich with vegetation and it isn't home to just jackals and wild beasts and few of them listen it's a land that is teeming with life because God said I'm going to make it such a land and he has fulfilled his word now this is why it is important for us to include chapter 37 in our understanding of it being a precursor to the war of Israel now I want to make note as we did last week in concerning Revelation 16 through 18 coming before chapter 19 so to Revelation or Ezekiel 38 and 39 come after chapter 37 in other words there is a sequence as we mentioned that is initiated now that means with chapter 7 being fulfilled we should or at least in the process of being fulfilled some believe that all the Jews have to be inside the promised land which is something I would not agree with it's the nation in and of itself that needs to be reborn and many of the Jews coming from around the world back to it but the fact is there are things we ought to be looking for now since we've seen the rebirth of the nation now that land according to Ezekiel 37 includes the mountains of Israel which includes the Golan Heights if Jerusalem for the most important most important mountain in the world stands and that is Mount Zion and with Israel now reborn as a nation in possession of the mountains of Israel both the goal on and obviously Judea and Samaria what they call the West Bank today and the people who are populating the area are largely Jewish or there are some two million Arab Israelis that live in the land as well therefore we should be looking toward an understanding of the events in the next couple of chapters so let's look at chapter 38 for a moment if you want to flip over to the right just a bit and let's read verses 1 through 6 and see if we can see this developing in our world today Ezekiel 38 1 to 6 says now the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man set your face against GOG of the land of Magog the Prince of rosh Meshach and tubal and prophesy against him and say thus says the Lord God behold I am against you O GOG the Prince of rosh Meshach and tubal I will turn you around put hooks in your jaws and lead you out with all your army horses and horsemen all splendidly clothed a great company with buckler's and shields all of them handling swords Persia Ethiopia and Libya are with them all of them was shield and helmet Gomer and all its troops the house of joel garma from the far north and all its troops many people are with you now the dry bones vision of 37 interprets itself and chapter 38 is where the interpretations begin to broaden and there is much debate - who represents who so again our purpose is to identify what we can know for sure now the first thing we need to establish is that with the exception of two of the names we just read all of them are found in the table of Nations in Genesis 10 where the descendants of Noah and his three sons Shem ham and Japheth are listed now the two names you're not going to find in the table of Nations we're in Genesis 10 is Gog and Rosh so we need to investigate them a bit to come to a better understanding now remember what we noted when we began new interpretations are to be expected not rejected because there is better prophetic clarity the closer you get to the picture on folding now again I want to present something to you as a possibility and it is I think a pretty decent possibility and it's interesting to say the least but let me first show you who the majority of prophetic interpreters see the modern nations represented by these ancient names now there's some that debate this list and much of the research done by modern Bible interpreters is based on the information presented by a historian named Herodotus and this is where this information at least in part comes from but I bought a picture if you will from dr. March Hitchcock who has done some wonderful research on the subject now he gives the ancient and modern names of those listed in this scenario introduced in Ezekiel 38 one through six raus he says is Russia being put the chart up there Magog he believes to be Central Asia and possibly Afghanistan me check his turkey tubal is Turkey Persia is Iran Ethiopia or in some translations would render that cush is Sudan Libya often referred to as put is Libya Gomer as Turkey Beth togarmah remember we were told they come from the far north Beth togarmah is also Turkey now who's missing there gaagh and Ross even though GOG is well not Ross I'm sorry just gog I want to say a couple things about Russia in a moment now GOG is not listed here but it's almost universally agreed that GOG is a person or some kind of personage or perhaps even a title now we have Ethiopia listed here in our translation but what we need to understand is that in ancient geography live Ethiopia just simply meant the nation's south of Egypt are on the southern border of Egypt in the northern part of Africa has nothing to do or has no correlation with the modern country of Ethiopia in that sense it's referring to the Sudan now Magog has been considered by many to refer to Russia and I've actually had people get mad at me because I say I don't believe in CI Scofield interpretation about Magog that he published in his reference Bible back in 1909 in many today believe that may God represents Russia now geographically Russia or Magog rather the son of Japheth and the