Chuck Smith: Ezekiel Chapters 38-39

In this powerful teaching on Ezekiel 38–39, we explore the prophecy of Gog and Magog, Israel’s last-days enemies, and God’s dramatic intervention in history.

Topics Covered:

• Why Ezekiel 38–39 cannot be the same as the Battle of Armageddon

• The role of Russia, Iran (Persia), Libya, Ethiopia, Turkey, and others

• Why Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq are notably absent

• Israel’s restoration in Ezekiel 36–37 and its connection to modern history

• God’s supernatural defense: earthquakes, hailstones, fire, and brimstone

• Prophecy of bones marked but not touched—possible nuclear implications

• How this invasion sets the stage for Daniel’s 70th week and the final seven years

• God’s promise to pour out His Spirit on Israel in the last days

This message reveals how current events in the Middle East are aligning with Ezekiel’s prophecy, showing us that God’s Word is alive and being fulfilled before our eyes.

#BibleProphecy #Ezekiel38 #GogAndMagog #Israel #EndTimes #LastDays

 Ezekiel 38-39

The events of chapter 38 are twice declared to be in the last days. That would preclude any historic interpretation of these passages—they are in the last days, and we will point that out as we get to those Scriptures.

Secondly, there are many who believe that the battle described here is the Battle of Armageddon. I personally do not believe that it is the Battle of Armageddon, and these are the reasons why I do not believe that.

First of all, the participants: the Battle of Armageddon, as I understand it, will be more or less a worldwide war. The chief participants will be the Antichrist and the Western powers versus the powers from the East that will come to fight against the Antichrist and the Western powers. As we get into Daniel, we find that the Antichrist is leading the Western powers down into Africa, probably for the purpose of conquering that continent, when tidings out of the East trouble him—and out of the North. The river Euphrates is dried up to make way for the kings of the East, and as the eastern nations band together and come to stop the power of the western expansion, they meet in the Valley of Megiddo for that final conflict, which is actually halted by the return of Jesus Christ. We will get to that as we move into Daniel and then later into Zechariah.

So, in this battle described, it is a limited participation. The object of the battle is Israel itself, and the aggressors will be limited in that they are, more or less, those Islamic nations that have already threatened to try to destroy Israel.

The place of the battle, of course—“Armageddon” tells you that it is the Valley of Megiddo. Here, the corpses will be buried in the valley of the passengers, which is east of the Dead Sea. So, the placement of the battle is different.

I am not really going to try to interpret Ezekiel 38 and 39. I am going to only try to identify for you some of the names of the nations that are involved, and we’ll just read what the Scripture has to say. We will define a few Hebrew words for you so that you can then see what the Scripture says and make up your own mind concerning it. I think that when you try to interpret things, you begin to get into the spiritualizing of it, and you can make it really meaningless. I think that it is very clear in what it declares, so let’s just see what Ezekiel has to say about this.

Now remember, chapter 36 dealt with the restoring of the nation as far as agriculture: “the mountains will be covered with trees,” they’ll be tilled and sown; they will produce an abundance of fruit and an abundance of corn. The land that was so barren and desolate has become like a Garden of Eden. That has happened. Chapter 36, for the most part, is fulfilled.

Chapter 37 dealt with the rebirth of the nation—that God would gather them back into the land. They had been scattered all over the world, but God would gather them back in the land, make them one nation, and that has been fulfilled. As of May 14, 1948, the nation of Israel was reborn.

Now, having developed the land, having brought them back into the land, we come into chapter 38:

“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.”

Gog is the chief Prince of Magog. Gog is not a land or territory in this sense, but is the chief Prince of Magog.

Now, Magog has been identified by the historians as the Scythians, and they were the ones who occupied the area in the Crimea, north of the Crimea—of course, at this time when Ezekiel was writing, a very insignificant race of Scythian people—and they dwelt mainly in that area north of the Caucasus and between the Black Sea and the Caspian. That is the area that would today be the southern provinces of the former Soviet Union. These provinces have come into the news lately because there seems to be an alliance being made between Iran and these southern provinces of the former Soviet Union which are, for the most part, Muslims.

