The Gog/Magog war described in Ezekiel 38 will not happen before the Rapture
An extraordinary study where the status quo is challenged and a non-traditional and out-of-the-box approach to the Gog/Magog conflict is presented
Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you Except one be born of water and of the Spirit they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God…You must be born anew.”
Comments: John 3:4-5 What does this have to do the Gog/Magog conflict of Ezekiel 38?
More than we might imagine. Because in John chapter three, Jesus is speaking of his Eternal Kingdom, and not of the first 1000 years of his earthly kingdom.
The first 1000 years of his earthly kingdom will be inhabited by mortals, flesh and blood people who survived the Great Tribulation and the Judgment of the Nations. This is not a contradiction of Jesus’ words that flesh and blood would not inherit the Kingdom of God. It is the Eternal Kingdom, the part that begins after the first 1000 years, that cannot be inherited by flesh and blood.
Mortals who survive the Great Tribulation and the Judgment of the Nations will enter into the first 1000 years of Christ’s kingdom. And they will not have been born again Matthew 18:18.
Truly, truly I say to you Except one be born of water and of the Spirit they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God
Jesus’s earthly kingdom will be populated by mortals and inaugurated at the end of the Great Tribulation, which will take place during the final 7-years preceding his physical and visible return to earth at the Battle of Armageddon Revelation 1:7, Revelation 19. At that time, all peoples that survive the Battle of Armageddon and the angel gathering of the tares, at his 2nd Coming Matthew 13:30, will pass under the rod of Judgment at the Judgment of the Peoples—more commonly known as the Judgment of the Nations.
The Judgment of the Nations is not the Judgment seat of Christ. That judgment will take place in Heaven and is exclusively reserved for the Body of Christ—for those who will return with him, for those who are born anew between the Day of Pentecost and the Resurrection and Rapture described in 1 Thessalonians Acts 2:16,41, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
The Judgment of the Peoples is not the Great White Throne Judgment, which is reserved for unbelievers. That judgment will take place at the end of the first 1000 years of Christ’s earthly reign, after Gog and Magog, and all who join with them, are destroyed by fire raining down out of the heavens Ezekiel 38:8-11, Revelation 20:7-8.
At the Judgment of the Nations, the gentiles, the surviving non-Jews of the earth, will be judged based on their treatment of Jesus’ brethren—the Children of Israel, his people the Jews Matthew 12:50 & 25:40-45, Galatians 6:16, Ephesians 2:12-20.
Some survivors of the Great Tribulation will be granted entrance into the first 1000 years of Christ’s Kingdom, but these will be few. Jews who survive the Time of Jacob’s Trouble will be so few that Isaiah said, “a child could write them Isaiah 10:19,” as by the time Jesus makes his appearance at the Battle of Armageddon, all nations will have turned against Israel and, for the past seven years, will have treated Jews and Christians very badly Zechariah 12:3, Matthew 24:21.
Survivors of The Judgement of the Nations will enter into Christ’s earthly kingdom in their mortal bodies Matthew 18:8-9. They will not have resurrected or changed bodies, like Body of Christ [the Children of the Resurrection] will have Matthew 18:8-9, Luke 20:36, 1 Corinthians 15:51, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. We know this because during the first one thousand years of Christ’s kingdom, babies will be born to those who survive the Judgment of the Nations, and criminals will be summarily executed during the 1000 years Isaiah 65:20.
Survival of the Judgment of the Nations, which will include bowing the knee and confessing that Jesus is Jehovah [compare Isaiah 45:23 to Philippians 2:10]. This will not be the same as being born anew. For the mortals who will survive to the end of the first 1000 years Matthew 18:8-9, Matthew 24:13 can biblically have a dual interpretation, there will be a final testing, a final purging of the tares from the wheat.
Yes, there will be tares during the first 1000 years of the Kingdom. These will look just like wheat but will be exposed as enemies of God, before the heavens and the earth are made new. That is the reason Satan will be released at the end of the 1000 years.
Ezekiel wrote that there will be those who will “…think an evil thought” Ezekiel 38:8-10. They won’t need Satan’s help to do this, and they afterwards, they won’t be able to say, “The devil made me do it.” These are unregenerated humans, who survived the Judgment of the Nations, who, along with their descendants, will manage to keep their evil thoughts to themselves and fool the population of Jews dwelling safely in Jerusalem.
The mortals of the first 1000 years of Christ’s Kingdom, will not be like the Body of Christ, who are presently indwelled by the Spirit of God. But God will release Satan and use him to expose and destroy these latter-time-tares Ezekiel 38:8-11, Revelation 20:7-8.
Just as the tribes of Israel will wail in anguish at the Sign of the Son of Mortals [the one whom they pierced], just as a nation will be born [anew] in one day Isaiah 66:8, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Zechariah, 12:10-14, Matthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7, just so, faithful survivors of the final purge, will be born anew and will enter the New Heavens and the New Earth at the end of the first 1000 years of the Kingdom of God.
How will they survive the overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire and brimstone, that will destroy the armies and cohorts of Gog and Magog. How will they survive the fiery renewal of the heavens and the earth described by the Apostle Peter?
Will they be caught out like living Believers who will be raptured at the Resurrection of the Dead? Will they be redeemed from the earth, like the 144,000 Jews Revelation 7:1-8, who will be sealed and later caught up to the Throne of God, at the beginning of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble Revelation 14:1-3? Or could the three Hebrew children who walked with the angel in the midst of the fiery furnace be a type of the survivors of the final fiery purge [in the Old Testament angels were referred as sons of God]?
The Bible doesn’t tell us, so we can only speculate. But the Bible does give us several amazing possibilities.
That’s why we should read our Bibles every day, always picking up today where we left off yesterday.
One thing is certain, though. Believers, today, those whose bodies are temples of the Living God, the Body of Christ 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, have the assurance that whoever has the Son, has life. Right now. We need never fear “making it” or accidentally losing our salvation 1 John 5:10-11, John 14:17, Romans 8:9-10,14, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 John 3:24, Galatians 4:6. Those of us who are “in Christ” will enter the Kingdom of God, because the Kingdom of God dwells within us Luke 17:21.
More on the topics touched on in this article
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Jocelyn Andersen challenges the status quo with an often non-traditional and out-of-the-box approach to biblical understanding. She writes and speaks on a variety of subjects including Bible Prophecy, God and Women, and Christian response to domestic violence. Her work has been featured in magazines, newspapers, radio, and television.
Note from the editor: I read my Bible every day, always picking up today where I left off yesterday. I call this my “on track” Bible reading. I have been doing this for over 44 years. It was the best advice I was ever given, and it changed my life. If you are not presently doing the same, I invite you to join me. How much you read on a daily basis isn’t important. It only matters that you read, feeding your spirit with a prayerful dose of the living and powerful Word of God.
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