Christians and in Jesus name we pray amen
Okay, we're in Revelation chapter 20 this morning look down at your Bibles at verse number 7
It says here and when the thousand years are expired
Satan shall be loose out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth
Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea
and they went up on the breadth of the earth and could pass the camp of the Saints about and the beloved city and fire
came down from God out of heaven and devoured them and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
Brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and there shall be took and they excuse me
It shall be tormented day and night forever and ever in this move. We're gonna conclude our series
Entitled epic wars in the Bible, of course
I've been going through just different wars that the Bible talks about extrapolating different principles from them
But this morning we're actually gonna conclude it with the final war the final battle that the Bible records
Which is the Battle of Gog and Magog now, let me just say this is them before I get into the actual
content itself, I typically give you principles that are related to the battle and
Principles that we can extrapolate from the from the story, but this morning. I'm just gonna teach you about Gog and Magog
it's just gonna be a systematic sermon teaching systematic doctrine regarding Gog and Magog and
You know if per chance I find some spiritual principle from it. I'll give that to you, but no promises
Okay, and that's typically what I do when I preach if I I don't really put
Anything in my notes in regards to like things that I really want to talk about just kind of comes as I'm preaching
But this morning in particular I am gonna give you systematic doctrine regarding Gog and Magog
And you say why is this important to learn? Well number one because it's in the Bible
Okay, and so anything that's in the Bible should be taken serious
Obviously there's portions of the Bible that are far more important than others
For example, you know things in relation to salvation the deity of Christ of the doctrines of Christ
But you know, there's other portions of the Bible that may not be as important
But it's still important because God put it in the Word of God
He wants us to know he wants us to study it and and learn the content
And so let me let me just go by way of introduction. Let's talk about why is this called Gog and Magog?
Let me just say that this battle in particular is probably one of the most misunderstood
Battles in all the Bible. Okay, and not only is it misunderstood, you know
A lot of false prophets will take this particular war and teach a lot of false doctrine
Okay, and the reason they're able to do that per se is because of the fact that it's so far out there in the future
okay, because we're talking about a war that takes place a
Thousand years out into the future. Let's say for example if if you know
Daniel 70th week took place within the next five to ten years
Even those seven years thereafter you have the millennial reign and the millennial reigns a thousand years
This doesn't take place until after that. And so this is way out there in the future
You know, it's not anytime soon. And so very little detail is given regarding this battle
even though there is some and so, you know people will often take advantage of that and
They'll take obscure passages in order to pervert the scriptures and teach what they what they want the narrative to be in regards to
end times prophecy
So the reason it's called Gog and Magog because if you look at verse 8 it says and shall go out to deceive the nations
Which are in the four quarters of the earth Gog and Magog
So that's pretty interesting because it seems out of place just to kind of throw that in there Gog and Magog
After he mentions the fact that Satan goes on to the all the nations and deceives those who are in the four quarters of the earth
But the reason it's called Gog and Magog it's not because of where this particular battle is going to take place because a lot of people
think that
When in reality, we know where this battle takes place. It takes place in Jerusalem
Okay, because it talks about them
Compassing the camp of the Saints and the beloved city which we know to be Jerusalem Israel
Which is where Jesus Christ is will be currently ruling and reigning from at this moment. Okay, it's called Gog and Magog
Because it's pointing us to Old Testament passages that will divulge more prophetic details that Revelation doesn't okay
So when it said when it tells us, you know that he deceives the nations that from the four quarters of the earth
Gog and Magog that's simply there to kind of give us a call back to
Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39 where Gog and Magog are actually talked about more extensively
Okay, so in order for us to understand this particular battle and the details and what's going on here
We have to go back to Ezekiel 38 and 39 and compare both of those scriptures together in order to get a plenary
Understanding what's taking place? Okay, so that's where we're gonna go to in just a bit
We're gonna go to Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39
Go with me if you would to Ezekiel 38
As I mentioned I'm gonna give you systematic teaching on Gog and Magog and just talk about what's taking place here now
Let's talk about first and foremost the timing of this battle. When does this take place?
Well, as I mentioned it takes place after the thousand year reign of Christ now you have people out there that will say well
You know thousand year reign. It's not true. You know, Jesus Christ is ruining and reigning right now
You know and this is what's known as preterism
Okay
The preterism the preterist view of the Bible is that all prophetic?
statements in the Bible all prophetic events have already taken place and
Many will even say we're in the millennial reign right now because Christ is ruling and reigning in our hearts
You know, it sounds really, you know fluffy and nice and beautiful and all that
but the truth of the matter is is that the government's not upon his shoulders and
The Bible specifically says that when Jesus Christ comes through physically ruling reign on this earth
4,000 years that the government shall be upon his shoulders and the Bible tells us that he shall rule the nations with the rod of iron
Well, let me just say this. He's not ruling the nations with the rod of iron
Okay, I know Roe vs. Wade has been overturned
You know and we're we're happy about that
But that's not because Christ is ruling and you know
He's ruling the nations with the rod of iron because if he was ruling the nations with the rod of iron
More than that would take place. Okay, you know people would be put to death if that were the case
But there's so many elements to the millennial reign that the Bible
Talks about and defines for us that are not taking place today
Okay, and so to say we're in the millennial reign of Christ or
Others would say we're in the new heaven and new earth
It's just completely ridiculous because none of those things have taken place as of yet
And in fact during the millennial reign think about this during the millennial reign
Satan is bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years
Whereas the Bible tells us that the God of this world had blinded the minds of them which believed not lest the light of the
Glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine into them referred to this current time right now
And so if Satan was bound for a thousand years
Why do we have all these false religions all this false doctrine all this deception that is taking place currently in our world today?
I'll tell you why because Satan is not bound yet. He will be bound for a thousand years in the millennial reign
False religions any religion other than Christianity will no longer exist. Okay. It's no longer gonna be a thing
You know, it's you know, the millennial reign is not some kumbaya time
Well, we just get along with all false religions or something
You know that that that particular era is known as a new world order
Where Satan and the Antichrist brings all religions together to worship the Antichrist?
