The Prophecy of Israel’s Invasion

Transcript

GRM 1058
11/31/2011
Future Intentions of Israel's Enemies
Ezekiel 38
Gil Rugh


We've been reminding ourselves of what God has planned for the future. And I realize we have been over these things many times, if you've been here at Indian Hills very long. But it's something we want to keep before us. You remember when we started, we referred to Paul's instruction to the Romans and he told them, now is the time for you to awake from your sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And 2,000 years later we are much, much nearer to the full realization of all that God has provided for us in Jesus Christ. And even as it was for the Romans, so it is for us. It's very easy for us to get caught up in the activities of this life and especially where we are blessed with the good life, to become absorbed with this life and become what dull in our thinking about what God has said is going to unfold. And the reminder that Jesus Christ is coming to gather us into His presence. That time, too, we shall give an account of how we have conducted the stewardship entrusted to us.

But we're looking at things relating to the seven-year period that will precede the return of Jesus Christ to the earth to establish His kingdom. We want to keep in mind the time where we are. Before that seven years the Rapture of the church will occur, we didn't talk about that in any detail as we started. But after the removal of the church from the earth there will be seven years marked by the signing of an agreement by the western world leader with Israel. And the clock will begin ticking on the last seven years of God's program with the nation Israel to prepare them to receive Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. And He will return from heaven. The events of Armageddon, the destruction of the armies of the world, the establishing of His earthly kingdom.

We are looking at what God says will take place in that seven-year period leading up to the return of Jesus Christ to the earth just so we can be sensitive and aware of what will take place and look at the world around us. We don't interpret the Bible through the events of the world but we look at everything in the world through what God says in His Word. As we see some of these things that the Bible says will take place in that seven-year period coming together, it makes us more alert, more aware that the return of Jesus Christ for the church may be very, very soon. And we ought to be living our lives in light of that event.

Some of you watched the news this week, I am sure. We've talked about the coming western world alliance. We started out with that, I thought that might be all we would talk about, but one thing leads to another. But the Bible indicates that the Roman Empire will be revived, restored with a ten-nation confederacy. And we looked at passages in Daniel and Revelation that talked about that coming event. Ten nations federated together with the strength of iron and the brittleness of clay out of the old Roman Empire. We see the European Union at least as a forerunner of that. Events going on there interesting to us. We saw that the prime minister of Italy resigned this week. I was interested in watching the news as they were talking about whether he would be resigning, and just the way they talk. Well the division between northern Italy and southern Italy, and there is a person in the north who is relatively unknown outside the area, outside Italy, but has such great influence in the country. And how he is bringing pressure to bear for the prime minister to resign and things like that. Just the way they talked about it, this relatively unknown figure who wields great power. I'm not saying he is the little horn, don't go out and say that, but just to see the terminology and the discussion and the way things go.

I watched a little bit of the ceremony that goes with the installation of the new leader of Greece. And of course they have to have the Greek Orthodox leadership, the leadership of the Greek Orthodox Church there. And in that long ceremony they play a key role in his being installed as the leader of the country. And you see the religious and the political going together.

Now they're talking about maybe Spain will be the next country to undergo a transfer of leadership, what this means. I was interested in the picture I saw in one of the news publications of the leaders from three countries, huddling together as they have had trouble in working out the problem. And you just see how this will all unfold specifically, I don't know. I do know what God has said about the future. We know because of what He said in the Word. But we want to be alert and aware.

As interesting as all this is, we don't want to lose sight of the fact the key issue in biblical prophecy is Israel. Everything revolves around Israel. All that is happening in the nations is because what God has promised and covenanted to do with Israel. Sometimes people in the world talk that if they could just resolve the problem with Israel, everything else in the world would be good. You can't do that because nothing in the world will be right until the King of Israel rules the world. And so that is where God is moving everything, to the restoration of Israel and the establishing of the kingdom that He has promised for the nation.

