Speaker 100:07
Welcome everyone. This is Russ Scalzo Chronicles of the End Times. Thank you for being with me today as we continue our study in the book of Ezekiel. Today, we're going to be looking at chapter 39. And, as I said before, much has been written about these two chapters, 38 and 39, when this war is, and who's involved. We covered a lot of that in the last podcast. You might want to go back and check that out. So today, we're going to concentrate on what makes this battle different from the battle of Armageddon and the final battle that we read about in Revelation, chapter 20. So, let's get to it. Let's read the scripture together, Chapter 39, beginning with verse 1.
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Son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say this is what the Sovereign Lord says I am against you, o Gog, chief prince of Meshach and Tubal. I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. Then, I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand on the mountains of Israel. You will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you food to all kinds of carrion birds and wild animals. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord. I will send fire on Magog and those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the Lord. I will make known my holy name among my people, Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. It is coming. It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. This is the day I have spoken of.
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We see a lot of similarities between 38 and 39 in this portion of scripture, where God is calling out the nation that we know now as Russia. The leader and the extremist nations that surround Israel will join him in this battle. Still, he is clear that he will put a hook in their jaw and pull them down from the far north, which differs from the Battle of Armageddon in the sense that the Antichrist will be the one who's going against the armies of the north. In the Battle of Armageddon, the entire world is involved because, by this time, the Antichrist has gained control of the world. You might read some things where certain people point out that, no, really, all this is just going to take place in the Middle East. The Antichrist is only going to affect the Middle East. This battle of Armageddon is only going to be in the Middle East. Therefore, the rest of the world won't be involved.
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Those of us who read the Word of God from beginning to end and study it and love it understand that is an impossibility, and you might understand how people would think that a hundred years ago. But today, the world is small. We all know that the internet has made it small. The way we travel around the world made it small, and now, with digital currency only around the corner, maybe a couple of years down the line, we'll all have the same economy we already work in that you could sit at your computer at home, and you can order products from China, from Argentina, from all over the world. The world is a small place now. So, when the Antichrist shows up on the scene, he's going to take control of all the finances of the world. And to take that a step further to think that the coming of Jesus Christ, the creator of the entire universe, that it would only affect the Middle East and the surrounding nations there is almost absurd. So, this war in chapters 38 and 39 is a regional conflict. Granted, it's quite large, but it's still a conflict that we could see happening tomorrow. If you watch the news, what's missing? Iran is threatening Israel. Israel's already at war. Russia is already at war. Troops are already on the border of the Golan Heights. All the pieces are there.
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Last week, we talked about the division in the Arab world from the real prosperous nations, the ones who have fallen in love with pleasure and luxury, and the more militant ones, looking to destroy Israel and believe that they are actually responsible for bringing the end of the world. They believe bringing Armageddon is going to bring their kingdom, Allah, and Islam to the entire world. That's their theology, though we certainly don't condone that. It's insane, but we can understand it in the sense that it's their belief system. But the other Arab nations, though they may have the seeds of that same theology in their minds, it's buried underneath the love of pleasure. We discussed that last week. That makes this battle so much different. Russia leads this battle, led by the leader of Russia, with the Arab nations, the militant Arab nations, who will join them to crush Israel. The Antichrist is not involved in this battle, but he could rise out of it.
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t's interesting to note that Israel lives in safety when this invasion happens, and safety, as we talked about before, is kind of relative term. Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all their unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land, with no one to make them afraid. So, this war has to take place when Israel feels secure. It can't take place in the middle of the tribulation, as some foresee, because there will be no peace during that period or, obviously, at the end of the tribulation, when the world is at war. To compare the two, let's reference Daniel, chapter 11, which we did in the prior podcast. It's important to repeat some of this so we get an understanding.
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The battle of Armageddon is all about the confrontation of the Western world, led by the Antichrist, against the kings of the East and the North, which ends with the confrontation of the entire world against the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, a battle of darkness on every side, a world filled with darkness where millions and millions of people have been slaughtered because of their faith. Remember Revelation, chapter 7. When John looked at the multitudes in heaven, that could not be numbered. They were like the sands of the sea. They just went waves and waves of people in heaven worshiping the Lord, all dressed in white. John asked who are they? Where did they come from? And the angel told him these are those who came out of the great tribulation. So, I think it's safe to say that more people, Gentiles, and Jews it's safe to say that more people, Gentiles, and Jews, will be saved during the tribulation period than in the last two or three hundred years of Christianity.
