Reading: Ezekiel  38-39
Posted:  September 15, 2014

The great battle that will be fought in the future is discussed here.   The nation leading the attack is from the "far north", but it would be wrong to assume that Russia is implied.   I'm not saying that it cannot be Russia, only that it isn't specific.   For all we know, it could be Turkey.   The difficulty for me in understand how this passage should be placed in history is the description of the cities.  
This says the army from the north will invade a land of unwalled cities, where everyone is unsuspecting and living in peace.   I have been to Israel, and it is a land of walls and fences, checkpoints and machine gun nests.  They are constantly prepared to defend their borders, as well they should be.   Not a month goes by when someone isn't threatening to attack them.

So, it can't be a prophecy for today because there are too many defenses.   History doesn't record a time when the people were overrun by another great force where the mountains were so filled with the slain that it took years to bury them all.    It seems to me that this passage hasn't yet been fulfilled.

In my mind, this fits best with the battle after the millenial reign of Christ.   Revelation tells us that the beast will be cast down, and locked away in the heart of the earth for 1,000 years.   During that time there will be perfect peace and harmony.  That would lend itself to a community that lived without walls or disputed borders.   Then, for reasons that are beyond my ability to understand, God releases satan from the earth, and he goes out to rally his forces against Israel.   Revelation 20:7 says that satan goes out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth.."Gog and Magog..."  (hey, could that be a clue?)    So many people show up for the battle that they are like sand on the seashore.   God himself fights against them (that could be the earthquake) and fire rains down from heaven as well.   At the end of the battle, satan and his minions are defeated and thrown into the lake of fire.


Who knows how long in the future this will be, but then again it doesn't really matter, does it?   We know that God has planned it, and has planned for it.   He will be victorious when it happens, and as we remain in him, we will be victorious as well.

The real mystery to me is why anyone would rebel against Christ after 1,000 years of peace.   satan is in some way able to stir up desires within us that cause us to doubt, fear and become envious of what Jesus represents.     It's a no wonder that people are so easily led astray today, given that even after 1,000 peaceful years we will still be able to be deceived.

Add to that mystery the mystery of why satan has to be unleashed at all.  I vote for sending him into the lake of fire right now, and never hearing from him again.    too bad I don't have a vote.....


staying faithful,

PR