Dispensationalism and the Gog and Magog prophecies

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Biblical horses, asses and camels

Animals mentioned in prophecy, such as horses, asses, and camels, are symbolic, and represent certain classes of people. This article reviews the context in which these animals are mentioned throughout the Bible.

The blessings of Israel

The prophecy of Ezekiel chapter 34 distinguishes between the mountains of Israel, and the mountains of other lands.

Ezekiel 34:6 says, “My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.”

God’s sheep are scattered upon the face of the earth, in tens of thousands of sects and denominations, and ministries, with many different beliefs.

Cleansing the land

The prophecy of Ezekiel 39:11-16 describes the burial of the slain corpses of the armies of Gog and Magog. The following particulars are given:

1. Burial location: east of the sea, in the valley of Hamongog
2. Identity of those who are burying: the whole house of Israel
3. Duration of the work: seven months
4. Results: God is glorified, and the land is cleansed

Thousand or thousands in Revelation 20:1-7

The question whether a thousand years, or thousands of years, best represents the thought of Revelation 20:1-7, is raised by the translation offered in the Tischendorf 8th Edition of the Greek New Testament, where the expression χίλιοι ἔτος is used, meaning thousands of years, as chilioi is plural. Most texts have χίλια ἔτη, a thousand years.

If chilioi is the correct word, rather than chilia, the idea that Christ will return to reign upon earth for one thousand years in the future is discredited. A spiritual interpretation of the reigns of the saints who are beheaded, and do not worship the beast or his image, seems more promising.

Spiritual warfare in Revelation 12:7

In the prelude of the 70 weeks prophecy, Daniel tells us that he was praying for “the holy mountain of my God.” [Daniel 9:20] The 70 weeks outline the duration of the warfare and desolations of the holy mountain, which in Daniel 2:35 is the kingdom of God. The first two sections of the prophecy, 7 weeks and 62 weeks, and the first half of the final section, are times that apply to the earthly Jerusalem, and the units are earthly units such as years, and leap years, but the last half-week applies to the heavenly city. Jesus is represented by the stone cut without hands in Daniel 2:35. He was cut off, crucified, in the mist of the final week. When he was resurrected and ascended to heaven, the mountain of God’s house was also raised up, as foretold by Isaiah, who wrote, “And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” [Isaiah 2:2] The mountain of the Lord’s house, mount Zion, and Jerusalem, were at that time established in heaven, and exulted above the hills. Hebrews 12:22 says, “ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.”

Frederic Gardiner on Gog and Magog

The following is Frederic Gardiner’s commentary on the prophecy about Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 & 39, together with an Excursus, where he makes observations on the character of the prophecy in these chapters, which he views as a kind of parable, depicting the struggle of the world with the kingdom of God, an interpretation in agreement with Revelation 20:7-10.

Burying Gog and Magog, and how the serpent’s flood is swallowed up

Could the burial of the hordes of Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel 39, and the earth swallowing up the serpent’s flood in Revelation 12, depict the same event? Each prophecy is about removing a threat to the church. Each alludes to the symbolic significance of the land. In Revelation 20, the hordes of Gog and Magog come from all parts of the earth, and compass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, terms that apply to the church. In Revelation 12:14 the woman who flees to the wilderness is the church. In verse 16, the word γῆ or gē is translated earth in the KJV, and in most other translations, but the word also means land. The land that swallows up the serpent’s flood, and the land where the armies of Gog and Magog are buried, are metaphors, which represent spiritual and eternal things which the church inherits.

On the meaning of Armageddon

Under the sixth vial, described in Revelation 16:12-16, the water of the river Euphrates is dried up, and three unclean spirits like frogs go forth from the mouth of the beast, the dragon, and the false prophet. They gather the kings of the earth together at a place which John calls “Armageddon.” The significance of Armageddon has been a puzzle to scholars, as the name signifies a mountain, whereas the place indicated is really a valley, which presents a paradox.

Twilight upon the mountains

Joel 2:2 describes “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains.” The phrase “as the morning spread upon the mountains” may allude to things that hide or obscure the true meaning of the mountains of prophecy. The word translated “morning” is shachar, meaning dawn, or the pre-dawn gloominess.