Whereas when Jesus Christ comes he's not like alright Buddhist. Alright Hindus. Alright Muslims, you know
I know we all have our differences here, but you know, let's find common ground
It's not gonna work that way. You know, Jesus Christ is gonna come and
Subjugate this world
Unto his laws and obviously people have the choice to believe on him for salvation
But they don't have a choice to listen to his laws that he's gonna Institute in this world. Okay, because people get confused
They're like, well, you know, I thought this was only spiritual
well
it is spiritual but God has also
Instituted earthly laws that he wants people to abide by and those earthly laws are perfect laws
It's a way a society can run and and function properly
And appropriately under you know, so they're so that crime is not rampant. Rape is not rampant murders not rampant
You know people are are essentially living like normal citizens without any crime taking place
That's what's gonna happen during the millennial reign of Christ
Okay
now the the battle of Gog and Magog takes place after that and the reason it's even worth mentioning is
Because the pre-trip crowd if you've if you've studied this will actually place the Battle of Gog and Magog before the tribulation
Which is completely crazy. So this battle that we see in Revelation chapter 20 if you look at
Pre-trip charts and you know the prophetic timetable that they put together
They'll often place Gog and Magog the battle thereof before the tribulation takes place
Okay, and you're like what in the world how do they do that how do they even excuse that what argument do they even have
For that like why do people even believe that well at the end of the day?
They're just playing on the ignorance of people because people are not gonna research it
Because very little people actually study the Bible let alone the book of Revelation, you know, if people read the Bible
They're gonna stick to the easy parts, you know, the Gospels the book of Proverbs
Maybe Psalm 23 ever once in a while or something like that, but rarely will anybody go to the book of Revelation
Number one and read it number two study it
Okay, and so they'll take these false prophets at face value and say well
He said that about Gog and Magog takes place before the tribulation
I guess that's the case and that's why you have the Left Behind series if you've seen that corny movie
You know, they had the Battle of Gog and Magog at the beginning of the movie and then who is it's Russia
The king of the north coming in to take over Israel now, why do they do that?
Why are they choosing to put Gog and Magog at the beginning or before the tribulation?
Rather than where it's rightfully supposed to be which is at the end of the millennial reign. Why is that?
well, this is why it's it's essentially a zionistic method or
You know, they're trying to push Zionism is what they're trying to do
It's a Judaizing type of a method in order to favor Israel. Okay, you say how is that?
Well in Revelation chapter 20
Satan and his armies are compassing about the camp of the saints and the beloved city
And the result of that is that God defends the beloved city. He defends the camp of the saints
He sends fire down from heaven and defends Israel defends Jerusalem, which is a legitimate thing that takes place
So the jews see this and they're like, oh
perfect
because what they're looking for is
Stories in the bible that favor the jews
Okay, not so they can teach prophetic, you know doctrinally sound teaching it's so they can
You know change the narrative a little bit
So that people can favor Israel if you put Gog and Magog at the beginning of the tribulation before the tribulation
You know, it's like that's why we got to support Israel
Because if you look at the prophetic timetable
The next thing that's going to happen is Gog and Magog
And the kings of the north and all these other surrounding nations are going to attack Israel because they're the apple of his eye
And God's going to defend him. That's why we got to support them and it's just like read chapter 20 though
You're too early it's not going to happen during this time and God is not interested in defending unsaved Christ rejecting jews
You know reprobate jews who hate the Lord Jesus Christ who despise him and spit every time his name is mentioned in Israel
You know, God's not interested in defending them. He's interested in defending regenerated Israelites
In the millennial reign going into the battle of Gog and Magog because they're actually believers
Okay, when I say regenerate I mean that they're saved, okay?
and so, you know to put the battle of Gog and Magog before the tribulation is nonsensical because
Literally after the battle of Gog and Magog, what do you have?
The white throne judgment and both pre-tribbers and post-tribbers alike will agree
That the white throne judgment takes place after the millennial reign
So how are you going to put Gog and Magog before the tribulation?
You know and and and not recognize that the white throne judgment is thereafter. It's completely stupid. Okay, but you know people believe it
Now here's the interesting thing. Okay, because a big teaching with the pre-trib crowd is this matter of imminency
right
Which is that Jesus can come at any moment. There's no precursors
Nothing to you know, let us know that something's going to happen
But on the other side, they'll flip around and say oh Gog and Magog takes place before the rapture though
So even the pre-tribbers don't even believe in imminency
Because if they believed in imminency, they would say that nothing takes place prior to the to the rapture
And there's no necessarily signs of his coming and nothing there's no precursors. Well, what are they saying?
They're actually saying well Gog and Magog does take place. Okay
You know this coalition of the iranians and the russians they're going to gather together and fight against israel
That's why we got to send our money over there
That's why we got to support them and all this nonsense, but the bible doesn't teach that at all. Okay
And so to put the the battle of Gog and Magog prior to the tribulation is completely dumb
And and i'm going to give you some more reasons later on in the sermon as to why
Now when is it well as I mentioned it's after the the millennial reign look at ezekiel 38 and verse 8
It says in verse number eight after many days thou shall be visited listen to this in the latter years
Thou shall come into the land listen to this that is brought back from the sword
Now what does that mean
well, he's referring to the fact that
He's addressing Gog and Magog in this particular passage, okay
And as he's addressing Gog and Magog he's telling them that they shall be visited in the latter years also known as the end times
And it says that he shall come into a land that is brought back from the sword
Now, what does that phrase particularly mean brought back from the sword? Well, think about it. How did israel?
And namely the rest of the world. How did it become restored?
Who is the one who took it over jesus christ during the millennial reign? How did he do it with the sword?
Because prior to the millennial reign you have the battle of armageddon
And the battle of armageddon is a war that takes place in the future
Between jesus christ and his armies versus the anti-christ and his armies
This is a battle that we see in revelation chapter 19
Okay, and I preached on that last week if you want to reference that sermon
Well, jesus christ doesn't negotiate with the anti-christ
He's not like well, let's make a deal
You can have palestine or whatever and then i'm going to have this portion. He just takes it back with the sword
You understand and so what we see here is that in the latter years Gog and Magog
Shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword it says and is gathered out of many people
Against the mountains of israel which have been always waste but it is brought forth out of the nations and they shall dwell safely
Of them go to isaiah chapter number two, if you would isaiah chapter number two
Now this is an important point because of the fact that
We need to understand
What the world is like during this time?
