We are told in the book of Revelation that at the beginning of the Great Tribulation (the second three and one half year time period of Tribulation), the Antichrist will cause everyone to take his mark. What we commonly call the “mark of the beast”.
Revelation 13:16-18
16And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
17and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18Here is wisdom Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.
The Bible is very clear and explicit in that the Antichrist will force all people from the leaders of Russia and Iran down to the privates in those armies and everyone in between and around the world to take his mark. These people and nations who have just taken his mark as a sign of worship will not have the political will much less the ability to rise up in defiance and move on Israel when the Antichrist just signed a seven year peace treaty with Israel three and one half years earlier.
Stopping for a moment to think about that, at that time you will have to have the mark to buy, sell, trade, have job, etc. Along with that, he will have the ability to force everyone to take the mark (which is a sign of worship of him) or be put to death. This could only mean the Antichrist will have absolute control over every system and person (except for those who are saved) in the world. It is not plausible that at the midway point of Tribulation there will be a war of Gog and Magog without his say so. Now we do know that all the nations will go to war in a war called Armageddon at the end of Tribulation and that war will be initiated by the armies of the east rising up against the Antichrist but that is an all together separate event.
For the war of Gog and Magog to happen at the midway point of Tribulation, these nations and people who are under the complete control of the Antichrist, would have to break his treaty with Israel. We are told in the Bible that it is the Antichrist himself that breaks his own treaty midway through Tribulation with the defilement of the rebuilt temple, not a Russian/Iranian lead coalition (Daniel 9:27).
A Hook in the Jaw
Possibly one of the most exciting unfolding prophecies is found in the study of the “hook in the jaw”. When AreWeLivingInTheLastDays.com was founded in 2008, we were among the minority that pointed to the prophecies found in the Old Testament that tells of vast wealth in the form of oil found by Israel in the last days. We thank the Lord for diligent men of God who pointed to this and on whom shoulders we stand and point to it as well.
The idea that Israel would find extensive reserves of oil was held in the same category as Big Foot. Not by everyone, but certainly by the majority. All that changed In March 2009 when Noble Energy announced a natural gas discovery, offshore Israel, at the Dalit prospect well, about 30 miles off the coast of Hadera, located in approximately 4,500 feet of water. The well was drilled to a total depth of 12,000 feet and the gross mean resources were estimated to be 500 Bcf (Billion cubic feet) of natural gas. This was then followed by the announcement of the Mari and Noa fields with estimated reserves of 1.7 Tcf (Trillion cubic feet) of gas. Then came the news of the Leviathan Oil Field which is reported to have up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil. With every new week these estimates continue to sky rocket. The ink hardly seems to dry on the estimations before more gas and oil is found. By the time you read this, what is written here about gas and oil estimates will be long since out of date.
Israeli National News 8/29/10
The ramifications of the discovery are immense. If the estimates materialize, Israel will become self-sufficient in energy, enjoy a boon of employment for engineers and laborers, and will become an exporter of gas and oil. The shekel, barring a conflict with Hizbullah or Iran, may become rock-solid, dropping the representative rate; Israel's shekel is now worth about 26.3 cents (3.8 shekels) to the dollar.
More optimistic reports continue to flow from the giant Leviathan energy field off the Haifa coast. Following previous higher estimates of gas and “signs of oil,” the latest report points to a potential of 4 billion barrels of “black gold….The oil field is slightly beneath the mammoth gas reserves that already have been estimated to contain 13 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The Leviathan discovery is separate from the Tamar field, located to the south, which also is estimated to contain huge gas reserves that could possibly supply Israel’s gas needs at least until 2030.
So where do we find this in the Bible?
Ezekiel 38:11-12
11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. 12I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land."
Ezekiel 38 exposes the true motives of some in the coalition, namely Russia. Their true motive is to take the vast wealth that Israel has acquired. In Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel prophesied about the reunification of Israel and said:
Ezekiel 36:11
11I will increase the number of men and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful and become numerous. I will settle people on you as in the past and will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
Note here “and will make you prosper more than before” in the “before”, King Solomon was the richest king in the world and Israel was the richest nation in the world. Here the Lord is saying he will make Israel even richer than she was then. Take a minute and ponder that. We’re talking about a wealth greater than that of the wealthiest of the world. So what about the oil, where does the Bible that tells us Israel will find this kind of massive oil reserves?
Deuteronomy 33:12-13
12Of Benjamin he said,
"May the beloved of the LORD dwell in security by Him,
Who shields him all the day,
And he dwells between His shoulders."
13Of Joseph he said,
"Blessed of the LORD be his land,
With the choice things of heaven, with the dew,
And from the deep lying beneath,
Deuteronomy 33:19
19"They will call peoples to the mountain;
There they will offer righteous sacrifices;
For they will draw out the abundance of the seas,
And the hidden treasures of the sand."
Deuteronomy 33:24
24Of Asher he said,
"More blessed than sons is Asher;
May he be favored by his brothers,
And may he dip his foot in oil.