Meshech and Tubal have been thought to be the ancient Tiberia and Muscovy—which, of course, today is more or less known as Moscow and Tobolsk. That is not for certain. You can leave that as a question mark—a possibility, for sure, but a question mark.

“God’s word: Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks in thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.”

So, the description of the army that is coming—of course Ezekiel is describing in words that were familiar to those days and the type of weapons that would be used. But now the nations—and I think that it is significant the nations that are named. I also think it is significant the nations that are not named—nations that we would, in our own minds, be certain would be allied with this group because of their past, recent history in their attempt to exterminate Israel.

But the nations that are involved in this war along with Magog are:

• Persia—which, of course, today is Iran. We know the militancy of the Iranians; we see the demonstrations. The current government has no real love for the West, for the United States, and certainly not for Israel. In fact, they are constantly rallying their troops with the goal of taking Jerusalem back for Islam, and they are constantly making threats and announcing their intentions of invading Israel.
• Ethiopia was a part of the communist bloc. It is a very strong Muslim center today, as is Libya—“all of them with shields and helmets.” (Ethiopia and Libya need no identification.)
• Gomer and all his bands—Gomer was in the area just north of Turkey. You can find it in your Bible maps, along with Togarmah, which is the area of Turkey. These, again, are Muslim nations.

Thus, the nations allied together seem to be predominantly Muslim nations, which would indicate the possibility of a declared jihad against Israel.

The interesting thing to me is that Egypt is not named. However, Ethiopia—south of Egypt—and Libya—west of Egypt—are named; Egypt is not named with these nations. Whether the omission is just an omission or whether it is by God’s design is something we will discover after the fact. Anything we would suggest now would be speculation.

It is interesting to me that Syria is not mentioned, though Syria has been a perennial foe of Israel. Jordan is not mentioned. Now, it is interesting that Egypt has made a peace treaty with Israel and, because of their peace treaty with Israel—you remember—Israel gave them back a large portion of the Sinai to create this peace treaty. It could be—remember, the rest of the Islamic nations have been angry at Egypt for making a treaty with Israel because it recognizes it as a nation. Syria is, at this very moment, negotiating a peace treaty with Israel—you read about it in the paper—and there is even talk of the Israelis returning part of the Golan Heights to Syria in order to facilitate a peace treaty.

It’s significant to me that neither of these nations (or the three, if you include Jordan), plus Babylon (or Iraq), are listed. Yet, if you and I were setting up the scenario, surely we would have included these nations that have expressed their desire to destroy Israel. Some of them have, of course, even attempted to do so since the birth of the nation.

So—fascinating—that Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Jordan are not mentioned as aggressors with this consortium of nations that will be joining together for the invasion.

“Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter days 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…”

Chapter 36 was, of course, prophesied to the mountains of Israel. Now they’re going to come against these mountains of Israel,

“…which have been always waste,”

that is, since Israel was dispersed by the Romans in A.D. 70, the mountains of Israel became wasted wilderness area. The prophecy was that they would be replanted and fruitful again.

“…and they shall dwell safely all of them.”

Some people say, “Well, Israel isn’t dwelling safely—has never dwelt safely since it became a nation. They’ve already had three wars with the surrounding nations. How can you say they are dwelling safely?” If you look up the Hebrew word safely in your lexicon, you will find that the word literally means confidently. Now, they may not be safe, but they’re confident. You talk to them and you’ll find they are very confident, and they are dwelling confidently—though perhaps not “safely,” as we would think of safely. But who in the world dwells safely, pray tell, in these days anywhere in the world?

“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.”

The chief aggressor will be Magog, but with all these other nations combining with them.

“Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: 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 confidently, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.”