I don't I don't mean this time as in 2022. I'm talking about this time right here that we're looking at in in in the bible
Because the millennial reign going into Gog and Magog and white throne judgment
It's a complete different world
Okay
It's a world that we know nothing of
all right
and
I would even say that you know the battle of armageddon
When when the antichrist and his false prophet are fighting against jesus christ, they're using modern technology to fight against them
Obviously, it's complete futile and it's not going to work
You know, jesus christ is just going to blow them away and destroy them easily
But they're going to use tanks and missiles and all this whereas the battle of Gog and Magog. They don't have that primitive
Or excuse me. They don't have that modern technology. They're actually using primitive tools swords spears
You know things of that nature because of the fact that during the millennial reign there is no war
So there's no need and in fact the bible tells us
That god commands his people during the millennial reign to beat the swords and spears into plowshares and pruning hooks
so he says take your swords take your spears and and and make pruning hooks and plowshares because it's going to be a time
Of work, it's going to be a time of prospering
You don't have to put fences or walls because it's not no one's going to be breaking into your house
No one's going to be trying to rob you
You know, no one's going to try to steal from your crops. No one's going to seek to
You know commit any crimes because this is just a different world, you know, you don't need a security system
No one's going to bomb your church
No one's going to be protesting outside of it or whatever out of your outside of your congregation
You don't have to worry about man. I got to wake up. Are they taking my car or something like that?
It's not going to exist because you're not even going to have a car first of all
Okay
But it's a different world
Look at isaiah 2 verse 1. It says the word that isaiah the son of amos saw concerning judah and jerusalem
And it shall come to pass in the last days
That the mountain of the lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains
And should be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it
And many people shall go and say come ye
Let us go up to the mountain of the lord to the house of god of jacob and he will teach us of his ways
And we will walk in his paths for out of zion shall go forth the law and the word of the lord from jerusalem
So picture this this is beautiful because during the millennial reign, you know, jerusalem is not the only place that's that's inhabited by believers
jerusalem is inhabited by
Believing israelites because that's what god promised unto the israelites is to is to possess that land referring to
Regenerated israelites, but the entire world is being inhabited. Okay minus babylon
Because if you study in times prophecy babylon shall never be inhabited
And it actually becomes that habitation of devils and creeping things and I preached on that before but believers are inhabiting
Are are essentially inhabiting the entire world during that time
Saints who were you know gentiles they're living on the earth and the bible is telling us here
That we're going to come one to another and say let us go up to the mountain of god and go learn of the lord
You know
He's he's going to teach us his laws
We're going to make a pilgrimage to jerusalem so we can hear the greatest preacher of all time preach to us
Which is jesus christ himself?
right
You know teaches of his ways and we will walk in his path for out of zion shall go forth the law and the word
of the lord from jerusalem now, this is a side note here is that this is one of the reasons I believe that
We go into the millennial reign or we go into eternity with the bible knowledge we currently have right now
So it's not like when we become perfect. It's like we know the bible perfectly
Okay, because maybe some people are banking on that
Like why not? I gotta study the bible. I study the bible in my regenerated body
I'm, just gonna know the bible perfectly. You guys are wasting your time down here, you know
Studying the bible. We're gonna we don't need to study the bible. Well according to this verse
We're still learning
Right because we're going into the mountain of god. He's going to teach us his law
He's going to teach us his ways insinuating that there's still a deficiency of bible knowledge
You understand and obviously that should come as no surprise because of the fact that the bible is inexhaustible
You know, you can never learn too much of the bible. Okay, there's a lot of information in the bible
We're constantly learning the bible, but this shows us that you know, or should I say this should motivate you
To study the bible as much as possible now because look folks
I want to go into the millennial reign already knowing the laws of god already knowing doctrine because who knows maybe he'll give some jobs
To those who know the most, okay
And so here we see that we're going to come to each other and say what are you going to do this weekend?
Well, i'm going to go to the mountain of the lord
And i'm going to go hear a sermon by jesus christ himself, okay
Something to that extent
Look at verse four and he shall judge among the nations
And shall rebuke many people
So those who are making the pilgrimage from different nations in different countries he's going to rebuke them and we're talking about unsafe people because
The millennial reign is not just filled with believing or regenerated people. It's also filled with unsafe people as well
Now there's people out there that just don't like that for some reason they think it's a stupid doctrine
They think well, how are you going to say the millennial reign is filled with unsafe people?
It's all safe people but folks the battle of gog and magog
Is proof that there's unsafe people
In the millennial you think just unsafe people just pop out of nowhere during the battle of gog and magog
Because you got to think about it
The
Essentially everything changes during the millennial reign, okay, and it goes back to an antediluvian type of
era
Where people live longer and in fact, we see that according to the book of isaiah that you know people live
Way longer during the millennial reign because the conditions change
And we don't know all the details as to why but god sets it forth that way that
It's going to be back into the antediluvian era where people are living longer. Obviously, there's no crime
And so people are a lot healthier, you know, people aren't being murdered. You know what I mean?
So it's like people are living longer
And you got to understand that because people are living longer. That means they have more years to make babies
right
So just babies are just popping out left and right during the millennial reign, okay
That's where this population comes from because if you think about it, you know
The battle of gog magog talks about this army that fights against god that is the sand of the sea
These are all unsafe people
So if you have regenerated believers
Who are going to be in the millennial reign?
Just living for forever
But then you also have
Not unregenerate, but you know mortal safe people who are getting saved in the millennial reign or even prior to that during the wrath of god
You know, they still live long
And then they die, but they have children
But then you also have unsafe people who are not getting saved under the rule of jesus christ, but they're also having children
I mean, this is a the population is just getting really large. Okay, that's why there's so many people during this time
And so during this time jesus christ is rebuking the nations teaching them what are the right ways of living
And teaching them what the what the bible says and his laws, etc
He says and he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not lift up sword against nation
Nation
So there's no, you know
Oh, man, we're thinking about taking over and invading this country or you know
We're going to set up garrisons and these nations here
And take over their oil and all this stuff and just murder a bunch of people
No nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more
That's great, isn't it?