We're going to Ezekiel 38, and we're going to look at what Ezekiel 38-39 are covering, but we need to put it in its context. The last major section of Ezekiel begins with chapter 33, you might just thumb back to chapter 33. And really from chapter 33 through the last chapter of the book, chapter 48, it's about God's plan of restoration for the nation Israel, the promises associated with that. Culmination of that is chapters 40-48 with the millennial reign of Christ and the temple that will be the focal point of worship in the earth during Christ's millennial reign. So we call it the millennial temple.

In Ezekiel 33 Ezekiel says, the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of Man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them. And he unfolds prophecies concerning Israel, the responsibility that Ezekiel has as one entrusted with the Word of God, to give it forth as God has said. If he doesn't, he will be accountable to God. Judgment will still come but Ezekiel will be held responsible for not fulfilling his duty. If he warns them and they don't obey, judgment will come but Ezekiel will have been relieved of any accountability for what has happened.

He goes on and the responsibility of Israel to repent, things that are going to happen to Israel. Verse 34, the word of the Lord came to me saying, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. There has been unfaithfulness of Israel, that has necessitated judgment but that has been part of God's plan to bring Israel to the spiritual condition where He can restore them and bring them the blessings that He has promised.

Come to Ezekiel 36, son of man, prophesy to the sons of Israel and say, oh mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. And then the enemies of Israel have spoken against them, acted against them, treated them as a prey to be fed upon and devoured and failed to appreciate they are God's people. He may be disciplining them but He loves them and will ultimately restore them. And so they will rule over the people who have so mistreated them.

Ezekiel 36 ends with the reiteration of the New Covenant, reiterated because it is the same thing said in Jeremiah 31, the covenant that God establishes with Israel. Verse 322, we'll pick up with Ezekiel 36:22, say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for your sake oh house of Israel that I am about to act but for my holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which is profaned among the nations which you have profaned.

Verse 24, how will God do this? I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, bring you into your own land, sprinkle clean water on you. You will be clean. I will give you a new heart, put a new Spirit within you. Verse 27, I will put My Spirit within you, cause you to walk in My statutes. Verse 28, you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers. You will be my people, I will be your God. You see God says, it is My name, My holiness is at stake. Why? Because God has entered into covenant with Israel and guaranteed by covenant that He would bring them to salvation, establish them in the land that He promised them and shower His blessings upon them. Israel proved to be unfaithful. That's what God says, you profaned My name, not honored it. But I have to act to bring honor to My name, to vindicate My holiness, to show that I am the God who keeps His word. So the unbelief of Israel cannot frustrate the promises of God, but the unbelief of Israel has brought withering, devastating judgment and the worst is yet to come. The discipline of God can be very, very, very severe. And so it has been for Israel. We talk about the holocaust, we haven't seen the worst for Israel, the suffering of Israel down through millenniums of time. But God is not done with Israel.

The valley of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 talks about the restoration of Israel and the ultimate spiritual life that God will bring to the nation. The restoration of Israel to the land is what is referred to. Israel has to be back in the land that God promised them, the land we know as Israel, the official name given to it in 1948 when it was reestablished there. Israel. Israel has to be back in the land in that seven-year period culminating with the return of Christ to the earth to establish His kingdom. Numerous indications of that, one, that seven-year period begins when the leader of the wester world signs an agreement with the nation Israel, Daniel 9:27. That starts that seven-year period. Israel has to have an identity, a place as a nation. Passages make clear that the temple will be functioning during that first 3½ years and so on. Sacrifices will be being offered in the temple in Jerusalem and so on. So there are numerous indications that the temple will be rebuilt by Israel. Now that will be during that seven years. Israel is still and will still be living in rebellion against God during almost all of that seven-year period.

What Ezekiel 38-39 do is talk about God's judgment on a major portion of the world that has opposed Israel. And after you get through chapters 38-39, then it will talk about that temple that will be built during the millennium. It will be existence during the time that Christ reigns on the earth. That will covers chapters 40 through the rest of the book.

