This is another message that came to me
from the LORD: “Son of
man, turn and face Gog of the land of Magog, the prince who rules over the
nations of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD:
Gog, I am your enemy! I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws
to lead you out with your whole army—your horses and charioteers in full armor
and a great horde armed with shields and swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya will join you,
too, with all their weapons. Gomer and all its armies will also join you,
along with the armies of Beth-togarmah from the distant north, and many others. “Get
ready; be prepared! Keep all the armies
around you mobilized, and take command of them. A long time from now you will be called into
action. In the distant future you will
swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering
from war and after its people have returned from many lands to the mountains of
Israel. You and all your
allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down on them like a storm and cover
the land like a cloud. “This
is what the Sovereign LORD says: At that
time evil thoughts will come to your mind, and you will devise a wicked scheme.
You will say, ‘Israel is
an unprotected land filled with unwalled villages! I will march against her and destroy these
people who live in such confidence! I will go to those formerly desolate cities
that are now filled with people who have returned from exile in many nations. I will capture vast amounts of plunder, for
the people are rich with livestock and other possessions now. They think the whole world revolves around
them!’ But Sheba and
Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish will ask, ‘Do you really think the armies
you have gathered can rob them of silver and gold? Do you think you can drive away their
livestock and seize their goods and carry off plunder?’ “Therefore,
son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give
him this message from the Sovereign LORD: When my people are living in peace in their
land, then you will rouse yourself. You will come from your homeland in the
distant north with your vast cavalry and your mighty army, and
you will attack my people Israel, covering their land like a cloud. At that time in the distant future, I will
bring you against my land as everyone watches, and my holiness will be
displayed by what happens to you, Gog. Then
all the nations will know that I am the LORD. “This is what the Sovereign LORD asks: Are you the one I was talking about long ago,
when I announced through Israel’s prophets that in the future I would bring you
against my people? But
this is what the Sovereign LORD says: When
Gog invades the land of Israel, my fury will boil over! In my jealousy and blazing anger, I promise a
mighty shaking in the land of Israel on that day. All living things—the fish in the sea, the
birds of the sky, the animals of the field, the small animals that scurry along
the ground, and all the people on earth—will quake in terror at my presence. Mountains will be thrown down; cliffs will
crumble; walls will fall to the earth. I will summon the sword against you on all the
hills of Israel, says the Sovereign LORD. Your men will turn their swords against each
other. I will punish you
and your armies with disease and bloodshed; I will send torrential rain,
hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur! In this way, I will show my greatness and
holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel
38:1 - 23 (NLT)
Who can know and
understand the wrath of God? Our text
says that one day God’s Fury
Rising will be plainly seen!
This sermon comes at
the request of Randy Jones, one of our members at Mt Zion UMC. His interest in Ezekiel 38 comes from much
interest in current events and Biblical prophecy concerning the end times and
whether we are walking in those last days.
As a disclaimer, let
me admit that I am not a scholar concerning Geo-political maneuvering in
ancient and current days. I have a
nephew who wrote an excellent book on the Byzantine Empire, but I depend on
others for much of the background on Gog and Magog.
With the disclaimer
out of the way, here are the 3 directions we will take this morning:
1. I want to make several statements that will serve as
parameters for understanding why Ezekiel 38 is important.
2. We will then look at the sociological and religious
landscape of the Middle East.
3. Lastly we will talk about what God will do,
and when
it will happen. (We will end with what
to do about it all).
Middle East Socio-Religious Conditions
Biblical
Understanding
In Genesis 21 we
have the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael.
Isaac became the head of the promised lineage of Abraham’s seed (the
Jews) who would produce Messiah, Jesus.
Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations. They fought from day #1 and are still a
boiling pot of unrest. Any nightly news
program can attest to the conflict in the Middle East.
Our text tells us
(v.11) that the descendants of Ishmael will attack a less-than-watchful
Israel. Today Israel is a powerful
nation (militarily) with powerful allies (US, etc). But they are at the center of everything
everybody else in the Middle East cares about.
