While the judgment is in progress, the Gogian confederacy will invade Israel (Rev 16 15,16) If “Armageddon” is considered as a place, then the northern boundary of Israel’s fortification is indicated and the invasion may come through Syria If it is considered as a symbolic or representative name, then the valley of Jehoshaphat outside Jerusalem is meant. It makes little difference Daniel 11 40-42 seems to indicate that the invasion of Israel will come from the north and that the invader will move from Israel south into Egypt At any rate the invader will completely crush Israel, both militarily and politically This is part of the purpose and plan of God to condition Israel for the acceptance of Jesus as their Messiah, when they are delivered from the invader.
It seems that the plight of Israel during the invasion is revealed in Joel 2:1217, and that God invites them to cry to Him for help. We can well imagine that the religious element in the land will cry for the promised Messiah which they believe is yet to come. Israel will be overrun and the city of Jerusalem taken (Zech. 14:2). Perhaps the old part of Jerusalem which contains the Moslem, Catholic, and Protestant shrines, and religious tourist attractions will be spared from violence.
The invader will occupy the city for some time, because we are told that half the city will go into captivity. Casualties will be heavy, for we are told that two parts in all the land will be cut off and die, and the third part will be left therein (Zech. 13:8). What help Israel will receive from the United States and other countries is not known for certain. But one thing is certain; they will not be able to stave off the invasion, or stop it. (See Isa. 63:5; Ezek. 38:9; Dan. 11:41-45; Jer. 30:4-7)
Tidings out of the East and North
Were it not for a bit of information in the 11th chapter of Daniel, we would not know how to proceed from here. Verse 42 tells us that “the land of Egypt shall not escape” (invasion). This seems to mean that Gog will leave an occupational, or holding force in Israel while his main army marches into, or invades Egypt. Verse 43 informs us that he will overpower Egypt and possess its treasures.
But at this point something unexpected by him occurs. Verse 44 reveals that “tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go forth (from Egypt) with great fury to Destroy and Utterly to make away many.”
What are the tidings that come out of the east and out of the north to Gog while he is overrunning and occupying Egypt? These tidings are said to Trouble him. Strong’s Concordance defines the original word translated “trouble” to mean, “To tremble inwardly or be alarmed, or agitated.” The Revised Standard version translates it “alarm.” So these tidings frighten him terribly. “Therefore,” as a result of these alarming tidings he goes forth from Egypt with his army to completely destroy. Verse 45 is a summary of his work or achievements in the land of Israel. He plants the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain. The Revised Standard version may give us a slightly better translation: “And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the Mediterranean sea and the glorious holy mountain (Jerusalem); yet he shall come to his end with none to help him.”
He moves suddenly from Egypt toward Jerusalem with the intent to exterminate and utterly destroy it (see Rev. Ver. Std.) His great army shall stretch for miles as he races toward Jerusalem. Yet he will come to his end with none to help him. We know who it is that will destroy him. It is Christ and the glorified saints. (Dan. 12:1; Zech. 14:3-5; Joel 3:11,12.) If the tidings come to Gog while he is in Egypt (which seems to be the case), then they must be Divine tidings, because by consulting a map we can see that directly east from Egypt lies the region of Sinai where the judgment of the saints is being held. And north from the Sinaitic Peninsula and Egypt lies the city of Jerusalem. In this case then, the tidings would be Divine tidings from Christ and the saints. If this is correct, then it means that by then the judgment at Sinai has ended, and Christ and the glorified saints have begun to make their move toward the mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4). Gog is informed of their presence while at Sinai, ad shortly afterwards outside Jerusalem. This information will trouble Gog. As a result of these tidings the forces of Gog will be drawn back toward Jerusalem to be destroyed. Previous to this, and while Gog, is busy invading Egypt, there will be a short period at Sinai of rejoicing by the glorified saints (Rev. 19:7,8).
The Discomfiture of the Gogian Host
In Hab. 3:3 God (manifested through Christ and the saints) is said to come from Teman and Mount Paran. In verse 13 He is said to go forth for the salvation of His people—the Jews. In Isa. 63:1 the question is asked, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?” All of this seems to indicate that Christ and the saints will go directly from the judgment seat to the Mount of Olives region to await the arrival of Gog. When the vanguard of Gog’s army arrives in the valley of Jehoshaphat outside of Jerusalem, Christ and the saints will be there waiting to destroy them (Joel 3:2,12). Divine intervention opens with the judgments of God inflicted on the Gogian host. If we insert verses 42-44 of Daniel 11 between verses 2 and 3 of Zech. 14 we may have the events in their chronological order.
At the precise moment when the army of Gog is stretched out just where they are providentially predestined to be, God initiates His intervention by causing the Mount of Olives to cleave or split in two from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south, creating a valley between. This valley which is formed seems to become a way of escape for the residents of Jerusalem. They will flee toward the east (Zech. 14:4,5) But it will become a trip to the Gogian troops, like the Red Sea to the Egyptians.
The chaos and confusion that will engulf and overwhelm them is seemingly described in Isa. 24:17-22: “FEAR and the PIT and the Snare are upon thee, 0 inhabitant of the earth (or land of Israel). And it shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the Noise of the fear (the Olivet earthquake?) shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open (an overflowing rain with great hailstones, etc. (Ezek. 38:22) and the Foundations of the earth do Shake“. Then follows a description of the earthquake as it will appear to the Gogian host. Verse 22 tells of judgment inflicted on them. This is to be “after many days” (verse 22) or in “the latter years” (Ezek. 38:8).
In Ezek. 38: 18-22 we are given some details of God’s judgment being poured out upon the Gogian confederacy. There is the earthquake in verse 19. The walls of the buildings of Jerusalem will buckle and the structures topple. This will include all of the Moslem and Catholic and Protestant religious shrines. This will demolish the “Dome of the Rock” — the Moslem shrine that stands where the temple of God built by Solomon once stood. The Jews would like to tear it down now, and build in its place a third temple (the temple of Ezra and Nehemiah being the first rebuilt temple, and the temple built by Herod being the second rebuilt one). They have already planned to build this temple, but because of international repercussions that may ensue, they are afraid to bother the Arab shrine. This is as God desires it, because they would only build a temple that would accommodate the local population, whereas God intends to build a magnificent and gigantic temple that can accommodate all people and be for all people, as an honor and glory to His name (Isa. 56.7; Ezekiel, chapters 40-46). The Olivet earthquake will take care of all religious shrines that now are obstacles to this.
Gog”s Nightmarish Experience
Verse 21 of Ezek. 38 reveals that the Gogian troops in their confusion (astonishment, madness and blindness—Zech. 12:4) slay one another. Verse 22 reveals the nature of the divine judgments inflicted. Isa. 30:30-33 speaks also of the judgments of God upon the latter Assyrian (or Gogian) power. From this we can see that the destructive forces of nature will be unleashed against the invading power, creating havoc and chaos among the troops (Job 38:22,23).
Gog’s Headlong and Pellmell Retreat
The invasion of Israel by Gog is likened or compared to the noise of the rushing of many waters: “Woe to the multitude of many people which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall Flee far off and shall be Chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing (or whirling dust — Rev. Std. Ver.) before the whirlwind” (Isa. 17: 12,13) . So while the Gogian confederacy of nations will rush in to invade Israel, they will retreat and scurry at a much faster pace before the destructive onslaught of the forces of nature divinely used to carry the judgments of God against them. A fearsome and awesome description of the destructive nature of God’s judgments is given in Zech. 14:12. —
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One