In my earlier article dealing with the question, "When is Ezekiel's War?", I alluded to ~ but did not then elucidate ~ certain, "other reasons" why I believe Ezekiel's War MUST occur very nearly the same time as the Rapture of the Church. In this present essay I want to go ahead and explain what are some of those "other reasons", as follows.
The question regarding the time of Ezekiel's War is a most important one. Jesus commanded his followers to diligently watch for the signs of his return. Both the Old and New Testaments have a great deal to say about the time, as well as the signs, of the consummation of this present (Church) Age. Events related to Ezekiel's War are among some of the more notable of those signs related to the coming of the Lord.
One question that causes many would-be students and/or teachers of Bible prophecy to misinterpret the Scriptures, has to do with whether the text of some or another book of the Bible presents its subject matter in chronological order. The events described in Ezekiel are clearly presented in chronological order. Chapters 36 thru 39, inclusive, extensively describe God's dealings with the Jewish People in the closing years of this present Dispensation: from the Jews' re-gathering to inhabit the land of Israel; to Israel's re-institution as a nation and the miraculous growth and prosperity of the same; where after, a number of Israel's enemies will conspire together and attempt by violence to plunder the wealth of the Jewish nation; at which time God will then intervene to protect and deliver Israel from those invaders; etc.. Ezekiel is chronologically ordered.
Let's take a look at the closing verses of chapter 39, as follows:
When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; THEN shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
God said that the Jewish People shall "know that I am the LORD their God" AFTER that God shall have intervened to protect and deliver them, in that great war just described in chapters 38-39 (Ezekiel's War). If Ezekiel's War does not occur until the end of the Millennial Kingdom Age (as many suppose), that would mean that, as a nation, Israel would necessarily remain in a state of blindness and unbelief THROUGHOUT the 1,000 years of the Millennial Kingdom Age. But Jesus Christ will personally, bodily, reign as Israel's king throughout the same time! How could Israel not then "know that I am the LORD their God", whilst Christ himself is ruling in Israel?
I mentioned that the book of Ezekiel is chronological. Ezekiel 39 ~ which concludes with Israel's deliverance in that great war, is promptly followed by chapter 40, which begins a very lengthy and detailed description of what is almost universally recognized as the Millennial Temple (which is altogether different from the so-called "Third Temple" that is soon going to be built in Jerusalem).
In the above-quoted passage, Ezekiel 39 concludes with these words: "...I have gathered [the Jews] unto their own land, and have left none of them any more [among the heathen]. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD." Some prophecy teachers have objected that Ezekiel's War cannot possibly occur anytime soon, because, it is as yet far from being the case that virtually all Jews are living in Israel; and, chapter 39 of Ezekiel states that every Jew in the world will be re-gathered to the land of Israel. But such teachers fail to observe that that statement ("..and have left none of them any more there") occurs AFTER the victorious CONCLUSION of Ezekiel's War.
Israel's miraculous deliverance in Ezekiel's War; together with the great fear and anxiety that doubtless will impact the whole world, in consequence of the catastrophic destruction associated with that war: will almost certainly instill an irresistible urge in Jews worldwide to return to what then will be perceived as the only sure place of refuge for Jews, that is, Israel. Such extraordinary events will no doubt be interpreted by Jews throughout the world as the arrival of the Messianic Age. (Though, tragically, most of them will then embrace a false messiah.)
I want to address one more factor which proves that Ezekiel's War does not occur at any time during the Millennial Kingdom Age. Consider if you will, the implications of the following passage from Ezekiel 38, which describes (certain of) the MEANS whereby God will intervene to deliver Israel, in the context of Ezekiel's War:
Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
God is going to use a host of different means whereby to deliver Israel in that war. Some of which, evidently, will be supernatural. Importantly, God is going to use the armies of other nations to wage war against Israel's invaders. If Ezekiel's War occurs BEFORE Christ's Second Coming, then it makes sense that God will use the armies of some heathen nations to fight to defend Israel. But if, as some mistakenly suppose, Ezekiel's War does not occur until the end of the Millennial Kingdom Age, then it makes no sense at all that the then reigning King of Israel ~ Jesus Christ ~ would call for (much less would he need) any heathen nations to send their armies to defend Israel!
The Bible very clearly reveals that God will simply send fire out of heaven to destroy the hordes of "Gog and Magog", which shall dare to rise up against Christ and the "camp of the saints" at the end of the Millennial Kingdom Age (Revelation 20:7-9). The occurrence of the terms "Gog and Magog" in two verses in Revelation 20, does not at all justify the conflation of events described in those two verses with the very different events described in two chapters (38-39) of Ezekiel.
I suppose I have given sufficient reasons and explanations to prove that the war described in Ezekiel 38-39 cannot be the same as the events very briefly mentioned in Revelation 20:7-9; moreover, that the war described in Ezekiel 38-39 shall NOT occur at any time during the Millennial Kingdom Age. Therefore, Ezekiel's War can only occur during these closing days of the Church Age, or during the Tribulation as such. Though I am convinced that Ezekiel's War is an eminent and necessary precursor to the events of the Tribulation (for many reasons, some of which I have related in these two essays).
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