Pineman and John B.
John B., your May 28 article of stew ingredients to Pineman was very interesting indeed.  I also liked Ray Gano's Ezekiel 39 war article, but
 "Ezekiel 38 and 39 represent two separate battles which are given backwards by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit does this throughout the scriptures.  Psalms 89 for example will switch from David historically to Jesus Christ prophetically. Psalms 89:19-37 deal with the First and Second Advents of Christ together.  You will find the eternal security of the believer prophesied in verses 29-36.  Verses 36-37 present Christ in His Millennial kingdom. But verses 38-45 go backwards and picture Christ in His humiliation at His crucifixion.  So throughout the Old Testament, you will not only see the two Advents pictured together with no intervening time period (Gen. 49:11, 24; 1 Pet. 1:11), you will sometimes see the two reversed as you find in this psalm. The Lord does this to mess up educated fools who won't believe what He said or won't "rightly divide" what He said or try to mess with what He said.
   Not only does Ezekiel 38 have nothing to do with the invasion of Israel before or during the Tribulation, but neither does it happen at Armageddon. These two battles are separated by 1000 years. Ezekiel 38:22 is the key to the passage: it clearly marks the "Gog" in this chapter as the one who attacks Jerusalem in Revelation 20:8-9.
   The last, final rebellion against God is led by countries that are predominantly Communist and Moslem.
(38:11)  Verses 8, 11, and 14 do not describe the state of Israel at the end of the Tribulation, which is another reason we say that this chapter cannot be dealing with Armageddon. The Jews do not "dwell safely" in Israel before, or at any point during the Tribulation; that is their state at the end of the Millennium (Jer. 23:5-6)."  Dr. P.R.

Some may argue, but what about the peace treaty between Israel and the AC for the first 3.5 years? Doesn't that mean that they are "dwelling safely", at least for the first 3.5 years of the seven year covenant?  No it does not. Israel may be lulled into a false sense of security by the AC, but according to the Holy Spirit, Israel is actually "dwelling safely" in Ezekiel 38:8, 11, and 14.  It doesn't matter what the AC says, or what Israel thinks about their safety during the Tribulation.  It only matters what God says about their safety and security in Ezekiel 38 at the end of the Millennium.
  Also notice how the Holy Spirit highlights the vast amounts of people coming against Israel in 38:4, 9, 15, 16, and 22.   A "great company" and a "mighty" army, verse 15, ascend and come like a storm, like a cloud to cover the land, verse 9.    Why such emphases on the large numbers of people and how mighty they are?  During the Millennium the people will multiply and live much longer life spans as in the days of Adam and Eve, but not many dying.  Of course they will be much healthier, stronger, and smarter.

Eric