Now, the only walled city that you’ll find in Israel today is the Old City of Jerusalem with the walls that were built by Suleiman that are still intact. You have this small section of Jerusalem—a very small section—that is walled. But the major part of Jerusalem is outside that old walled area. So it’s just sort of decorative, really—a great tourist attraction because it’s interesting to see the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. But if you say, “Jerusalem is a walled city” to a Jew, they would laugh at you, because it’s such a small portion; it’s just that portion within. All around it, for miles and miles, stretches the city of Jerusalem, and when you come to the outskirts, you don’t find walls. So, they are dwelling confidently, without walls.

“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…”

(as in chapter 37—God gathered them out of the nations)

“…which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.”

What is one of the major problems in Russia today? Lack of food. We have been sending over food to the people; you’ve seen the pictures of them standing in lines to get food. In fact, they say that in Moscow, people will be standing in a line and you go up and say, “What’s for sale? What are you waiting for?” “Don’t know—we’ll find out when we get there,” because sometimes they’ll run out of one item and by the time they get up there they’ve got something else, but they’ll buy whatever is there because of the scarcity. Here is Israel—as small as it is—extremely productive; it is the fourth-largest exporter of produce of all of the nations of the world.

So, they’re coming to take a spoil; it speaks of the cattle and of the goods.

Now, here’s an interesting thing:

“Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?”

Sheba and Dedan are going to object to the invasion. Who are Sheba and Dedan? Saudi Arabia. Now, can you imagine any kind of a scenario where Saudi Arabia would be speaking up for Israel, objecting to an invasion? The only scenario I can imagine is that Saudi Arabia feels threatened by the invasion, and that they are perhaps a target also of the invaders for the tremendous wealth of the oil reserves that they have.

The Valley of the Passengers is in the area of Saudi Arabia, east and south of the Dead Sea. It is quite possible that this is an attempt to take over the oil reserves. The interesting thing is that Saddam Hussein had a goal of taking Saudi Arabia—Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. He was stopped by the combined forces that joined in the Desert Storm operation. Had he taken Saudi Arabia, it would be a different story today, because we are so dependent upon the oil that we are getting out of the Middle East that we could not survive as an industrial nation unless we have the oil that we are getting from that area. That is why we stepped in; that is why we intervened. If they can control the oil, they can control the world at this time—the world’s economy—and they are very well aware of that. They became aware of the power of oil in 1973 with the oil embargo, when they doubled and quadrupled the prices of oil. They realized what a bargaining chip they had, and they’ve been using it ever since upon the Western nations. They have us sort of over a barrel, so to speak, because we are dependent upon their oil, and they are masterfully using that as a pawn in this giant international game of chess.

The interesting thing is that Iran has been training their troops for a land invasion from the sea, and the only place that Iran could possibly be thinking of invading would be Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It is possible that Iran will seek to do what Hussein failed to do, and that is to gain and control the wealth of Saudi Arabia’s oil. That is the possible reason why they are objecting to this whole invasion. It could be that Saudi Arabia is being invaded by Iran (Persia) as the troops from Russia (the North) are coming against Israel. The whole thing could be an attempt to gain world control and world power.

“The merchants of Tarshish…”—there is a difference of opinion among Bible commentators as to who Tarshish is. Some say Spain, some say England. If it be England, then “the young lions thereof” could possibly include the United States, as we were established as an English colony and then broke off—so the “young lions thereof” shall say unto you, “Are you come to take a spoil? …to take a prey?” That sounds like an appeal to the U.N. to sanction these nations for invading Israel. It doesn’t say that we are going to be moving forces; it is a verbal kind of objection—filing a paper with the Security Council, asking them to condemn these nations for this aggression.

Now, that sets up the scene of the battle:

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwell confidently, shalt thou not know it? 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. And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.”

The Lord is saying, “This is it.” The nations will know that I am God when I am sanctified before their eyes. This phrase “sanctified before their eyes”—we’re going to get that two or three more times, and you’ll see the importance of it. Make a note in your mind now; we’ll be back to that.

“Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face.”

