Mr. Collins,
I just finished reading your article on Ezk 38-39 regarding the Gog and Magog attack on the nations of Israel.
If you could tell me please, in the book of Revelation, the prophecy refers to the battle of Gog and Magog AFTER the reign of Christ, when Satan has been bound for a thousand years and then is realeased. He uses The nations of Gog to battle Christ and his saints. Is this the same battle that you are refering to?
Also this scenario does not take into account the events of the King of the South, the King of the North, the beast powers ruled by 10 kings or kingdoms along with the false prophet, all happening just before the return of Christ, during the same time frame that you conclude that the Russians, China, and Iran attack the present day of Israel.
Could you please help me put all of these events into a time frame that matches. Also, in your studies and based on your opinion, what nations do you beleive will comprise the nations of the Beast power?
I enjoy very much your writings and look forward to your information.
Thanks
Craig Sablich
MyReply
Dear Craig,
You asked some very good questions. The Bible has prophecies about two very different attacks by “Gog and Magog.” The attack of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 occurs in “the latter days” of our current age before the millennium begins (verses 8 and 16) against the nations of the house of “Israel” (38:8, 14, 16-17, 39:7, 12, 22-25) at a time when the people of Israel are sinners who do not know God (39:7). The attack in Revelation 20 takes place after the end of the millennium (20:7) against the remaining righteous people on earth who fit into a single city (20:9). These two attacks by Gog and Magog occur at very different times and have very different targets. These prophecies indicate God has planned for a certain level of “dualism” in these prophetic fulfillments: The millennium will be both ushered in and closed by attacks led by Gog and Magog.
You are correct that many other prophecies contain scenarios for important latter-day events. While some of these prophecies describe separate events, sometimes we are looking at the same events being described by different symbolic terms by different biblical authors or even by the same biblical author in different chapters within a prophetic book. For example, in the book of Revelation, John describes the final global, world-ruling system as a symbolic “beast” in Revelation 13:1-7 (and other places in the same book). However, in Revelation 18, John describes the final, global, world-ruling system as “Babylon the Great.” These are obviously different symbols and/or terms for the same prophesied entity. But even here there is a nuance of difference. The “beast” is a political ruler governing a literal alliance of powerful nations. The term “Babylon the Great” describes a global economic system which dominates all the competing alliances on the earth.
I also regard the political alliance of the final “king of the north” in Daniel 11:40-45 as a parallel to the same political alliance called “the beast” in the book of Revelation. Daniel 2 describes this same final political alliance with the symbolic language of “the ten toes.”
If you have not read my research reports on latter-day prophecies, I would recommend them to you as they discuss the various prophetic terms for the final world alliances and global systems in considerable detail. They are entitled “What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveals about a Future World War III,” “A New Look at Prophecy,” and “What Kind of Captivity?” All are available for free at the Prophecy section of the Articles link at this website.
Steven Collins