Questions about the abomination of desolation

The church’s recognition of the abomination of desolation is mentioned in several prophecies. This is not completely negative news, as when that recognition occurs, the meaning of many prophecies will be understood. This is illustrated in Matthew 24, where Jesus says, “flee to the mountains.” He meant flee to the promises of God, which are represented by mountains in prophecy. He was not referring to people escaping in order to preserve their lives, as he said,  “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” [Matthew 16:25]

Jesus referred to the abomination of desolation in his Olivet Discourse:

The knowledge of God, a better promised land

God promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their seed. [Genesis 12:1; 13:45-15; 26:3; 28:13] Each of them was a stranger and a sojourner in it; [1 Chronicles 29:15] they dug wells in the land, [Genesis 21:30; 26:18, 22; John 4:6] but none of them possessed any of it in their lifetimes. [Acts 7:5] It would be a land where revelations were given from God, and where angels ascended and descended from heaven. [Genesis 28:12] The land was promised to the seed of Jacob as an everlasting possession. [Genesis 48:4]

The judgment of Gog

God’s judgment falls upon the armies of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38:18-23, when they invade the land of Israel. In Revelation 20, this invasion is interpreted as deceived people from all parts of the earth who assault the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, which refers to the Christian church. In Hebrews 11:16, the promised land is no longer the earthly Canaan, but is now “a better country, that is, an heavenly.” The land of Israel in Ezekiel’s prophecy represents spiritual things, and the promised inheritance of the saints, including a proper understanding of prophecy.

M. G. Kline, Armageddon, and discrete millennialism

In his article “Har Magedon: The End of the Millennium,” [1] Meredith G. Kline reviewed a previous study by C. C. Torrey on the Hebrew term translated as har magedōn, and showed how this is significant for the millennium debate. Kline identified this as a reference to Mount Zaphon or Mount Zion, and said it is parallel or equivalent to har mo‘ēd in Isaiah 14:3, the “Mount of Assembly.” He wrote: [2]

This in turn proves to be of critical significance in the millennium debate. For it adds a final, decisive point to the traditional amillennial argument for the identification of the conflict marking the end of the millennium (Rev 20:7–10) with the climactic battle of the great day of the Lord to which the Apocalypse repeatedly returns, as in the Rev 16:12–16 account of the Har Magedon encounter itself and the Rev 19:11–21 prophecy of the war waged by the messianic judge.

Ezekiel’s visionary armies compared

Ezekiel describes two armies, one in chapter 37, and another in chapters 38-39. These may be connected, like the wheat and the tares growing together in the same field, in the parable of Jesus. One is destroyed by various judgments, and the other one is revived.

The army described in the prophecy of Joel is said to be “a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.” [Joel 2:2] In Joel’s prophecy, there is only one army, and verse 11 says, “And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great.” The army is identified as God’s army. After the description given in verses 1-11, the prophet calls for repentance. [Verses 12-20]

Ezekiel and the thousand year reign

In Revelation 20:4, John says that the saints who are “beheaded” for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who do not worship the beast, or his image, “lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” He does not say that they reign over nations on the earth. Neither does he say anything about Jesus returning to the earth, for the thousand year reign to begin, as premillennialism teaches. That doctrine denies the reign of Christ as Lord over all at the present time, and says Jesus is yet to become king; he is currently “uncrowned.” He has to descend to the earthly Jerusalem, it is said, and he will reign there as king. Ethnic Jews, they allege, will then be doted on by Gentiles.

Dean Davis on the battle of Gog and Magog

In a recent post on Ezekiel’s Last Battle (Ezekiel 38-39), Dean Davis pointed out that Premillennialists disagree with each other about when the Gog & Magog invasion occurs. He notes that Fausset said the battle occurs at the close of the Millennium, but Gaebelein, Scofield, Walvoord, and Showers all said the battle was to occur prior to Christ’s Second Coming and the Millennium. Davis listed several reasons why the prophecy is best interpreted in terms of what he called the New Covenant Hermeneutic (NCH). Davis takes an amillennarian approach. He wrote:

Millennium rebellion

In 1 Corinthians 15:22-24, Paul connects the resurrection from the dead with men becoming subject to God. He wrote, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”

A watch in the night

In an article on Premillennialismat the Rapture Ready site, Daymond Duck lists three major views about how the Second Coming of Christ relates to the Millennium: (1) Premillennialism;  (2) Postmillenialism; and (3) Amillennialism.

When the thousand years are finished…

In Ecclesiastes 6:6, the phrase a thousand years is associated with a human lifetime: “Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?” In the Psalms, a thousand years is compared to yesterday when it is past, and a watch in the night, concepts which might apply metaphorically, or spiritually, to a lifetime. “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” [Psalm 90:4] The number a thousand is used in Scripture to indicate an indeterminate quantity, and completeness or fullness. “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” [Psalm 50:10]