Chapter 9 – ARMAGEDDON

Duration: Unknown
Timing: After the rapture and during God’s Wrath
Key Scriptures:  Ezekiel 38-39; Daniel 11; Revelation 16:12-16; 17:14; 19; Matthew 24:4-22

Armageddon is a battle, not a war. It is the final battle of the war. It’s a battle where a gigantic army is assembled to fight against God Himself, Jesus, the returning Messiah, His angel armies, and His saints.

I can just imagine a vast host of hardened soldiers, gathered with all of their machinery of war, holding in formation at their appointed place, waiting for their enemy to arrive so that they can unleash their awesome firepower that has already laid waste to so much land and life. If they were amassed to fight against an army of men, they would be a formidable force indeed – perhaps the greatest ever. However, since they are there to fight against the God of all creation, the Almighty, it would be laughable, if not for the waste of humanity that will ensue. They will soon turn against each other, by the power of God, and annihilate themselves. 

It’s pretty much impossible at this time to determine exactly when this war that Armageddon is the culmination of begins. My feeling is that it begins around the same time as the tribulation, perhaps a little before. If this is so, it will last about seven and a half to eight years in all. This war already has a name given to it by Bible students, but when it happens it might be called “World War Three”. 

This war, presented in Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39, is known to most as “Ezekiel’s War”. Bible expositors are all over the place on when it might take place. Some (like me) say it’s imminent; meaning it could happen at any time. Others say that it will occur during the millennium. And while I have joined Armageddon with Ezekiel’s War, not all expositors are willing to do this. We will look into these things in the course of this chapter. 

I’m sure that somebody somewhere tries to put this war into some point in past history, but the context of this biblical event does not allow this to happen. Neither does the text allow us to put this war in the millennium. But it will be in the future – perhaps the very near future.

Many, many students of eschatology attempt to determine exactly which nations are involved and who the leader will be (or is). Indeed, some of the nations are actually named in Ezekiel’s prophecy. And while I’m guilty of doing this from time to time, the purpose of this study is to just show the basics, not the nitty gritty details. So, in this chapter we’re going to see what the Bible actually says about this war and its final battle, and attempt to understand it in a plain-meaning, common sense, big-picture fashion.

In chapter 1, we looked at the books of Ezekiel and Daniel. We showed the similarities and connections between the main characters and how Gog is indeed the antichrist.

We could ask the questions, is Gog a metaphor, a symbol, a demon, or an actual person? If a living being, is it a single individual or a group of people? Is it a human or an angel/demon? Can we answer these questions? Let’s see what we know.

In the English Standard Version (ESV), the word “Gog” appears 12 times in the Bible. The first appearance is in 1 Chronicles 5:4, “The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son”. This shows us that the word is used as a proper name at least once. Does this mean that this guy, Gog, is the same one that we see in Ezekiel? Do we take this person as a clue as to where the latter Gog lives? We’ll see as we move along. The next 10 appearances are in Ezekiel. We’ll look at these in a minute. The last one is in Revelation 20:8. Here is the passage:

Revelation 20:⁷ And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.

We are going to look at the millennium in the next chapter. But for now, I’ll just say that this “Gog and Magog” in the millennium cannot be the same “Gog and Magog” in Ezekiel’s War, because one appears before the return of Christ (in Ezekiel), and the other appears at the end of the millennium, 1,000 years later (in Revelation) – that is, if Gog is a person. If Gog is a demon, then he could appear in both places. If Gog is a people group, then both may be possible as well (but not likely).

There are some very compelling reasons why Gog of Ezekiel is not the same Gog of Revelation:

1. Gog of Ezekiel experiences God’s Wrath (here we are looking at the End-Times event that is temporary in nature; not His final, eternal wrath at the judgment). As we saw in the chapter on GOD’S WRATH, it is a one-time event that lasts less than a year. Ezekiel shows us some of the things that happen that we know are associated with this very specific event:
   1. There shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel (Ezekiel 38:19)
   2. The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. (v. 20)
   3. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. (v. 20) 
   4. With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. (v. 22)
2. Ezekiel’s account says the following: “So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” 38:23
   This cannot be in the millennium because by then all people on earth have experienced Christ’s personal rule for a thousand years. In light of this truth, it is silly to apply this verse to that time.
3. Likewise, Ezekiel 39:7 says, “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel…”
   This, too, would be nonsensical in the context of the millennial reign of Christ, as EVERYONE on earth knows His name at that time.
4. Conversely, Revelation’s Gog is not the same as Ezekiel’s because Satan is finally thrown into the lake of fire after the thousand years are completed.
5. Also, the Revelation account doesn’t seem to allow for the seven months required to pick up the bones of the Ezekiel horde.
6. Lastly, in Ezekiel the attackers are killed and buried; in Revelation they are consumed by fire, which would not require burial (and no bones would be found). 

