The Weapons and Climate of The Gog & Magog War

 THE WEAPONS AND CLIMATE OF GOG AND MAGOG

By Dr. Thomas S. McCall

Prologue: Three hundred years ago, two believers in Christ were having discussions about Bible prophecy.  They were reading prophecies in the Old Testament about the restoration of Israel back to the Land in the last days.  One of them said, “Could this happen literally?” His friend replied, “Of course not, all the conditions of the world are against it.  The Jews are scattered all over the earth; the nations of the world would not stand for it; the Arabs would not tolerate it; it is unthinkable that such a turn of events could occur.  We must interpret these prophecies allegorically. It would take more than a miracle for this to occur.” 

Indeed. Now, three hundred years later, against all odds, we have lived through just such a miracle.  Israel is once again a nation among the family of nations, and is in the world news almost every day. Jesus said, “Not one jot or tittle shall pass from the Law until all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18)  Will all the prophecies of the Word be fulfilled literally or just some of them?

I have long believed that the next great prophetic event between the Rapture of the Church and the beginning of the Tribulation will be the Gog and Magog War of Ezekiel 38-39.  There may be other smaller prophetic and/or non-prophetic wars between now and then, but the focus appears to be on Gog and Magog during that time frame.  The Gog and Magog War is a critical step in the divine plan of restoring all of Israel to the Promised Land, as well as the developments during the Tribulation, Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ.

Every day it seems like the stage is being set for the events of the Gog and Magog War. For Example:

1. Iran (i.e. Ancient Persia) is increasingly in the international spotlight as it moves inexorably closer to nuclear capability.
2.  Israel’s vulnerability from nuclear attack from Iran is causing it to ramp up its ability to mount a pre-emptive strike against the nuclear facilities in Iran.
3. They are also forging an agreement with Saudi Arabia to use its airspace in case of such an attack.
4. The U.S. administration and the European powers are attempting to solve the Iran problem diplomatically, but in the process they are alienating and marginalizing Israel.
5. In addition, Russia is supplying Iran and much of the Middle East with military and diplomatic support.
6. Israel’s discovery of vast natural gas reserves in the Leviathan field in the Mediterranean Sea and shale oil reserves under the Valley of Elah on land are making that miracle nation even more of a desirable target for Russia and the Magog alliance to attack.

What else has to happen, besides the Rapture, before the Gog and Magog War actually comes to pass?

Well, there are some aspects of Ezekiel’s prophecy that appear to be out of sync with current conditions.  For instance, the warfare described in Ezekiel 38-39 is primitive compared to modern weapons:

Ezekiel 38:4   4 “And I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords (NASB);

There are no planes, tanks, missiles and so forth in the prophet’s narrative.  The customary interpretation is, of course, that Ezekiel knew nothing about modern weapons when he wrote some 3,500 years ago, and so he had to describe the events in the terms of ancient warfare such as swords, shields, bucklers, and horses.  That may be the case, but is it possible that by the time the War takes place military power may be so degraded that the nations are reduced to fighting with ancient weapons?  Could some kind of nuclear war or other events occur that would make modern weapons inoperative?

There are at least two features of the Gog and Magog War that seem to make modern weapons unlikely.  One is the vast array of horses used (along with soldiers) that provide the multitude of vultures and beasts with an enormous feast at the conclusion of the battles.

Ezekiel 38:15  15 “And you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army (NASB);

Ezekiel 39:17-20   17 “And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.  18 “You shall eat the flesh of mighty men, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.  19 “So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.  20 “And you will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,” declares the Lord God(NASB).

The vultures and beasts surely would not be feeding on fallen planes and tanks!  The other is the fact that the victorious Israelis will be able to use the debris of the fallen invaders for fuel for seven years after the War, so that they will not have to cut down forests for fuel during that time.

Ezekiel 39:9-10  9 “Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out, and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears and for seven years they will make fires of them.  10 “And they will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them, and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” declares the Lord God. turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations(NASB).

It is interesting that the length of time for the burning of the fuel is the same time as the length of the seven years of the Tribulation.

Another area of scientific research is in that of climate change.  This has nothing to do with the Global Warming pseudo-science that claims human activity is affecting the climate.  Rather, it looks at validated evidence that we may be headed toward a great cooling era which could bring increasing rainfall to Israel and in turn could increase forests and grassland.   Extensive grassland in Israel would make possible the development of herds of cattle throughout the Land.  As noted above, there is a description of forests and cattle in Israel, which do not exist in abundance in the Land at the present time:

Ezekiel 39:10“And they will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests

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who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world (NASB).’

There is some anecdotal evidence that Israel is already experiencing heavier rainfall and snow in recent years, and conversely, anecdotal evidence that areas of Russia and the Ukraine are getting colder.  If these trends are confirmed and continue, it might make vast areas of Russia too cold for many crops.  It is speculated that some of this climate change might be caused by activity on the surface of the Sun.  These climate events, if they develop, might also contribute to making Israel an inviting target for Russia.  We need more hard evidence from reputable climatologists to determine if these trends are valid.

Some scientists, many of whom have no interest in Bible prophecy, are doing research on the degrading of modern weapons systems. This includes the disruption of the electric power grid and semiconductor devices through such weapons as the Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb.  The best known example of the potential for severe damage to the electrical grid and electronic devices is the Star Fish Prime Nuclear weapon test in 1962[1]. However, in order for swords to replace small arms, nitrate manufacturing/supplies must somehow be compromised or, nitrates themselves must be destabilized.  No weapon or known natural process is able to destabilize nitrates on a worldwide basis. (Nitro cellulose is the propellant in all, or nearly all small arms)

The elimination of electricity and gunpowder would go a long ways toward throwing warfare back to the primitive status described in Ezekiel, but such drastic changes seem unlikely under the present circumstances.  Scientists are also looking at valid naturally caused climate changes that would affect growing seasons around the world, especially in Israel but again we need more evidence that this is actually happening.

I am attempting to gather as much research on this subject as possible, and I am inviting our readers who have information on these matters to respond to this blog.  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thomas S. McCall Th.D.

Edited by Daniel E. Woodhead Ph.D.

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