In its history, God fought for Israel. Many of the biblical battles describe God’s divine intervention—destroying their enemies with hailstones, fire and brimstone coming down from heaven; destroying their enemies with plagues; driving out the inhabitants from before them; God with them in battle, putting to confusion their enemies. God is once again going to manifest Himself in this battle in a supernatural intervention. He will describe to us the supernatural events by which the invading army will be destroyed.

God said, “When you do this, my fury is going to come up in my face.”

“For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; so that the fish 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.”

A severe earthquake shaking that whole area—all who are in it. There is something rather awesome about a major earthquake. We’ve had some minor earthquakes, but a major earthquake makes you feel totally helpless. You just wonder, “When’s this thing going to quit shaking?” My thought whenever I feel the beginning of an earthquake is always, “How hard is the main jolt going to be?” You feel it swaying, swaying, swaying, but you’re waiting for that snap, and you wonder just how hard it’s going to snap when it hits.

This is going to be a major earthquake. You go to the area of Israel—especially down into the Jordan Valley—and you see these sheer cliffs along the Jordan Valley. There are many landslides down in that area, and I can imagine what it will be in a tremendous earthquake. Actually, they believe the whole valley was formed by an earthquake years ago—the Syro-African Rift. Can you imagine an earthquake of, say, an 8.2 magnitude—what it would do in the destruction over there? Most walls are not reinforced steel; many of the buildings are just rocks upon rocks. Without reinforced steel, it’s going to be devastating.

So, the Lord describes the whole place being shaken, the walls falling 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.”

When this earthquake and these cataclysmic things begin to happen, there will be such confusion that there will come inner strife among these nations, and they’ll begin to fight each other and destroy each other. You know that the area of Russia is completely divided now. There’s all kinds of ethnic strife taking place in Russia, and this will trigger ethnic strife throughout that whole area like you’ve not yet seen.

“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.”

God’s intervention: earthquake, hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

“Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself…”

Now, God said, “I’ll be sanctified,” and this is how: in the destruction of this overwhelming force that is coming against Israel. It will seem that Israel doesn’t have a chance against these overwhelming odds—armed with the latest type of weapons—Israel won’t seem to have a chance, and yet God is going to miraculously intervene—supernatural events.

Interestingly enough—and I guess for our benefit—Newsweek magazine this week had a very fascinating article on the peril of the world being destroyed by an asteroid or a comet. The article was very interesting reading. They describe what happens when, say, an asteroid the size of a building—the size of this building—would hit the earth. It would leave a giant hole; it would vaporize the dirt, which would go up into the atmosphere; the rocks and all would then begin to fall back like fiery rain, because as they’re falling through the atmosphere, the speed, etc., would turn them into fire. Read it—you’d think the scientists are reading out of Ezekiel or Revelation when they describe what would happen if we had a collision with an asteroid.

We have, according to the article, about ten possibilities a year of an asteroid hitting us. They seem to develop out there near Jupiter; then they get kicked out of orbit and come in. You never know when it’s going to happen. A lot of them—we had one just a year or so ago that came within 10 million miles, and we didn’t know it until after it had passed. But it was a close miss. They say that one that was, say, a mile square would actually destroy mankind—we wouldn’t survive.

Who knows what God will use? Maybe He’ll toss an asteroid over in that direction. Surely the article describes the exact kind of scenario that you read here in Ezekiel and in Revelation. However God does it is in His domain; we can only guess.

He continues the same prophecy:

“Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.”

God said, “I will turn you back and leave only a sixth part.” That is, five out of six of the invading troops will be destroyed—pretty heavy casualties.

“And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.”

You might take a look at the Hebrew word—arrows are flying missiles. What are they? Who knows?

“Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee; I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.”

Their destruction is certain; their destruction is sure.

“So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.”