Now, what does it mean when it says that they shall learn war they shall not learn war anymore
In other words, it's removed from the textbooks
Because god doesn't want war
Why because the the greatest king?
On the face of the planet is ruling and reigning now. Here's the crazy thing about this is that
In spite of having jesus christ there physically there ruling with the perfect law
There's still gonna be people who reject them
This is why this whole, you know teaching that well if I just saw god
Then I believe
Or if you just show me, you know something or you know
Just like the jews show us a sign that we may believe it's nonsense. It's not it's not it's a fallacy
Because people saw him two thousand years ago and they still rejected him
People every eye shall see him when he comes for the second coming and they're still going to reject him
And he's going to be here for a thousand years ruling and reigning as the king of the world
And people are still going to not only are they're going to reject him. They're going to fight against him
I mean think about that. It's one thing to reject
jesus christ
It's another thing to reject him hate him in one and join forces with satan to fight against him. I mean think about that
And so neither shall they learn war anymore. So think about this. This is a thousand years
Of a world that does not know anything about war
Okay
Now the regenerated believers know of war because they partook in the battle of armageddon a thousand years prior
And we're out there whooping butt
Taking names taking heads
You know taking crowns and all that and so we're probably sharing war stories of what happened a thousand years prior to that
But as far as the people who are born into the millennial reign
They don't know anything about that. You understand so you got to put yourself in their shoes that
When the battle of gog and magog takes place, this is probably a terrifying sight for them
As mortal beings whether saved or unsaved
You know as mortal beings viewing this because of the fact that they don't know the concept of war
I mean folks we know of war we see it on the news. We hear it in the history books
We're reading the history books. We've seen it in videos and it's still terrifying
Right war is a terrifying thing. Imagine if you just never know anything about it, though
Imagine you're just in a land of peace for a thousand years
And all the generations prior to you they've only known peace
And all of a sudden this great war breaks out. I mean, that's a terrifying sight, okay
And so what i'm trying to paint the picture here is what type of world this is at this time
It's a it's a world where there's no war
you know a child can reach into uh, you know, uh
To reach after a serpent an adder. It's not going to bite him. I mean everything is just peaceful. It's paradise
Okay, you work you labor you get your grapes you get your fruits you get your vines you get you know
You don't have to worry about uh, necessarily, uh people robbing you or stealing. There's no taxes
No gas prices because there's probably no cars
You know, especially for us. We have our white horses during this time and you know
They probably don't even require to eat. It's like they just they're just there
Millennial rain sounding really good right now
Right, it's just like man
You know, we're not looking at the gas prices and like man
I don't think I don't think i'm gonna go to uh, jerusalem this year guys, you know
Probably have to make that pilgrimage another year, you know, it's kind of expensive
Go back to ezekiel 38 if you would
Ezekiel chapter 38
So we see here that it takes place after the millennial reign
And here's another thing I want to mention is that
From the expiration of the millennial reign to the battle of gog and may god
We actually don't know how much time is in between that
Okay
And the bible doesn't make it clear. It doesn't say if there's a whole lot of time. It doesn't say if it's 10 years
Seven years 20 years. We don't really know
But I will say this is there there's probably a good amount of time in between the expiration of the millennial reign
And the battle of gog and may god now you say why do you make that statement?
Well, because satan is released at the expiration
of the millennial reign
To deceive the nations and you got to think about it. It probably takes time
Right for the deception to spread
To rally everyone and to recruit everyone to fight against god. And so there's probably some
A lapse of time during between the expiration of the millennial reign and the battle of gog and may god
Okay, because it only says that satan is released at the expiration of the battle of gog and may god
It doesn't say gog and may god is happens right at that moment
Because he's released he goes out to deceive the nations. We don't know how long that takes. I mean think about this
It's it's been 2 000 years since since christ ascended
And you know, there's plenty of people satan has been at work deceiving the nations, you know through false religion through false doctrine
Through you know ungodly ideologies and you know what the whole world's still not against jesus christ
So people out there who want the lord jesus christ, so we don't necessarily know how long this is going to take for this to happen
But there is some sort of lapse of time in between the expiration and the actual battle itself now who's involved
Well, you're in ezekah 38
I'm going to read to you from revelation 20 verse 8
It says and shall go on to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth gog and may god
To gather them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea
Well, look at verse one of ezekah 38 says the word of the lord came unto me saying son of man
Set thy face against gog the land of may god the chief prince of misha and tubal and prophesy against him
And say thus saith the lord god behold. I am against the ogog the chief prince of misha and tubal
And I will turn thee back and put hooks into thy jaws and I will bring thee forth and all thine army
Horses and horsemen all of them clothed with all sorts of armor even a great company with bucklers and shields
All of them handling swords
persia
ethiopia and libya with them and all of them with shield and helmet gomer and all his bands and the house of
Tagarma of the north corners and all his bands and many people with thee
Be thou prepared and prepare thyself thou and all thy company that are assembled unto thee and be thou a garden to them
So we see that it's not just gog and magog gog and magog has recruited all these surrounding nations as well
Okay
And the way we apply that with the end times is that when it says gog and magog it's not really referring to gog and magog
What it's referring to is the recruiting factor of the fact that everyone is going to be against
God his people the beloved city because he's simply just naming off all of these nations. They're going to fight against
god and and
Jesus christ, okay
Now look at uh verse nine
It says in verse nine thou shall ascend and come like a storm
Thou shall be like a cloud to cover the land
Thou and all thy bands and many people with thee
This is very similar to what we see when it says the number of whom is as the sand of the sea
Verse 10 says thus saith the lord god
It shall also come to pass that at the same time shall things come into thy mind and thou shall think an evil thought
Now what I believe this is referring to is the deception
Okay, when it says that he goes out to deceive the nations, I don't think he's going out there and saying hey
Let's fight against god
You know, he has to come with some sort of deceptive tactic some sort of you know offer
Uh in regards to deception he's giving them an evil thought to provoke them to basically side with him
Now what this looks like we don't necessarily know okay i'm i'm certain that he's just going to play on the sinful nature of man though
Okay, because it says in verse 11 and now shall say I will go up to the land of unwalled villages
I will go to them that are at rest that dwell safely all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates
to take a spoil
Okay
And to take a prey
To turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited upon the people that are gathered out of the nations
Which have gone cattle and goods that dwell in the midst of the land
So what could be a potential motive that he uses is like well, look at all these goods that these people have
They're living it up
These so-called god's people
Are living it up. I mean you have these people who live for hundreds of years
They must have access to some sort of technology that we don't because they're not dying
right
And so he's probably presenting
his side of the argument by saying so what we could do, you know, you guys can overcome them take their you know, uh,
their cattle take their
Their resources, you know, take their spoil take their prey because you deserve that this is communism, right?
