Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog
and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number
of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the
earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and
the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them.
(Is it possible the prophecy given to Ezekiel in
chapters 38 and 39, could have some dual fulfillment, i.e.
two battles?
Could some things in those chapters prophesy of things
that will happen before the second advent, some after the
thousand year kingdom, and some for both times?
For example, Israel at rest, dwelling safely, a land of
unwalled villages.
If this is to be before the second advent, then it
certainly isn't in the immediate future, a lot would need
to change and happen before this to be the case:)
Ezekiel 38:8 After many days thou shalt be
visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the
land that is brought back from the sword, and
is gathered out of many people, against the
mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but
it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall
dwell safely all of them.
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to
the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that
are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling
without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey;
to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are
now inhabited, and upon the people that are
gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle
and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
(But if the second advent is still a number of years
off, then there would be time for these things to turn out
that way.
However, after the second advent, in the kingdom, that
is exactly how Israel will be, for a thousand years.
They will be living more safely and prosperously than
they ever had been.
That way, those lines in Ezekiel could be describing
the latter Gog-Magog battle, also described in Revelation
20.)
(Another is the description of the invading force:)
Ezekiel 38:4 And I will turn thee back, and put
hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and
all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them
clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great
company with bucklers and shields, all of
them handling swords:
15 And thou shalt come from thy place
out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee,
all of them riding upon horses, a great company,
and a mighty army:
(There are a possibly a few explanations for this:
1.
These two lines could be more descriptive of the latter
Gog-Magog war, after the thousand year kingdom, if there
are no combustion engines in the kingdom.
2.
Or after EMPs, and possibly nuclear weapons, in our days,
a dystopian time might only support an army on horseback.
3.
Or Ezekiel couldn't describe tanks, drones, jets, machine
guns, etc., so he used only language familiar to him. )
(Weapons burning, and bodies buried, won't be
necessary after the kingdom, when the 1st earth will pass
away, but will be related to the earlier Gog-Magog
battle.)
(Then how the armies come:)
Ezekiel 38:9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a
storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land,
thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
(This can happen in our time with a massive air
assault, planes jets, drones, and missiles.
But it also possibly can be at the latter battle, as
well:)
Revelation 20:9a And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the
saints about,
(Then for the earlier battle, there are things that
Ezekiel mentions, that some consider to describe the
situation before the blessed hope.
And for some, they believe that it is a description of
shortly after the blessed hope, and for some shortly
before the abomination of desolation.
Then many believe that it is a battle scene
simultaneous with all the other battles scenes describing
the time of the second advent.
That debate on the timing, is hotly contested, not
unlike the debate about which day of the week Jesus was
crucified on, or which year he was born in.)
(However, information that is not clearly provable,
though interesting, is like how I used to mention to
students in science classes.
Where, after giving my opinion about something not
proven, I would tell them, that the information and a few
dollars could get them a cup of coffee.)
.