Another question we should be asking is who (or what) is “Magog”? Since they both appear together, we might be able to tackle them both at the same time.

In Ezekiel 38:2 we get our first big clue. But I’ll include the rest of the paragraph for context.

Ezekiel 38:¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him ³ and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. ⁴ And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.”

Here, Gog seems to be a person (a prince) and Magog seems to be a place (some say Russia). Is this assessment supported by the other verses? Other than Revelation 20:7, it would seem to be so. Gog is shown to have the following traits: 

• Male (“prince”, not “princess”) – Ezekiel 38:2-3; 39:1
• Leader (“prince”) – Ezekiel 38:2-3;
• Knowledgeable – Ezekiel 38:14
• Mortal – Ezekiel 39:11

Can a real person’s name be used to refer to a group of people as well? Sure. It’s common to refer to the leader of a movement when talking about the entire group of that movement. Here’s just one example:

Ezekiel 38:²¹ I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.

This verse seems to be using the name of Gog to refer to both him and his followers.

Perhaps, in the same way, the name “Gog” may refer to a person who represents Satan. I only throw this out there because the name is used for two people (possibly) who are apparently from two completely different epochs, separated by at least a thousand years (not to mention the first Gog in 1 Chronicles). In Ezekiel 38:16 the prophet talks of Gog coming against Israel in the “Latter Days”. This term (Latter Days) is usually used in conjunction with the end of the age that Jesus and His disciples talked about in the Olivet Discourse, but not the millennium. Also, Ezekiel 38:18-20 alludes to this occurring during God’s Wrath, which happens before the millennium, not during it. So, having this name refer to the same mortal individual in both Ezekiel and Revelation is not possible, especially since the Gog of Ezekiel dies (Ezekiel 39:4-5). 

Therefore, I see the Gog in Ezekiel as being a mortal man. The Gog in Revelation 20:7, however, seems to be more of a metaphor or a figure that is to recall the vast horde that came against God in Armageddon 1,000 years earlier – meaning the final rebellion in Revelation will have some apparent similarities to Armageddon. In other words, Armageddon, the final battle of Ezekiel’s War, happens once just before the millennium, and the final rebellion will occur a thousand years later and will resemble that earlier battle. However, I do not rule out a demon, named Gog, being responsible for both leading the army in Ezekiel and the rebellion in Revelation (although the Bible does not say this at all, or even hint at it). With that said, I lean more to the Gog in Revelation being a metaphor based on the earlier mortal Gog in Ezekiel. Especially since Magog in Ezekiel’s account seems to be a specific place north of Israel and Magog in Revelation is from all over the world.

Not only does the reference to God’s Wrath make Ezekiel’s Gog distinct from Revelation’s Gog, but it also shows when this war occurs. As we’ve already seen, God’s Wrath happens “immediately following” the Great Tribulation, and begins before (or upon) the Lord’s return (Matthew 24:29-31).

Ezekiel 38:¹⁹ For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground.

To me, this passage is a clue that Gog might be the antichrist. Unfortunately, we do not have an overabundance of clues that show this. If we did, perhaps it would be common knowledge. As it is, though, we do have a few threads of connectivity between Gog and antichrist. This timing of God’s Wrath occurring during Ezekiel’s War is one of them. (For the sake of allowing for these chapters to be independent references of study, I am repeating some information found in the first chapter.)

One reason we can begin to think that Gog is the antichrist is that the antichrist has already assumed power during or just before the tribulation. This makes it extremely unlikely that there would be another vast army led by a world leader at the same time who comes against Israel. Especially considering Ezekiel 38:17 “Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?”

