What Comes After the Tribulation?  
                                                                     By Pastor F. M. Riley
                                                                     July 16, 2019
     "And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields, and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
     So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God."
                                                                      Ezekiel 39:9-10
Introduction
     What follows the end of the seven year tribulation period?  This seems to be a question that bothers some of God's people who study Bible prophecy.  For about the umpteenth time I was ask about this again this week, and therefore felt led of the Lord to write on the subject.  
     Dear readers, we haven't even come to the resurrection and rapture yet.  Nevertheless, for those readers who want to know what the future holds for mankind, let's study this subject, and see what God's inspired Word tells us.......
A Problem to Consider  
     The major problems we immediately encounter in studying Bible Prophecy are "wrong division" of the Word of God, unbelief of what God's Word actually and literally says, and mis-interpretation and mis-application, of the Word.  And such has never been more prevalent than it is today.    
     I admonish our readers to always take God's Word at face value for what it actually and literally says, and depend upon the Holy Spirit of God to reveal the truth of any statement in God's Word which may or may not symbolize or typify something other than exactly what is stated, John 16:13.    
Definition of Terms
     The word, "Gog" refers to a living person; who will be ruling  the land of "Magog" at the time this prophecy is fulfilled,  Ezekiel 38:2; 39:1.    
     The word, "chief," in the Hebrew text, is "rosh." This appears to be the ancient name of the Russian people.   Gog is the "rosh prince;" [the Russian prince] the ruler of  end-time Russia.  
     The words, "Meschech and Tubal" are the ancient names of the two largest cities in the nation of  Russia; Moscow and Tobolsk.  
     The word, "Magog" is referring to the land where the descendants of Magog settled.  Magog was one of the seven sons of Japheth,  Genesis 10:2.  In studying these seven sons, notice who were brothers to Magog, and where their descendants settled, and are living today.  This  is very enlightening in view of the "end times" in which we are living.      
     A careful study of Ezekiel 38:2, along with 39:1, should make it glaringly obvious that in Ezekiel 38 - 39, it is the nation of Russia which is leading the other nations allied with them,  [Ezekiel 38:5-6] in the great war against Israel and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Revelation 17:14.
The Timing of the War
     Contrary to what is commonly believed and taught, the war in Ezekiel 38 - 39  DOES NOT bring the Tribulation period to an end. Neither is the Gog-Magog war fought before the Tribulation, or during the Tribulation, as some today teach.  
     The Gog-Magog war is fought AFTER the Tribulation has ended.  The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said so!  Read it for yourself in Matthew 24:29-31 and Revelation 19:11-21.   
     The Tribulation period ends following the pouring out of the 7th bowl of God's wrath, causing a great earthquake, a great hail storm, and the reshaping of the whole earth, Revelation 16:17-21.  It is then AFTER the Tribulation, that the Lord returns to the earth in all His glory, Matthew 24:29:30.  
The Purpose of the War  
     Three times in Ezekiel 39 the inspired Word clearly states that the land of Israel is being "cleansed," Ezekiel 39:12; 39:14; 39:16.  The seven years following the Tribulation period is a time of "cleansing" of the land of Israel, and for that matter, of  the whole earth, in preparation for establishing the Kingdom of Christ on the earth.  Every living person on the earth as the Tribulation ends,  who DOES NOT willingly repent and receive the Lord Jesus as their own personal Savior willl be destroyed. This destruction of the incorrigible wicked, will take place at the end of the Tribulation, when the Lord returns,  and BEFORE His Kingdom is set up on the earth.  Not one Christ rejector will be spared to go into the Lord's Kingdom.  None!  Unbelievers, take heed!
The Weapons in the War   
     Why do some readers lack the vision to believe what is explicitly stated in God's Word, to occur on the earth in the next seven years of the Tribulation?   I grow weary hearing about the terrible nuclear wars that are going to occur.  Where does the Scripture state such?  I grow weary hearing about how   the prophesied locusts and horses are symbols of  army tanks and modern weapons of war.  The Scriptures no where makes such a claim.  A few years back "prophecy teachers" were gushing all over with the news that guns are now being  made of wood, and will be the weapons burned after the Gog-Magog war.  Hogwash!  Sick!
      These are just examples of "human reasoning" explaining away the truth of the Scriptures, rather than accepting it at face value for what it actually and literally says and teaches.  Romans 3:4 is still in the Bible.
The Loss of Modern Technology   
     The Lord God is not dependent upon human "technology" to fulfill His Word.  In fact, very shortly after the beginning of the Tribulation, all of mankind's modern technology will be flushed down the toilet of human history, and will cease to exist.
     Mankind has three basic needs in order to survive; food, clothing, and shelter.  However, these basic needs are dependent upon man's ability to provide them.  And here is what is coming.......  
