Israel and the End Times – Part 2 | Ezekiel 38-39 | Gary Hamrick

I'm gonna read from Ezekiel 38 and I'm gonna read three sections of this chapter I'm gonna read a lot of verses but rather than read the whole chapter I'm gonna read it in three sections just so that we get the whole context of what Ezekiel is talking about here so starting in chapter 38 verse 1 now the word of the Lord came to me Ezekiel 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 rashmi Shack and to Baal I will turn you around put hooks into 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 with shield and helmet Gomer and all its troops the house of - garma from the far north and all its troops many people are with you jump down to verse 10 thus says the Lord God on that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind and you will make an evil plan you will say I will go up against a land of unwalled villages I will go to a peaceful people who dwell safely is talking about Israel all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates to take plunder and to take booty now that's not the kind you shake all right it's it's just you know it's money its plunder okay I just have to qualify that because lingo today's I don't want anybody reading this booty alright and to stretch out your hand against the waist places that are again inhabited and against the people gathered from the nations who have acquired livestock and goods who dwell in the midst of the land Sheba to Dan the merchants of Tarshish and all their young lions will say to you have you come to take plunder have you gathered your army to take booty to get to carry away over in gold to take away livestock and goods to take great plunder jump down to verse 18 and it will come to pass at the same time when God 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 and the beasts of the field all creeping things that creep on the earth and all men who were on the face of the earth shall shake at my presence the mountains shall be thrown down the steep places shall fall in 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 and 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 and everybody said amen to that so today is part two in a three-part series as we bring the Book of Ezekiel to a close a series that I've entitled Israel and the end times again this is part 2 and if you were with us so last week Stefan field for me but the week before if you were with us the week before when I launched part 1 I mentioned to you that the last 13 chapters of the book of ezekiel are prophetic in nature he you know he's writing here in the you know mid 6 centuries b.c but he's but he's looking forward even to our time and beyond and some of the things in these last 13 chapters have already occurred in our lifetime in some of your lifetimes and some of the things he writes about have yet to occur and so as i mentioned two weeks ago that the last 13 chapters can be divided into three sections and the first section we covered last time chapters 36 and 37 Ezekiel prophesized about the re-establishment of the state of Israel will that happen that was fulfilled in 1948 and then the last few chapters of The Book of Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48 have to do with the kingdom age otherwise known as the Millennial Kingdom that's next week study for today we're looking at this middle section chapters 38 and 39 which deals with the Battle of Armageddon and so Ezekiel is prophesying about nations that will converge and what God's response will be to those nations that converge to this climactic battle that most people don't even go to church or at least familiar with in name you know most people understand how the Battle of Armageddon ii you know there's this big battle that's gonna happen when is that gonna happen we don't know but Ezekiel talks about things that line up in regards to the Battle of Armageddon that I think we can see a glimpse of in terms of the infancy of the formation of some of these things in our day and I'll talk about it more as we look into this chapter today so sit back and buckle up because today get ready for Armageddon that's what the topic is for today and I don't mean the 1998 kind with Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck I mean the one that is to come starring Jesus because it's gonna be a real war it's gonna be a real battle of all battles and the Lord is going to return and put an end to all of this and so we're gonna talk about that today now if you've invited friends or you know neighbors and anything I want you to come visit my church and and now you're worried because they're gonna leave you're thinking oh great the world's gonna blow up and thanks for inviting me to church it's not going to be that that you know depressing so just hang in there but we're gonna get through some of the hard stuff before we get to the stuff that is promising and hopeful let's pray first father we come before you thankful for the cross thankful for what you've done for us through Jesus Christ and as we open up your word now when we look at the prophecies of Ezekiel as we continue to look ahead to these things that you've warned us about well in advance we do pray that our hearts would not become heavy but that in fact our hearts would be hopeful because we know how this book ends and and we know that you are always on the throne and that you're coming again so Lord we lift our heads up we look up you know that our redemption is near and we pray that you would help us to persevere and that we would continue to occupy until you come that we would live out our lives in wonderful ways influencing our world with with with Christ flavoring it like salt that we might see as many people come to faith in Jesus before the end of the age Lord and we know that's your heart and so we pray that you would use us to that end and we love you we praise you we thank you together in Jesus name and everybody said amen there is a classic children's story that was a book many years ago I remember reading it as a kid I don't know when it was first written it later became an animated Disney movie like in 2005 or something like that called it was all it was all about a chicken called Chicken Little how many of you remember a Chicken Little now in in the book version Chicken Little was a female in the movie version they made the chicken a male I guess