One detail of antichrist’s demise is, at first look, a difficulty for this joining of Gog and antichrist. In fact, there are many folks who cannot get past it and therefore refuse to allow Gog to be antichrist. It is found in Revelation 19:20:

“And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.”

The difficulty here is that Gog is clearly killed, whereas this account of antichrist’s demise has him being thrown “alive” into the lake of burning sulfur. So how do we handle this apparent contradiction? Let’s see what else we can find about antichrist’s death.

Daniel 7:¹¹ “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire”

Also, Paul says that Jesus kills the antichrist upon His return: 

2 Thessalonians 2:⁸ “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.” 

With all of the other verses that point to Gog and antichrist being the same person, it seems like more of a violation of the text to separate them on the basis of this one perplexing verse than to not. We know that the Bible does not always give us all of the details of an event in every verse that touches on a particular thing. 

Here, we have a verse that discusses an event that is covered elsewhere in scripture. But it seems to say something different than the others. Sometimes, we can’t have a nice, neat, tidy cohesion of the various references that the Bible gives to us. This is one of those times. We are forced to reconcile this in our minds with what we have been given. Here is how I do it (you can take it or leave it): I believe that the antichrist is killed, meaning his mortal body is vacated by his eternal soul (as happens with all people upon death). I then take what John has written as being somewhat truncated. (Now, what he has written in Revelation 19:20 is what he has written and we should not add any words to it, so take this as intended – an interpretation; not an addendum; certainly not a correction.) I think that he is leaving out the part where the antichrist and false prophet are killed and given their eternal, resurrection bodies before being thrown alive into the burning lake. Perhaps he was attempting to show how the antichrist and false prophet will go directly to the burning lake, rather than being held in hades for the thousand years. He may have been presenting an immediacy and finality to the fate of the two. Saying “thrown alive” could have been his way of achieving this. 

We know that life never ceases, even upon death. So it is no contradiction to say that a person is thrown “alive” into a place of eternal suffering, even if that person first tasted mortal death of the flesh. His soul never dies, so he is thrown alive wherever he is thrown. But to be given his eternal, resurrection body first would only emphasize his condition. Still, regardless of the presence of a body, whether mortal or eternal, would be irrelevant. A person lives on, with or without a body. But since God is consistent, we can assume that the antichrist and false prophet will be treated the same as anyone else who is cast into the lake of fire – with their resurrected body (see Revelation 20:5).

Now that we see that this war in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is happening during God’s Wrath and that the antichrist might be the leader of the vast army, which is from the distant north and comprised of many peoples, and attacks Israel many times, including with allies from the East, we will be able to piece together the various accounts of antichrist and Gog and come up with a much fuller picture. We also will be able to tie off most, if not all, of the loose ends in our emerging picture.

Let’s move on and see what other clues we can gather about both Ezekiel’s War and the battle of Armageddon. Let’s turn first to Daniel 11, which we can now say seems to be a (somewhat) companion passage to Ezekiel 38-39. 

First, we should recognize that the villain (the king of the north) in Daniel 11 is the antichrist. We can see this through certain events in verses 21 through 45. For example, Daniel 11:31 states, “Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.” This is undoubtedly the same event described in numerous places of scripture:

• Matthew 24:15
• Daniel 12:11
• Luke 21:20
• Daniel 9:27
• Mark 13:14
• 2 Thessalonians 2:4
• Daniel 8:13

This is known as the “Abomination that Causes Desolation”. It’s the event that shows the commencement of the Great Tribulation. And as you now know, the Great Tribulation lasts for 3-½ years (a time, times and half a time; 1260 days; 42 months). So this places events in Daniel 11 in the Early Tribulation (1^st 3-½ years) as well as the Great Tribulation (2^nd 3-½ years). We know it’s in the Tribulation leading up to the Great Tribulation because Daniel 11 describes the campaign leading up to the Abomination of Desolation. We also know that it continues through the Great Tribulation because of Daniel 11:40-43.

In Daniel 11:40-43, the antichrist slashes through Israel and continues his campaign into other nations, but in verse 45 he “shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with none to help him.” This sounds very much like the battle of Armageddon. So much so, that it is partly what caused me to believe that Armageddon is the final battle of Ezekiel’s War. But I can at least see that Daniel 11 is showing the antichrist, who we know is killed by Jesus at His return (2 Thessalonians 2:8). But is Ezekiel showing us the antichrist in his character named Gog?

