Lesson 4 Overview

Ezekiel 38: A Study of Gog and Magog with Dr. Andy Woods

This lesson continues the “when” question, working through the remaining views on the timing of the Gog and Magog invasion. Use this overview to review the key points after watching the full video.

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Why Revelation 20 Says “Gog and Magog”

Picking up from last time, Dr. Woods explains why Revelation 20:7-9 uses the same words “Gog and Magog” even though it describes a different event. He compares it to the way people say “I met my Waterloo.” They are not claiming the historic battle is being refought; they are using a famous battle to measure the severity of their own struggle. In the same way, the Ezekiel 38 and 39 battle will be so massive that later conflicts are gauged by it. Revelation 20 is saying this is like that, not this is that.

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View 4: The Battle of Armageddon

Some identify the invasion with Armageddon (Revelation 16:16), the great final battle at Mount Megiddo in northern Israel. Dr. Woods rejects this, again citing J. Dwight Pentecost on the differences. In Ezekiel there is no protracted battle, the invaders come from the north, they are destroyed on Israel’s mountains, Israel is dwelling safely beforehand, there is no massive bloodshed, and fire falls on the invaders. At Armageddon, all nations invade, the events center on Jerusalem and the valley of Jehoshaphat, Israel is not at peace, blood flows to the horses’ bridles for 200 miles (Revelation 14:20), and no fire falls on the invaders.

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View 5: After the Rapture but Before the Tribulation

This is currently the most popular view, held by many respected teachers (including Tim LaHaye, Chuck Missler, Thomas Ice, Randall Price, Joel Rosenberg, Ron Rhodes, and Arnold Fruchtenbaum). It places the battle in a possible gap between the rapture and the start of Daniel’s 70th week.

Dr. Woods raises two objections. First, Ezekiel 38:8 and 38:11 describe Israel as not merely secure but at rest, using two Hebrew words: batach (dwelling securely, in unwalled villages) and shaqat, which BDB defines as quiet and undisturbed. He argues Israel is plainly not quiet and undisturbed today, surrounded as she is by hostile neighbors, and cannot be until the Antichrist guarantees her security. Second, Ezekiel 38:18-19 says the invasion comes with God’s fury, anger, and blazing wrath. Since God’s wrath is poured out during the tribulation (through the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments), placing this battle before the tribulation would mean God’s wrath falls before Scripture says it does.

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View 6: The First Half of the Tribulation

This is the traditional Dallas Seminary view, held by Charles Ryrie, John Walvoord, and J. Dwight Pentecost. The tribulation is the 70th week of Daniel (Daniel 9:27), which begins when the Antichrist confirms a covenant guaranteeing Israel’s security. Only then can Israel let down her guard and dwell in unwalled villages at rest.

Dr. Woods connects this to the seal judgments in Revelation 6. The rider on the white horse (seal one) is the Antichrist, an imitation of Christ who brings a temporary peace. Then the red horse (seal two) takes peace from the earth and war breaks out. This matches 1 Thessalonians 5:3, “when they are saying peace and safety, then destruction comes suddenly.” So Dr. Woods believes the invasion of Ezekiel 38 occurs with the opening of the second seal, early in the tribulation.

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The Remaining Problem

Even so, Dr. Woods says this view has a difficulty. Ezekiel 39 appears to describe events at the end of the tribulation, not the beginning. Ezekiel 39:22 and 39:29 speak of Israel knowing the Lord and of God pouring out His Spirit on the house of Israel, which points to a national conversion. That conversion is what Zechariah 12:10 describes, and it is what Jesus said must happen before He returns (Matthew 23:37-39, “you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”). Since the very purpose of the tribulation is to bring Israel to repentance (Daniel 9:24; Jeremiah 30:7), Israel cannot already be converted before it begins.

Dr. Woods notes that some teachers try to soften Ezekiel 39:29 into something less than a true national conversion in order to protect their timing view, but he sides with Charles Feinberg that it describes a complete and final restoration. He adds a second difficulty: the birds of prey feasting on the dead (Ezekiel 39:4-5 and 39:17-20) is placed at the end of the tribulation in Matthew 24:27-28 and Revelation 19:17-18.

So the tension is this: Ezekiel 38 seems to describe the beginning of the tribulation, while Ezekiel 39 seems to describe the end.