Ezekiel 38-39 talk about an invasion of Israel by Russia and allied Muslim nations. Some of you have asked, what about the Muslims? I get material and read material as you do, people have views and are afraid the Muslims are going to take over the world. Look at the Muslim influence in this country and this country. Israel looks like nothing on a map, we'll look at a map in a moment. But you understand Israel will survive, its enemies will not. When you have a host of enemies that are like a flood covering the land, they still lose and Israel wins because God is on Israel's side. That's what Ezekiel 38-39 are about.

Let's just read some of the opening part of this in case you haven't read it recently. And the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man. That's favorite name for Ezekiel, son of man. Set your face toward Gog 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 oh Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you about, put hooks in your jaws. I will bring you out and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired. A great company with a buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords. Persia, Ethiopia, Put with them, all of them with helmet and shield. Gomer with all its troops, Beth-Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops many peoples with you. Be prepared and prepare yourself, all your companies are assembled about you. Be on guard with them. So the emphasis goes, is repeated. Then it's going to be a large host of people.

Jump down to verses 15-16, you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with them, all of them. Riding on horses, great assembly, mighty army. You will come against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. You see that picture. There are so many, they are like a cloud covering the land. I mean, this is an army unlike armies that we have seen before. Huge number of people.

The identification of the peoples here. For many of them you go back to Genesis 10, we're not going back there, we've done it on other occasions. Go back to Genesis 10, we're not going to look at the development, but I do want to read the names to you. I was just going to say them, but I like you to see them. Genesis 10. And remember we have had the flood of Noah which ended in chapter 9. Now the only people left alive on the earth are Noah and his three sons and their families. And the three sons of Noah are Shem, Ham and Japheth, verse 1. Then sons are born to them and you have these sons named and we'll see some of the names here that are going to appear in Ezekiel 38. So going from Genesis 10 and looking where some of these people settled in the world can be traced. We've talked about that in other studies, we won't be doing that today, just be saying where it is. It helps you identify who these people are because some of the names change. Over time one area may have been identified with one name but been given a different name with the passing of time. We can still trace the location where these peoples are.

Some of the names you'll see come up. For example verse 2, the sons of the Japheth were Gomer and Magog, Tubal, Meshech. Those are names we're going to see in Ezekiel 38. Down in verse 6, the sons of Ham were Cush, Cush will come up in Ezekiel 38. Put will come up in Ezekiel 38. So I just want you to see where we get back. At the end of verse 7, you are going to have Sheba and Dedan come up in Ezekiel 38. Not part of the armies that attack Israel, Sheba and Dedan are what we know of as modern day Saudi Arabia, that region. So we trace some of this. Just wanted you to see where the connection comes. And if you are interested you can go to the more detailed commentaries on Ezekiel or Genesis 10 and they'll help you walk through where some of those are. Or there are books on prophecy that you can get that will help you see how these nations settled out, how they are traced and how the name down to our day developed.

Come back to Ezekiel 38. We're going to first mention the name Gog. Gog is probably a title, it appears about 12 times in these chapters. Set your face toward Gog, verse 2; verse 3, I am against you, oh Gog. And it goes on down, his name will appear again and again. It seems to be a title, like we use President. A ruler, he is the head of this alliance. The land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. And I want to pick up on Rosh. You want to talk about the discussion of the derivation of the modern name Russia. And Rosh and its background, that's one line that may indicate that this is the modern land of Russia. Another very clear, I think, in the context indication we're talking about Russia, he talks about in verse 3, thus says the Lord God, behold I am against you oh Gog, prince of Rosh. And Gog being the ruler of Rosh. Is where this enemy comes from. Verse 6, they come from the remote parts of the north. Again it is stated down in verse 15, you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north. Down in Ezekiel 39:2, I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remote parts of the north.