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To get a feel for how the battle of Armageddon begins versus what we're studying today, Ezekiel 38 and 39, let's take a look at Daniel, chapter 11. I know we touched on this before, but it's very important. Let's begin with verse 35. It says At the time of the end, the king of the south will engage him in battle and the king of the north will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood. He will also invade the beautiful land that's Israel. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab, and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. We have to keep in mind at this point, the Jews have realized they've seen the glory of God in the battle of Ezekiel. They've seen God glorified, and they are sensitive to the Spirit of God because God is pouring out His Spirit on Israel, and when the Antichrist reveals himself and declares himself God in the temple, the remnant, at this point, will realize that something is terribly wrong, and they will flee from the presence of the Antichrist, and they run for their lives. And where do they run? They run back into the desert, the same area that they were kept in the time of Moses. That's why this scripture says many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab, and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. Why? That's where Israel will flee, and God will protect them there.
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This is the current land of Jordan. This is very interesting because many Bible scholars look at the city of Petra, the ancient city of Petra, which is a stone city. Very interesting. You look it up and study it. It's a vast place which only has one entrance. It's a very narrow, what they call the Siq and it's the way into this amazing stone fortress, which can house up to a million people. It would be the perfect place for Israel to escape from the reach of the Antichrist, according to what we just read in Daniel.
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So, the Antichrist will extend his power over many countries. Egypt will not escape. The antichrist will extend his power over many countries. Egypt will not escape. He will gain control of the treasures of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt and the Libyans and the Nubians in submission. But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many. He will pitch his tents between the seas at the beautiful holy mountain, and he will come to his end, and no one will help him. So, this battle is truly the battle of Armageddon, and the entire world has been under siege of war in the first three and a half years and the second three and a half years. They have endured the wrath of God, and, as we said, during that seven-year period, millions upon millions, untold numbers will be saved. So, Daniel explains that the battle of Armageddon is between Jesus Christ and the forces of the Antichrist and the kings of the East. So, the battle is completely different.
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In Ezekiel 38 and 39, we have Russia identified, and we have certain Arab nations identified, which are in play right now as we speak. And in that battle, God will be glorified. It will be the opening door for the Jewish people to see who their God is. Because here the Lord says I will not let my holy name be blasphemed anymore. What he's saying is I'm opening the eyes of my people and the world. This is the perfect lead into the tribulation. Why? Because God is a God of salvation.
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In Ezekiel, chapter 33, and verse 11, the Lord says say to them as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways. Why will you die, O house of Israel? This is the heart of God. If we want to be separate from God, that's a choice we can make. Jesus said I didn't commend the world to condemn the world, for the world is condemned already because of who we are, because of what we do to one another and the way we rebel against God's laws, but God, the Father, wanted none of us to be away from him. So, in this piece of scripture, we understand God is opening the door. Yes, he's glorifying himself. He's opening the hearts of the Jewish people. This is just the beginning.
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Paul tells us that all Israel will be saved. That means those that open their hearts, the true Israel. That's what's going to take place in the coming years. God's plan to save Israel. The battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39 will open the door to the spiritual world. The Antichrist will be revealed. Those who will be lost, Jews and Gentiles, will be those who desire the things of the world over God, but the elect, those chosen of God, the true Israel, will be saved.
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Let's check out what Paul has to say in Romans, chapter 11. I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening, in part, until the full number of Gentiles has come in, and so Israel will be saved. As it is written, the Deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Jacob, and this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account, but as far as the election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you at one time were disobedient to God, have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. You might say to yourself well, where does it say that Israel is going to run away from the Antichrist and hide in this place called Petra? Well, the scripture doesn't use the word Petra, but it shows us the land of Jordan. That's where they run to. So, we can tie this all together. We're going to turn to Revelation, chapter 12, and that's like a podcast all by itself, but I want to just pull out a few pieces that will help us understand and clarify the difference between these two wars and what happens when the Antichrist reveals himself in the temple as God.
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A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his head. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so he may devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter, and her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
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There's so much in these first six verses. You can research this yourself. It is very interesting. There's so much misinterpretation of this scripture that it just fogs everybody's mind up. They can't see the end times clearly enough.
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This scripture is showing us the players. There's the dragon, which you know is Satan. He was tossed out of heaven years ago. A third of the angels go with him. He gets relegated to the atmosphere around the earth, to the lower heaven. We know he had access still to the throne even though he was thrown out of heaven. We see that in Job, where he's antagonizing, trying to antagonize God and point his finger at Job, he's called the accuser of the brothers or accuser of the brethren. We also see that in this chapter. Later on, he loses that ability. He can no longer accuse the brethren because heaven rejoices that he's gone. He's totally gone. Not only is he tossed out of heaven, like he was in a distant past, but now he no longer has any access to the throne. He's cast down to the earth, he's bound to the earth, and that's the literal translation of he knows his time is short.
