Last week, we began a short series; I'm not sure how long it's going to last, but I know it'll at least go through today and next Sunday, and maybe yet another Sunday or two, but I have entitled this little series "Israel in Bible Prophecy." And I decided to do this because I wanted to bring clarity from a biblical, theological, historical, and prophetic perspective to all of the chaos that's going on, not just in the Middle East, but around the world. By way of review, last week, we looked at the importance of understanding God's choice of Israel. Deuteronomy seven and verse six, we read, "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord, your God has chosen you to be people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." And we know According to Exodus chapter 19, and verse six, that God's purpose for Israel is to be, quote, "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." We also examined God's unconditional, unilateral, irreversible, covenant promises to Abraham, and to David as well as the New Covenant. All of those covenants are important to understand if you're going to see why Satan and so many people around the world who are obedient to him, perhaps even unwittingly, hate the Jewish people and hate what's happening in Israel. Because those covenants, the Abrahamic, Davidic, and new covenants, are all the basis of the establishment of the millennial kingdom that is yet to come.

We also, secondly, looked at Satan's hatred of Israel, that he is the father of lies, he is the god of this world. We are told, he is the ruler of this world, Jesus said, temporarily. So nonetheless, he is, and people tend to underestimate his power to deceive. And certainly he has deceived many. We see it with the Islamic jihadist, we see it with the Marxist protesters here in our country and around the world, a parade of the deceived and the ignorant. And we know that God predicted the intransigent antisemitism that we see being revealed around the world. He predicted this, when he cursed Satan in Genesis 3:15, and he said, and "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." And I won't get into it again, but unless you understand that passage right there, you will never understand what's going on in Israel.

Later we know, as we studied, God allowed Satan to begin to drive a wedge with the descendants of Abraham; a rivalry between Ishmael, from which came the Arabs and Isaac from which came the Jews. And that extends to this day. Moreover, we examined the reality that because salvation is from the Jews, as Jesus said, in John four in verse 22, the Jewish people have always and will always be one of Satan's primary targets. He must destroy God's covenant people. And he operates through deception, through violence, through intimidation, through godless political ideologies, like liberalism, whether it be political or theological liberalism; it's always a cancer that will destroy people. And he certainly does it through false religious systems, especially Islam. And we studied why Arab Islamic jihadists hate Jewish people; because they believe that God's covenant with Abraham was a promise between Abraham and Ishmael, not Abraham and Isaac. They believe it was Ishmael who was offered on Mount Moriah, not Isaac, and therefore, all of the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant should go to them, not to the Jewish people. Therefore, the land of Palestine belongs to them, not to Israel. And of course, the Marxist cult of wokeism, promoted primarily again through liberalism, especially in the Democratic Party, is all committed to hating Jewish people hating Israelis, because they see them as the privileged white class. It's all part of finding some group that they can call the oppressor. Of course, there's no condemnation for the Palestinians and the Hamas people that are committed to Jewish genocide. And these people, of course, want to eradicate all white, Judeo Christian ethics and influence. They hate Western civilization. They hate America, they hate the Constitution, and on and on, it goes down with colonialism, which is really their code word for deconstruction of the West. And it's this kind of indoctrination that we see in our public schools and in our colleges and universities. And sadly, in many apostate and naive churches.

We also examined, thirdly, God's judgment on Israel. And that's a lot of what we're seeing here today. You will recall that God made it abundantly clear in Deuteronomy 28, that he would bless them for their obedience and curse them for their disobedience. And I want to expand on that, just very briefly. We know that in the last seven chapters of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 28, through 34, God has given us frankly, a prophetic summary of Israel's future. There we see the conditions of blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience. It speaks of the prediction of coming apostasy, the affliction God would bring upon Israel while still in the land of promise, because of her apostasy. It speaks of Israel being taken captive, it speaks of the enemies of Israel will possess her land for a time, that the land itself will remain desolate, that Israel will be scattered among the nations, that Israel would become few in number, that Israel would not be destroyed if she repents, that Israel will repent in her tribulation and worship God as He intended. And finally, that Israel will be gathered from the nations; brought back to her divinely given land, and eventually he will prosper them abundantly. And we have witnessed in our lifetime, the beginning of this regathering, when the Jewish people have arisen out of the ashes of the Holocaust, to finally have a nation; we saw that in 1948. And this is really a testimony of God's promise that was even reaffirmed to the psalmist. And we read about this in Psalm 105, beginning in verse seven, "He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to 1000 generations, the covenant which He had made with Abraham and His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying to you, 'I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance.'" And God will ultimately fulfill this promise when Christ returns and establishes his Messianic kingdom. And it's absolutely astounding to see the most persecuted ethnic religious group on the planet not only survive, but actually thrive. It's amazing to me; a testimony of God's protection, despite their disobedience, despite Satan's hatred of them, and the world's hatred of them.