grandson of Noah is identified as the mountainous region between Cappadocia and media or in other words and portions of Asia Minor the Asia Minor were find reference to in the book of Revelation there are seven churches there in Asia Minor and all of them are located within the boundaries of Turkey now geographically the region of the world settled by Magog doesn't line up with Magog being Russia so if may God represents a portion of Asia Minor Persia there Iraq or leave somewhere in that region then Ross some argue must represent Russia and dr. Hitchcock gives some ancient names and various secular literature's and historical writings that have a similar sound Ross Shu rasa Phu Ross or Russ and thus he makes the correlation between basically the spelling and the sound of these names to give evidence that Ross is representative of Russia as the nation's I just named are in that Geographic now interesting that there are those who debate the issue regarding Ross God some type of principled player the head if you will of this coalition now Ross is debated as to whether it's either a proper name or actually a noun now we're all familiar with the Jewish holidays or the feast days and there is one that takes place in the fall that's known as the head of the year we call it what rosh hashanah rosh means head it can mean chief also and therefore like rosh hashanah means the head of the year rosh not being listed in the table of Nations gives us reason to investigate this a bit further so now I'm going to throw something out there just to stir up our minds and stir the mental interpretive pot just a bit now listen closely this morning Amos 7 1 says thus the Lord God showed me behold he formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop indeed it was the late crop after the Kings boys now of course it fits perfectly into what we're talking about now there's something interesting here about Amos 7 1 there is a translation of scripture from Hebrew into Greek translated by a group known as a 70 and it's translation is called or their translation is called the Septuagint now listen to this listen to what the Septuagint says about the locusts mentioned there in Amos 7 1 the Septuagint says thus the Lord God has showed me and behold a swarm of locusts coming from the east and behold one caterpillar what's his name King God now it's interesting that caterpillar has also been translated as devastating locusts with God as their GOG as their king now here's something interesting if we consider about this proverb 30-27 says the locusts have no king yet they advance and Rex in other words there's none or head over who has head over the locust like we've seen major locust infestations in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait over the past week and they have no king at the advanced in ranks but there's something interesting about the usage by a prophet of the term locust and the translation of God if we move ahead into revelation 9 7 through 11 we're told the shape shape of the what the locust was like horses prepared for battle on their heads were crowds or something like gold and their faces were like the faces of men they had hair like women's hair and their teeth were like the Lions teeth and the abreast place like breastplates of iron and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running in the battle they had tails like scorpions and their stings there were stings in their tails their power was to hurt men five months and they had as a what a king over them now remember these are locust locust King just like Amos seven one from the Septuagint and they had as a king over them the Angel of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is abadan but in Greek his name is apollyon and that means in either language the destroyer now locusts as it relates to grasshopper like in flecks flying ranks would have no king the locusts like horses of Revelation do have a king and he is a king of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew or Greek means destroyer now in Dan you guys still here alright in Daniel 10 12 to 13 Daniel was told do not fear Daniel for for the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God your words were heard and I have come because of your words but the prints of the prayer of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days and behold Michael one of the chief Prince's came to help me for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia now again the word Prince here means head person or rule now thus Daniel clearly reveals to us that there are fallen angels who within the rank and file of principalities and powers have been assigned two nations to harass mislead hinder or hamper the people of God by their deceptions much like the modern-day nation of Iran called Persia in the Old Testament scripture so here is what is offered as a solution to the debate of Gog prince of rosh Meshach and tubal if we were to read this directly from the Septuagint the Greek text and assume that rosh is a noun and not a proper name Ezekiel 38 would say now the word of the Lord came to me son of man set your face against GOG of the land of Magog ruler head of Meshach and tubal as a matter of fact this used to be how this passage was translated if you read from the King Jimmy or the old King James Ezekiel 38 1 & 2 actually says and the word