God has spoken of this day for Israel for a long time. God is going to again work directly with the nation of Israel. Now, as we get into Daniel—the next book we move into—when we get into the ninth chapter, we will find that there have been seventy sevens that have been determined by God upon the nation of Israel and the holy city of Jerusalem: to finish the transgressions, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for sin, to establish the covenant, to finish the prophecies, and to anoint the most Holy. From the time the commandment would go forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah the Prince, there would be sixty-nine sevens or 483 years. There were seventy sevens determined; sixty-nine were fulfilled to the coming of the Messiah. But the prophecy in Daniel goes on to say the Messiah would be cut off and not receive for Himself—that is, would not receive the kingdom. Four hundred eighty-three years after the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, Jesus came, made His triumphant entry; He was crucified within the week without receiving the kingdom.

Then, there was going to be a prince of the people that would come and destroy the city and set up an abomination. But the seventieth seven is yet to be fulfilled—that is, God has an unfulfilled seven-year covenant with the nation of Israel in which God is going to work, and at the end of that seven-year covenant, your prophecies will be sealed (completed). They will then bring in the Messiah—the reign of Jesus Christ, the second coming of our Lord to reign in power and glory.

So, this event in Ezekiel 38 is tied with this covenant that God made with Israel. This defeat of their enemies will trigger the beginning of the last seven years, as we will move on and discover—Ezekiel speaking of that.

“Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken.”

The day in which He again puts His Spirit upon Israel and works with them again. Peter makes reference to how all the prophets spoke of the final restitution of all things—the restitution of God’s work among the people of Israel and their being restored as God’s people.

“And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years.”

They will go out and take the spoils of war—the implements that have been brought in for this war (probably the fuel)—and will actually have a seven-year supply of fuel. Interesting number of years.

The interesting thing to me, in the previous wars, is how Israel has gained from the implements and weapons of war. When they had that intrusion into southern Lebanon to create this buffer zone, they discovered caves loaded with all kinds of Russian equipment—tanks, mortars, all kinds of weapons, rifles. In fact, they were three months removing all of the weapons out of these caves, in huge semi-trucks—some twenty-six of them—working day and night for three months to transfer these weapons. They put them on display there in Israel for a time—the weapons that Russia had moved into southern Lebanon and had stored in these caves, in preparation for an invasion.

Again, they’re going to profit from the spoils of war.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it the valley of Hamon-gog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.”

“Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.”

Professional buriers.

“And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.”

They don’t touch the bones—they set up a flag near it so the professionals come and handle the bones. Turn to Zechariah 14, and in conjunction with this we have an interesting verse 12. Zechariah also speaks about the rebirth of the nation of Israel and about how the enemies round about are going to seek to fight against her:

“And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.” (Zechariah 14:12)

It sounds like death from severe radiation. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to what that implies. It would imply that people are afraid to touch the bones, perhaps because of radiation. They don’t touch the bones; they set up flags and the professionals come to bury them. It could indicate that nuclear devices will be involved in this war and in the destruction of Israel’s enemies.

“And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.”

“And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.”

This is why many commentators believe that this perhaps is also the Battle of Armageddon, because in Revelation 19 at the Battle of Armageddon, the birds are invited to come and feast at the feast that God prepares. In both battles there will be plenty of bodies to feed upon for the vultures; so the invitation to come.

Incidentally, a few years ago there was some talk about vultures multiplying in Israel—but no real fact to it. You hear these crazy rumors, and they seem to spread—like the “scientists drilling a hole in Siberia” story, or the petitions to take Christian radio off the air—none of it true, but the stories keep circulating. Don’t be dismayed at stories you may hear; there are no known increases of vultures in Israel.

“Ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God. And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.”

“So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.”

This marks the day—the day of the Lord—of which He has spoken; the day in which they again turn to God.

“And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore I hid my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.”

“According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.”

But He will no longer hide His face. He is going to reveal Himself to them again.

“Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; after that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt confidently in their land, and none made them afraid.”

“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.”

Go back to 38:23—when He destroys this invading army:

“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.”

So that day—when He destroys these invading armies:

“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.”