     THE OIL INDUSTRY.......The oil fields will be burned, or buried by earthquakes, and the gas and oil industry, as we know it today,  will cease to exist.  Therefore, all travel by gas powered vehicles will also cease. Modern army tanks and armored vehicles,  which are fueled by gasoline, deisel, or other fossil fuels,  will become useless pieces of junk.   In fact even airplanes, which currently consume large quanitites of fuel,  will cease to fly.  The millions of automobiles scattered all over the world, will become useless pieces of rusting junk, abandoned by their owners wherever they run out of fuel.  
     This is when horses will again become valuable assets, to those who can obtain them, and will become the only means of transportation other than walking.  Now guess what nation today has more horses than any other nation on earth?  Read again Ezekiel 38:4, 38:15, and 39:20.    
     ELECTRICAL POWER.......Due to the massive shaking of the  earth during the Tribulation [Isaiah 2:19-21; 13:13-14; 24:18-20], all dams all over the earth will crack and collapse, including those dams  producing hydro-electric power, resulting in the loss of all electrical power.  Everything which runs off of electrical power will become useless pieces of junk.  Candles will become extremely valuable to those who are able to obtain them.  
     COMMUNICATION.......Rapid communication will cease to exist, as televisions, radios, telephones, computers, etc. which we use today, and which require electrical power to operate, will also become useless pieces of junk.  Communication will be by word of mouth; people speaking with other people, whom they feel they can trust.  
     FIRE......All cooking of food will go back to  being prepared outdoors over an open fire.  And since matches will likely become non-existent, coals from a fire will be carefully guarded and carried from place to place.  
     WATER.......The water lines buried in the ground, due to massive earthquakes,  will break and become useless.  Every person LEFT BEHIND on the earth during the Trib, will have no choice but to relocate near a water source such as a spring, well, stream or river. Water is vital for mankind to survive.
     THE ECONOMY.......Due to the loss of electricity and gas, thousands of factories all over the earth, producing goods used by mankind today, will close their doors. Millions of people will be thrown out of work, and the entire world economy will collapse. The closing of the factories will also mean that hundreds of products used by mankind today, will simply no longer  be available.
     FOOD.......During the future Tribulation, there will be constant earthquakes, storms and floods, excessive heat and drouth, and all kinds of pests to eat up what food those LEFT BEHIND on the earth  can manage to produce.  The inspired Word of God clearly predicts world wide food rationing, and death by starvation for many people during the seven years of the Tribulation, Revelation 6:5-8.    
    CLOTHING.......As the garment factories close, the clothing people presently have will become more and more valuable to them.  It is not just "coincidence" that the inspired Word of God explicitly speaks of people going stark bald naked during the future tribulation period.  Read it for yourself in Isaiah 3:6-7.  
     SHELTER.......Lack of employment, the economy, the need to relocate to obtain water and food, and earthquakes and storms,  will result in thousands of houses and buildings being abandoned or destroyed.  Entire towns and cities will be vacated.  Again, is it just "coincidence" that God's inspired Word speaks of people fleeing to the mountains to take refuge in caves, dens, and rocks?  Read it for yourself in Isaiah 2:19-21.  
     Readers should keep in mind that the terrible Tribulation period is a JUDGEMENT upon unbelieving, Christ rejecting, mankind.  Could it then also be possible that the Tribulation is a "pay back" time for the way the wicked have treated God's people throughout human history?  Our Lord God has a long memory!  Both Hebrews 11:32-38 and Galatians 6:7-8 are still in the Bible.  
     DEFENSE.......Folks, the handwriting is already on the wall.  Cold blooded murders are taking place in every large city in America on a daily basis, and also in other cities around the world.  Governing officials in positions of leadership already believe that something must be done to stop the killing.  So what is their solution?  Just get rid of  the guns!  
     There is no question in my mind that a LAW will be passed REAL SOON, and all private ownership of guns will cease.  The "authorities" will take the guns from their owners, either by the owner voluntarily turning in the gun, or by brute force being exercised against any reluctant gun owner.  I don't know whether this will happen before the Tribulation begins, or during the Trib, but it will most certainly happen.  People will then be forced to resort to swords, knives, bows and arrows, hand staves, spears, and even clubs for their own protection, and to protect their loved ones.
     MODERN TECHNOLOGY.......It has taken mankind 4,000 years [since the flood] to develop the high state of technology that we living today benefit from.  But it will take only 7 years [or less] to wipe it completely out.   
     This will include the technology needed to manufacture  nuclear bombs, rockets, missiles, grenades, and every kind of gun and mechanized weapon used by the military forces of the nations today.  If these weapons are not destroyed before the Tribulation begins, the anti-christ himself will make certain they are destroyed early in the Tribulation period, so that none of them can be used against him, in his rise to world power.