Because all this belongs to god's people
We've labored for that
Like this is our spoiler. This is our reward for the labor that we've done here
Right
So the thousand year reign is essentially us reaping the benefits of our labor for christ here
And today you understand you said why do you guys go soul-winning? Why do you guys go to church?
Why do you guys you know live like christians and you know?
Follow the lord and take up your cross because I want a good millennial reign. That's why
Because I want to be rich in the millennial reign
I want to have you know, all of these things. I want to this is my retirement plan here. That's why
I don't have a retirement plan here in this world. My retirement plan is the millennial reign
He says it bad to have a retirement plan. I look what my father-in-law used to say i'm not looking to retire i'm looking to refire
You know and I want to I want to I want to serve god to the very very end. Yay
Sometimes even the bitter end
Especially in the kind of world that we live in and you know why because of the fact that this is what we're going to have
We're gonna we're gonna reap the benefits of our labor be not weary and well-doing for a due season
We shall reap if we think not right and so god promises us a reward he promises a recompense
He says my reward is with me to give to every man according as his work shall be
Well at the end of millennial reign all these lames
They're coming they're just like well we want what you have
Well, your descendants rejected jesus christ, so
Sorry, you're not part of the first resurrection
I mean doesn't the bible tell us blessed are they who took part in the first resurrection?
The reason it says they're blessed because they get to rule and reign with christ for a thousand years
This is the privilege that we get as believers
Is that we get to rule and reign with christ during the millennial reign now not every christian is going to be able to do that
Because it's dependent upon
Your labor and in fact, not just your labor it actually is dependent also upon your suffering
Because the bible says that we are
Co-laborers of christ if so be that we suffer with him joint heirs with christ if so be that we suffer with him
You understand so part of receiving that eternal reward that privilege to rule and reign the nations with the rod of iron
Is that we not only keep the works into the end but also that we suffer for his name's sake as well
And that's basically the promotion that we get when we get to the millennial reign so think about this, you know
We're living it up for a thousand years
We're just like check this out
nothing
Look at this, you know, nothing. I mean i'm joking but it's just like we're immortal
You know like i'm gonna i'll be back i'm gonna go take a nap psych I don't need a nap because I don't even sleep
You know and by the way, I'm gonna be back in a couple of days
You know and by the way we get to eat too there's the bible talks about even regenerating people eating
And you know, we're enjoying ourselves in the millennial reign and then you have these people who we're ruling over by the way
Because when it says we rule over the nations, it's not just like land that we're ruling over. It's people
We're judging the nations. Okay, because there is a system that god sets up
God sets up
That you know, it's not just like oh i'm the boss because I have a name tag that i'm the boss now
It's just like we're there to establish the laws of god
You understand that's what we're there for
And so you have generation after generation of unregendered people
Who are living under this law and i'm sure stories go down throughout the generations that say
You know bruce mohia. This guy's just a dictator and look he's living all lavishly ruling over us and everything
And you know, i'm sure those thoughts are going to come into the minds of people
At the battle gog and magog or prior to that because satan's going to deceive them into thinking that
You deserve this
You should be ruling and reigning. You should take that spoil. I can help you to live forever
You know, just the same deceptions that he brings today
You really think he's going to deceive people folks. He's to see people into thinking and believing reincarnation
He's to see people into thinking that they came from like a rock
To believing in evolution
He's deceived people into believing
I mean folks just go to the comment section of my of my shorts
It'll blow your mind
Sometimes i'm like i'm not even going to answer because I this is too stupid for me to answer
I can't I can't what i'm what do I do with this?
I can't even give a dumb answer
It's like this is not
But you know what that's called deception
And so if satan is deceiving the world today into believing the most nonsensical thing out there
It's not far-fetched to think that he's going to deceive the nations in this time to fight against jesus christ, even though
Generation after generation knows that we can't die
So think about this is like fight against them. It's just like but they can't die. No, they can die
We'll be able to defeat them
Even though for generations on end i'm sure they've told the stories that this elite group of people
Known as god's people
Are incapable of death
They can't die. They've lived forever. They don't sleep
They just rule and you know, they must have access to technology or they're demonic or something like that
It's just like there must be they must have this by the power of satan
You just never know any kind of deception in order to get him to you know, um fight against the lord here. So it says
That at the same time verse 10 at the same time shall things come into thy mind and thou shall think an evil thought
Which by the way, you know, I think that even today, you know satan can also put intrusive thoughts into our mind
in the form of temptation
Right temptation, you know
Oh, you don't have enough in order to provoke you to to covetousness to provoke you to lust to provoke you to greed
To provoke you to to to wrath or whatever it may be
And so he's going to be working full time to do it here
So these people are definitely deceived go to chapter 39 if you would chapter 39
Now where is the location of the battle?
