(Words in red are word for word from the King James Version of the Bible, however, underlining was added by me)
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS
Mathew 24:6,7
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see
that ye be not troubled: for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Jesus warned us that in the end world wide war would be another identifing mark of his coming. This was not limited to, but did include the most famous battle mentioned in scripture, Armageddon. Though Armageddon most often comes to mind when discussing end times wars, there are three major wars discussed in prophecy yet to come. All three will end with Divine intervention. Another thing all three have in common is that Russia (Gog) is involved in all three. Finally all three will center around Isreal. The first (and next battle mankind will see) is described in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
Ezekiel 38:1-6
1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of
Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and
prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against
thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy
jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army,
horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all
sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers
and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them
with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the
north quarters, and all his bands: and many people
with thee.
The Lord knew when prophecy was written that men would change the names of countries, cities, towns, ect. His way of making sure we would be able to figure out whom He was talking about was by using genealogies. The descendants of Gog are today called Russians. The name of Meshech today is Moscow. The name of Tubal today is Tobolsk. Persia today is Iran. Ethiopia and Libya are still the same. Gomer is Germany. Togarmah I'm not sure of.
It's interesting to note in v.4 that the Lord says "I will put hooks in your jaws". The point being that although the invading army will think this is their idea and for their good, it is God who is drawing them there to fulfil His plan. The discovery of vast mineral deposits in Isreali waters in recent years may be the "lure" used.
The following passages seem to indicate that this war will end with a nuclear exchange. The army of Isreal seems unaffected by this. However the Russian alliance loses 5 out of every 6 men in their army instantly (Ezekiel 39:2). The Lord obviously preserves the Isreali army, showing the world His glory.(Ez 38:23) I am under the impression that Divine intervention prevents a retaliatory nuclear strike by the Russians. Ezekiel 38:22 and 39:6 along with Zech. 14:12 seem to strongly support the idea that there is a nuclear exchange.
Ezekiel 38:22,23
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with
blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands,
and upon the many people that are with him, an
overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and
brimstone.
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I
will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they
shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 39:1,2
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and
say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against
thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth
part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the
north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of
Israel:
Ezekiel 39:6
6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that
dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know
that I am the Lord.
Zechariah 14:12
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will
smite all the people that have fought against
Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they
stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume
away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
Ezekiel 39:7-16 not only support the idea of a nuclear exchange, but also make it clear that this is a different battle from Armageddon. The time frame for the cleanup after the war, does not allow for this to be Armageddon. The cleanup will last 7 years (possibly God's way of providing fuel to Isreal during the tribulation?). The weapons left behind will be used for fuel for 7 years.(Ez 39:9,10). Also the cleanup procedure indicated some kind of contamination and goes along with world wide nuclear cleanup procedures(Ez 39:15). Also Ez 39:13,14,16 indicate that the land needs to be cleansed.
Ezekiel 39:7-16
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my
people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy
name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am
the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord
God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go
forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons,
both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the
arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they
shall burn them with fire seven years:
10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field,
neither cut down any out of the forests; for they
shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil
those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed
them, saith the Lord God.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will
give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the
valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and
it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there
shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they
shall call it The valley of Hamongog.
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying
of them, that they may cleanse the land.
13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and
it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be
glorified, saith the Lord God.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,
passing through the land to bury with the passengers
those that remain upon the face of the earth, to
cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when
any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by
it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of
Hamongog.
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus
shall they cleanse the land.
The next major world wide battle the world will see is Armageddon. This will also involve the russian army and will be a retaliation for the battle "years" earlier(Dan.11:13). It will involve a much larger force this time. Russia will be fighting against the antichrist. in the Ezekiel 38,39 battle, it seems the United Nations helps Isreal. (obviously by God's prompting). This seems to be the only explaination that would fulfil Dan. 11:9-16. The king of the south being the antichrist's army. The king of the north being Gog or Russia. Verse 13 shows the beginning of Armageddon. Verse 16 re-emphasized the "who is able to make war with the beast" statment in Rev 13:4. and also reveals that the beast's plan is to destroy Isreal, not protect it. Rev 13:5 also shows that the beast will only hold Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years. This may indicate that the first battle happens at the midpoint of the tribulation, because Dan 11:16 shows the beast gaining control of Isreal as a result of the Ezekiel 38,39 battle. This would also fulfil the peace covanent of Dan 9:27, if the U.N. stepped in to stop a Russian invasion of Isreal.
Daniel 11:9-16
9 So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom,
and shall return into his own land.
10 But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a
multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly
come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he
return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
11 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler,
and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the
king of the north: and he shall set forth a great
multitude; but the multitude shall be given into his
hand.
12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart
shall be lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten
thousands: but he shall not be strengthened by it.
13 For the king of the north shall return, and shall set
forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall
certainly come after certain years with a great armyand with much riches.
14 And in those times there shall many stand up against
the king of the south: also the robbers of thy people
shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; but they shall fall.
15 So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a
mount, and take the most fenced cities: and the arms
of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen
people, neither shall there be any strength to
withstand.
16 But he that cometh against him shall do according to
his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he
shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand
shall be consumed.
Revelation 13:4,5
4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto
the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who
is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with
him?
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him
to continue forty and two months.
Two more armies are going to show up at the battle of Armageddon. One is a two hundred million man army led by the "kings of the east". (Rev. 9:16). It is assumed that this army is from the east due to the fact that they cross the great river Euphrates. (Rev. 9:14) Another interesting point is that in Oct. 96, China began boasting that with 2-3 weeks notice it could field a 200,000,000 man military. The other is the army led by Jesus Christ. (hint : this one is going to win). The amazing part is once the Army of Heaven shows up led by Jesus Christ, all three other armies forget their differences and all turn their weapons on Jesus.(Rev 19:19)
Revelation 9:14,16
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose
the four angels which are bound in the great river
Euphrates.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two
hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of
them.
Revelation 19:11-21
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and
he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were
many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man
knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and
his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it
he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them
with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of
the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name
written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried
with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in
the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh
of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh
of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and
their armies, gathered together to make war against
him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false
prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which
he deceived them that had received the mark of the
beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both
were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with
brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that
sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his
mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
At the end of this battle, the beast and the false prophet are in the lake of fire(Rev. 19:20). Satan is bound in the abyss for 1000 years (Rev.20:2,3). This begins the millenial reign of Christ on earth. (Rev. 20:4,6) At the end of the 1000 years Satan is released from the bottomless pit and allowed to decieve the nations once more for a short time. (Rev.20:7-10) Once again Russia is involved.
Revelation 20:1-10
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the
nations no more, till the thousand years should be
fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little
season.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and
judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and
for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the
beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall
be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in
the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle: the number of whom is
as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and
compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city: and fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the
lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the
false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and
night for ever and ever.
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