And then this is the key verse:

“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.” (Ezekiel 39:29)

Joel’s prophecy was partially fulfilled in the church:

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit…” (cf. Joel 2; Acts 2)

“…and there shall be blood and fire and vapor of smoke; the moon turned into blood, the sun into darkness, before the great and notable day of the Lord comes.”

You’re entering here into that period when God pours out His Spirit—the Great Tribulation, when God judges the world because of sin—and then the glorious return of Jesus Christ and our being gathered together unto Him.

We’re in between chapter 37 and chapter 38 as far as looking at the world today. Chapter 36 was fulfilled—it began at the turn of the century with the redevelopment of the land. Chapter 37 was fulfilled in May of 1948. I pray that chapters 38 and 39 will be fulfilled soon. Who knows when God is going to work? This is the next major event to come along. Watch for a continued romance between the southern provinces of Russia and Iran, as they join together. They need the Iranian money that Iran has as a result of her oil reserves. Iran desires their military equipment, which they are anxious to sell because they need the cash. There is a marriage taking place now and the development of military weapons by Iran. They have hired over 5,000 of the Russian nuclear scientists and are seeking to develop their own nuclear capability, besides having purchased nuclear weapons from Kyrgyzstan. The whole thing is shaping up before our very eyes.

Keep alerted. When you see articles in Newsweek, Time, and so forth on the Middle East, on Iran—pour over them, because you’ll find that what Ezekiel told us about is really shaping up now.

It is my belief that when God puts His Spirit again upon Israel, and the Spirit of God is working among the people of Israel, the church will have departed. I believe that right now the Spirit of God has been poured out upon the church and upon the Gentile believers. I believe God’s Spirit is working basically among the Gentile nations. As Paul said, blindness has happened in part to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in; we, as a wild branch, have been grafted in to partake of the fatness of the promises of God. But don’t boast against the true branch, because God is able to graft the true branch back in—which He will—and God will again work with the nation of Israel. But when He does, the church will have been removed.

We know that the Antichrist cannot be revealed until that which hinders is taken out of the way. “That which hinders” shall hinder until it is removed, and then shall the Antichrist be revealed. I believe that “that which hinders” the revelation of the Antichrist is the power of the Holy Spirit within the church—the witness of the church through the Spirit. That’s the thing holding back the Antichrist today. When the church is removed, then God will no longer leave Israel in blindness—He will reveal Himself to Israel. His Spirit will be poured out upon Israel, and you will enter into that final seven-year scenario described in many places in the Bible. God seals 144,000 of the Jews to preserve them; they will be His primary witnesses here on the earth during that seven-year period of time. The church—out of here.

So, it’s sort of like when you see the Santa Clauses and reindeer going up—you know that Thanksgiving is getting close, because Thanksgiving comes before Christmas. When you see these signs of the return of Jesus Christ, you realize that the rapture of the church is getting very close, because it precedes the return of the Lord in glory. For when Jesus comes again, Paul said, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory”—coming with Him to establish God’s kingdom upon the earth. “Behold, He cometh with ten thousands of His saints.”

As Jesus said in Luke, “When you see these things begin to come to pass,”—do you think they’ve begun to come to pass? Can you see any hints that Iran is getting chummy with Russia—at least with the southern provinces there? Can you see Libya antagonistic toward Israel? Has it begun to come to pass? I think so.

Jesus said, “Look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” As I look at the world today—as I look at our United States today—none too soon. None too soon. I look at the moral conditions of our nation… (remarks on domestic policy omitted for brevity in this clean-up).

So, look up, lift up your head—it’s getting close.

We pray: Father, we thank You for Your Word—a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path; a map whereby we can follow; a map that leads us, Lord, in the right path—Your path. May we walk in Your ways. May we be obedient unto Your Word. Lord, help us to so live in these days when the enemy is going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. May we be steadfast, unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord. Father, we thank You again for the Word of God—a guide for our lives. May we follow its precepts.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.