Friday, January 7, 2011

Ezekiel 38

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I just hate it when I spend half hour expounding on something here and it all goes poof :( there must be a time out on comments or something as it only happens when I have a really, really time intensive one. :(

Let's see if I can quickly recap what I just lost. I couldn't read this chapter without being reminded of an extensive end times study I did on this some years back. I did a search and came up with a summary of the study in a newsletter, which I am not sure if the link will work, as I had to do a ctrl f search on the website in order to find it and it opened a pdf document. The link is http://www.ariel.org/com/pdf/n08winter.pdf#search="Ezekiel 38" and the relevant article starts on page 5.

The basic premise of the article is the events leading up to the tribulation, and it cites this event (the attack of the Northern Alliance on Israel) as event number 4 in a series of nine pretribulational birth pangs. The first three being;

1. world wars I and II (based on Mat 24:7-8)

2. the reestablishment of Israel in 1948 as a nation (based on Ezek. 20:33-38; 22:17-22; Zeph. 2:1-2)

3. Territorial Jerusalem under Jewish control, with ultimately control of the temple mount and reconstruction of the temple (based on Dan. 9:27;Matt. 24:15;
II Thess. 2:3-4; Rev. 11:1-2).

And here is what he says about birth pang 4, the invasion of Israel by the Northern Alliance (based on Ezekiel 38-39)

Ezekiel 38:1-39:16 describes an invasion of Israel from the north
and the subsequent destruction of the invading forces once they
reach the area of the mountains of Israel.
The invaders are identified in Ezekiel 38:1-6 as being today’s
nations of Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, Somalia, Germany, and
Armenia, with the confederacy being led by Russia. One
interesting point is that not a single Arab nation participates in
this invasion. The passage identifies the reason God allows the
invasion, which is to restore belief, for only after the invasion do
many in Israel turn to the Lord.
Whatever the publicly stated reasons for this invasion may be,
the actual reason will be Russia's own self-interest (vv. 11-12).
The result will be, the Russian and allied army will be destroyed
in Israel, and Russia will cease being a political force in world
affairs.
In Ezekiel 38:8, 11-12, and 14, the invasion takes place when
certain conditions for Israel exist: when Israel is a state again;
when the waste places of past centuries are again inhabited; when
Israel is dwelling in unwalled villages, a good description of
present-day kibbutzim; and when Israel is dwelling securely. As will
be shown later, nowhere in the entire text does it speak of Israel
as living in peace. Rather, Israel is merely living in security,
which means “confidence,” regardless of whether it is during a
state of war or peace. So, as far as where Israel stands today, she
completely fulfills all the requirements given in the description of
Israel in this passage. From this standpoint, the invasion can
occur at any time, including some time before the Tribulation.

he then goes on to list 5 more birth pangs that lead right up to the tribulation (one world government, the ten kingdoms, the rise of antichrist, the period of world peace and false security, and the 7 year covenant.

I have the study in print somewhere if anyone is interested in reading it.

Unknown said...

well, what do you know, the link seems to work!

Chris said...

I really appreciate having this explained, Nichole. I'm going to take my time and read the article, because this is always something that is confusing for me. I get shivers when I read the last verses in the chapter. Goosebumps!