I'm reminded of the promise in Amos chapter nine beginning in verse 14, where God says, "'I will restore the captivity of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruins cities and live in them, they will also plant vineyards and drink their wine and make gardens and eat their fruit, I will also plant them on their land. And they will not again be routed out from their land which I have given them,' says the LORD your God." And of course, this is in fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob 4000 years ago; a promise that was even reaffirmed to Moses. And to be sure, the Arab Muslims cannot stand this. And they are going to do everything they can to prevent this. But ultimately, we know that God will not allow them, or any other people, to have that land. But rather he has promised that land to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Now, that brings us to today and my fourth point in our little outline. And sometime in the near future, I'll get to the fifth point. The fourth point is God's protection of Israel. And then eventually, I'm not sure if it'll be next Sunday or the next, but we're going to look at God's salvation and restoration of Israel. Now with respect to God's protection of Israel, there are a myriad of examples of miraculous ways that God has protected his people. And it's amazing when you think about it, that despite the numerous pogroms that we have seen down through history, designed to eradicate the Jewish people from the face of the earth, the Jewish people still exist. Now, why is that? I mean, think about it. Over 4000 years ago, Abraham purchased burial property in Hebron to bury his wife, Sarah. Hebron, by the way, is about 19 miles or so southwest of Jerusalem. Today, it's a Palestinian city in the West Bank. And despite all of the barbaric attempts to cleanse these people from the face of the earth, they still exist. You don't hear anything about the Amalekites. You don't hear anything about the Hittites, or the Jebusites, or the Canaanites. But the Israelites dominate the news, tiny little Israel, about the size of the state of New Jersey; 9000 square miles. They have a population of approximately 9.73 million. About 75% of them are Jewish. And to think they are surrounded by 22 Arab countries, encompassing 5 million square miles, populated by approximately 600 million people who are all entirely aligned with the entire Muslim world that consists of 1.8 billion people, about 24% of the Earth's population. And virtually all of these Arab Muslim countries are committed to the destruction of Israel. And yet, they are the oppressors.

Well, today, I wish to focus on an event yet future. Another event that God has promised, whereby he will protect and preserve and even deliver Israel. And it's a promise that may be developing right before our eyes, as we look at this chaos in Israel. Chaos that really centers around Iran and her allies and proxies. And in a few minutes, I will take you to some of those passages in Ezekiel 38, and 39. But before we do, I want to take you to the book of Revelation in just a moment. Let me give you some background here. I fear this will be the most disjointed, confusing sermon you have ever heard. But I'm going to try to piece this together for you, so you have a grasp of what the Word of God has to say.

According to Ezekiel 38 and 39, we know that an alliance of nations will one day descend upon Israel from the north under the leadership of quote "Gog and Magog," and they will be supernaturally defeated on the mountains of northern Israel. And my goal this morning is to try to answer who, what, where, and why, even when, and bring some clarity and comfort and hopefully conviction to each of you that Christ might be exalted. Now, that's kind of where we're going. But in order to get there, we need to take just a short detour to get some understanding of what God has said, in the book of Revelation, the "Apokalypsis lesou Christo," the revealing of Jesus Christ, the last book in the Bible. Now, I'm going to have to assume some knowledge, on your part, of biblical eschatology. And so I'm not going to be able to get into all of the details, but I'm going to hit the highlights, and hopefully you will be able to fill in the blanks in days to come.