We have some maps, I want the fourth map. I put them in order for you, Sean gave them to you in the order I said I'd use them. So the first map is #4. Perfect. Now you see all this detail, right? We're going to focus on these things right here. I just put this up for one large thing and I don't even know if you can see the laser. But this is Israel right here. Now we go to the remote parts of the north, we're just going to keep going up north. Where are we? Moscow. We're in the region of Russia, obviously, up here is the Ukraine. So if you're going to go to the remote parts of the north, the uttermost parts of the north from Israel. And all directions in the Bible are given from Israel. We're not talking about north from the United States. The Bible gives all directions from the center of the world as far as God is concerned. And so we're going from Israel north and so the remote parts of the north I think both in derivation of the name and in just the location. Key figure here is the ruler of Russia. He is identified as Gog, the prince of Rosh. I think that's the best translation here, prince of Rosh. Gog, the ruler, the prince of Rosh, Russia. The one who comes from the remote parts of the north.

Now it is also true, all the enemies of Israel came into Israel from the north. By that I mean if you were coming over here in biblical times to attack Israel, you didn't come across this region because that's all desert. You don't want to move your army across that desert. So they come across what we know as the Fertile Crescent here. So they would come up and they would come down from the north into Israel. So all the enemies of Israel came from the north in that sense.

And so in prophecy when they talk about these coming enemies from the north, they are all foreboding because these all become minor enemies, even Assyria and Babylon. Here is Baghdad in Iraq. When you came over here from Babylon and they attacked, they came around and down from the north. The exception was when Nebuchadnezzar was over conquering Israel, his father, Nabonidus, died back here in Babylon. He took some select troops and went across the desert to get back to Babylon as quickly as possible to solidify his hold on the empire. But the normal way, when he brought his armies, he brought them around the way that you could sustain your army and so on. So I mention that, so the army does come from the north.

But here we come to the final, ultimate enemy who will attack from the north the prince of Rosh. This is not the Antichrist, this is not the little horn of Daniel, but this is leading this alliance of nations to attack Israel.

All right, now we can go back to map #1 and we are in order. You'll note in verse 2, you have the land of Magog and you have the countries of Meshech and Tubal. Well Magog is over here in central Asia, it would have covered this region. This is where the Magogites settled, in this region. This was part of the Soviet Union up here until the Soviet Union came apart. And you know what immediately happened to these countries over here, the Soviet Union suppressed religious expression. As soon as they were free from that, they became radically Muslim in their commitment. So part of God's plan.

Meshech is over here in Turkey, part that we would include now in the land of Turkey. Down at the end of verse 3 you have Tubal, and Tubal would be in Turkey as well, in what we have as modern day Turkey. Then you come down to verse 5 and we have Persia. Now there is a change of names we can identify with. It was Persia for millenniums. But then in the 1930s the name was changed to Iran and then with the Islamic revolution to something like the Islamic Republic of Iran or something. So over here is Persia, everybody recognizes that. I wasn't alive in the '30s but some of you may have been. Remember the Shah of Iran who ruled there and his son moved to the United States, I think he's in Texas, when it was taken over by Muslim forces.

Ethiopia comes just after Persia. Now we have a country Ethiopia we're familiar with. Go to the next map. This is Ethiopia, the name is Put, probably have it in the margin, some of the older versions had Put. So here is modern Ethiopia down at the bottom but Sudan would be more the region we would be talking about with what is called Ethiopia here or Put. Now what is Sudan? It is a center of Islamic fundamentalism. We have people who were privileged to have family members here from Sudan. Came to this country to escape the awfulness of the situation here, right below Egypt. Ethiopia is Sudan, Put is Libya. Libya here.

So we have this alliance. Interestingly, Egypt is not directly mentioned in this chapter. Now there are many other nations associated in this alliance. Saudi Arabia is out, we'll mention them in a moment. While we have this map up, the far west for Israel was over here at Spain. We talked about this in our study of the book of Acts. So we're going to talk about Spain and allies with Spain. Right above Spain, France, and you can see where we are over here with Italy and this region. And Spain is particularly going to be mentioned with Saudi Arabia as questioning the activity of this alliance of Russia, these nations and these nations here coming up to attack Israel.