you know that's fanciful these days so we're just gonna flip genders a little bit but and the original book Chicken Little was a female and here's what happens and a corn falls on her head and she begins to think that the sky is falling and so with great panic she starts warning all of her poultry pals all of her feathered friends all of her bird buddies now I worked on that friends so that doesn't come naturally and thank you very much there one person like that poultry pals feathered friends and bird buddies and so Henny Penny and ducky lucky and goosey loosey and turkey-lurkey all get warned and they share the panic skies falling skies falling and along comes Foxy Loxy you remember in the story and Foxy Loxy is like this is such a great day and they're like no it's not not a great day the sky is falling we're all doomed we're on our way to warn the king so I lead with that little children's story because I want to lead with a little word of caution please do not in the course of this Bible study become Christian little where do you think Oh doomsday and the sky is falling and you know disaster is at hand okay don't do that all right and the reason you shouldn't do that is because yes Armageddon is prophesied as a real war and yes it will really happen but it also means the return of Jesus Christ yes and Jesus and his return is the Blessed hope of the church and so while we read about things that might look like doomsday in our Bibles and there's plenty of that I mean not not just here this is kind of mild compared to like Revelation and other places we have to always remember that Jesus is coming again and he intends to rescue his bride and this is what Jesus said in John 14 verses one two three said let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid you believe in God believe also trust and also in me or in my father's house are many mansions they were not so I would have told you but I go to prepare a place for you listen he's gone back to heaven he's preparing a place for us he says and I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you might be also so he even his parting words to us before he ascends is to remember he's coming again so don't be troubled don't be anxious don't be afraid Jesus is gonna rescue us he's gonna take us to be with him forever but that said Jesus even warned us in addition that there will be wars and rumors of wars before his second coming and Ezekiel's talking about this here in chapter 38 the lead-in here in Ezekiel chapter 38 is to let us know that there will be a confederation of Nations that will join together and converge against Israel their target is Israel that's the specific target but the target the the broader target is the God of Israel so nations will be inspired no doubt demonically you know anti-semitism is just really satanically inspired and and so nations with rage and anger towards Israel and towards the God of Israel will converge and form this Confederation and an Ezekiel talks about it and the player who is that the lead of this military campaign is none other than Russia now I don't say that because it's just kind of a fanciful thing these days to blame Russia for everything am i right we're blaming Russia for everything okay listen I say that because the Bible actually specifically names Russia as the principal player in this military campaign that's going to happen against the nation of Israel and this is significant because the the second most significant player in this military campaign is Iran we're gonna see here in in chapter 38 and this is very timely news because listen we're living in a day when I think we are seeing some of this unfold in our lifetime never before has there been the kind of alliance between Russia and Iran that there is today that is very significant in terms of endtime prophecy and Ezekiel 2,500 years ago tells us this will be the lead alliance that will come against Israel other nations will join them but this is the lead Alliance so when you look here at with me in your Bibles to Ezekiel 38 Ezekiel named six nations a part of this Confederation of nations that will come against Israel including and led by as I mentioned Russia and I want to point out this to you look again at verses 1 & 2 in verse 1 he says now the word of the Lord came to me saying son of men set your face against GOG circle the word Gog and the margin of your Bible right title this is a purse and GOG is a title like czar or prince and we know that it's a person because he gets a personal pronoun at the end of verse 2 where where God says and prophesy against him so GOG is an individual and GOG is literally a title meaning either czar or Prince and he is the Prince over a region that is called Magog also there in your Bibles in verse 2 and circle the word may God now the ancient historians Josephus plenty and Herodotus all said that the ancient land of Magog was the ancient land of the skiddy ins and the ancient land of the skiddy ins was north of the Black and Caspian Seas so there's great unanimity on the fact that the territory of Magog is Russia is rushed in modern terms furthermore Meshach and tubal are mentioned there as part of the territory of Magog Meshach is thought to be by most Bible scholars Moscow and to Baal is believed to be a town called to bullski to Baal Skiz in west central russia and used to be the Siberian oil capital so all of these things put together GOG meanings are or prints may God the land of the skiddy ins today Russia perhaps Moscow to balls all of this is pointing to Russia they are the lead military force in this campaign against Israel and joining Russia in this Confederation are five other nations and the first on the list in verse five is none other than the second most prominent country mentioned in the news today which is as I mentioned Iran now Iran is listed here by its ancient name persia in verse five you see that Persia Ethiopia and Libya so the primary country joining Russia is Persia up until 1935 Iran was always named purged it was only since 1935 that Persia has been now since called Iran until the the Islamic Revolution of 1979 Iran was actually an of the united states and israel prior to 1979 the Shah of Iran was selling oil to Israel but the Islamic Revolution changed all that and now as a result they are they're not an ally they are a hostile adversary in in the Middle East region in the Far