Well, i'm going to read to you from revelation 20 verse 9
It says and they went up on the breadth of the earth and could pass the camp of the saints about
And the beloved city, so let me make a comment here
Here
And this is what I personally believe if you don't believe this makes it doesn't change the price in tea in china
This is my conjecture
is that
um
In general people agree that this battle is taking place in the beloved city
Right because we see that which is jerusalem israel
But I believe that
It is taking place there, but it's taking place everywhere else as well
Because uh regenerated believers who were former gentiles do not inhabit the beloved city
right
The only ones who inhabit the beloved city
Are are israelites
regenerated israelites
Which is something that god promised them that they would have and in fact who's ruling over
That particular area aside from jesus christ is the 12 disciples
Because he promised them that they would sit on the 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of israel
This isn't happening in the fiji islands or something like that. He's dude. They're doing it there. Okay, so, you know if you
Wanted to rule and reign in jerusalem. Sorry that positions already been taken
But there's there's other positions that you can you know, uh, try to get in the millennial reign, but that's already been taken
Okay, and who cares who you know, the only reason I want to go to jerusalem anyways is just to go see jesus, right?
And i'm sure there's going to be plenty of other beautiful places in the world that we can see
but
The reason I believe this is because in revelation 20 verse 9 it says that they can pass the camp of the saints
and the beloved city
And so that would make sense if he's if the bible saying that he compasses the camp of the saints
The camp of the saints is all around the world
Because we're ruling all around the world. We're ruling the nations with rod of iron all around the world. Okay
So this is a global battle that's taken place. Well, look at ezekiel 39 verse 6
Because at the end of gog and magog how does
How does god win?
By sending down fire right upon gog and magog
Well, look at verse 6 of chapter 39 says I will send fire on magog
We see that fulfilled in revelation 20 and then it says and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles
And they shall know that I am the lord isles referring to islands
And I think this is simply a reference to say that he's going to send fire upon gog and magog
And revelation 20, but just everywhere else where they're compassing the camps of the saints as well
Okay, it's just simply telling us that god's going to destroy the enemy not just those who are compassing jerusalem and israel
But also everywhere else as well
So this battle the climax of the battle or the the the primary focus of this war. Yes is in jerusalem
Yes, it is in israel because of the fact that jesus christ is there
Okay
But it's also taking place all over the world as well. Okay, in my opinion
I believe that this proves that go to go back to chapter 38
Now from here now a lot of what i'm going to give you is conjecture but people love conjecture though
People love speculation and conjecture because it's sometimes very interesting, right?
And
I'm not saying dogmatically that this is what's taking place
But i'm just giving you what I think based upon these scriptures and again the battle of gog and magog is an obscure story
There's not a whole lot of information. So we have to kind of conjecture but you know, that's fun to do anyways, okay
Now, how is this war waged now from what we know?
We think well
They can pass the cities and boom god drops down fire barbecues them all
That's it
But that might be the end of the war though
Okay
That might be the very ending of that war. And the reason I say that is because look at verse 19 of ezekiel 38
If you're hoping to get a sermon on, you know, encouragement how to make it through the week how to overcome anxiety
Come back. Oh, by the way next week. We start a series on the family see
So, you know, you got something to look forward to if this sermon is boring to you next week, right?
And so, um, look at verse 19 says 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 fishes of the sea and the fowls of heaven the beast 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 mountain shall be thrown down
And the steep places shall fall and every wall shall fall to the ground
Look what it says in verse 21
And I will call for a sword against him
Throughout all my mountains say the lord god every man's sword shall be against his brother
So this is prior to the fire coming down
Now there's two ways we can interpret this, okay
Interpretation number one, and I partly agree with both is that prior to the fire coming down
God's people and I would say primarily those who are regenerated are fighting in this battle
Because he says in verse number 21 and I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountain
So essentially he's deputizing his people saying go out and fight and slay them
That could be one interpretation that it's us going out to fight against him
The other interpretation could be that all believers whether you know, they are mortal saved people or regenerated
Saved people are all fighting in this and it says because it says there say it the lord god every man's sword shall be against his brother
So if you think about it, this could mean that
A person a family who grows up
throughout the generations in the millennial reign
Throughout the generations in the millennial reign you have one that's saved and one that's not
And it comes to a head where the one that is saved god commands him to slay his brother who's against jesus christ
right
So, I don't know that's kind of you know, well, I mean doesn't god command us today not to slay our brothers
But doesn't god command us today?
To bring the the bible says that he brings division
He sits at variance
You know a man a son against his father, uh, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
Which is you know, you don't really need a sword for that. I mean
you know
A son-in-law against his mother-in-law, you know, uh
That's that's just normal that's from the spiritual perspective but here he commands every brother
He commands every man's sword that shall be against his brother
Okay
Now i've heard the interpretation that this means that god's going to send some sort of strong delusion in the camp of
Gog and magog and they're just going to slay each other but I would more readily
You know say that this is probably the case here
That what's probably taking place is that you know
This is basically getting to a point where you have to make a choice. Are you on god's side? Are you on satan's side?