Gomer is in Turkey, Beth Togarmah is in Turkey. Then we are told that there are many other nations allied with them. Verse 15 for example, many peoples with you. Those that are mentioned additional. Many peoples with you mentioned at the end of verse 6 and other places. This doesn't mean these are the only nations but these are joined here.

I mentioned Saudi Arabia. Down in verse 13, Sheba and Dedan. We saw those back in Genesis 10. That would be the region that would be encompassed in Saudi Arabia today. And the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages or young lions, as sometimes translated, will say to you, have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold? So you see they are questioning these nations joined together under the leadership of Russia to attack Israel. Tarshish is modern day Spain. And so Spain with its villages or young lions, there is a discussion among prophetic scholars, will this include other nations allied there. The young lions may be referring to the countries that are allied with Spain. We don't know. It may be the western alliance because this would have been the west in Israel's day and Paul wanted to go to Spain. He was going to stop at Rome in Italy on his way to Spain. He's going to really the west as far as he could go in carrying the gospel. We don't know if he got that far or not.

So you see the alliance here. Perhaps these Muslim nations, and they are all characterized by being Muslim, Russia is not Muslim. But who is the great friend of the Muslim nations today? We're talking about Iran's nuclear capability. Who helped Iran get nuclear capability? Russia. Who defends them? Who has spoken up when there is talk about taking out the nuclear capability of Iran? Who has spoken in her defense? What powerful nation? Russia. So even though Russia itself is not Muslim, it aligns itself with the Muslims.

You see all these nations. Go back to a previous map, we'll see the nations down here. This is Israel right here, this is the land of Israel, this little bit here. Now you see Egypt down here and you go over and you have Libya and Algeria and Sudan down here. You have Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Iran and you have Turkistan and all these countries. Look at the amount of it, coming around here. These are all Muslim, all here. But if Israel would only give up some of this we could have peace in the world. I mean, really, how much land do you need to live on? We have all this over here that we have seen on the previous map, all this here, all this here, all the Muslims, but Israel is the one causing trouble in the world because they have this. If they would give up this much of it, maybe we could have peace. But you realize they won't be happy. We keep talking about militant Islam. Where is non-militant Islam, if you please? You know every country that becomes dominated by Islam becomes militant. Right? A few years ago I read statistics, at that time there were 42 Muslim-dominated countries. Not one of them allowed freedom for non-Muslims. Now we see revolutions taking place and we say, now we're going to have democracy, we're going to have freedom. Do you think so? Would that happen in the Sudan when the Muslims become dominant? Just which one of these countries now would you want to go and establish a Christian church? You wouldn't. There is no such thing. Now are there some Muslims who are moderate? Sure, but they are such a small minority that they don't make any difference because as soon as the country gets taken over by the Muslims it becomes militant Islam. Then the Christians get driven out.

Do you know what happened in these countries over here when Israel was established as a country in 1948? All the Jews had to go. We talk about the poor non-Jews here have not been treated right. You know the Jews had to leave and leave all their wealth in these other countries. Far greater numbers, far greater wealth than any of the non-Muslims ever lost. But that doesn't matter.

Do you know what the real problem is in the world? This is the center of the world as God sees it. This is where God's focus is. Jesus said of the people of His day, you are of your father the devil. The devil is unceasingly hostile toward God and toward the people that God has chosen for Himself. And Jesus said to the people of His day, you always do the will of your father the devil. People always do the will of their father the devil, they attack Israel. You say, that's not nice. That's true of every false religion, not just Islam. That's true of unbelieving Protestants. They always do the will of their father the devil. We talked about Catholicism, Hindus. You understand apart from salvation in Jesus Christ, a person is a child of the devil and always does his will.