I want to remind you that the first five chapters of the apocalypse, or of the book of Revelation, are all introductory and then in Revelation six, we see the Worthy Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, opening six seals of divine wrath. And all of these are proceeding from the throne of God. And this is going to set into motion a purging that will ultimately kill most of the Earth's population and virtually every living thing and frankly, this is the whole climate cult environmentalist cults worst nightmare. And his purpose for this is to punish those who refuse to worship him. Moreover, according to Daniel nine, and verse 24, the purpose is to quote, "finish the transgression;" the transgression of Israel in the final 70th week of judgment that God revealed to Daniel, and then establish his earthly kingdom. Daniel 9:24 says," to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place."

Now we know that those four seals, the first four seals, are all represented by colored horses being written by four riders; sometimes you've heard people talk about the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The first seal describes, and this is very important, a pseudo peace, a false peace that will lull the world, including Israel into a false sense of utopia; a false sense of security. The second seal reveals a worldwide war; the third seal, worldwide famine; the fourth seal, death through the sword, and famine and pestilence and wild beasts. The fifth seal speaks of martyrdom of the newly converted saints--tribulation saints. The sixth seal speaks of unprecedented earthquakes and cosmic disturbances. And then the seventh seal includes kind of a silent contemplation of the staggering judgment that has transpired thus far. And then that will unleash the seventh trumpet judgments, followed by the seven bowl judgments.

Now, the catastrophic consequences of just the first four seals are inconceivable. They will ultimately kill 1/4 of the population of the earth, according to Revelation six and verse eight. And yet, those are only "the beginning of birth pangs," Jesus said, in Matthew 24, verse eight, and by the end, most of the human race will be exterminated. And what we see is that even as labor pains increase in severity and frequency for a mother about to give birth, so too, the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments will increase in severity and frequency, until finally a glorious kingdom will be birthed when the Lord Jesus returns in all of his glory.

Now, please understand just kind of basic chronology as I understand it from Scripture. The church will be caught up in the rapture, First Thessalonians 4:17. The Lord has promised to protect his church, to "keep" his church according to Revelation 310, "from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." And sometime after the Lord snatches away his church and now begins to deal exclusively, once again, with Israel primarily in Daniel's 70th week, these seal judgments will begin to occur, and the first three and a half years of the tribulation. And of course, after the rapture of the church, according to Daniel 9:27, a character comes and his name is the "prince to come"; referring to the Antichrist. And we know that he is going to make a covenant with Israel, which really will begin the 70th week of God's judgment upon them. And at that time, the Jews will finally be able to build their temple on Mount Zion; which the Jewish people have been preparing for a long time; which the Antichrist, we know, will later desecrate in the middle of the week, or in the middle of the tribulation; three and a half years in.

And of course, this is all consistent with Jesus' chronology that he gave some 65 years earlier on the Tuesday before his crucifixion, at what is called the Olivet Discourse. You read about it in Matthew 24, and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21; sometimes called "the little apocalypse," because it really parallels the events and the chronology of his unveiling here in the book of Revelation.

Now, another important kind of footnote to get your mind in the right place, very briefly, you must understand the profound significance of a third temple that needs to be built. Hasn't been built yet, but it's going to be remember the first temple was desecrated and destroyed in 586 BC with Nebuchadnezzar. And we know that there is a great restoration that is promised according to Malachi three and verse one, as well as the details of that temple are described in Ezekiel 40 through 48. And then the second temple desecration occurred in 186 BC, through Antiochus the fourth, and then it was utterly destroyed by the Romans and AD 70. And now we know that on that place, and I've been in this particular place, Satan has erected the Islamic Dome of the Rock, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, right there on Mount Zion, in which exists the former resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies. And currently, that sacred temple mount is under the militant control of the Islamic authority. And so the Orthodox Jews are passionate about restoring their temple; somehow getting rid of that temple, without the whole world exploding, right, and building their temple. And we know that that temple has to be built in order for the Antichrist to desecrate that temple in the middle of the tribulation.