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It also describes the woman. We see that the woman is Israel. Over her head are the 12 stars, which represent the 12 tribes of Israel. The woman here is not Mary, nor is she the church, and if you supplant the church in this piece of scripture, you're totally lost in Bible prophecy. You'll never find your way out. Those who believe in replacement theology are truly lost when it comes to God's plan for his people. So here, the woman is Israel, who carried the promise of the Messiah down through the ages. We also see, of course, Jesus. We see him being born. We see the enemy tried to devour the child, tried to kill the child from the moment it was born. We know that from history when Herod tried to kill him when he killed all children two years and under. We know that this child is going to rule the nations with an iron scepter, and when he was done with his ministry on earth, he was taken up into heaven on his throne. So, then the scripture says that this woman, Israel, flees into the desert to a place prepared for her by God for three and a half years.
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Now, we're going to jump ahead to verse 13. It says when the dragon saw that he'd been hurled to earth, he pursued the woman who gave birth to the male child. He pursues Israel. The woman was given two wings of a giant eagle so that she may fly to the place prepared for her in the desert where she could be taken care of for time times and half a time out of the serpent's reach. Notice the comparison from what we just read in Daniel a little while ago, where it says Edom and Moab and the leaders of Ammon, which is Jordan, will be delivered from his hand. So, at this point, the devil is so infuriated that he sends out an army after her. Pick that up in verse 15. Then, from his mouth, the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon spewed out of his mouth. Then, the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. So true Israel, the remnant of Israel, that will be saved. The Lord protects them in a desert, as we talked about. Just like he did in the days of Moses, he will deal with them there.
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Here's an interesting note about Petra. Petra was built on a terrace pierced from east to west by the Valley of Moses. The coincidence? I think not. You might think, how are all these people going to be fed? Is there a million people there or more? How were they fed in the desert? They were fed by manna. There's nothing in scripture saying that it's going to happen again, but I would label that as likely. So those that accept this false Messiah will stay in Israel, will stay in Jerusalem, and serve him. But the elect, those chosen by God, who had seen God deliver Israel time and time again through history, and especially this last time, when Russia attacks with some of the Arab nations, they see God deliver them miraculously. They will know that when Antichrist sets himself up in the Holy of Holies and declares himself God, they will run for their lives, and God will protect them in the desert.
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The battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39 is a specific war. It is a regional war that we could see right now, tomorrow, the next day, next month, a year from now. All the ingredients are there, and it could very well be the thing that triggers the rise of the Antichrist, true Israel, beginning to open their eyes that God is calling them. It could also be the great war that changes the economy because, if you listen closely, the digital economy is waiting in the wings, but it needs an event, a cataclysmic event, to take place, and a war of this magnitude could just be that. This war will be so devastating to Russia and to the Arab nations who are involved that it will change the entire geopolitical atmosphere.
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Israel will have to go out and bury the bodies that will be strewn over the mountains in the fields of Israel. It will take them seven months, and even after that, anyone who finds a bone or a body notifies the gravediggers, and they will come retrieve it and put it in the Valley of Haman Gog. Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up the small and large shields, the bows, the arrows, the war clubs, and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. Now, god knows all things and, like Paul says, we see through a glass darkly. So, we do our best to understand the Word of God and what God is saying to us and we combine that with current events and where things are going right before our very eyes. Things are moving so fast right now that I believe every week that goes by, more clarity is given to those who are studying the Word of God. Where once someone thought a certain way, now everyone is thinking differently because it's being manifested right before our eyes. To think when Jesus Christ comes back to this earth and slays the wicked with the Word of his mouth and all the Christians are back in glorified bodies and the kingdom of God is being set up, and the world is changing and being lifted from the curse, it's hard to think of Israel as going out and using the weapons for fuel for seven years.
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These two chapters have been highly debated for a long time, but I am convinced, due to the circumstances around us and what we see, and by what the scripture says, it will be like when Jesus Christ returns to this earth. I truly believe the battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39 belongs where we are today. I know this podcast has been longer than usual. I usually try to keep them between 12 and 15 minutes, but I felt it was so important to discuss this and I want to end with this. The emphasis on the battle of Armageddon is the return of Jesus Christ and the repentance of Israel, and nobody knows for sure every detail. No one can foresee every detail except God himself. But there are stark differences between these wars.
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Let's end this with the scripture in Zechariah, which is the heart of the whole matter. Chapter 12, verse 10. David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day, the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad-Raman in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself with their wives by themselves, and the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, and the clan of Shemaiah and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives. On that day, the fountain will be opened up to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
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That is what it's all about. God keeps his promises and we, as Christians, should thank God for that every day, the days that we live like Christians and the days that we don't. God is faithful. So, we look upon Israel, and we see their secular state today, and we see the hate that's building up. And, yes, they are not a nation that follows God, but neither were we when we came to Christ. Reconciliation, salvation, and redemption are the heart of God. This is Russ Scalzo from Chronicles of the End Times. Keep looking up. The King is coming.
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