Tribulation Period Weapons
     The elimination of modern weapons will force anyone wanting to defend themselves, or any nation wanting to wage war, to resort to making primitive weapons by hand.  Swords, knives, bows and arrows, shields,  bucklers, spears, hand staves, and clubs.  The very weapons named in God's Word as being used by Gog and his allies as they come down to destroy Israel and fight against the Lord, Ezekiel 39:9.   
     Therefore, all wars fought during the Tribulation will be fought in face to face, hand to hand, combat, with primitive weapons..   Count on it!   Believe it!  God's Word says it!   
The Weapons in the Gog-Magog War
     This is why the inspired Word repeatedly speaks of mankind during the Tribulation using swords, knives, bows and arrows, shields, bucklers, spears, hand staves, and even clubs.  Now this is exactly what is stated in the inspired Word. These will be the weapons used by those fighting in the Gog-Magog war.  Read it for yourself in Ezekiel 38:4, 38:21, 39:3, 39:9-10.  And believe what God's Word says!  These plain words in both the Hebrew Text, and the English translations, mean what they say, and they say what they mean.  The weapons were named in God's inspired Word, not to be explained away as symbols for modern weapons, but rather to be believed by those who read and study God's Word.
      Quite significantly, most or all of these weapons listed are made of wood.  Throughout ancient history, wars were fought using such weapons.  The Gog-Magog war will be fought with such primitive weapons in hand to hand combat.
     But the Lord God of Heaven has far superior weapons to fight with.  Earthquakes, Ezekiel 38:19-20; Zech. 14:45; Rev. 16:18-20.  Pestilences, floods, hailstones, fire, and brimstone, Ezekiel 38:22; 39:6; Rev. 16:21.  Even the heavens will be made to fight for the Lord in this future war, Zech. 14:6-7; Matthew 24:29-30.   
All the Same War
       By carefully studying and comparing Scripture passages, and the context in which they occur, it becomes glaringly obvious that the wars described in Ezekiel 38:18-23 and 39:1-6, and Zechariah 14:1-7 and 14:12-15, and Revelation 19:11-21 are all the same war.  All five of  these Scripture references, while referred to as the "Gog-Magog" war in Ezekiel 38 - 39, are describing the war the Lord fights in Zechariah 14:3-5, and also what is commonly referred to as "Armageddon," in Revelation 16:16.  
     The careful reader should notice that the gathering of these armies together, begins during the Tribulation period,  when the sixth bowl of God's wrath is poured out upon Christ rejecting mankind, Rev. 16:12-16, but the actual battle does not take place until Christ bodily and visibly returns after the end of the Tribulation, Matthew 24:29-30; Revelation 19:11:14.  
     By carefully examining all five of these passages, plus what the Lord stated in Matthew 24:29, we can determine that the war itself will be an absolute slaughter of the enemies of Christ and of Israel.  The Lord Jesus will cause both the  heavens and the earth  to war against them, Ezekiel 38:19-20; Zechariah 14:4-7;  Matthew 24:29.  
     But the Lord's glorified saints will also have a part in this final battle, Zechariah 14:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:13.  I have no idea whether we New Covenant believers will actually take part in the fighting, or just take up the positions on earth assigned to us at the BEMA seat of Christ.      
The Burial of the Bodies
     After the war has ended, there will be so many dead bodies, [thousands; millions?] that the inspired Word tells us that it will take "seven months" for the Israelite people just to bury the bodies of the slain, Ezekiel 39:11-13. Our readers should notice that the inspired Word states that the bodies will be BURIED.  God's people have always followed the practice of Abraham, and have  buried their dead, Genesis 23:8-9.   This practice will not be set aside by the Israelites, even in burying those who were their enemies.   
      The bodies will apparently be buried in a mass grave, in a valley, on the east side of the Dead Sea, Ezekiel 39:11.  This valley will come to be called, "Hamon-gog."  This literally means, "the multitude of Gog."  The Lord plainly states that He will leave or spare only "the sixth part" of all those who come against Him and against Israel, Ezekiel 39:2.   Think about this for a moment.  This means that none, or only a very few, of the Russian soldiers will survive the battle.  Obviously, their families waiting for the return of their men back in the Russian homeland will be terribly disappointed.....and afraid.  Since almost none, or very few, of their men return home, their families in Russia may fear that something terrible is going to happen to them.    This may or may not [?] be why the Scriptures say and teach that the remnant [remainder] of the Russian people will be driven into far northern Siberia, with their back toward the Artic Ocean, and their face towards the Baltic Sea, Joel 2:20. Look at a world map and see it for yourself. That is the location of cold, barren, Siberia, where the Commies have sent so many of their political prisoners since they came to power in Russia in 1917.  That is where the remainder of the Russian people will spend the thousand year millennium.  