Daniel shows us antichrist’s activities but not his death. However, in other passages we can see antichrist’s death. And if we can join his death with other activities, then we may have the nexus we need to determine without a doubt that the Gog of Ezekiel is in fact the antichrist.

And what is the death of antichrist like? Let’s see. Again, Daniel does not tell us, but other writers do. In Revelation, for example, John tells us that the antichrist falls and his and his army’s bodies are fed to the birds and beasts.

Revelation 19:¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, ¹⁸ to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” 

In Ezekiel, Gog and Magog are also fed to the animals upon their death.

Ezekiel 39:⁴ You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 

Is this merely coincidence? Well, how many great battles (really great battles) are going to happen during this time in Israel? How many leaders with the notable power of the antichrist will come upon the scene at the same time? I don’t know about you, but the similarities and timing are too great for me to ignore.

2 Thessalonians 2:⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 

The threads are coming together to form a rope that binds Ezekiel’s Gog with the antichrist in other passages. We can put together a bit about Ezekiel’s War and we can put together some details about Armageddon. Once we understand that the antichrist is at Armageddon and we can see similarities between Ezekiel’s War and acts of the antichrist, we can put it all together and see that Gog of Ezekiel 38-39 is indeed the antichrist. This leads us into understanding that the war lasts about 7 to 8 years, beginning just prior to the first of the tribulation and progressing on through the Great Tribulation into God’s Wrath and Christ’s return with the battle of Armageddon as the climax.

What are the crucial clues that take us to this realization? Let’s take another look:

• The Abomination that Causes Desolation – this event is clearly the work of antichrist and his army spoken of by Daniel, Paul and Jesus (Daniel 8:13, 9:27, 12:11; Matthew 24; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20)
• This same antichrist is killed by Jesus upon His return, which is with much wrath and destruction. This happens at Armageddon. (2 Thessalonians 2:8, Revelation 19:1-18; Ezekiel 39:4)
• The death of antichrist is shown to be the same as the leader Gog of Magog, which is in Ezekiel’s War. (2 Thessalonians 2:8, Revelation 19:1-18; Ezekiel 39:4) 
• Ezekiel’s War continues on through the full 7-year tribulation and into God’s Wrath.
• Once we connect antichrist with Ezekiel’s War and Armageddon, it all comes together for us.

Now we can see that Ezekiel’s War is the dominant event of the last days (at least in duration). It begins before the Tribulation, continues through the Great Tribulation, into God’s Wrath, until the return of Christ when it ends at Armageddon. Here is how it appears in the timeline:

To me, it’s interesting that this war is an instrument of both God and Satan. And it is enacted by both men and angels. It will truly be a war unlike any other. But then, we already know this from Christ’s warning in the Olivet Discourse. 

As a side note, the cleanup efforts listed in Ezekiel 39:11-24 give some the notion that this war might go nuclear, but this conclusion is not concrete. In fact, we know that they die at each other’s hand – which makes a nuclear strike somewhat less credible; and birds and animals eat their corpses – which also makes it unlikely. This belief of nuclear weapons use seems to be tied to the 7 years of fuel that the weapons provide, and also the 7 months of cleanup performed by professionals. But this argument is not the strongest.

I think it’s important to keep a clear “big picture” view of Armageddon. We tend to use the word “Armageddon” to give the feeling of some apocalyptic event that will ruin all of civilization. Really, we should see it for what it is: the final battle in an apocalyptic world war, where the forces of evil are utterly destroyed by the coming of our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Will Ezekiel’s War be apocalyptic? Absolutely, since Jesus told us that the Great Tribulation (a part of Ezekiel’s War) would be “such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:21-22). So Armageddon is a picture of evil being smashed and finally destroyed; it’s the death of antichrist and his army.

According to Daniel 11, the antichrist will attack Israel without warning the first time, and there will be a meeting between him and the leader of Israel (cross reference with Daniel 9:27). They will devise plots against each other but Israel will lose the first round. The antichrist returns to his land with many spoils of war. Later, he returns to attack Israel again but is repulsed by a mighty navy. This navy is said to be from Kittim, but some think it’s really the US. Again, I’m not going to speculate on this. Whoever it is, they turn him away in this second attempt. He later returns a third time and is successful in routing the holy land. I guess that Kittim wasn’t around to help this time. Not only does he commit the Abomination that Causes Desolation, but he marches on into other lands, like Egypt, and attacks others as well.

