There Are Two Verses in Ezekiel 38 and 39 which seem to be the key to understanding what the prophets of Israel were saying when they prophesied an invasion of Israel in the latter years.
The word of many prophets
The first verse is Ezekiel 38:17: “Art thou he of whom I have spoken by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee (Gog) against them (Israel)?”
Now it is interesting that none of the prophets of Israel, except Ezekiel, spoke of Gog being the leader of an invasion of Israel in the latter years. However, they did prophesy of an invasion and called the leader by various cryptic names: “the enemy” by Moses in Deuteronomy 32:27; the “Assyrian” by Isaiah in 8:7, and 14:25; the “Chaldean” by Habakkuk in 1:6; the “King of the North” by Daniel in 11:40; the “northern army” by Joel, 2:20: “all nations” by Zechariah in 14:2 and “Armageddon” in Revelation 16:14,16.
We thus deduce that God chose to speak of this leader in different cryptic titles, but all were speaking of one mighty invasion of Israel in the latter years. It is true that in Joel, Zechariah, and Revelation no leader is mentioned, but the magnitude of the invasion indicates that it is the same one spoken of by Ezekiel.
The great day
The other key verse is Ezekiel 39:8: “Behold it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD: this is the day whereof I have spoken.” This tells us that this prophecy is the one that culminates in God manifesting Himself to Israel and the world in the person of Jesus Christ and the immortalized saints. Christ and his saints deliver the survivors in Israel and destroy the enemy by pestilence, blood, rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone (Ezk. 38:22). At this time, there will be “a great shaking in the land of Israel, so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the face of the earth shall shake at my presence” (Ezk. 38:19,20).
Ezekiel 39:7 says, “So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel….and the heathen (or nations) shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.” Then, in verse 22, we are told, “So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.”
It seems clear from these verses that this is the event that will culminate in the setting up of the Kingdom of God on earth. May we have the inestimable privilege of reigning at that time with Christ for 1,000 years in peace and righteousness.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One