of the Lord came unto me saying son of man set thy face against GOG the land of Magog again Magog is not Russia the chief Prince of Meshech and tubal who are Meshach and tubal Meshech and tubal are modern-day Turkey that's the geographic region those descendants of Noah settled in as well as Goldberg Beth togarmah and say thus says the Lord God behold I am against thee O GOG the chief Prince of Meshech and tubal now let's add this so we can be thoroughly confused revelation twenty seven and eight says now when the thousand years of expired Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle whose number is as the sand of the sea now some interpreters believe that Gog and Magog is simply a representative phrase the enemies of Israel in any particular season of history they would be referred to in this manner Bagon representing the peoples are people groups dog the one who is leading the charge against Israel it's a lot like people today use the term Armageddon to describe something catastrophic that is happening on the earth after all some years ago remember they closed the 405 and it's a ball but a path and they called it Carmageddon and it's just simply a reference to something in the Bible that describes a great catastrophe now some argue that this is the same phrase or why this same phrase have mentioned at the end of the millennium is because like Daniel said in Daniel 10 that GOG is actually a fallen angel who is leading these nations into the invasion of Israel they are forces influenced by GOG a fallen angel who is a head of the locust and during this battle the King James tells us at five six of the armies that invade Israel are going to be destroyed now as I said this being this demonic being would be assigned to much like there were the princes of Persia would be assigned to this particular region of the world now thus he could be present at the end of the millennium and the beginning since angels are also beings that are not going to die but will be cast away into everlasting judgment with all unbelievers so if neither Ross or Magog represents Russia maybe Russia is not part of the Ezekiel scenario at all and again I'm quite surprised sometimes when you offer something that's outside the box of the major interpretive crowd how many people get aggravated with this but I tell you one thing things can change overnight in the political climate around the world and it's happened time and time again that our world change on September 11th 2001 the whole world changed in just one day so things can shift around it could be the Russia head the dr. Hitchcock is right it could be that Russia is leading the charge and they are certainly involved and they they have a presence on the northern border of Israel but it's also true that Russia has been pulling back on some of their involvement in Syria and allowing Israel some leeway and the activities within Syria dealing with the Iranian presidents and the Hezbollah presence in Syria and even using Lebanese airspace in which to attack these strongholds and airports and storage bunkers of weapons in side Syria Israel recently shared with Russia some Intel that allowed the Russians to thwart an attack that was believed to be on the level potentially of September 11th here in our own country and Putin told Netanyahu that Russia is indebted to Israel for this now with all that said his mcgann Russia is Ross Russia is Russia proper name is Ross a title is going to fall an angel to gathering gathering Middle East and North African nations to harass and eventually attack Israel well those are all issues and matters of debate but here's what we do know for sure the invading nations of Ezekiel's prophecy are allied together and preparing for war we know this for sure the invading nations of Ezekiel's prophecy are allied together and preparing for war they're back in the land as chapter 37 says and these nations are now aligned together and preparing to invade Israel now the interesting thing about this is there's one kind of odd man out in this collective group that's going to invade Israel and that is Russia because the fact is every other nation that is named Turkey Persia Sudan and Libya all share one particular feature and what is that they're all Muslim Russia is not a Muslim nation so it is kind of the odd man out so again kind of opening it the door at least for thought into our interpretation but the fact is all of these nations are united by one thing they ate Israel and they want to see its destruction now one lesson and we'll move on we're also told in Ezekiel 38 and verse 13 Achieva D Dan and the merchants of Tarshish with all their young lions will say to you have you come to take plunder have you gathered your army to take booty to carry away silver and gold to take away livestock and goods and to take great plunder so Sheba indeed in and the merchants of Tarshish are asking the invading forces what is the motivation of this attack is it economic have you come to relieve your own economic stresses and this is something we need to recognize today besides the fact that Turkey Iran Libya and the Sudan all share the same religious ideology they also share internal turmoil they also share that they all are facing a revolution of their people against the government at this time and they are all in economic distress and therefore Sheva indeed