A Line by Line Exposition of Ezekiel 38 – Part 1
March 16, 2009
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OUTLINE OF GENERAL EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH CORRELATION OF EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 WITH DANIEL 12 AND REVELATION 12.
Ezekiel Chapter 38 deals with the initial attack of Gog the Antichrist against Israel at about the same time the earthquake of Revelation 6:12 occurs in the Jordan River Valley of Israel. When the attack occurs some three and one-half years remain until the battle of Armageddon ends the Tribulation Period.
Revelation 12:6 represents the period of three and one half years between Chapters 38
and 39 in Ezekiel, when Gog drives Israel into the Negev Wilderness, and leaves her there for some three and one-half years, by-passing the Negev and driving across the northern Sinai to conquer Cairo and all Egypt. Gog remains there and establishes a vast Islamic Caliphate from Morocco to New Guinea.
Daniel 12:40-43 represents the initial attack against Israel just described and Gog’s three and one-half year Caliphate reign from Cairo. Daniel 12:44,45 represents his return to Jerusalem to call all the old world nations to come and assist him in finally destroying the Jews. The land of Magog (Russia) comes down to join him and the 39th Chapter of Ezekiel begins with attack against Israel at Armageddon and ends with fire coming down on Magog (Russians) as described in Ezekiel 39:6 and also in Revelation 16:16-21.
Ezekiel Chapter 39 deals with the final attack of Gog against Israel in the Negev Wilderness after he drove her there some three and one-half years before. This is the time when he asks the people of the land of Magog (Russia) to come down and help him utterly destroy Israel at Armageddon. The Chapter then continues on into the Millennial Reign events following Armageddon, beginning with the burial of the millions of the bones of Gog’s army scattered across Israel, amounting to 5/6 of his great army.
Ezekiel 38:1,2 – And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.
Gog (high extension) appears for the first time in Ezekiel. He is the Antichrist of who so much has been written. Please note that he is identified as the “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Many commentators, especially in the last 100 years, have not identified him as the Antichrist, but have identified him as the ruler or chief pr
ince of the land of Magog, which I do not believe Scripture justifies.
Before the 20th Century, most identified him as the Antichrist.
In verse 2 Ezekiel is told to set his face against two separate things, a person and a place.
The person is Gog (Antichrist), and the place is the land of the descendants of Magog where it existed in Ezekiel’s day. If we do not locate the territories of Magog, Meshech, and Tubal as they existed in Ezekiel’s day, then we can have no idea as to where the Antichrist will soon rear his head, or the area from which his attack will be launched. More than 2500 years have slipped by since Ezekiel wrote his prophecies, and the bloodlines of all three men been distributed across the entire planet.
In order to correctly identify the area, from whence the Antichrist will attack Israel, we must identify where the descendants of Meshech and Tubal were residing in 500 and 600 B.C. Why? Because the Antichrist is not the chief prince of Magog, he is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. He will come from the area where their descendants were settled in 500 and 600 B.C.
I will attempt to use two different sources to locate where the descendants of Meshech and Tubal were clustered at the time of Ezekiel’s writings. The first is found in the 27th chapter of Ezekiel, and the second is from the Assyrian monument stones of that period. Ezekiel 27:3 – “And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.” Tyrus (Tyre) was a seaport on the southern coast of what we know today as Lebanon, which is directly north of Israel. Tyrus built its first great sea wall to protect its harbored ships more than 3000 years ago, and was a thriving seaport in Ezekiel’s day. Its ships carried merchandise from the countries of the east across all the Mediterranean, and even as far north as the shores of the English Channel. Zidon (Sidon) was also a sea port, and less than 20 miles separated the two cities. The wise men of Tyrus were the navigators of the ships, and the men of Zidon were the deck hands, as portrayed in Ezekiel 27:8 – “The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.” Now, bearing all this in mind, let us look at Ezekiel 27:13 – “Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.” Meshech and Tubal were warlike tribes, who often took their captives (persons of men) and the vessels of brass they had captured, or hammered out themselves, and carried them to the NEAREST seaport for trading. The captives were, of course, loaded on the ships and sold as slaves
in foreign ports of trade.
Why the NEAREST seaport? Because, in Ezekiel’s day, travel was by foot, donkey, camel, and horse.
People always carried their trading goods to the nearest port, particularly slaves.
Therefore, I conclude that Meshech and Tubal must have roamed in the area we know today as Syria, Lebanon, northwestern Iraq, and southern Turkey.
Meshech and Tubal are the Mushki and Tabali of
the Assyrian stone monuments. In the time of Sargon and Sennacherib (700 B.C.) the territory of Tubal adjoined southern Cilicia, while that of Meshech filled the highlands to the east of Tubal.
Considering the locations derived from the Bible and stone tablets, it appears that the Antichrist, as the chief prince of the area once occupied by Meshech and Tubal, is likely to arise, and eventually to attack Israel, from Syria or Lebanon. And, since Lebanon is virtually controlled by Syria, it appears Syria
is the best guess for his homeland.