Isaiah 45:1-3 (pay particular attention to verse 3)
1Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right hand,
To subdue nations before him
And to loose the loins of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
2"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth;
I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.
3"I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
Here is also a very, very interesting part of the Scriptures. In Genesis 49, Jacob called his sons together before his death and told them what was to become of them which wasn’t good except for Joseph (Genesis 49:22-25) and the land that his descendants would settle in.
Genesis 49:22-25 (pay particular attention to verse 25)
22"Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring;
Its branches run over a wall.
23"The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot at him and harassed him;
24But his bow remained firm,
And his arms were agile,
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25From the God of your father who helps you,
And by the Almighty who blesses you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
We now know who the players in this battle will be. We know Magog/Rosh, is Russia and Persia is Iran (along with the previously listed players). We know that Russia and Iran will be leading this coalition and that their plan is an evil plan to kill those they hate, but more over to take their vast wealth (Ezekiel 38:10-12) which will come from their oil.
2"Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him
3and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.
4"I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords;
5Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples with you.
7"Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
8"After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
9"You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you."
10'Thus says the Lord GOD, "It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan,
11and you will say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,
12to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.'
We also see the response from the west. (Ezekiel 38:13) Tarshish was the region encompassing what is now southern Spain. It was also a term used in ancient times to refer to the western most parts of human civilization. This passage tells us that there will be a lot of international talk about Russia’s and Iran’s motives. The UN will be doing its usual useless talk while the media along with everyone’s attention will be 24/7 focusing on this. The west (America, EU, etc.) will condemn what is going on but that’s it. This will appear to be the end of Israel [keyword, appear]. The west will not lift a finger. No nation will.
Ezekiel 38:13
13"Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, 'Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?'"'
We also see mentioned here Dedan, which we know from the previous chapter is Saudi Arabia. It would appear that Saudi Arabia, having learned a lesson from its previous encounter with Israel, does not want to or is not capable of being a part of this coalition.
God’s Answer
Just when all is lost and there is no hope for Israel and the world which is in a state of what can only be described as panic, God steps in.
Ezekiel 38:17-20
17'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?
18"It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "that My fury will mount up in My anger.
19"In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
20"The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground.
The first thing that happens to these armies as well as the entire world is what can only be described as the largest earthquake in human history. We know it will be so large and massive that it will affect and be felt by every nation on this planet. Along with that, it will be so massive the mountains the armies are invading from will crumble.
Ezekiel 38:21
21"I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains," declares the Lord GOD "Every man's sword will be against his brother.
God is going to cause confusion among the armies. They will, in their confusion, turn on one another probably thinking that they are attacking Israeli forces.
Ezekiel 38:22
22"With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.
This will clearly be a supernatural event and will grab the attention of the world (Ezekiel 38:20-21). The picture we have here is of massive supernatural destruction the likes of which has never been seen before. Ezekiel also tells us that a pandemic diseases sweep through Russia, the Middle East, central Asia, North Africa and Sothern Europe putting the entire world at risk (Ezekiel 38:22). Is this an outbreak of the avian flu or possibly something like Ebola or radiation poisoning; maybe this latest superbug (NDM-1) that has been discovered in India? We don’t know but we do know that the casualties will be astronomical because at the same time there will be flooding, hailstorms, and fire storms coming down on them. This will be unlike anything seen since Moses in Egypt. Keep in mind that this incredible destruction is not only happening to the armies but also to the countries that they come from.
Ezekiel 39:3-5
3"I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand.
4"You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field.
5"You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken," declares the Lord GOD.
The carnage and utter destruction of these armies cannot be overstated! This is destruction and carnage on a scale that has never been seen before and it will all have been done clearly by God and God alone (Ezekiel 39:21-23).
Ezekiel 39:9-20
9"Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them.
10"They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them," declares the Lord GOD.
11"On that day I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea, and it will block off those who would pass by. So they will bury Gog there with all his horde, and they will call it the valley of Hamon-gog.
12"For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.
13"Even all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I glorify Myself," declares the Lord GOD.
14"They will set apart men who will constantly pass through the land, burying those who were passing through, even those left on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.
15"As those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a man's bone, then he will set up a marker by it until the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.
16"And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. So they will cleanse the land."'
17"As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.
18"You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19"So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20"You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord GOD.
The Aftermath
The Lord clearly tells us that the nations will know and understand that this has happened by God’s hand. There will be many who turn to Jesus because of this and it will no doubt be what spurs on those who will be saved during Tribulation and give rise to the 144 thousand saved from every tribe of Israel to be a witness for Jesus.
Remember what happened after the terrorist's attack of September 11, 2001? Everyone openly talked about God while churches could hardly make room in the pews for the influx of people. Here we have an event unlike anything in human history (at least up till this point) and it will be clearly known that it was done by God. The God of Israel! Not Allah, not Buddha, and not by a tree or global warming.
Ezekiel 38:16
16and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog."
Ezekiel 38:23
23"I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD."'
Ezekiel 39:21-29
21"And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.
22"And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.
23"The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.
24"According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them."'"
25Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.
26"They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid.
27"When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations.
28"Then they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.
29"I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD.
When Muslims all around the world see God intervene but to their shock God is defending Israel and destroying those who attack Israel, they will intensely search their souls as they watch saturation coverage of the biggest event ever on all forms of media. Many will see and believe that the prophecies of the Bible, not the Koran, have come true. It is also important to keep in mind that this could come the heels of the Rapture which would already have the world in a state of shock and panic.
Aftermath: Enter the Antichrist
At some point immediately after or very shortly after these events, the Antichrist will step on to the scene and solve all the problems by giving Israel a treaty which will be penned to last 7 years (Daniel 9:24-24). This treaty will bring the long sought after assurances of true peace to the Middle East while at the same time securing the world’s supply of oil in its most direst of times.
It will be heralded as a feat that could only be accomplished by the messianic leader of the world. This man who is at the same time, explaining what really happened to all the missing people and fixing the problems that has occurred from their disappearance along with the global meltdown both financially and militarily will be reorganizing the world under a single ruling government with one economy, one currency, and one supreme leader.
Ezekiel 39:22-29 shows us that something marvelous will now happen in Israel. No longer will God do his work mainly through the gentiles, now His focus will turn to the people of Israel. We know that out of Israel 144 thousand will turn to Jesus and will be used to preach the gospel to all the nations (Revelation 7:4-8).
But then, just like now, governments do not always follow the will of the people. The Israeli government will enter into a treaty with the Antichrist. This treaty is an affront to God (Isaiah 28: 14-21). God just saved the nation of Israel who now turns to a man (the Antichrist) for its continued security. Is there any wonder why the signing of this treaty marks the very start of Tribulation?
Isaiah 28: 14-21
14Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with
deception."
16Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
17"I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18"Your covenant with death will be canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling place.
19"As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means."
20The bed is too short on which to stretch out,
And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.
21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
This is spelled out for us in Zechariah. Zechariah 12 is tells us about the war of Gog and Magog. Zechariah 13 tells us what happens in Israel during Tribulation after God had just rescued Israel and they in turn enter into a covenant with the Antichrist for safety (pay close attention to Zechariah 13:7-9)
Zechariah 13:7-9
7"Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate,"
Declares the LORD of hosts
"Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;
And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8"It will come about in all the land,"
Declares the LORD,
"That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
But the third will be left in it.
9"And I will bring the third part through the fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them;
I will say, 'They are My people,'
And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"
Jeremiah 24:5-8
5"Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.
6'For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overthrow them, and I will plant them and not pluck them up.
7'I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
8'But like the bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness--indeed, thus says the LORD--so I will abandon Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of Egypt.
Aftermath: The Temple Will Now be Rebuilt
Christians have long wondered how the temple could be rebuilt considering the fact that every Muslim in the world would attack them if they attempted to do anything to the Al-Aksa Mosque which is on the dome of the rock. We still are not told exactly how the Jews will be able to get away with building the temple there but you have to consider a few things.
It is entirely possible that the Al-Aksa Mosque is destroyed in this horrible earthquake and even if it is not, the Muslim world and Islam (in particular) will be in tatters with only a remnant of people left who still hold to the false teachings of Islam. Furthermore, who would dare move against Israel after this has happened and the Antichrist has guaranteed their safety. They’ll pretty much be able to do whatever they want for a short season after this. We don’t know the exact sequence of events that will cause this to happen but we do know that it will.
One specific headline to be watching for during this time is the birth of a perfect red heifer which is required for the purification and consecration of the temple. In August 1996 we thought we had seen this and the media descended on Israel reporting this. The heifer was named Melody and it was ultimately pronounced unclean by Israeli rabbis when she grew several white hairs at the tip of her red tail thus proving that she was not the one. They are currently trying to genetically engineer a perfect red heifer.
The Lynchpin Event
Without a doubt the War of Gog and Magog is the lynchpin event that sets the stage for all the events of the first three and one half years of Tribulation. We see this coalition forming RIGHT NOW! To say we are rapidly approaching this event is an understatement, and if we are, then there is no denying how close we are to Blessed Hope [Rapture] and the start of Tribulation. The context in which the Bible tells us about the War of Gog and Magog indicates that the Rapture is wrapped up somewhere in the events surrounding this war. Many others from David Jeremiah, to Greg Laurie, to Joel Rosenberg, and others have pointed to this. Wrapped up in the events of Gog & Magog is where we will most likely see the Rapture of the Church whether right before, during, or right after.
As we study more of Biblical prophecy, especially prophecy surrounding these rapidly approaching events, we can draw a number of conclusions. The most important and inevitable conclusion we come to is that we as Christians must wake from our apathy and lethargy and be about the work of our Lord and Savior.
ReferencesHoly Bible
David Jeremiah: Turning Point
Chuck Missler: Koinonia House
Roger Oakland: Understand the Times International
Grant Jeffrey: Countdown To The Apocalypse
Hal Lindsey: The Hal Lindsey Report
Joel Rosenberg: Author
Others
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