Political Understanding
The countries
surrounding Israel are a collection of Ishmael’s descendants, and, particularly
today, they are churning-out rebellion and violence at unprecedented speed:
·
Tunisia, Egypt
and Libya have either lynched or exiled leaders since 2009
·
Yemen and Syria
are now in the middle of anarchy
·
Al Qaeda is
spread from the Afghan/Pakistan borders clear to the Horn of Africa
·
The USA is losing
its grip on keeping peace in Palestine
·
Russia’s
alliances with Iran (nuclear weapons) and many other Ishmaelite nations are
beginning to show Russia's true colors.
Pastor John
MacArthur wrote this about Russia’s probability to lead the charge when it
comes to the Gog/Magog attack on Israel and her allies:
Russia’s great military might, geography, atheism, and anti-Semitism
make that nation a prime prospect for being that hostile power.[1]
Religious-Political Fanaticism
Most of the
Mid-Eastern nations (see handout) that will take part in this attack are
predominately Muslim-led regions, which are Islamist in ideology, and fervently
anti-Israel.
The
Islamists are adherents of a broad ideological movement that wants Islam to govern the entirety of human interactions, from politics,
economy, culture to communal relations and family.[2]
The sociological
realities which exist in most of these countries form a fertile soil for the
perfect storm of hatred and violence against God’s Israel. Sunnis and Shiites don’t trust each other,
and that tension keeps most of the countries in poverty and internal
strife. Religious fanaticism and
ignorance are seedbeds for rebellion.
In the 1930’s
Germany’s economy was in shambles; the national shame over losing World War 1
made that country an easy target for an evil Adolph Hitler to rise to
power. He was going to be their savior,
leading them out of Jewish mongrelism into world domination. Instead he became their Fuhrer, a madman dictator whose hatred cost the lives of millions.
But, why focus on
Israel? Why will the siege of Ezekiel 38
converge on Jerusalem? Simple
answer: Dome of the Rock. This is the ancient temple site, and Muslim
extremists everywhere understand that if the temple is ever rebuilt on that
holy ground, all claim to the ancient city is forever lost to them. In short, it is jihad, holy war; and the
infidels must die!
What will God do?
Ezekiel’s prophecy
is quite clear: God is going to put it
in the mind of Gog to lead the charge against His people Israel. The Lord said he’d put a “hook” in Gog’s jaw
and lead him like a tamed mule to do his work.
God is going to be
the initiator of this awful battle. He
is going to shake the land as never before so all his children know it is the
Lord who is doing it. This will be his fury
rising; it is the wrath of God unleashed.
One side note – if
you compare the description of an earthquake in Revelation 6 with what you read
here in Ezekiel, you get the idea that this is part of the sixth seal broken by
the angel as God pours out his bowls of wrath to judge the earth.
But, in the midst of
all, God promises to “turn back” Gog.
His attack will be defeated by God’s supernatural intervention. Today Israel trusts in its nuclear warheads
and the protection of America. In that
day America will be powerless to help – only God can save them.
Are we there yet?
When is this going
to happen? In our day?
Some say it has
already passed. Some say it will be
coincidental with the Tribulation[3],
and others still hold it will be at the end of the Millennium.
But I have the date
– it’s going to happen when God says it must.
How shall we live?
A sermon that only
describes a problem and possible outcomes, without challenging us to live well and holy is not
a sermon; it is simply a Bible study. So
let’s see how we should live in light of this.
Trust God
Scripture indicates
this wrath is not aimed at followers of Christ.
For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ, 1
Thessalonians 5:9 (NRSV)
When you trust God
by accepting Christ’s gift of loving grace, your share of the wrath of God is
already satisfied. That’s salvation from
the penalty of sin. But when you are saved,
you then…
Serve God
We serve God to give
Him glory. In the United Methodist
Church we measure our lives by five promises of how we live.
·
Prayers – we pray
for all persons to come to know Christ
·
Presence – we
gather to worship, learn and grow together
·
Gifts – we open
our purses and hearts to be a blessing in God’s kingdom
·
Service – we open
our hands to help
·
Witness – we do
whatever it takes to help others know this Christ who has died and risen to
bring us eternal life.
God said through
Ezekiel that by His great and mighty acts all the nations will know He is the
Lord.
That is our
standard; we are also known by the way we act.
By our deeds of mercy and acts of love all men see our God and give
glory to Him.
That’s how we should
live.
In the name of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen!
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