East region and and they need to be recognized as such and today we are seeing a Russian Iranian alliance that has never existed before like it does now and we're seeing Biblical prophecy fulfilled in our own day so here's for example just a picture of how cozy it is right now between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian president Hassan rouhani and you know they have engaged in nuclear deals in arms deals in fact within the last two years Russia and Iran has entered into a ten billion dollar arms deal Russia has recently read this one article that talked about how it recently delivered its advanced s-300 missile defense system to Iran after years of debate over the purchase and warnings from the United States but nevertheless it happened in the last couple of years Russia and Iran negotiated a ten billion dollars arms deal allowing Iran to purchase t90 tanks artillery systems and aircraft from Moscow that are expected to keep the Islamic Republic fully armed over the next several years so Iran will become fully armed over the next few years solely by the aid of Russia to say nothing of the assistance in terms of nuclear capability Russian National Security Council secretary Nikolai patrushev recently said this quote in the context of the statements made by our partners with regard to a major regional power namely Iran I would like to say the following Iran has always been which isn't really true has always been and remains our ally and partner with which we are consistently developing relations both on bilateral basis and with in multilateral formats according to Alexei Pushkov a member of the upper house of Russian legislature and close ally of President Vladimir Putin Russia and Iran have created quote a durable alliance he described Russia Iran relations as quote a partnership which can evolve into a strategic relationship so what's happening now a little you know personal political commentary at this moment I think that the Iran nuclear deal was a disaster I'm thankful that our president President Trump withdrew the United States from that Iranian deal that was made in 2015 I think it's good for us to get out of that deal but I also believe that the unintended consequence of that has pushed Iran and Russia closer together because now Iran has gone into the arms of Russia even more so and I mean that literally and I mean that figuratively they've gone into the arms of Russia Russia's held their arms out for a big hug of Iran and they've gone literally in the sense that now they are relying even more on arms armament from Russia than they ever have before the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran I again I think are good I just think that the unintended consequences are that we're going to see this lineup even more what Ezekiel is talking about here this Russian Iranian alliance where they're going to become even closer allies as the United States pushes against both of them so this is what's happening we're seeing all of this emerging in our lifetime now in just this past summer June of 2019 at the end of June Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu called a trilateral summit in Jerusalem with Russia Israel and the United States trying to coax Russia away from Iran it was not successful but in the middle of this trilateral summit this is what Prime Minister Netanyahu said quote Israel will not allow Iran which calls for our destruction to establish itself on our border and we'll do all we can to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon end quote and they will France they will they will take military and they may go solo on it but it's going to happen so this is all kind of coming to a head we're seeing some of this all beginning to arrange itself in a way that aligns with Biblical prophecy I'm always cautious to say that this is exactly what it is you know because I'm reminded that even in our own history when during World War two the church was convinced that Hitler was the Antichrist and Mussolini was the false prophet and and when they saw Panzer tanks lining up against their churches Christians thought well the rapture is going to come and that didn't happen so it's dangerous sometimes to always look at you know world offense and say this must mean this but I think it's prudent for us to at least recognize what is happening in our day and see that it is very very similar to some of the things that Ezekiel is prophesying about here in Chapter 38 if you look further in chapter 38 in verse 5 we see other nations that align with this Russia Iranian alliance we see Ethiopia mentioned in verse 5 some of your Bibles use the ancient Hebrew name cush we're talking about Ethiopia that's also the region of northern Sudan Ethiopia according to the US State Department is 45% Sunni Muslim and northern Sudan is 70% Sunni Muslim and then also joining Ethiopia is Libya or some of your Bibles use the ancient Hebrew name put Libya is 97 percent Sunni Muslim in other words this represents the Islamic states of the Upper Nile region of Africa that will converge against Israel and joining them in verse 6 Gomer and togarmah now those of you who hearken back to the andy griffith days don't get Gomer in your head that way golly this is instead talking about east some of you young are like what's that just google it you'll have you know you'll laughs Gomer and Biblical prophecy represents Eastern Europe we're talking Germany and Poland and - garma is modern-day Turkey and the area also that would include Armenia and Georgia and so these nations converge this russian-iranian alliance is gonna be joined by Ethiopian northern Sudan and Turkey and and Georgia and Armenia and Germany and Poland they're gonna converge but then in verse 13 here of the same chapter there will be a few nations that question them like what are you doing and why are you coming against Israel at among them listed here verse 13 sheba and dedan now she but didn't always go together in the Bible and they are a reference to Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia's going to rise up and say why are you guys converging against digital's very interesting you know what's their stake in it that they would actually question and along with them questioning this is Tarshish now where exactly is Tarshish located Herodotus the ancient historian said that Tarshish was located beyond The Pillars