in the protesting nations are interesting in that they are representative of a very well known nation today that our own country has a relationship with and they are the Arab Gulf states specifically Saudi Arabia now it is interesting that Saudi Arabia has just this past week offered to Fatah to mock Buddha bas $10,000,000,000 if they will accept the peace plan the deal of the century offered by our own President Mahmoud Abbas was offered 10 billion dollars a billion dollars a year for the next ten years if they will accept the peace plan and as it's been said Benjamin Netanyahu may have coined the phrase the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity and he indeed missed the opportunity and turned down this offer but the fact is sheba and dedan are going to be the protesting nations of this invading force into israel led by either Russia or Turkey but turkey certainly being heavily involved in anti-israel today now Tarkus is actually named within the descendants of Noah in Genesis 10 for the sons of Jamin where Eli Tarshish Qi team dota team now there are many interpretations as to who Varsha says or where they settle and some say Dargis is one of the wise men close to King her at hazardous of Persia or some say it's just a city in the phoenicians distance from Israel some say it's off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea where prophet Jonah was trying to flee some say is perhaps in Cyprus or Spain now here's one another interesting belief concerning the city of Tarsus and some say it's actually a figure of speech it is simply a phrase used to describe the farthest known point in the world at that time from Israel it would be likened unto someone saying today well they live out in Timbuktu well they don't actually live in Timbuktu but it's describing a place that is a long way away so who and where starches well like the rest of the names from the table of Nations it does represent a geographic area in the world but again there's much debate on that who and where she Mandy damn well some of the Arab Gulf states seven of them Saudi Arabia Bahrain Kuwait and the UAE currently occupy this geographic region and these nations have recently though covertly interacted with Israel largely because they have a shared animosity for the Iranians these nations are Sunni Muslim Iran and Turkey although Turkey is far more divided than Iran Iran is largely Shia Muslim now Shia Muslim Muslims have their own eschatology they do believe they are to usher in the return of the 12th Mahdi or the 12th Imam the Mahdi he is referred to as and the only reason that he can come back is to bring to an end an apocalyptic scenario that is developed that Iran believes that they have the responsibility to create an apocalypse so the 12th Imam can again return so their motivation is according to the book that they follow now the point is is that as with the invading forces so to the country's prophesied to protest the invasion they're actually working with Israel in forming an alliance together with them at this point in time so a lot of other things we could talk about but let's wrap things up by a quick look at Ezekiel 39 1 through 8 now and you son of man prophesy against Gog and say thus says the Lord God behold I am against you O GOG the Prince of rosh Meshach and tubal and I will turn you around and lead you on bringing you up from the far north now we might think you always come down from the north but listen you always go up to Jerusalem I will bring you up from the far north and bring you against the mountains of Israel then I will knock the bow out of your left hand and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand isn't it interesting that the Palestinians have said something is happening there God is guiding up their rockets and they're not hitting anything and here we have the Lord just slapping their instruments of war out of the sky so to speak or out of their hand and then he says you shall fall upon the mountains of Israel you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you I will give you to the birds of prey of every sword into the beels of the field to the devout to be devoured you shall fall on the open field for I have spoken says the Lord God 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 law so I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel and I will not let them profane my holy name any more then the nation shall know that i am the lord the holy water in israel and remember the Holy One in Israel is a messianic title it is coming and it shall be done says the Lord this is a day of which I have spoken now the chapter goes on to tell us that they will burn the weapons of the invading armies for seven years and for seven months they'll be burying the dead and the birds and beasts are going to feast on the carnage and then we read this 25 to 29 of 39 says therefore thus says the Lord God now I will bring back the captives of Jacob and at mercy on the whole house of Israel and I will be jealous from my holy name after they have borne their shame and their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to me when they dwelt safely in their old land and no one made them afraid when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of the enemy's lands and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations then they shall