Now, mind you, the secular Jews at this point, they couldn't care less about building the temple, all they want is peace. And they know that once you start tinkering with that particular piece of real estate, the whole world is going to blow up. But a third temple, we know, will be built according to Revelation 11, verses one and two, and then it's going to be desecrated in the middle of Daniel 70th week, the middle of the tribulation, according to Daniel 9:27, and Second Thessalonians, two, four.

Then, after the Lord returns, he will build the final millennial temple that is described in Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48; all of this is significant now for understanding the first seal. And you'll see why in a moment. Now we go to Revelation, Revelation chapter six. Again, John is standing in the throne room of heaven; he's looking upon the Worthy Lamb who has received the scroll of doom from the hand of the Father. That's all in chapter five. And then he has given a dramatic visual presentation of the contents of each seal.

And we see this first seal, beginning to be described in verse one of revelation six, let me read this to you. "Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, 'Come.'" So he sees and he hears one of the magnificent angels around the throne summon the first horseman and his horse of judgment. And it's described as, quote, "a voice of thunder." And this is reminiscent, is it not, of the thunder that accompanied the theophany of God on Mount Sinai when God gave Moses the 10 commandments, as we read about in Exodus 20.

Verse two, "And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer." And we know that in Scripture, horses were used to symbolize conquest and power and majesty, and war. And certainly in Revelation they are associated with force, with power that brings great disaster upon the earth. And you will notice this is a white horse, which was a symbol of victory for the Romans and for the Persians; and also the symbol of righteousness and holiness in the book of Revelation. So what does this represent? Well, it's important, whenever we look at the prophetic literature, that we do so, especially as we look at symbolism, that we do so through the context of other prophetic passages. And we must interpret the symbolism here, of this white horse and rider, through the lens of many other prophetic passages that give us context as to what happens here in the initial phase of the tribulation, that we await; that the world awaits, I should say. Because again, I believe the church will not be in that particular season of God's wrath.

The beginning of the Tribulation will be characterized by a time of peace. The world's craving peace today, is it not? All over the world people don't know what to do. But according to Bible prophecy, the most diabolically wicked political leader in the history of the world will be the one who will come and offer that peace. And that person will be the Antichrist. And that world peace will center around tiny Israel. And it will happen, in Daniel 9:27, when quote, "he will make a firm covenant with the many," that is Israel, "for one week," that's weeks of years, in other words, seven years--that's why we call this Daniel 70th week; Israel is going to be deceived by a false sense of security provided by this ruler. And this peace will allow them to finally rebuild their temple; something they cannot do now because of the Muslims and their Dome of the Rock. And again, as I say, most Israelis really don't want it. All they want is peace, and they know that that will only bring further war.

According to Daniel 9:27, we read, "in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice is referring to the Antichrist, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes a desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate." And this of course, is consistent with what Jesus said in Matthew 24, in verse 15, referring to "the abomination of desolation." And we know according to Revelation 13, verses 14 and 15, that the antichrist at that point will set up an image of himself in the temple and demand to be worshipped. In First Thessalonians five and verse three, Paul also warned about this peaceful deception he said, "While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape."

So given these facts, the first horse and horseman symbolizes a force of wickedness that will bring about a pseudo peace that's described in other passages as well. Now this person cannot be Christ; he is the one opening the seals. Moreover, this rider is given a "stephanos" crown, in the original language, a victor's wreath. And he carries a bow, whereas we see Christ is crowned with many diadems, that is royal crowns, in chapter 19. And he carries a sword. He doesn't carry a bow. And as we're gonna see, it's a bow without arrows. And he comes at the end of the tribulation, not at the beginning. So I would submit to you this is the White Horse of counterfeit righteousness, of feigned holiness; a person that the world is going to absolutely feign over. And I'm reminded of what the Apostle Paul said in Second Corinthians 11, begin in in first 14, this person will be like, quote, "Satan," who, "disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it's not surprising if his servants also disguised themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds."