and you know
You can't you know, the you know, the bible talks about that our love for god essentially is almost like a hatred for our family
Okay
You know and so
Part of the battle that we see taking place here is that believers saints are partaking in this battle. They're slain with the sword
Etc. Look at verse 22
But that's not all
But wait, there's more
And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood
So this potentially means that there's pestilence being sent during this war as well by god
And I will reign upon him and upon his bands and upon many people that are with him and overflowing rain and great hailstones
Fire and brimstone, okay
So what potentially is taking place here is that this war this battle of gog and magog is taking place over a span of time
where
Saints are fighting against
You know these these these adversaries
God is miraculously supernaturally also fighting against them by sending pestilence with blood
Overflowing with rain great hailstones fire and brimstone now go to chapter 39 and verse 1
This is therefore thou son of man
Prophesy against gog and say thus saith the lord god behold. I am against thee. Oh gog the chief prince of meshech and tubal
Now i'll bring 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
I will smite the bow thy bow out of thy left hand and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand
Thou shall 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 sword and to the beast of the field to be devoured
Thou shall fall upon the open field for i've spoken and saith the lord and I will send fire on
Magog and among them to dwell carelessly in the isles and they shall know that I am the lord
So the culmination of this battle is when god sends down the fire and essentially destroys them now if you if you read the story here
It's you know, you can see that the battle of armageddon is kind of like a microcosm of gog and magog
Right because in the battle of armageddon you have jesus christ versus the antichrist
In the battle of armageddon in the battle of gog and magog. It's like god versus satan
Okay
And they both have people who are saints who are fighting in the battle and then you know
Thereafter you have the judgment seat of christ after the battle of armageddon and then you have the great white throne judgment
After the battle of gog and magog, okay, and so we see here that it's not just fire coming down
There's some things that precede that the sword pestilence blood all that good stuff. Okay
Now let's talk about what happens thereafter
So where we at right now? Well millennial reign expires satan is released
He deceives the nations takes place over a period of time
They gather together to fight against the beloved city and the camp of the saints
You have this war that's taken place with the sword pestilence blood and then god's just like all right
Let me finish this off here and just like rains fire upon them destroys them they die. Okay
Now you got to think about this. Okay again use your imagination
God gave us an imagination and it's to be used so we can picture what's going on here in the bible
If this is a worldwide battle there's dead bodies everywhere burnt to a crisp
This is very gory, okay, you know
You you have to think about this, okay
Think about this with me
Because people you know you it takes place in revelation 20 over a period of four verses
We just kind of read over it
But we don't stop to think
that this is
very very
gory, okay
dead bodies everywhere
Burnt to a crisp
Everywhere
Now let me give you two potential theories of what takes place here after okay
Theory number one is that the white throne judgment takes place immediately after the battle of gog and magog
Now why would we say that well because
We see it in revelation 20 verse 11 that he sees a great white throne
And then it takes place now. I would say that that's very a strong possibility
because of the fact that
The lake of fire proceeds from the presence of god
Right. And so if he's burning
All the world or the adversaries with this it would make sense that he just rolls right into the great white throne judgment
Because as soon as they die they get judged and bada bing bada boom that that's what you have now
proof of this or something that can that can kind of
Back this up is because it would be that because armageddon is a microcosm of gog and magog
That's exactly what happens after the battle of armageddon is that jesus christ sets up the millennial reign
And at the inauguration of the millennial reign you have the judgment seat of christ
So it's not like a whole lot of time passes between those events you have the battle of armageddon
You know satan or excuse me
The antichrist and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire
Then you have the inauguration of the judgment seat of christ will re-receive our rewards
He distributes the rewards for the for that which we have done. Okay
Well, if armageddon is a microcosm of gog and magog that would mean that after the battle of gog and magog immediately
You have the great white throne judgment
which by the way
Whether it's after or before that I would say before that
There's another resurrection of the just and i'm explaining what I mean in just a bit. Okay
So one of the theories is that the white throne judgment takes place immediately after
Which would make sense because you know, it seems to be the pattern of both wars that we see in the end times
Here's the second theory, okay
There is a seven-year gap between the end of the battle of the gog and magog and the great white throne judgment
There might be seven years
By the end of gog and magog where everyone's burnt to a crisp dead bodies everywhere
And the great white throne judgment you say well, where do you get that from? Well look at ezekiel 39
In verse 8
He said which one do you hold to you know, i'm not really sold on either one i'm good i'm good with either
You know what I mean and I can see why people would believe one over the other
But i'll make more comments in just a bit look at verse 8 it says behold it
It is come and it is done saith the lord. This is the day whereof I have spoken
So this is after the fire burns them
Verse 9 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 hand staves and the spears and they shall burn them with fire seven years
That's pretty interesting
Now you say why do they have spears and bows because it's a they're fighting with the primitive form now because war hasn't been a thing
over the last thousand years
So now the plowshares and the pruning hooks are turned into swords and spears
to fight here
And he said why is it for a total of seven years?
Well, let's read on here. It says verse number 10 so that they shall take no wood out of the field
neither cut down any out of the forest for they shall burn the weapons with fire and they shall spoil those that spoil them and
Rob those that rob them saith the lord god
So it's not that it takes seven years to burn all these weapons
It's just that for a total of seven years. They're just using this as a resource like oh man, we need more fire
We need it's getting kind of cold during the winter. We'll just get all those weapons that we you know
Those people that died man that we don't need to cut down the trees anymore. We can save the trees
We can save the trees and you know
Because we have all these weapons or whatever and we don't need them
We're about to go into the new heaven and new earth in a couple years or whatever, you know, let's just use these
But it says that it takes place for seven years
Which is interesting
Now look at verse 11
Here's even something that's even crazier. Okay, because seven years of burning weapons
But look at this in verse 11 and it shall come to pass in that day
That I will give unto gog a place there of graves in israel
and 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 in all his multitude and they shall call it the valley of hamangog and seven months
Shall the house of israel be bearing of them that they may cleanse the land
So it takes seven months to bury all these dead people
so
Now this would be considered a full-time job
Right
And you know what god rewards his people for working
Because it's on labor there is profit and in fact look at verse 13
Yeah
All the people of the land shall bury them and it shall be to them a renown that day that I shall be glorified
Save the lord god and they shall sever out men of continual employment
So they're hiring people whose full-time job is to bury dead bodies
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, they shall search and the passengers that pass through the land when any see at the man's bone
Then shall he set up a sign by it till the barriers have buried it in the valley of hamangog
And also the name of the city shall be hamanoa thus shall they cleanse the land. So this is what's taking place here. Okay?
They sever a bunch of people that say you guys full-time job is to bury dead bodies
So you go out throughout the land you see dead bodies. You got to bury you got to give it its proper burial. Okay?
