Ezekiel prophesies about Israel becoming a nation again, and he says Gog of Magog will attack in “future years” and “in days to come.” 

Ezekiel 38:8, “After many days you will be called to arms.  In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate…”  “In days to come, O Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I show myself holy through you before their eyes” (Ezek 38:16).

In Ezekiel 39:7 God says that the purpose for the destruction of Gog of Magog is so Israel and the world will know He is the Holy One of Israel. “I will make known my holy name among my people Israel.  I will not longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One of Israel.” 

When Jesus walked the earth the Roman Empire was in power, Israel was a conquered and occupied nation and did not know peace.  Since Israel became a nation in 1947, they have not known peace.  They will only know peace after the war mentioned in Ezekiel 38:8, “…a land that has recovered from war.”  But during that brief period of peace, the Israelites will not be faithful to God.  “They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid” (Ezek 39:26).

The Gog of Magog war ends with Jesus Christ speaking a word.  “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike the nations.”  “The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse…” (Rev 19:15, 21).

After the Gog of Magog war, Ezekiel writes that God does a new thing:

“I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd” (Ezek 34:23).  “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezek 36:26-27).  This theme is repeated over and over through chapters 34 - 37, and 39, interrupted only by the Gog of Magog war.  “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.  Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever” (Ezek 37:27-28).

The Gog and Magog War

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison, and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth - Gog and Magog - to gather them for battle.  In number they are like the sand on the seashore” (Rev 20:7-8).

After the Great Tribulation, during the millennial reign when Jesus Christ rules from Israel, the world will know who God is, and the Israelites would not be faithless just because they live in safety.  If Jesus is ruling the world from Israel, Israel will not be recovering from a war when Gog and Magog attacks.  The attack by Gog and Magog after the millennium is not so the world will know who God is, but as Satan is released from prison, he deceives the nations and uses Gog and Magog again to attack Israel out of pure rebellion and vindictiveness. 

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth” (Rev 20:7-8).

This Gog and Magog war is in a different location: The Valley of Jehoshaphat to the east of Jerusalem. 

The Prophet Joel talks about a battle in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which runs north and south just east of Jerusalem, between the Mount of Olives and Mount Moriah.  The second battle with Gog and Magog takes place in this valley at the end of the 1,000 year reign and should not be confused with the Battle of Armageddon. 

Joel 3:2, “I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.”

Joel 3:10-12, “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears.  Let the weakling say, ‘I am strong!’ Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there.  ‘Bring down your warriors, O Lord!’ Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.”

This war ends when fire comes down from heaven to devour the armies.  “They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves.  But fire came down from heaven and devoured them” (Rev 20:9).

After the Gog and Magog war, Satan is thrown into the lake of fire and the final, great white throne judgment of mankind takes place. 

“After the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.  They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.  Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.  Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened” (Rev 20:10-12).

RUSSIA ATTACKS

There will not be a war with Russia before the Great Tribulation.

Ezekiel lists the ancient nations attacking Israel.  Over thousands of years the names have changed, but in some cases they are easily recognized.

“Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him.”   “Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all their shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops - the many nations with you” (Ezek 38:2, 5-6).

Genesis10:2-3 lists the sons of Japheth and Gomer: “The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.  The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.”  The Hebrew historian, Josephus said this about  Magog: “Magog founded the Magogians, thus named after him, but who were by the Greeks called Scythians” (F. Josephus, Antiquities, 1.123; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel 38:2). 

According to Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Herodotus 4:11), also known as the “Father of History,” the Scythians took the area of North Pontic from the Cimmerians, that is an area north of the Black Sea.  The authoritative Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament translates “Rosh” as the proper name of a people and a country “Russia” (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc, January 1996). 

The northern Caucasus area takes in what is now Southern Russia and Georgia.  It is interesting to note that the name “Caucasus” is derived from Gog-hasan, or “Gog’s Fort.” (A Commentary on the Old Testament, Dr. John Gill, 1748).  The nations of the Caucasus region include: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Moldavia, Georgia, Ukraine. 

“…from the far north with all its troops - the many nations with you” (Ezek 38:5b).  “You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army” (Ezek 38:16).  Moscow is directly north of Israel - far north.

The Other Nations

Persia - Now Iraq, Iran, Afganistan and Jordan.

Gomer - Old maps show Gomeria in different locations around Asia Minor.  In either case, it would take in modern Turkey.  Some people believe Gomeria is actually Germany, because it is thought that the Cimmerians were the descendents of Gomer.  The Cimmerians moved north into the Rhine and Danube valleys to get away from the Scythians (Targum Yonathan: Cimmerians identified with Germania).  That would probably include Austria.  “Gomer is the eponym of a people, probably the Cimmerians.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2001.  Note: If Gomer is present day Germany, this would mean the Antichrist has control of most of Europe by the time he attacks Israel at the end of the Great Tribulation.

Beth Togarmah - Traditionally eastern Asia Minor, now Turkey and Armenia.   

Cush is now Sudan and northern Ethiopia. 

Put is now Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. 

Who is missing?  Where are Israel's archenemies from times past to present: Egypt and Syria?  Two options: One or both are so closely allied with Israel when Russia attacks, that they will not be counted with the enemy.  Or, as a result of the war before the Tribulation, one or both do not exist as a military force.  It also appears that Saudi Arabia is not mentioned, but they have been an ally of the United States and Britain in previous wars.

ARMAGEDDON

The Gog of Magog war is Armageddon.  Different scriptures in Revelation talk about the very last days of the Tribulation and the Gog of Magog war in the Valley of Armageddon.

Rev 8:1 speaks of peals of thunder, rumblings, lightning, and an earthquake.

Rev 11:15 says the temple will be opened and flashes of lightning, rumbling, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm will happen. 

Rev 16:17, 19b, 21: “The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’  Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake.  No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.”  “God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.”  “From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men.” 

Rev 19:15, “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike the nations.”

Rev 16:16, “Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”   

Now see how Ezekiel describes the great earthquake and Armageddon in detail.

Ezek 38:19-23, “In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.  The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence.  The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.  I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord.  I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.  And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations.  Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

“On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea.  It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there.  So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog” (Ezek 39:11).  The Sea here is the Dead Sea, and the Valley of Armageddon gets a new name.

THE HARVEST OF THE EARTH

The earth is not harvested for judgment after Armageddon; it is harvested at the end of the age - after the 1,000 year reign. 

In Matthew 13:39 Jesus explained, “The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.”

“As weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.  The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 13:40-42).

“He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’ ” (Matt 25:33, 41).

Revelation 14:14-20 talks about the harvest of the earth at the end of the age.  Verses 15-16, “Another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, ‘Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’  So he that was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.”

Another angel, who had charge of fire, had the grapes gathered.  The grapes were thrown into the wine press outside the city, and the blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horse’s bridle (Rev 14:18-20).  We know from Joel that the Valley of Jehoshaphat is just outside the city and from Revelation 20:9 that that army is devoured by fire.  Now we learn that the valley is filled with blood as high as a horses’ bridle and flows for 180 miles.