Now, I want you to notice as well, there's no indication that the rider is a specific person like the Antichrist, but rather he represents this impersonal force, this impetus--that of a counterfeit piece; even as the other riders, if you look into it, will represent war, and famine and death. And notice also this rider has a bow, but no arrows, perhaps symbolic of the capability to use force without the determination to do so. So here we see power, and the pretext of peace without malice. And we understand that better in the next phrase of verse two of Revelation six. We see also, "a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering, and to conquer." And this is not a reference to Christ, the eternal Sovereign King, he has no need for anyone to give him a crown. So this horse and rider, again, depicts this false peace that will be secured by the Antichrist, the one who will be given a winner's crown as he seduces the world.

And likewise here in this first seal, there is no hint of a military conquest that comes in the second seal. Yet we have one who goes out quote, "conquering and to conquer." So obviously, this must mean there is some kind of political maneuvering, not a conquering through military force. And this will probably be the force behind what we hear today called the New World Order. Paul describes the power of his deceptive capabilities in Second Thessalonians two, in verse eight, he's described as "the lawless one." So the Antichrist, the lawless one, also in verse nine, and following, "the one who's coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perished, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason, God will send upon them a diluting influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness."

And we know that the Antichrist will also have the help of many false teachers, many false messiahs. Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 24. At the end of verse four "'See to it that no one mislead you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.'" He will also have as his accomplices, an army of false religions, of ear tickling false shepherds who multiply like fruit flies, in the midst of a crisis, as we see today, like the false shepherds in the days of Jeremiah, who kept preaching "Peace, peace, but there is no peace," Jeremiah six and verse 14. Now that's all introductory to where I want to go.

What kind of events in the prophetic sequence contribute to this kind of mass gullibility? What would cause the world including Israel to be so profoundly duped? Well, I would like to offer you a possible scenario, I can't be dogmatic, you know, when it comes to eschatology, everybody's bucket has holes in it. I just think mine has fewer than the others. I know that sounds hideously arrogant, but you know, you have to have convictions, right? I would like to offer you a possible scenario that emerges from the prophetic literature and I believe that the Prophet Ezekiel gives us much insight into the possible sequence of events that could cause the world to clamor for peace, like never before. There has to be something that will transpire to get the highly distrusting nation, and rightfully so; the highly distrusting nation of Israel to be seduced by this pseudo peace, represented by the first seal at the beginning of Daniel's 70th week. And I believe that a possible explanation for all of this can be found in the events of Ezekiel 38 and 39 and the prophecy of Gog and Magog. Let me give you a thirty second overview of the book of Ezekiel, okay. I don't know, I think I may have this on the overhead.

In Chapters one through 24, there's a description of Israel's removal from their land. Chapters 25 to 32, depicts God's historical judgments on other nations. Chapter 33, there's a historical call to repentance, the fall of Jerusalem. And of course, all of that happened literally, which tells you that the rest of it will all happen literally. And then in chapters 34 through 39, you have prophecies concerning Israel's literal future return to the very same land from which they were driven and dispersed across the globe. In chapters 38 and 39, you have a graphic description of a future invasion of Israel and its aftermath that will occur just prior to Messiah has returned to establish his earthly millennial kingdom. And then chapters 40 through 48, you have a detailed description of the millennial temple and conditions in the kingdom with respect to the boundaries and division of the land and the priests and the tribes and on and on it goes.

Now I want you to think carefully with me. In Ezekiel 37, you have that magnificent chapter of the vision of the valley of the dry bones depicting a national resurrection of Israel and regathering back into the land, where eventually at His second coming, the Lord promises according to verse 24, "I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your land. And in verse 24, we read that was verse 14 in Ezekiel 37, and then verse 24, we read, "My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd." And in verse 26, he promises that, that this will all fulfill the Abrahamic and Davidic and New Covenants together as he establishes his kingdom. And he says there, verse 26, "'I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their presence for forever." Now, obviously, that has not happened. But then in Ezekiel 38, he gives a detailed prophecy of a future invasion, before all of this happens, and then in chapter 39, he gives a description of him coming to the aid of Israel, destroying these enemies, and a description of the aftermath and ultimate restoration of Israel into their land during the millennial kingdom. And, of course, all of the detailed descriptions of the millennial temple.