Then there's other people who when they walk by and they're like are those teeth. Oh, that's a skull
They grab a marker and they put the marker there
So that when the passengers those who full-time job is to bury dead bodies when they walk by and they're like, okay
I got to bury this so their job
for seven months is to essentially
Bury all the bodies that they found
But then their job also is to go about and look at those markers and bury those, you know, whatever remains are there
I know this is gross, but it's
This is what happens. Okay
You say is it really like this? Well, my wife was telling me that when she went to southeast asia, cambodia
They have the killing fields there
Okay
And you know, this is something that took place like a really long time ago
Where there's a there's like a lot of dead bodies there and skulls and bone fragments or whatnot and they bury them
But sometimes when you go to the killing fields, you'll see like a skull pop up
And then they have to go and they bury it again or when it rains
They come back up and then they have to go back and bury them again
So, I don't know what to say about this but it's just like that's just that's just what's happening, okay
You know, it kind of helps you to realize how many people died in this war
Where for seven months straight, they're just burying bodies burying bodies, okay
Now why is there a seven-year gap? Okay. Well, I don't know
I don't know. I just know this is that
In leviticus 25 when talking about
You know this matter of seven years
You know you have basically the seventh year will be a year of rest for the land
Right, you know, they would sow they would do all these things they would sow, you know, they bury
Seeds and on the seventh year was the year of rest
And then at the end of 49 years the 50th year would be to consider the year of jubilee
Okay, and at the year of jubilee is when everyone would be released
Now this is purely conjecture because we don't know 100
Because the numbers aren't given to us other than these seven years
What could be possibly happening?
Is that the reason it's seven years is because the seventh year is a year of rest
And who knows maybe even after that is when?
You have the second resurrection taking place
Because there is a second resurrection
In revelation 20 even though we don't see it
I say what?
well
The reason we know there's a second resurrection because the bible talks about a first resurrection
Okay
I know what i'm talking about. I don't need you to give me information
Women i'm just kidding
There's a first resurrection
And it says that they're blessed that we're blessed because we're part of that first resurrection
But you got to keep in mind that there's people who have died who were believers during the wrath of god and during the millennial reign
Now, where do they go? They go to heaven?
Well, when did they come back at the second resurrection
Now the reason I believe it's not explicitly talked about in revelation 20 is because the main emphasis of revelation 20 is the great white throne judgment
Okay, but let me read you from john chapter 5 verse 28 says marvel not at this for the hours come in the which are
In the which all that are in the grave shall hear my voice and shall come forth
They that have done good until the resurrection of life and they that have done evil until the resurrection of damnation
Now this doesn't take place at the rapture
Because at the rapture only safe people are resurrected
Everyone who has died without christ remains in hell
Until the great white throne judgment, okay
And so this obviously has to be referring to
Right before the great white throne judgment because if you have both happening simultaneously those who have done good until the resurrection of life
And they that have done evil until the resurrection of damnation what is the resurrection of damnation the great white throne judgment
Because at the great white throne judgment the bible says that the sea gives up their dead
You know and you know the physical bodies of those who who have died have come out of the graves
They're reunited with their souls and then they're both cast into the lake of fire
Does that make sense to everyone? I know it's like I know it's a lot
And if you don't get that just just ask me after the service. I'll try to explain it better
Essentially what i'm saying here is that?
John 5 28 talk about two types of resurrection one is to eternal life those who have died during the wrath of god and the millennial
rain
Okay to get the resurrected bodies and then the resurrection of damnation
Those who are resurrecting to be reunited with their souls to be judged at the great white throne judgment and cast into the lake of fire
Okay
This is what matthew 25 talks about separating the sheep from the goats
Because that doesn't happen at the rapture
God doesn't separate the sheep from the goats at the rapture
Where does he separate the sheep from the goats at the great white throne judgment, okay?
And that's it
And that's how it ends so then you then then you have the great one I ran out of notes
So then you have the the the great white throne judgment
People are judged out of the things written in the books and out of the book of life
They're cast into the lake of fire, but so is death and hell
Okay, and then you have revelation 21 22, which is the new heaven new earth and then you know, we just we go into eternity
With god forever and there's no more unsafe people no more death. No more sin. No more satan
He's cast into the lake of fire
And then we're there forever. Okay, then the meek shall inherit the earth essentially forever at that point, okay
But there's a cleansing that needs to take place
So for those thousand years god is essentially cleansing the land, right
Because jesus christ is is essentially subjugating
The the unsaved under his rule
And it's a picture of us
Because folks when we get saved the new man comes to live within us
And you know what we go through throughout this life the process of sanctification
Where we're just being cleansed and god is cleaning us through the word of god and through the preaching where we're you know
We're repenting of drinking. We're repenting of you know, lying or stealing and just getting
Right with god and and adding virtue to our lives and just becoming better christians. We go through a process of sanctification
And then when we die death is swallowed up in victory
And
We essentially get a new body at the at the rapture which is the new heaven the new earth
The mind the the mega cosm of that would be the new heaven and new earth understand
And so that's why it's important to note that and I think you know
The the the the the great white throne judgment and the battle that we see here
and ezekiel 39
is essentially the picture of like
the old man dying
getting buried
Permanently and never happening again now, let me make this one last comment is that
All this might have already taken place as far as what we see in ezekiel 38 and 39
Okay, there's a possibility that everything we just read in ezekiel 38 and 39 could just be something that's only subject to what happened
in those days
Or it could be that it happened in those days, but it's going to happen again in the future
This is what's known as dual fulfillment
Which I believe that's probably what it is. Okay, because you said well, how do you know that for sure? Well because
Revelation 20 says gog and magog
So why would he cause us to go back to ezekiel 38 and 39 if this is well, this is irrelevant to you guys
I just want to throw that name out there because it sounds cool or something. There's obviously relevance to
chapter 38 and 39
Because it has to do with that war. Amen
Pretty cool series. I kind of liked it, you know, pretty cool, right? Let's pray father
Thank you so much for your word lord and thank you for the future
we're so thankful that
As dark as this world is becoming
Day by day year by year. We have so much to look forward to
and all of this will be a drop in the bucket not even a drop in the bucket in comparison to
The millennial reign in comparison to the new heaven the new earth
And there are times that we have to endure this life
there's so many hardships and difficulties and pains and sorrows and sufferings but
The bible tells us that it's a light affliction
In comparison to what we're going to receive the glory that shall be revealed in us
And lord help us to be reminded of these things help us to to think upon them
To hope for them to set our affections upon them
Uh that we may live a life that's honoring and pleasing to you
Now because we know that it'll affect our future. We love you. We thank you pray these things in jesus name. Amen
So
Amen