Understanding The Timing of The Battle of Gog and Magog: Joel Richardson

Understanding the Timing of the Battle of Gog and
Magog
Joel Richardson
The Prophet Ezekiel’s Prophecy of “the Battle of Gog of Magog,” is simply

another retelling of the many Antichrist prophecies found throughout the Bible. As
such, Ezekiel’s Gog and his hordes will be destroyed at the end of this current
age, when Jesus returns, just before the onset of His one thousand year
millennial reign. The Gog and Magog of Revelation 20, however is a different
event that takes place at the end of the thousand year reign of the Messiah.
Amillennialists most often argue that the Gog and Magog described in
Revelation 20 and the Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel 38-39 are one and
the same. This is the primary view which I will seek to address in this article. A
small number of Premillennialists also believe that Ezekiel’s Gog prophecy and
Revelation’s Gog prophecy are one and the same. I will also briefly touch on this
view.
First, let’s read the text in Revelation:
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his
prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four
corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war;
the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on
the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and
the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
(Revelation 20:7-9)
So while it is clear that both Revelation and Ezekiel do indeed use the
same terms to describe an event that shares some commonalities, (they both
describe an attempted attack on God’s people), there are also some very clear
distinction between both prophecies.
The first distinction is that the attempted invasion of Revelation’s account is

described as an utter failure. Before the invaders even begin to accomplish their
goals, they are consumed by fire outside of the camp of the saints. The invasion
described in Ezekiel 38-39, on the other hand is described as anything but a
failure. Consider this very important, but often overlooked detail in Ezekiel’s
account: By the time that Ezekiel’s Gog Magog invasion is defeated, a majority of
the people of Israel are described as captives, essentially prisoners of war in the
land of their enemies.
“And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that
day onward. The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile
for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid
My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and
all of them fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and
according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from
them. Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Now I will restore the fortunes
of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be
jealous for My holy name. They will forget their disgrace and all their
treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on
their own land with no one to make them afraid. When I bring them back
from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I
shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. Then
they will know that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into
exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land;
and I will leave none of them there any longer. I will not hide My face from
them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of
Israel,” declares the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 39:22-29)
The second distinction between Ezekiel’s Gog account and Revelation’s is

that Revelation’s invaders do not even enter, “the camp of the saints,” but are
devoured by fire as they merely surround the camp. On the other hand, the
invaders of Ezekiel are destroyed throughout the actual land of Israel. These
distinctions are not insignificant.
Why then the similarity of names? In my opinion, by the time of the writing
of the Book of Revelation in the 1st century, the term Gog and Magog had
become a well-known motif, similar to the common use of “armageddon” or
“apocalypse” today. We might say for example something like, “It was a financial
armageddon on Wall Street today.” This has nothing to do however, with the
valley of Meggiddo in Israel. Such an expression simply points to nearly any
great catastrophe. Because Ezekiel 38 and 39 was essentially the greatest
prophetic passage in the Old Testament concerning the final Satanic invasion of
Israel, it was what we may very rightly call, “the Armageddon of the Old
Testament.” The phrase “Gog and Magog” simply came to be understood as a
massive Satanic-led invasion or attack of God’s people in Jerusalem. So the Gog
and Magog motif simply points to any massive effort by Satan to gather his
hordes and attack to Israel. The Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38—39 and the Gog
and Magog of Revelation 20 however, cannot be one and the same. Not only are
they clearly separated by a thousand years, but as we already highlighted, their
respective attacks have drastically different results. One is utterly successful, the
other is an abysmal failure. While Ezekiel is referring to the Antichrist and the
events that take place just prior to the Millennium, Revelation 20:7-9 is exactly
what it says it is; a very brief event that takes place at the conclusion of the
Millennium, one final effort by Satan to do what he had already failed to do just
before being chained and cast into the abyss for a thousand years.
Living Securely in the Land
As mentioned above, there are also some Premillennialists who argue that
Ezekiel’s Gog Magog event takes place at the end of the thousand year reign.
The primary argument made is that Ezekiel describes Israel living with such a
sense of security that it could only refer to Israel during the millennial reign of
Jesus. To support this, the following passage is cited:
In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take
notice of it? You will come from your place in the far north, you and many
nations with you; a mighty army. You will advance against my people
Israel like a cloud that covers the land. I am against you, O Gog, chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and drag you along. I
will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of
Israel. (Ezekiel 38:14-16; 39:1-3)
This perspective is, in my opinion, untenable and cannot be reconciled with