But what's interesting, is sandwiched in between Israel's regathering and promised spiritual restoration in chapter 37 and the temple details in chapters 40 and 48. You have this invasion in chapters 38 and 39. And all of this tells us that this battle is somehow uniquely associated with the last days temple. But let me read you Ezekiel 38, verses two through six. "And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Son of man, set your face toward God of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army horse, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples with you."'" Now, let me stop there. Just real briefly, the meaning of Gog is uncertain. I would estimate that I've spent at least 12 to 15 hours over the years, studying everybody that's ever written on this topic. And I can assure you that nobody really knows what Gog means. And the best we can do is see it as the personified head of the forces of evil which are intent on destroying Israel that we know. And we also know that this comes from the land of Magog and against that's uncertain; most likely a name describing the region that compromises the alliance of nations; the complex of nations that he goes on to mention. But he or it is called the "prince of Rosh," at least in the New American Standard, I think a better translation like you would see in the ESV, or even the Legacy Standard is "the chief prince," because Rosh is really an adjective in the Old Testament meaning chief, and so it's translated like in the ESV, "the chief Prince of Meshech, and Tubal." And of course, we know that these were provinces in Asia Minor in an area associated with the Scythians, kind of in the southern region of Siberia, if you would look at it today. And those people reigned from Central Asia--from China to the northern Black Sea, which is the region now of Turkey, and six Muslim Soviet Socialist Republics: Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. An estimated 25 million Muslims live in Russia, and most are living in the immediate proximity. And certainly, these particular republics are in the immediate proximity of Turkey, and Syria, and Lebanon and Iraq, and Iran, and Afghanistan. And we see from the text that God's allies include Meshech and Tubal, we know that they were territories in Turkey. Persia, he mentions, is Iran. Kush and Ethiopia is Sudan and that part of Northern Africa. Put, likewise Libya. Gomer can be identified historically with the Gimmerai of the Assyrians, or the Cimmerians of Greek literature, who originally came from the north of the Black Sea. Beth-togarmah is Turkey, and it may also include Azerbaijan and Armenia. So basically, the geographical area Ezekiel describes would include parts of Iran and Turkey and the southern provinces of Russia. Gog's allies, although they offer no conclusive evidence as to God's identity, and today, all of these nations hate the United States, ultimately, and they certainly hate Israel. And they want to destroy Israel. And of course, the most powerful motivation of all is the Shia Muslim commitment to their goal of not just a regional caliphate, but a worldwide caliphate. I mean, they would ultimately destroy every one of us if they could. And worse yet, mainstream Shiites believe that the return of the Messiah like figure they call the 12 Imam, and his coming was going to be hastened by some kind of an apocalyptic chaos and violence that's perpetrated upon Christians and Jews. And so they love to see all of this chaos because they think it's going to bring in their redeemer, their messiah figure.

But God says that he's going to put hooks into their jaws and bring this alliance down on Israel, according to verse four. According to verse 13, to "plunder, to carry away silver and gold to take away cattle and goods to capture great spoil." Now, when will this happen? Some say, well, it's going to happen during the tribulation. Others say it's the battle of Armageddon. Others say it's really mainly speaking of the end of the millennium. And others will say, as I do, that, I believe this will happen before the tribulation. Even though I can't be dogmatic, I think it's very possible. And I want you to look closely at this. We know that they're going to swoop down on Israel from the north, quote, "the mountains of Israel," 38 in verse eight and other passages, even in chapter 39. It's also going to be a region of, quote, "unwalled villages," according to 38 and verse 11, which is currently true of Northern Israel, I've been there. And this security seems to refer to military confidence rather than their trust in the Lord. And these invaders, according to 38 and verse six and verse 15, are going to come out of "the remote parts of the north." And according to chapter 39, verse four, we know that God will miraculously defeat them, quote, "on the mountains of Israel."

Why is he going to do this? Chapter 39, in verse seven, "'My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people, Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.'" And what's the outcome of the war? Well 39 verse 22, says, "'And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.'"