know that I am the Lord their God who sent them into captivity among the nations but also brought them back into whose land their land and left none of them kept them any any longer and I will not hide my face from them anymore for I shall have poured out my spirit on the house of Israel says the Lord God after the Lord destroys invaders of Israel from that day forward Israel will know he is the Lord their God God is not done with the nation of Israel zechariah 12:10 then adds this and I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication then they will look on me whom they pierced yes they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn now we know without question what Zechariah records happens during the tribulation as I could write 12 to 14 are all about the 70th week of Daniel part of it about the great and terrible day of the Lord where the Lord fights as he fights in that day against all the nations had gathered against Jerusalem Jerusalem being an idiom for the whole of the land and people of Israel now this combined with a cataclysmic wrath of God that is displayed against the invading armies which is something that is limited and specific to the 70th week of Daniel this place is in my mind the war of Ezekiel inside the Tribulation Period I believe the war of Ezekiel because God is going to fight as he fights in that day as Zechariah foretold in chapter 14 by an earthquake hailstones of blood mingled with fired that's how he's going to destroy the invading armies is that going to be empowering natural forces enabling the efforts of the IAF and the IDF against their invading adversaries the one who is going to in the Ezekiel war is God with this cataclysmic wrath poured out on these invading forces now this is most likely what leaves the Antichrist to rise to power I'll think about this these nations Muslim invade Israel God acts on Israel's behalf and wipes these nations out destroying basically radical Islam as a whole and then Israel says hey we'd like to build our temple what do you think the world is going to say after God just wiped out everybody that fought against Israel I think the world is going to say great idea let's get that thing built as fast as we can now especially if the invading forces were from Muslim nations I don't think there's gonna be a lot of resistance to this request even from the Arab states or at least what's left of them now with all that said let's draw this last conclusion here where we here's where we've been going all morning are you ready if the Ezekiel war is on the horizon Jesus must be coming soon if the war of Ezekiel is on the horizon Jesus must be coming soon if the rebirth of the nation of Israel initiated a sequence of unstoppable and irreversible prophetic events if the participants of the Ezekiel war are allied together preparing for war positioning themselves in two places the Bible said they would and launched their invasion from the north at the protesting Nations to the invasion our cooperating together and working with Israel even if it's because of a shared animosity with Iran or towards Iran the evidence also seems to indicate the war happens inside the Tribulation Period there's no the conclusion we can reach then Jesus is coming for his church soon somebody say Amen now again we have to understand I believe and there's so much to beat ridiculous debate about the Tribulation Period the whole tribulation is God's wrath it isn't just the wrath of God in the second half the whole seven years is God's wrath the first half is a consequential wrath of God where man has been left to his own devices and he is going to reap what he has sown and then the cataclysmic wrath of God is displayed in the second half of the tribulation or the great and terrible day of the Lord now listen I don't buy the mid-trib or pre-wrath or post-trib positions because God did not appoint us to wrath and it's all the wrath of God during the seven years that means before the tribulation we out of here after all revelation 6:17 says for the great day of his wrath is come and who is able to stand yet we're told to do all to stand and therefore no one is going to be able to stand against the wrath of God in Revelation chapter 6 no matter who Ross is or GOG is no matter where talk she says show who it represents or the region of the world that it's representative of the fact is a time of wrath that comes upon the whole world is a time that the church does not have an appointment with so let me say it again in conclusion in light of all this Jesus must be coming soon therefore he said you also be ready I hope you're ready this morning because listen there's no time to get ready when this whole transition takes place in a moment and the twinkling of an eye listen all these things are happening that have been prophesied by Isaiah and Ezekiel and Amos and they're all going down and even like what was written in Daniel because of our proximity to the events and their fulfillment we can see them a lot more clearly than everyone in Church ages previously to us now that tells us our redemption is 9 it's time to look up Jesus is coming soon somebody say amen [Music]

Channel: The Truth About God - Barry Stagner

Views: 59,852

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Id: GS6JIdJDJnk

Length: 49min 3sec (2943 seconds)

Published: Wed May 08 2019