of Hercules one of the Pillars of Hercules The Pillars of Hercules were the rock formation that formed the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea otherwise known as the Strait of Gibraltar so Herodotus said that Tarshish was out of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic most Bible scholars believe Tarshish is a reference to England and in addition to England and joining Saudi Arabia it also mentions in verse 13 the merchants of Tarshish and all her young lions a part of questioning this military campaign what is the what is the national symbol for England that's a lot it's a lion and there's actually three but the animal that is the national symbol is a lion and so the Young Lions with Tarshish is probably a reference to British territories now this may be and I say maybe because we don't know this may be the only veiled reference to the United States seeing is how we once were a British colony before the American Revolutionary War otherwise there's no mention of the United States have you ever wondered where does the u.s. fall in Biblical prophecy we're not really mentioned France this may be the only veiled reference and it might be because some scholars believe that all of these events begin to transpire right around the time of the rapture and so when the church when Christians are snatched from the earth what will be the population of the United States what will be the military force of the United States what will be the executive branch legislative judicial branch in the United States if in fact Christians are taken raptured from the earth we might be rendered you know not a world power when you see when you can imagine tens of thousands of Christians instantly leaving the United States being taken to heaven as Christians perhaps we're not mentioned a Biblical prophecy because we're not a formidable force at that point who really knows now there are other missing players in this campaign here there's no mention of Egypt there's no mention of Jordan there's no mention of Syria that might be because since 1979 Egypt has had a peace treaty with Israel in fact when Egypt entered into a peace treaty with Israel in 1979 the Arab League of Nations kicked them out they brought it back ten years later in 1989 but Egypt has maintained peaceful Accord in relations with Israel Jordan in the same way 1994 Jordan entered into a peace treaty with Israel could it be for those reasons that they're not mentioned here is a force against Israel Syria may in fact be out of the picture because they've been rendered helpless and useless in isaiah 17 verse 1 and again in verse 4 isaiah prophesized about the day that damascus will be a heap of ruins so perhaps that's already happened at this point so saudi arabia england perhaps even the US will question why these nations are converging against israel but none will come to israel's aid nobody not not any nations at least except one and that is the Lord the Lord Psalms 121 verse 4 says indeed he who watches over Israel in neither slumber nor sleep the truth is Israel doesn't need any nations to come to her defense because the Lord is her defense and the Lord will rise up and defend his nation and his name for his glory and all of this culminates here in the Battle of Armageddon and so between verses 18 and 23 at the end of his eco 38 there's this description here against Gog and God's judgment that is going to come against these nations and I just want to read verses 18 to 23 again I'm gonna ask you to underline certain words and then I'm gonna compare it with Revelation 16 which is the only place where Armageddon is actually mentioned but first look again here at verses 18 to 23 and it will come to pass at the same time when God 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 underline that word I have spoken surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake underlying 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 were on the face of the earth shall shake at my presence the mountains shall be thrown down underline that the steep places shall fall and every wall shall fall to the ground I will call for a sword against GOG throughout all my mountain says the Lord God every man's sword will be against his brother and I will bring him to judgment with pestilence underline that and bloodshed I will rain down on him on his troops and all the many peoples who are with him flooding rain great hailstones underlying that 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 quickly turned to the end of your Bibles Revelation chapter 16 I'm almost done but I want you to see the comparison between Revelation 16 and what we just read there at the end of Ezekiel 38 Revelation 16 this again is the only place where the word Armageddon is mentioned in all of the Bible it's revelation 16 verse 16 the verses leading up to it tell us that kings from the east we'll also come and join forces with the nation's mentioned in Ezekiel 38 to come against Israel so kings from the east we're talking China Japan Korea we're talking a Pakistan Afghanistan India the whole Pacific Rim is going to join forces with these other nations and they will converge against Israel now some Bible scholars interpret the war of Ezekiel 38 and the war of revelation 16 as two distinct wars I believe instead when you notice the similarities between Revelation 16 and what I just read at the end of is eco 38 that in fact what actually ends up happening is these two forces merge that you have all of these nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38 at the beginning of the tribulation but they they wage a campaign against Israel and then it culminates with this Battle of Armageddon where they are joined by these other kings from the east okay now notice the similarities here in Revelation 16 starting at verse 16 and they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon and then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the Temple of Heaven from the throne saying it is done and there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and there was here's a similarity a great earthquake such a mighty and great earthquake has had not occurred since men were on the earth now the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nation's fell and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath that's another word that you underlined and then