That's why antisemitism, we just had an issue with this when two world leaders spoke about the leader of Israel and the microphone was open. The leader of France said about how he hated the leader of Israel, Netanyahu. And the leader of our country said, and I have to work with him every day. And didn't know the microphone was open. Antisemitism is just below the surface. Sometimes there is a veneer of openness and acceptance and tolerance. It's just a veneer.

And here the veneer will break down. And so these countries are going to descend on Israel. Let's read it. When will it happen? After many days, verse 8, you will be summoned. And one thing you'll note in these chapters as you read them, a constant emphasis on who is in charge here. Why do these countries come at this time to attack Israel? God summons them. Now is the time. Now God is not responsible for their sinful actions but He determines how He will use their sinful action. Down in verse 10 God says, it will come about on that day that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan. They are doing what they want, but they do it on God's timetable. He's in charge.

You'll note in verse 8, it will be in the latter years, it will be in the land that has been restored from the sword and the peoples have been gathered from various nations. Israel is a Jewish nation but the people have come. There are Russian Jews and German Jews and all the different nationalities and backgrounds because the Jews have been scattered to other countries. But they maintain their identity. They were never absorbed.

I was watching a program, sometimes Marilyn and I watch “House Hunters International.” It's fun to watch when people are going to buy a house in another country and you find out something about that country, what housing is like and what the cost of housing is. Watching this one where a lady wanted to move from New York to Israel. Now New York has its problems, I used to live in New Jersey, next to New York. But you want to leave New York for Israel. And so they are showing apartments, and they are expensive and they are not as nice as you might find in this country. And then they open a room and you wonder, is this a closet? There are no windows, there are no shelves, there is nothing. What is this? This is the bomb shelter. We're on the eighth floor of a building. What does a bomb shelter on the eighth floor help if they blow up the building? But you build into your apartments a bomb shelter, there can be attacks of one kind or another. You have to be able to flee to the bomb shelter. I mean, that's Israel, even modern Israel.

Well they have been restored and the Jews are drawn back. The Jews will be in the later years, that is mentioned again in verse 16. My people Israel, it will come about in the last days, it is going to happen in the latter years, in the last days. That's the timing, that's that seven-year period that we are talking about ultimately, the conclusion of God's program for Israel, the 70th week of Daniel. It happens at a time when Israel, the end of verse 8, has been regathered and they are living securely. Verse 11 says, this alliance will go up against a land of unwalled villages. So unwalled villages. You know what happened in biblical times, they would build a city with walls around it. People would live outside the city on their farms, but when a threatening army was approaching, everybody retreated into the city and they closed the gates. So an unwalled city is a city without defenses from military attack. You go up to the land of unwalled villages, those who are at rest, living securely, living without walls, having no bars or gates. An emphasis on that, that Israel has put down military defenses. We mentioned the living securely. On it goes, we could pick up other emphases on that in these chapters. But that shows you the time period.

Now when would this be? Most Bible students limit the time period. But there are a number of possibilities if you believe in the fulfillment of future prophecy. Some put it just before the beginning of the seven-year period that this will happen. It could happen before or after the Rapture, but before the signing of the covenant with Israel. Some put it early in the first part. Arnold Fruchtabaum puts it before the start of the seven-year tribulation. David Jeremiah puts it early, after the start of the seven-year period when the Antichrist has signed an agreement, but early in that period. Some put it in the middle. Some of you read Mark Hitchcock's work, it's a very fine work on prophecy, he puts it about in the middle. Harold Hohner splits it, from Dallas, he puts Ezekiel 38 in the middle and Ezekiel 39 at the end of the seven years. Then there are those who put it at the end of the seven years, and associate it with Armageddon. And then there are those like Ralph Alexander in the Expositor Bible Commentary, he puts it at the end of the thousand years.

