Today we enter into some very difficult prophetic passages in Ezekiel. We deal with God and Magog, etc. Is it Russia, or China or other? Have a read and see what you think. Above all, be blessed as you read God’s word.
Ezekiel 38: Prophecy Against Gog
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him
3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
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 clothed in full armour, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.
5 Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6 Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes---many peoples are with you.
7 "Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
8 After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them.
9 You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.
10 "Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme
11 and say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,'
12 to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.
13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, 'Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?'
14 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it?
15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army.
16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
17 "Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?
18 But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused in my anger.
19 For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
20 The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground.
21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man's sword will be against his brother.
22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.
23 So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel 39:
1 "And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
2 And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel.
3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.
4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.
6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 "And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord GOD. That is the day of which I have spoken.
9 "Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years,
10 so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD.
11 "On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travellers, east of the sea. It will block the travellers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog.
12 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.
13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord GOD.
14 They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travellers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make their search.
15 And when these travel through the land and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog.
16 (Hamonah is also the name of the city.) Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17 "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, 'Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood.
18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth---of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan.
19 And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you.
20 And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,' declares the Lord GOD.
21 "And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.
22 The house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day forward.
23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword.
24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.
The LORD Will Restore Israel
25 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.
26 They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid,
27 when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies' lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations.
28 Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore.
29 And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD."
Things to think about…
1. Gog and Magog are considered to be both modern day southern Asia Minor (Turkey and westward towards Greece). Some have said Russia, but this does not seem to meet with the areas listed historically. We know that today there are many cultural and religious entities that are against Israel that live in these areas. Will they attack Israel? It would not be beyond the realms of possibility, even though the Jews do not see their present Saviour as Jesus. They still have enemies that are against them ideologically.
2. Consider Ezek 38:8. This war will happen when the land is secure and dwelling in peace after the people have been brought back from all the nations. War will again happen in the land of Israel like it has never happened before and will never be seen again. This will truly be the war that will end all wars.
3. Persia, Put, Cush and Gomer are also listed as being against Israel. These are the areas that cover modern day Iran, Egypt and Turkey. From Ezek 38:15-23 we see that God Himself will come against these nations. There will be a judgement that is similar to that which was poured upon Sodom and Gomorrah, vs 22. God has a covenant blessing for His people. They will see His deliverance and the OT promises will be fulfilled in his people. These promises also run parallel with OT promises about Christ. Do not confuse the two. The Lord still has a covenant love and blessing for literal Israel.
4. This judgement will happen. Look at Ezek 39:8 “That is the day of which I have spoken”. If God pronounces that something will happen on a certain day, it will happen. Jesus will reveal Himself to His people, vs 7. Even the Jews will see who their deliverer truly is – Christ the Lord. The clean-up will take 7 years – Ezek 39:9. God even says this burial place will block travellers and tells us where it will be, vs vs 11. Burials will happen for 7 months, vs 14. The burial place will be at Hamonah, Ezek 39:16. This is to the east of the dead sea. This judgement will make Israel turn and see that the Lord is God, vs 22. It says from that day forward, meaning that they doubted or didn’t know Him prior to that time. My belief is that this is when we will see ‘all Israel being saved’ as prophesied by the Apostle Paul, Rom 11:26. They will turn to Christ virtually en-mass. Please note this did not happen when Israel returned from Babylon, these prophecies have in no way been fulfilled. They are prophesies that are yet to be fulfilled.
5. God will restore Israel, Ezek 39:25-29. His Spirit will be poured out upon them – Hallelujah! May Christ’s Spirit also be poured out upon Australia. May we also pray for the spiritual well-being of Israel. They are are continually surrounded by enemies on all sides. There is continued strife between Gaza and Israel. Israel responds as you would expect how any nation would, by destroying those who fired them.
Vision Point for cell groups
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Title was “True love looks like this” – Reading John 16:1-20.
1. We would all say we trust in the Lord. But analyse what have you trusted in this year – perhaps your health, finances, stable employment. Have things worked out for you this year.
2. The relationship with the disciples was about to change. They would receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus would not be there in person. They were about to go into a season of sorrow. But their sorrow would turn to joy. What did Jesus mean?
3. The Holy Spirit will convince the world of sin, righteousness and judgement. Explain how this happens for us today?
4. True love tells the truth. The only real and living hope is found in Christ. Have you shown true love and Christ’s hope to others by being obedient to the Holy Spirt by telling others of sin, righteousness and judgement.
5. Pray for each other and the outreach of the gospel.
Prayer Points
1. AGM – 6th Nov after the service.
2. Carols service 18th December – Family fun Day afternoon/evening 3pm-7pm.
3. Christmas Day Service – on a Sunday this year.
4. Pray for the leadership of our country.
5. Pray for the people of Iran and Ukraine.
6. The right choice for a full time Youth and Young Adults Pastor to start Jan 2023 and the finances to support them.
7. Health of Ross Goltz
8. More young families and youth into the church.
9. Ministry leaders within the church.
10. Our One for Israel ministry.
11. Pray for other building projects – café roof, the repair of the house roof.
12. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for the health return of some who have suffered with Covid.
2. More visitors at church on Sunday.
3. Some returning back to church after a while away.
4. Worship on Sunday – thankyou Suzy, Gina, Ashley. Bec on Words and Doug on sound. Thankyou. Fi, Suzy and Maddison in café always do a stellar job. Thankyou for those who welcomed at the door.
5. All those who faithfully serve in ministries, Worship, Sound/Technical/Kids Church/ Cell Groups/Admin - Bulletins/Finances/Property/Welcoming/Spiritual Leadership/Cafe
6. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Members Meeting – AGM 6th November after the service.
2. Carols service – 18th Dec 3pm to 7pm.
3. Christmas Day service – 9am Dec 25th.
4. Remember to check your duty rosters.
5. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
6. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