every island fled away and the mountains were not found that's something else Ezekiel 38 said and great hail from heaven fell upon men each hailstone that was also in Ezekiel 38 about the weight of a talent look at me for a minute the weight of a talent a hundred pounds each hail stone that's gonna hurt your insurance is not going to cover that dent on your car men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail since that plague or pestilence that's also a Zika 38 was exceedingly great so you have all these similarities Ezekiel talks about a great earthquake talks about the wrath of God he talks about hailstone talk eight talks here about pestilence plague the similarities are such that again I believe what you see unfolding in Ezekiel 38 is the beginning of the military campaign it culminates in the Battle of Armageddon but here's here's the hope for the church if you're still in Revelation look over to chapter 19 we'll bring it to a close chapter 19 because you see here the Lord returns and he strikes down these nations that have come against him and come against Israel in Revelation 19 verse 11 John writes now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat on him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war his eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns he had a name written that no one knew except himself and he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God and the armies of in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean followed him on white horses this is the church returning with him and now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nation's and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written king of kings and Lord of lords and he will return and he will put an end to this battle and he will display his power and his glory for all to see which is how Ezekiel 38 ends and I'll just recite it again zeka 38 verse 23 ends with this thus God says I will magnify myself and sanctify myself and I will be known in the eyes of many nations and then they shall know that I am the Lord amen and amen [Music] God's ultimate purpose and all of the Bible is that people might know him and sometimes he has to reveal himself in serious ways to get our attention you might think to yourself well that's kind of an odd way of God getting people to know him by you know putting an end to this war and striking down the nations at the Battle of Armageddon but listen to me on this when nations are in full throttle opposition to God God has to display his power and Mike greater than the opposition against it it's like this the harder you hit your head against a brick wall the more it hurts and that's the way it is with God the harder you oppose him the more it hurts but God will display himself in all of his power and all of his glory so that people might know him see there's no reason why you and I should fear the imminent return of the Lord you and I shouldn't be afraid of the Battle of Armageddon frankly the way that I see Scripture and the timeline of events unfolding prophetically I don't think we'll be here for the Battle of Armageddon when you look at the timeline of events I think the church is raptured before this climactic battle and so we're gonna be kept safely in heaven and we are the ones clothed in white that return with the Lord in this great battle and we fight on his behalf and for his glory although he doesn't need us but you know by the power of his breath he will overthrow the armies that are opposed to him but we return with him because we've been kept safely in heaven because of the rapture or when we died knowing Christ we've already gone to heaven the the the final deal is this it's it's not about being afraid or worried it's about being ready and and I leave us with with these words of Jesus from Luke chapter 21 verse 28 he just reminded us he's when you see all these things begin to happen he said look up lift up your heads because your redemption draws near and so these things should stir our hearts to cause us to ask ourselves am I ready am I am i right with the Lord so that that there's no fear of what's gonna happen but listen we know this right the world's getting crazy and it's gonna get crazier still and crazier still again and Jesus is gonna come and we're gonna be with him forever never and when he returns again he's going to establish his kingdom on earth for a thousand years and then after that there's the new heaven and a new earth and we shall be with him forever next week you see his EQ closes out with a the study about the Millennial Kingdom when Christ comes on earth for a thousand years so that's next week study but for today lift up your heads and look up your redemption is near may your hope be in the Lord our maker our helper right know him be right with them then you don't have to be afraid of what is to come we can rest in the Lord God Almighty let's pray together father we thank you that you remind us in your word that though these things shall happen we can trust you we can look to you I pray Lord that if anyone here doesn't know you in a personal way that today they'd open their heart to you Lord that they would surrender to your lordship that they would confess sin and ask you to forgive them and to come into their lives that they might follow you they might live for you so that when we have relationship with you we can be comforted by these things that though the world is going to get crazier still there's going to be wars and rumors of wars we can have our hope and our confidence in our trust in you thank you Lord for loving us and making yourself known we praise you together in Jesus name and everybody said amen and amen god bless you

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 510,694

Rating: 4.7167373 out of 5

Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, cornerstone chapel leesburg va, End times israel, Israel biblical prophecy, is christ coming again?, is Jesus coming again?, gary hamrick podcast, the book of ezekial, Ezekial 38-39, ezekiel chapter 38-39 explained, ezekial 38-39 explained, ezekial explained, ezekial explained youtube, gary hamrick pastor, sermon about the battle of armageddon, Israel and the End Times – Part 2, Iranian alliance, 1000 year kingdom

Id: si43j1r4vr8

Length: 36min 55sec (2215 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 19 2019