So where does it go? Well I think at the end of the thousand years is the least likely because of some timing things in Ezekiel 39, seven years' burning and that. Because we move into eternity rather quickly at the end of the thousand years. The others within the seven years are a possibility. Ezekiel 39 says though that things will be going on here for seven years ____________ the land, but I see the millennial kingdom developing, not just Christ's here, and everything changes overnight. But people are going to be growing, maturing, having children. So I think there will be a developing time. I think it will happen after the signing of the seven-year treaty in Daniel 9 because that's the time we know Israel will have true peace, such a peace that they can have the temple in existence during the first 3½ years, sacrifices being offered. We know that from portions of Scripture we've referred to. In the middle of that seven-year period Jesus spoke of when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, that's in Matthew 24, I take it we're in the middle of the tribulation there. That would be connected to 2 Thessalonians 2 that the Antichrist will set up an image of himself in the temple, declaring himself to be God. That would be the abomination of desolation that desecrates the temple. In Revelation 12 which we looked at previously where Satan does battle with Michael in heaven and Satan loses his access to heaven. He has lost his position as the anointed cherub that covers the throne of God, but he still has access to heaven. The opening chapters of Job talk about that. He is cast out of heaven, we know that's the middle of the seven-year period because it refers to the fact that there are 1260 days, 3½ years during which Israel will be persecuted by the devil as he attempts to destroy them. Because that's the goal, if he can wipe out Israel, he can thwart the purpose of God to establish His kingdom on the earth in fulfillment of the covenant of promises to Israel.

So these kinds of things would seem to indicate to me during the first 3½ years you do have Israel. That doesn't mean the temple couldn't be rebuilt before the seven-year period, before the Rapture. All we know is the temple will be in existence during that time. The signing of the covenant between the western world leader and Israel, though, does have to mark a distinct time. There evidently is that which sets Israel free from worry for its own defenses, because you can see what happens here—they are ready to attack Israel. So it seems the treaty guarantees Israel some security. So I would be most comfortable putting it within that period, perhaps toward the middle because of events that occur with the destruction. Because how are these enemies destroyed? Well not by a military battle. Now you can understand if the Antichrist has signed an agreement with Israel representing the western nations, guaranteeing the sovereignty and security of Israel, an attack on Israel becomes an attack on the wester alliance, similar to what we have experienced today, down to our day. Things are adjusting but by and large the United States, for example, has put its support behind Israel. And an attack on Israel would have resulted in a response from the United States. So that seems to be entailed in this treaty.

Note the destruction of these armies that come to attack Israel, and they come like a flood and like a cloud. And they are coming from all directions here. I mean, Russia is leading them as they come down from the north, join with Turkey, and Syria probably would be part of that and Jordan. These are joining coming in across from the east. Over here from the south and west we have them coming up. All descending, all these people descending. You can imagine, you can see what can be assembled in a Muslim country and the hordes of people can be assembled for a certain task. Can you imagine when they decide they are going to come? You would think all these people if they weren't so well armed could just by very sheer numbers march through Israel. Well maybe they think so.

Here is what happens, verse 18. Verse 17, God says this is what He spoke about through His prophets, what is happening when they come to attack Israel. It will come about on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord, that My fury will mount up in My anger. People don't like to talk about the anger of God, but He can have an anger that must be described as a furious anger. You know God can sentence people to hell, He is a perfect God with a perfect anger and that is nothing to be taken lightly.

In My zeal My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence. The mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse, every wall will fall to the ground. There is going to be an earthquake like they've never seen in this part of the world. What does that do to armies marching? I mean, all of a sudden the ground under you is shaking and coming apart and everything taking place there. So you have the great earthquake that brings destruction to these armies.

Then verse 21, I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains, declares the Lord. Every man's sword will be against his brother. Now chaos. What is happening? You have all these allied armies but they are not allied by language. So now you have turmoil and what happens? We've seen this in battle days when communications broke down, when all of a sudden you have an army killing its own soldiers by mistake. This will be in the turmoil, the confusion, the earthquake and the destruction and everybody going everywhere. All of a sudden now ancient animosities perhaps, we don't know. Everybody is fighting against everybody. They have weapons, but who are we fighting? So God brings that supernaturally upon them. I mean, that's no great thing. He blinded armies in the Old Testament so they lost their way.