Now, obviously, this war must take place prior to the millennium, because during the millennium, Israel is not going to be surrounded by murderous enemies. And they will not even enter the kingdom, unless they already know the Lord and are worshipping Him. Moreover, and this is really fascinating, according to Isaiah 66, verses 19 and 20, some of the attackers Ezekial mentions are actually going to come to saving faith in Christ and come and worship the Lord. So I think that, and another a number of other reasons, that would rule out the millennium. So will it take place during the tribulation or at Armageddon? Well, I think not. Let me tell you why. At Armageddon, according to Zechariah 12, verses two and three, it says, quote, "all the nations of the earth will be gathered" against Jerusalem. And they will be allied with the Antichrist to destroy Jerusalem while the people are in a state of imminent peril. In Joel three, verse two, "I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat." Jehoshaphat means "Yahweh judges." "Then I will enter into judgment with them on behalf of my people and my inheritance Israel." But with the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekial 38, it's not all the nations, it's a specific alliance of nations that meet their fate on the mountains of Israel.

Moreover, at Armageddon, we read that the Antichrist will assemble his army in the northern part of Israel, round mountain Megiddo, according to Revelation 16, verses 14 and 16. But the actual battle is going to be in Jerusalem, Zechariah 12, 13, 14. But in the battle of Gog and Magog, there's no mention of the Antichrist, at least any anything that I can see; and the alliance of nations are going to be destroyed on the mountains of Israel, Ezekial 39 and verse four. And Armageddon occurring at the very end of the tribulation, it will occur at the very end of the tribulation, when the world including much of Israel, is going to be utterly destroyed by the seal trumpet in bowl judgments. It's devastating. In Revelation six, verse 16, we read that the people will say to the mountains into the rocks, "'Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of the wrath has come and who is able to stand?'" But in the battle of Gog and Magog, we see something very different. The context according to Ezekiel 38, and verse 11, is Israel living quote, "securely." "Betach,” securely; safely, free from anxiety and fear--a term which by the way can refer to peace through military might. And we also see that God will cause their enemies to come upon them and take spoil. Well, my goodness, if that's happening at the end of the end of the Armageddon, they're certainly not going to be living in peace and security. And there won't be any spoil to take.

Now, we know when Christ returns at Armageddon, amazing things are gonna happen to the topography of the earth. In Zechariah 14 beginning in verse three we read, "The Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south." And in verse 10, we read, "All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin's gate, as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security." Now that describes radical changes to the earth's topography; there is a renovation of the earth that occurs when Jesus returns, returning the earth to a form of Edenic splendor. In fact, John MacArthur says quote, "All the land into a plain," what we just read, "the term plain pictures the Jordan Valley, extending from Mount Hermon, which is an elevation of 9100 feet to the Gulf of Akabah. Here the entire land from Geba, six miles to the north, to Rimmon, in the south, would be leveled to become like the well-watered and fertile lowlands of the Jordan Valley, causing Jerusalem to be exalted above, like a solitaire diamond on a ring. Jerusalem having been rebuilt according to these dimensions will be exalted in both place and purpose; the prominent royal city of Jesus Christ, Ezekiel 40 through 48."

Now, how can you reconcile this kind of supernatural glorious renovation and cleansing of the Earth with the cleanup after the battle of Gog and Magog? Because it says in Ezekiel 39, nine through 16, it will take Israel "seven months," verse 12, to bury the corpses. And the destruction of the weapons will take according to verse nine, "seven years." You see, if this battle were to occur during the tribulation, the Jews would be having to do this during the horrific sealed trumpet and bowl judgment, where they're experiencing unprecedented persecution and judgment and death. We know according to Revelation 12, six, many of them will flee into the wilderness. And we know according to Zechariah 12, verses seven through eight, chapter 13, verse one, chapter 14, verse two, that others are going to remain in Jerusalem. So if this is a battle of Armageddon, this means that in other words, that the battle of Gog and Magog happens at the battle of Armageddon. This means that exposed corpses and military equipment will litter the land that the Lord has just renovated. I cannot fathom that. It's going to happen seven years into the millennium? That makes no sense to me. So that's why I believe that this battle will take place prior to the tribulation. And this will give Israel time to bury the corpses and dispose of the weaponry that will take seven years. In fact, as I look at it, in Ezekiel 38 and 39, there is nothing in those texts that would rule out the conditions of the State of Israel prior to the Hamas attack on October 7.