the testimony of Scripture. First, let’s begin by observing that Israel is not truly
secure. They are living in fact, in a false state of security. Notice that Gog plans
on attacking a people who are described as “unsuspecting”:
You will say, I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a
peaceful and unsuspecting people all of them living without walls and
without gates and bars. (Ezekiel 38:12, 13)
I believe the issue of Israel living “securely” is merely a perceived sense of

security. Consider the fact that the Israelites are about to be invaded. So are they
truly living securely or merely living with a relative sense of security? If a person
is sleeping securely in their bed and seven murderous and well-armed thieves
are only moments away from breaking into the house to rob and kill, can it truly
be said that the unsuspecting person sleeping is secure? Or it is merely a
perceived security? Such is the precisely the case with Israel in Ezekiel’s
prophecy.
I would also argue that while the Israel of today fully recognizes that
various threats surround them, they are not presently suspecting any massive
military invasion from a foreign nation. The sense in Israel is one of relative
security. It is difficult not to see Ezekiel’s description of Israel as anything other
than the Israel of today:
“After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come
into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have
been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had
been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations,
and they are living securely, all of them.” (Ezekiel 38:8)
The Israel that Ezekiel describes is a people who have been gathered from
many nations. They resettled the land which had formerly been a continual
waste. And they are living securely. Now consider the fact that the Scriptures
inform us that the Antichrist will lull Israel into a false state of security through
deception, specifically for the purpose of invading the land:
He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior.

When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against
the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.
(Daniel 8:25)
He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize
it through intrigue. (Daniel 11:21)
When the richest provinces feel secure, he will invade them and will
achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. He will distribute
plunder, loot and wealth among his followers. He will plot the overthrow of
fortresses—but only for a time. (Daniel 11:24)
So we have seen that the method and scheme of the Antichrist is exactly
that of Gog. When the people feel secure, then he will invade them. This is
simply because they are simply one and the same individual.
Return of the Captives

Another critical matter is the fact that at the conclusion of Ezekiel’s
prophecy concerning Gog and Magog, Israel is being portrayed as returning from
the nations of their enemies as prisoners of war. After this, they all come to faith.
The Lord pours His spirit on them. Is it at that time that Israel is restored. For that
small number of Premillennialists who seek to move Ezekiel’s prophecy to the
end of the Millennium, this creates an insurmountable problem. For if the Israelis
are not delivered from out of the land of their enemies and do not come to faith
until the end of the Millennium, then this would mean that after a thousand years
on the earth, Jesus had accomplished essentially nothing in the way of providing
security, salvation, or restoration. In such a scenario, Jesus could only be viewed
as an impotent Messiah and King.
Further Arguments
Another issue is the fact that the Lord states that all of the other (pre-
Ezekielian) prophets spoke about Gog:
You are the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of
Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you
against them. (Ezekiel 38:17)
If all of the other prophets before Ezekiel spoke of the Gog invasion at the
end of the Millennium, then where are these many references within the
Scriptures? One will be very hard pressed to produce a single such reference,
though it is quite easy to find many prophecies about the Antichrist among these
prophets.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38—39 and the Gog and
Magog of Revelation 20 are two different individuals and two different events,
separated by a thousand years.

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Understanding the Timing of the Battle of Gog and

The Prophet Ezekiel’s Prophecy of “the Battle of Gog of Magog,” is simply

First, let’s read the text in Revelation:

The first distinction is that the attempted invasion of Revelation’s account is

The second distinction between Ezekiel’s Gog account and Revelation’s is

Living Securely in the Land

This perspective is, in my opinion, untenable and cannot be reconciled with

I believe the issue of Israel living “securely” is merely a perceived sense of

He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior.

Return of the Captives

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