       When we consider that Gog's army is composed, not only of soldiers from Russia, but also soldiers from Persia [modern Iran], Ethiopia, Gomer [the Germanic peoples of Europe], Torgarmah [modern Turkey], and all of their allies, there will be millions of bodies to bury in the valley of Hamon-gog.  There will be so many bodies to bury,  that a city will be built near the burial  site, apparenly to give the workers burying the bodies  a place to eat, and  to rest at night, Ezekiel 39:16. During those "seven months" God's chosen land will be "cleansed" of all dead bodies, and all of the dead will be buried in the valley of Hamon-gog.  
     Even after the "seven months" of burying the dead bodies, men will be chosen to travel all over the land of Israel, and find every human bone laying on the surface of the ground.  Even the citizens of Israel traveling anywhere in Israel will also be  on the lookout for the bones of all their enemies who may have strayed away from the battle field and died.  Every bone found will be taken back to Hamonah, and buried in the valley of Hamon-gog.  Thus the land of Israel will be totally "cleansed"  of the bones of those who had been their enemies, Ezekiel 39:13-15.  .
The Burning of the Weapons
     See the two text Scriptures used at the beginning of this study. This covers the first seven years following the Tribulation period.  These seven years have nothing to do with the seven year Tribulation period.  Rather, they are the seven years following the Tribulation.  Some commentators and others need to get this right in harmony with what the Scriptures actually and literally say.  
     Now put on your thinking and "reasoning" cap, Isaiah 1:18.  These two Scriptures in Ezekiel 39:9-10, should be studied together for they relate to each other.  
     First, the weapons.  Everyone of those millions of soldiers assembled on the plain of Megiddo to do war against Israel, and against the Lord God, will be wearing armour.  Since they are using primitive weapons, and know that the battle will be hand to hand combat, every one of them will be protected with the best armour possible at that time.  Every soldier will carrying a "shield," will have "bucklers" on their arms and legs, will likely have a "bow and a quiver of arrows" over his shoulder, and may be carrying a "hand stave or spear."  His head will be protected by a "helmet."  All of this armour and weapons will be made of wood.  None of them will be modern weapons like those used by the military forces today.  None!
     When the battle is over, and the time comes to bury the bodies of all the slain, all the bodies will be stripped of whatever protective armour and weapons are left on them, if for no other reason, just to make the body lighter  to carry.  The battlefield will then be left covered with millions of pieces of wooden armor and weapons.
     Now the question arises, "Where did they get the wood to make all of those weapons and armor?"  Obviously they cut down millions of trees to use to make weapons and armor.  This would apply to the land of Israel, just as well as to the enemy nations allied with Russia.  It is highly possible that the entire Middle East will be stripped of timber in preparation for the "Gog-Magog - Armageddon" war.  
      It ought to also be obvious to our readers that there will be no natural gas or oil for fuel as the Tribulation comes to an end.  Therefore, if the people need fire for cooking, and to keep warm, they will have to collect the tons of wooden armor from the battlefield, and use it for fuel, just as is implied in Ezekiel 39:9-10.  The inspired Word tells us that the Israelites will burn the armor and weapons of their fallen enemies for seven years, Ezek 39:9.  During those seven years the trees all over the land of Israel will be sprouting up and growing again.  This will likely also happen in the other countries which came against Israel.             
Whatsoever is Sowed is that which is Reaped
     The death of these millions of people may seem extreme to some readers.  However, be reminded that ".....all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose," Romans 8:28.   
     When this final war is over, there will not be a hater of God, Christ, or Israel and the Jewish people, left alive on the face of the earth.....and....."Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore," Micah 4:3.  All the wicked, and "all men of war" will  finally be  removed from off the earth, Ezekiel 39:20. For the first time, since the fall of Adam,  there will finally be true, lasting, "peace on earth, and good will toward men."  Glory to God!  
     As a boy growing up, I heard again and again that the First World War was "the war to end all wars."  It wasn't!  And it didn't!  I was just six years old when America entered the Second World War.  With the invention of the damnable atomic and nuclear bombs, we are told by some even today that there will be no more wars between the nations, because no nation wants to be burned to a crisp in nuclear war.  How gullible some people are!  As long as wicked men and women walk upon the earth, with anger, and hatred, and "war" in their hearts, there will be war.  
      But thank God!  The time is SOON COMING when the wicked shall be no more, and surviving mankind on the earth "shall learn war no more."  Glory to God!   Hallelujah!   
    Then seven yearss after the Gog-Magog - Armageddon war,  the Lord Jesus Christ will establish His Kingdom of "peace and righteousness" upon the earth, and it will endure "for ever and ever," Isaiah 9:6-7.  
    What a glorious future redeemed mankind has awaiting them.  May our gracious hasten the day!  And may He add His blessings to this study for every reader.  2 Corinthians 13:14.
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    My personal contact information:
POSTAL....Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
EMAIL.......francismriley34@gmail.com
PHONE.....573-202-6493  
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