This success of the antichrist is probably what prompts God to unleash His awesome wrath upon the world. Accounts of these events are seen in Revelation in the visions of the trumpets and bowls. One interesting aspect of this is that God is using Gog’s mighty army and alliance to mete out His wrath. Look again at the sixth trumpet and bowl:

Revelation 9:¹³ Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number (200 million).

Revelation 16:¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. ¹³ And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. ¹⁴ For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵ (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) ¹⁶ And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

I believe that these forces, both angelically and demonically driven, are part of the alliance of the antichrist. I also believe that they are a part of Ezekiel’s War and Daniel’s account of his chapter 11 war. Daniel and Ezekiel mention the forces coming from the north. Revelation shows them coming from the east. Ezekiel also mentions nations in the alliance that are all around Israel, near and far. This alliance, therefore, is truly a world alliance. An army like the world has never seen (and we’ve seen some big ones).

Daniel 11:44 says,

“But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction.”

My impression of this verse is that God’s Wrath is sent upon “Magog” (Ezekiel 39:6), the northern homeland of the antichrist and also upon the land of his greatest ally (likely China) in the east. Meaning, this news is probably the destruction of his and his allies’ homes. The very next thing to happen seems to be the gathering at Armageddon, where they meet their Maker and their doom. After all, going home is probably pointless if home is wiped off the earth.

To conclude this chapter, let me say that there are some very strong feelings about Ezekiel’s War and Armageddon. Unfortunately, when the emotions get higher and higher, the thinking becomes more and more clouded. My assumptions and conclusions are the result of taking the Word for what it says and applying a little logic. In so doing, I have come up with a picture that is supported by the text. This is because I have allowed the Bible to lead my thinking process, rather than any particular teacher or assumption. I encourage the reader to do the same. But when you do, please ask the Lord to help you to conquer your fears so that your thinking will be clear and logical. 

Here’s a quick, final recap of the highlights of this confusing and terrifying topic:

• Ezekiel 38-39, Daniel 11:21-45, and Revelation 19:11-21 work together with other passages to give us a more complete picture of the war and the final battle
• This war spans 7 to 8 years (more or less) and is in conjunction with the Early Tribulation, the Great Tribulation, God’s Wrath, the Return of Christ (and the Resurrection and Rapture with it), and ends with the battle of Armageddon, which are all before the Millennial Reign of Christ
• Good triumphs; evil is vanquished

Recommendations for further study

Rather than recommending other books, I encourage the student of eschatology to begin with the Bible. This is the method I use:

1. Make a list of events from the major Bible chapters shown here and look for more on your own.
2. Compare those events to get a better picture of the things that will happen.
3. If something looks like a contradiction, examine it closely to see if it really is contradictory or if you have been seeing things incorrectly. God’s word does not contradict itself (you might have to examine the original languages for this). 
4. Once you get into other books, take everything you read about this with a grain of salt. This means to examine the message of the teacher very closely and look into the scriptures for yourself to see if it makes sense or not. (Like you should be doing with this study.)
5. Pray about this much. These things could begin at any time now. And once the end starts, it will forcefully continue until the millennium begins. 

Questions to Ponder

1. If Gog is not antichrist, who is he? 
2. How can two world leaders be in the same place at the same time, if not the same person?
3. How can both of them be dispatched by Jesus at Jesus’ return, if not the same person?
4. Do we really want to allow such a quandary to exist simply because we don’t know for sure what John meant by “thrown alive”?

You’ll have to come up with your own answers to these questions.

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Preface/Introduction
Ch 1: Ezekiel’s War
Ch 2: The Tribulation
Ch 3: 3rd Temple Built
Ch 4: The Great Tribulation
Ch 5: The Wrath of God
Ch 6: The Return of Christ
Ch 7: The Resurrection of the Dead in Christ
Ch 8: The Rapture
Ch 9: Armageddon
Ch 10: The Millennium
Ch 11: The Judgment
Ch 12: The New Creation
Ch 13: Conclusion
Ch 14: Summary
Glossary