And then there is a third. With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him. I will reign on him and his troops and on many people who are with him. A torrential rain with hailstones, fire and brimstone. He is raining like they had never seen. Hailstones are coming down, fire, brimstone. Reminds you of Sodom and Gomorrah and its destruction. It is a devastating judgment—earthquake, armies all of a sudden turning against themselves, then God bringing pestilence, destruction. Remember 180,000 of the Assyrians died in one night. No great deal for God to bring destruction. And then He rains upon them to add to the terror. Why?

I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, make Myself known in the sight of many nations. They will know that I am the Lord. God is making clear, God rules, this is My world. You have chosen to fight against Me, you cannot win. God doesn't have to count how many soldiers, these are His people over here. He said He is going to establish a kingdom with a king right here in this city that will be a kingdom that lasts forever. It doesn't matter if you outnumber them 1,000 to 1 or 1 million to 1, you can't win. They win because God acts on their behalf. Not because of their goodness, we read that earlier. Not because they deserve it. I'm acting for My holiness. But Israel is the beneficiary of that because He chose them for Himself. Well then it doesn't matter what Israel does, Israel wins. Ultimately Israel wins, but until they come to realize it matters what they do, the discipline on them remains relentless.

Because you know what? If this happens in the middle of the tribulation, as one of the possibilities, Israel has been spared from the final 3½ -year rule of the Antichrist. That is not a deliverance ultimately, that last 3½ years will be when the Antichrist and the devil who is behind the Antichrist launch the greatest attempt to annihilate the Jews. If it weren't for the grace of God in providing some deliverance for the Jews every Jew would be wiped out. In fact the devastating judgments, and we studied this when we studied Revelation, and the series of judgments in the seals and the trumpets and the bowls, that series of judgments that goes through the book of Revelation, Jesus said that if He didn't intervene at the end of seven years, there wouldn't be a person left alive on the face of the earth. We're talking about the death of billions of people at this stage. And it all has to do with this nation right here, God fulfilling His promises to them and fulfilling His promises to the rest of the world because He has promised to judge sin and sinners.

And so we have the world moving toward this. So as we as believers watch the news, we shouldn't be talking to each other, what are we going to do about the Muslim problem, how are we going to stop it, they are coming into our country and they'll take over this country. Well, they may take over this country, they won't take over Israel. So if you really want to be safe, go to Israel and wait for the Rapture because we know it's going to survive there. But we look around, should we be fearful? No. Should we be lax? You know, danger. Believers get so caught up, if we could only vote the next person in right, that would change what? You know every change of leadership going on in the European Union today is divinely directed? The removal of one prime minister for another, the removal of one leader for another. We will come to a time to vote for a leader in our country, God will determine who will rule. He is moving everything. The Muslim activity, the rise of militant Islam as it is called, the world is out of control. No, men are manifesting their sinful rebellion against God, but it is not out of control because He even uses their sinful desires for accomplishing His purposes. What we need to do, the time is here for us to awake from our sleep. God's people ought not to be muddling around in this world as though they belong to this world. We belong to the living God, we are looking for the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we are diligently about what He has called us to do until He calls us into His presence. We are here declaring to a lost world on its way to destruction, there is a Savior. Repent for God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man that He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for what you have unfolded regarding the future. Lord, the judgment that you will bring upon nations, the foolishness of sin, the deceitfulness of sin that causes men to think that they can successfully stand against you, fight against you, the God who has created all things, the God who controls all things, the God who will bring into judgment all people. May you bring us as your people to our senses. May we awake from any drowsiness, any laxness, any laziness and be on the alert, be energetic about what you have called us to do. And we expect to see our Lord and Savior very soon. We pray in His name, amen.