Is it possible that that attack signals the beginning stages of the battle of Gog and Magog? Maybe not the final one, but certainly we see, I think, the stage being set for all that Ezekial has promised, certainly that shocked Israel. They thought they were secure because of their military might. And it has certainly triggered a second front in the north with Hezbollah, and it's galvanized the entire Islamic nations of the world against Israel. Yay, I would submit to you is galvanizing most of the world against Israel, including the alliance of nations described in Ezekiel 38 verses five and six. I mean, we all watched the Muslim mob storm the airport, in Dagestan. Did you see that in search of the Jews wanting to kill them when they came in on the plane? That Republic of Dagestan is on the southernmost tip of Russia. And it shares border with Azerbaijan and Georgia, northwest of Tehran, and east of Turkey.

Israel's devastating ground operations in Gaza has outraged the world, along with millions of Marxists in the US. We see this with all of the protests. And think about this, we see now Biden losing support from the radical left. Let me present some scenarios to you. And here, we're just we're just thinking out loud, okay? Can't be dogmatic with any of this. What if the US decided to withdraw support from Israel? What if the rapture were to suddenly take place? I mean, Israel would be absolutely vulnerable. Either one of those scenarios, would be an opportunity for the enemy to come down upon them. Could this be the way God fulfills his stated promise in Ezekiel 38 verse four, when he says, "I will turn you about put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out and all your army." The idea to destroy Israel.

Now, imagine the geopolitical implications of such a victory. All of these nations come down upon Israel, and God supernaturally destroys them. And we'll get into that, possibly next week to see what he's going to do. But I mean, he destroys them, not Israel. Suddenly, the Islamic world would lose all of its clout, and Israel would become the most feared nation on the planet. The world's economy would collapse. You add to that the rapture of the church, and the United States would become a toothless tiger. And that would create a global crisis, a leadership vacuum that would need to be filled. Israel would become a force to be reckoned with, requiring a peace treaty. This could pave the way; I believe for the first seal of Revelation six; the horse and the rider that depicts the force of false peace that will be secured by the Antichrist. Moreover, at that point, guess what? The Orthodox Jews would finally be able to rebuild the third temple. And the secular Jews would no longer resist it, for fear of Islamic reprisals because they are basically neutered. And there has to be a third temple in order for it to be defiled. By the way, that temple will ultimately be destroyed and the fourth temple, the final temple, is the one of Ezekiel 40 through 48.

Well, I'll expand upon this more the next time, we're out of time. But at least, maybe we can begin to see that what we're seeing today, possibly, could be the beginning of all of this. Certainly, it's going to include many of the nations and the satanic ideologies that are driving all of the wickedness in the world today. And we don't know exactly when, but we know that it will ultimately happen, because God has promised it and he cannot lie. And to that extent, dear friends, I would encourage you to rejoice in the Lord. Don't be afraid of all this stuff. I mean, the worst that could happen is we die and be with him. Right? Right. And so we can rejoice in this. And I, I'm just thrilled when I look at all of the prophecies that God has fulfilled absolutely literally. And even though we don't know, again, everybody's buckets has holes in them, right? And my bucket's got holes in it. Like I say, I just don't think it has as many as some of the others but, but the point is, I know that ultimately, my God reigns, your God reigns, Christ is coming again, and he's going to establish His Kingdom just as he's promised. And my friend, if you don't know Christ, as your Savior, if you have never trusted in him as the only hope of your eternal salvation, please, I plead with you, do that today before it's too late. Let's pray together.

Father, thank You for the glories of your grace, the promises of your word. And I pray that even as we've reflected upon some of the possibilities, and certainly many of the truths of your word, that we will once again be encouraged in who you are, and that we will contemplate even more deeply and celebrate more joyfully, the wonders of your grace; the perfections of your character, that we might serve you and love you. That many might see Christ in us and be saved. To this end we pray for the glory of Christ. Amen.